236 Chapter 203: Gederick vs Arnold (3)
Arnold heard a loud caw approaching him rapidly.
'Dammit, not now!' He glanced back and saw the Mimic Beast flying towards him.
Before Arnold could decide what to do, he felt six razor-sharp claws dig into his back and a creature weighing a ton gripping onto his shoulder with its giant beak.
Its goal was clearly to break Arnold's concentration.
The bird was about to use its beak to stab into the exposed part in Arnold's armor—his neck—but Arnold managed to turn his head so that its beak hit his helm instead.
'Shit, if I turn my attention to the bird entirely then the divine energy will disintegrate me in a heartbeat.'
Gederick's divine power was slowly swallowing Arnold's skill.
'I have no choice but to use a multiplier rune.'
There are currently three multiplier runes inside the armor. There are two downsides to using them in prolong combat: each of them needs a day to recover and they can't be activated at the same time. There's a time limit for every rune which he has to reach to use another multiplier rune.
For Arnold who has to reserve his aura for the possible fights to come, this is a major problem when fighting strong enemies like Gederick. It essentially means he can't go all out and reserve aura.
While Rafaela is mere baggage to him in her current state, he can't risk leaving her defenseless by resting to recover his strength like back in Siana's artificial relic tomb after his fight with Kalda.
If he took a risk and used the factor…
'No, no… I'll have to take my chances with the runes instead.'
A surge of power rushed through his body. His demon aura suddenly pushed Gederick's divine beam back slightly.
In hopes of trying to find a way to deal with the current situation, he called out to the system in his head.
'Huh.'
· A new skill has been added to skill tree.
· Classified as a non-martial racial skill
· Skill name: Heads of Kin (A)
· Level: 15
'A racial skill… And an insanely high-levelled one too?'
Racial skills are skills that certain races are born with. For example, Elves have innate elemental capabilities.
What's the difference between a human elementalist (like Lancelot) and an Elf?
The answer is simple: the former isn't born with the talent to control elementals from a young age. It's a skill you develop as you train yourself throughout the years. You're more likely to develop the skill if you train in forests or other places rich with spirits.
Arnold hasn't seen Lancelot's elementalist abilities in action yet since his training as a frontline inquisitor required him to focus mainly on divine-oriented skills and swordsmanship. Rumor has it that Lancelot can control a Spirit Monarch (he's not sure which of the four).
The point is that Lancelot wasn't born with the power to control spirits but all elves and druids, are. Like human elementalists, dragonkin like the Taelith Family didn't have the ability to command dragons at will until a certain age.
'I guess I'll see what it can do.'
Skill has been activated.
A giant ball of black energy manifested below Arnold the moment he activated the skill. Several slime-like tentacles shot out to surround the bird.
The next moment the tentacles each took form of dragon heads. They even roared before chomping down on the Divine Beast.
The bird cawed, its grip on Arnold loosening.
'Dragon heads? Ah… I see…'
The second soul must be the reason for this. But how can a soul grant him racial skills? Could it be that his identity as a human itself was altered due to the presence of the dragon soul?
'This doesn't seem like a skill that any ordinary dragon could be born with…'
The skill alone was holding down a level 100 Divine Beast. If a level 15 skill could do this, how devastating would a level 50 skill be (which is the highest level most skills can go)?
Which dragon soul did he inherit…?
The bird lost its grip completely on Arnold. It changed into a hummingbird, narrowly missing a fatal bite to its neck by one of the dragon heads.
The dragon heads continued chasing after it as it flew away.
Arnold could feel the power from Gederick's skill becoming stronger. Now with no more hindrances in his way, he pushed himself as well.
"!!!!" Screaming at the top of his lungs, he increased the amount of demon aura.
Now equally matched in power, the fight came to a stalemate.
Thunder suddenly struck when grey clouds gathered around them. Arnold didn't realize that they were now further up in the sky.
Their energies might be what changed the weather so drastically.
Something strange happened the next moment: Arnold and Gederick's energies suddenly began swallowing each other, creating a purple light at the middle. It started at the point where their energies touched but it slowly began expanding.
'If I used my skill without the demon energy, it would've been over for me already.'
Gederick had more raw power but Arnold could hold on due to the demon energy's corruption of the divine power, causing it to eat away at the power instead of overwhelming it.
Almost as if the two energies had no idea what to do next, they started to fuse—a bomb could be the next result.
'If it's possible… I can use this to kill Gederick.'
Arnold will be able to get away before the blast reaches him, even giving him enough time to take Rafaela with him. The two can then escape through the portal.
No wait, that would be too risky. The blast itself might only take two seconds to obliterate the portal while they're inside of it. It typically takes four to six seconds for your body to materialize on the other side of a portal. Even faster if you use a perfectly-constructed Teleportation Gate or use the Tenth-Rank spell – Gate.
