Boom!!
The man was sandwiched by the two sides of the capital. The gravity force was too powerful that the whole part was being compressed.
Souta gritted his teeth as he used all of his got to crush his opponent's body. The gravity force that he was using reached the upper limit to the point that he could bend the light in Imperium.
Bang!!
An explosion erupted as a figure burst out from the smoke, flying through the air with insane speed. The man's body was covered in blood. Even with his strength, he couldn't completely block the crushing force of the enormous gravitational field.
"If you want to kill me, you will take more than that."
The man said as he flew towards Souta. He raised his scimitar and charged energy on the blade. His elemental power was concentrated around it as flames and waters intertwined together without opposing each other.
"Even though I'm pretty much ordinary among my level, a mere fourth stage monster will not be able to defeat me easily."
Yes, if he was strong he wouldn't have to hide in the dark. He wouldn't have to fear the surrounding Holy Lands and Large Countries. The man knew he was weak. That's why he kept hiding in the Hall Plains in fear of those powerful organizations.
Souta's appearance in Hall Plains shook him at first. He thought that the Athen's Champion realized his plan but it seems that he was only imagining things. Also, Souta brought him hope. He thought that he wouldn't be able to find it but who would have thought that it was within the legion of a Holy Land?
Yeah, his opponent was pretty normal at his level. Souta knew it but still, the man was a strong foe for his current level. Even the Leader of the Rebel Army in the Subterranean World was slightly stronger than this man. Back then, he relied on the power of Grain Leader Darwin to exhaust the Leader of the Rebel Army.
Now, he could already go toe to toe to someone at this level with the usage of all of his aces. It was impossible before but Souta was stronger than he was in the war.
"Yeah, the mere fourth stage you are talking about is going to beat you to death!"
Souta laughed as he quickly placed his hand on the small bag on his waist and took out a small hourglass. This was the second dark-grade artifact that Alexander gave to him.
"I'm really glad that I help Alexander. That guy is pretty generous. Who would have gifted a dark grade artifact to someone?"
The [Burning Ring Seal], [Goblet of the Night], and [Darkness Time] were spinning around him. These three dark grade artifacts were emitting intense energy fluctuations that made the atmosphere boil.
[Goblet of the Night](Dark): A goblet of an ancient king. It was a tool used to create Shadow Prime Water and it possessed insane dark attributes.
Effect: +200 Strength, 150+ Vitality, +100 Dexterity, +100 Agility, +200 Energy, +100 Stamina, +10 Energy Recovery, +100% Resistance to Darkness, +50% Affinity to Darkness
Skill(s): [Carpet of the Night], [Darkness Sweep]
[Darkness Hourglass](Dark): An hourglass of a powerful rogue expert in the past. He created this artifact using all the knowledge he had gathered on his journey.
Effect: +200 Vitality, +100 Strength, +50 Agility, +50 Dexterity, +150 Energy, +100 Stamina, +20 Energy Recovery, +50% Dark Damage, +50% Darkness Affinity
Skill(s): [Darkness Time], [Shadow Rewind], [Traceless World]
The small hourglass emitted a dim dark light. Shadows enveloped Souta's huge body as he felt energy coursing through his veins, empowering his entire body.
[Darkness Time]
As long as it was night it would add three hundred stat points to each of his attributes with the expense of his energy. The only downside was that he couldn't use this equipment skill when the sun was up.
"Argh!!"
Souta faced the man. They wrestled in the air as both of their bodies slide through the ground. With another collision of their weapons, the two fighters were blown away by the extreme shockwave.
The man grunted as the scimitar in his hand blurred. In the next second, hundreds of shockwaves were sent in Souta's direction.
Souta narrowed his eyes as he flew around while swinging the weapon in his hand, dispersing the shockwaves that were sent at him. Then, he jumped and slashed in the air, hurling dozens of crimson energy blades.
The man stepped to the side and avoided the energy blades but he saw that Souta vanished from his position. He quickly turned around and swung his scimitar.
"Teleportation? What a good spell you have there!"
