Chương 80: Chapter 78: The Divine Vs the Damned — Part 1

Vionette sat comfortably upon a chair Rose had prepared. Rose stood beside her, hands politely folded over her lap, her eyes darting across the horizon. Kaelen is doing fine. Noa is… he looks like he's enjoying it. System, give me a list of all of Noa's skills. While enjoying her tea, she watched Kaelen's fight through her own eyes, observed Noa's clash through [A Match Made in Hell], communicated with her system, and simultaneously drafted blueprints for the aftermath of this disaster.

She juggled multiple tasks in the very same second. That was how Vionette's mind had always operated—never splitting, only expanding. [Noa Ravel:] Low Pain Resistance (Common) Low Explosion Resistance (Common) Minor Regeneration (Uncommon) Aura Blade (Rare) Blink (Rare) Presence Override (Rare) Phantom Phrase (Rare) Echo Reclamation (Unique) A Match Made in Hell (Unique)"Let's see… I have the Accumulation Points from when Kaelen acquired that Fable Mark, but it's not enough."

She waved a hand, gesturing from one entry to the next.

"[Minor Regeneration]? That's some bullshit. His body naturally heals faster than what an uncommon skill can manage. Sacrifice [Minor Regeneration]." [Notice! Minor Regeneration has been consumed by Crown of Accumulation!] [Notice! The Host received Accumulation Points!] Then, as she watched the battle between Jain and Noa, observing how their traded blows shattered the surrounding architecture, she noticed something unusual.

"[Blink] does the same shit as [Phantom Phrase]," she muttered, waving a hand in mild annoyance.

"Get rid of [Phantom Phrase] too. It's useless to him." I mean, it's not terrible, but it's a waste when Noa can simply use [Blink] to evade anyway.

"Sacrifice [Low Pain Resistance] and [Low Explosion Resistance] along with it," she commanded, taking a calm sip of her tea.

"Now, let's see if we can finally evolve [Echo Reclamation]." [Notice! Phantom Phrase, Low Pain Resistance, and Low Explosion Resistance have been consumed by Crown of Accumulation!] [Notice! The Host received Accumulation Points!] [Proceeding to evolve Echo Reclamation...] [Error! Evolution of Echo Reclamation is impossible. Would you like to proceed to gain a new skill instead?]"So it's still not enou—Wait…" Vionette leaned forward, her crimson eyes narrowing.

She scrutinized the text more carefully this time, catching a subtle detail—there was no stated reason for the 'impossible' status.

"Like it's impossible, impossible? What the fuck is going on?" She set her teacup aside.

"You ran an analysis on [Echo Reclamation] before, right? Give me the results." [Answer: It appears that Echo Reclamation is a skill made by forcefully combining two skills with opposing natures, thus making evolution impossible.]"Mmm… any way we can separate them? A loophole?" [Separation is not possible.] [Possibility detected: If the user Noa Ravel pushes the skill Echo Reclamation to its limits, the Essence Fragment can utilize the skill analysis function to identify the two foundational skills.]"So after identifying them, even if we can't separate them, we can just sacrifice one of the two skills using the [Crown of Accumulation] and then proceed to evolve the remaining one," she concluded, a wicked smile tugging at her lips. [The Host's predictions are spot on.]"Quit glazing me. Aside from that," she looked back through Noa's perspective.

"How can we gather so many emotions all at once while this goddamn barrier is up—oh! He's doing it right now." She witnessed the moment Noa seized the entity, absorbing the lingering emotions of every identity it had ever consumed. [Conditions met!] [Beginning analysis! Please wait…] [Warning! As Echo Reclamation is being pushed to its limit, Mind Fortress cannot restrain the skill's setbacks. The user Noa Ravel's mental health is in critical danger.]"System, if the description is true, [A Match Made in Hell] forges a connection between us deeper than the soul, right?" Vionette's smile widened as she addressed the interface.

"Is it possible for my Astral Body to dive into his consciousness?" [Answer: It is possible!]"Okay then, link our minds. Give the emotional setback to me, and funnel the raw energy to Blackie." [Understood! The Host's mind is strong enough to endure the emotional influx.] [Warning: If the Host's Astral Body enters user Noa Ravel's consciousness, the Host's physical vessel will be left unprotected.] Hearing the warning, Vionette could do nothing but laugh.

