Primordial Awakening: I Can Evolve My Skills Infinitely

VOID NULLIFICATION!

The [Pale Monarch] released shockwaves of dark energy that rippled through the void, carrying enough power to tear apart even a primordial.

Sam braced himself, but nothing happened.

The waves of destruction passed through his body without effect.

The reason was clear. He had already been stripped of almost all his abilities.

The [Nullification] was absolute.

His [Primordial Wings], his [Primordial Barrage], his [Primordial Tendrils], his [Primordial Hellscape], all of them had been sealed.

But there was one exception, [Primordial Clone].

Sam's eyes widened as he turned his head, expecting the clone to vanish like all the rest. But it didn't.

The figure remained standing in the dark space, smiling wide with the same crooked grin that always unsettled even Sam himself.

Its eyes gleamed, sharp and almost too alive, as it stared at the monarch without a trace of fear.

[But the "Primordial Clone" refused.]

"Damn," Sam muttered.

It was a small victory, but a crucial one.

The [Nullification] did manage to erase the clone's wings, forcing it to drop down toward the endless dark mass below.

Sam didn't hesitate.

He willed one of his crimson [Hatred Swords] beneath the clone, lifting it back up before it could be swallowed.

That meant one sword was gone, leaving him with only a single blade spinning around him.

The other two were no longer weapons but platforms, holding both him and the clone above the abyss so they wouldn't fall.

His options were shrinking. The time limit was shrinking.

He couldn't waste another moment.

[Fascinating.]

The [Pale Monarch] raised dozens of giant void hands around him, each one stretching and bending unnaturally as though the void itself had grown limbs.

[All the others usually either gave up or tried but could not escape.]

[And yet… you are still standing.]

[I wonder what makes you so different from them.]

The void hands twitched, ready to crush at a moment's notice.

Sam didn't answer.

He bent his knees, standing firm on the blade beneath him.

His hatred swords were fast. Insanely fast.

When he moved with them, he could almost match the speed of his [Primordial Wings].

Almost. But it was enough.

The air cracked with speed as the crimson light carried him forward.

[But it won't matter in the end,] the monarch whispered, [Do I need to remind you where we are right now?]

Sam's jaw clenched.

It wasn't wrong. They were in the void.

Every direction was filled with the same endless black mass.

The substance that devoured everything.

If the monarch willed it, the void could close at any moment, and no matter how fast Sam was, there was no true way to outrun it.

[Well, I won't drag it out.]

[Just die.]

The hands snapped forward.

The void around them folded in from every angle, an endless wall pressing to crush them.

The [Pale Monarch] laughed, its warped voice echoing like static in Sam's skull.

[And I won't reveal myself again, parasite. This is the last time you'll ever see me.]

[I'll be watching, though.]

[Watching you suffer until that determination of yours dies.]

The monarch's dark body began to sink into the sea of void below, dissolving into the substance like it was nothing more than mist.

Sam's stomach tightened.

'If he disappears now, I'll never find him again.'

It wouldn't matter if he had an hour, a day, or a century. The void would keep him in place.

And finding him in that giant mass would take too long.

The moment the monarch vanished completely, the battle would be lost.

But Sam didn't have an hour. He didn't even have minutes to spare.

[1 minute 15 seconds left.]

His heart pounded once.

"Alright," he whispered, "here goes nothing."

He turned his head toward the clone.

The clone looked back at him, and somehow, it understood.

Its grin stretched wider, eyes glowing with a manic spark as it raised its weapon and prepared.

They didn't have time. The void would close before they could move.

So Sam made his choice.

Primordial Tendrils!

The clone raised its sword.

But instead of tendrils bursting from the weapon itself, they erupted from the void.

Dozens upon dozens.

Dark limbs snapped out from the very substance that had been swallowing him, shooting forward like serpents.

[What the…?]

The [Pale Monarch] froze as the tendrils latched onto its massive form.

[This is…?]

World-Ending Tendrils!

BOOM! BOOM!

The void exploded with colossal chains of power, tendrils thicker than buildings erupting outward.

They were around the same size as the monarch, slamming into its body and holding it down.

They anchored themselves into the void around them, preventing the endless black from closing in further.

For the first time, Sam forced the void itself to resist its master.

[WHAT?!]

The [Pale Monarch]'s voice roared through the space.

[THIS DOESN'T EVEN MAKE SENSE!]

[YOU CAN RESTRAIN MY VOID?! YOU CAN CUT IT?!]

Sam's lips curved into a cold grin.

"Heh."

He didn't wait.

He leapt forward, riding one of his hatred swords through the air, closing the distance in a blur of crimson light.

And then he swung.

SLASH!

His blade tore through the monarch's mask, splitting it clean down the center.

The mask shattered apart in a spray of fragments, dissolving into the dark.

For the first time, Sam saw what lay beneath. And he almost gagged.

"Damn," he muttered, "you're ugly."

The mask had hidden nothing but more void. A body of pure darkness.

But at its core, one massive eye glared at him, the pupil black as death, ringed by endless ripples of corrupted light.

The eye locked onto Sam, and the void around them screamed.

RAAAAAAAAAH!

The roar was enough to make his chest rattle.

The monarch, wounded, flailed wildly, its mass thrashing as it tried to fuse back into the void to escape.

But Sam wouldn't let it.

"Hell no."

He didn't have the distance to strike again. So he threw.

His last hatred sword spun through the void, a crimson streak tearing against the darkness.

The [Pale Monarch] summoned walls of void in panic, layers upon layers of thick barriers forming to block the strike.

But hatred cut through them all.

Each wall was torn apart as the sword pierced straight through, unrelenting.

Fwish! SLASH!

The blade sank deep into the massive eye.

RAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH!

The scream tore through the void, louder, harsher, shaking everything around them.

The dark mass recoiled, pulling itself inward as though to heal.

Sam steadied himself, watching carefully.

'Oh?'

A platform surfaced beneath him, solid ground forming out of the void's retreat.

Sam jumped, landing on it, his boots hitting something firm for the first time in what felt like hours.

Ding!

[30 seconds left.]

Warning messages appeared around him, crimson panels flashing in his vision.

But Sam didn't panic. The clone dropped beside him, standing tall, sword still in its hand.

The hatred swords that had been holding them up shattered into crimson particles, dispersing into the void.

His hatred had lessened, and so the blades faded.

[YOU CANNOT ESCAPE THE VOID.]

[AND YET IT SEEMS I CANNOT ESCAPE YOU EITHER.]

The voice of the monarch echoed everywhere at once, vibrating through the chamber.

Sam's eyes narrowed. The clone leaned forward, still smiling.

The ground shook violently.

The entire chamber trembled as though the [Maze of the Damned] itself was about to collapse.

"H-Holy shit, what is happening?!"

"Don't fall, idiot! That's certain death!"

"WHY ARE THE MONSTERS GOING CRAZIER?!"

Far away, voices of the awakeners screamed as the maze descended into chaos, but Sam didn't hear them.

He didn't care.

'Focus. Kill him quickly.'

The ground split, and something vast appeared before him.

A centipede-like body of void erupted, wrapping around the platform, each segment writhing with shadow.

At its head, the massive eye glared at him, blood seeping freely from the wound his sword had carved.

[END OF THE LINE, PRIMORDIAL.]

Sam gripped his blade tighter.

"End of the line, monarch."