Chapter 136 - Cocytus!
A colossus figure that covered the sky with its size stood in front of the grey one.
"I didn't want to use these powers just yet..." The grey one sighed. He wanted to keep this a secret bit longer.
He made a few hand seals, "Wooden Golem!"
The earth shook as a wooden hand appeared from the land beneath him. A colossus wooden golem rose from the ground.
Since Tatsuya's bloodline fused into one, the grey one had been able to use most of Tatsuya's bloodline powers. He didn't want to use it because Tatsuya would realize the truth about his true nature.
But, now, he was running out of options.
As soon as the golem rose, the dark energy climbed upon its whole body. Soon, it became brittle before breaking down from its own weight.
"It seems this is not the right choice." The grey one frowned, the blue light changed to red. A red rib cage appeared around him; soon, it turned into a giant skeleton body. It didn't stop there; muscle and skin covered the whole body of Susanoo.
It grew until a humanoid shape similar to Tatsuya appeared. Armor like black carapace covered its massive body. The colossus Susanoo that was hundreds of meters high stood in front of a dark humanoid figure. That barely had any feature other than shining blue eyes.
Seeing the Susanoo in front of him, the dark humanoid raised its hand and moved towards the Susanoo to grasp it.
A giant cero appeared on the Susanoo's palm; the power radiating from it was hundreds of times greater than before. The cero collided with the palm of the dark humanoid. But, that barely made the palm halt was a second before it continued to move towards the Susanoo.
Seeing that grey one frowned before a black gold sword materialized in his hand. He covered it with Holy energy before pointing it towards the palm. A shockwave formed beneath his legs as he used it to propel himself forward.
The moment the sword collided with the palm, the dark energy tore apart the holy one. It climbed on the black gold sword, making it brittle and unusable.
The grey one flew back, "I might not be able to last long..." It was becoming more and more powerful.
His eyes shone brighter as the Susanoo started to change again; it became huger in size. At the center of its forehead was a pentagon shape space for the grey one to be. It also protected him. He removed his carapace armor once inside. His eyes turned to Rinnegan, "let's try this one more time."
He flew with great speed, avoiding the hand, and punched the dark humanoid's face. The punch produced a tremendous shockwave pushing the dark humanoid back. At the same time, Susanoo's arms started withering away.
The Rinnegan in his eyes shone with blue light, and the Susanoo restored.
He attacked the body, again and again, pushing it back more and more. At the same time, his Rinnegan shined with blue light every time the Susanoo withered.
Massive Cero Oscuras appeared in Susanoo's hand as he pushed them in the dark humanoid's body. He removed the damage by using the Rinnegan.
If not for the high-speed regeneration, he wouldn't be able to keep it.
The grey one backed hundreds of meters away, "this will go nowhere." His energy attacks were weakened the moment it touched that black thing, whatever it was. His physical attacks weren't able to do any damage.
Just when he was worried about what to do. A figure appeared in the air beside him.
The grey one glanced at her, "Miyuki" she was the last person he expected to appear.
Miyuki looked back at him, "you must be the grey one."
The grey one sighed, "is that the name he gave me? That name lacks imagination."
Miyuki curled her lips without saying anything.
The grey one looked towards the dark humanoid that was still increasing in size. It was also, but this way, it would soon cover the area as far as the eye could see.
The grey one stared at the growing figure, "you shouldn't have come."
Miyuki's hair fluttered with the wind, "You cannot defeat it...your powers share the same source. Everything you throw at him would only make him stronger."
"I noticed that," The grey one said indifferently.
Miyuki looked towards the giant figure, "let me handle that."
The grey one appeared in front of her, "No if you get touched by that thing, you will die."
Miyuki shook her head, "I won't let that happen."
The grey one frowned, "I will find a way to handle that...go back."
Miyuki's eyes looked towards the grey one, "what part of him are you?"
The grey one narrowed his eyes, "his instinct."
Miyuki curled her lips, "Onii-sama said the first day, you weren't his instinct. After seeing you... I am sure you are..."
The grey one stopped her, "does he know?"
Miyuki thought about it, "I wonder."
The grey one sighed in defeat, "How do you plan to stop him. That thing is not just darkness. That is an amalgamation of all his negative feelings turned real, even his deepest desire. Normal methods won't destroy it."
Miyuki looked at the world that was becoming darker and darker; it seemed the darkness was eating light itself. When she was outside, she saw it, the painting looked like someone had spilled black ink. And it was spreading; before long, the whole dimension would be eaten by it.
"His deepest desire?" Miyuki murmured.
She took a deep breath before saying, "you should go back."
The grey one shook his head, "that would massively increase his powers. Currently, I am holding back most of his bloodline powers from powering that thing. If I go back..."
"I want to bring out most of Cocytus powers; I can't make sure Onii-sama is safe and keep you alive at the same time."
The grey one was taken aback, "You mean... I ...am ...in the way?"
Miyuki looked away with a bit of embarrassment on her face before nodding.
The grey one appeared in front of Miyuki; his eyes roamed over her from top to bottom. Miyuki had a blush on her face, "..."
The grey one patted her head with a smile, "to think without me noticing, Miyuki had grown up."
Miyuki looked at the grey one, whose body had started disappearing, "this time, I will take care of you..."
"I will be counting on you..."
Miyuki silently stared at the place where he disappeared. With his disappearance, a harsh howl resounded in the air. The last traces of light inside the dimension disappeared.
She could sense the darkness all around her, but it never touched her. It corrupted, killed, withered, decayed, twisted, distorted everything it grazed, yet it avoided her.
A loving smile appeared on her face as she gazed towards Tatsuya, "even now...you protect me."
Suddenly, a light shone behind Miyuki, "Come forth, Cocytus!"
A fog spread from her wherever it passed, the darkness disappeared. Soon, a shadow of a crystal tree formed behind her, "Cocytus... devour!"
The branches of the crystal tree started shaking, releasing more of the fog with their movement. The mist began to eat the darkness in the surrounding, spreading more and more. The dry, withered, lifeless world froze and disappeared the moment it was touched. Miyuki slowly walked in the air towards the colossus black humanoid whose height covered even the sky. In the great darkness cloaking the dimension, only those shining eyes were visible.
It moved its hand toward Miyuki, but slowly it was devoured by the fog. Soon the mist started covering its whole body, eating it. Miyuki glanced back at the tree at the center of it; a diamond-shaped black crystal was forming, "hold on a bit longer."
The crystal tree shook as even more fog came out of it. The size of the humanoid decreased more and more. At the same time size of the Cocytus started increasing.
The dimension inside the painting trembled every time the Cocytus grew. The Cocytus covered the sky, its branches reaching the ends of the land.
Fruits started growing on those branches. Colorful fruits that had a unique beauty to them.
The size of the dark humanoid shrunk; every time it shrank, the darkness was pushed back. The fog and mist devoured more of it, feeding back to Cocytus. The darkest black crystal that had formed at the center of the Cocytus trunk started turning white. The moment a bit of it turned white, Cocytus grew with accelerated speed.
The dark humanoid had shrunk enough that Tatsuya's shape was finally visible. The fog barely grazed Tatsuya's body, devouring the darkness that struck on his body.
He scarcely kept his eyes open; his lips moved as if trying to say something. Miyuki wrapped her body around his, hugging him, "Onii-sama...you should trust Miyuki more."
A smile appeared on Tatsuya's face before he closed his eyes. Miyuki closed her eyes and whispered, "devour the world ... Cocytus."
From the outside, the Myriad Painting started slowly turning white. Rather than rivers and lakes or the black ink that had completely covered the painting, a crystal tree appeared, covering the whole canvas.