BXBX NOVEL Chapter 136 - Between A Monster And A Demigod
"Interesting," Lilith turned to him slowly after she watched the two disappear into the horizon. The way she looked at him was one that Nikolai recognized, and it made him feel sick. "You are scared of me," she said.
"Why would I be?" Nikolai shrugged and turned to walk away. However, as expected, a giant wall appeared in front of him. It was a black wall, but it was stronger than any steel. A sigh escaped his mouth as he turned back toward the grinning Lilith.
"You don\'t seem surprised by what you saw," Lilith said as she took measured steps toward him.
Of course, Nikolai wouldn\'t be surprised. This was one of Lilith\'s most extraordinary authorities, Thaumaturgy. People were also fooled that it was one of the Absolute Skills, the ability to turn the impossible into possible and create objects out of energy.
There were limits to this power of hers, but they weren\'t things that the current Nikolai could exploit. Such powers could only be revered, never fought.
"Everything is possible in this world," Nikolai turned toward Lilith, looking at her with a complex gaze. Her current appearance was the least he was used to, as this was a past identity of hers. However, he didn\'t know how she knew the strategist, Edward Ver Rosia.
"No wonder Ed never ceased talking about you," Lilith waved her hand as she stood a few meters away from him. Her long fingers slashed space apart, and the cracks spread to corner Nikolai. "He asked me to help him, and you seem to have the mind of stopping him."
She righteously said as if she was the protector against evil. Nikolai, however, knew that there was nothing but a sick fascination of him in her mind.
This was a younger version of Lilith, but he didn\'t think she was any different. For Elves who lived for hundreds of years, a few years difference didn\'t equate much. Of course, she was more ruthless in a few years during the war, but she was still collecting her minions.
"My only relief is that this is only a Vision, not real life. Otherwise, all of my plans would go awry," as he stepped back and eyed the cage that surrounded him, Nikolai thought to himself.
Edward needed to be stopped, and he would have to get past Lilith to do that. The only opening that he could use was the place behind the Elven Princess, a gap left open because she was the one standing in the way.
\'Her confidence could be used against her,\' thought Nikolai as he dashed forward. Lilith\'s eyes widened with surprise before she revealed her white teeth in a grin. Her hand reached out to seize him, appearing like a celestial giant in front of Nikolai.
It was a difference between gods and mortals. However, mortals also have tricks up their sleeves. As he was inches away from being captured, Nikolai disappeared like smoke, and the Elven Princess grabbed nothing but empty air.
The confusion in her face was thrilling to witness from his dark dimension, but it disappeared instantly. However, her reflexes were also abnormal, and she turned to attack the gap behind her.
It took nothing but a second for Lilith to realize he was using the gap in her cage to flee and conclude that he was going for that opening.
\'I know you too well and know how smart you are,\' Nikolai said as he watched the disguised elf slash apart empty air.
A crushing pressure accompanied the rage of the Elven Princess when she realized that she had struck empty air and that Nikolai had fooled her. The wounded pride of a ruler bled into the forest, shaking space itself.
\'It\'s time to flee,\' Nikolai tried going into his pocket dimension, but a message from the system foiled his plans.
[This action will result in leaving the vision. Do you wish to continue?] ––––––– [Yes/No]
Nikolai chose not to, grumbling inwardly that the system was too stupid even to ask. If he indeed left the Vision, he wouldn\'t stop Edward from changing the timeline.
However, the wrathful goddess in front of him was about to tear his flesh apart. The clouds gathered above them, stealing the sunlight and matching the mood of the woman in front of him.
Her miracle power followed the will of its master, and the forest was stripped naked to find Nikolai. But, while he was in the dark dimension, he felt as he was being dragged out.
"Merge," Lilith\'s cold voice muttered as her hair flew in the wind, countless lines of lights appearing around her. Nikolai knew what to come was akin to the wrath of the heavens.
The lines surrounded, and one of them disintegrated, releasing the first seal of her powers. Then, a celestial pressure descended on the forest, making the trees kneel.
Nikolai expected her reaction, but the alternative was to be struck by her earlier attack. The dark dimension grew unstable, and Nikolai found himself getting pulled into the real world.
Before his stealth got broken, Nikolai decided to run away for a short distance. At least, a meter away from this demigod would be an extra meter away from death.
As he lifted his leg to run, his muscles screamed in pain, and his joints crackled. Nikolai gritted his teeth as he pushed against the pressure that wanted to crush him.
Every step he took left a deep footprint in the ground, and he had but a few seconds before his stealth got broken by the sheer pressure of Lilith.
This was the weakness of his stealth. It would be broken the moment Nikolai suffers an attack, and he would be thrown out. Maybe if he uses mana to fortify it, he would last a bit longer. However, the amount of mana that he needs to contend against Lilith would kill him.
As he jumped forward and slid beneath a kneeling tree, the transition into the real world happened, and Nikolai felt as if someone had unmuted the world. The squeaking of trees as they bent, a touch away from breaking, filled his ears as he jumped to run away.
"There you are," her voice has changed, and it held an overseeing apathy in it instead of the earlier rage. "You are Edward\'s favorite toy. That\'s why I won\'t kill you. However, that doesn\'t mean I don\'t get to play with you too."
The anger drowned, only a ripple manifesting as a calamity remains. Nikolai was rolling on the ground, feeling as if he was swimming in mercury. The trees gave way as Lilith walked toward him.
Nikolai suddenly bolted as if the earlier struggle was nothing but an act. The ease he ran away with made Lilith pause before rushing after him. His back was covered in sweat as his view was filled with notifications from the system.
[-1 DMG!]
[-1 DMG!]
[-1 DMG!]
[-1 DMG!]
...
The notifications were endless, and he couldn\'t believe that just her presence after releasing the first seal was enough to harm him every moment. However, his Legendary skill worked well to protect him, and he began the chase after Master Edward and the young man.
"Disrespectful," the divine judgment arrived full of wrath, and Nikolai could feel a singular point in his back, itching as if something had locked on it.
When he glanced back, a black spear was about to pierce his back. His mouth curved upward as he jumped, allowing the spear to impale his back.
Sparks flew as his barrier protected him against the attack, but the blood-red notification made him wish that he took the brunt of the attack with his body.
[-4493 DMG!]
His charge must have bottomed out with that attack, but its power was enough to send him flying toward the ritual grounds. Nikolai had to shield his eyes because of the mighty wind and only opened them when he reached the highest point.
"If I took that attack, I would have turned into nothingness," Nikolai muttered as he began his descent, scanning the sky for signs of Master Edward.
He felt awe when he discovered that the young man managed to stop Master Edward a fair distance from the ritual ground. However, it seems Master Edward has realized this wasn\'t the real world and decided to use his full strength.
"A demigod behind me," said Nikolai, "and a monster before me. No one is here to help me and stop the termination but myself," he unsheathed his twin scimitars, and the black lotus bloomed above his hand. "Let me use what you taught me," as he turned to meet the soaring Lilith, Nikolai removed the limits using the technique she used him.
His heart stopped beating for a second as mana gathered around it. Then, it contracted so powerfully to pump mana-filled blood through his body. Veins appeared on his arms as he slashed at the incoming Lilith using his Abyssal Art and Limit Break.
"You..." her eyes flashed with recognition, but she didn\'t retract her attack.. The two attacks collided, and Nikolai\'s proved that it was indeed the Bane of Elements.