novelraw Chapter 417 - 410 - Sacrifice!
Chapter 417 - 410 - Sacrifice!
The two golden forms charged their opponent in unison.
Annihilation once again swung his fists. The defensive combination of [Immortality], [Preservation], and [Beauty] had robbed [Destruction] of its original devastating power. That being the case, Annihilation employed a tactic completely opposite to his last.
[The Hunt] and [Nihility].
[The Hunt] was the path of decisiveness, ruthlessness, and obstinance. [Nihility] was the path of indolence, weariness, and meaninglessness.
Although Annihilation and Star-Vault commanded a similar number of Dominions, the specific types differed. [The Hunt] and [Nihility] were Paths that Star-Vault neither possessed nor understood well. These two diametrically opposed Dominions were not intended for output on a physical level; any impact they had was a feedback of spiritual and mental will upon material energy.
Annihilation's seemingly violent punch was, in truth, a mental assault on Star-Vault, using the shockwave created by the mutual annihilation of these opposing Paths!
BOOM!
Star-Vault did not see through the feint, but his own attack struck true by chance. To counter Annihilation's physical attacks, he needed to combine the power of two to three Paths just to block [Destruction]. If that was the case, he might as well abandon defense entirely and launch his own mental assault in a trade of blows!
That's right.
The golden flames blazing on his draconic claws were, in fact, the fire of will ignited by the Path of [Remembrance]... Star-Vault and Annihilation had simultaneously launched an offensive against the very source of each other's souls!
BOOOM!!
An intangible explosion shattered the consciousness of both Grand Monarchs.
A clash of Paths was incredibly perilous. A single misstep could lead to instant death. And one must not forget, the battlefield for Star-Vault and Annihilation was the Imaginary Tree itself, a place constantly enduring the oppressive force of Astral Gods... Be it mind or body, only the most daring would attempt to fight here; an ordinary Astral God would not even try.
"Hah!"
Annihilation was the first to reassemble his scattered consciousness.
Even without using his thirteenth Dominion, his comprehensive strength was still greater than Star-Vault's. A furious roar erupted from his mouth along with a pillar of air like a particle jet stream. Grand Monarch Annihilation channeled his power, his left arm shooting out to viciously seize Star-Vault's tail!
KRAK!
The sound of twisting, shattering metal echoed from the dragon's tail.
Crimson lightning and black fire, the manifested power of [Destruction], began to frantically tear at Star-Vault's shell. In his unconscious state, [Immortality] alone could not stop the [Destruction] actively unleashed by Annihilation. However, to think he could win with a single blow like this was unrealistic. In terms of the [Immortality] Dominion alone, Star-Vault, whose form and very core were a better fit for the identity of a [Dragonkin], actually surpassed him several times over in physical prowess.
Annihilation's [Immortality] Dominion was built upon the corpses of countless [Dragonkin] that the Antimatter Legion had exterminated across the cosmos. This was fundamentally different from the [Immortality] that Star-Vault commanded.
During the physical clash, the Dragonkin remains that constituted his [Immortality] Dominion exhibited a resistance far greater than usual.
That was right.
Although Annihilation's body could adapt to the fusion of many Dominions, he had yet to shed his identity as a "pioneer" of this path.
The powers hidden within the Paths had not yet been fully analyzed.
Against a weaker opponent or one not skilled in Immortality, it would be a different story. But when the enemy was a [Dragonkin] of the same caliber, the "lingering resentment" that Long, the Astral God of Immortality, had infused into his entire race flared up at a critical moment, affecting Annihilation's performance.
"Hmph!"
He had to divert some of his power to suppress the precursor to [Immortality] running rampant.
After all, his golden hue, identical to Star-Vault's, was derived from the power of [Immortality]. If he were to lose and have to reform his physical body at a time like this, his combat effectiveness would suffer a significant blow.
The only option now...
Swoosh—
Annihilation began to spin like a windmill, intending to hurl Star-Vault directly toward the treetop!
