Naless lunged forward, reached for Zagreus’s head, and aid to slam it into the ground.
But the instant his hand touched Zagreus, sothing ignited.
Violet flas erupted from Zagreus’s skin.
They burst out violently, forcing Naless Death back with a burning shockwave.
He skidded across the ground, arms raised in defense as the flas danced around him.
’What the...?’
Naless Death stared in in disbelief.
Zagreus hadn’t awakened his Ancient Dragon Blood yet.
Ti had been reversed.
The Ancient Dragon Blood should’ve been dormant.
But the flas... they were real.
He could feel the heat, the raw power, the pressure.
’What is going on? When did he—’
That was when Naless Death understood what had happened.
’Is the blood so strong that it ignores the laws of ti?’
It didn’t make sense.
But the truth was in front of his eyes.
Zagreus opened his eyes slowly.
He glanced down at his own hands, watching the violet fire coiling across his fingers like it belonged there.
"You turned back ti," he said, as if confirming it for himself. Then he looked up. "I know what you are thinking, but don’t worry.
"The Ancient Dragon Blood isn’t capable of winning against ti. It’s close, however. That’s actually how we planned to awaken it only temporarily."
"’Planned it’?"
"We knew you had too many abilities. Controlling ti was one of them. So we prepared for it. Thanks to you reversing ti, my ancient dragon blood would return to a dormant state after it loses the fight against ti."
Naless Death couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
Ti and the ancient dragon bloodline were fighting for hegemony.
If the blood won, Zagreus would awaken it permanently.
If Ti won, the blood would return to dormant state.
While Ti would eventually win, it wouldn’t happen instantly.
"And until then?" Naless Death asked.
"Until then," Zagreus said, stepping forward, "I get to use it freely."
The pressure in the air rose.
It increased gradually, like the weight of a mountain going higher inch by inch.
"Naless."
Naless Death didn’t move.
"I thought you were my brother. I still think that."
Zagreus’s expression tightened slightly.
He took another step forward.
"I didn’t want to hurt my little brother. But I’ve got to be honest. You’re starting to piss off."
Naless Death opened his mouth to respond, but didn’t.
"I get that you think you’re doing the right thing. But I’m really done letting you run around to do whatever you want."
He raised his hand slowly, and the sky above them rippled.
Dozens of weapons appeared—swords, spears, hamrs, chains, and cannons.
Hundreds more followed, forming an endless ring that hovered silently in the sky, all pointed at Naless Death.
"If you’re not my brother, then you’ll die here today. And if you are my brother, then you’ll die and reincarnate."
Naless Death frowned.
"And don’t worry, when you reincarnate —if you reincarnate—I’m going to kill again."
Alarms rang in Naless Death’s head.
"I’m going to beat the shit out of you, fucking little shit. This is what you get by irritating your older brother."
Naless Death’s instincts scread.
He activated All-Shadow.
But—
"No one shall move until I give permission," Zagreus commanded.
The shadow under Naless Death’s feet didn’t respond.
His Concept didn’t react.
He couldn’t move through ti anymore.
Zagreus didn’t wait.
The sky opened, and a storm of weapons rained down.
Blades spun, bullets screeched, hamrs fell like cots.
Naless Death reacted quickly.
He slamd his hand into the ground and raised a wall of steel and earth, reinforced by every tal elental Concept he had mastered to increase defense.
The first wave of weapons hit.
The explosion shook the ground, and Naless Death staggered back.
’Those aren’t just ordinary projectiles.’
They were designed for sothing else entirely.
Pain.
That was Zagreus’s secret weapon.
He shouldn’t be able to kill gods since he was not a god.
But he had learned to do it through pain.
He inflicted ntal pain through impact, and directly targeted one’s consciousness.
Naless Death couldn’t believe soone could do that.
The condition was near impossible to achieve.
However, he had done it himself, once, against the Stage 6 God who tried to devour his Consciousness.
He had used a ntal attack back then.
Zagreus was doing the sa.
It was how he could kill Gods without being Gods.
The extre ntal pain would short-circuit one’s consciousness, and it would die by itself.
Another wave of attacks fell.
Naless Death let the walls absorb the brunt and countered with a shadow blast from beneath.
Spears of darkness surged upward, aiming at Zagreus’s wings.
Zagreus shifted to the left, dodging them with minimal effort.
Naless Death prepared for a follow-up, but a sudden hum buzzed in his skull.
Death was warning him of an incoming attack.
He crouched instinctively.
A scythe sliced above his head.
At the sa mont, Berserker crashed into Zagreus with a loud yell.
"Hahaha! Let’s continue our fight!"
While the two clashed with a furious storm of blows, Naless Death found himself face to face with Barbatos.
