236 Forbidden Thought

Taking another deep breath, Minos attacked again, this time his sword energy being a hair-thread stronger than before.

Luka looked at all this with curiosity, wondering what exactly Minos was trying to accomplish by attacking randomly.

He naturally couldn't see the invisible sword energy, so he just thought Minos had gone a little crazy.

Of course he was smart enough to know such a thing was unlikely, but without any clues, he could only make guesses.

Meanwhile, Minos's technique was becoming more and more refined with every strike, quickly progressing from Initiation to Minor Mastery.

The pressure of life and death completely unlocked Minos's potential, allowing his already demonic comprehension to reach an even higher height.

Suddenly, as Minos struck again, the invisible sword energy once again traveled into the creature's soul, but this time instead of being overwhelmed by the strong thought of killing, it was the thought that was severed.

As if time had paused, the large creature that was in the middle of a swing suddenly froze, its eyes cloudy and filled with confusion, as if questioning what exactly it was doing.

But since Minos had only reached Minor Mastery, he still couldn't cut a thought permanently, so after only a split second, the thought of killing once again overwhelmed the creature's mind.

Luka naturally saw the pause in his creation's movement, causing him to become slightly apprehensive.

Deciding he didn't want to play around with Minos any longer, he directly shattered all the other vats, releasing tens of thousands of Lukalu bodies.

The vast majority of them died before they could fully transform, only leaving around 10% behind, which still amounted to nearly a thousand of these monsters, which all charged towards Minos mindlessly.

Seeing the hoard rushing him, Minos's breathing became deeper, his thoughts moving even slower as all his vessels dilated.

A single misstep from this point forth would immediately spell Minos's death, but rather than getting nervous, he became even more steady, his movements beginning to flow organically, as if he was acting on instinct rather than thought.

Luka watched in apt attention as Minos's body moved, flowing like he was made of water rather than flesh.

With every strike of his sword, a monster would freeze for a split second, Minos taking advantage of their lapse in concentration to lop their heads off in a single slice, killing them completely.

But ultimately, Forbidden Thought was extremely demanding on Nux, and Minos could at most kill a hundred or so of these creatures using this strategy.

Yet at the same time, he couldn't stop, knowing that the only way to break this stalemate was to raise his skill to Major Mastery at the least.

Compared to Minor Mastery, Major Mastery was a completely different beast, and even after using the move dozens of times, he still hadn't quite caught it.

As his Nux was slowly running dry, the pressure began building, the scent of death filling the room.

Puddles of blood and flesh had soaked the entire floor, each step sticky, like the floor was coated in a thin layer of honey.

Minos's eye's were sharp, akin to a beast of prey, his actions become more refined which each successful kill, yet his distance from Major Mastery still being far.

'67, 68, 69, 70. My Nux reserves are only at about 30% now, I'm running out of time…' Minos thought, his face red from the blood of these monsters.

"Boy, why exhaust yourself for no reason? Just give up now and join my experiment. While I can't assure you life, I can assure that whatever new form you take, it will be much better than this." Luka said with a loud laugh, his fears slowly dwindling as Minos drew closer to death.

"If it's anything like these monsters, then I'll have to reject." Minos replied, his concentration unaffected by Luka's taunting.

"Your loss. Just means I'll have to work with a corpse rather than a living body." Luka said with another laugh before going silent, continuing to watch the bloodbath in interest.

Meanwhile, the monsters had surrounded Minos on all sides, making his movement incredibly constricted.

Stopping in place, Minos's eyes darted around the room, all his senses opened at the maximum strength to look for a way out.

Suddenly, Minos heard the woosh of a giant foot collapsing towards him, his hairs standing on end as the change of air pressure sent off signals in his brain.

With a step to the side, the giant foot smashed into the earth beside him, just a few centimeters from stomping him into a meat patty.

Seeing his chance, Minos twisted his body, arriving at the monster's achilles heel in a single swift movement.

