Chapter 314: Jacob Vs. Orvo

Jacob soared through the sky, holding tightly on to Orvo as he flew. He tried to interrupt Orvo’s transformation, but he was just too late. Orvo’s body tripled in size. The shape he was taking began to look familiar to Jacob.

"AHHH!!"

Orvo slammed his monstrous arms down on Jacob, sending him crashing into the earth below. Jacob landed on his feet while holding his sword out in front of himself. Orvro landed in front of him while laughing maniacally.

"I have to thank you for something, Jacob. I didn’t know power could taste so GOOD!! And I... I’ve been waiting for this day, Jacob. I’ve eaten thousands trying to increase my power!!"

Orvo was copying Jacob’s monster transformation, which meant that he had the same ability to copy any creature’s ability that they ate. They had been separated for months, so there was seemingly an endless number of abilities he now possessed. However, that didn’t frighten Jacob in the slightest.

For what is a monster to a god?

Orvo screamed and charged forward all while Jacob stood his ground. He slashed a claw at his body, but Jacob caught it with his sword. The ground next to him shattered as he tried to plant his feet for balance.

’The earth won’t hold up in our fight. I may have to fight him in the air.’

However, Orvo appeared to have the same thought. He raised his two arms in the air and slammed the ground as hard as he could. The shockwave rolled across the earth faster than the sound could reach Jacob’s ears. However, the ground was turned into a hardened crystal structure as the wave travelled across it.

Orvo laughed and clapped his hands together.

Thousands of crystal spikes exploded underneath Jacob. He jumped in the air to dodge them, but Orvo was already waiting for him there. A massive arm collided with Jacob’s body, sending him crashing into the crystal spikes. They never managed to pierce his armor, but the force felt like tiny bullets colliding with his body.

More spikes exploded around him from all sides as Orvo came crashing down from above. Jacob held his sword and swirled it around his body, sending a black slash across the area. He changed his stance at the last moment to block the attack from above. However, as Orvo’s slash connected, his body dissipated into thin air.

’An illusion!’

Dozens of Orvo clones jumped at him from all angles. Jacob slashed down every one that came close with flawless accuracy. The air around him clouded more and more, obscuring his vision, but that didn’t slow him down.

Using another wide slash, Jacob forced the cloud away from him. Orvo roared and charged again, green flames spiraling out of his hands. He used the green flames against the ground, allowing them to spread into the crystals around Jacob.

Thousands of attacks were raining on his position at once. Every attack that would skim Jacob would burn him from the flames. Every attack that landed felt like a punch through his armor. However, Jacob remained calm through the whole ordeal.

Orvo turned into a giant as tall as the buildings he saw in the Frost Monarch’s domain. Powerful kicks slammed around him as Jacob whizzed around each one. The crystals shattered under each blow, scattering small shards around the area. As one of the feet came down, Jacob sidestepped into it and pierce the ankle with his sword. However, the giant turned out to be an illusion too.

’He can control the powers of his clones as well?!’

Something small crashed into the stomach of his armor. It groaned under the immense pressure but still held. Jacob threw his sword down as hard as he could. He finally managed to land a clean hit on something.

Orvo turned back into his original size as he was sent crashing through miles of crystal earth. Jacob calmly followed the trail as his sword blazed with a dark current. Orvo spat out dark red blood onto the floor before he stood back up and screamed. There was a gaping wound in his stomach from the slash of his sword.

As Jacob was readying himself to charge after Orvo, something strange began to happen. The light around then started dimming. Orvro’s body began to glow orange as both light and energy entered his being. Before Jacob knew it, he was back in a familiar dark expanse with the same water-like floor. He had been transported to a consciousness. However, he wasn’t confident if it was his or Orvos.

Orvo placed a hand on the floor, preparing for another attack. Just as Jacob blinked, Orvo was already right in front of him, his eyes shimmering a crimson red color. Even with his god-like reaction time, Orvo managed to blitz into him. A fist collided with Jacob’s cheek, sending an explosion rippling behind him.

It felt like Jacob had gotten a planet thrown at his skull. The force rattled his brain to no end, making him extremely dizzy. Orvro twisted his body in a way Jacob never thought possible and sent a backwards kick down on to his shoulder. The water surface below him created a tsunami of black liquid, exploding outward into the dark abyss. Despite such a fantastic hit, Jacob remained standing.

He swung his sword upwards at Orvo’s leg. Orvo pulled his leg back and spun his body around for another kick. Jacob ducked under it but kept his blade above his head, allowing Orvo to drive his own leg through the black flames. It was separated from his body and sent flying away.

Just as fast as it was cut off, the leg grew back and exploded into the center of Jacob’s chest. Jacob cursed as he stumbled on to the floor. Above him, red lightning exploded behind Orvo’s figure, showing the silhouette of his next attack.

Tens of thousands of dark red spikes coming down from every angle, with Orvo leading the charge right in the center of them holding a dark red lance of his own.

