Chapter 518 Battle on the surface, war behind scenes (part 4)
Chapter 518 Battle on the surface, war behind scenes (part 4)
To Daimon's surprise, the capricious sword suddenly showed interest in the monstrous mermaid after she used that trick to turn the Ghouls in those bizarre creatures, Disaster wasn't exactly interested in devouring the mermaid, but that energy she used.
Which is a lot to say, considering it didn't show the least interest even on the back layer of mineral around the core of that high stage Stellar rank which now served under Daimon, that made him wonder what was the difference between the nether he has seen so far and this one.
Daimon extended his hand and firmly grabbed Gram whose edge was covered in both light mana and light battle aura, that wasn't originated from Daimon. 𝚋e𝚍n𝚘ve𝚕.𝚘𝚛𝚐
Narasha was her own separated existence and while as of current she isn't either a mage or a knight, because she doesn't have a body, that works in her favor, she is in a unique kind of situation, because her grimoire basically gave her the ability to access Gram's form.
But that is something that is applied to Disaster or at least that's what both she and Daimon previously believed, but it turned out to not be the case.
When Daimon wielded Gram, the spells and skills he used were counted as his, as they used his mana and AP depending on the case, but then when Narasha learned the spells and skills of Gram, she could use them as well.
It added more weight to her affirmation of being Daimon's battle companion, with Narasha, Daimon could fight without having to use his own mana or even stamina, because she took the burden, in case you wonder why is that important, well, the answer is that in the previous attack where Daimon destroyed all of Adam's defenses including his armor, he used 70% of his stamina in a single go.
It's not like the light idiot was too strong, it was Daimon who became too strong, so much that if not for his monstrously tough body and the hellish training Aura made him go through, he would have exploded due to the tension that forcing his way to the Arch rank caused him.
'Damn it, that felt exactly as when I tried to use my Manifestation Phenomenon with all my affinities back then… the only result was me being lectured by them', thought Daimon as he wielded Gram.
"I'll take the vanguard, you support me from the sides", Freya saw that Daimon's previous overwhelming strength had disappeared, and he should now be around the level of a middle stage Arch rank.
Bur before she could notice a white flash passed next to her, turning into a silver haired masked youth who was wielding two swords, that appeared in front of the monstrous mermaid the next second.
"Boooom!", the black metal whip of Karla clashed with the Comet Sword, which eliminated the mana on the whip, then what followed was the physical clash of Gram against the whip, the result was an explosion of energy and a shockwave.
To the monstrous mermaid's surprise, the result was a tie, both attacks were cancelled and they both were forced backwards, which wouldn't have been a bad result if it wasn't for the fact that she just saw Daimon's "strongest" state a moment ago, meaning that if he can use that power again, she'll be the one to lose, not to mention he wasn't fighting alone, she still had to consider Freya into the equation.
'Shit, why is this happening when I'm so close… that guy managed to strike down that little idiot, ah, damn it', she inwardly screamed as she casted a shield made of black energy, to block a light bolt that was shot at her by Freya, to then move backwards, just in time to dodge Daimon's slash.
"Shouldn't hero's fight in an honorable way, what is this 2v1…", the monstrous mermaid tried gain some time, but she hadn't even finished her sentence, when one of her fingers was cut by Gram, she did manage to avoid the arrow that Freya shot at her though.
"Tsk", Karla created a wall with her black energy to gain some distance, but she had barely moved when Gram cut through the wall as Daimon charged towards her, the reason as to why he ignored Freya's suggestion, is that she is obviously not a long-ranged attacker, she was using the cross bow because she had no other choice, but her shooting skills weren't on par with the whip skills of the enemy, since that wasn't her main weapon.
It was easy to notice it, because she was using the cross bow as a blunt weapon to clash against the whip, but even then, she couldn't get the upper hand, which was perfectly normal, unlike Karla, who has had all the resources of Kerrol at her disposition, Freya was imprisoned, Daimon was surprised that she had enough energy left to maintain a fight.
'Just apply pressure on her, if you create an opening for me, I can end it with a single attack, but it has to be perfect because I can only do it once', Freya heard Daimon's voice sounding in her ears and she nodded.
But then the monstrous mermaid who seemed to have taken a harsh decision, since her body had dried up even more, clapped her hands and a wave of black water emerged from her.
Daimon frowned as he saw red spiked chains coming out of the water, before the corroded head of a black shark emerged from the water, the very moment that strange magic beast appeared, the silver armored Freya trembled before her mana exploded out of her body.
"You… what the hell did you do!", she was clearly angered as she rushed towards Karla, but Daimon stopped her from doing so by extending his arm and intercepting her with Gram.
