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Arc 3, Chapter 126: One, True Champion

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  “!”

  “!”

  Unleashing the pool of mana hidden beneath his feet, I envelop Enbos in a dark haze and attempt to interrupt his spell. In an instant, I compress my mana into an iron cast upon every inch of his body. If he doesn’t suffocate first, my skill should cut off-

  “Hm!?”

  My … was dispelled?

  “Go.”

  With a whisper, Enbos unleashes all the dead spirits within the glass orb. As expected, he’s not allowing all the energy to run amuck; he’s channelling trace amounts of mana into every spirit before rallying them above him. Kory immediately orders our mages to open fire upon Enbos, but from his other pocket, he somehow pulls out an entire wooden staff and plants it into the ground.

  “!”

  He conjures a greater rank spell around himself, but against all logic, he holds out against the magical barrage from all my most ascended brethren. I conjure a and throw it at his spell. Surprisingly, he creates a window in his shield and-

  “What?”

  … catches my spell without triggering the explosion. All my followers cease their assault as they stare dumbfoundedly at Enbos. I can’t even detonate my own skill remotely as he forcibly disintegrates my conjuration. There is no mistaking it: at this very moment, Enbos’ mana control has surpassed my own. By a significant margin.

  “Y-your Holiness, the spirits he’s summoned…”

  Looking overhead, the 200 souls have materialised as ethereal blades. Each and every apparition is shaped from spiritual energy, with murderous intent plain for all to see. Suddenly, the swarm of swords fly out in every direction, throwing all our formations into complete disarray. Some of my followers conjure protective wards, but the ghostly weapons pass through their shields and pierce their bodies. Although there is no mark, the pain is very real. A dozen or so blades target me in the ensuing chaos, but I repel them by channelling my spiritual energy into my armour. I have to destroy that orb before it gets out of hand.

  “.”

  I reappear in front of Enbos and launch an into his . Anticipating my response, he retrieves his staff and jumps back as his barrier shatters. I follow up with a string of hand-to-hand techniques, but he continues to dash back while fending me off with his weapon. As he blocks my open palm thrust, I attempt to snatch his staff but he immediately casts and wastes his to get behind me.

  I see. The source of his newfound strength has to be from that mysterious staff. I don’t recognise the runes on along his instrument, but-

  “My Lord, could it really be…”

  “”

  All of sudden, the ground beneath me erupts into a stone spike that barely scrapes my mask. I immediately teleport into the air as a dozen more spears spawn at my last position. However, I’m far from safe as I narrowly evade a massive falling block. With the distance made between me and Enbos, he then raises his hand and conjures an immaculate pentagram.

  “!”

  With almost no preparation, Enbos fires hundreds of fireballs in a near constant stream. I attempt to teleport away, but four stone walls suddenly cut-off my line of sight. With little choice, I conjure a as my surroundings explode into dust. Fire and smoke continue to obscure my vision as my barrier shakes like a web in a storm. Alarmed, I quickly switch to as the scorching flames lick my armour.

  This power. Those foreign runes… He’s clearly wielding the legendary staff of the Watchful Light! With his unique skill, did he already access the vault by other means? I can’t fight him without my

  , but until my flock has dealt with his spirits, I can’t afford to activate it.

  “Support His Holiness! !”

  A few of my followers bombard Enbos with dark magic and interrupt his rain of fire. Seizing the chance, I immediately charge through the flames to reengage in close combat. He raises his staff to feign a spell, but I call his bluff and pressure him with a series of armoured strikes. Even if he has the magic of the ancients, his mana capacity is still that of an ordinary mage’s.

  “.”

  Turning his earthen spikes against him, Enbos repels the barrage with his frantic swordplay. However, with only one hand at his disposal, I eventually crack the soul prison in his other. As Enbos recoils from the shock, I raise my hand-

  Shiiing!

  “Hm!?”

