Chapter 259   - One Person (5)

“...I’ll end your madness here.”

When Atein heard his words, he looked perplexed.

It wasn’t as if he was surprised by Azell’s hostility. In the short amount of time it took them to have a conversation, a frightening amount of Dragon Demon magic suddenly poured out from Azell.

“What did you do?”

“I merely awakened the ninth Ring of Life I had put to sleep. Thank you for giving me that time.”

Koo-goo-goo-goong......!

The building couldn’t withstand the Dragon Demon magic emanating from Azell’s body, and it started to fall apart.

Ggwah-gwa-gwa-gwahng!

A beam of light punched through the falling building as it stretched into the sky.

Afterwards, Azell used the Storm Dragon’s Wings to fly into the air. Atein, who had been observing the city from they sky, groaned.

“You’ve already finished making the ninth Ring of Life?”

Atein had thought he had gotten a measure of Azell’s strength when Azell had fought against Almarick. In that fight, Azell had been driven into a corner, so he had to reveal the ace up his sleeve. He had revealed the existence of the Extreme Extinction technique.

Atein had used this information as background to make his preparations for his victory. Even if Azell’s comrades joined in on the fight, he was confident that he would be able to defeat them all.

He never expected Azell to have hidden such power.

Oooooooooh!

The Dragon Demon magic swept over their surrounding like a tsunami. This simple action had the effect of working against the spells that went against Azell’s will. It almost broke down the integrity of Atein’s spells.

“Mmm......!”

While Atein was groaning, Azell started creating clones of himself once again. They took up the Dragon Demon weapons that had remained summoned. The unsummoned Dragon Demon weapons were brought back again. Atein mumbled to himself when he saw this sight.

“...still, nothing will change.”

It was surprising that Azell had completed his ninth Ring of Life. If this battle had taken place anywhere else, Atein would have lost.

However, this place was the Dragon Demon palace.

The Moon of Rest and Anger was continuously creating angels and demons. The numerous magic circles were pouring out spells. The number of preparations he had made was overwhelming in quantity. It was as if several hundred magicians were focusing their fire on Azell, so Azell was busy dodging.

Kwah-kwahng! Kwahng! Kwah-ahhhhhhng!

He was flying at high speed using the Storm Dragon’s Wings, and there was a torrent of spells trailing behind him.

The flames exploded, and the cursed darkness continued to spread. The gale whipped towards him. The city had been made with magic, so it had been a grand sight to see. In a flash, the city was turned into ruins.

“You made a mistake, Azell.”

Azell flew through the city as he used the buildings to block the spells. Atein mumbled to himself as he looked down.

Azell should have used the ninth Ring of Life as soon as the fight had started. If Azell had used this explosive power to overwhelm Atein, Azell might have won.

However, Atein’s magic had already took control of the battlefield. He had overwhelming power, and it couldn’t be defeated by the power of a single person.

‘At this rate, he might just run away.’

Atein thought about the possibility.

However, it was pointless thought. Azell would only run away if he could fight another day. If Atein wasn’t defeated here, there won’t be another chance.

-Thunder Dragon’s Horn!

Azell, who had been in the city, quickly gained height. He shot blue lightning towards Atein.

However, the attack never reached Atein. It crashed into the numerous spells in the sky, and it was extinguished.

“Koohk! I guess it won’t work?”

Azell grinded his teeth.

Azell had awakened his ninth Ring of Life, yet he had no opportunity for a counterattack. In terms of personal power, Azell overpowered Atein. However, the resources available to Atein was too large.

The problem right now was the fact that Azell’s mental power was being chipped away.

There was a limit to how long he could use his phenomenal mobility to dodge Atein’s attacks. Atein was predicting Azell’s path, and he was placing spells preemptively in Azell’s path. Azell was mired in these spells.

‘Oh no.’

The heat spread towards the surrounding.

It was a trap that couldn’t be dodge, yet Azell easily pushed through it. He was narrowly dodging all the magical bombardment, but a small mistake would be fatal.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa!

The magical storm destroyed the streets.

Atein was shocked as he watched the explosions.

‘What happened?’

For a brief moment, he lost track of Azell.

Even if he was using the Storm Dragon’s Wing, Azell needed time to reaccelerate once he was halted.

That meant....

‘Is this Instantaneous Movement?’

The detection spells placed all over the city was able to locate Azell a beat later, and the information was delivered to Atein.

Azell was 1 kilometers away from where the explosion had started. The explosions had indiscriminately destroyed all the buildings in a straight line. Azel was a bloody mess as he glared at Atein.

A wave of light moved over the destroyed buildings.

Kwahng!

As soon as Atein’s eyes registered this light, Atein was attacked by Azell.

Azell was moving several times faster than the speed of sound. He had used a form of the Pure Copper technique to accelerate himself. In a flash, he had crossed a distance of 200 meters. It was extraordinary.

‘What ridiculous speed!’

Atein was taken unawares by his speed. He had been prepared for clones to attack him using their energy form. He was also reading the flow of magical energy, so his spells would automatically react to what he saw.

However, Atein had never expected Azell to rush him with his true form, which was made out of flesh and blood.

“Ha-ahhhhhhh!”