Swinging his sword, Minos severed the muscle, causing the giant to let out a loud roar before collapsing down on its knees.

Running in front of it, Minos jumped up before kicking off its lowered head, his body propelling upward and landing on the head of another giant.

With a screech, the giant tried slapping Minos from it's head, but he jumped to another giant just as the palm descended, causing it to nearly cave it's own head in.

Like this, Minos jumped from head-to-head, causing the giants to begin swinging at each other in an attempt to get at him.

While they were distracted in such a manner, Minos looked out towards the entrance in which he arrived, finding that the door was completely sealed.

With a single glance from his Omniscient Eyes, he knew it was the same material as the piping that kept Luka's brain alive, meaning it was pointless to try and break out.

And while he could try to dig his way out, I doubt these monsters would be so kind as to give him to the time to slowly excavate, rendering that plan equally useless.

Minos also considered escaping upwards, but the ceiling was far too high, and he had no real way to reach it.

With all other escape routes proving futile, the only option became clear, Minos's thoughts emptying as he invested his energy on the one thing that could save his life.

Jumping back down, he rejoined the battle that he knew there was no escape from, Luka once again laughing, smart enough to realize Minos's thought process.

"No escape, huh? Poor thing, rest assured, you'll be my prized creation once I'm finished with you."

As Minos's Nux reserves reached the last 10%, rather then getting more nervous, he completely calmed down, any tension or anxiety that had existed a moment ago completely dissipating.

This wasn't the first time he was faced with the kiss of death, and it certainly wouldn't be the last, so rather than fighting against fate, he might as well go wherever it takes him.

'Fate, what is fate but the dictate of the strong against the weak? What is fate but the law that only the masses follow? What is fate but the decision of the one with no choices? Curse fate, and curse those who rely on it, for us Heaven Forsaken, there is no fate, only success or failure!' A loud voice spoke, his words like heavenly-thunder, shaking Minos's body and soul.

Suddenly, as Minos blinked, a phantom suddenly appeared next to him, causing him to nearly reach up and rub his eyes in shock.

Fortunately he held back at the last second, just barely avoiding being shattered by a massive fist the size of a wagon.

As the phantom stood there, their appearance became more and more clear before it finally settled, revealing a familiar face, the same one Minos had seen when he was awakening his Aptus.

"It's you!" He said in shock, causing the figure to only nod.

"Who are you, why are you here, and what is a Heaven Forsaken?" Minos asked, his heart filled with endless questions.

"Relax, you still have a fight to finish, but I'll explain as you go." The middle-aged man said with a smile, Minos nodding before he got back to his fight.

"Let's start with your first question, who am I. Who else could I be other than you? A you who failed where I hope you can succeed."

"As for your second question, I naturally came to save you from death, and to also clear your mind of those unrealistic thoughts. Remember, fate is worthless."

"As for your final question, it's the most critical, but also the hardest to answer. What is a Heaven Forsaken but one abandoned by the heavens? What this means exactly, you'll understand in time."

"Abandoned by the heavens? Why?" Minos asked, separating another giant's head from its body.

"It's too early for you to know about that, it's too early for you to know anything, but you'll get your answers, rest assured. For now you just have to live."

"As you can see, I'm trying my best." Minos shouted back, his conversation with the air confusing Luka once more.

"Just remember, you have infinite potential, after all, you don't just live for yourself, you live for all of us." The man said with a final smile, before he completely vanished into the surroundings.

"All of us, who is all of us?" Minos asked, but by then, the man was gone, his questions just landing in the void.

Realizing he likely wouldn't get an answer anytime soon, he decided to focus on the first part of the man's sentence.

'Infinite potential, infinite potential. He's right, rather than succumbing to whatever fate has for me, it's best to forcefully create my ideal world!'

'I've lived so long with fate only making a mockery of me, so how could I ever expect it to have my well-being in mind? From now on, I'll only ever depend on myself!'