novelraw Chapter 255 255: Endless Cycle Of Life And Death - Galaxy Monarch
Chapter 255 255: Endless Cycle Of Life And Death - Galaxy Monarch
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Death.
Rebirth.
Death.
Rebirth.
Death.
Rebirth.
Death.
Rebirth.
Death.
Rebirth.
Death.
Rebirth.
Death.
Rebirth.
Death.
Rebirth.
Death.
Rebirth.
Louis had already lost count of how many times he had died. If not for his Timeline Fragment counter, he would never have known.
It started with Lisette and Minato "spawn camping" him mercilessly. After the tenth death, they even stopped talking. They simply fired dozens of stars and dark stars at him, exploding and disintegrating everything over and over again.
Each time Louis died, he had roughly a day and a half in Limbo before the Venerable found him. With every death, the Venerable grew roughly one minute faster.
Eventually, after one hundred, two hundred, three hundred, five hundred deaths, that time had shrunk to a single day.
But Louis was not simply dying endlessly. Every ten or so deaths, he gained a Bonus Time when his Fantasium Affinity suddenly reached 100%. It turned out that every time he died and could do nothing, the Fantasium from Lisette and Minato's attacks melded with his regenerating soul, enhancing it and making his soul stronger, little by little.
Thus, every ten or twelve deaths, Louis exploded with power, sent Lisette and Minato flying, and rushed down to refine the dungeon core once more.
After five hundred and twenty-six deaths, Louis now possessed over seventy Dungeon Cores, all merged into a titanic formation within his Fantasy Sea. His eyes looked exhausted. His soul was strong but wavering.
However, his determination, his heart, and his will remained indestructible.
He smiled.
Every death made him stronger in more ways than his foes could imagine. While they believed they were slowly breaking through his Heart of Time, they were completely wrong.
His Crown of Eternal Regret resonated. It had grown once more after devouring its 527th Timeline Fragment.
For Level 1, he needed 3 Fragments.
For Level 2, 10 Fragments.
For Level 3, 30 Fragments.
For Level 4, 60 Fragments.
For Level 5, 120 Fragments.
For Level 6, 240 Fragments.
For Level 7, 440 Fragments.
And for Level 8, he needed 880 Fragments. He was not there yet.
The crown's power had helped him survive at times as well. Cycle Breaker would sometimes activate, redirecting a fatal blow elsewhere in exchange for Time Essence, a new stat that had developed. Devour the Future was used whenever possible before he died, slightly enhancing his own power and growth speed by consuming the current timeline's possibilities.
Several new abilities had also emerged.
{Primordial Incarnation}: [Crown of Eternal Regret – Ouroboros Sovereign (Tier 4): Level 7]
The ultimate fusion of all your Incarnations and the bonds you refused to let die.
Grants perfect recollection of every timeline you have lived through, without the mental strain of previous regressions.
Allows you to temporarily summon "Echoes" of your fallen comrades at 70% → 90% of their peak power, retaining their personalities and battle instincts.
All Incarnations you have ever had can be summoned using this Crown, increasing their power by a further 200% → 1400%.
Aside from the Spiral of Fate's growth, the crown can grow stronger separately by accumulating Timeline Fragments.
Timeline Fragments: 527/880
{Stat Boosts}
[Time Essence]: [+1,000,000] → [+28,000,000]
[Draconic Essence]: [+1,000,000] → [+28,000,000]
[Vitality]: [+1,500,000] → [+42,000,000]
[Strength]: [+2,500,000] → [+70,000,000]
[Intelligence]: [+2,500,000] → [+70,000,000]
[Dexterity]: [+1,500,000] → [+42,000,000]
[Magic]: [+2,500,000] → [+70,000,000]
[Fantasium]: [+10,000,000] → [+280,000,000]
{Passive Effects}
Cycle Breaker — Any fatal attack that would kill you or your summoned Echoes has a chance to instead rewind only that specific moment for them, at the cost of Time Essence.
