Chapter 1584: Freedom! (2)
’He just shattered through the Rules with a single punch!’ Skullius was thinking with a mix of dread, terror and intrigue. ’What in the flesh?! This is a world!’
Once again, Skullius was launched ahead of the Immoral. With the Rules to this new world broken, gravity welcomed him, pulling him down at terrible speed.
The atmosphere on this world was extremely humid, almost unbearably so. Mists and fogs crossed every square meter of the open space, along with fleeting creatures that looked remarkably like flying fish.
And indeed, this was all a teaser. This world favoured aquatic life, and it was a miracle that Skullius landed on dry ground. It also a miracle that the solemn, sandy island he landed on didn’t explode into dust as soon as he landed. A shockwave crossed the world twice over in a few seconds because of the impact.
Skullius groaned and rose to his feet, only to find the Immoral already standing in front of him, grinning.
...!!!
But neither he nor Fulgardt was the first to make the next move.
Suddenly, five great shadows spilled from the vast oceans around the island and surrounded the two. They were gigantic fishmen with glossy green scales and thick tusks spilling from their lips, all of them adorned in beautiful tunics of seaweed. Their attitude was anything but beautiful, however.
Their large eyes shimmered with Divine energy as they crossed their arms and made odd gestures with their webbed figures while calling out in a language neither Skullius nor Fulgardt understood.
"Hm?"
At the end of the chanting by the creatures, Skullius and the Immoral found themselves impaled by tall, ethereal rods that drew from the skies. They pierced them from their arms, shoulders, thighs and back, imbuing some complete paralysing effect.
This was only the first part to a devastating counter, however. Millions of similar, large and fish-themed humanoids sprang out from the water, charged with Divine energy. They were malevolent, indeed. They would not suffer intruders.
’Are they vessels? Their using Divine energy, but...’ Skullius had just begun to think when Fulgardt cackled... and released a torrent of darkness from his body.
The Immoral would not be bound.
He was... free.
Limitless Paradox X Crude World Injection.
[Evil Darkness] poured outwards and skewered every single one of the fishmen that leaped out of the water, ready for battle in less than a fraction of a nanosecond.
...And then the Divine energy lighting up the eyes of these creatures... turned black.
They all grinned in much the same way Fulgardt did. Arrogance, confidence and power radiated from each of them.
Crude World Injection was a Seed of the Fruit of World Myths that allowed Fulgardt to inject his will into any living body. The result was a seamless takeover. The vessel could exhibit his powers and move as Fulgardt pleased no matter how from him it was.
And indeed, because of the advanced Fundamental Barter, Fulgardt could combine the effects of his Seeds. Combining a lucrative ability like Crude World Injection with an unfathomable, unreasonable one like Limitless Paradox allowed him to possess the entire population of this world!
...And then he was speaking to a stunned Skullius with every voice on this world, in the Common Tongue of Aigas.
"This is what freedom looks like, brat! Will you still not take me seriously?!"
Skullius had no response... but someone else did.
A voice cried from the seas of this world, furious.
<Who are you?! Why are you doing this?!>
"BECAUSE I CAN!" All of creation replied to the Deity.
Each and every single fishmen cocked back their arms, [Evil Darkness] gushing through them. Then, in a synchronised sequence, they sent their fists shuttling violently towards the sea.
Limitless Paradox X Exorbitance!
Millions of flashes of light burst across the world’s oceans, searing water into vapour and boring through the foundations that kept the great habitable disk stable. Rules were rent, energy channels were severed, the Fated Reef on which this world was built upon was obliterated. It was a spectacular sight from the great void.
The humble Deity who had made this lowly world could only stutter as it was eviscerated. Even sadder still was that each one of his creatures – men, women, children – were vapourised upon throwing their fists. The power unleashed by Exorbitance, a Seed of the Fruit of World Myths that made the user’s attacks exponentially stronger by a factor of 20, was too much for their mortal bodies to handle.
...But this world’s despair had yet to end.
The shattering skies above turned blood red. Gravity was already skewed because the world was ending, but it turned demented when it sensed the approach of impossibly large fragments of matter layered with Undeath energy.
Chunks of the dead world Lumen broke into this one, dropping like asteroids to further dismantle the world and rid it of any hope with the pulsing, raging flames of Undeath!
Skullius cursed.
His heart burned when he saw the fragments of an entire race wasting away... for no good reason at all.
Was this truly the freedom that came with overwhelming might?
Was this really... Divinity?
Fulgardt might have read his mind.
"There it is. That look in your eyes tells me you are still that damned mortal skeleton." Fulgardt, now freed from the ethereal rods (as was Skullius) said and marched forth through the flying rubble, the strands of Rules and fragments of Divine energy. "Seeing this hurts you, doesn’t it?"
Again, Skullius’ hand trembled.
’Just do it!’ he cried from within.
...Yet he failed to pull that card once again.
Somanda’s cackle coming from above made him shudder. The Lich’s powers were growing stronger.
"Come on, brat. Do it." Fulgardt urged Skullius from just ahead. "Use it. Show me that power in all its fullness before you die."
Skullius’ lip trembled. "I thought I told you to make me. You’re doing a lousy job at it so far."
Fulgardt chuckled, but it was Somanda who responded to the Hybrid, his voice a crisp authority.
"Lousy, you say?" The High Lich, standing on a chunk of Lumen sinking into the remains of this world, grinned inhumanely.
He then extended his right arm and touched the crumbling sky of this fallen world.
"New Awakening Undeath, Revenance."
The dying world yielded to the Lich’s call.
Undeath was not a power that only worked on dead lifeforms, after all.
Even dead worlds were not immune to the whims of the masters of false death and false life!