  … and narrowly dodge a ghostly blade. Enbos seizes the chance to bludgeon a nearby adherent with the orb and recover some mana, shattering it in the process. Although damaged, his complete disregard for the former artefact gives me pause.

  What is going on? The orb has been destroyed, the spiritual connections to Enbos have been severed, and yet all 200 spirits have still not lost form. He can’t possibly command so many apparitions without a conduit, so how-

  “I’m not commanding anything, o Holiness,” says Enbos, reading the confusion behind my mask. “ is a composite spell of , and

  . All I’m doing is reshaping their residual life force before attaching their lingering resentment to that energy. Even without the orb to regulate their remaining life force, they will continue to rampage like a swarm of wild forsaken.”

  “You… You relinquished all your control?”

  “Of course. Since I’m learning to face my sins, it’s only fair you faced yours. Let’s hope you treated them nicely in their final moments, Tascus!”

  Reacting to the mere mention of my name, over fifty blades suddenly change course and fly straight towards me with raging screams. I conjure a and begin repelling them in rapid succession. Contrary to conventional wisdom, my holy construct doesn’t exorcise them in an instant. They are masses of spiritual energy, not souls attached to physical mediums via dark magic. Although an effective nuisance, this ploy is far from lethal. What is Enbos’ true scheme?

  As I fend off a dozen more apparitions, I glance toward Enbos who is busy culling my flock and rejuvenating his mana with his unique . Across the great hall, my followers are still struggling against the unblockable, undeterrable wraiths, with many starting to become short of breath. The casualties thus far are few and-

  … Wait, already? It’s only been mere moments, and yet my most experienced warriors are already losing their breath? Unless-

  “.”

  I immediately blast the roof above us, creating an opening into this enclosed space. However, Enbos then commands the stones to cover the hole.

  I see. He’s making the air thinner, thus turning our sealed room against us. It’s the same trick he employed in Catorrem’s amphitheatre, except far wider than reported. The sacrifices will suffocate at this rate, and if he continues to cast fire magic, he will choke everyone with smoke as well.

  “I won’t let you. .”

  Closing the distance, I aim for his head with my spell. As expected, he stalls for time, dashing backwards and summoning stone walls between us. Cleaving through the obstacles as if they were aged cloth, I struggle to maintain sight of him as he constantly summons more walls. He’s about to run out of mana again, at which point…

  “… Hm!?”

  He conjured a stone sculpture! The black colour is just his mana dyed with . Where is-

  Crack!

  “!”

  Before I can comprehend, Enbos’ spell connects with the side of my torso and explodes. Despite being a greater rank skill, it’s now powerful enough to send me tumbling across the hall. I reorient myself upon landing and look up to find fragments of stone hanging from his robe.

  I see. The “sculpture” was Enbos after all. But to completely hide his mana when I was so close is- No, I should’ve expected as much after his chantless incantation of , and his manipulation of the air in the midst of combat. Even I’m having more difficulty breathing than moments earlier. I don’t have time.

  “.”

  I throw my projectile towards Enbos, and as expected, he handily sidesteps my attack. Unbeknownst to him, I manage to strike my true target as I feign a barrage of magic. However, before I can retract my outstretched arm… one of the apparitions pierces through my hand.

  “Ugh!”

  “Did you forget already?” Enbos says dryly. “You still have to answer to those “stones” you selfishly took.”

  Forty-nine more ghostly swords catch up to me, but instead of evading, I concentrate my spiritual energy and bear their attacks. All fifty ethereal blades then impale my entire body, but I ignore the phantom pain and press on. My life force is still healthy despite my followers’ horrified cries, although I can feel the weight of these souls impeding my every step. For an instant, Enbos watches me with an air of suspicion, before raising the lich’s staff to cast another inferno.

  “!<-rtseriF>”

  “!”

