The emptiness persists in the heart of one who has no bond to hold onto. His meaningless nature gave him a sorrowful point of view: to see no meaning in anything. Gradually, he forgot his dreams and the comfort his belongings once brought him. For, at that moment, something finally made sense: violence.
"—Hahaha... Your meaningless technical explanations... Just to have everything I offer... You want to seek a fair fight, don't you? You are underestimating me far too much... Heheh... Moving that damn sword as if to trick my eyes, without even touching me... Maybe you are the only crazed hallucinator here, Khaelis Kaiwen... Not everyone seeks death, especially from so close."
But, at that moment, Igyris could not have been more wrong. His conclusion about Khaelis had been entirely shaped by a behavior that previously did not match that of the Noble he had already faced more than once. Igyris saw his own madness reflected, which was perhaps the only point he was right about.
"—No... Igyris, the accursed... I now sympathize with you... I see that... truly, we have all crossed unthinkable boundaries to be here right now... We are in the same boat... So, it is in my interest that we fight on equal terms until one of us falls... Besides... I think it would be more useful for you to pay attention to my explanations next time."
For, at that moment... Khaelis, without realizing it, carried by a liberating feeling from his own corruption, had reached an unexpected conclusion about himself.
Carrying the burden and honor of his brother was a necessary weight, yet something that had completely worn him down. Therefore, entertaining himself, even with a high chance of dying, was necessary.
But... Igyris had gained an early understanding through his senses, especially his vision. For, truly, Khaelis Kaiwen—in a way that in Igyris's eyes only bordered on the pathetic—had missed the chance to rip his head off.
"—Understanding the inner workings of my territory could save you..."
Relying solely on the sense of sight proved to be a mistake.
"—Hm?... What is he trying to achieve with this?... All of his actions... make absolutely no sense now... He has always sought direct, fatal attacks in order to finish me as quickly as possible... So, why... aren't you attacking me, Khaelis Kaiwen?..."
But, really... Igyris could not have been less precise; by seeing only a single line, his mistake lay in failing to see the variety of actions ahead of Khaelis. For Khaelis Kaiwen, by randomly moving the edge of the ShadowStorm in two different directions...
Fiush... fiush...
With a simple, seemingly useless act, delicately cutting through the air, he ended up releasing a thin layer of residual energy into the atmosphere, yet one as sharp as his blade.
"—I am really focusing on this, you know? The explanations... Still haven't understood how I destroyed the Four Pillars? It really isn't about speed... It is the movement of energy... Aren't you interested in knowing? How I move so fast inside here, how I seem to be everywhere at the same time... How I reduced the Pillars to tiny, filthy particles just by moving my arm?..."
Khaelis Kaiwen, at that moment, with a simple act, moved the ShadowStorm randomly, without a stance, without applying force to the slash or the movement. Merely by moving his blade, he spread his energy throughout the domain. Just through the relocation of energy, Khaelis Kaiwen had already attacked.
PSHEW... PSHEW.
At that moment...
"—ARGHHH!!!!!"
Like a luminous, silver flash born so quickly into existence, a divine, bright glow emerged—the result of the simple, unrestricted relocation of those two basic arm movements.
"—WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS???."
Igyris's two arms ceased to exist, consumed by thin, incessant waves of light, just like the Four Pillars. Following that, no blood or flesh remained, and the Flames did not even explode. For the ultimate rule of Khaelis's domain was the instantaneous relocation of energy between different numbered points of the domain. It was literally something that occurred in a simply incalculable manner, a completely relative speed. And when Khaelis released energy from any movement, including the simple act of swinging his blade, should he wish it, that energy would be consumed by a silver light that struck like a flash.
Seized by terror...
Vush!!!
Igyris threw himself backward, flattened by fear.
"—THIS SENSATION... HE DIDN'T EVEN MOVE FROM HIS SPOT AGAIN!!! IT'S NOT SPEED??? THEN WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS???."
And with this fundamental principle, any futile or seemingly useless act would be considered a fatal attack coming from any direction of the domain, from any numbered point; it was an extension of the slash itself. The entire energetic trail released by the ShadowStorm as it was swung was converted into this silver light.
FSHEW!!!!
Khaelis, by moving this silver light between these specific points, granted extreme freedom within the domain to this cutting energy load converted from the swing of his blade. And, utilizing the same principle he used to reduce the Four Pillars to atoms, Khaelis Kaiwen instantly and imperceptibly circulated this single cutting energy thousands of times in a single split second, surrounding Igyris's two arms. Before he could even realize it, his arms were also reduced to atoms.