As long as he broke physical contact, the [Immortality] latent within Star-Vault's body could no longer affect him. Moreover, the pressure one had to endure at the "treetop" was far more intense than on the lower trunk.
After all, many Grand Monarchs and Astral Gods had touched the Imaginary Tree, but very few had ever reached its crown to witness truth and rule.
But!
Annihilation's plan did not succeed. The instant he was about to release his grip, Star-Vault finally regained consciousness.
Even more unexpectedly—
"My thanks."
Annihilation's previous attack had held nothing back. Although the mental shock had affected both of them, Star-Vault was clearly the more affected. He should not have recovered so quickly.
The power for both the counter-attack on Annihilation and the reassembly of his own will—this unheralded power came from a remnant will that appeared in his spiritual world:
Long, the Astral God of Immortality.
Not just Star-Vault, but even Grand Monarch Annihilation was completely unprepared for the appearance of "Long," which was the crucial reason he had been caught off guard.
"No need."
"It was merely a transaction."
When Star-Vault traced this will to its source, he discovered something shocking.
The will of "Long" did not originate from the Path formed by the condensed Dominion, nor was it power extracted from the Seven Dragon Sovereigns of Teyvat or the Imaginary Branch.
It was...
From even earlier!?
To be more precise... he had possessed this dormant will from the very moment he became it.
Was the birth of Honkai Beasts modeled after the Dragonkin? Or perhaps...
"A transaction with whom?"
"I leave the remaining Dragonkin to you."
"Long" did not answer Star-Vault's question, either because he couldn't or wouldn't.
His era had passed, but the power of [Immortality] was likely far more than mere physical "infinitude." As far as Lu Xing knew, the Astral God of Order was the only other being whose spiritual power could linger after death.
Annihilation had answered many of Star-Vault's questions, but with the appearance of "Long's" will, a much larger question now confronted Lu Xing. The target of "Long's" transaction was likely not Order. After all, a fact he had long ignored was now laid bare before him:
How could he, a mere human, have so easily learned the secrets of the Tree and the Sea through a "game"?
It was illogical.
Considering his own position and the countless trials he had endured... some existence capable of knowing these things "in advance" had likely made preparations long before "Order" ever did.
It even went so far as to force him to re-examine many conclusions he had already overturned.
The Imaginary Tree, and one of its messengers...
"The Final Monarch."
---o---
Annihilation obviously knew none of this.
Otherwise, based on Lu Xing's own speculation, Annihilation would never have "waited" for him to grow into an evenly matched opponent.
Right... Annihilation!
The thoughts had not wasted too much of Star-Vault's time.
These were not questions to be pondered now. Whatever the truth may be, he first had to defeat the opponent before him with everything he had.
Otherwise, all of it would be nothing more than a fleeting illusion.
"ROAR!!"
The shockwave from the dragon's roar made countless green leaves tremble in the gale!
His golden body twisted and tightened. Before Grand Monarch Annihilation could let go, Star-Vault coiled up his arm and toward the top of his body!
K-CHA—
Star-Vault had bound Annihilation.
Dazzling dragon scales flew off amidst Annihilation's struggles, but no matter how hard the latter fought, Star-Vault showed no sign of letting go!
SCREEE!
An ear-piercing screech of friction echoed continuously.
Sparks flew and showered onto the branches below. The rock-solid bark was scorched black, and the fragile green leaves were burned to ash. In the cosmic sea, countless subspace universes were born from this, and countless civilizations were extinguished.
BANG! xN!
The coils had not restrained all of Annihilation's arms. Fists like comets rained down madly upon Star-Vault's body.
But none of it could stop Star-Vault's gaping maw.
Facing Annihilation, from just in front of his ever-tightening neck, a glorious golden flame erupted, brighter even than the faint glow of the Tree's trunk—
CHIII!
[Divine Flame Impact]
Point-blank range, a direct, undefended hit!
CHIIII!!
The inferno swept past.
The countless branches behind Annihilation vanished. At the melted junction, amber-colored sap was "sealing" the wound... The universe would likely not expand in this direction for a very long time.
