BXBX NOVEL Chapter 1214: The One Left Standing (28)
Chapter 1214: The One Left Standing (28)
Without a second thought, Replicus maxed out the output for [Neutral Maximum] with a skill he had been gifted from the Second Layer of the Empyrean Hatcher: [Maximum Constant].
The purple-gold glow around him practically exploded, becoming roughly six meters thick in order to combat the glow of the massive gem, which had turned out to be an empowered [Heart of Revelation]!
\'It\'s still getting fried through!\' Replicus thought anxiously. White smoke was rising from around his [Neutral Maximum] as it collided with the aggressive light. Had he not increased the output of [Neutral Maximum] just now...
\'Is that thing this effective without the need of that trick of his now?!!
It seemed like it. Territories enabled many impossibilities, after all.
Replicus balled his hands into fists.
He felt his mana getting depleted extremely quickly.
[Maximum Constant] had a voracious cost, which was fitting given what it allowed. It was like
a more specific version of [Neutral Maximum]. It allowed the user to keep one aspect of themselves working at maximum performance for as long as they had mana to spare.
\'I\'ll have to keep Neutral working on overdrive until-\'
"Scary," Skullius said, interrupting the Soul-Burdened Warmoth\'s thoughts. "Your adaptability with that skill is impressive. But it won\'t last for long."
The thousands of ghosts of the CREATURE and the Stolen Angels began sinking into the darkness, becoming completely imperceptible.
Replicus cursed.
"When that defence of yours inevitably falls, I\'ll continue from where I left off earlier. I will cut up your cores, your voice, your resolve, and then that sickening weakness you have. And then you\'ll die."
Right when Skullius finished speaking, tens of voices rang through the darkness.
"GET CRUSHED!"
"|GET FLESHED!"
"|BURST!"
"GET WRUNG OUT!!"
"|EXPLODE!"
"|SELF-DESTRUCT|!"
...
Replicus roared in intense agony.
The darkness within the Territory seemed to rush forth and attempt to smother him with a plethora of cruel effects!
His [Neutral Maximum] worked wonders, however. If it were not operating at extremes, it might have been overwhelmed instantly, but it wasn\'t. It merely dimmed and thinned, but kept up.
Replicus was lost for breath for a moment. The power of [Evil Veneration] was frightening, but it wasn\'t all that Skullius had. Far from it.
Silence once again filled the Territory.
Replicus\' senses grew keen. He couldn\'t sense his enemies at all.
But then...
BAAM! BAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM!
Six Stolen Angels appear from nowhere and threw punches with all their might at the Soul- Burdened Warmoth!
The power behind these punches would have been enough to at least break a few of Jiggorrhax\'s scales. The weight, the Territory\'s enhancements and the power of several combat skills was empowering them after all.
Replicus held on, however. His [Neutral Maximum] thinned even more, but persisted.
The Stolen Angels sank back into the darkness.
Then... without notice, Replicus was suddenly buried in a flurry of empowered slashes!
He was alarmed.
How could there be so many?!
Couldn\'t Skullius only use his \'trick\' once at a time?!
This was what Replicus knew, but what he experienced now was different.
The slashes didn\'t stop!
They sliced, hacked, butchered, whipped, slashed and carved at his [Neutral Maximum]. Amidst the onslaught, Replicus\' figure vibrated so dramatically that he might have been experiencing a miniature, flesh-quake within himself!
[Neutral Maximum] couldn\'t handle it. It failed.
Replicus was left undefended for a split moment, and the light from the large gem overhead caught him, wiping away his flesh and bones like an eraser so that he appeared as a vague blue outline with brass bracers!
His copy of a soul, his cores, and everything else was revealed. Worse yet, his mana cores were now frozen. The basic effect of the Territory assaulted him at once!
...And then the thousands of CREATURES and Stolen Angels emerged from the darkness, already flinging themselves with shockingly well-coordinated attacks at the Warmoth!
Replicus roared in frustration. This was bad!
He couldn\'t hurt these enemies!
He couldn\'t fight to kill. All the ghosts fighting for Skullius were innocent people made into CREATURES. He couldn\'t simply slaughter them all. Wouldn\'t that be akin to wasting all the good Red Rage and Theurien had done? Wouldn\'t it be akin to wasting what Skullius had done - making the Chieftain Screens to better secure the Bryne Estate?!
But even if he disregarded all this and began killing wantonly, if he even could, what if Replicus mistakenly butchered Silrat or Theurien, those whom he truly cared for?!
Skullius had known he would hesitate.
But all these thoughts were too much of a luxury!
\'Not here! Not now!\'
Replicus\' Warmoth\'s Spine and Fallen Reincarnator\'s Shadow remained equipped.
The Soul-Burdened Warmoth wouldn\'t fall like this even if his access to mana was taken away, and by extension his Ju`wtte, and most of his skills!