  All of a sudden, Horizon’s Edge, which was lying on the table behind him, flies forth and knocks the ancient staff out of his hand. The resulting magical backlash causes Enbos to stagger, but before he can dive after the relic, I teleport behind him and bring down Horizon’s Edge upon his head. With impressive dexterity, he twists around and catches the bronze edge between his palms, forcing him onto his back. The tip is mere inches from his mask, but at this proximity, it’s become even harder to breathe. So if I can’t kill him this instant…

  “Activate .”

  “Oh, you son of a-”

  I use the emergency scroll to teleport to a different subspace. Enbos exploits the sudden change in elevation to twist aside the glaive, but not before I kick him squarely in his chest. We both land some distance away in this empty hall. I bring myself to full height and take a deep breath, while Enbos staggers back onto his feet.

  “I must confess, Enbos, your plan was sound. If we had continued to fight in the Great Hall, there was every chance you could have emerged victorious. That was the closest anyone has come to interrupting His grand designs.”

  Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

  “Good grief, Tascus. Just because I failed to strangle everyone with doesn’t mean you’ve already won,” says Enbos as he brushes the dust from his robes. “It was never my intention to kill you in that room but to trim the number of “terminals” attached to your pact. I always planned to fight you somewhere secluded, but I guess that part’s been brought forward.”

  “*Chuckle* Truly your hubris knows now equal. Even with your

  , you’ve lost your greatest asset. While I…”

  Holding Horizon’s Edge before him, I activate my

  and fill the glaive with holy mana in an instant. It’s searing light bathes the entire hall while Enbos slowly draws his longsword in feeble defiance.

  “Your life is forfeit, Enbos the Black. Truly, you are a forlorn soul to have pushed aside my charity, and in the end, all your defiance has amounted is but the smallest of distractions. Without the miraculous powers of the legendary staff, there is nothing-”

  “Ah shucks, that amateur thing? I’m flattered you think so highly of my handicraft, but really it’s just some Treant wood with a Melivorath core glued to the top.”

  “…”

  Something in his voice causes me to stop. Something in his posture causes my body to stiffen. Despite all everything going against him, he manages to plant a seed of doubt in my mind.

  His power… is not from that staff? The spells he was casting was from his own ability? No, that cannot be. He couldn’t possibly have learnt so many high-level spells and reached the pinnacle of mana control in only a week. Then, is his source of strength from some other relic hidden on his form? If so, why reveal it now? How can he be so confident I wouldn’t disarm him like moments before?

  “… It matters not.”

  I’ll just crush him with God’s true might.

  “.”

  Empowered by Maleosis’ pact and amplified by Horizon’s Edge, I fire a massive blast of holy energy, as bright as the golden sun. It strikes Enbos’ position with the force of a hundred giants and smoulders the stone beneath him. I’m almost disappointed how quickly it’s ended, although I won’t hold back just to entertain his delusions.

  For I am Maleosis’ Champion. I do not dither. I do not-

  “.”

  “.”

  While Tascus is busy channelling his beam of blinding light, I fire a concentrated bolt of electricity that cuts through his spell and strikes him squarely in his chest. The thunderous impact shakes the entire room, as Tascus flies back at the speed of a cannonball and slams into the wall with an equally loud crack. If I didn’t have , I would have thought him dead as he remains embedded in the pulverised stone.

  I’ve got to admit… That. Felt. Good.

  *Sigh* And after your heartfelt speech about respecting life. Please be more careful, Tyler.

  I know, Helena. I’m not dumb enough to take it easy on the likes of him.

  That’s not what I meant. Isn’t this situation close to your worst-case scenario? You never expected him to wield Maximillian’s spear.

  Yeah, and I didn’t take out as many of his inner circle as I would have liked. Things might have to come down to them, but in the meantime...

  “I-impossible. He’s as strong as bef-”

  “.”

  With lightning fast reflexes, Tascus extracts himself from the wall just as a massive spike bursts out from it. I don’t let up and continue intercepting his movements with stone protrusions. In my other hand, Helena is busy constructing another magic circle along my sword. She gives a mental nod and I point Bloodletter towards my prey.

