608 Two Against One
For the first ti, the Elentalist felt what absolute satisfaction truly ant.
He had long since heard about the champion of Destiny who had managed to evolve into a true and pure aspect of existence, and that ant that he could do it too. And yet, as that higher roof appeared above the infinitely high construct that were his aspirations, all the Elentalist could think about was not how to achieve what had already been achieved, but how to surpass it.
Many other champions of Destiny had shared this ntality, but only he had a path laid out for him that would allow him to do just that.
Even before he learned about his kind’s true purpose, he had created a path that would place him not only above every other champion of Destiny, but also above the lazy queen ants that dared lord over him.. And treat him as a pest to exterminate.
And now, thousands of years later, he had finally succeeded. He had the perfect body, his system, and a hunger for power and conflict that would put any other being to sha. He was ready. All the patience, all the humiliations.. Everything had paid off.
The start of the rest of his life began here.. With a headbutt straight to his noggin.
Dumbfounded, he imdiately grabbed his aching head. The headbutt had shaken his brain, and slightly cracked his skull. His eyes lost focus, as the silhouette that hid being the blur struck him again.. This ti, on the nose.
As his body was sent flying backwards, the two armies, which had been patiently waiting for their generals to give the order, imdiately began their charge. But before the two could clash, Der shouted to the top of his lungs, “IMMORTAL ARMADA, DO ALL YOU CAN TO STOP THEM WITHOUT KILLING THEM!”
An order that left the cultivators beyond confused.
Their Warlord had already spoken his intentions. He had declared their purpose, which to them, ant that they were there not to subdue the enemy, but to exterminate it. Yet, now it seed that their leader had changed his mind, and that was sothing they had never witnessed before.
Nevertheless, while many did not agree with the Warlord’s change of heart, his words were still absolute, and they trusted him blindly.
Those who wielded weapons imdiately sheathed them, and fought with their blades hidden, while those who employed formations and the elents used them for constriction, instead of destruction.
While this happened, Der continued what he was doing. He would constantly chase the Elentalist, who was now inhabiting Roley’s body, and before his mind could get clear enough for him to defend himself, he would strike his head once more, erasing any idea of resistance from it.
When it seed that the Elentalist was about to lose consciousness, however, layers upon layers of elental constructs ford around his body. Soft snow at first, then fertile earth followed by thick layers of stone and electrically charged tal.. A passive protection the champion of Destiny had purchased from the Elental System, and that would activate the mont his consciousness was at risk.
This ability was the first ability the Elentalist had ever upgraded to its maximum level, for it gave him a lease on life not unlike Daniel’s own Second Chance. Yet, it was not as efficient.
As the Elentalist managed to gather his bearings, he quickly saw the layers of defense being chipped away by the powerful blows of his middle-aged opponent, who, with sword in hand, slashed and hacked, pierced and chopped.
The tallic barrier which buzzed with the power of lightning was the first to fall apart, cleaved off by Der’s imnse power. Followed by the layers of diamond almost indistinguishable from the ice they were embedded into.
One by one each elent was stripped away in front of the eyes of the Elentalist, who was desperately trying to recover from the multitude of head traumas. Luckily for him, it did not seem that Der’s assault could outpace his recovery.
By the ti the Warlord’s sword had co dangerously close to his new body, the Elentalist teleported out of range, and reappeared just out of harm’s way. Then, he turned his palms upwards while staring at his opponent with hatred.
Around him the prevalent powers of light and darkness began to condense, forming two orbs of impossible might. One as brilliant as a star, capable of wiping a weaker person’s mind with its sheer shine, the other as threatening as a black hole.. Quiet and lethal.
The two powers kept condensing to the size of two nail-sized beads, but before their surface could smoothen fully, a voice pierced the Elentalist’s mind. “Cease your resistance at once!” The voice said, compelling him to imdiately let go of the power he had accumulated.
His reaction to the voice was instinctive and visceral, not unlike that of a young boy being caught by their father doing sothing he was not supposed to do. The voice’s solemnity was absolute, and it had full authority over the Elentalist’s mind.
“What in havens..” the Elentalist muttered as he looked with confusion at what he had just done. “Why did I follow his orders?” he wondered as the figure of the Warlord floated in his vicinity.
“Is Roley still alive?” The middle-aged man inquired furiously.
The man’s attitude seed to strike a chord in the Elentalist, who looked back at the ant with disdain. “How dar-“
“ANSWER !” Der interrupted.
Once again, the Elentalist was shaken out of his mindset, and with obedient eyes he said, “Not for long.” As he finished, he imdiately plugged his ears and bolted away, hoping to avoid whatever devilish trick the middle-aged man had been pulling on him.
Unfortunately, that was pointless. Der’s cultivation far surpassed the Elentalist, who had been forced to act coy and weak for the past several centuries.
Der approached him quickly, and in a few seconds, he was once again in front of him. However, this ti, Der did not attack him. Instead, he grabbed him by the shoulder, not unlike the way he had grabbed Roley minutes earlier, and stared deeply into his eyes.
The Elentalist, unable to break free, could not help but stare back.
