Chapter 264
Chapter 264
Chapter 264
VS Abel (3)
A red orb with artificial cracks on its surface.
Having made countless contacts with Adi's terminals, Rudian instinctively realized that this was definitely not some fake.
But separate from that, he had doubts.
"Why are you giving this to me...?"
"What, didn't you come here to obtain this?"
"That's true, but..."
In fact, now that he had realized the Reduction Technique, what mattered wasn't Shambhala but how to overcome the powerful enemy before his eyes.
But even so, suddenly handing over Shambhala like this seemed strange.
"After you break that guy, the choice is yours. You can take Shambhala and just return, or you can carry out the Demon God's task and meet the Demon God before leaving."
"...I see."
Rudian realized that to the Demon God, Shambhala hadn't been that important from the beginning.
"Good. Then for a moment... I'll smash that bastard and come back."
"Good. Since it has nothing to do with the task... I'll lift the restrictions placed on you just for this battle."
As soon as those words ended, Rudian felt his spiritual body connecting to somewhere.
Like severed power naturally finding its way back to its proper place.
At the end of that somewhere, he saw the presence of a giant black eyeball with closed eyes.
—Master.
As soon as it sensed Rudian's presence, that black eyeball—Adi—slowly opened its pupils and awakened from sleep.
Upon opening its eyes, Adi immediately noticed the state of Rudian's body and offered congratulations.
—Congratulations on your great achievement.
"Yeah, thanks."
Rudian nodded with a slight smile.
Just as Adi had noticed Rudian's change, conversely Rudian also noticed Adi's change.
For some reason, he could feel that Adi's atmosphere had become considerably calmer.
Rudian thought about the reason for a moment, then voiced one hypothesis.
"Have you regained your original self?"
—It would be difficult to say I've regained my original self, but the seal on my main body existing in another dimension has loosened, and I've been affected by that.
"A seal?"
—Yes, it's a phenomenon that occurred when all six terminals were activated.
Though Eden's existence was somewhat concerning, it seemed that the main body's sealed state was indeed affected by the activation of the terminals themselves.
'Until now, there probably hasn't been a case where all the terminal restrictions were properly lifted...'
Still, Adi was Adi.
Its essence hadn't changed.
As if proving that thought, Adi showed its original lively appearance and urged Rudian on.
—Let's go, Master. I'll show you Shambhala's true power!
"...Yeah."
Rudian smiled faintly.
***
"...!"
Gooooo!
From the moment the administrator gave him the red orb, Abel had recognized that Rudian's aura had changed ominously.
It wasn't just his aura that had changed.
Before he knew it, seven circular rings had appeared behind Rudian's back, forming one giant law.
"...Mandala?"
Seeing that sight, Abel unconsciously uttered those words.
Of the seven circles that had appeared behind his back, only one light was extinguished, but the other six circles each emitted different colored lights, fitting together precisely like a single painting.
It felt like looking at a seven-colored world.
"Magnificent."
Abel was genuinely impressed by Rudian's appearance.
It was like seeing Shiva, the god of destruction from Indian mythology.
But separate from that...
"It'll become troublesome if he starts properly handling that power."
The time for consideration had passed.
Only the will to kill with full power remained, as he had initially declared.
WHOOSH!
Along with the sound of wind spreading flames, a gray aura appeared on Abel's sword Grandia.
Grandia, the sword of Medaiel, one of the Seven Great Gods, which had been annihilated by Berus.
Although the original that Rudian had possessed was destroyed by Berus, Abel's Grandia, into which Medaiel's power absorbed by the Avatar of destruction had been melted, had properties no different from the original.
In other words, it could accept any power and amplify it.
"It seems you haven't yet grasped what power you've obtained. Die before then."
Toward the silent, motionless Rudian, Abel's sword drew an arc directly.
'This ends it.'
The power of the Avatar of destruction that ignores laws boasted such absolute might that even the Seven Great Gods could only resort to firepower battles.
Even if one tried to deflect that attack with transcendent insight, this single strike could ignore both its power and trajectory to cut through flesh.
It was no coincidence that Raihon, the God of Lightning, had his neck taken in one blow.
But...
THUD!
"...Gah!"
Abel felt a tremendous impact strike his face.
'...What, what is this?'
Clearly, the strike just now should have cut diagonally through his opponent's shoulder and passed through.
He had been certain of seeing a corpse rolling around, but somehow Rudian's fist had struck his face first before he could even perceive it!
'Causal manipulation? Or maybe time stop?'
But there was no leisure to consider that.
Before he knew it, Rudian had kicked off from his position and was rushing toward him.
"How dare...!"
It was certain he had been hit, but it was just one surprise attack.
Though that impact had dealt considerable damage, Abel calmly raised Grandia and infused power into it again.
"Light of the gray world."
Gray power that denies the seven colors created by the Creator God.
"I won't be careless."
But the coincidence wasn't just once.
CRACK!
"Graaaah!"
Before he could even perceive what had happened again, Abel realized his arm had been cut off.