"—The doubt is immense, isn't it? Well... allow me to explain it to you."
Once again, the silver light took its beautiful shape. Along with it, Khaelis's physical form instantly vanished and reappeared right in front of Igyris. That was not, and never had been, speed. Khaelis—just like the energetic movement he used on the ShadowStorm to relocate the energy of the slash in the air to Igyris's arms, disintegrating him—converted his own bodily energy into that silver mass, allowing him, just like his actions, to move boundlessly and instantaneously within the domain.
"—What... What the fuck... Argh..."
And just as instantaneously, this light consumed his surroundings, dissolving for a brief moment. But in that exact moment, entirely, it tore his body apart from all sides.
Khaelis finally decided to utilize true slashes and attacks, with real intent to kill Igyris.
Infinite slashes, slashes that came from all directions at once, from every possible angle, while Khaelis did not even remain within Igyris's line of sight. All invisible from every side, while the author of the attack remained unseen, traveling like a silver gleam. Each attack was capable of killing, fatal, were it not for Igyris's accursed nature. His greatest trump card, only possible because of his domain, was the maximum utilization of particle relocation. Every point was a number, and every number carried the maximum cutting energy of that very same slash.
"—ARGH!!!"
For while Khaelis traveled between these particles without stopping, completely invisible to Igyris's eyes, the energy of just one slash—a single attack charged with murderous intent to test Igyris—made Khaelis materialize in front of him. In order to try something different, alongside those massive slashes coming from all directions, he used a named technique:
"—THUNDER RAINS: SHINES OF THE LIGHTNING MORROW."
A massive slash, alongside all those massive cuts that were destroying him from every possible direction. Before using the named technique, Khaelis had discreetly moved the ShadowStorm downward. At that moment, along with the named technique—which was a precise movement coming from top to bottom like thunder tearing through the atmosphere—the cutting energy from the careless, low movement Khaelis had made previously circulated Igyris's body repeatedly and instantaneously, a fact that lacerated him from all directions. Without a doubt, the movement Khaelis took the most pleasure in using within his domain was this: moving his blade randomly in the air and relocating the energy of that movement repeatedly, instantaneously, over the target's entire body. Just as planets orbit stars, moving the energetic load of a futile motion among those numbers in such a massive way over a body, especially when used alongside a named technique, was beyond fatal.
"—What... Argh... are you..."
The maximum utilization... After all, all those cuts tearing through Igyris's skin with that luminous glow came from the energy of just a single slash. A single slash generated a whirlwind of silver blades that destroyed Igyris's body. The force of the named technique added to that simultaneous rain of cutting silver lights lacerated even his spirit.
FSHOOOOOOOSSH!!!!!
Completely, spilling his blood in heaps, generating a massive energetic buildup due to the excess stemming from just one slash, Igyris was ripped apart in continuous sequence from every possible direction. Combined, finally, with the named technique...
VHOOOOOOSSSSSH!!!!!!!
Such a buildup was so massive that it created a spatial distortion, treating space at that moment like a malleable surface. A fact that hurled Igyris... No, it moved him across 100 entire kilometers.
FSHEW!
Ripping him at extreme speed from the ground, launching him once again like a missile of flesh that was in full self-
destruction, his body had been completely mutilated.
VUSSSSH!!!!
With a massive attack in the shape of a gigantic luminous trail, a mass of silver light, an accumulation of energy so massive collided with Igyris's body overwhelmingly, with extreme brutality. Thus, he was hurled like a missile of flesh, covering 100 entire kilometers in 5 seconds as if it were nothing.
"—ARGH!!!"
At that moment, Khaelis's entire body screamed with unbearable pain. One of the conditions to maintain his domain was the perfect organization of the particles; each one of them needed to be flawlessly positioned, and keeping them organized cost a physical and cerebral effort that went beyond everything. Because of this, at that moment, his named attack—one of those responsible for that energetic buildup that had hurled the enemy across those hundred entire kilometers—scattered through the domain in the form of raw energy.
"—Argh... Damn it..."
It ended up generating an immense energetic instability throughout the entire domain, disorganizing every single particle, pulling them from their lines. But Khaelis had to reorganize them, something that triggered a brutal physical effort and tension throughout his entire body.
Tink...
Soon, it didn't take long for another drop of blood, dripping from his nose and ears, to touch the ground.
"—Argh... I overdid it..."
An immense urge to vomit and an unbearable headache emerged. For a moment, his body stopped, paralyzed by pain.