Soon, thick veins started to appear on Der’s reddened skin, and his seven orifices began to ooze blood. It was clear that whatever he was about to do, was taking an extre toll on his body.
After one last desperate yet futile attempt at breaking free, the Elentalist heard two words.. “Relinquish control.”
Suddenly, the Elentalist found himself back into the elental world within Roley’s body, and next to him, was the figure of Roley himself, whom he had left trapped not too long again.
As the eyes of the two t, Roley imdiately realized that sothing had gone wrong. He could see it in the Elentalist’s confused and angered expression.. And without thinking twice, resud the clash he had just lost.
The fight did not last long, and the Elentalist defeated Roley the sa way he had before, managing to regain control of the body. However, as his physical eyes opened, and he once again found himself in space, a mighty blow landed squarely onto his jaw. Not powerful enough to injure him, but enough to rock his brain.
“Relinquish control.” He heard as his consciousness slipped away and he found himself back into the elental realm.
—-
This cycle went on for what felt like decades.. An illusion caused by the constant fighting and loss of consciousness.
In this ti, the Elentalist had begun to feel ntally exhausted, and before long, during one of the dozens of fights against Roley, he was not able to gain the advantage, and lost control over the body.
Roley woke up back in his own body, and was t by the sa strike that had pumled onto his sore face many tis before, but right before Der’s fist could hit, he noticed the difference in expression on the young man’s face. Anger and disdain were now gone, replaced by worry and relief.
The punch stopped just a hair away from Roley’s face, but as Der expected his old friend to ask him to stop, the forr grabbed him by the collar of his armor, and said, “Keep doing what you are doing!” then once again fell into a catatonic state.
For the following hour the Elentalist and Roley battled for the control of their shared body, while Der awaited for them to wake up before either striking them unconscious, or allowing them to rest before they would be inevitably pulled back in.
Throughout this hour the Elentalist could do nothing but watch as Roley grew more confident, while he beca more and more restless. His physical powers were still as strong as ever, for he shared them with Roley, but his ntal power was steadily declining. Who was to say when the next ti he would have gained control, would have been the last.
He needed to do sothing, and he needed to do it fast..
When hope seed to be lost, the Elentalist finally had an idea. With all the might he could muster he once again defeated Roley, gaining control over his body. But when he woke up, he showed no signs of anger or restlessness. “It’s working! Keep going!” The Elentalist said to the middle-aged man with the swollen hand.
But then, just as Der stopped his fist, just as he expected Roley’s consciousness to once again be dragged into his body, the young man reached for the tattered pants that covered his lower body.
As Der looked at the young man fiddling with his pockets, he started believing that the nightmare was finally over.. But unfortunately, his hopes were shattered soon after, when the young man pulled a small transparent bead from his pockets.
Imdiately Der tried to strike his head, but as his fist reached his face, the young man shifted out of the way and dashed towards the interdinsional portal. “Relinquish-gack!” a mouthful of blood erupted from his mouth as he once again tried to use his power.. failing. He was too tired for it, but still did not give up.
With all the power he had left in his body Der chased the Elentalist, barking weaker commands that only allowed him to gain ground before being shaken off once more.
Their speed was unmatched in the universe, breaking the barrier of light many tis over.. And soon enough, they both found themselves in the proximity of the sealed interdinsional portal.
The Elentalist stopped, and focused on the small bead. Then channeled its power to affect the barrier.
Just a few seconds away, Der approached the young man like a teor, striking the back of his head with a powerful strike of his elbow, and causing his opponent to imdiately lose consciousness.
But, alas, it was too late..
—-
When the Elentalist was once again pulled into the elental world within their shared body, Roley imdiately noticed that sothing had changed. The forr lacked the feelings of disdain and anger that had marked his expression for the past hour, and in their place only dejection remained.
He also noticed that his mind power had beco fickle, and was on the verge of falling apart.
Convinced that this was the best opportunity to end his enemy once and for all, Roley once again lunged at him, but the Elentalist did not give him a chance. Like a pangolin, the champion of Destiny surrounded himself in scales of elental power, and then, he fell unconscious.. Or more precisely, he went into hibernation.
The mont the Elentalist’s consciousness went dormant, Roley felt any form of blockade that impeded him from controlling his body disappear, and once again woke up next to Der.
When he saw his face, however, he did not see the stern expression he usually carried, but a look of sheer horror, for next to him, the enormous formation was slowly falling apart. “No.. No!” Roley implored, right before finding himself holding the treasure of primordial spatial essence.
Without thinking twice, he imdiately began channeling the full extent of the treasures’ power into his body, and with great burden to himself, desperately tried to patch the now damaged formation.
Cracks started appearing on Roley’s skin, which soon evolved into open wounds. The primordial power, unmatched by an equal and opposite competitor was wreaking havoc into his body.. Yet, for as painful as it was, it appeared to be working.
In front of Der’s eyes, the do of golden rules and spatial treasures was reforming, bit by bit. But as he kept looking in relief, a grim sight robbed him of any positive emotions.
A black spike, followed by a gray colored finger of pure and unadulterated horrific power gently pierced through the weakened formation, breaking it apart.
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