NOVEL SIMPLE Chapter 179. Storm of Death
"Everyone's recovered?" Leo asked as he stood up and raised an eyebrow at the duo beside him.
Nyx just nodded while Lily stretched, popping her joints. "Yep. I'm as ready as I will ever be. Let's get this over with."
He smiled. "Follow me then."
With that said, he jumped off their vantage point and dropped onto the street below. After a short walk, he stopped at the edge of Myrdrak's domain—right where the ground scorched by lightning began.
Slowly, he extended his hand forward, pushing it past an invisible barrier. He stiffened as a tiny purple spark zipped across his claw, leaving goosebumps in its wake. A moment later, the same thing happened to the rest of his finger and then the entire limb.
Weird. He frowned and motioned the others to follow after him as he stepped through. More sparks appeared in the air, some just flying past while others went right for them, lightly zapping their uncovered skin.
'That's annoying,' Nyx grumbled when most of the tiny bolts decided to choose her as a primary target. 'It's not my fault I don't wear clothes.'
What? Do you want some? I'm sure we can figure something out later. Leo chuckled to which the feline just huffed and turned away, trying to swat away the sparks with her tail.
"What's wrong?" Lily asked, most likely noticing the short exchange between him and Nyx.
"Nothing," he shook his head. "Just the big baby here is complaining about getting stung."
"Really now? I guess she never had to deal with mosquitos," she shuddered. "I bloody hate those things. If there's one good thing about this Outbreak, then it must be the total annihilation of that damned insect."
Leo sighed. "And now you've jinxed us. I swear if I find a nest full of giant mosquitos within the next week, I won't be responsible for my actions."
Lily rolled her eyes at him. "Look who is overreacting now."
"Whatever," he grumbled as they neared the center of the domain and with that, the frozen Myrdrak lying there. "Focus up. Time to get to work."
"So what's the plan?" His sister raised an eyebrow, and Nyx even tilted her head in question. "Your merchant friend's advice wasn't too helpful. You could have at least asked him where to hit this thing."
Leo shrugged. "He told me I can't kill it with one attack, so it probably doesn't matter. I'm going to go for the head anyway. And that's pretty much the plan."
Lily crossed her arms. "And what about the two of us?" She pointed at herself and Nyx. "Don't even think of leaving us out of this."
"Didn't plan to," he waved her off before nodding towards the Myrdrak's head. "We will coordinate our attacks. Obviously, I will go first, with you, Lily, going second and Nyx third. At most, use fifty percent of your reserves for this, no more. We will need the rest to survive what comes after."
'Sounds reasonable,' Nyx nodded. 'My affinity is the weakest among the three of us, but if you give me an opportunity, I can try the same thing you did with the Treant.'
"Then we are in agreement. Lily?" He turned to his sister for the final confirmation.
"Fine by me," she smiled, summoning her golden bow.
"Then get your techniques ready and wait for my signal. Remember, you two need to strike right after me. There can't be too much delay between our attacks... Also, one more thing. Stay far behind me. I want it to sense me first when it awakens. I'm the fastest between us."
From the conflicted feelings in their link, Nyx didn't like that idea too much, but she still inclined her head with Lily following in her steps. Leo breathed out a sigh of relief. An argument was the last thing they needed right now.
Alright, let's get to it.
While his two companions took a position far away from the frozen Myrdrak to prepare their techniques, he did the opposite. With a few jumps, he landed on the beast's coiled body, just a few feet away from its head. It didn't even acknowledge his presence, and so he got to work.
Half of my Essence. If that's not enough to blow up its head then I don't know what is.
He clasped his hands and let the energy flow around them. Ever so slowly, he separated his palms, watching as an orb of bubbling energy grew between them. In addition to the usual black and red, now some purple also swirled within the technique.
Leo grinned as the bloodlust in his veins howled in anticipation. The Blaze stage of Ruthless Efficiency activated once more; this time, he couldn't even feel the primal instincts trying to take over his mind. They worked together with him, helping to shape the mass of Essence that now grew bigger than his head.
Finally, as the reserves in his soul became half empty, he cut off the flow of energy. He then palmed the giant orb of Ruination and sunk his claws into it. For once, he had no idea what he was even doing, but this just seemed right for some reason.
I think that's it. He noted with his hands now burried deep in the technique. "Ready?" He shouted, not taking his eyes off the target.
'Yes.'
"Aye, aye!"
"Good! Release your techniques the moment my own runs out. Don't worry about me. I will get out of the way. Just don't miss."
With that said, Leo took a deep breath, and with minimal movement, he changed his stance, sinking the short, curled talons on his feet into the Myrdrak's charred scales. Then, he took aim and pushed a single spark of Essence into his waiting technique.
At once, the orb exploded outwards, releasing a massive beam of Ruination at the Myrdrak's head. It devoured everything in its way, obliterating the mouth and the multiple mandibles.
He wanted to hold the technique for a bit longer, but just then, a tremor went through the beast's body, and he took it as a sign to get off. He stopped the technique just a moment before it could run out of power and jumped back just in time to avoid a massive golden arrow that almost burned his skin with its intensity alone.
The earth shook once more as the projectile connected with the Myrdrak's massacred head. The explosion didn't even get time to settle before a mass of shadows slithered up the beast's body and enveloped what remained after Leo's and Lily's attack.
It took barely a blink for dozens of shadow spikes to erupt from within the Myrdrak. Not even its tough scales could protect it this time.
And yet, none of that was enough. Despite missing its entire head and sporting multiple holes in its body, the Nightmare uncoiled and let out a gurgling screech that shouldn't have been possible in its current state.
At the same time, the air around him changed as it filled with more and more violet sparks. Leo quickly surrounded his body in shadows and a layer of pure Essence while ordering his companions to back off even further.
However, the expected discharge never came. Instead, the sparks surged higher, forming a tall pillar right above the Myrdrak. The top flashed once, then twice, before expanding outwards, enveloping a part of the battlefield in a half-dome barrier made of purple lightning.
"Shit," Leo cursed when he noticed that he was now trapped with the Nightmare in a cage without an exit. The notification that came next only confirmed that.
Domain trap activated: Storm of Death.
The Indomitus Myrdrak is challenging you to a death match. May the best Voidborn win.
Oh, you've got to be kidding me! A fucking death match? What the hell, Naz'Tor? Couldn't have warned me about that!?
"Leo! What's going on!?" A muffled shout came from beyond the barrier.
Without taking his eyes off the wounded Myrdrak, he backed off until he was only a few steps away from the storm barrier. "Its domain became a trap. None of us can leave as long as the other lives!"
"Can't you make a hole with Ruination?" This time, Lily's voice was clear as day. "Come on, you can't fight it alone!"
"I know!" He growled, already summoning the Void affinity and flinging it at the lightning wall between him and his sister. The attack went right through, but before he could even move toward the hole, it mended itself.
"Shit!" He spat and rolled away just in time to avoid a bolt of lightning that struck his previous position. It didn't end there as a second later, an entire storm descended on him, biting at his heel.
Storm of Death, indeed.
To make it worse, the Myrdrak finally tired of waiting and joined the fight. Leo reignited Reinforcement and even activated Limit Break at one hundred percent as he ran for his life. He dived out of the way of stray lightning before flipping over the Nightmare's massive body as it tried to smash him into a paste.
"Nyx, Lily!" He shouted, never stopping moving. "Find a way to destroy this damned barrier. I will play for time."
'We will do our best. Hold on there, Leo. Don't you dare to die now!' Nyx growled in his head. 'We will get you out of there.'
I know. I'm counting on you.