"—Urgh... Urgh..."
Quickly, once more, he wiped the thread of blood trickling down his chin. Such a minimal fraction of a millisecond of a reaction... His brain soon calculated the entire impact area and restructured the domain completely. Consumed by the headache, nausea, and intense nosebleed, as he observed Igyris's body traveling at extreme speed through the air, he came to two conclusions.
"—Urgh..."
Holding back the vomit fighting to leap from his throat, while the nosebleed still continued, the point was confirmed.
"—Urgh... Using another named attack of this scale is not even thinkable, under any situation... My bodily stress reached a critical point quickly due to my sacrifice against the Four Pillars... I don't know what I was thinking using that... I cannot let myself get carried away by emotion to this extent..."
The heavy toll of his domain upon activating the Capsule of Partitor Soul was clear: Khaelis was sacrificing his most massive attacks for absolute precision. Massive destructive attacks coming from him and his enemy would be more than critical; above all, he needed to maintain control. This entire thought process and conclusions were mapped out by him in fractions of a second before Igyris completely crossed the domain's barrier upon being thrown. By utilizing the Purple Flame within his own brain, it computed information and acted as the duel demanded. That was his first conclusion in such a short span of time. And his other conclusion:
"—I cannot let him... leave the domain..."
Khaelis calculated the risks of using that named attack once more. Igyris had been hurled an overwhelming distance and would soon cross the boundaries of the domain; only a fraction of a second remained.
Fshew...
Something that Khaelis, at this point, could never allow. So, before that high-speed body could be completely ripped from the territory once and for all...
Fshew...
The silver light, once again instantaneously, took its form, and along with it, Khaelis materialized completely at the edge of that barrier before Igyris could cross it entirely.
Crack!...
His left fist clenched, cracking every knuckle and joint all at once. Watching that fast projectile of flesh get closer and closer to the boundary of his domain, and thus, in order to prevent him from fully exiting the borders with only a fraction of a moment remaining...
BOOM!!!
With a bare-handed punch, Khaelis ended up smashing Igyris against the ground with extreme violence. A gigantic snap reverberated through all the structures of the domain; the shockwave spread across more than 9 entire kilometers.
Fhw...
His fist slowly lifted from atop the accursed one, who was now completely crushed beneath his feet.
"—Argh..."
And amidst those beautiful luminous structures, the accursed Igyris, already on the ground, completely crushed by the force of the fist of the man who fought using a sword, could only writhe in agony.
"—Argh... Argh..."
Khaelis stared deep at him while shaking his fist, which throbbed and smoked from the brutal impact. And, covered in an excess of disgust, observing the accursed one who would soon rise, he proceeded to explain:
"—It's simple... It is the pure relocation of energy between the microparticles that make up the entire territory..."
"—What?... Argh... are you..."
Igyris soon opened his eyes again.
"—Hm? That fast, accursed one..."
His eyes locked with an indescribable flame coming from Igyris, something far beyond fury.
"—You... Argh... are going to..."
Vhoom... vhoom...
Irrational—such was the nature of the Green Flame to those who did not comprehend it, but to Igyris...
"BURN EVERYTHING."
In that state, their existences, as one, had gained a simple meaning. Finally, the accursed one and the curse merged.
Vhoom... vhoom...
A process... that began with a simple physical act.
BOOOOM!!!!
Self-destruction.
Igyris exploded massively. His flames imploded within his own body and, violently, detonated in all directions.
"—ARGHHHH!!!!!"
BOOOOOOM...
FSHEW!!!
But again, the silver light took form, tearing him apart from all sides. Khaelis, with a simple movement, attacked him from all directions while his physical form completely vanished along with the silver flash, rendering Igyris's previous explosion nothing more than a useless, bright show.
PLOSSSSH!!!!
"—The nature of these particles is energetic... Their pure composition."
His pain was incalculable, without the slightest chance to even breathe against a massive, oppressive absolute pressure of cuts coming from all directions.
"—ARGHH!!! DIE, YOU BASTARD!!!"
Amidst that refined pressure cutting him from all sides, like a silver, sharp rain descending from the heavens to reap his life...
FSHEW!!!
Another slash... His neck strained to keep from falling. His flames danced, trying to bind his flesh, which was now disconnected in heaps. Khaelis had vanished from his sight completely, but it didn't matter: cuts upon cuts did not stop crushing him alongside that silver rain that seemed to be infinite.
"—They transmit energy among themselves like data..."