Echo of the Past — You will sometimes receive an Echo of the Past, which can be absorbed to gain a percentage of the Echo's stats or a new ability from them. Echoes can range from a fragment of yourself to other people.
Born in Limbo — Whenever you are in Limbo, your growth speed increases by 500%.
Empower Regression — Each regression has a chance to be empowered, granting a permanent buff of 10% of your previous regression's stats. Stackable. Current Empowered Regression Stacks: 22
{Active Effects}
Devour the Future — Consume a portion of an upcoming timeline's possibilities to instantly empower yourself or an ally, accelerating growth at the risk of destabilizing the current timeline further.
Spiral of Time — Your Heart of Time has further merged with your Spiral of Time. You can freely exchange Fantasium for Time Essence and vice versa. Additionally, it creates a Domain that enhances your Time Manipulation abilities by 1000%.
Yin-Yang Soul and Body — Your Soul has absorbed the essence of Limbo, and this transfers to your Body. The more you die and revive, the more Death and Life Essence flows through you. By activating this skill, you can utilize all of it to enhance your Soul and Body, increasing your Cultivation, Stats, Abilities, Skill Power, and more by at least 500% and up to 1000%.
Mirror World — Through your countless deaths and rebirths, you have discovered the truth behind Inverse Pandora, allowing you to access a world named the Mirror World, a parallel dimension that exists within everything. By activating this skill, you can visit the Mirror World for 24 minutes a day. There, you can do a variety of incredible things.
{Bonus Effects}
All Stats +200% → +1400%.
Reduces 50% → 90% of Soul Damage Taken.
Increases Spiral Abilities Power by +200% → +1400%.
Increases EXP earned by +500% → +900%.
All Allies receive +100% → +700% Stat Boost when their Bond is strong.
All Allies receive 30% → 70% All Damage Reduction when their Bond is strong.
All Allies receive +50% → +350% Damage to "Enemies" when their Bond is strong.
Indeed, his crown had grown tremendously strong. Louis had changed entirely from who he once was, at the cost of his own sanity. His Madness Index had already reached 100% dozens of times, pushing him to mutate into a Grievance at least thirty times during these regressions. Each time, he died and revived, destroying the Grievance body in the process.
This had caused his Fantasy Heart to continuously mutate and grow like a forest of crystals across his existence. The three Cores of Heart, Spirit, and Will kept this Fantasy Heart Forest from shattering further, creating an incredibly bizarre balance.
The monstrous Grievance within him had continuously grown stronger and, at the same time, been refined by Louis. By now, it had been completely tamed as a Familiar and, simultaneously, become his Soul Treasure.
Now, Louis was using the day he had in Limbo—which, through Time Dilation inside his Fantasy Realm, allowed him to stay for a year here—to evolve all his Familiars and Soul Treasures once more.
FLUOSH!
CLANK!
CLANK!
CLANK!
By summoning the evolved Tier 4 form of the Blacksmith Incarnation, the Master Smith, Louis created a giant Divine Cosmic Forge. It was formed from the divinity and starlight forged from the seventy Dungeon Cores he had accumulated and fused together into a massive formation.
The power of seventy dungeons, each with nine layers, fueled the immense cosmic forge to extraordinary levels. This allowed him to continuously forge and evolve his Soul Treasures and Familiars using materials extracted from the dungeon interiors, which had also grown in quality as he fused and evolved them further.
Gungnir was now evolving, as Louis did something ridiculous once again.
As he forged his Soul Treasures, he realized it was not convenient to have too many. He would always end up using only one or two. So he simply decided to combine all his Soul Treasures into Gungnir.
FLAAASH!
CLANK!
CLANK!
CLANK!
CLANK!
Using his Divine Orichalcum Hammer, forged from the Heavenly Orichalcum Ore he had mined in the Immortal Mountains over the years, he began to meld them together with Gungnir.