'What on earth, what on earth is happening...!'
He hadn't felt any particularly threatening power.
But the fact that he, who had reached the realm of transcendence, couldn't read the moment of his opponent's attack was definitely problematic.
'It's not time stop. Such authority cannot affect me!'
The power Berus had given him while binding his soul.
The characteristic of the Avatar of destruction that made him virtually immune to all supernatural abilities and authorities.
Hadn't he proven this sufficiently against Ruura and Garganta?
Abel instantly regenerated his severed arm.
Even if struck by divinity or authority, his regenerative ability didn't diminish in the slightest.
"Die!"
Filled with rage, Abel pressed Rudian hard.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
Just like before, as if his earlier prowess was a lie, Rudian was pushed into defense without being able to counterattack properly.
But even so, Abel couldn't help but be confused.
'Why... why isn't his defense being penetrated?'
Another characteristic of gray power was that it ignored all enemy defenses.
A fraudulent power that dealt fixed damage to anyone.
But Rudian seemed unaffected by such attacks, showing no signs of being particularly shaken.
After pummeling Rudian for about ten minutes like this, Abel spoke with a hardened expression.
"I see... I roughly understand now."
"......"
"Your stats themselves increased exponentially, regardless of divinity or anything else. Your body itself became strong enough to challenge laws beyond divinity."
No matter how much you could ignore defense and deal fixed damage, if the 'health pool' itself was overwhelmingly high, it wouldn't be very useful.
"The reason you couldn't react to my initial attack was because you momentarily couldn't control the tremendous power surge that even a divine body couldn't handle."
The terms 'health pool increased' and 'stats went up' couldn't be dismissed simply.
For any being, even if they possessed divinity, there were limits to growth and limits to how much divinity could be accommodated.
If one didn't know their place and harbored excessive greed, they would pay the price dearly.
"That's right."
Rudian calmly nodded.
"Even now, it's hard to control my power."
If he relaxed his guard even a little, it felt like a single punch would shatter this entire space.
It was quite different from when he gained power through the resonance of the seven-colored world.
If the power gained through resonance felt like someone 'else's', the current power felt considerably familiar, as if it was power he should have obtained from the beginning.
"Hmph..."
Then, the administrator watching from afar suddenly spoke up.
"The main body of Machine God Deus is so huge it could grasp the sun with both hands."
"......"
"And Shambhala is a terminal symbolizing Deus' military might. In other words, right now you're handling that giant Deus' power in a size that doesn't even compare to a flea relative to the main body. Naturally, it's overwhelming."
Whether it's power that overturns laws or anything else, before overwhelming quantity, it can't maintain its strength.
Ruura and Garganta's strategy itself wasn't wrong.
It's just that their power couldn't produce firepower sufficient to overwhelm Abel and his companions.
But the current Rudian was different.
He had truly obtained the power to drive Abel into a corner with firepower alone.
"Let's really... test whether that's possible."
CRACK!
At that moment, Abel's body began to twist slightly.
That twisting began to grow gradually, slowly losing its human form.
"...!"
A chimera?
No, it was nothing like that.
It was a giant monster without features, like a monster made of chaotic slime.
What had been Abel transformed into such a monster and opened its mouth in spirit speech.
—This is my essence.
"...Essence?"
—In the end, my existence is foreign matter, not a permitted life in this world... created by Berus. Information from 'Abel' of different eras and different worldlines brought and processed... originally a being that shouldn't exist in this world.
Because the degree of that manifestation was so precise and close to perfection, in such special environments he could escape the control of his creator Berus, but... the fact that his origin was this form didn't change.
—Berus probably transformed into a similar form to my current state as well. Only by doing so could he truly head outside the world.
"...I see."
Abel had just given Rudian tremendous information.
—So the experience of killing me will be of great help in facing Berus.
"...Good. I'll gladly accept it."
Rudian didn't decline.
Abel had probably accepted such circumstances and advised him not to have sympathy or pity.
WHIRR!
Behind Rudian's back, the mandala of seven spheres symbolizing Machine God Deus appeared.
Desperately suppressing his boiling omnipotence, Rudian asked Abel one final question.
"Do you have any last words?"
Even at Rudian's declaration that would end things without properly testing their skills, Abel made his request calmly without any particular reaction.
—If everything ends and peace comes... please take care of 'me' of this era. Even though it's a noble family... it's a rural house without even a proper territory...
For Rudian, who had fallen into this world out of nowhere and struggled for years, it was a quite relatable request.
"Understood."
With those words, Rudian grasped the administrator's sword and took an assault stance.
FLASH!
Then he kicked off from his position and flew straight toward Abel's face in a direct line.
Abel spat out gray power applied with Genesis Technique at Rudian as his final struggle, but...
CRAAASH!
Rudian's divine form wrapped in the mandala penetrated that gray power head-on and pierced through Abel's body.
—...Not... bad.
Abel's body, transformed into chaos, began to collapse and disappear.
The protagonist of the original work, .
It was Abel's end.