His entire body trembled. The pain was unbearable, and the effort brutal just to keep his head from disconnecting from his neck. Meanwhile, Khaelis's voice continued to spin in his head; the voice simply wouldn't stop, it came from all directions, always accompanied by those damn infinite cuts coming from all sides.
"—ENOUGH!!!"
The damage brought him, once more, to the pinnacle of insanity.
"—I WILL KILL YOU!!!"
BLOOSSHM!!!!
Another destructive explosion of flames consumed his body.
"—Argh... Argh..."
His arms, previously transformed into tiny loose microscopic points, were replaced by a contained explosion of Green Flames that projected his former limbs.
"—TRY TO WITHSTAND THIS, BASTARD!!!"
Limbs that regenerated completely, along with the fatal cut that had almost decapitated him.
Treck!
Treck!
The sound of two weapons drawn at the exact same instant. Firearms kept inside his clothes that, due to the nature of his new powers and capacity to create calamities, hadn't been drawn in a long time. But in his primitive survival instinct, the Green Flames automatically descended through his wrists and hands, engulfing and mutating them completely. They transformed two semi-automatic explosive-ammo Uzis into monstrosities consumed by flames.
"—SHOW YOURSELF!!!"
FSHEW!!!
The silver light revealed him. Khaelis, like thunder that flashed and vanished suddenly, like a strobe, took his form in front of Igyris, giving him room to shoot.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The rain of fire emerged like a flash. But, just like lightning, Khaelis's figure, in the same way it had appeared, had already completely vanished.
FSHEW!
And he took his form right beside the accursed Igyris. Without giving the slightest opening...
FASH!
Khaelis impaled him almost automatically from behind, piercing through his chest.
Finsh...
And like those phenomena that were becoming repetitive, just like his body, before his weapons could be useful, they were cleanly divided in two the moment Khaelis pierced through Igyris, split by the energy Khaelis relocated while impaling him. Something that, more and more, filled Igyris's heart with insecurity and fear.
"—This data is connected and linked, as if all these independent microparticles were one and the same... Do you understand?"
Such a phenomenon, fear and anguish, like a march, brought him closer and closer to the essence of his power.
"—WHY DON'T YOU STOP EXPLAINING THIS SHIT AND JUST DIE ALREADY!!!"
More and more united with the absolute concept of insanity.
Crack... BLOSH!!!!
Three green claws in the shape of gigantic stingers burst aggressively and unpredictably from Igyris's back, tearing it completely open.
VREEESSSSSSH!!!!
Attacking all directions at the same time, fatally, the three of them simultaneously tore through the air at an absurd speed. Similar to spider legs, ripping through the air randomly, cutting every possible direction. Swinging wildly in order to slash every possible angle, those claws ripped apart everything within a 10-meter radius with their unpredictable swings.
FSHEW!!!
But like any onslaught, it was a useless effort. For as soon as that silver light returned once more, Khaelis's physical form had completely vanished amidst the glare...
FSHEW!!!
...materializing, once again, thirty meters ahead of Igyris himself.
"—In this state, they behave like infinite variable numbers, from 1 to 10, from 3 to 30, to 5,000, to 7,000, even to 1,000,000... Do you understand? And the only one who can count these numbers is me... And even if they are infinite... I know every single one of them."
Uncontrollable hatred, insanity, and infinite confusion invaded Igyris's mind like endless, boundless information, completely destroying him, breaking his mind, and fueling the influence of his curse.
"—Why... Argh... Why?... Why do you keep explaining this crap, you bastard..."
The claws tearing through his back contorted in pure agony. Absolute spiritual pain. He had forgotten everything, even the real reason he was there. All that mattered now was killing Khaelis Kaiwen.
"—Isn't it clear? I am explaining all of this because I want you to have the slightest chance of defeating me today... Don't you perceive the information? You will only have a chance at victory if you put it to work inside your mind."
The hatred, the pain... hearing those words was unbearable.
"—ARGHHH!!!!!"
CRECK!!!
And with this pain, which more and more mutated his already consumed and overtaken spirit by the malignant essence, from the tips of his fingers, blood sprayed from the top of his nails, accompanied by a groan of pain.
SGREK!!!
Sharp tips, like those of deformed bone structures, tore through the top of his fingers completely, replacing his nails with horrible bone deformities with tips curved like hooks.
CRECK!!!
Tips that he dug into his own skull.
"—What's the matter? Going to kill yourself before being killed by me?... Come on, let me put the explanation into practice..."
