Chapter 399   - Thunder (5)

Boom! There was no other way to describe the situation other than that the world itself was melting. The earth sank deeper and deeper, and even the hard bedrock liquefied from the heat. Flames flared at the edges of funnel-shaped craters with diameters dozens of kilometers long. Magma overflowed, melting rock as it passed. The cracked ground looked like a turtle shell, and white steam floated over it.

Boom!

But the destruction didn’t stop there. The Breath’s power shook the fault lines underneath the ground, and the resulting earthquakes were of such high magnitude that the ground seemed to rise and fall in waves.

Allforone’s mind was pushed far away; the intertwined chains around one of his arms made it impossible for him to escape and the Breath hit him directly.

His condition was clear through the remnants of fog. Just when it appeared as if the fog would be completely blown away, space suddenly opened behind Allforone. Boo/Faust’s eyes appeared.

「Death.」 Boo/Faust stretched out his hand through the emptiness. His skeletal hand touched Allforone’s back gently, but its effect wasn’t gentle at all.

Boom! Boom! An invisible strength pounded at Allforone as though he were a large bell.

〈Soulish Grace〉

It was a debuff attack that gathered the common, ordinary souls and shot them out. They not only attacked the opponent physically but also forced a curse on him. Naturally, the greater the number of souls being used, the more powerful the curse.

As the Soulish Grace intensified, Allforone’s trembling also grew more violent. The fog scattered as though it were about to vanish completely, and the curse relentlessly assimilated with Allforone’s mind, putting him in an increasingly critical situation.

Swish. Meanwhile, the chains tightened even more and prevented Allforone’s mind from moving. Since they were made of divine iron, they not only bound through physical means but also bound spiritual beings and objects as well.

Of course, Allforone was just as fearful of the same iron that frightened gods and demons. Also, since Allforone had only sent his mind, no matter how much he used his magic power to cut through the chains, the chains only dug deeper and ravenously gobbled up his magic power. He attempted to use Shukuchi to escape but his attempt failed, as well.

『Is not being able to use magic power always so uncomfortable?』 Allforone’s mind laughed bitterly in frustration. He’d failed the players’ skills by interfering in the system, and now his magic power was restricted. Even the skills and powers he was so proud of were failing.

Finally, most of the fog was gone, and Boo/Faust took the opportunity to push his hand further. Kyaaaaa! Thousands of souls were blown into a great blade that created a fissure in the air, rushing to chop Allforone’s mind, which loomed over it.

Allforone only felt one emotion towards Boo/Faust: fury. 『Oh dear.』 He sighed, thinking he would really be defeated at this rate. All he had wanted to do was to retrieve the inappropriate throne from the lower world and return after taking care of the irregularities. Things had become more complicated than he expected with the blooming of darkness, and the resurrection of those that he’d killed.

The Summer Queen and Faust had once caused him trouble, so if they fought against him with the darkness on their side, it wouldn’t be easy. 『I suppose...I’ll have to play along for a bit.』

His defense of the seventy-seventh floor would grow weaker but he would become that much weaker, but he steeled himself, thinking that would be better than darkness causing chaos in the lower world.

Suddenly, two eyes flashed through the dark fog. Allforone released his level. Boom. A fierce wind rose, created by Allforone’s mind. It stretched in all directions, stirring the air so powerfully that the powerful Breath that nearly annihilated the stage was pushed back. The space around it was destroyed.

Boo/Faust, who was hiding in the otherspace, was blown away too. However, he could recover endlessly as long as he had a life vessel, so he immediately reappeared high up in the sky. When he looked down, he saw that there was nothing left of the destroyed stage.

Allforone’s mind stood there,with a grimace of annoyance. The ashy fog turned paler and flared up violently. Then, the white fog flowed into its core and took the form of something that looked human.

Although he didn’t reveal his appearance, it was a big shift from how he’d originally hidden himself in the fog. Strangely, his gaze could be read since he was likely using the Thousand Li Eyes, which could see anything.

The ashy fog grew clearer and turned into an intense light, as though it were the only star shining in a dark, red sky, veiled by a celestial gas. However, on further thought, it seemed more like a sun, the only source of light in a galaxy of darkness.

「A...alter-ego.」 Boo/Faust clucked his tongue. The newly awakened alter-ego was exuding a solid presence compared to the mind that it replaced. If anyone could hear his thoughts, they would have thought him insane. Allforone’s mind alone could crush the stage, but to Boo/Faust, the only thing that seemed to matter to him was that the alter-ego, which was superior in power to Allforone’s mind, was simply solid.

In fact, the Summer Queen and Boo/Faust truly felt this way. They were among the few who had challenged Allforone throughout the long history of the Tower. And so far, Allforone hadn’t shown anything that could be compared to the power they’d experienced while fighting him.