FLUOSH!
Until Gungnir finally became "soft" again, gleaming with divine light.
At this point, through all this time, Gungnir had continued growing, reaching Rank 6. At Rank 6, from what he had learned from Niflheim, Soul Treasures could evolve into Divine Soul Treasures to match their wielder's god-like powers and enhance them further.
Thus, Louis planned to combine all of them into Gungnir, enhancing it and turning his spear into an ultimate weapon akin to the spear his mother once wielded.
Or perhaps to surpass it.
And these were the materials he would use: his own Soul Treasures.
[Abyssal Demonic Spiral Sword of Death Chaos – Gram]
[Cursed Demonic Katana of Infernal Soul Fire – Muramasa]
[Gardener's Crystalized Heart – Memories of Gazing The Moon]
[Primordial Divine Heart Shard – Loki's Last Message]
[Corrupted Immortalizing Liquid Gold – The Golden Judge's Tear]
[Living Dimensional Venerable Corpse – Remnant of the Seat of Observation and Judgement]
[Crystalized Diamond Shard of White Void – Lisette's Hatred]
[Crystalized Diamond Shard of Nightmarish Chaos – Minato's Disgust]
These were the primary materials, including the corpse of a Venerable himself. He had even planned to consume it first but realized that fusing it into a weapon would grant a far better boost to his attack power.
Aside from these, he had gathered several other items from the dungeons by the dozens, such as:
[Spiritual Divine Heart Soul of Columbia]
[Deep Sea King's Divinity Stone Core]
[Superhero Planet Core]
[Molten Flame Volcanic Diamond]
[Cosmic Star Crystal Core]
[Dungeon Core Fragments]
Yes, he was using the cores found within the Dungeon Layers he had extracted, accumulating over a dozen of them. He was even using the very planetary core of the Superhero planet, which he had turned into a gigantic continent. No longer needing the core, he took it as a prized treasure.
Thus, the forge was immense, the size of the moon itself, vast and burning endlessly. Louis had become as large as a kilometer, holding a titanic hammer while fused with the Master Smith to enhance his abilities.
"Now… Divine Forge Synthesis!"
FLAAASH!
Millions of Divine Runes activated as Louis combined both Forging and Alchemy. Gungnir floated in the divine cosmic flames, bathing constantly.
The true size of Gungnir was now three hundred meters, enormous and overflowing with tremendous power.
With such a huge size, it was more than enough to absorb the materials one by one.
His Soul Treasures went first, one by one, starting from the weapons to the other stranger pieces. Lastly came Oberon's last fragment, the corrupted gold, the corpse of the Venerable, and the Spiritual Realm Dungeon.
The rest of the materials flew into Gungnir and merged with it, giving the gigantic spear a tremendous boost of power and elemental energies.
Louis continued using the massive hammer to straighten some areas, sharpen others, and force his weapon to absorb everything and make it part of itself.
Each time he did so, explosions of divinity surged into the outer reaches of his realm, destroying nearby stars or moons that had gathered.
Eventually, after a year of repeating the same actions, constantly mixing the materials and making them part of Gungnir, Louis used his dragon breath to burn the entire spear. He then fused it with his own flesh, blood, and bones by cutting three of his six arms and merging them with the spear.
His arms regrew naturally after he used his Tier 4 Death-Sense, which had grown continuously stronger as he died so much.
Death-Sense was not strong enough to resist the immense Spiral Power of Lisette and Minato though. Every time Louis tried to use it, it did not matter; he died anyway.
However, right after this regression, it had finally reached Tier 4, leaving him curious about what it could accomplish now.
"Is it done?"
Louis's eyes gleamed as he saw Gungnir beginning to shine brightly, becoming a gigantic spear even longer than his own one-kilometer body.
"Magnificent…"
After over five hundred regressions, Louis's Gungnir had evolved.
RUMBLE!
