Chương 96: Calamity Eater

Noah took a slow breath as golden butterflies drifted around him, black static beginning to leak from their wings. The pressure weighing upon the arena multiplied with every passing second until the air itself seemed to grow heavy. Spectators struggled to breathe beneath it, and even Nikolai's distorted body stiffened as the force gathering around Noah continued to rise. The negative energy pouring into the Lion King was far greater than what the Lovecraft trait had forced into Noah moments earlier.

It felt endless, a vast darkness drawn from suffering that had not yet occurred. Calamity Eater. The divine ability born from Noah's soul and Lux's authority over Hope. Yet such power came with a price. If Noah maintained it for too long, the negative energy would overwhelm his body and kill him. The darkness would continue spreading until every inch of his flesh had been dyed completely black. Five minutes. That was all the time he had.

Calamity Eater reflected Noah's deepest desire: to shoulder the suffering of everyone around him, save every person within his reach, and devour not only the despair of the present but the near-infinite misery awaiting the world in the future. Conquest. War. Famine. Death. Even the inevitable destruction of the world itself. Whether absorbing that suffering could truly alter what was destined to happen remained unknown. In that moment, however, it gave Noah all the strength he needed.

Golden rings appeared beneath his feet and detonated, launching him high into the air. The Lion King blazed within his hands, shining far brighter than when he had used Light That Burns the Night Sky against Noah Crest.

"Royal Arts—Shooting Star!" Noah descended like a golden meteor. Nikolai's body reacted automatically. His pitch-black scales turned white, evolving a resistance to positive energy before the attack could reach him, but the light gathered within Noah's blade was too concentrated to completely withstand. The Lion King tore through Nikolai's newly formed defenses and cleaved deep into his shoulder, spraying purple blood across the arena. Nikolai leapt backward as Noah crashed into the ground.

The wound immediately began to close, though he no longer relied upon slime to rebuild himself. Instead, the flesh on either side stretched across the gap and fused together, reconnecting muscle and skin as naturally as though the injury had never existed. His body evolved again. The bones within Nikolai's right arm twisted and expanded. Flesh hardened around them until the entire limb transformed into a massive organic crossbow.

He reached into his mouth with his remaining hand, seized one of his fangs, and tore it free. The tooth lengthened within his grasp, becoming a barbed bolt large enough to pierce through Noah's entire body. Nikolai loaded it into the crossbow and fired. The fang tore through the air with enough force to split the arena apart. Noah reacted instantly, swinging the Lion King and cleaving the enormous bolt down the middle.

Both halves screamed past him before burying themselves deep within the walls surrounding the battlefield. Nikolai tore another fang from his mouth. His body replaced the missing tooth almost immediately as he loaded the next bolt into his crossbow. But Noah was already in front of him. Calamity Eater continued flooding the Lion King with unimaginable amounts of negative energy. The Regalia transformed that darkness into light so quickly that Noah no longer needed time to prepare his strongest techniques.

Golden radiance condensed along the blade's edge.

"Royal Arts Original—Caliburn!" Noah slashed toward Nikolai's chest, but his opponent evolved before the sword could reach him. Two black dragon heads erupted from Nikolai's back, their long necks twisting over his shoulders as both jaws opened and unleashed torrents of black fire. Five layers of Royal March appeared beneath Noah's feet. The rings detonated together, launching him high above the flames with enough force to tear through the muscles in his legs.

"Never again!" Noah continued rising, surrounded by golden butterflies and trails of black static as memories of Gram flashed through his mind. His father's death. His mother's corpse. Isaac and Isabelle disappearing.

"Never again will I stand powerless…" Noah raised the Lion King above his head.

"…while monsters like you destroy my life!" Golden rings formed around the blade. Light poured through them, reflecting and compressing with every rotation until the radiance resembled a star suspended above the arena.

"Royal Arts—Light That Burns the Night Sky!" Noah swung downward. A colossal pillar of light descended from the heavens and struck Nikolai directly. The entire arena shook beneath the impact. Sand and shattered stone were hurled into the air while cracks spread throughout the surrounding walls. Spectators screamed as the barriers protecting the stands trembled beneath the overwhelming force. Noah immediately used Sky Walk.