Khaelis moved the edge of the ShadowStorm to his left once more. A slow, careless movement of his arm, merely meant to move the sword's blade.
"—See? At this exact moment, I am at point 7,000,000, while you are at point 5,000,986... Can you understand? The energy was placed here, at point 7,000,000, so I only need to move this energy to point 5,000,986 and..."
FSHEW!!!
The silver light, once more, tore through the entire distance between Khaelis's body and Igyris instantaneously—as fast as or even faster than light itself, a span of time so short it was impossible to calculate.
"—Argh..."
And with the arrival of the light, which moved through the infinite positioning variables to the target, that light—released from the simple energy of swinging the ShadowStorm—proved to be far more than enough.
FASH!
In a split second that passed like an unseeable, incalculable, or unpredictable instant—a span of time so short one could barely say it existed—within that tiny space, the shifting energy reached the target, Igyris, whose body was once again split in half.
"—I... argh... I..."
Only being kept held together by the catastrophic properties of the Green Flame, which exerted itself to the utmost to regenerate that immense fissure disconnecting such large parts of his body. Burning, fluctuating, while Igyris was not even capable of comprehending what had happened. For in his perception, from one moment to the next, his body had simply been divided.
"—I WILL KILL YOU!!!"
VRUSSSSSSH!!!!!
And in a surge of aggressiveness, an acidic explosion blew him apart from the inside out, completely destroying his back.
BLURGH!!!
A black liquid with greenish tones gushed everywhere, completely destroying his spine, his back, and melting his skin.
"—ARGHH!!!!"
A scream of pure pain and agony followed. What was once Igyris thrashed from side to side in pure pain, suffering, and agony. That viscous, black liquid also dripped from his eyes and mouth. And then...
TREVESH!!!
Six monstrous claws burst from his back along with that acidic substance. All disproportionate, tearing his back, spine, bones, and skin from all directions, each one larger than his own body, completely mutilating him. The acidic explosion still bubbled with a toxic black foam and bubbles dripping from his back. And thus...
FINCK!!!
All these claws simultaneously dug into the ground.
"—Argh... Argh..."
Lifting Igyris's body off the ground, more than two meters high, while his body shuddered, vomiting that black substance in heaps. Trembling, in pure mutation, sunken in his own agony.
"—DIE!!! DIE!!! DIE!!!"
His head began to throb like a heart, visibly to Khaelis, with a cracking sound.
CRACK!!!
His eyes rolled back completely. Blood began to stream from his sockets.
"—Hugh... hugh..."
And like the agony, that same thick, black liquid began to ooze from his eyes.
"—BLURGH!!!"
Followed by more and more vomit. His skull began to contort inside his own head, as if parasites were dancing inside his mind. His mouth opened in an anatomically impossible way and, glaring at Khaelis...
"—ARGH!!!"
He screamed, exposing his suffering.
Creck... creck...
But it was still not the end... With the snapping of bones breaking...
CRECK!!!
With a dry crack, his skull split entirely above his mouth.
"—What are you becoming, Igyris?..."
Khaelis observed him, motionless. His skull was divided into several greenish fragments of bone.
Creck... creck...
And, demonstrating the aberration he had become...
"—Hahah... hahah..."
The laughter from his lips, untouched by that substance, echoed.
Creck... creck...
Feeling the influence of evil throughout his entire body.
Creck... creck...
His skull, slowly, horribly, and painfully to watch, reconstructed itself completely. Each bone fragment moved automatically to different places. His skull deformed entirely, as if proudly flaunting a new and... different shape.
Creck... creck...
More snaps escaped.
"—Argh... Argh..."
And with these snaps, the abomination that took shape in Igyris's body began to breathe heavily, panting, completely blind, without eyes... But then...
Treck... treck...
Six specific points on that deformed skull began to bleed non-stop, and with another snap...
TRECK!!!
From those six bleeding points, six blood-red eyes opened, bursting like a gushing vein.
"—I see... You..."
Sputtering, the demon spoke as it observed Khaelis from afar. His eyes were red like a fiery hell, with bright white dots for pupils; six bloody eyes staring into Khaelis's very soul.
Treck... treck...
However, that abomination was not complete, and followed by more snaps...
TRECK!!!
Six horns tore through his skull in a patterned alignment. Blood and the black substance leaked from the top of his head down to his neck. Once again agonizing, his skull throbbed.
"—Argh... Argh... ARGH!!!"
The pain of what once was Igyris grew increasingly visible... Khaelis watched him, analyzing every aspect. The nature of the Green Flame was just as hellish as scriptures and studies claimed.