Rivers of divinity spread everywhere. Small stars were born anew, shimmering beautifully as Gungnir's golden form manifested, gleaming with cosmic blue colors and fiery red flames.
But that was not all.
Through this process, Louis had also evolved Gungnir's Spirit Core, turning it into a Divine Spirit Core.
"Now, go!"
Louis's Familiars, such as his Spirits like Pendragon, Phenix, Pandora, Niflheim, Belladine, Handy, and the Gardener's Memento, all leaped into Gungnir and merged with its forming Divine Spirit Core, evolving through Gungnir's own evolution.
FLUOSH!
Each one of these Familiars evolved, becoming even greater. Even those that were Entities, such as the Gardener's Memento and Handy, mutated into Half-Spiritual Beings, gaining tremendous magical power.
"You too."
"…"
However, there was one last ingredient: a titanic wooden dragon with five heads, jumping into Gungnir half-hesitantly, mixing with her and fusing with her power.
It was the Abyssal Dragon Tree of Ruin – Nidhogg, Louis's own Grievance.
Once Gungnir was slowly settling down, Louis added the very last ingredients.
"Now… Seventy Dungeon Cores!"
All seventy of his Dungeon Cores were compressed and flew toward Gungnir, merging their own formation within her metal, mixing with her and granting her immense power.
Louis had not forged a Divine Weapon.
This was beyond divinity!
FLAAAASH!
"Hahahaha… HAHAHAHAHAHA!"
Louis laughed viciously as Gungnir manifested, gleaming with the radiance of stars and leaving a cosmic, nebula-like trail behind, overflowing with divine and primordial power.
Gungnir had completely evolved beyond her limits not once, but perhaps three or four times.
"This is beyond Divinity. It is a World Class—no, Star Forging Class Treasure! Perhaps even further? Black Hole?!"
Louis had learned the ranks beyond Divine Weapons. Star Forging Weapons were capable of destroying and devouring stars to grow, and there were even the fabled Black Hole Relics, tremendously powerful.
Ding!
[Congratulations! You have successfully evolved your Soul Treasure: [Celestial Holy Dragon Spirit Soul Lance – Gungnir (Rank 6)] into the Divine Cosmic Soul Relic: [Primordial Heavenly Celestial Dragon Spirit Soul Cosmos Lance – Gungnir-Oberon (Rank 10)]!]
[All of your Familiars have bonded with your newly evolved Rank 10 Divine Cosmic Soul Relic, sharing their power with Gungnir and vice versa.]
[As a result, your power has begun to rise as your connection with your Familiars and Gungnir has reached new lengths.]
[Gungnir has successfully developed a Soul Ego and a Divine Embodiment!]
A pillar of golden and white light pierced the sky as Gungnir transformed, becoming a gigantic Dragonoid woman covered from head to toe in golden scales.
She possessed both the ferocity of a dragon and the beauty of a humanoid form, with a voluptuous body exuding fertility, life, nature, light, creation, and stars.
Her eyes opened, gleaming like countless stars colliding as she faced Louis with a stern expression. Her head was decorated with six different golden horns, and she had long white hair. She spread out her enormous wings, which had cosmic-like eyes, and exuded the same presence as that Venerable now.
Behind her were even three Ascendancy Laws which she had forged as she ascended. Within her heart, Louis could feel three Cores: Heart, Spirit, and Will.
As he had imagined, when he combined Gungnir and connected her with his own Soul, even his own Cultivation Methods passed to her, helping her learn and master them while becoming part of them and their growth.
"Hello, Gungnir… it has been a long time since you were made," Louis smiled. He was proud, but also exhausted. "I… am very proud to see you here…"
He gasped. His soul was simply too weak now. He fell unconscious, dropping from the sky into the Fantasy Sea.
Gungnir remained silent, descending and catching her master, carrying his soul into a separate star within the Fantasy Sea and placing him at the center.