Golden rings appeared beneath his feet, allowing him to race toward the ground before Nikolai could recover. He descended through the thick cloud of dust with the Lion King raised, prepared to finish the battle. Then he saw something shining beneath him. Nikolai remained standing. Unharmed. His scales had changed once again, their surfaces becoming smooth and reflective like thousands of overlapping mirrors.

Rather than resisting the light, they scattered it across the battlefield, dispersing Noah's attack before it could penetrate his body. Golden beams continued dancing throughout the arena as Nikolai looked up at him.

"Just die!" Nikolai's distorted voice echoed across the battlefield.

"Die already!" The desperation in his eyes had consumed what little sanity remained. His right arm lengthened and hardened into a massive spear, flames spiraling around its sharpened point as he pulled it back.

"So I can finally be at peace…" His claws dug into the sand.

"You bastard!" Noah stared down at the burning spear. Then he smiled.

"I wouldn't recommend the flames." Nikolai hesitated. Noah's grin widened.

"You want to eat me raw, don't you? If you cook me, I might lose my flavor." The fire surrounding the spear flickered. That single moment of distraction was enough. Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings. A golden ring detonated beneath Noah's foot, and he vanished. Nikolai's eyes widened as Noah appeared directly in front of him, already inside the spear's reach.

"Royal Arts—Execution!" The Lion King flashed across Nikolai's neck. His head separated from his body, purple blood erupting from the stump as the severed skull spun through the air. But Ouroboros did not need a mind to continue fighting. The headless body moved entirely through instinct. Its spear arm thrust forward before Noah could retreat, tearing through his right side.

The burning point pierced beneath his ribs and erupted from his back, filling his mouth with blood as the impact launched him across the arena. Noah struck the ground and rolled through the sand before finally stopping several meters away. Nikolai's head landed nearby, and slime-covered tendrils immediately stretched from the severed neck, dragging the two halves of his body back toward one another. Noah forced himself onto one knee.

Blood poured from the hole in his side, and every breath sent agony through his ribs. He pressed the glowing edge of the Lion King against the wound, and the scent of burning flesh filled the air. Noah clenched his teeth as golden fire cauterized the injury, sealing the torn blood vessels before he could bleed out. His vision flickered. Black static continued spreading across his skin. Calamity Eater had not stopped, and neither had its five-minute limit. Noah watched Nikolai's head reattach itself.

"Just a little more…" He planted both feet against the shattered arena floor.

"This is it." Noah raised the Lion King above his head and poured every remaining trace of energy within his body into its blade. Golden butterflies dissolved into light around him, while the black static spreading across his skin was dragged into the Regalia and transformed into even greater power. Calamity Eater's five-minute limit was nearly over. He would not have another chance.

Noah combined the principles behind his two strongest techniques: the overwhelming output of Light That Burns the Night Sky and the concentrated edge of Caliburn. Rather than releasing another pillar of uncontrolled radiance, he compressed everything into a single vertical slash—a blade of light powerful enough to cleave through Nikolai's skull and heart at the exact same moment. More radiance gathered around the Lion King.

The arena trembled, and cracks spread beneath Noah's feet as he drew the sword behind his body in preparation for one final swing. His arms screamed beneath the strain, his wounds reopened, and fresh blood ran down his side. None of it mattered. This was everything he had left. Across from him, Nikolai's body began to grow. His chest split open, and dozens of tentacles erupted from between his ribs, twisting around one another as a massive purple eye opened within the exposed cavity. The Lovecraft trait.

Nikolai intended to draw upon enough negative energy to meet Noah's light head-on. Darkness gathered within the eye and compressed into a single point, growing heavier with every second. From the stands, Oz leaned forward with obvious interest.

"Oh my." He reached into his bucket of popcorn as the pressure from both attacks swept across the stadium.

"This looks dangerous," he observed with a chuckle.

"Everyone in the arena might die."

"I'm sitting beside you." Elijah calmly stole a handful of popcorn.

"At least I'll survive." Oz glanced toward him.

"How presumptuous." His yellow eyes returned to the battlefield.

"Ability Activate." Noah tightened his grip around the Lion King as Nikolai's enormous eye opened wider. Light and darkness reached their limits at the same moment.

"Royal Arts Original…" Noah swung.

