24 23. Causma Nexus

At the pinnacle of his technique, Harvey comprehended the intricacies of the world, from the smallest atom to the most complex molecule. Within the apex of his skill, he possessed a comprehensive understanding of his ability and its potential applications, even within his manifest.

Manifests were the absolute pinnacle of a technique, often evolving from the player's original skill with some variations. They served as ultimate attacks, encompassing various types.

Harvey's Zone Amp manifest established a zone around him, allowing anything within to be vulnerable to Harvey's technique. However, his manifest added to his technique, allowing him to revert cause and effect rather than just nullify it.

Despite granting infinite mana, enhanced speed, and strength, Manifests had drawbacks. Regardless of the type, all Manifests concluded after three minutes, rendering the player unable to use their innate technique or mana for a period.

Aware that his manifest's end approached, Harvey tried shortening his confrontation with Silver Fang. However, the beast revealed yet another ability. Its Unique weapon that could bypass durability and conventional laws by following fate, although the exact mechanics remained unknown to Harvey.

Silver Fang's attack severed Harvey's head, but he anticipated the outcome, promptly reversing his cause and effect, as his head reattached, he caught a glimpse of a sinister smile on Silver Fang's face, instilling a sense of dread in his soul.

Silver Fang charged towards him, fully aware that his weapons couldn't be nullified, pushing forward. Yet, Harvey stood his ground, determined to use his ability to revive Erra and the Chaos Bird party before it concluded. He sensed that if he didn't act now, they would be gone forever, however, that was easier said than done.

They exchanged strikes, Harvey slashing and Silver Fang countering. Harvey continuously reversed the damage inflicted on him, looking for a weakness the beast had. However, the brawl continued, with stabs and cuts exchanged. Harvey couldn't deny that Silver Fang was faster. Attempting a slash, Silver Fang seized Harvey's arm, delivering a powerful kick to the chest.

Thrown back, Harvey was swiftly drawn back in, only to be kicked in the gut and punched aside, crashing into the icy surface.

Sitting on the ice, Harvey felt something was amiss. He observed his daggers, realizing he was fighting strangely, overly focused on his newly discovered manifest. "This isn't how you reached this point, Hajun," Harvey muttered to himself, rising to his feet.

"A revelation?" Silver Fang inquired, preparing for the next exchange.

"Something like that, Boost." Silver Fang shot into the air, deflecting a thrown blade from Harvey.

"Cheap gimmicks are pointless."

"Static Teleport." Harvey materialized by the blade, slashing Silver Fang while utilizing Double Impact for additional damage.

As he ran toward the crash-landed Silver Fang, Harvey contemplated his options. Earlier Zachary had mentioned electricity scales, which would explain why he couldn't be stunned. Still, Silver Fang hadn't revealed any other elements he could use. "Fire Magic: Hellblaze (Seeker)."

Multiple fireballs erupted into the atmosphere, each of them descending onto the battlefield like tracking missiles aimed at Silver Fang. The beast skillfully swung its blade, slicing through each fireball, leaving them to explode behind him.

Suddenly teleporting in front of Silver Fang, Harvey launched a slashing attack. However, the surprise move was thwarted as the dagger was blocked. Silver Fang attempted to grab him again, but Harvey swiftly eliminated both the cause and effect, leaving Silver Fang momentarily perplexed.

Harvey realized that, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't revert an effect or cause for Silver Fang or anything else, only for himself. Did that mean?

"Double Impact."

"Wild Attack."

"Pierce."

Releasing his dagger, Harvey landed a powerful punch on Silver Fang's jaw, breaking it. Rapidly reverting his own cause, he executed the attack again, dealing double the damage to the staggering Silver Fang.

With Silver Fang momentarily disoriented, Harvey took advantage and plunged him into the ground, repeatedly reverting his cause and performing the attack twice more.

The Unknown coughed out, its eyes rolling into the back of its head momentarily, being the seventh unknown, Silver Fang, while not the strongest, possessed enough strength to destroy a country on its own. Yet, here it was, being dominated by a seemingly ordinary human.

Pushing off Harvey quickly, Silver Fang declared, "Form Three: Fate's Embrace." With both daggers in hand, he charged toward Harvey, intent on delivering a slashing attack.

While it seemed impossible to block or parry the daggers form. Harvey contemplated dodging this time. "Boost." He attempted to push himself upward but unexpectedly found himself propelled forward, directly into the path of the impending strike.

"You can't escape fate!" Silver Fang slashed at Harvey's neck, but as expected, Harvey swiftly reversed the effect, surviving the attack and charging back at him.

Silver Fang scowled in frustration, battling an immortal adversary was maddening, especially considering Harvey's additional abilities. He quickly slashed at the approaching Harvey, who skillfully dodged over the blade and counter-attacked, slashing at Silver Fang's back. "Tch, the longer this goes on the worse it gets." Silver Fang thought to himself.

"It's only unavoidable when there's a form attached to it!" Harvey extended his hand, striking Silver Fang with Hellblaze.

Sighing as the dust from the attack settled, Silver Fang found Harvey right below him. Harvey executed an uppercut, reversing the cause of his blow, executing a kick, reversing the attack once more before finishing the combo off with a slam from his elbow.

Silver Fang staggered back, witnessing an enraged Harvey relentlessly assaulting him. There seemed to be no end to the onslaught, and if he didn't act soon, he knew he would eventually meet his demise. "O great and wonderful Death, beseech thy strength, so I too shall carry out your wondrous acts."

