A loud explosion shook the entire cave as Lee Seng descended from the smoke. The frozen body crashed onto the ground while Eyes laughed.
"You really think you could hurt me?!?" Eyes asked. He hovered forward with all of his eyes moving erratically. He lifted his right hand up, charging it with a purple ball of energy. "You are just a husk! A cog in Mother's machine! A new age will arrive and you won't be there to see it!" Eyes pointed the ball of energy at Lee Seng and let it rip.
[Threshold complete.]
"LEE!" Evan and Ritsuka shouted, breaking out of their paralyzation. The eyes on 004 moved and looked at them, paralyzing them once again. An old feeling washed over Lee Seng. He could feel it pumping through his veins. The strange serum the Creator had injected him with for years was moving through his system.
[Rejuvenation and Cure Paralyzation has been automatically used.]
[Devouring Adaptation has been triggered!]
'It's my lucky day!' Lee Seng thought as the ball of energy floated mere inches from his chest. Lee Seng reached for the energy, dispelling it instantly and throwing himself onto his feet. 004's eyes widened.
"How is that possible?!?" Eyes asked. Lee Seng slammed his right palm into 004's chest, pushing him backwards. He snapped his fingers and started to swing as Diminished Sun flew into his hand.
"Didn't you know?!?" Lee Seng shouted, slashing 004's chest. Dark gray energy rippled out of his sword, painting 004's chest in a strange affliction crawling from the wound. 004 jumped backwards, eyes shaking. Evan and Ritsuka gasped as their bodies unfroze. Lee Seng gave a cocky smile as he balled his right hand into a flaming fist. "No one's gonna die except for every single one of you…" Lee SEng stomped forward, letting flames out from his feet. "My dad couldn't bring himself to kill you all, but I… I will kill you without hesitation. That's the greatest gift my dad should've been able to give you all since you helped humanity."
"You spot nonsense!" 004 rushed forward without thinking. He swung his fist, throwing a paralyzing wave outwards. Lee Seng blocked the attack, freezing in place for a moment before he became animated, again. He retaliated with a swing of his own, watching 004 try to freeze his hand. The fiery punch landed square in his face, sending him flying. Lee Seng twirled the blade and dashed forward, stabbing the sword forward at 004. The Failed One tilted his head, listening to the sword sink into the wall, melting the wall. 004 pushed another paralyzation wave out, watching Lee Seng continue his attack. Lee Seng pulled the sword downwards, hitting 004's shoulder and a single eye. 004's body screamed in pain as he pushed forward and slammed his fist into Lee Seng's abdomen.
Lee Seng flew backwards, pulling the heated sword with him. He skidded to a stop and twirled his blade.
'Give me an update on what Devouring can do now, System.' Lee Seng ordered. The System dumped a summary of Devouring in front of Lee Seng. He quickly scanned it and smirked.
/ Devouring Twelve
Rank: A (SS)
Magic Type: Curse/Affliction
Skills:
- Devouring Punch
- Wisp Eater
- Shroud \
'It's exactly like I thought it would be.' Lee Seng thought. He dashed forward, moving his sword in front of him, horizontally. He hovered his right hand at the end and focused his energy. 'Devouring wasn't ever a Fox Spirit thing. It was unlocked because evolution brought it out. It was unfinished, but now it's fully completed, leaving me with the other half of Number Series 11 - Number Series 12!'
Lee Seng disappeared, vanishing from the room.
[Shroud has been activated.]
[Paralyzation Immunity has been temporarily given to Ritsuka and Evan.]
A tap came to Ritsuka and Evan, pulling them out of their paralyzation. Lee Seng reappeared in front of 004, swinging his sword and missing. 004 jumped to the side towards Evan. His eyes pulsed, trying to freeze Lee Seng in place.
'It's a one on one battle. The other two can't do a thing! They—' 004 began to think when Evan started to move. 'How's that possible?!?' Another pulse flew out at Evan, who continued to move. 004 shot out beams from his back as Lee Seng turned and pressured 004 from the front.
'Ritsuka, attack from below.' Lee Seng instructed. Ritsuka sank into the shadows, disappearing from sight.
'What's going on? He's able to move too? I can feel that one coming towards me from the front, too!' 004's two main eyes widened. Evan raised his shield blocking the beams and pushing forward.
"Mixed Art: Never-ending Flame!" Lee Seng jumped for 004, slashing. 004 threw his hand outwards, freezing the dark flames. They froze in place like Evan had stopped the kinetic energy from continuing on its path. Lee Seng pierced his sword through the black flames, coating his entire sword and arm in it as he stabbed 004 in the chest. "Now!"