"—Argh... Argh... ARGH!!!"
And proving to be more and more horrific each time.
"—ARGH!!!"
A scream accompanied his mutation; the accursed pain penetrated the deepest part of his soul.
Treck... treck... TRECK!!!
And, just like the most voracious arachnid predator...
"—How repulsive..."
The jaw of what used to be Igyris split in two.
"—Argh... Argh... You are going to die..."
Revealing a row of multiple serrated, patterned teeth. His saliva was replaced by a thick, black mass.
"—I'd like to see you try..."
Without a doubt, he had changed. Every inch of his being. Igyris never truly had a spirit since he awakened in his cradle of garbage. But that abomination taking shape before Khaelis possessed a spirit, something tied to the pure instinct to consume.
"—I see... It's a complete mutation... You don't even possess a mind now, do you?... You are just... wretched..."
The abomination taking shape in front of Khaelis possessed a new form, completely based on the physical outline of a standard abyssal that lived in the energetic whirlpools residing within the dimension originating from the Green Flame. A creature of a wretched form, utterly unpredictable in its behavior. Such creatures had previously been obtained and captured by the Glass Crimson research department. But a funny thing they noted when studying the corpses of these abominations residing in another plane of existence was that their form, even if humanoid, was extremely similar to that of an arachnid, specifically spiders.
"—What... Are you doing..."
But the most intriguing point they were unable to unravel was that all specimens, in addition to their perfect anatomy for violent activities and various battle scars across their bodies, always possessed a pollutant buildup of the same toxic material in the claws projecting from their backs—which were extremely similar to spider legs... A material that would be equivalent to sand.
VRUSSSSSSSSH!!!!!!
For when they felt threatened, such creatures would dig all their claws into the sand at the same time, thereby suspending their bodies as high off the ground as possible, contorting themselves to the extreme.
Treck... treck...
They would compress their claws again until the creature's feet touched the ground, building up the maximum amount of pressure possible to, thus...
VRUSSSSSSSSH!!!!!!
Launch themselves into the skies. When they accumulated the maximum pressure they could manage, they would reach a maximum height of 40 meters away from the ground, in order to deliver a single attack with the claws projecting from their backs, which possessed the ability to elongate indefinitely. They used the tips of the claws, which by nature were completely infested with the black, acidic substance that, like blood, circulated throughout their entire bodies, in order to execute a single, brutal, and fatal attack on any creature on the ground that posed a threat. And so, that demon did.
In a state of pure, irrational need to feed, its claws tore through the air, the sky, the space. In a matter of a few seconds, the distance between the creature's body and the motionless Khaelis—who had raised the ShadowStorm's guard above his head—was cut through by those numerous claws. The wind bent meters from the sky toward the ground, with a single target: Khaelis Kaiwen.
"—Argh..."
And with that, observing its target, who by all logic should be torn to shreds by the massive impact, what once had been called Igyris could only groan.
"—Humph..."
Khaelis took a deep breath before the massive impact, his guard high and firm, ShadowStorm positioned to defend his body from any violent onslaught. But all he did was maintain his composure and breathe deeply. And with that terrifying calmness, a silver mass, a sharp and vivid glow, spread across that entire territory within Khaelis's domain. A silver flash that swallowed everything whole, completely consuming Khaelis's body. That silver, like the edge of his blade, was brief; after having completely consumed Khaelis's body, it vanished.
FSHEW!!!
And, as had happened before, after completely consuming Khaelis's entire body, that brilliant silver flash, after materializing and disappearing, had taken Khaelis's existence entirely along with it. Together with that silver flash, Khaelis had completely vanished.
TRUCK!!!!
And with its attack already underway, that rain of countless massive and violent claws slammed fiercely against the ground, completely crushing a 10-meter radius of the impact. However, the abomination could only watch in confusion at the widespread destruction its massive attack caused, for all those numerous claws had only been capable of destroying the soil. After all, even though he was in its field of vision, the abomination still lost sight of him, which filled it with confusion.
FSHEW!!!
Such confusion was completely answered when, along with that silver flash—which once again had materialized and dissolved so quickly, blinding its vision—along with that flash, once more instantaneously, Khaelis took form in mid-air, right above its head, meters away from where he previously stood.
THUM... CRACK!!!
In order to avoid any unexpected reaction or unplanned offensive, before the abomination could even comprehend what had happened in that instant, he struck it brutally with a top-down kick in the form of a brutal guillotine, slamming down hard on the creature's skull with Khaelis's heel.