\'I won\'t fall, especially to divine strength!\'
Even though his bones and flesh had been dissolved by the light, that didn\'t stop him from filling his lacking, humanoid outline with so much Null Life Essence that he easily recreated a caricature of his four arms and started flailing his two weapons at the enemies, blocking and parrying tens of swords and sword slashes that hacked at him from countless angles!
Many swords aimed at his cores especially, seeking to turn them into nothingness! Each slash was an empowered one with unlimited output, meaning that just one was enough
to end Replicus\' cores!
But the Warmoth persisted!
Since Null Life Essence was never a target for Territories, as mana couldn\'t recognise, much less counter it, he had an edge!
His movements were extremely fast. The Warmoth\'s Spine, being immune to concepts, was able to counter everything flung at him easily!
Yet still, even with this solution Replicus had crafted, he couldn\'t last long.
Since his flesh had been erased, the skills branded to his body were gone as well. He had no access to them. Furthermore, his Null Life Essence arms were not as quick as his original ones, and because using them was expending so many of his faculties at once, he couldn\'t do anything but defend. This wasn\'t sustainable.
If this continued, Replicus wouldn\'t last even a second and he was already halfway through it.
He needed his mana desperately.
\'That should work!\' he thought as his phantoms gave him many suggestions and acted.
At once, more Null Life Essence burst from his core and formed what looked like a vast mirror, or perhaps solid glass, near him. Five more of these were made in the next micro-instant, and to Replicus\' relief, they worked as intended. The light from the [Heart of Revelation] gem was reflected seamlessly!
Right then, Replicus\' flesh and bones were restored.
Pheew!
Even though he hadn\'t had access to the skill, Replicus, with the combined effort of his phantoms, had managed to manipulate his Null Life Essence with incredible precision to recreate the effect of the skill [Reflexive Null Cage]. He had learned this skill from the Null Terror, and then modified it with knowledge of how Caxellac used it. It was essentially a powerful shield of Null Life Essence that could reflect damage. Caxellac had been able use it against Replicus\' Crushing and Shocking Ju`wtte in their battle, successfully reflecting
damage.
It was miracle that Replicus had managed to do this without a skill, but also... odd.
But time didn\'t allow for philosophies and theories.
A moment later, Replicus\' Null plates were shredded into tiny pieces by the slashes, much to
his shock, but he made a herculean effort to formed them again.
BAAAM!
A Stolen Angel sneaked in between his Null plates, and hammered his head with a ridiculously
powerful punch. Replicus felt his entire body quake and then...
CRAAACK!
One of his mana cores cracked... and then burst!
The pain was excruciating!
BAAAAM!
A pair of fists blasted into Replicus\' sternum and he felt another core collapse!
The Warmoth lost focus, and two more cores were hacked to nothingness by a series of sword
slashes that had quickly taken down two of his Null plates before aiming for him!
"RAAAAAAARRRR!"
A bundle of Null Life Essence exploded from Replicus and crashed into the myriad of enemies,
pushing them back... but the attacks didn\'t stop.
Another core was lost!
Things were getting desperate.
If Replicus lost all his cores, then all was essentially lost!
He needed something.
He needed an out.
He needed inspiration! What to do.
What to do...
What to do!
...
\'RIGHT!\' Replicus thought with a mix of joy and panic.
His phantoms brilliantly came through!
Under the masked faces of the ghosts and the orange eyes of the Stolen Angel, a purple-gold
gleam, flickered around Replicus once, twice and then flared like the sun! [Neutral Maximum] had returned in full force, and was supported by [Maximum Constant]!
\'I-I did it!\' Replicus thought, but he couldn\'t wallow in self-praise for long.
The enemies didn\'t relent, and he couldn\'t either!
The real Skullius, hidden somewhere in the darkness of the Territory, frowned.
\'You\'re kidding me. That\'s cheating,\' he thought as he caressed his red mask. Replicus had overcome the quality of the Territory that paralysed all mana movements within
an opponent\'s body, which restricted the use of skills that required it as a fuel.
Oddly enough, Replicus hadn\'t skimmed over this effect. It was still affecting him, but he had
found a way to render it meaningless!
Skullius scoffed. \'No matter...\'
Right then...
[\'Infinite Sword God\' is evolving...]
[Congratulations, the Super Skill \'Infinite Sword God\' has evolved into the Supreme tier!]
[\'Infinite Sword God: Primordial Sword\' is now at your disposal]
[\'Greatest Mana Crafter\' is evolving...]
[You have acquired the Super Skill, \'Mana All-Father\']
Skullius grinned.
Yes.
His momentum was rising again.
The new developments quickly cascaded to his many CREATURES. They were enlightened,
their version of [Infinite Sword God] rising up qualitatively.
Replicus felt the change immediately. After all, a slash came his way that tore his flesh, slicing
him through... completely ignoring his Null plates... and his [Neutral Maximum]!