NOVEL NEXT Chapter 79: Sun and Shadow
The wyvern was diving in his direction as Priam connected fully to his Potential. The source connecting each user to the System opened like a diaphragm. [Bullet Time], [Battle Flow]. Time slowed down, and Priam raised Promesse before frowning. [Battle Flow] and his eyes told him that the wyvern was at a specific position, while [Moon Mist] gave him another, slightly to the right.
The Earl decided to listen to his most advanced skill. Before using his most powerful attack, Priam wanted to get the measure of his opponent. The wyvern drew closer, and Priam rode the mist to dodge. Or rather, tried to. Unnatural panic paralyzed him as he met the creature's gaze.
The monster in front of him was descended from dragons. It was invincible, and Priam had no chance of...
Lvl Up: [Manipulation Resistance] lvl 8
WILL +3
Priam leaped to the side with the help of [Kinetic Control]. The dodge was ugly and graceless. Priam couldn't stop his acceleration and ended up rolling uncontrollably. The ground shook as he struggled to his feet.
Lvl Up: [Bullet time] lvl 10
PERC +3
Before him stood a terrifying monster. If Safamu had been the embodiment of a noble and mighty lion, the wyvern was that of a destructive mythological monster. Its dimensions were roughly the same as those of an Airbus A320. An aura of violence and power was palpable when observing the wyvern.
When Priam met his gaze, the primal part of his brain ordered him to flee. Only Micro and [He Who Eludes Death] kept his hopes alive.
The wyvern's eyes met Priam's, and it hissed. Its piercing gaze froze Priam on the spot as it opened its mouth. Shit! Trembling, Priam concentrated his Potential on his resistance. The reptile's mouth began to glow.
Lvl Up: [Manipulation Resistance] lvl 9
WILL +3
POT -5
His muscles began to respond again, and Priam let himself fall backward, straddling the mist.
Some thirty meters away, Priam watched the wyvern's breath. Like a gigantic laser, a column of light was sweeping the plain. Five seconds later, the creature closed its mouth, panting. The attack seemed to be tiring. Understandable, given the destruction caused.
"Holy shit..."
Priam was flabbergasted. In front of the wyvern, a small canyon ten meters wide had appeared. All matter - earth, grass, pebbles and stones - had been annihilated. Priam had expected this after seeing the lion's Tribulation.
What he didn't expect was the penetrating power of the attack. The Hyper Beam had ravaged the plain for at least five hundred meters. If the attack could evaporate a hundred meters of earth in a second, Priam had no doubt that his Constitution would not be enough to stop it. The beam was clearly inspired by the breath of the Dragons and was terrifying.
The reptile turned towards Priam, and the paralysis activated again. The wyvern propelled itself in his direction. The two opponents were only thirty meters apart, and Priam had to mobilize Micro, boosted by his Potential, to react. The monster raised an arm and swung its claws at Priam. Raising his arm at the last moment, the warrior blocked with his spear, absorbing the kinetic energy.
Lvl Up: [Bullet time] lvl 11
PERC +3
POT -5
His meridians screamed, and Priam howled before sending back the kinetic energy. The creature was pushed back. Surprised, it blinked.
"Well, the big lizard isn’t happy to lose?"
A howl answered him. Priam felt the aether condense in the monster’s throat. He quickly teleported behind it, dodging another death ray. The plain shook, and Priam caught his breath. Clearly, he couldn't defeat this monster without using one of his trump cards. In addition, if his clones' answers were accurate, the wyvern's greatest power was its immortality.
The creature took a deep breath and looked back, astonished to find Priam there. He winced. The opaque mist should have made him invisible. His various Titles and Merits made him extremely difficult to spot in the mist. Yet the wyvern could feel his presence. Either one of his greatest advantages was useless in the face of the monster's raw power, or it had another way of detecting him.
Priam thought back to his clones' answers and looked at his shadow. If he was right, there was little he could do…
The rain continued to fall, and the drops became more and more numerous. For the time being, Priam could feel them piercing his mist and dodging them in advance. He wouldn't be able to avoid them for long.
Avoiding eye contact with the creature, Priam trembled as he felt it open its wings. A new attack was coming. The deployed membranes began to glow intensely. Priam had to look away, and this almost proved fatal. His mist could perceive many things but not light. I'd have to be able to feel the agitation of the molecules…
A lance of light shot towards his liver, but Priam had already disappeared. The wyvern's wings created hundreds of spears of light at a 90° angle. They looked relatively unpowerful but impossible to dodge. Observing the spears, Priam realized that the mist - and therefore the micro-droplets of water - reflected the light and weakened them.
His belly was hurting him, and Priam analyzed the damage. He swallowed as he saw a two-centimeter-deep wound. The intense light had completely cauterized his injury, which made healing more complicated.