"Master… I am also happy to be able to speak with you for the first time."
She smiled, carrying the souls and egos of all the Soul Treasures and Spirits she had combined with.
"Come out, everyone. Let us heal Master."
With a thought, all the Spirits were summoned: Phenix, Pendragon, Pandora, Niflheim, Belladine, Handy, and the Gardener's Memento, along with a few new ones that were born there, such as Nidhogg, Columbia, and a Golden Emperor made from the Venerable's residual power, and even "Oberon," a male fairy wearing a crown with no recollections of the real Oberon but carrying part of his power.
The "newborn" spirits were unable to talk for the moment, but they could understand words and joined with Gungnir in healing Louis. Ultimately, after two days of work, they were able to wake him up.
"Ah! For how long was I unconscious? It has almost been a year, isn't it? The Venerable might be around the corner—"
RUMBLE!
And just as Louis was about to finally speak with Gungnir, the sky trembled as he saw giant sharp fangs tearing through it.
"He's here! Gungnir, let us leave introductions for later. We must hurry."
"Yes, Master… however."
"Hm?"
"With my power, do you truly believe you are powerless now?"
"A Venerable is a Venerable… fighting it directly is still not the best option."
"But hurting it and taking a fragment of it for our growth may be."
"…!"
Louis quickly realized Gungnir had been raised by his side and had inherited his nature and personality to a greater extent than he imagined.
She quickly turned back into her Gungnir Form while his Spirits floated around him.
"Master, we have been reborn," Niflheim said.
"Please use our power! We don't want you to keep dying!" Belladine cried.
"Master…" Handy spoke with a very soft and kind voice. "I will heal you…"
"And I shall devour their souls and burn them into the flames that shall open the path to victory!" Gardener's Memento spoke, and he was very eloquent. He had also taken the form of a tall, slender gentleman wearing a black and green suit, with the head of a red rose that had an eye—an incredible new appearance compared to the silent and weird flower from before.
"Let us serve you with everything we have, Master! I shall become your armor," Pendragon roared, overflowing with power, now a giant made of divine spirit metal.
"And I shall devour anything you need to devour, hehehe~!" Pandora giggled. Her giant treasure chest opened to reveal a small girl made of gold, treasures, and black shadows, with gleaming red eyes made of rubies and hair made of golden coins and jewels.
"Hah… Thank you," Louis smiled, realizing he was never truly alone through his countless regressions. "Now…"
RUMBLE!
The eyes of the Venerable could be seen through the cracks, glaring back at Louis with great hatred and the desire to devour him.
:: YOU CANNOT KEEP RUNNING ::
:: EVENTUALLY… YOU WILL FALL ::
:: ACCEPT MASTER'S BENEVOLENCE… ::
:: BECOME ONE OF MY APOSTLES ::
It seemed that they too were desperate. Before, there had not even been a chance of negotiation, but after five hundred struggles, Louis realized the Venerable was negotiating! It was willing to turn him into an Apostle like Lisette and Minato, with immense strength!
However…
Louis shook his head. He knew they would betray him once they could get the Heart of Time from his hands.
Thus, he was not going to give them a single thing.
Before doing anything, Louis looked at his level.
[Level: 397/400]
After grinding for so long, the ridiculous EXP requirements were about to finally be fulfilled. He had mostly been slaying small fry in the dungeons, which was why it had taken so long.
"Almost there… Can I make a proper change now, with her by my side?" he thought for a moment. "Yes… I can."
This entire time he had been dying purposely for the most part, but not anymore.
With his Level 7 Crown and Gungnir becoming a Rank 10 treasure, there was no way he would keep dying.
No more!
He was exhausted, completely exhausted of that!
He had gone mad so many times only to die and return to his former self. There was nothing more despair-inducing than that.
"Then let us go…" Louis spoke, channeling his Spirit Power and connecting it with his Familiars.
