Level Up Legacy

After the three left the mountain in an attempt to lose the monster, it started rushing in their way. Arthur believed that he was the man targeted, but when the fallen being reached the summit, it uttered a different name.

“Zonas… Mantra…”

It was a long and lanky creature of nothingness, oozing black tar that eroded the existence of anything it touched. Long dark wings seemed to carry it across space, cutting whatever distance between them. Beneath the dark mask on his face were the same crazed eyes, with a grin that leaked the black tar.

“You look familiar,” said Arthur while standing in front of the hut, his golden aura making the ground shine beneath him. “How did they make you covet the corruption of nothingness?”

“I…” said the humanoid monster, spilling tar over the ground from his mouth. His teeth have turned black and rotten as if only his lower jaw managed to maintain its human appearance. “Mantra… kill…”

“Very eloquent of you, and you answered my questions so well. However, you don’t need a lot of reasons since you have always been the emperor’s dog, right?” said Arthur toward the tall monster, but it seemed unable to understand him. “I guess he’s no hybrid.”

Ellen once became a hybrid in a different timeline, and that meant that she controlled the powers of Nameless without losing herself. That gave her the powers of Death, which King Arthur once talked about.

This one was different, as he was nothing but a soldier of Nameless. All the Enders were minions of the same giant creature, which existed across all timelines, but failed to see the one that mattered.

“It has been a long time since I met one of you,” said Arthur with a grin as his aura exploded around his body, creating a pillar of golden mana that made the fallen being screech. “I have many questions, but I doubt a mindless puppet can answer me. So, how about we take a deeper dive?”

“Guh…”

At that moment, the lanky creature moved. It stretched its wings as far as it could before flapping them to erase the distance between Arthur and itself. This was the first time that Arthur had seen a fallen using their abilities in such a manner.

The clawed arm stretched to seize Arthur’s shoulder before lifting him off the ground and hurling him toward the hut. He smashed through the wooden walls and tore down the house, which soon started to collapse with him inside.

However, the collapsing house started floating in the air, with wooden tiles soaring toward the sky. Arthur was standing in the middle, with his face wrathful as his golden mana flickered with traces of black lightning.

“It might be the first time I feel this,” said Arthur while clenching his fist, “a rage that stems from sensing a foul existence.”

Arthur stomped on the ground, making it cave into the mountain to launch himself toward the lanky fallen being. The two met midair, where Arthur struck with his golden mana boiling with wrath.

As the claw met his fist, Arthur was surprised to see that he was on the losing end. This had never happened before, as his mana of creation always overcame nothingness. However, this time, his mana was scattering as it met nothingness.

“What is… happening?” Arthur was flabbergasted as he couldn’t master the strength to fight against the dark being, which made it push his fist away and slam his chest. “Cough!”

The attack kicked the air out of his lungs, making Arthur feel his chest cave in as he hurled across the sky like a broken kite. He fell down the mountain as the monster chased after him, using its wings to receive him as the base.

“Arthur!” shouted the witch as the two appeared above the escapees. The fallen being raised its claws and struck at Arthur’s back, sending him slamming to the ground in front of the three. “Are you alright?!” rushed the witch to his aid.

“I… am,” said Arthur while standing and wiping the blood off his mouth, staring at the creature with confusion. “There is something different about this.”

“Your mana does not have a form,” said Adam while holding Zonas Mantra over his shoulder. “It is flimsy and does not seem to hold together if utilized directly.”

“Maybe I should listen to the mana expert on this one,” said Arthur as he tried to gather his mana, his teeth grinding against each other. He was trying to form a tiny mana spear, but it scattered once the black lightning touched it. “This is…”

“The method you used to cancel my mana seems to interfere with your own,” said Adam with a frown. “Are you unable to control it?”

“It is… emotion-based,” said Arthur as he tried to calm down, but it was no use. Ever since he awakened Eragon, his wrath triggered at the slightest offense. The mere existence of the creature flying above them made him wrathful. “Tsk,” he clicked his tongue as the black lightning didn’t disappear, even though his mana did. “We might be in danger.”

“What do you mean?” asked Aurora with confusion, and Arthur turned to stare into her eyes. She understood his meaning when their eyes met, and her face paled as she stared at that creature. “That hollow human cannot be killed?”

“In…deed…” said Zonas Mantra as he grunted awake, shocking the three, especially Arthur. “I fought against them before, so I know their real terror. They are… immortal.”

“How could you be awake?” Arthur asked as he stared at his hand. “I made sure to knock you out with my….”

Arthur recreated his Sleep rune, which could knock out a person for at least an hour, depending on their strength. However, even if it were an Astra-ranker, as long as he had no magical barrier, he would be knocked out for at least fifteen minutes.

Yet, what Arthur was looking at right now was different. His rune had cracks as if it couldn’t fully form because of the black lightning around him. Every second, a bolt of lightning struck the rune, weakening it.

“It seems you have realized it as well,” said Adam with a frown. “You have two abilities that counteract each other and are acting against each other. That colorless lightning is hindering these things you use.”

“Colorless lightning?” muttered Arthur with confusion as the monster screeched in the sky and dove toward Zonas Mantra. Adam raised his hand toward it and shot a mana bullet, sending the monster flying back.

“Light cannot be black, but only its absence. Black color is a pigment that results from combining every color there is. If you combine every light, then it will be white, right? So, that lightning is colorless.”

“I don’t think this is the time for a physics lesson,” said Aurora with worry as she saw the fallen being descend back from the sky, unharmed. “Mana doesn’t work against this thing!”

“Similar to your colorless lightning,” said Adam as he placed Zonas on the ground since he was awake. “Do you know anything about this, Mr. Arthur? How come your abilities are similar?”

“They are not similar,” said Arthur with a frown. “Although the result looks the same, my ability cannot affect the physical world and does not allow regeneration. I can only cancel something once I set it as a target.”

“A target?” muttered Adam with confusion, to which Arthur nodded. “Is it something you can control?”

“The target isn’t chosen by me, but by my emotions,” said Arthur as he raised his fist. “My ability simply ignores the target of my wrath and his existence. Therefore, I cannot attack someone other than the target, and even if I did, they would be unharmed.”

This was why Arthur fought against the emperor. The rest of the knights weren’t killed by his wrath. Instead, his wrath had a singular target, and Arthur wouldn’t rest until he defeated them.

“Then, was I your target earlier?”

“The moment you attacked me, you became a target,” said Arthur with a smile, making Adam shiver. “In any case, Nameless is different. Whatever he touches ceases existing, whether it is magic or a physical object. Therefore, never let it touch you.”

“An immortal being with an instant-death attack?” asked Aurora with a pale face. “This is undefeatable, right?”

“This is the emperor’s secret weapon, ” Zonas Mantra said as he tried to stand. “I lost against a much weaker version of this creature and almost lost my life if the emperor didn’t spare it.”

“You cannot fight against something that doesn’t exist because you will only end up devouring yourself alive,” said Adam as he took a step forward. “I will hold him back using my mana, so you all need to think of a plan to defeat it.”

“Adam…” muttered Arthur with surprise before gritting his head and nodding. It was not something he imagined himself needing, but he lacked time to think of a plan. “I’ll figure out a way to conjure mana.”

This was his failure, and Arthur wouldn’t let anyone die because of it. Unfortunately, he failed to notice that overlap in his abilities, which rendered both of them useless.