The wyvern turned in Priam's direction, continuing to bombard the plain. Riding through the mist, Priam played cat-and-mouse with the reptile. He soon decided to attack. His aether reserves were almost depleted from teleporting several times a second. Priam reappeared at the creature's back and raised Promesse.
[Tribulation Piercing Spear].
Promesse charged in a second, and the fire spear slammed into the monster's tail. Its size was too great to aim at anything else without getting on top of it.
The spear pierced the tail, and Priam jumped back, dodging a whiplash.
Lvl Up: [Bullet time] lvl 12
PERC +3
Lvl Up: [Dodge] lvl 10
AGI +1
The monster howled, and Priam swallowed as its shadow began to vibrate. The reptile was angry, and the Third Tribulation was manifesting itself. Without warning, the world began to lose its color. The golden wyvern turned black, and the shadow spread rapidly.
Priam tried to back away but to no avail. In a second, the plain had become as dark as a piece of Vantablack. More than the creature's destructive powers, the transformation of the landscape filled Priam's heart with fear. How could he defeat an immortal creature who, with a thought, could change its environment?
The shadow on the ground trembled for a moment, then disappeared. With it, all colors vanished, and the world was plunged into absolute blackness. Priam's enhanced eyes were useless. Fortunately, his mist sensed the wyvern approaching in silence.
Priam's breath was controlled as he was preparing himself. Static, he let his body regenerate his meridians until the last moment. When the reptile was no more than five meters from him, Priam sprang into action.
Taking a quick step boosted by [Kinetic Control], he instantly appeared under the monster's throat. In complete darkness, Priam drew on his kinetic reserves, Micro and [Spear Strike]. Augmented by his Potential, the blow was sublime.
Lvl Up: [Spear Strike] lvl 2,3,4
STR +6
DEXT +3
Lvl Up: [Kinetic Control] lvl 26
VIVA +2
DEXT +3
META (FOCUS) +4
The attack pierced the monster's defensive scales and opened its windpipe. Priam wasted no time in stepping back to avoid a riposte. The dragon clawed at the air, trying in vain to scream.
That should prevent him from launching any more Breaths...
Suddenly, Priam's eyes widened. The wyvern had just flapped its wings powerfully, dispersing the mist. Perhaps it'd been thinking about Priam's different skills. Or maybe it was a coincidence. Either way, it was terrible news.
[Battle Flow] switched on, and Priam threw himself on the ground. The disturbance in the mist prevented him from knowing the wyvern's exact position and riding it.
Lvl Up: [Battle Flow] lvl 3
PERC +1
DEXT +2
Lvl Up: [Bullet time] lvl 13
PERC +3
[Eidetic Memory] then reminded him of one of his notifications, and Priam released some of his Potential.
You have gained the skill: [Broad-spectrum vision - common]
The human eye can detect electromagnetic wavelengths between 380 nm and 780 nm. Not all animals have the same capabilities; some can see in the infrared or ultraviolet. It is now the case for you.
How will your human brain decode X-rays or gamma rays?
By the way, don't try to look through clothes, an X-ray of your crush isn't sexy.
PERC +1
It was a skill Priam had blocked so as not to exceed three hundred points of Perception. Now he was no longer limited and smiled again as he opened his eyes. The plain was now lit in a strange and indescribable way... His eyes could now see infrared and ultraviolet. Pride's Shadow hadn't thought to banish wavelengths outside the visible range.
The wyvern took off. The wound seemed to have annoyed it, and Priam began to stress. Behind him, the locust swarm was closing in. Combined with the deadly rain, the weather was - as always - against him. If the wyvern glided without attacking him, his nerves would eventually give way under the stress. He had to disable the monster before running back to New Earth. Trying to reach the dome - over a hundred kilometers away - while dodging wyvern Breaths was impossible.
Screaming, the wyvern dived, and Priam sighed with relief. The monster was heading straight for him, determined to destroy him.
Ten meters from the monster, Priam concentrated. It was time to get down to business. [Focus], [Spear Throw], [Kinetic Control], [Micro]. Activating several skills simultaneously, Priam cast Promesse.
Lvl Up: [Focus] lvl 22
PERC +1
VIVA +1
DEXT +1
Lvl Up: [Spear Throw] lvl 6,7
DEXT +6
Lvl Up: [Bullet time] lvl 14
PERC +3
A tenth of the energy he had accumulated was in the weapon. This attack had succeeded in exploding a badly wounded Safamu. Priam smiled as the spear left his hands.
The projectile's speed created a tunnel in the air. A fraction of a second later, a cone was formed, and a supersonic bang sounded. The throwing weapon's aerodynamics were almost perfect, and its unnatural acceleration filled Priam's heart with joy. The pain caused by the fire burning his meridians failed to make him wince. Priam watched the result of his attack attentively. How would the creature symbolizing his third and fourth Tribulation manage to survive?
