’He baited Barbatos to our location.’
Why?
The answer was simple.
For a chaotic three-way battle.
Because Chaos was the domain of Berserker. It was where he excelled at.
"What is your answer?" Barbatos asked.
Naless Death grit his teeth, and looked at Barbatos.
Before the silence could stretch too long, Berserker shot forward.
His fist was pulled back, Chaos spiraling around his knuckles like a coiling dragon.
Barbatos exhaled.
"So be it."
He swung his scythe and t the punch head-on.
The impact pushed Berserker back across the sand, forcing him to slide several ters before his feet dug in and stopped him.
Then Barbatos muttered,
The World
The entire landscape transford.
Shadows bled into the world around them, rippling like oil over water.
Pillars sank.
The sky darkened.
And then the shadows moved, shaped into soldiers, hundreds of them, all with empty eyes and jagged blades.
They rushed at Berserker without hesitation.
But Barbatos didn’t focus on them.
His eyes were locked on Naless Death.
He moved in an instant.
Naless Death responded with [Resonance].
His sword vibrated at a frequency that split even light, and he swung.
The scythe clashed with the sword, sparks of death and shadow bursting from the collision.
Despite the World empowering Barbatos, Naless Death held his ground, and even pushed him back a step.
But then it appeared.
A wing, pitch black and pulsing with malevolence, unfurled behind Barbatos’ back.
Naless Death’s instincts scread at him. That wing was dangerous.
He retreated imdiately, shifting his stance.
Without a word, he summoned a gigantic sword of death, shaped from his Eternal Death Concept.
The sword rose into the air, its edges flickering with a red lightning, and then it shot toward Barbatos like a falling star.
Barbatos lunged forward, faster than before, and swung his scythe.
The giant sword split in half as if it were paper.
He was almost at Naless Death’s throat when sothing dropped from above.
Berserker.
His fist was already descending, wreathed in Chaos and Void.
’What?’ Barbatos had no ti to dodge. ’He defeated the shadow soldiers already?’
Berserker crashed into him with a devastating punch that buried the grim reaper into the ground.
But Berserker didn’t stop there.
Using the rebound, he spun midair and lashed out with a kick aid at Naless Death.
Naless Death used [All Shadow] to dodge.
His form lted into shadows and reappeared beside the crater where Barbatos had fallen.
He didn’t hesitate.
Resonance built up in his blade again as he slashed down with full force.
Barbatos barely had ti to raise his scythe.
The attack landed.
A shallow wound opened across Barbatos’ chest.
He staggered, and then—
A second black wing appeared behind him.
Naless Death’s eyes narrowed.
He could feel it.
Those wings were causing his Death to warm him crazily.
And those wings only seed to manifest when he attacked.
But before he could analyze it further, Chaos gripped his skull.
Berserker grabbed his head and slamd him straight into the ground.
"You’re holding back," Berserker said to Barbatos, pressing his foot into Naless Death’s chest.
His Chaos and Void elentals surged, disrupting Naless Death’s ability to regenerate.
Naless Death couldn’t move.
He struggled, but the pressure was too much.
Barbatos recovered by then and leapt back into the sky.
He and Berserker collided midair, and the fight exploded once again.
This was no longer a duel.
It was a clash between transcendental gods.
Barbatos moved like a shadow given will, teleporting between the folds of his World.
His scythe danced with impossible angles, each swing calling forth dozens of different shadow techniques—clones, blades, chains, beasts, and shields.
They flowed into one another with seamless precision.
But Berserker adapted.
Every ti a technique hit him, it only worked once.
His skin would change texture, his aura would twist, and the next strike—no matter how strong—would glance off.
He roared with laughter, even as a hundred shadow blades pierced his body.
The next mont, they lted off him like rain.
Barbatos appeared behind him, swinging with precision.
Berserker ducked, turned, and drove his elbow into Barbatos’ ribs.
The grim reaper coughed and vanished into smoke, appearing again several ters away.
Naless Death pushed himself up from the ground, blood trickling down his temple.
His vision was shaky, but his mind was clearer than it had been in a long ti.
It’s not enough.
He clenched his fists, dragging in a ragged breath.
Resonance isn’t enough anymore.
He could feel it.
Both Berserker and Barbatos were fighting at levels beyond what his current strength could reach.
He might’ve been able to fight them on equal footing with his Path.
But he had lost the ’essence’ of his Path when his enlightennt was shattered by Barbatos’ intrusion.
The clarity that had helped him realize the ’essence’ of his Path was gone.
He couldn’t find it anymore.
If I can’t use my Path, then I need sothing else.
Sothing stronger than Resonance.
That’s the only way I can fight with them.
Naless Death felt it.
He wouldn’t gain enlightennt anymore. Not anything soon, at least.
The only way to regain his Path’s essence without enlightennt was simple yet hard.
I’ll brute force it.
His Path was surpassing his limits.
He had to embody his Path to regain the ’essence’.
In another words...
I need to surpass my current self.
He only needed to do one thing.
If I can create a technique stronger than Resonance and surpass my limits, I will regain the essence and I’ll be able to complete my Path.
There was no more room for worrying about enemies or allies.
The battlefield didn’t care who he was aligned with.
If he wanted to break through his limits and find the true aning (essence) of his Path again, he would need to keep fighting.
He would need to go further than he’d ever gone before.
While Naless Death stood lost in thought, his wounds began to heal.
The blood evaporated. Flesh closed up. Bones realigned.
Barbatos noticed it first.
His eyes narrowed.
Without saying anything, he split into two.
One of his clones turned toward Naless Death and shot forward.
Naless Death moved instantly.
He didn’t need to think.
His instincts warned him again.
Don’t clash with him.
Don’t use Resonance against him.
Barbatos was planning sothing.
That shadow wings appear after clashing with my Resonance... there’s sothing wrong with that.
Naless Death retreated, not intending to clash with Barbatos again and increase the number of wings.
But he didn’t get to escape far.
"Fight," Barbatos said.
Naless Death felt his body jerk forward.
His arm moved without permission, sword rising, aura flaring.
His feet launched him toward Barbatos.
Truth?
He recognized the feeling.
No, this isn’t a normal Truth Concept.
This is... a mimicked Truth Concept.
He can copy Concepts?
There wasn’t ti to consider it further.
The scythe was already swinging.
Truth controlled Naless Death.
He was forced to respond with Resonance.
Sword and scythe collided.
The air tore apart around them, pressure shaking the shattered landscape beneath.
Just like before, Barbatos was pushed back, and a third shadow wing appeared behind him.
But this ti, sothing else happened.
Conditions t. Copying [Resonance]. Target: Naless Death.
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