"Don't fall for her tricks, that isn't a corpse puppet, she just gathered a bunch of random meat and bones and gave it that form to mess with you", he said as his eyes glowed behind his mask.
Ahead, right at the place where Freya would have arrived, the air waved before a second shark's head became visible, it didn't appear out of nowhere using a spatial ability, since they were sealed in this place, no, it was a head that was connected to the body of the chained thong, growing from its own neck, that black water was actually part of that creature.
It was a good trick, but it was futile in front of Daimon's infinity eyes, he could see the flow of mana of that thing, and it was just a huge mess, with different frequencies, colors and forms, in other words, that thing was basically an abomination, similar to the failed results of the undead research to create a strong artificial being.
But there was a difference, while the abominations were absolutely loyal to their creators, that thing was a mass of destructive instincts, which would explain the chains that were tying it to the mermaid.
The monstrous mermaid glared at Daimon, ever since that masked youth appeared, her plans have been going down the drain, even the little toy she managed to put her hands on, was defeated in a single attack.
'What the hell is going on, where did that bitch found such an irregularity, he isn't a damn system user and he is already this damn strong, if she manages to regain her powers… no I can't let them be!'.
"What are you waiting, go and kill them all, that's what you were created for!", shouted Carla, red electricity coursed through the chains and the creature roared as it completely came out of the black water wave.
Freya who had lost her cool earlier, calmed down as she saw the true appearance of the creature, only the head was that of a shark, the body was similar to that of a snake and it had the tentacles of a jellyfish, it also had lumps of meat from different creatures here and there, an abomination in all the meaning of the word.
"Sorry, I lost my cool for a second, I hate to admit it but I'm lacking potency with this weapon, so I'll hold that thing and also provide suppressive fire to create openings for you… that crazed woman must die here, if she manages to leave this planet, a disaster will follow", said the silver armored Freya.
Daimon nodded, Freya clearly wanted to kill the mermaid with her own hands, but she was willing to give up whatever feud she had, as long as the enemy died, meaning things had gotten way more serious after she saw that creature.
Apparently neither she or the monstrous mermaid could harm the other, without the weapons they were using, but the sea abomination wasn't included in that, meaning it was a better match for Freya who was using a weapon that didn't go along with her, while Daimon could take on Karla.
In any case, this worked in Daimon's favor, because the monstrous mermaid seemed to have a limited amount of that special nether, and she only used it for her strongest attacks or when she lost her cool, luckily using it or not didn't depend on her, if she didn't want to, Daimon just had to make her use it.
"The level of that thing is erratic, so it's hard to pinpoint how strong it is based on its realm, also be careful of every part of its body", Karla heard Daimon casually revealing some of the hidden abilities of her creature and she gritted her teeth.
"Can't you piss off already, who the hell are you, why are you getting in my way!", she shouted as she charged towards Daimon, followed by the giant sea abomination, whose eyes were bloodshot.
Freya took the initiative to become a silver flash and then shot a barrage of light bolts at the sea abomination, unlike her previous stagnated situation, the arrows easily pierced the body of the sea abomination making black smoke come out of the wounds.
"Roaaarr!", the creature screamed in pain, but it didn't stop its attack, but that was what Freya wanted, she had successfully drawn the attention of the abomination, and now the stage was clear for Daimon to fight the mermaid.
Daimon smirked, his image flashed as he appeared in front of the mermaid, he swinged his swords down aiming at her chest, which of course Karla didn't allow, she used her whip to block, or that was the idea, but then Daimon's Comet Sword released a stream of flames burning her face.
"Arghhh, go to hell!", the flames didn't leave a deep wound, but the pain es excruciating, which made Karla's body exude that black mist in a try to push Daimon away, but to her horror, while Daimon did move backwards, her black mist was sliced by Gram and "disappeared" the next second, in exchange the light mana and battle aura covering Gram's edge increased.
"Tsk", the monstrous mermaid clicked her tongue remembering how Daimon played that Archduke to death, by using those white flames to take over the enemy's attacks, unfortunately she didn't have the time to think things through, she had to move to dodge a light arrow that was blatantly aimed at her face.
At the other side of the battlefield, Freya was bravely clashing against the sea abomination, she was literally beating the hell out of the thing, using her own hands and legs, while she also shot light arrows at Karla, now that she wasn't at disadvantage due to external things, her fierce nature came to light.
Daimon took the change to appear behind the monstrous mermaid and then swinged Gram at her, forcing Karla to block with her whip, but then she noticed the white flame sword was aiming at her face once again, which infuriated her.
"Bastard, do you think I'll fall for the same twice, turn into a puddle of putrid meat!", her body suddenly radiated waves of black mist, this was the one Daimon has been aiming at, this mist had the sensation of death imbued into it, something that only those who have stared at death up-close before would notice, and for Daimon who experienced that at the mere age of five, how could he ever forget that feeling.