THUM!!!
Hurling it back against the ground with immense violence and brutality. Traversing the full 40 meters as if they were nothing, impacting the ground like a meteor. Thus, with the violent attack, using that body like a projectile, a 30-meter crater opened directly into the ground. While Khaelis landed slowly, touching his feet to the floor, the particles of the domain reshaped the compromised structures, restructuring the domain and returning it to its previous design.
"—These actions of yours are truly getting annoying. You have been almost completely consumed by the curse and haven't even touched me. Consider putting into practice the manual I am giving you instead of attacking me on an impulse."
Tap...
And slowly, Khaelis's feet touched the ground, where Khaelis remained motionless right then and there, observing the repugnant form that abomination possessed. Rising slowly, every bone of the abomination snapped as it stood up—snap after snap—its monstrous form becoming clearer and clearer the more the crater's dust settled, which could not disgust Khaelis more.
"—What a horrific form you have assumed, Igyris..."
Khaelis, once more, assumed a stance, now with his knees bent, as if he too were seeking momentum for an advance; this time, he was the one who would launch the strike.
"—I only need to beat you and teach you... Until this fight returns to its proper meaning..."
And once again, like a flash that alters the rules of locomotion, Khaelis had calculated a completely specific trajectory. No, a unique route, without detours or shortcuts: he simply visualized the numbers positioned in front of him and, even though risky, accepted the full risk. Khaelis Kaiwen was soon engulfed by that silver light again.
Fshew...
In that millisecond in which he became one with the silver, he traversed a direct route that made him materialize—once more when the silver returned, instantly—right in front of the abomination, accepting any risk of receiving a direct hit.
CRACK!!!
The materialized Khaelis smashed the creature's face and skull with immense brutality, delivering a violent, direct elbow strike to its face.
"—ARGH!!!"
An unpredictable attack, which made the abomination only scream in agony and pain after feeling all the facial bones of its skull instantly crushed.
Treck... treck...
By instinct, the various monstrous claws on its back reacted instantly, alongside its pain and sense of self-preservation; and while Khaelis's elbow sank deeper and deeper into its skull...
FLENCK!!!
Like a bear trap snapping shut, the automatic resource of an animal being hunted by such a fierce predator... As an automatic survival mechanism, all the claws on the abomination's back curved backward and, with a dry, deafening thrust...
TREACK!!!!
...elongated forward, just like a trap that closes in order to trap or kill an animal. All tore through the air at the same time toward Khaelis Kaiwen, closing all at once to brutally pierce his body.
Fshew...
However, once more, his existence merged with the silver entirely. His physical and existential energy relocated once again through those infinite variables of numbers in the form of silver energy.
Fshew...
And at that very same moment, his body, in that exact fraction of a second, before the creature even understood what happened, another flash of silver light followed in sequence. At the same moment he disappeared, Khaelis materialized again in front of the abomination. His stance now kept the blade raised, his knees positioned in order to rotate his torso.
SPLEEEESSSSSH!!!!!!
Thus, a clean, direct cut sliced entirely through the chest of that abomination. Khaelis spun his body, rotating around his own axis; everything in the blade's path would be divided in the process, and what stood there was the abomination's chest, spilling its blood.
"—ARGHH!!!!"
Another deafening cry of pain followed. Pressing with his abominable hands, mutated by the transformation, he clutched his torso fiercely, anguished by the excruciating pain, in a futile attempt to keep his organs from spilling out. Overcome by pain, the abomination's knees buckled against the ground.
"—As you have seen, I completely control the trajectory of energy between the numbers. Because every single one of them is mine, therefore I coordinate them completely, intimately, as if they were part of my existence."
Seized by fear and irrational pain, the kneeling aberration, while its world-defying nature recovered its freshly opened chest, put its instinctive offensives into practice once more. Kneeling and agonizing, the abomination positioned its knees again, seeking momentum, feigning to be cornered.
VRUUUUSSSSH!!!!
Thus, flinging itself forward with the force concentrated in its knees, its jaws opened to the maximum, preparing a biting offensive in order to devour a large chunk of Khaelis's torso.
VRACK!!!
Its jaw quickly snapped shut. The abomination could already taste the blood of the one it wished to kill in its mouth and jaw, a precise hit...
Fshew...
...which proved once again to be useless. For, based on the principle of his domain, Khaelis positioned himself at the final second of distance between their bodies. The silver light engulfed him again, making his physical form disappear.
CRECK!!!
Thus, all the abomination managed to hit was nothing but the ground, crushing it.