  “…”

  Alarmed, Tascus immediately teleports to another location. Helena calls out to turn to my left as I redirect the spell without hesitation. Sure enough, Tascus reappears right in the path of our attack. He instantly raises his guard as I finish the last syllable, blocking the blast but being pushed a dozen feet back, electricity crackling across his arms.

  Thanks Helena.

  I’ll keep track of his eyes, so just focus on attacking.

  Wait, where is his-

  “!”

  The golden glaive suddenly flies out from the rubble as it dawns on me that he can’t teleport while holding a holy-attribute weapon. I immediately cast to pin the glaive to the ground, but Tascus constructs a large magic circle while I’m preoccupied.

  “!”

  “! !”

  Casting that dreaded spell, Tascus rains a hundred on my location, decimating everything but my small bubble. My entire body is rattling like washers in a dryer, and yet my empowered barriers hold firm. For the umpteenth time, I’m amazed by how powerful Helena’s elder lich form must have been, considering I’m only borrowing a fraction of a fragment of her original power. Nonetheless…

  Beep! Beep!

  

  Damn it, I have to switch.

  True, but are you sure you want to carry through with this trick?

  Yeah. If it’s his dark form, I can manage. If it’s the other… I’ll see how far I can go.

  I see. I believe in you, Tyler.

  “Release!”

  Removing my , the holy spear flies straight towards my back. Even when I know it’s coming, I narrowly dodge the scorching blade as it pierces through my barriers like an arrow through tissue paper. However, the instant it passes me by, I cover my foot in and kick the back of the flying glaive, sending it straight to its owner. As expected, its holy aura disintegrates every along the way and vaporises his spell circle. As it passes his outstretch hand, Tascus tilts his head before it touches his mask and uses to curve it right back at me. I deflect it upwards with Bloodletter, but Tascus then teleports above me and switches to his holy form, grabbing the twirling spear for a powerful downward swing.

  “.”

  “!”

  Disrupting his descent, I barely sidestep the wall of crushing light as the spear tip hits the ground. I aim for his exposed flank, but he in the opposite direction while singlehandedly swinging the glaive. With a contortionist’s flexibility, I evade the wide attack, then immediately dash back as Tascus jousts with the full length of the spear.

  As always, his arm strength is ridiculous, and every one of his quick thrusts is shaving HP due to the weapon’s holy aura. I could slip past the blade, but even touching that “radioactive” shaft would destroy me in an instant. At this point, I’m not sure if buying time with melee is any safer than being bombarded by-

  “!”

  Damn!

  

  <1 skill point allocated. 496 skill points reserved. Maleosis’ Pact of Power: Active>

  Ting!

  By the thinnest of margins, I divert his attack with both hands against Bloodletter as the searing pole slides past my head. However, with his other hand, he conjures a and thrusts it toward my “heart”.

  “!”

  I conjure my spell to overlap his arm, slowing his attack before it can build momentum. I then allocate another skill point before launching a kick into his chest, pushing myself away from his deadly spear. However, the moment I land, Helena calls out:

  Above you, Tyler!

  Huh? Damn it, that magic circle is too wide!

  “.”

  “!”

  Although a basic rank skill, I strike the decimated floor with all my might and fall into the floor below. His still hits me, though, as the scorching beam strikes my back and I slam into the hard floor, before rolling out of the way of the golden light.

  HP: 67/198

  MP: 32/180

  Good grief. All that effort and I’ve barely regenerated my MP. I could really have done without that last hit.

  It would have been worst if you had dug a bigger hole when that light shone through. It could have killed you.

  I suppose… Is Tascus already in this room?

  Yes. He’s switched to his dark form and is- Seven o’ clock!

  <1 skill point allocated. 498 skill points reserved.>

  Turning on my heel, I raise Bloodletter and block Tascus’ fist just as he reappears. In the next instant, he vanishes away but I’m left on high alert to my surroundings.

  Nine o’ clock!

  <1 skill point allocated. 499 skill points reserved.>

  Four o’ clock!

