The Demon Monarch System

Astarat's War: Humans v. Terrors (IV)

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The sudden wave of pressure assaulting everyone on the battlefield surprised most soldiers for a brief moment. Although they were aware that the situation could get messy, they didn't expect for it to happen this early on, nor did it dawn on them that a single individual could release an aura that spanned across the entire Catastrophe Line.

Not only was the Catastrophe Line hundreds of thousands of meters long, but its width was nothing to scoff at either. So, just the fact that a single formidable aura blanketed the entire area was enough to cause some minor worries.

Fortunately, this single aura didn't overwhelm the Catastrophe Line for long as the Three Heavens unleashed their pressure in full effect as well. Despite their collective efforts, Solomon and the others only managed to create a standstill where the weaker members remained unaffected by Brukti's pressure.

'What a monster,' Solomon thought to himself with a faint frown. Solomon intended to suppress Brukti entirely, but obviously, they didn't accomplish that even with their combined auras.

"It's the Death Essence. He's converting the ambient Death Essence into pure power for himself," Soren said. Based on the flow of energy and the unusual glow on the gauntlet, Soren discerned the interaction occurring within the gauntlets.

In short, the gauntlet wrapped around Brukti's arm was the manifestation of Death Command in a perpetually active state. This way, Brukti's reliance upon invoking the command would disappear, effectively reducing the delay between his order and the effect taking place.

Now having increased his strength to another level, Brukti roared to the sky while also pointing the colossal axe skyward. A dense beam of toxic energies pierced the sky, parting the cloud as Brukti's actions caused a slight shift in that segment of the sky. Its original blue color changed into a green capable of instilling discomfort in others.

"Feed the Lord. Slaughter all these humans," Brukti commanded. Afterward, a wave of Death Essence moved towards the green pillar piercing the sky before disappearing without a trace.

However, its disappearance played an essential role.

The pillar faded shortly after as Brukti lowered his weapon. His malevolent green eyes darted to Solomon then Xezos before moving to Soren, who was not too far away. A slight grin appeared on Brukti's face as he suddenly jumped backward and slammed the axe against the ground.

Many massive chunks of rock filled the air as Brukti's maniacal laughter sounded from the other side. Then, a series of deafening bangs were heard as rocks the size of boulders flew towards Solomon and the others.

Immediately after, an arc of concentrated Death Essence sliced the rocks in half while maintaining a speed that made Solomon and the other's eyes widen.

'Damn this thing! Does his power know no end? How is it continuing to climb so drastically?' Soren wondered while gnashing his teeth. Fury surfaced in his eyes as he slid his hand down Gaelbolg's shaft, gently tracing his finger over a few of the dim inscriptions gracing its body.

Despite the lack of any wind, Soren's hair started to rise and sway as odd markings appeared on his cheeks. Both Valerie and Solomon sensed Soren's intentions and rushed to his side.

"Don't! It's far too early to activate Spiritualization! Once you do that, only one decision will remain," Solomon warned in a grim tone. His severe expression and deep voice conveyed a message that he didn't speak aloud. However, Soren seemed committed to seeing his action through.

"What's the point of attaining this level if we can't activate the power freely? Besides, it's not like I'm invoking the sacrificial power of an Avatar," Soren said. His gaze remained locked on the incoming wave as he understood the gauntlet empowered this attack to a level far more frightening than Brukti's last attack.

It was almost guaranteed that this attack would thoroughly destroy their Essence Aegis if left alone.

"Still, that's not the problem! You know how fast Spiritualization exhausts Spiritual Essence. The moment you exhaust your Spiritual Essence is the moment we start fighting a losing battle. Valerie won't be of much assistance if you can't fight alongside me," Solomon said. Although he was furious as well, he maintained a reasonable mind and kept his levelheaded demeanor.

Unfortunately, it was challenging to change Soren's mind once he determined to do something. Thus, the faint markings extending down Soren's cheeks darkened quickly as a torrential stream of Spiritual Essence burst from his body and turned into a pale blue aura that looked oddly similar to that of blue flames.