Then, he decided to use a powerful Spirit Technique that the Spirit Masters of Spiritias used when fighting foes stronger than themselves.
"Spirit Fusion!"
FLAAASH!
The power to combine with their own Spirits and achieve tremendously strong new forms, converging the very essence of spirits onto their bodies!
Each Spirit flew toward him and fused with his soul. Louis felt stronger, growing larger and larger.
:: WHAT DO YOU SEEK TO ACCOMPLISH, FOOLISH REMNANT…? ::
:: IT HAS BEEN DECIDED… THIS SHALL BE… DEVOURED!!! ::
"Not if I devour it first!"
Knowing his own Fantasy Realm was being eaten and destroyed, Louis had no choice. Channeling the power of Pandora onto his own Fantasy Heart, Louis devoured it.
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
CRUNCH!
Piece by piece!
:: ?! ::
The Venerable was left utterly shocked as he saw Louis's entire domain rapidly disappear, be eaten, and then digested by his own Soul Stomach.
He appeared back in Limbo, swallowing hard as he felt the power of that realm swirling within him, fusing with his own Soul directly instead of remaining a separate dimension.
His soul itself was becoming the dimension…
And this was something the Venerable knew.
:: DON'T TELL ME… ARE YOU FOOLISHLY THINKING YOU CAN ACTUALLY ASCEND INTO A GALAXY MONARCH?! ::
"What?"
Louis had no idea what this mass of countless eyes and jaws made of black and red dark energies was speaking about.
But apparently, what he had done was part of a "ritual" to ascend to a higher Realm of Cultivation, most likely!
"Galaxy Monarch is the name, huh?"
Louis felt it.
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
BA-DUM!
What he had done by accident was actually changing him, making him even stronger without realizing!
"?! I can't believe it. What I did impulsively was actually a ritual to ascend?!"
For a while now, Louis had already reached the pinnacle of the Star Weaver Realm of Cultivation after refining his body and soul with the star dust of the stars within the Tenth Layer's small outer space surrounding the planet of superheroes.
But because the Immortal Mountains had no knowledge of a Realm beyond Star Weaver—which were already considered "Immortal Cultivators"—there was little he could do other than figure it out himself through his relentless efforts. However, his exhaustion had been great.
Now, after doing what he had done and hearing the name of the next Realm, Louis felt something developing within the interior of his Soul Stomach as his Soul Heart raced.
Primordial Divine Power and Cosmic Qi condensed into a spiraling galaxy within him!
FLAAASH!
And from his own Soul, cosmic energy radiated beautifully, leaving Louis utterly speechless!
:: HOW MANY? JUST HOW MANY… WORLDS DID YOU POSSESS? IMPOSSIBLE… REQUIREMENTS ARE… EATING OVER FIFTY WORLDS! YOU CANNOT… BUT… HOW?! ::
Louis grasped this glowing cosmic energy with his hands, smiling back at the monstrous aberration.
"Looks like there is always a higher ceiling to aim for, right?"
RUMBLE!
Louis kicked the Limbo itself, not escaping, but going against the endless, ever-expanding mass of jaws and eyes.
:: YOU BELIEVE YOU CAN FIGHT ME? WITH THAT SHABBY STICK IN YOUR HANDS? FOOL! I AM OBLIVION'S VERY TEETH. I GNAW REALITY, DIGEST IT, AND THEN RECREATE IT IN HIS IMAGE! I AM HIS MOUTHS, HIS TONGUE, HIS TASTEBUDS, AND MUCH MORE… WHAT CAN A BRAT LIKE YOU EVER ACCOMPLISH?! ::
"That only makes it sound disgusting."
Louis dove into the deep red as he felt thousands—no, billions—of jaws appearing everywhere, tearing through his divinity, spirit power, time, space, everything that made him.
:: YOU CANNOT FIGHT ME. YOU CAN ONLY BE DIGESTED. THANK YOU FOR MAKING THIS EASIER FOR ME, FOOL ::
"Are you sure you want to taste me?!"