As Harvey attempted to stab Silver Fang once more, he realized why it was called an Unknown, quickly the beast grew in size, transforming into a giant wolf that loomed over the mountains. Harvey hurled his dagger, but before he could teleport, the beast stomped him into the ground.

Harvey coughed up blood, there was one more minute left on the clock and while he had tried erasing the effect, he missed the activation timing. Quickly, he teleported toward his thrown dagger.

He thrust his dagger into the thick fur of the beast, which raced towards the mountain, leaping onto them until it soared into the air, its fur transforming into a shade of blue. Harvey noticed the surge of mana but wasn't quick enough to dodge.

"Lightning Magic: Hollow Thunder-Piercer."

A barrage of minuscule lightning blasts intersected, creating a large barrier around Silver Fang. Slowly, this barrier started retracting, advancing toward Harvey.

Harvey extended his hand, attempting to nullify the cause and effect of the technique, but it was futile. The technique comprised countless small lightning bolts, reaching billions in number. It was impossible for him to nullify all of them in such a short timeframe.

"Damage Reduction."

Cracking a buff-type technique, Harvey braced for impact, nullifying as much of the lightning as he could. Caught in the air, he suffered multiple shocks, foaming from the mouth as he continuously reverted his effect.

Coughing and hanging onto Silver Fang's fur, Harvey, even though he reverted the physical damage, couldn't undo the toll it took on his mind.

"Boost." Harvey flew out of the beast's fur, using boost repeatedly until he reached a high enough position to cast a spell. "Fire Magic: Magnificent Radiance."

Concentrating his mana into his hand, the fireball grew larger and changed hues the longer it stayed. As it became as big as a mountaintop, he threw it down towards Silver Fang.

The giant wolf howled, summoning a colossal blade into its mouth, likely the pair of fate daggers it had used earlier. "Form 10: Guided Line." Using this blade, it leaped into the sky, slicing through the attack and descending towards Harvey. Yet, Harvey's assault wasn't finished.

"Fate isn't as strong as you think, Boost." Harvey pushed back the cut-through fire spell he had cast, directing it towards the rear of Silver Fang, knocking him out of the sky, he landed below the mountains. Harvey needed to end this here and now, but all his attacks seemed to barely damage the monster.

He needed an attack capable of obliterating the beast from existence, but such power would unleash destruction on a massive scale, consuming everything, including Harvey himself. He smiled, muttering, "Chicken?" As he willingly let himself descend, heading toward Silver Fang below the mountains.

During his fall, Harvey materialized his blades into his hands and began charging them with his mana. However, he didn't intend to use a form, instead, he saw them as potential explosives.

Contemplating this strategy since his battle with X, Harvey had only considered it as a last resort. Now, with his manifest active, it became a viable technique. "I'm crazy," Harvey nervously chuckled as he plummeted.

Manifests granted their users infinite mana for a limited time, and Unique weapons lacked a mana limit. However, while free from the constraints of a limit, they couldn't contain an infinite amount of mana. Instead, excess mana would be released back into the surrounding area, causing a colossal blast akin to a nuke.

Harvey landed on Silver Fang, and the beast looked up, witnessing the growing smile on Harvey's face. For the first time in a million years, Silver Fang felt fear. It attempted to scurry away, but it was too late. Harvey stabbed both blades into the beast, supercharging them with his mana until eventually...

"Fire Magic: Magma Barrier."

"Lightning Magic: Thunder Rain Dome."

Harvey cast two barrier spells, aiming to lessen the damage from the explosion. He observed the blades as the runes burst, the weapons radiating a brilliant purple glow before… detonating.

Mountains shook.

Earthquakes resounded.

The sky split.

Harvey's arms exploded, his skin melting off his bones, yet he persisted in reverting his effect, regenerating even as the weapons' explosion eradicated everything in its path. Eventually, he stood atop nothing but a vast crater, with the only remnant of the Unknown being its daggers.

[Title Gained: Unknown Slayer]

[Title Gained: Wolf Sovereign]

[Title Gained: Agent of Death]

[System Wide Notification, Broadcasted to all players.]

[Hajun has killed The Unknown- Silver Fang.]

[Time: 2,49.]

Harvey hurried back to the ice rink, his clothes torn, and his skin marked with bruises. Despite successfully reversing most effects of the explosion, he couldn't regenerate his clothes, as if they were erased along with the beast.

With a grunt, he walked, the only reason he could physically move being his manifest, with each step he reverted his effect allowing him to move without collapsing. Kneeling beside her, he reverted the cause and effect on Erra, tears streaming down his face as he heard her cough. "Heh."

Attempting to revive the others, Harvey's efforts proved futile, realizing as he had earlier that he couldn't revert the cause and effect on other people.

Although he pondered briefly about why it worked on Erra, he found himself gazing up at the sky with a broad smile, having triumphed over Silver Fang on his own. Depleted of mana, he descended to the ground, falling unconscious.

Erra approached him, surveying the surroundings. Two unfamiliar daggers lay beside him, while to her left, the lifeless bodies of the Chaos Bird party and a Grey Stalker hinted at the battle's toll.

"Did he defeat that thing? All by himself?" She hoisted him up, providing support with her shoulder as she slowly led him out of the ice rink. Toward the closest house she could find.

While familiar with Hajun's strength, she struggled to comprehend him winning a monster that had subjugated her with its mere presence alone. She chuckled nervously while looking at his unconscious form. "Who is this guy?"