Jacob threw himself to his feet and secured his foot in the ground. He was going to be testing the extent of how far his godhood went, and he was going to gamble his life on it.

Before Orvo could reach him, his body glowed dark black. The speed at which his eyes changed color multiplied tenfold. Black flames from his sword slowly began to envelope his body instead. He jumped in the air and concentrated all his power on his legs. As he landed, he slammed downward as hard as he could.

Suddenly, the floor below him cracked, allowing a large rectangular piece to be lifted upward into the sky. It’s momentum allowed it to intercept Orvo’s attack perfectly, blocking each and every dark red spike coming his way. Strangely, the surface, even though it was titled differently, still acted as if it was a liquid. Large spouts of water exploded from each impact, raining black liquid across the area around them. Jacob had successfully managed to break one of the walls of consciousness and use it to save his own life.

However, whatever laid underneath those walls was something Jacob never wanted to find out. He quickly jumped far away from the area to regain his footing. A bestial roar emanated from the area he left behind. Suddenly, his vision had taken him back into the real world. Orvo was holding on to his head, screaming while throwing up black blood.

The other risk Jacob was taking was the possibility he would be breaking his own consciousness. It was gamble that appeared to pay off very well for him.

"You... bastard. I’ll kill you!!"

Jacob transferred the flames around him back into the shape of a sword.

"You stole my power. I have no more time to waste on you."

"More... I NEED MORE POWER!! MORE!!"

Orvo started to hyperventilate. He held on to his head that was starting to tear itself apart.

"ARGH, AHH!!"

Jacob sensed something ominous coming from him. Without any more hesitation, he rushed forward to prevent was about to come.

Too late.

Suddenly, a black explosion knocked Jacob back into the crystal earth. A large figure started taking the place of Orvo. A body began to climb out of the smoke protruding from the area. A hand so massive it could take out a kingdom with one swipe appeared. It looked to be rotting with dark chunks of flesh covering the entire arm.

"No. He can’t transform into that. It can’t be possible!"

Another hand shot itself out on the other side. Finally, the smoked cleared, revealing the face. Jacob felt weak in the knees staring at his new opponent.

An onyx skull brimming with dark power had appeared. Orvo had transformed himself into Zalo... or at least he tried to.

The entire lower half of his body was unable to form. All he was capable of producing was a torso with some arms. However, that was more than enough to stress the sheer dark energy coming from his person.

An explosive roar escaped through the teeth of the skull, sending shivers up his spine. Jacob inhaled deeply before coating himself with as much corruptive energy as he could. A concentrated beam of every element started forming in Orvo’s large, skeletal hands. Jacob quickly formed a shield using every ounce of energy he had stored. The beam crashed down and reflected off the shield, sending it into space. It was the heaviest attack Jacob ever had to endure. He was surprised the ground didn’t crack beneath his legs when he was under the shield.

’This is... completely unfair.’

After pushing the attack off, he continued running towards the massive figure. Thousands of smaller corrupted creatures began to pour out of his body. Jacob used a few as makeshift steps before coming up with an idea. He jumped as high as could off of a creature and sent his energy into his back to form something else.

Suddenly, dark onyx wings sprouted from his back. He flapped them violently to gain as much speed as he could in the air. A large commanding sound came from Orvo as he flew by the sky.

"Drop dead, Jacob."

Jacob’s body pleaded with him to listen. His wings and lungs stopped working momentarily, his brain was in disarray, but his heart refused to give in to the commands. After gaining enough height, Jacob sent all his energy into his sword and started plummeting down towards the skull. He took away his wings and sent energy out through his feet to provide him thrust on his descent.

He looked like a dark comet exploding through the air. Orvo desperately raised a hand trying to block the insane attack, but Jacob crashed right through it. Finally, his sword pierced through Orvro’s skull, creating an explosion so large it shook the entire continent.

Jacob was sent flying downward into the earth, landing on his back. He winced and checked himself for any severe damage. However, his body was flawless.

He laid out on the ground, panting heavily as he watched the skull he pierced slowly disintegrate into small particles.

As he slowly raised himself up, Orvo slowly came back to his human form. He was missing an arm, there was blood smeared all over his body, and a large gash was present on his forehead. He limped over to Jacob with determination still boiling in his eyes. Jacob sat up and met him halfway. He stopped and stared at Jacob silently, coughing up blood.

Then, he dropped to his knees.

"Zalo... Zalo..."

Jacob watched him twist in pain as he tried to fight against death.

"Ugh. Shit. My brain hurts."

Black liquid started pouring out of his ears. It was as if the corruption was rejecting his body, or perhaps, this was the fate of someone who died with a curse mark. Jacob couldn’t determine which it was.

"I’ve been dead... a long time."

He coughed up more black liquid.

"I can... finally... rest."

With that, Orvo collapsed on the ground, the light slowly leaving his eyes as he stared at Jacob. Right before he passed, his eyes widened looking at Jacob’s figure.

"A-Arthur..."

His body grew still. Without paying the man any more attention, he turned his back and mentally prepared himself for his final opponent.