That being said, such a trivial thing wouldn't make him wave ever again, with a swing of his right hand, he used Gram to clash against the black mist waves.
"Clang!", the sounds of metal colliding followed by sparks was the result of the clash, with some effort Daimon ultimately managed to cut through the black waves of energy with Gram, just in time to block Karla's whip with his Comet Sword.
"It seems free-form energy is easy for you to deal with, let's see how you counter a technique that doesn't exist in a mere bumkin level galaxy, like the one you come from!", Karla took the offensive this time.
Her whip swinged at Daimon, while the black energy waves kept being radiated from her body, for her the energy was ethereal not being obstructing her movements at all, but for Daimon it was solid, and he was forced to attack it or it would reach his body, all the previous while blocking the hard to predict attacks of the mermaid's whip.
As they flashed through the battlefield, small cracks and cuts started appearing all over the silver ethereal armor that Freya casted upon Daimon, which only made Karla's spiked teeth mouth widen in a smile.
"Once that bitch's protection vanishes, I'll turn you into mincemeat and feed you to my pets!", the monstrous mermaid whose body had turned into a black stream of water, appeared above Daimon, her black metal whip which was overflowing in that dark energy, solidified as she slashed down.
"Booom!", the impact was no joke, since Karla had realized that physical attacks were more effective against Daimon, she was somehow solidifying the energy she controlled, essentially, she went from fighting as a mage to fight as a knight, while not giving the sensation of being either of them.
Once the explosion caused by the clash of Gram and Daimon's Comet Sword against the black whip and those strange black waves of energy, dispelled, a Daimon whose protection from Freya had started to fall off from his body, was revealed.
In comparison, the monstrous mermaid hadn't taken any more damage since her face was slightly burned earlier, that being said the color of her dark energy had started to change, from a deep pitch black to a less dark tone.
"As one would expect from such a stupid woman, to think that even in this situation she is constantly replenishing the energy of that protective technique, she is using you to try and tire me out, you know?", Karla's voice had a magnetic tone as she spoke to Daimon, who looked at the other battlefield from the corner of his eyes.
The silver armored woman was massacring that abomination non-stop, but the thing kept regenerating, since all she was using were those light arrows, instead of her silver energy, well it would be more accurate to say that the abomination was replacing the missing parts and filling the holes in its flesh, with spare flesh that came from those lumps, a tactic prepared to deal with the purifying effect of light over extremely negative natured beings.
"Oh really, it seems to be working though, your mana has gotten thinner since you are maintaining that thing as well, eventually you'll fall behind and then I'll behead you", said Daimon as he increased the output of his Comet Sword tot hen swing it towards Karla.
A white flame wave flew through the battlefield, cleanly dividing the dark energy being radiated by the mermaid who was taken by surprise due to the sudden explosion.
"Arghhh!", Karla dodged sidewards and managed to not be split in half, but her timing wasn't perfect and so, her whole right arm all the way from her shoulder was cut and then engulfed in white flames, which invaded her body forcing a lung-tearing scream out of her.
Once the white flash caused by the energy of the Comet Sword being released in a single go, disappeared, the scene of an infuriated Karla as well as Daimon who was now only wielding a sword, was revealed.
Then to Karla's despair, she saw another white flame sword forming on Daimon's hand.
"Enough, come here, become my arms and legs!", the monstrous mermaid yelled and the sea abomination which was still clashing with Freya, turned into a black water stream that returned to her creator's side.
Freya also rushed to Daimon's side, seeing the protection she casted on him, having been destroyed past repair she frowned.
"I don't have enough energy to cast that on you again… we have to finish her with a single attack, I'll be the bait and create an opportunity, use your strongest attack and I'll add my left-over energy into it", she mumbled, just to see Daimon shaking his head.
"No, you already did what you were supposed to do, I'll be more than enough to deal with that", said Daimon as he saw the black stream of water enter the body of the mermaid.
As a result, her body grew taller as spiked teeth mouths appeared all over her, followed by tentacles with snake heads sprouting out of her back, but the physical change wasn't that impactful, Karla was already monstrous to begin with after all.
What really caught the eye was the pressure she was exuding right now, that black energy which was bathing her was twisting and changing, forming different things, which were the parts of the sea abomination, she couldn't fully control it.
"I was saving this for later, but you all can go die, once I slaughter till the last native of Kerrol, I'll be able to finally leave this stupid prison, it's a shame that you won't be alive to see what I will do once I'm out, Freya", said the monstrous mermaid whose face had deformed past recognition.