Louis wielded Gungnir, piercing deep into the deep black and red storm-like interior of the bizarre Venerable.
"GUH?!"
Suddenly, the Venerable stopped talking strangely. His sincere voice echoed from somewhere within him as Louis channeled one of Gungnir's new abilities among the five she now possessed.
"Absolute Pierce!"
He thrust his spear forward, unleashing his newly evolved Martial Arts.
"Nine Celestial Heavens Holy Piercing Dragon Spear Art."
"First Form."
"Devastating Soul Dragon Nova!"
His spear gleamed with the brightness of a supernova. Louis thrust forward, piercing the dark and red energies composing this bizarre living being and "piercing" everything he touched.
Indeed, this was the power of Gungnir's newly awakened special ability, Absolute Pierce.
[Absolute Pierce]: The power to pierce Divinities, Authorities, and Concepts. As long as this ability is activated, it is virtually impossible to deal zero damage to a target.
BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM! BOOOM!
Countless explosions followed. The Venerable swiftly began devouring the explosions and the damage, but Louis continued.
"Second Form."
"Planet-Destroying Dragon Star Descent!"
Gungnir grew to a massive size. Louis thrust her forward as her golden energy coated his entire body, further boosting his power.
"ROOOAAARRR!"
The roar of a dragon echoed as he unleashed a descending, piercing attack, thrusting deep into the Venerable until it groaned in pain.
CRAAAASH!
"GAAAHHH?!"
"Third Form."
"Star-Devouring Dragon Ascension!"
Even as Louis was being devoured and bitten endlessly, he used Death-Sense and defied death itself, continuously regenerating and pushing Gungnir even further. The golden dragon his attack summoned turned blue and azure, gleaming with golden stars.
"ROAAAARRR!"
Yet another thunderous dragon roar echoed. The ascending star-eating attack pierced the Venerable's very existence once more, tearing a chunk of it.
BOOOMMM!!!
"T-THIS IS…! MERELY… A DISTRACTION!"
The Venerable roared, turning its entire body into an endless, aberrant, and eldritch form.
Giant tentacles with sharp teeth spun around, each one so big they easily destroyed and ate planetoids and nearby stars, drawing them toward it and devouring them.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Louis was overwhelmed, attacked from every angle possible. The monstrous Venerable laughed as its tongues drooled for the opportunity to devour him!
Giant bites appeared all around Louis, making him vomit soul essence, only for Death-Sense to miraculously regenerate even his soul.
It had indeed evolved beyond just the physical body now, and Louis could feel it.
Within these thirty minutes of Death-Sense, he could fight, even with the massive difference in level…
It almost felt like his own Spiral, the Hollow Spiral of the Ashen Wyrm, was designed to fight foes stronger than him, especially those capable of warping space and even rewriting fate.
"DEVOURER OF FATE!"
Indeed, just like this bastard.
Its jaws devoured the abstract concept of Fate, creating a wave of dark misfortune toward Louis.
Louis missed his attacks, became slower, weaker out of nowhere, sickly, tired, exhausted, and felt like he was rapidly losing his will to fight.
"FOOLISH BEAST. DO YOU SEE NOW THE HOPELESSNESS OF YOUR EXISTENCE?! GIVE US THE HEART OF TIME, AND WE SHALL SPARE YOU, TURNING YOU INTO AN APOSTLE INSTEAD! YOU WILL ENJOY ENDLESS LIFE ACROSS THE COSMOS AT OUR SERVICE!"
"Never."
Louis furrowed his eyebrows, activating his Tier 4 Spiral Ability, the one learned from the Unwritten Tyrant Rank.
"Narrative Defiance."
With his very presence, Louis warped the "narrative" of Fate itself, distorting it and destroying it in mere seconds.
"HUH?!"