However, for the Imaginary Tree, this was all just minor squabbling.
The location of Star-Vault and Annihilation's fierce battle had only just reached the middle section of the Tree. Compared to the magnificent crown above, the size of the world and the scale of the universe here were likely less than one ten-millionth of what lay above.
BOOOM!!!
The explosion forcibly tore the two entangled Grand Monarchs apart.
All "expenditure" became part of the "crimson sand" that fell upon the desert below, be it traces of energy or the skeletons of civilizations... How such a vast sea of sand came to be, at least, was now clear in their minds.
The flowing streams of light scattered at their feet, and the hazy mist of light slowly dissipated.
"A fine move."
Annihilation's figure was more wretched than ever before.
The surface of his golden-cast body was now as uneven as patched clothing. His upper body, especially his head and neck which had taken the direct hit from the [Divine Flame Impact], had been turned entirely to charcoal.
Incidentally, if he hadn't sacrificed hundreds of arms at the last second to form a shield against the flames, Annihilation's current state would be even more tragic.
Annihilation had been blindsided by [Immortality].
Under normal circumstances, this fire of [Destruction] would never have caused such a severe injury, not even a minor one.
Annihilation had not sensed the presence of "Long." From his perspective, Star-Vault had simply seized an opportunity to land a heavy blow. "Long," after all, was one of the most supreme Astral Gods in the cosmos. To have hidden within Star-Vault's [Path of Immortality] for so long without being discovered, he naturally had his own methods.
As for how Star-Vault had actually done it...
Annihilation didn't care in the slightest.
"Fighting with 12 Dominions..." he said. "Who knows how much time it would take to decide a victor."
Neither Star-Vault nor Annihilation were Astral Gods. The Imaginary energy they could draw from their Paths was ultimately finite.
But!
This was the Imaginary Tree.
Floating between the leaves and branches was the highest-grade Imaginary energy, something unseen in the cosmic sea. If worst came to worst, they could simply grab a handful of leaves and stuff them in their mouths to rapidly recover... The actions of the Antimatter Legion were merely a more complicated version of this, as they could not be as simple and direct as Annihilation.
The true measure of their strength was their mastery over their respective Paths.
"Star-Vault!"
"Push your power to its absolute limit!"
Annihilation raised both his arms high, and a pure radiance seemed to sprinkle down from the bright treetop.
"Otherwise..."
"Don't even speak of ascending to godhood. Just staying alive will become a luxury!"
VMMMM!
A sun rose in Annihilation's hands.
Countless leaves, following the motion of his raised arms, instantly dissolved into motes of light, continuously converging at the center of the blinding sun.
"This is—"
This was the [Path of Sacrifice] Annihilation had spoken of.
He wasn't directly absorbing the power of the Imaginary Tree itself (not even an Astral God could do that), but rather using the massive Antimatter Legion spread across the cosmos as "kindling" to enhance the power of this technique.
A vast and mighty aura surged from the center of the sun.
If he wasn't mistaken, this was Grand Monarch Annihilation's signature move: [Galactic Combustion].
Yes, it was no different in name from the technique Star-Vault used.
But in terms of power...
When this attack landed, it wouldn't just be a galaxy that was destroyed. The [Path of Destruction] fueled by his own Imaginary energy was already enough for the "Super-Galaxy-class" Grand Monarch Annihilation to destroy a galaxy in one hit.
The number of leaves that had just dissolved into light was definitely well over three digits.
In other words, the thousands of worlds controlled by the Antimatter Legion were all "unhesitatingly" fed into Grand Monarch Annihilation's technique.
"Sacrifice, is it..."
DENG!
A dazzling rainbow light flashed across the surface of the dragon's wings and shell!
At the same time, a dense network of cracks instantly spiderwebbed across Star-Vault's entire body!
This was inevitable.
The [Path of Order] Lu Xing commanded could, at most, sustain the power of 12 Dominions. To go beyond that... he had to use his soul and body as the vessel. Compared to a [Path], which was a rule of the universe, even the body of a peak Grand Monarch could only be described as fragile.