Then to Freya's surprise, the snake heads at the end of the tentacles, opened their mouths and started inhaling the nearby energy, to the point that the silver metal space started to be affected, it was slightly similar to what Daimon did a moment ago, but on a much slower and weaker ratio.
In exchange, the black energy around her recovered its pitch-black color, and then spread all over the place, Freya immediately extended her hands creating a silver-colored barrier around both she and Daimon, just to be speechless after seeing him casually leave the barrier.
"What are you…", Freya was about to question Daimon, when she saw that all the ruckus outside of the barrier suddenly stopped, there was no more energy storming all over the area or pressure, the space had returned to its calm.
That being said Karla's body was trembling, as she glared at the masked youth with horror filling her eyes.
"Y-You, what did you do to me!", she shouted, her body wasn't responding, no matter what she tried to do, she was only able to talk but nothing else, her safety treasures weren't responding at all, much less the sea abomination which should be automatically attacking everything but her.
"You know, part of the difficulty of this trial, was the fact that there are no seas in Kerrol, at most there are small water bodies here and there, while most lays underground, and then you go out of the way and summon such a "strong" sea magic beast", he said.
Daimon's upper face was covered by the mask of the Hollow Suit, so Freya and Karla couldn't see the vertical yellow lines that appeared in his pupils, as Daimon used the innate ability of the Ruler of the Sea, in other words he had taken full control over the sea abomination created by Karla, and since she had fused with it, she was also under Daimon's control.
Naturally, the thing was resisting and Karla was resisting even more, unfortunately for them, Daion in his normal state could control a peak Arch ranked Black Tooth, back when the Goblin Shark didn't want to obey.
So, in his current Mage and Knight Lord status, that half Stellar rank magic beast was just a free minion for him.
"For someone that considered Adam a pawn, you aren't that better either, whatever I have to thank you for being a third rate villain who uses her "final form" after some provocations, instead of striking down enemies with fulminating strength right out of the bat, when you have nothing to gain from them", said Daimon as he approached Karla, Gram in his hand dispelled and then a one edged black sword took its place.
"How is it, I even "cooked" this snack for you, so you better don't be picky this time", said Daimon as he felt Disaster's enthusiasm, it was almost the same as when the capricious sword wanted to destroy the trident earlier.
Daimon just applied pressure on Karla, until she was forced to enter her best state, he didn't expect that she would fuse with that abomination, though, that was a bonus, he was going to use his second chance of Core Synchrony to finish it, before allowing Disaster to devour the dark energy of the mermaid, but things ended up playing on his favor.
And now, Karla's body was overflowing with that dark energy, she used everything she had, to fuse with the sea abomination, and it was that energy what was keeping it together.
Daimon saw the snake heads which were still absorbing mana, trying to find a way out of this situation and he smirked.
"What's that poor imitation of energy devouring skills, the real "Devour" looks like this…", with Daimon's words, Disaster's red bordered black energy exploded out of the sword, covering the whole space.
Freya immediately raised her guard, as she felt the predatory sensation radiated by Disaster, but that disappeared when Daimon flicked the capricious sword with his finger.
"She helped to "cook" your meal, don't be ungrateful, also don't even think on killing that thing, take what you wanted and then go to sleep", he ordered.
The black sword trembled as if it was complaining, but ultimately seemed to agree, based on the fact that Freya stopped feeling any danger from that one-edged black sword.
"N-No, wait, please nooooo!!!", Freya's despaired scream echoed through the whole area as Disaster's energy engulfed her, flooding everything in its path, creating a black and red tsunami.
The energy that Disaster doesn't devour, becomes part of its reserves and then turns into that black and red energy that carries and enhances its devouring property, which normally isn't needed.
The fact that the capricious sword used such a large part of its reserves, meant that what it was devouring was something amazing, at least it's the first time Daimon sees it so excited about something, besides when he poured in his energy into Disaster back when Narasha became his soulmate.
The black tsunami receded at an incredibly fast speed until all that energy was absorbed by Disaster, who then fell "asleep", naturally with Narasha being the one with the reigns, there was no problem, she could take over the control over the black sword, though her specialty was Gram.
Due to the previous, Karla and the sea abomination were separated, while the sea abomination fell from the sky, loudly crashing against the ground, not too far from Adam.
In comparison, one might even believe that Daimon helped Karla, because she no longer had that monstrous-like appearance, and instead now looked like a mermaid from the other part of the myths, apparently that light blue haired disguise she was using before, was her real appearance, before something changed it.
"What did you do, you bastard!", that being said, she wasn't exactly happy about it, her recovered beauty didn't even last ten seconds, before her skin started withering until she had aged until she seemed to be a centimeter away from her grave.
"Well, that was the easy part, now, time for some answers", said Daimon as he looked at both the old half-dead mermaid and the silver armored Freya.