"Excalibur!" A vertical blade of golden radiance erupted from the Lion King. The light blinded everyone within the arena as it tore through the battlefield, carrying enough concentrated power to divide Nikolai's entire body in half. At the same moment, the eye inside Nikolai's chest fired. A cannon of pure darkness surged forward to meet Noah's attack. Hope and madness collided. Golden light crashed against endless despair, and the resulting impact began to expand—"Keymaster." Oz raised one hand.

"Lock time." The world stopped. The explosion froze at the exact moment the two attacks met. Light hung motionless in the air, darkness ceased its advance, and sand, blood, and shattered stone remained suspended above the arena as though the entire battlefield had been trapped inside a painting. Noah and Nikolai stood frozen on opposite sides of the collision. Oz casually stepped into the arena.

The expanding explosion remained motionless around him, its golden light and black energy stretched across the air like paint upon a canvas. He approached the center of the battlefield and examined the opposing attacks.

"What a shame." Oz adjusted his circular glasses.

"It seems our little Hero is far stronger than you, Nikolai." The edge of Excalibur had already begun cutting through Nikolai's darkness. Once time resumed, the attack would tear through his entire body. Oz released a disappointed sigh.

"Still, I shouldn't allow you to die." He walked through the frozen destruction and stopped before Nikolai, then gently wrapped his arms around the motionless monster.

"The Hermes family descended from the Swallowtails," Oz said, briefly resting his head against Nikolai's chest.

"I'm not entirely certain what that makes us." A cousin. A distant nephew. Perhaps something far more complicated after so many eras.

"But you've always felt like an older brother to me." Oz's fingers sank into Nikolai's exposed chest and wrapped around the beating heart inside.

"Not today." With one sharp pull, Oz tore it free. Blood remained suspended around his arm in frozen crimson droplets. He slipped Nikolai's heart into one of the impossibly deep pockets hidden within his purple robes, where the organ continued beating softly.

"I'll save you." Oz snapped his fingers, and a transparent barrier formed around the arena, enclosing Noah, Nikolai, and the collision between their attacks. He then casually returned to the stands, settled into his seat beside Elijah, and retrieved his popcorn.

"Unlock." Time resumed. Golden light and darkness collided. The explosion swallowed the arena. The barrier trembled beneath the impact as radiance and black static tore through the battlefield, pulverizing the sand and reducing the ground beneath Nikolai to an enormous crater. Noah remained standing on the opposite side. Barely. The butterfly marking on his wrist dimmed as Calamity Eater finally deactivated. The darkness covering his body receded, but the damage had already been done.

Blood poured from Noah's mouth, and his legs shook beneath him as the Lion King slipped from his weakened grip. When the smoke cleared, Nikolai's body lay motionless at the center of the crater. Excalibur had split him apart, completely destroying both his brain and chest and leaving nothing capable of guiding his regeneration. For several seconds, the stadium remained completely silent. Then Lord Ars slowly rose from his seat. His eyes moved between Noah and the motionless remains of Nikolai Hermes.

"The winner…" He raised one hand.

"The winner is Noah Fafnir!" The arena erupted. Thousands of spectators leapt from their seats, screaming Noah's name as the barrier surrounding the battlefield disappeared. Noah barely heard them. Lux and Ava were already rushing into the arena.

"Noah!" Ava reached him first. His knees finally gave out, but she caught him before he struck the ground and pulled him tightly against her chest.

"You did it." Noah attempted to answer, but only blood escaped his lips. His eyes drifted toward what remained of Nikolai. The monster who had devoured his father was gone. At least, that was what Noah believed. His vision darkened. The last thing he felt was Ava's arms holding him as consciousness slipped away. Lux dropped beside them, golden light already gathering between her hands.

"Get him to the healers!" As the crowd celebrated the Hero's victory, Oz calmly rose from his seat. Nikolai's stolen heart continued beating inside his pocket.

"Come along, Elijah." The assassin looked toward him. Oz's yellow eyes gleamed behind his glasses.

"Faker will need your assistance with plan B." Elijah stood without question. Together, they disappeared into the tunnel while the stadium continued chanting Noah's name. None of them noticed the faint pulse beneath Oz's robes. Once. Twice. Ouroboros was still alive.