In any case, Arnold and Rafaela will have to find a new way off this world. There's bound to be one or two other portals somewhere. If not, then they'll have to look for a space pocket.
The plan's changed. Instead of going through the portal, he'll escape with Rafaela outside the blast radius.
With that in mind, Arnold slowly sent more demon aura into the skill. The corruption spread even more quickly.
He could sense Gederick's energy fluctuate, probably because he was caught off-guard by what was happening.
The most important thing was knowing when to break his link with the skill. If he breaks the link too early, then he'll get caught up in the blast. If he does it too late then the same thing happens. An abrupt severing of the link is more dangerous than waiting around for Gederick to make a move.
As such, he needs to quicken the process of the corruption so that he has more control over when he can sever the link.
Arnold looked to the ground. They were so high up that he had lost sight of Rafaela. He could still sense her but only faintly.
There was no way to warn her about his plan so he could only hope that he's fast enough.
The corruption had now consumed two-thirds of their energy.
'Almost there…'
· Skill has been activated
'Almost… Almost… Now!'
The sound of the thunderous storm surrounding the two of them vanished when Arnold activated [Speed of Sound].
He could feel the link between his aura and the skill being severed. In a second that decision will backfire if he doesn't do something soon.
From his perspective, nothing was happening yet which gives him enough time to do what he must.
Arnold shot towards the ground like a falling meteor. Part of the ground was obliterated when he landed. Of course, only a ripple spread across the ground from his perspective.
He instantly made his way over to Rafaela's position. A gentle breeze shook the trees from his perspective but several trees were blown away in real time.
Rafaela was still hiding behind a rock and looking up at the sky.
Arnold noticed several other signatures in the area. He spotted monsters amongst the trees nearing Rafaela.
'…Good thing I made it here in time.'
He picked her up in a princess-carry, with one hand on her neck (this is to protect her from whiplash) and the other holding her legs.
He instantly crossed several yards in milliseconds.
Not far enough, he thought.
He travelled another kilometer.
Not enough.
He travelled another 2 kilometers.
He put Rafaela down and stood behind her while holding onto her shoulders.
He ended the skill.
Almost instantly a thunderous boom resounded, followed by a powerful rumble. It felt as if the ground was moving and the world was trembling in pain.
"Kyaah!?" Rafaela was sent flying into Arnold's arms as if she was thrown. The result of carrying someone while travelling at that speed causes gravity to throw them in the same direction to balance their center of gravity. If they aren't careful, they might get sent flying into a mountain face and turned into paste or go off a cliff. That was according to the game's logic at least.
It's similar to running with an object in your open hand. If you come to a stop abruptly then the object will fly out of your hand.
"W-What's going on—" before Rafaela could snap out of her daze, a powerful shockwave pushed the two of them against a tree.
In the distance, high up in the sky, Arnold could see a purple cloud of pure terror. It looked like the world was going to end. Its devastating power destroyed a sizeable chunk of the forest already, spelling doom for any creatures native to this location.
He could see a gigantic crater below that purple cloud.
"Arnold…" Rafaela looked up at Arnold, "You're squeezing me too tight…"
"Uh, right." He let go of her. She slowly stood up and wobbled on the spot.
She held onto her head and groaned.
"Looks like I only managed to prevent most of the whiplash from effecting you. Sorry about that."
"Whiplash?" she looked at the twirling cloud of destruction, "What happened? How did… we get here…?"
"Nevermind that. I got to you in time, that's what matters," he inquired in response to her second question, "Do you know that demon aura corrupts divine energy when in contact with it?"
"Mm, this is taught in basic divine studies."
"That's what happened to my skill and Gederick's skill when they were in contact for too long. My aura spread like decay magic on skin. After a certain amount of time the corruption would've reached its limit, causing the same thing to happen like what you see now," pointing at the ominous cloud, he continued, "I severed the link between my aura before the corruption spread too far. The explosion would've killed both of us if I was too slow to react."
Hopefully I get the experience points, he thought, I didn't risk my life only to get nothing.
"…And that all happened in a few seconds…?"
"Yeah. It was thanks to the power that Oriel gave me mostly. If I used the skill in my normal state then it would've taken a bit longer to get away."
Like all his other skills, the demon energy enhances his [Speed of Sound] to a certain degree. In his normal state, he can 7% of the speed of sound since his affinity with the skill is still quite low but with the addition of the demon energy, he could use up to 15%. Unlike when using his factor, there was no partial skill evolution, which is why he couldn't make use of [Leviathan Storm].
"Are you okay to walk or should we rest before we go?"
Arnold stood up with a groan.
"I'm fine. What's important is getting out of here. We need to find another portal since the one we found earlier might've been destroyed."
"Mm."