The man laughed and Souta tried his best to deflect the attack. Souta gritted his teeth and loosen his grip on the handle of his weapon. The flesh that was attached to the sword was also removed.
Souta grabbed the man's wrist and pulled him closer. Then, he kneed him in the stomach before he launched a barrage of punches.
[Transforming Shadow Barrage]!!
The man received hundreds of punches filled with overbearing darkness in just a second. He struggled and managed to swing his scimitar after a few seconds but he already received a huge damage.
Swoosh!
Souta sidesteps and grabbed the vajra sword in the air. Then, he thrust it forward. The man stomped the ground causing flames to burst out. The flames erupted turning into a raging tide that rush in Souta's direction.
Bang!
Souta didn't fall back. Instead, the spider limbs on his back charged [Bestrou] and he executed [Crimson Moon] skill. Blood flowed beside him and turned into a solid shell. The blood shell closed after he launched his skills.
BOOM!!
The collision caused a huge shockwave followed by a terrifying suction force that sucked everything in the center of the impact. Then, it exploded hurling energy lights everywhere. The two sides of the royal capital that were floating were smashed. Each side turned into small fragments that flew away like a meteor carrying intense energy.
The spectacle flared up thousands of meters above the ground. The light from energy illuminates the entire sky creating a galaxy-like formation. It was beautiful yet terrifying at the same time.
Princess Yaniesvyl and the other survivors saw this scene several dozens of kilometers away. They couldn't help but gasp at how such a beautiful scenery was the effect of the battle from two extremely powerful fighters.
This was their first time seeing a battle of this scale.
"Huff... Huff..."
Souta was breathing heavily as his body was full of wounds. His armor was full of cracks and his left arm was gone. He felt tired but he could still fight for several rounds. His [Element Drive] could still last for twenty minutes.
He didn't realize it but he was fighting straight for almost two hours against a powerful opponent. All the energy he had in his [Nebula Heart] was drained. All that was left was the monster orb but it still had sixty percent left so he could still fight for a while.
Souta gritted his teeth as his left arm grew back. Black armor covered it once again. His parasite wasn't exhausted. It could still help him.
The man was also injured albeit his condition was better than Souta's. He turned his head as he felt something. After a few moments, he smiled and said, "It seems that the mission is complete."
He turned his attention back to Souta and added, "Without you, we wouldn't be able to accomplish it. So you'll fall now. You're much more dangerous than the intel. Still, you're not worthy of using the Blood Sacrifice."
The man turned his back to Souta.
Souta's pupils shrank. He trembled as felt the twin spirits were stained. They went back to the bracelet. He couldn't even believe that the two spirits got defeated. They were as strong as his release form without any power from his artifacts.
Swoosh!!
Six shadows appeared above. They were descending down at high speed. Before Souta could even react, they arrived above him.
'Shit!'
Souta cursed but it was too late. Several blades pierced through his tough body. He felt intense pain coursing throughout his body.
Bang!
Souta was slammed to the ground as the six people surrounded him.
The ground suddenly shook heavily and a huge energy flared up in a far distance.
Souta couldn't help but turned his head. His eyes shrank as he saw a huge mountain rose into the horizon. The mountain pierced through the clouds, reaching ten thousand meters above the ground.
"What is that?" Souta muttered to himself.
The mountain was bloody red. It was emitting a black ominous smoke and various roots spread out in the sky.
The man stared at the huge mountain. He smiled and said, "It has begun. I need to go now before it's too late."
He looked at Souta and said, "I will go now. I hope you enjoy your remaining time in this world."
Then, his figure shot through the sky, heading toward the bloody mountain with insane speed. The six people also turned around and flew.
Souta smirked and said, "Do you really think that it's easy to escape from me? It seems that strange mountain is important to you so you have to get on there as soon as possible but... I will prevent you from achieving your goal."
The small hourglass spun around. It emitted a strange black energy before it quickly spread out as if it was a root.
[Traceless World]!!
"I will delay you with all of my might!"