Fshew...
Thus, once more, Khaelis finished his journey among his precious numbers and positions; the silver once again took its form, materializing him anew. Now, this time, before the aberration that found itself humiliated against the ground.
CRECK!!!
Soon, Khaelis, once more demonstrating overwhelming strength, stomped on its head with everything, crushing its skull against the floor.
And as if he weren't standing before any considerable threat, Khaelis materialized once more in front of it.
"—In other words, I maximize the control over the information and how energy moves here. Every point... I can transit this energy freely and spontaneously through any of these numbers. I know where every single one of them is."
How could an existence made of the purest chaos be so utterly humiliated? Crushed like a mere insect by one who, at that moment, was undoubtedly at the top of the entire food chain. But the worst part of all is that Khaelis, truly, among the heavens, was not the strongest.
"—Argh... Argh..."
Consumed by misery, the abomination didn't even utilize its more versatile combat strategy; it had completely discarded the use of firearms. It moved out of pure instinct, like an animal that now barely even moved, completely destroyed, in tatters, pressed under the foot of someone who didn't even make real use of brute force to fight.
Khaelis observed, completely overtaken by a distressing sensation of disgust, that meaningless abomination, without motives, without even a real will to fight. Only pure instinct was what remained. And that filled him with loathing. Questioning himself and his willingness to give his all against that, Khaelis, once more, slowly moved his blade through the air, in a relaxed manner, as if painting a canvas.
Fshew...
However, that was not truly painting a canvas, or even a random movement. Khaelis Kaiwen, by moving his blade through the air, by gliding his sharp edge through the atmosphere, caused the blade to release a considerable amount of energy just by moving; an energy that had an infinite cutting factor, an energy that Khaelis Kaiwen could freely move among his infinite numbers and variables.
SPRECKS!!!
An energy that Khaelis moved countless times, in a way as if orbiting a celestial body, like the moon orbits the Earth. Khaelis moved, rotated that same energy from that very same cutting movement afterward, without stopping. An act that, with a single meaningless movement, merely by moving the energy of such a movement, mutilated the body of that abomination with various micro-cuts, spilling its blood in heaps.
"—Hmph? Given up on moving?... I hope you are assimilating the functional information I am providing you, so that you alter your strategy immediately..."
And there the abomination remained, motionless, being ripped apart, lacerated from all possible directions, gushing and gushing, choking on its own blood, as if it weren't trying to react, as if it were completely incapable.
"—Whatever... Moving energy from number 6 to 9,000,000 is nothing to me, for I see them freely and know where they are. And that goes for any energetic load coming from the particles of my own body."
The terror of being surrounded by the absolute certainty of death... And, wrapped in this atrocious malignant influence, the evil that consumed its mind... The primitive instinct granted by such an influence reacted like any animal about to be slaughtered; nothing more than instinct remained for it... except fear.
"—Argh... Argh..."
But something, at that moment, prevented it from being completely consumed by that. As if that atrocious evil were seeking a way out. Thinking... That was how the empty mind of the one who was Igyris always worked. Finally, now no longer empty, thanks to the demonic nature of that energy belonging to another place.
"—Argh... Argh... I... I... I will..."
An still obscured flash illuminated him in a distorted way. Perhaps an idea, still not so clear, that boiled down to a single point. This point was: destroy everything. This flash that, in the mind of the one who was so empty, flickered like a luminous sense. Overtaken by the lack of consciousness, the one who was Igyris became one with insanity, the essence of all his power.
"—What? Still conscious? Or is it just another unbearable sputtering from the animal you are becoming? It's incredible that you can still fashion a word, but you are disappointing now..."
Increasingly surrounded by the certainty of death, about to be brutally slaughtered, his primitive instincts screamed like never before. Just like the nature of the Green Flame—that which went against everything—Khaelis noticed that, once more, though in a different way, Igyris was about to evolve.
"—ARGHHHHHHH!!!!!!"
Now not only physically, but as an entity, one with the Green Flame, in order to defeat and kill Khaelis Kaiwen. Beneath the noble's feet, evolving until eliminating him.
Tink...
Once more, a drop of blood touched the floor.
"—Urgh..."
While something different, at that moment, was occurring with Igyris, Khaelis Kaiwen's body was absorbing all the consequences of the miscalculated use of his domain; the blood dripping in beads from his nose gave it away. While the abomination Igyris glared into his eyes with shifting glares, something that Khaelis Kaiwen did not notice became clear: the countdown was on, and the time for those two was running out.