  <1 skill point allocated. 500 skill points reserved.>

  Eleven o’ clock!

  <1 skill point allocated. 501 skill points reserved.>

  Above you!

  <1 skill point allocated. 502 skill points reserved...>

  Over and over again, I spin around deflect his attacks by a hair’s breadth. Even with Helena’s instructions coming at the speed of thought, I’m being pressured too quickly to even counterattack. I only have 68 skill points – and falling – while Tascus can spam his teleportation near endlessly.

  Tascus won’t realise the difference, Tyler. Just finish the ploy then defend yourself!

  No, the time isn’t right, Helena. I don’t want to squander a surprise attack, so long as he doesn’t figure out how we’re tracking him, I can-

  Six o’ clock!

  Got it!

  BOOM! Shiiing!

  “Huh?”

  All of a sudden, the telekinetic spear breaks through the roof above as I narrowly dodge it’s holy blade. The tip embeds into the floor, and to my alarm, Tascus makes an opening motion with his hand. Sure enough, the spear discharges all of its holy energy in a nova of light, but I quickly leap out of way… only to remember Tascus is right behind me, ready to strike. Out of the corner of my eye, I watch a fly from his hand towards my airborne form. I-it’s too close to dodge…

  <… 98%... 99%... 1->

  BANG!

  Striking me squarely in the back, I hurtle through the air like a ragdoll before sliding to a complete stop. There is a moment of silence as Tascus watches my still form, now leaking a fair amount of spiritual fragments into the air: a tell-tale symptom of a dying soul. His armoured boots echo throughout the empty room as he prepares to finish me off for good.

  Thud, thud, thud…

  “I do not know how you managed to learn the secrets of the Golden Age, but you never stood a chance before a true adherent of His will.”

  Thud, thud, thud…

  “In the end, you couldn’t stall for long enough to recover your limited mana. It is clear that such sorcery, genuine as it was, was ill suited to your constitution. Only one who is blessed with His infinite power could ever wield such magics.”

  Thud, thud, thud…

  “But the greatest cause of your defeat was not your lack of mana, but of fervour. You never showed the same determination as you did on the Tiel Plains, because of that… you are weaker than before”

  Tascus grabs my wooden antler and raises my limp form. In his other hand, he uses to recall the spear to his hand, and immediately fires up the metal into a golden sheen. Slowly, I carefully raise my hand to grab the arm on my antler while Tascus shakes his head with derision.

  “Even now, you still… Farewell, Enbos the Forlorn. Once I am done with your soul, I hope you will bear witness to my legacy in your next life. This is… deliverance.”

  CRUNCH!

  “… Dead wrong. I couldn’t be any stronger, in every way.”

  With but a singlehanded squeeze, I crush his steel bracer along with the bones in his arm. Although stunned, Tascus immediately thrusts the spear toward my chest. However, I’m faster as I land a lightning-quick front kick with the force of a truck. He slides back on both feet from the sheer power of the blow, but to both our surprise… he suddenly falls to one knee. I can see the disbelief in his eyes as I quickly close the distance with earth-shaking strides.

  “!”

  “!”

  Reduced to one arm, his straightforward thrust fails to connect with my agile form as I strike his chest plate with reinforced bone. Tascus holds steadfast but his armour does not, leaving a small dent in his silver piece. I don’t let up my assault, however, as I launch a barrage of explosive punches while sticking to his injured flank. The sound of my attacks resembles a metalworks factory as I batter his full-body armour with my bare fists.

   improved far more than just . At this very moment…

  … I’m stronger than the undead that repelled half-a-dozen holy knights.

  Suddenly, Tascus conjures a in his open hand, having just mended his broken bones. He then drives the conjured weapon into my torso, and naturally, it pierces straight through my breastplate. But the moment the spell makes contact with my sternum…

  “Hm!?”

  … it shatters against the enchanted bones I salvaged from my last battle.

  “!”