"Are you really underestimating me?" She stared at the system with a smirk.

"I can just handle everything simultaneously." Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator. [Warning: The Host's mind might not be human.]"Oh, shut up, you envious fuck!" As they waited, the barrier above was pulverized by Noa's strike, its golden shards raining down like a shower of broken glass. An instant later, a blinding pillar of light crashed into the earth, heralding the Angel's descent.

The Angel swept his massive white wings outward, shedding luminous feathers that drifted around him in a majestic halo. His striking golden hair cascaded down past his hips. It seems Lady Liara forged this vessel in a hurry, using whatever divine energy remained within the shattered barrier. I can only access five percent of my true strength… and a single Legendary-class skill is available. He clenched his hand into a tight fist and stared forward. But what could possibly have driven her to such desperation?

He surveyed the ruined battlefield, his golden eyes sweeping over the rubble until they found the Saint, who radiated the exact same divine hue. After a brief assessment of the devastated city-state, his gaze finally locked onto their primary adversary. Something is wrong here. Why do I sense someone who has reached Existence in this place? Detecting Kaelen's presence, he then shifted his focus to the other two anomalies. What even is that thing? An entity with a negative existence value…?

And a man wielding 'that power'. [Blink]"DIE!" The greeting was a savage bark of pure violence. Noa materialized directly in front of the Angel, his left hand gripping Acheron in a death-choke. He leveled the blade at the Angel's chest and drove it forward, channeling every last ounce of strength his battered body possessed into a thrust. The deafening clash of draconic metal against divine construct rang through the city-state like a thunderclap.

In the space of a heartbeat, the Angel had manifested a longsword forged of solid golden light, halting Noa's dark blade inches from his heart. The violent purple energy of [Echo Reclamation] ground furiously against the blinding luminescence of the Angel's [Radiant Frame (Rare)]. The opposing forces gnawed at one another, their friction emitting a high-pitched, ear-splitting shriek. More! MORE! Refusing to yield, Noa poured even more force into the deadlock.

His boots dug deep trenches into the cracked pavement as he slowly began to overpower the Angel's guard. His eyes were blown wide, burning with a manic joy. Such force—! the Angel thought, his majestic wings beating the air to stabilize his footing as he was pushed back several inches. Are we matched in terms of physical abilities?

"I am Ithriel, an Angel of Lady Liara." He angled his sword toward Noa, his voice carrying the weight of a divine decree.

"And who are you?"

"Who knows? Your death?" Noa smirked, letting out a dark, humming laugh.

"He is Noa," Jain interjected, stepping up to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with Ithriel. As Jain leveled her spear at him, the constellation of radiant symbols orbiting her coalesced once more into an array of golden spears and spheres. Moving in perfect synchronization, Jain and Ithriel charged forward, their weapons primed for a battle to the bitter end. [Blink] Noa vanished and reappeared directly in the path of their vanguard.

Acheron's jagged edge pulsed with the volatile purple energy of [Echo Reclamation], hungrily devouring the holy light around it. With the barrier finally shattered, his primary power had finally been uncaged. Noa unleashed a savage flurry of strikes upon the Angel. His own hands began to bleed from the recoil of his impacts, the vibrations traveling up the hilt to fracture his skin—but he was not the only one taking damage.

Ithriel was slowly being dismantled; shallow, jagged lacerations bloomed across his arms and chest, staining his white robes with rivulets of liquid gold. Suddenly, Jain descended from above, her golden spears and explosive spheres trailing in her wake like a meteor shower. Deflecting Ithriel's strike to buy himself a fraction of a second, Noa pivoted toward the falling Saint, seamlessly shifting his stance. He lowered Acheron to his hip, his free hand hovering loosely near the guard.

Amidst the chaos, his body settled into an unnatural stillness. — Formless Sword: Horizon (Distant Edge) — Just as Jain thrust her spear downward, a sweeping arc of pure violet energy cut through the air. What the—! Her eyes widened in shock. She had anticipated a surge in force now that his skill was available, but this technique was different. The violet slash drifting toward her moved as if a new horizon were being painted across reality—simultaneously distant yet close.