Arnold looked over the forest.
'Question is where we can find a portal…'
"Did the disciples make any backup routes to other portals?"
"I doubt they would. Even if they did, it might be halfway across the continent to avoid confrontation with monsters and unwelcome strangers," Rafaela looked around the forest, "This area is usually very quiet so monsters probably assumed that there isn't any prey here so they left the area. The battle from earlier probably already drew a lot of them this way. I'll need to warn everyone once I go back."
"What about the ones who are still roaming the dungeon?"
"…There's nothing I can do but pray for their safety. Luckily, all of us know where to find all the Angelic Sanctuaries. It's up to me to make a new pa—" Rafaela suddenly frowned when she looked up at the sky.
"What's wrong?"
Curious as to what made her pause her sentence, he asked.
"…The sky… it's radiating an immense amount of divine energy…" She pointed up at the clouds.
A strange yellow glow pulsed above the clouds, shining through the gaps like sunlight.
Arnold stood up and summoned Luxtivin.
Somehow he wasn't shocked that that monster wasn't dead yet. Does the explanation "he's a god, after all" make sense in this situation? Or could it be that Arnold is just too weak and Gederick was only using him as a sparring partner before showing his true power?
He felt Rafaela grab his hand.
"If that much divine energy hits you…"
"…I know. But it looks like there's nowhere else to go."
Arnold looked up at the sky.
Three gigantic magic formations appeared in the sky. Each of them were probably bigger than this whole forest.
'Hold on… Is that the Sun Great Rune…?'
He searched through his memories where he had seen this.
Angelica used this same skill during a fight with one of the demon lords.
[Incarnation Vessel], a level 30 skill. Judging by the great rune formations, it's the incarnation power of the Sun God that Gederick is going to use.
[Sun God's Incarnation Vessel] is a "suicide" skill that allows the user to sacrifice their body to the Sun God for a certain period of time.
The Sun God isn't like the human gods. He doesn't exist on either the mortal or divine realm. His existence itself transcends space and time, similar to the Timeline Gods.
His power is what keeps all the stars burning throughout the nine realms.
Due to him not possessing a physical form of any kind, he uses a sacrificial pawn to temporarily spawn in the physical world, creating what is known as a [Sacrificial Incarnation].
In exchange for their sacrifice, the incarnation is granted immense power to perform one skill.
That skill is classified as [EX] –meaning it has no limit in theory as long as the user can maintain its endless power.
When Angelica used this skill, she almost destroyed the continent.
Seeing as how Gederick was reduced to a demigod after being chased from the divine realm's upper echelon, he can't utilize the skill to its fullest potential.
Of course, that doesn't mean that Arnold will survive the skill. He's a mere human.
The skill spreads its power across the skies, making it impossible to avoid.
Gederick was willing to sacrifice countless innocent lives—whether it be humans or animals—just to kill Arnold.
The skill won't completely obliterate Arnold though. It'll still leave his body behind, though it will be so charred that it'll be unrecognizable. As long as his soul and brain remains intact, they can get the information they need.
"What did I get myself into…"
All of this was happening just because he touched the World Ring Fragment which led to Gederick catching its scent. Now he's fighting a meaningless battle. Well, at least he can get Gederick's XP if he wins.
Arnold looked down at the Cardinal artifact.
'I guess it's time to use this. But what stigma will I wish upon—'
Rafaela stood in front of him before he could finish his thought.
She lifted her arms.
"What do you think you're doing?"
"Only a divine energy barrier can protect both of us."
"I know that. But you're too weak right now. You'll die way before Gederick takes his last breath. You'll just prolong the inevitable—"
"Then what am I supposed to do!? Just stand behind you like a frightened little creature!?" Rafaela shouted with her back still turned towards him, "I never dreamt about a new life when I was shackled by the God I unwillingly followed! At the time I didn't even question my existence or why I should follow a god that means nothing to me! Everything changed when I saw how my first life ended. I… I could finally think for myself… I could dream of a different life… Before all that I only thought about the Sky God and how to please him. I thought that he'll grant me a seat at his side once I pass on because I served him as an angel in my living days. No more prayer mornings, no more compulsory poetry to honor the Sky God, no more needless training to fight for Him… And no more expectations that I don't want to fulfil…"
'Expectations?'
While he was curious who had expectations of her and what they were, he just silently listened.
Rafaela's arms dangled at her side, "I just want to live… I want to tell my master—that woman who lied to me for years—that I hate her… I want to leave this dungeon and live a normal life… Even working as a nun at some orphanage or church will be better than serving a faith that I don't believe in…"
She raised her arms again.
"Even if the divine power eats away at my lifeforce I will do whatever is necessary to live a new life!"
A dome surrounded the two just as thousands of golden beams rained down on the world.
