The beam was potent, and it pushed Verius thousands of meters before he was able to stop his body. When the Angelic Paragon saw the condition in which that single attack left him, he was shocked.
The left side of his body had grown hundreds of years older in an instant. His right arm was mummified and appeared it would turn to dust in the next second.
The Law of Fear and the Law of Withering was wreaking havoc inside his body, and they were trying to crawl their way into his consciousness.
Luckily for the Angelic Paragon, his bloodline gave him an excellent resistance to the Law of Fear. Still, against the Law of Withering, the only path he had was redirecting some of his energy to contain it.
Totto's attack surprised Nero and the Fallen. It was not the power in the beam that amazed them, but the fact that the Lich was able to absorb part of the Law Avatar of his opponent and transform it into his power.
That feat was due to the artifacts fused into the Lich body and his ingenious approach over the Law of Fear. Instead of letting fear run wild, he transformed his body into a beacon that siphoned all of it, taking it away from others and transforming it into his power.
This path was certainly not a conventional one, and many could doubt its might, but the Lich had demonstrated the power it could reach.
Totto did not wait for his opponent to regain his focus. Along with the Reaper, they went back to the fray.
When Verius saw the glooming figure of the Reaper coming back at him, all the fear in his heart transformed into wrath.
"YOU, GODDAMN BEAST!" Without concern for the consequences, Verius started to burn his life force, which made his power burst.
Verius was not only burning part of his life force; he was burning all of it at an accelerated speed. It would be a miracle if he were able to remain alive for more than fifteen minutes at this rate.
But it was precisely that which made his strength grow immensely. His Law Avatar increased three times his size, and the skulls became giant skeletons.
A colossal hand made by shadows and skeletons was formed. It mimicked Verius' movements and threw a punch at the Reaper with devastating strength.
When Totto saw the power of Verius' Law Avatar, he was astonished. Despite his cowardness and hypocrisy, the Angelic Paragon was worthy of being the second strongest Fallen and owner of an Emperor bloodline.
But unlike his power in the Lich's eyes, there was no fear at all. Without hesitation, he made the Reaper respond to the attack.
The shadowy skeletal hand was almost as big as the entire body of the Reaper. The latter focused all of his power into the Hand of Sorrow.
The moment both hands clashed, an immense power was released. It reached the point where the space around the collision broke. The shockwave released extended for kilometers, and it had the ability to evaporate Rank 2 life forms and fatally injure those at Rank 3.
The difference in power between the Law Avatars was significant, but the moment the Reaper touched the shadowy skeletal hand, the Eye of Despair was able to steal some of its power and transferred it to the Hand of Sorrow.
Despite the impressive application of the Law of Fear, the Reaper could not equal Verius' Law Avatar that was strengthened by his life force.
The Lich and the Reaper were fired like a cannonball. This time it was Totto's turn to fight the energies his opponent's attack left in his body.
Luckily the energy that corresponded to the Law of Fear was not very harmful to the Lich, and he could even absorb it to heal himself. But the Law of Shadows was a different subject, and he was forced to use some of his negative energy to contain it.
"Hahahaha, that is true power, you disgusting beast, now die!" Madness filled Verius' eyes as he felt the immense power inside him. He thrust himself at Totto like an enraged monster.
The Lich was able to gain control of his body in an instant. When he saw the crazy Angelic Paragon coming at him with that colossal Law Avatar, he launched himself back to the battle and made the Reaper clash with that shadowy skeletal hand.
Totto was the loser once again, but his mastery over the absorption of the Law of Fear grew stronger, reducing the difference in power between the two Law Avatars.
Every time both hands clashed, they released powers that could destroy cities and kill millions of people. Despite being hundreds of kilometers in the sky, their clashes made the ocean go wild and gigantic waves were created whenever the two giants clashed against each other.
The air around them had become poisonous due to the energies they were releasing. That level of pollution would be enough to make a place uninhabitable for decades and mutate flora and fauna.
The power their clash released reached the level of destruction a Law Engraving existence could create and neither of them planned to contain themselves.
Totto's body was taking great damage with every clash, but those wounds were of little concern for the Lich. He had an undead body, and its only purpose was to contain part of his energy and protect his soul.
After every clash, he launched himself back to battle with a great fighting spirit. His absorption of the Law of Fear increased with every encounter. However, even after hundreds of collisions, the Reaper could still not equal the shadowy skeleton hand fueled by the life force of the Angelic Paragon.
Verius' eyes reflected complete insanity, and there was a crazy smile on his face as he continued fighting and burning his life force. His body had grown decrepit, and he resembled a hundred years old mortal.
As they were about to clash again, Verius consumed an enormous amount of life force in an instant, which made his Law Avatar grow even stronger.
Totto was taken by surprise by the actions of the Angelic Paragon. The shadowy skeletal hand was too powerful, but in the instant that the Reaper touched it, he pushed the powers of the Eye of Despair to the maximum.
The immense concentration of fear made a qualitative change appear on the energy gathered in the left eye of Totto and the Reaper.
The Lich was still pushed backward for kilometers after the clash, and his chest was blasted apart, letting some of his organs visible. If not for the Hand of Sorrow being strengthened by that new power, maybe his entire body would have been shredded to pieces.
The worst part of the damage to Totto was the one done to his consciousness, which proved a pain that made him think his head was being split apart.
Despite the great damage that the surprise attack achieved, the one who received the worst wounds was Verius. Burning so much life force in an instant made his entire blood evaporate, and some of his vital organs had become dust.
But all of that was of little concern for the Angelic Paragon, who had already given up life.
"Hahahaha." Verius released a hysterical laugh when he saw the deplorable condition of Totto.
The Lich ignored the Angelic Paragon's attitude, but a peculiar light appeared in his eyes as he remembered the power he felt running through him when he pushed the Eye of Despair to the limit.
When Zatiel found out the nature of Verius' power, he had recommended for the Lich to take the fight against him. The reason the Neo-Demon told him that was so Totto could have a higher understanding of what could be achieved when the fear reached a high enough level.
Zatiel advice was essential for Totto, and he made sure to obtain this fight.
"I guess I understand a little now. It is time to finish this game!" An immense might was released from Totto when he spoke those words, something you would not expect to find in a man with his chest destroyed, and consciousness hurt.
When the enraged Verius heard those words, he sneered and refused to believe that the Lich could grow stronger.
He was not the only one since the Fallen behind Nero thought the same. It was not that they thought Totto was weak; on the contrary, his power had reached such a high level he could fight a Peak Rank 4 Angelic Paragon who was burning his life force without him having to do the same. They could not understand how he could grow even more powerful; after all, existences like Nero and Heinz were very rare.
The Lich used actions to prove his words. He made the energy inside him explode, and a scythe made of shadows appeared on the Reaper's hands.
"Gate to the Underworld." An eerie sound accompanied Totto's voice, and the Reaper roared before waving his scythe and creating a portal in the space above them.