There was no ti to think.
Barbatos swung his scythe, and the impact sent Naless Death flying like a ragdoll.
Before he could even hit the ground, Barbatos’s shadow twisted and wrapped around him, forming thick chains that held him in midair.
Naless Death’s first thought wasn’t about the attack, it was the realization.
’They can move?’
Barbatos and Berserker were both moving freely.
That wasn’t supposed to happen.
Zagreus had commanded everyone to not move.
Only those granted permission should be able to move.
He quickly reviewed what he rembered.
Maybe Zagreus had granted Barbatos permission to move.
But what about Berserker?
Then the realization ca to him.
’There’s a limit to the Command.’
Maybe it didn’t work on those who were on the sa level, or stronger.
That single thought dug into his mind like a dagger.
’Am I... the weakest one here?’
Among the four of them, Naless Death—the man whose entire Path was to surpass all limits—was being overshadowed by people who were bound to the very limits he desired to break free off.
"Don’t joke with ."
A surge of pressure exploded from him.
The battlefield trembled.
Both Barbatos and Zagreus were imdiately alard.
"Barbatos, stop him! He is reaching an enlightennt!" Zagreus shouted, still occupied with Berserker.
Barbatos didn’t hesitate.
His shadows surged, encasing Naless Death like a cocoon.
At the sa ti, the shadows connected to Naless Death’s thoughts, trying to freeze his mind, and stop him from reaching enlightennt.
Naless Death wasn’t just dangerous because of his abilities.
He was a Heavenbreaker.
If he completed his Path during the battle, it would tilt the entire fight. Possibly even end it.
Barbatos pushed harder.
He had to prevent Naless Death from gaining any kind of enlightennt.
If Naless Death realized sothing fundantal, it could be over.
But...
"What are you doing?"
Barbatos heard the voice echo inside his mind.
"Did you forget I’m a Heavenbreaker?"
His eyes widened.
He had forgotten.
Heavenbreakers minds were too powerful to be locked down.
Barbatos reacted quickly.
He used mimicked Ti and turned it back, attempting to undo the mont before Naless Death’s pressure had begun to rise.
He stumbled slightly afterward, panting.
Turning back ti in such a dense battlefield wasn’t easy. The stronger the individuals affected, the more effort it required.
But sothing wasn’t right.
The pressure from Naless Death continued to rise.
Not only had he not been stopped, it seed like he’d gained more clarity.
Barbatos realized it instantly.
"He rembers the previous tiline."
Naless Death must have a technique that preserved his mories even through ti reversal.
aning: ti regression wouldn’t help against him. He could act based on knowledge others had forgotten.
Barbatos didn’t hesitate.
He rushed forward.
Zagreus, noticing what was happening, followed.
Berserker, still grinning, stepped back.
"I want to see if he can pull it off," he said, watching the chaos unfold with a savage grin of a beast.
Naless Death looked up as both Barbatos and Zagreus ca at him from opposite directions.
They thought he would stay still, continue seeking enlightennt.
They were wrong.
[All Shadow]
Naless Death vanished into the shadows.
After Barbatos turned back ti, he had appeared in the mont where Zagreus had yet to use his ’command’ on him.
Using this opportunity, he returned to the farthest he could go back.
It was the mont Zagreus had just stepped onto the battlefield.
"Silence," Naless Death used Truth on Zagreus.
The mont the word left his lips, almost all his energy drained.
But the effect was imdiate.
Zagreus’s throat seized.
His mouth opened, but no sound ca out.
’The effect was much stronger since I targeted only Zagreus.’
Normally, Zagreus would’ve blocked the command.
He was strong enough to resist such effects.
But he couldn’t retain the mory of pre-altered tilines.
Since ti had been turned back, he needed a mont to understand what was happening.
This was a ’delay.’
Naless Death aid for that delay and silenced Zagreus.
Zagreus’ Ancient Dragon Blood awakened on its own again, but since he couldn’t speak, he couldn’t exert the power to command anymore.
Barbatos lunged in with his scythe.
Naless Death dodged it by using All-Shadow to appear far in the distance.
"Your pressure isn’t increasing anymore. But you don’t look worried. Why? Your enlightennt was just stopped by an obstruction," Barbatos said.
"That was fake. I used a technique to boost my aura, and make it look like I was gaining an enlightennt."
Barbatos paused for a split second.
So that was it.
Naless Death had intentionally baited him into turning back ti.
He used the feint to trick Barbatos, used it to break free of the Zagreus’ command, then used that to regress and silence Zagreus.
’What a terrifying strategy.’ Barbatos thought.
’He was being overwheld by superior opponents, and yet instead of being defeated, he instantly thought of a thod to counterattack.’
Reviews
All reviews (0)