The wyvern tried to turn, recognizing the danger, but Promesse was too quick. The weapon struck the animal's neck and passed through its body before exiting on the other side. Priam scrambled through the mist to dodge the titanic body as it crashed. Reappearing fifty meters away, Priam felt the ground tremble beneath his feet.
The flying reptile was on the ground. The creature's shaking and groan told Priam it wasn't dead yet. Promesse was returning to him, and he wondered for a moment whether he should try to finish the wyvern. Probably not. He only had eight special attacks left, and according to his clones, the creature was immortal as long as the Sun could see it.
Priam looked up at the enormous black clouds covering the earth and turned [Bullet Time] off. Perhaps they were blocking the Sun's rays? He had relatively little hope, as the Tribulations were supposed to synergize with each other, not cancel each other out, but he had to try.
Racing towards the body, Priam leaped into the air, preparing his attack. Aether flowed along his meridians, and the fiery runes running across Promesse lit up.
"[Tribulation Piercing Spear].”
Falling like a comet towards the wyvern, Priam aimed for its head. The spear penetrated the monster's skull and destroyed its brain. The Earl landed on the reptile's corpse and watched his notifications. Nothing. Either the System wasn't interested in his Tribulations, or the creature was still alive.
Bending over to observe the beast's wounds, Priam noticed its blood pulsating. The wyvern's brain had been destroyed, and Priam's perception couldn't feel its heartbeat. Yet the vital liquid was still circulating, regenerating the beast. Its wounds were closing in real-time.
Looking up, Priam realized the wyvern was absorbing the surrounding light. Infrared and ultraviolet rays converged on the body before being absorbed. The sun's rays, filtered by the clouds, regenerated the monster. Without clouds, Priam was willing to bet that its regeneration speed would have increased tenfold.
Boom... Priam's eyes widened. The boss' heart hadn't stopped, it had just slowed down to about ten beats a minute. Dodging the still-falling raindrops, Priam tried to locate and destroy the heart. Circling the corpse, Priam stopped in front of its chest. Boom...
The buzzing of the locusts drew nearer, and the chilling sound invaded the plain. Without wasting any time, Priam raised his spear and brought it down. Without skill, Promesse failed to penetrate the wyvern's scales. He tried again with Micro. This time his attack penetrated the scales.
Priam decided to use [Spear Strike]. The skill helped him pierce part of the flesh beneath the scales. Given the size of the monster, Priam theorized that it would take him around fifty attacks to get to the heart. That was far too long.
Lvl Up: [Spear Strike] lvl 5
STR +2
DEXT +1
The monster began to move, and Priam gritted his teeth. He didn't have the luxury of saving his aether. [Tribulation Piercing Spear]. The spear created a twenty-centimeter diameter hole in the beast's chest. At the bottom, the heart glowed brightly in the infrared. More than a heart, Priam had the impression of seeing a star.
Boom.
The overpowering thump exploded Priam's eardrums and knocked him to the ground. Dazed by the shock, it took him a few seconds to regain his senses. Already, the wound was closing. Priam quickly searched his pockets for grenades. Fortunately, he had remembered to borrow a few from Sphinx.
Pulling out three grenades, Priam threw them into the hole he'd created and moved off. An explosion sounded, and the wyvern's body spasmed.
The night dissipated, and the world regained its colors. Priam sighed at the lack of notification.
The rain became almost impossible to dodge, and two drops fell on Priam's skull. A trickle of blood ran down his forehead and onto his eyelid. Wiping his face mechanically, Priam watched the locusts approaching quickly. There were already hundreds of them. Priam hesitated about what to do. The wyvern's heart had exploded, but the System remained silent.
The lights dimmed, bending to strike the corpse. His instincts told him that the heart was regenerating. He'd bought himself some time, but as long as the sun's rays could find the body, it was useless. The Heaven wyvern was immortal under the Sun, his clones had said.
Without believing in it, Priam tried to use [There is no Heaven] on the corpse. A thin stream of aether left his body before returning empty-handed. The wyvern didn't seem to have a soul.
"I don't have time to bury it. With some luck, they'll eat its corpse..." murmured Priam. Turning on his heels, he sped off in the direction of New Earth.
Behind him, the Apocalypse followed.
Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)
PHYSICAL:
Strength 170 (+10)
Constitution 284
Agility 200 (+1)
Vitality 298
Perception 344 (+21)
MENTAL:
Vivacity 183 (+3)
Dexterity 234 (+16)
Memory 50
Willpower 306 (+7)
Charisma 161
META:
Meta-affinity 163
Meta-focus 111 (+4)
Meta-endurance 101
Meta-perception 51
Meta-chance 114
Potential: 3847 (+0)
Tier 0
[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED.
[Tribulation]: A Tribulation is coming.
Time: ???
Delayed.