Azell attacked

Azell attacked Atein like an angry wave. Numerous clones appeared as they attacked Atein like a storm.

Kwa-kwa-kwa-kwa-kwah!

The Sky Splitter let out a wave of light. Every light within visible range gathered and exploded upon Atein.

Atein was instantly overwhelmed by the attack, and his body was bounced around the air like a ball. Azell had summoned the maximum number of clones. He used them to block the spells that were converging towards him. The Box of Hate dispensed its light marbles, and it resisted against Atein’s magic. Azell pushed Atein.

-Come Dragon Demon weapon! Chain of the Earth Dragon!

He wasn’t done with his attack. One of the clones summoned a thick chain with a weight at the end. He started to swing it.

Hwee-hwee-hwee-hwee-hwee!

Atein and Azell had been locking their swords together. When the speed of the chain exceeded a certain point, Azell purposefully broke his stance as he kicked Atein. Then he struck the ground.

As the explosion erupted, Atein’s movement halted for a brief moment. At that moment, the Chain of the Earth Dragon flew in towards Atein.

Ggwah-ahhhhhng!

The weighted end of the chain created an explosion. The explosion had a radius of several hundred meters.

The Chain of the Earth Dragon had power over the earth. When it hit its target, a massive impact caused the ground to crumble. Earth and rocks assaulted Atein. Azell, who was in the sky, brought down the Sky Splitter with all his power.

-Thunder Dragon’s Horn!

In a flash, everything turned white.

However, it lasted only for a moment. Azell’s face fell when his vision cleared in the next moment.

‘Gatekeeper of Emptiness! Shit!’

The large emptiness swallowed the lightning bolt. At the same time, a large emptiness that was a couple dozen meters away let out the lightning bolt. The lightning bolt carved the ground as it was sent in a different direction.

When Atein was attacked, he immediately used the Gatekeeper of Emptiness, which was capable of connecting two points in space. This was how he had dodged the Thunder Dragon’s Horn.

“Mmmm.......”

Atein started rising into the air from a broken building.

He wasn’t untouched. He had dodged a critical blow, but his left arm had been broken by Azell’s initial charge. The following attack had made him into a bloody mess.

In terms of injuries, both side had suffered similar level of injury. However, Atein was sure of his victory.

“This is why you put your ninth Ring of Life to sleep.”

There was a bitter laughter to Atein’s lips.

“It isn’t complete to the point where your body cannot sustain and endure that power.”

“Koohk.......”

Azell groaned. He looked dismayed.

It was as Atein had said. This was a tactic he had used to take Atein by surprise. He had purposefully hidden his magical energy, because his body couldn’t handle that much magical energy. The vessel holding the magical energy had to get stronger as one gained magical energy. Azell hadn’t been able to find that balance.

It meant that Azell had to finish the fight as soon possible after awakening his ninth Ring of Life. However, he had failed. His Energy Pulse was unstable, and it was causing massive problems for his body.

“Your surprising speed using the Pure Copper technique... I’ll call it the Ultrahigh Speed Pure Copper technique. It seems there is a cost to using it.”

Azell was able to use the Ultrahigh Speed Pure Copper technique by using the massive power that was released by the ninth Ring of Life. He had the magical energy to be able to use it, but his body hadn’t been able to endure the stress.

“You are an extraordinary being. You were chosen by this era, so all kinds of luck has converged upon you. However, the fact that you were able to reach this level in less than 30 years is a miracle in itself.”

While Atein was speaking, countless circles of darkness surrounded Azell.

There would be no escape. The fight would end when Atein would activate the spells.

“Mmmm?”

Atein was puzzled by Azell’s expression.

From Azell’s perspective, he was in a desperately dangerous situation. Unless he had more aces up his sleeve, he was facing imminent death.

So why did Azell have a grin on his face?

“It seems they were barely able to make it in time.”

“What do you mean?”

“Didn’t you think it was weird, Atein? You wondered why I came alone.”

It was as he said. Azell’s party weren’t idiots. They knew Atein’s power was amplified to the extreme at the Dragon Demon castle.

Yet they insisted on sending Azell to fight Atein alone.

It was an unreasonable gamble.

‘However, there are no hidden troops.’

Atein had been aware of the possibility that Azell’s party members might have hidden themselves. He made preparations for the possibility of an ambush from. However, he couldn’t sense them even now.

Did they attack the ritual room while he fought Azell?

That wasn’t it either. The ritual was in its third stage. An attack by one or two people wouldn’t be able to stop the ritual. He had set up detection spells in the ritual room, and he sensed no one in there.

‘So why?’

Atein looked baffled as he looked towards Azell.

Suddenly, a dizzying sensation washed over him.

‘What is this?’

Atein knew this sensation. It was the backlash that appeared when magical energy escaped his control.

In a flash, the magic around him escaped his control The circles of darkness, which had been about to activate, collapsed. Even his stored magic went away, and the flow of magical energy in his body went awry.

‘Ah!’

Atein swayed on his feet, and he was late in realizing what had caused this.

‘Someone destroyed the seal to the Abyss! Who did it?’

The Abyss was the heart of the Great Darkness. The seal of the transcendent being buried below had been destroyed.