The Venerable's countless eyes widened as it felt Louis's presence disappear for a moment from Fate itself.
Narrative Defiance allowed him to warp Fate and stop it from negatively affecting him, while also stopping others from doing so! It created an invisible "Narrative Forcefield" around him, directly allowing Louis to control his own fate.
However, it cost a sizable amount of Fantasium per second…
The case was, Louis had a ridiculous amount of it after absorbing the attacks of his foes through five hundred deaths, plus the Fantasium produced by the seventy dungeons, which—even without their cores—continued producing Fantasium from the lands he had fused into his Fantasy Sea.
Thus…
By using Absolute Pierce and another technique, Louis aimed for the Venerable once more, an act of absolute defiance akin to a fly wielding a needle against a human.
The fly was merely a fly and could be crushed with ease, but it was faster, and its needle, although small, could deliver a sharp piercing attack that might deal no real damage but really annoy the human.
But that fly was not just a fly. It turned out to be a mosquito carrying deadly diseases instead!
"Fourth Form."
"Endless Dragon Cosmic Coil!"
"ROOOAAARRR!"
A coiling dragon made of stars emerged, coiling around the Venerable's gaseous, jaw-filled, and tentacled body.
"GAAAAAWWWWHHH?!"
The Venerable screamed. Its very existence was being crushed under the pressure of Louis's Fourth Form of his new Heavenly Lance Style!
"H-HOW…?!"
Louis smiled viciously, showing his sharp teeth.
He pierced his own head with his sharp claws, blood-like golden soul essence pouring out.
He was full of madness, frustration, anger, and insanity, to the point he dug into his own skull and drew blood!
"ARE YOU REALLY ASKING ME HOW?!"
He thrust his spear forward dozens of times, unleashing consecutive strikes that filled the Venerable with countless holes.
"HAVEN'T YOU SEEN ME?!"
He kicked the Venerable down, throwing it across dozens of small stars until it landed on a titanic star, burning under the plasma.
Louis descended with his spear, blazing with mad anger. The crown above his head channeled its power, summoning dozens of Echoes that fused into a spiral of colors around his spear.
"HAVE YOU NOT SEEN ME DYING AND STRUGGLING FOR OVER FIVE HUNDRED TIMES?!"
CRAAASH!
Gungnir, boosted by hundreds of Echoes fusing together, pierced through the star itself, making its core combust and explode, consuming the Venerable's body!
BOOOMMM!!!
Louis grabbed the Venerable, staring at it with eyes filled with anger and madness.
"DO YOU REALLY THINK I WOULDN'T ACCOMPLISH ANYTHING IN THAT TIME?!"
Louis activated his Skills, unleashing the Fallen One and even others that boosted his stats through the roof, making him even larger and stronger.
He used Dragon Claw afterward, combined with Void Maw, to bite and tear apart the Venerable's monstrous, ethereal body.
"WHO DO YOU THINK I AM?!"
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
CRASH!
"INSOLENT…! INSOLENT HUMAN…! YOU DARE…!"
Louis clenched his teeth, fusing Gungnir with his own body and coating his fists, claws, and fangs with her golden power, further infusing it into his attacks.
"HUMAN?! I AM A DRAGON!!!"
He opened his jaws and fired a Black Breath and a White Breath, combining them through the power of Inverse Pandora at Max Level, which allowed the simultaneous use of both the original and the inversed skill.
And even more, to combine their power if compatible enough!
"Eclipsing Breath!"
White and black lights naturally melded into an eclipse of white and black light, piercing the Venerable's ethereal body.
"GUAAAAAHHHHH!"
As the Venerable agonized, it slowly started tearing the coiling dragon apart and escaping. Its jaws bit half of Louis in an instant.
"DIE! YOU BASTARD!"
CRUNCH!
"Ugh?!"
Louis groaned in disbelief and agonizing, horrifying pain. Half of his own existence had disappeared instantly.
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