Of course, the appearance of this aura came from the basis of a Soul Temple, the fires of one's soul, otherwise known as Soul Embers. Soul Embers produced unimaginable power when combusted, but it also placed a significant burden on the Soul Temple.

Apart from simply burning the Soul Embers, combusting them meant that the user relied heavily upon their Spirit's current state. The stronger a Spirit, the more powerful the Spiritualization of their partner. What's more, a Normal Spirit could never sustain the link needed to contain the burning of Soul Embers.

Then again, it was impossible for a cultivator with a Normal Spirit to grow into a Soul Saint or even a Soul Emperor, for that matter, which was the prerequisite to activating Spiritualization.

As Soren was a wielder of a pseudo-Legendary Spirit, he didn't need to worry about failing Spiritualization. On the contrary, his Spiritualization was particularly powerful and alarming―a double-edged sword in the truest sense; hence, why Solomon suggested against activating this technique right now.

Soren completed the transformation right before the wave of energy reached them. With a simple downward swing of his spear, the wave halted. Then, similar to the sound of glass breaking, the toxic wave shattered as Soren made eye contact with Brukti.

His indifferent expression grew more proud as the blue flames of energy rolled off his body in droves. "I'll deal with you so that your mindless race devolves into chaos. However, I won't kill you, so you can witness as your imperfect race moves towards extinction."

"That'll never happen. You are not my match," Brukti retorted in an equally contemptuous tone.

Meanwhile, Solomon signaled towards Valerie. "You may have to use the Seraphic Exchange if it comes down to it. We can't risk losing Soren's combat power."

"I know. I'm willing to make the necessary sacrifices," Valeria responded. Despite her words, she didn't look too great as she knew the costs of recovering someone stronger than her. While it wouldn't kill her, her condition wouldn't be far from it.

Bang!

During their talk, Soren and Brukti made their move. Their exchange resulted in a cataclysmic tremor, followed by both sides retreating a few steps. However, whereas Brukti took some time to deal with the aftershock, Soren advanced without making an effort to do so.

A compact beam fired from his spear as six inscriptions instantly lit up on Gaelbolg. Even Solomon and Valerie could sense how dangerous the beam was because a faint spatial crack mirrored its trajectory. After the vague crack formed, it seemed as if the world quivered in response.

Evidently, Astarat's condition wasn't ideal. Attacks of this caliber ran the risk of damaging the sensitive source even further.

Brukti grunted in annoyance as he executed a heavy smash, using the sharp side of his axe to meet the attack. Due to his pride as a Disaster, Brukti felt this simple-looking attack was beneath him, but the reality was quite different.

Brukti's jaw dropped after he struggled to push aside the beam, slamming into countless boulders again and again. He even spat a thick blob of dark green blood as the beam caused half of the axe to sink into his chest.

"WHAT!?" Brukti roared indignantly. His underestimation of Soren ended up with him suffering a gruesome wound that even he would need to spare a lot of effort to heal. Of course, that would require the opportunity to do so.

Before Brukti could resolve the attack, Soren teleported before him and first kicked him, sending him flying into the earth. Afterward, he followed up with a devastating dive with his spear aimed directly at Brukti.

BOOOOOOOM!

The attack burrowed Brukti's body deep into the depth of the earth, forming a bottomless pit that extended further than either of them could sense.

A moment later, the symbols underneath Soren's eyes vanished as he exhaled. His face turned pale for a moment before gradually recovering a healthy glow. "Three attacks, yet I've exhausted over 40% of my essence."

"It was the right choice to deactivate it. What's more, that should buy us time to help anyone on the battlefield who requires assistance," Solomon said.

"You think so?" Soren replied. His expression grew uneasy while looking at the hole. "Even if I used Spiritualization, that was too easy of a defeat for a Disaster. I suspect this is only the beginning."

Not even two minutes later, the rocks near the pit rattled as a result of continuous quakes.

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