  With a rune-etched fist, I land a uppercut directly into his armoured chest, launching his entire body over fifty feet into the air. He narrowly avoids smashing into the roof with , however, I’m already allowing up with another attack.

  “!”

  BOOM!

  Shattering the ground with a single stomp, I launch myself toward Tascus like a ballistic missile. He barely turns in time to avoid my crushing fist, however, I then reorient my body and kick off the ceiling, ricocheting right up to his surprised face.

  “!”

  “!”

  BANG!

  Smashing through his barrier with apparent ease, I send Tascus crashing to the ground with monstrous force. The immediate aftermath is not unlike a falling meteor, gouging a trail along the earth. With all my momentum transferred into Tascus, I drop straight down and observe his prone form.

  Did you get him, Tyler?

  … No. He cast and at the last moment. All I did was bruise him.

  Then are you sure you shouldn’t attack him while he’s down?

  Even with the Pseudo Ravager’s stats, his flying spear can still vaporise me in a single hit. My Pact of Power just expired and I only have 55 skill points left. I need to save up for my next big move.

  I see. But your equipped soul is also on a timer. The moment you took it out of storage, that mutated soul has been falling apart at an accelerating pace.

  It’s not the only soul that’s falling apart, Helena.

  I’m only borrowing my counterpart’s soul as a medium. Even if I break down, it won’t affect her spiritual structure at all. I promise.

  *Sigh* You know full well I’m not worrying about “her”. But right now, I’m more worried about what Tascus is scheming, half-buried in the floor.

  “Heh… Hahahahaha…”

  All of a sudden, Tascus starts laughing in a dry and drawn out manner. I begin to wonder if he’s finally discarded his last pretence of sanity. Nonetheless, I raise my guard as he raises his body upright like a marionette.

  “Everything is clear now.”

  “Hah?”

  “The Forlorn Soul, the Celestial Beast, the Ascension to the Crown… I finally understand what the Prophecy is all about.”

  “There’s nothing to understand at all, Tascus,” I say as I walk over to my dropped sword. “You discarded your own agency to become a cog in a machine. Whatever part of the prophecy does or does not come true, you will never own it.”

  “Perhaps, but I suppose that is what makes me “forlorn”,” he says as recalls his spear once more. “Enbos, that power you demonstrated earlier, that magic and strength which surpasses my own, can only have been gifted by Him. You… You’ve become an Apostle, have you not?”

  “…”

  “I see, I see. So you’ve finally embraced His teachings and found your true Path. I always thought I was destined to be His champion, but I must confess, I never understood why the prophecy must be so… controversial. Why He spurs His most devout followers into conflict with one and other, all in hope of becoming His one, true champion. Now, I understand.

  My brother, it is because his favour must be earned. We are both candidates to His will. We are both forlorn souls with pure intent. We are both each other’s impasse, and only in combat, when we uncover each other’s wisdom, shall our enlightenment be complete.”

  “… I don’t know what wisdom I have to offer, but it’s true that I have changed,” I say while recharging more of my MP. “Ever since I became an Acolyte, I wanted to deny his existence. I couldn’t accept the idea that my life, for all its tragedies, was being determined by anyone but myself. And yet I continued to call upon his power. Continued to feel his presence. Continued to exist by his grace, long after I killed my handler. From the depths of my heart, I always knew. That Maleosis was real.”

  “I see. The arrogance of man is to believe everything is within their comprehension. Before an omniscient deity, you pursued the illusion of chaos rather than trust in an unfathomable being. To you, our actions in His name defined Maleosis as “evil”… until now. Although you still champion life, you’ve found your own way of serving Him, and broke through the wall between Acolyte and Apostle.”

  “Yeah,” I say as I get within twenty feet of Tascus and activate my pact. “The world needs to know his true form. That Maleosis is…”

  “…”

  “… an incorporeal entity spawned by the collective consciousness of mankind, reinterpreted as the spirit of darkness in the current age.”

  “… I beg your pardon?”

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