Boo/Faust had been provoking Allforone to force him to demonstrate his full power, and he had finally gotten his wish. However, Allforone’s strength was truly savage, and Boo/Faust felt as though old memories buried in his subconscious were being unearthed again.

If a mere alter-ego could emanate so much strength, what would it be like if his true body descended? Boo/Faust narrowed his eyes. Their plan wasn’t just to pull down Allforone’s alter-ego, but to draw out his true body from the seventy-seventh floor.

The darkness hadn’t properly bloomed because the vessel wasn’t complete yet, but the Summer Queen and Faust wanted to fulfill their life’s mission since they were already working together anyway.

Boo/Faust didn’t even want to think of his first death. Just when he’d reached his goal of darkness,

Allforone had suddenly interfered. Boo/Faust was determined to make him pay the price for ruining his research, even though hundreds of years had already passed.

「Fool. Do you think that’s the end?」 The Bone Dragon suddenly smirked.

Clatter. Boo/Faust’s head turned into her direction, eyes filled with dissatisfaction. They were working together because of a common enemy, but they definitely hadn’t been friendly with each other when they were still alive. In fact, they were closer to being enemies.

Faust had displayed his madness when he’d made contracts with gods from other worlds just for his research, and the Summer Queen had ruled over the Tower for thousands of years as the leader of Red Dragon. They had fought every chance they got, reducing the battlegrounds to ashes each time and making players run away in panic as soon as the two were in the same place. Their enmity got so bad that even the arrogant Red Dragon avoided Faust as much as possible.

They each didn’t have a good impression of the other, and if not for the great roof of darkness over them, it would have been impossible for them to work together like this. There was a reason why the Summer Queen was on the darkness’s side--although her grudge against Allforone was part of it, she also had many things she wanted to ask Heaven Wing Cha Jeong-woo.

「What...」

「Look over there, you stupid idiot. Can’t you get a grip on yourself even after being resurrected?」

Boo/Faust didn’t like the Bone Dragon’s tone, but he knew she never spoke nonsense, and so he turned to look. His eyes widened immediately.

The aura around Allforone continued to grow stronger, making the stage quake. It didn’t seem like he would stop after releasing his level.

「Is it possible?」

「Yes, you fool. That’s no alter-ego.」 The Bone Dragon growled. 「It’s his real body.」Roar. The Bone Dragon spewed her Breath at Allforone once more. The blaze was powerful enough to make the atmosphere sizzle, but Allforone easily pushed it aside with a wave of his hand. Then, he took a step forward and his body suddenly vanished, only to reappear in front of her.

『It’s been a while, Ismenios.』 Allforone pulled his fist back and swung it at the Bone Dragon. 『I don’t feel very pleased that a dragon who should follow natural order has come back like this.』 A shock wave rippled through the atmosphere.

The Bone Dragon quickly unfurled her wings and used Blink to avoid it, but the wave followed her and struck her. Although it was only a single blow, it destroyed half of her body right away.

The darkness covered her and quickly restored her body, but the Bone Dragon’s eyes narrowed, displeased. 「Damn you!」

Swoosh. Once again, her Breath rushed out. Allforone waved his hand again and pushed the Breath away, and with Shukuchi, he appeared behind Boo/Faust.

As though he were expecting Allforone’s movements, Boo/Faust instantly vanished, leaving behind various magic squares that shot out Hell Fire and curses at Allforone. However, these attacks only vanished like melting snow against the light that Allforone emitted. The backlash turned the attacks into a curse of light and sent it back to Boo/Faust.

Since Boo/Faust had lived through death, he was vulnerable to Allforone’s holy power, and he was paralyzed, his hand beginning to scatter even though it was wrapped in darkness. The souls circled around him protectively, only to be purified. They disappeared instantly, and Hell Fire and other magic were annulled.

Thinking he’d be in danger if this kept up, Boo/Faust attempted to leave the battlefield to deal with the holy power eating away at his soul. Using Blink, he tried to hide in a cave, but Allforone followed at his heels with Shukuchi, as though he refused to let Boo/Faust go.

To Allforone, Boo/Faust were like cows to be butchered, creatures that had to be killed after coming back against the natural order of things. Allforone’s pursuit of Boo/Faust made the space of the stage crack like glass, the fractures spreading like spiderwebs and demolishing the laws around them.

The Bone Dragon established laws to help Boo/Faust and spewed her Breath, but each time, the laws were restored and her Breath was left in the emptiness. They had successfully pulled Allforone’s true body from the seventy-seventh floor, but his power was overwhelming them.

Boom! Boo/Faust was blown away in the broken space from Allforone’s powerful punch. Allforone quickly chased after him to finish him off and sliced his hand down. Just as the light was about to split Boo/Faust, something pulled the chains wrapped around Allforone.

『Oh dear.』 Allforone was sucked into emptiness. By the time he collected himself, something that looked like Yeon-woo gripped his collar and growled,“You impudent fool. Who are you trying to touch?”