004 watched as Evan grew faster, bursting forward as a large prismatic sword appeared in his other hand. He slashed as the darkness below 004 shifted. Ritsuka shot out of the ground swinging his katana at 004.
The three attacks connected, tearing and breaking 004's body in an instant. 004 screamed in pain as he was rattled left and right. Lee Seng swung his right fist, punting him straight into the wall while Ritsuka and Evan landed and turned towards 004. Lee Seng landed and jumped to his friends' side, watching the black flames eat away.
"Did we do it?" Evan asked, huffing.
"I don't think so." Ritsuka shook his head. He pointed at 004. "He's changing."
"Shit, back up!" Lee Seng shouted. The trio began to move away, only to be caught in a large blast. Rocks fell as the entire room began to shift. 004's screams grew loud as his flesh expanded.
"Argh!" Evan threw his hands up, holding the rocks as he slammed against the ground. Ritsuka and Lee Seng slid to a stop, feeling the ground shift underneath them.
"Air." Lee Seng called the rune. A gust of wind danced around him, pushing him towards Ritsuka. He grabbed Ritsuka, lugging him over to Evan. "I don't think I can protect us from all of this!"
"I don't… think I can either!" Evan grunted. He pushed his kinetic energy outwards, freezing the entire ceiling of falling rocks.
"You think I'm done?!?" 004's voice asked, distorted. "You're done! You're done! You're done!" The once many-eyed humanoid was now a large, fat meatball monster with many tentacles with a huge eye and a large mouth filled with jagged teeth. 004 roared before charging a large purple energy ball from his pupil. "Die!" A large purple beam flashed over the trio, covering everything in light.
Ritsuka wrapped his arms around Lee Seng and Evan, pulling them under. The kinetic wall exploded and the rocks continued to fall from the ceiling. Darkness enveloped the falling room, leaving the large monstrosity floating in darkness.
"Dead!" 004 bellowed a deep laugh. "Serves them right! No one could ever beat me in this form! I am stronger in this form! That humanoid form is too constricting. I can't use all of my power like I can with this! Hahaha!"
'Now what?' Evan asked his friends. He glanced from above as Ritsuka navigated the never-ending darkness.
'We have to kill him somehow.' Lee Seng answered. 'Ritsuka, can you move wherever?'
'I've never tried to move up or down before! I've always used solid ground to move! I-I don't know if this is even doable!' Ritsuka panicked. The dark world shook as Ritsuka wondered what to do.
'Th-the theory you had!' Evan snapped his fingers at Ritsuka. 'You had a theory about this right? Try it out now!'
'That could cost us our lives!' Ritsuka turned. 'W-we could die and never be found! That large meatball's gonna kill us!'
'What's the theory?' Lee Seng asked. Evan moved over and elbowed Ritsuka. Ritsuka bit his thumb and sighed. 'What is it?'
'Look, I'm not even sure I can do this. I wasn't even sure if I could suspend us in this realm with nothing around us!' Ritsuka warned them.
'The theory.' Evan elbowed Ritsuka again.
'Alright!' Ritsuka elbowed Evan back, giving himself some space to breath. 'The th-theory i-is I can move throughout the space and adjust the exit from th-the Realm. S-since we've traveled Realms before, I-I thought this Realm might act like the others. It's adaptable and changeable since I'm the one who technically creates this space.'
'That doesn't sound crazy.' Lee Seng blankly blinked at Ritsuka. 'What's holding you back?' Ritsuka let out a frustrated sigh and ruffled his hair.
"The thing is I don't know how to do that. It's too much to visualize where we're going and where we can enter and exit." Ritsuka verbally answered. "I-I don't have that much brain space!"
'You're over complicating it! Just make it simple! We can enter and go as we please because you allow it! You can focus on navigating this thing and we can pounce on that guy!' Evan motioned.
"B-but I don't think I can—"
"Where are you?" 004 began to look below him. "I can feel you there! Where did you go! There's nothing but darkness and a long drop to death! How is this possible?!?" Lee Seng moved over to Ritsuka and released Diminished Sun. He grabbed Ritsuka's face and pulled his gaze straight into his eyes.
"Make it simple: Only allow Evan and I in and out of this place from any point. You work on moving this around. I have your energy signature so I can move us in and out at-will." Lee Seng told Ritsuka. "Got it?"
"I-it could work, but… Can't that thing feel us?" Ritsuka asked. Lee Seng pulled away and looked up.
"They have horrible senses when it comes to energy sensing. Our senses are sharper because we've experienced it before. That noodle meatball creature could never figure it out in a hundred lifetimes. He wasn't made for that."
"But he was made to do that." Evan pointed. A large purple energy gathered at 004's eye.
"If you won't show yourselves, I'll destroy everything!" 004 released the beam.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