Unable to gauge the strike's distorted timing, she concentrated on her own senses. The moment the edge bit into her flesh, she activated [Hollow Step], and avoided being bisected. The slash roared past her phantom form, instantly eradicating her manifested constructs and carving a lingering purple scar into the clouds above. I can make the objects again… but Lady Liara's divine energy quantity is a problem.

[Divine Tether (Rare)] Just as Noa coiled his muscles to lunge at Ithriel once more, Jain triggered a new skill. The ground beneath him liquefied into a pool of radiant gold, and chains forged of solid light erupted from the mire, snapping tightly around his wrists and ankles. He attempted to trigger [Blink], gritting his teeth as the chains seared his flesh, but the bindings seemed to have sealed his teleportation. Capitalizing on the opening, Ithriel brought his sword down in a vertical execution.

Noa glared up at the descending blade, the muscles in his arms bulging as he gripped Acheron with a maddened intensity. Grinding his teeth, his unblinking eyes locked onto the lethal edge, he flooded his whole body with the energy of [Echo Reclamation].

"GET THE HELL OFF OF ME!!!" With a roar, Noa shattered the divine chains, reducing the solid light to dust. Without missing a beat, he ripped Acheron upward to parry Ithriel's descending strike. The explosive collision of gold and purple painted the sky in a blinding shockwave of color that eclipsed the city-state. The force of the parry repelled both blades, yet their gazes remained locked. Drawing a ragged breath, a drop of blood trickling from his bruised lip, Noa let out a low chuckle.

He threw himself back into the fray, unleashing a relentless hurricane of strikes upon Ithriel while barking a laugh drenched in insanity. The Angel was forced strictly on the defensive, his flesh accumulating more and more slashes even as he parried the fatal blows. The moment Ithriel braced to block an overhead cleave, Noa released his grip on Acheron for a fraction of a second, catching and reversing the blade mid-air. He seamlessly flowed into an upward diagonal sweep.

"Fucking Angels coming down here now?" Noa pressed his advance, twirling Acheron in one hand after sweeping Ithriel's guard aside.

"Do you guys really have nothing better to do up there? Seriously?" Jain plunged back into the chaotic fray. Stripped of her golden constructs for the moment and heaving for breath, she relied solely on her physical prowess with her spear, biding her time until her stamina recovered enough to summon her constructs anew. Seizing a blind spot, Jain delivered a kick to Noa's stomach, launching him through the air like a cannonball.

He tore straight through the structural walls of several adjacent buildings before finally crashing to a halt in a mountain of shattered stone.

"Motherfucker…" He spat out a mouthful of blood, the metallic tang of copper familiar on his tongue.

"This scene is getting overused." Slowly, he dragged himself from the splintered remains of an old tailor shop. Violet energy sparked to life around his boots before he explosively launched himself right back toward the Saint and the Angel. [Blink] [Piercing Verdict] [Exalted Judgment] The instant Noa materialized back within their line of sight, the duo unleashed their long-range skills.

Jain's golden spears and explosive spheres snapped forward, while Ithriel's thin, unnaturally fast holy lances pierced effortlessly through the lingering smoke and dust. [Echo Reclamation] Noa rapidly condensed orbs of purple energy at his fingertips. Unlike his enemies, he lacked the control to manipulate them freely, so he could only fire them forward. The violet spheres intercepted a fraction of the incoming golden projectiles, detonating mid-air and buying him a precious few seconds.

However, his power was visibly fading. The evacuated citizens outside the city had begun to calm down, starving him of his fuel. And then, the evolution triggered. [Notice! Skill analysis complete!] [Skills inside Echo Reclamation confirmed: Fiat Omnia (Unique) + Fiat Nihil (Unique)] [Notice! Fiat Omnia has been consumed by Crown of Accumulation!] [Using all the Accumulation Points to evolve Fiat Nihil…] [Fiat Nihil (Unique) → Nihility Decree (Legendary)] [Analysis of Nihility Decree: The Null Essence within the user is now directly usable, allowing the formation of stable, sustainable constructs that can be manipulated instinctively without structured control. Null Essence now also possesses the ability to affect the Astral Body as well.]