It was… beautiful but… also terrifying that just one of them was enough to kill Arnold.
One of them hit the ground beside the two of them. A powerful rumble shook the ground. Arnold managed to maintain his footing due to the years of training but Rafaela almost fell down. He grabbed her by the waist.
"Let me place a stigma on you to recover your power," Arnold spoke gently into her ear, "I'll bear the burden of the stigma."
Sacrifice.
This scene felt familiar to him.
Where did he witness a similar event?
Ah, right during one of the arc endings in the game when Luke and the rest of the Hero Party tried to close a gate that allowed the demons to invade their world.
If they didn't manage to close it then a demon lord would emerge from amongst the army of demons.
The hero is given three choices:
1. Put your life on the line to hold back the demon army on the other side while Archmage Freya closes the rip in space. Depending on the choices you make during a short playthrough in the demon world, the hero dies since he didn't find a way to go back leading to a bitter ending and a permanent "game over" since temples can't bring you back from the demon world.
2. Prepare the empire's armies for an invasion.
3. Run and abandon the empire. Freya and the Hero Party managed to close the gate but not without many lives sacrificed in the fight. While there is a happy ending, the empire scorns Luke for abandoning them. All romance routes are locked, even Olivia renounces their marriage, leading to a bitter story all the way until the endgame where the hero has to fight the demon lords all on his own.
The second choice had the most risk but ultimately serves as the "morally" safe option, unlike the first where you have to aid demons for your own sake. Even more lives would've been sacrificed by taking the second choice.
Arnold only has two choices. While it won't affect the story in any way unlike with Luke, both could lead to his inevitable demise. One of the choices depends entirely on which curse will be placed on him for branding himself with a stigmata.
At least one unlocks a path where he can save his life. That path is what he will choose to take.
From another perspective it might seem like he's sacrificing his life to save both of theirs. If the two were smitten in love then this would've made an epic tale to a romantic novel. They'd defeat the big bad, he'd take Rafaela back to his world, have children, marry, live a happy slow life.
However, things weren't as perfect as some "slow life romance epic". The two of them were still strangers, even if they made love to each other many times.
Both were looking out for themselves.
"…No." Rafaela replied after a few seconds of silence. It's a miracle how none of those beams managed to hit them yet.
"No?"
"I'm… not doing this to save you, Arnold… I just want to live... Accepting your sacrifice while being so selfish feels wrong."
Arnold scoffed and sat back on the ground.
"We'll die."
"…"
"You can't save us."
It was as if she didn't have the energy to argue or act tough. She just silently stared up at the sky.
Arnold could see her legs and arms trembling ever so slightly.
He looked up.
A beam was heading straight for them.
It was still far yet it looked so intimidating and close.
"To think my time as a player ends right here before I even reached the third arc. Hahaha… Hahaha…."
"Eh? You're… a what—Ahhhh!?" The beam hit the barrier at that moment. Rafaela fell to her knees, with only one hand left to hold up the barrier.
"…The next one is coming…" Arnold said in a voice devoid of emotion and energy.
He could hear liquid falling on the grass but for the sake of her dignity he didn't look down.
Rafaela's whole body was trembling.
Arnold rummaged in his chest pocket.
He pulled out a small transparent box.
"It's a shame I never managed to see you grow up." He said while looking at Ceru.
Having his own companion by his side would've been quite fun. Ceru would've been able to heal any injury once she reached a certain age. It seems that that tale will never come to pass.
Ceru suddenly glowed with a golden light.
"What the…"
The golden light grew larger and turned into a humanoid figure. The light faded away like particles, first revealing white supple skin then a bosom that didn't lose out to Victoria in bust and shape.
Arnold could now see the back of an hourglass figure with narrow waist and wide hips. Long yellow hair was laid down on the person's back.
Her delicate bare feet was spotless even though she was standing on dirty grass.
Who is this woman…?
Wait, she looks familiar… The golden hair, yellow eyes, sickly white skin and otherworldly beauty…
Is that… the woman he heard humming to him?
"Ceru… Is that… you?"
She glanced back at Arnold with a big smile. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen.
The woman walked in front of Rafaela and lifted a finger. The barrier suddenly grew in size with incredible speed. Hundreds upon hundreds of layers were stacked on the barrier.
Hundreds of the beams hit the barrier but barely scratched it. Yes even a demigod's power couldn't penetrate the divine dome. The dome became so large that it swallowed up the whole forest and the surrounding mountains.
A status window appeared above the beauty. Her bare breasts jiggled and her hair danced when she turned around with a smile that could make even the coldest heart beat in awe.
· Birth name: Ceru
· Title: Fourth Reincarnation of Elder Cherubim, Elyzaphimia Moonheart
· Level 1
· Race: Cherubim Angel
· Master: Arnold
