The Boundless Expanse(An Epic System Apocalypse LitRPG)

The angel blinked. "How?" He asked, a hint of curiosity in his voice.

"I've been asked that so many times," Sam replied. "The answer is always the same.You've underestimated me. And from my experiences, that's a fatal mistake."

"You cocky bastard!" Ramiel roared, enraged. He slid one foot forward and sliced his spear across the air. Sam raised Terra's Will to block, but that was just a feint. A tiny portal opened up behind him, in Ramiel's blind spot. Well, D Ranker's didn't really have blind spots, but Sam was able to conceal it with a burst of aura pressure surrounding the entire area around him.

Jariel stabbed his sword through the portal. It emerged behind Ramiel's back, and slid into a chink in the man's armor. The flames surrounding the weapon grew into a pyroclasm. With a crackling howl, the sword sent a pulse of transcendent fire, tens of thousands of degrees in temperature, straight into Ramiel's spine.

The D Ranker howled, his armor melting around the blow. His skin crisped, and had he not been an Enlightened being, that strike would have killed him. Instead, it simply enraged Ramiel. His spear swing did not stop. Instead, it increased in speed. A comet's tail of white fire formed around the weapon, and it slid beyond the limits of Sam's perception, accelerating to incredible speed.

Sam's instinct, honed by hundreds of battles, allowed him to track what his eyes could not. His hammer rose, and deflected the strike to the side. He was sent stumbling back by the sheer force, a shockwave rippled out through the air. His armor dented as his hammer was forced into his chest. Had that strike hit him head on, he would be missing an arm. However, it was a good gauge of Ramiel's strength and speed. Crucially, Sam hadn't used Dao Juggernaut yet. If he did so, he might actually be able to match Ramiel's speed.

"You're just trash," Ramiel sneered, twirling his spear in an artful spinning block as Ozriel and Altariel attacked. The weapon deflected their blows with ease, weaving a shield of flaming defence. "A jumped up E Ranker who thinks he is special because he can fight above his level."

"My level?" Sam asked, mock surprise in his voice. "Don't you mean my Rank?"

Ramiel barked out a malice filled laugh. "Whatever you need to make yourself feel better about your weakness."

Instead of answering, Sam used Dao Juggernaut. A dozen gleaming spears of heavenly light pierced him from all sides. His aura surged outwards, pressing up against Ramiel's own. Then he hurtled forward, Terra's Will blazing with light.

As his cherubim allies harangued Ramiel, Sam attacked. With his current level of speed, he was able to see and react to Ramiel's strikes. The man wasn't that strong for a D Ranker, or maybe it was that Sam had grown exponentially since fighting Granthar. It was quite hard to tell.

Still, each strike from the D Ranker rattled Sam's entire body, even when blocked. He took damage just from being near one of the man's strikes. Even worse, Ramiel wasn't using any skills. He was just fighting with raw power.

Sam found himself increasingly hard pressed to match his foes, having to dip deeper into his weapon mastery than he had so far in the Tower. He used every iota of the weapon imprint stored within his mind, finding ways to evade, block, and riposte against his superior foe. The only thing that he could match Ramiel in was speed, and he was weaker in everything else.

Sam started to falter, burning wounds carved into his body. Against a D Ranker, his armor was like paper. Only his insane level of durability kept him alive. Even then, it was like he was a chopping block and Ramiel, a butcher. His allies weren't able to do much more than act as distractions, but none of them had gotten in a hit on Ramiel since the beginning of the fight.

Sam leaped back through a portal, and weighed his options in the blink of an eye. He hadn't yet revealed most of his arsenal, or the true extent of his portal abilities. Still, against someone like Ramiel, everything short of running away was a gamble.

Ramiel withdrew his spear, and with a howl of rage, he gathered oceans of flame around it, swirling in the sky. A massive, faceless angel appeared in the sky above him, almost a mile high. Once more, Sam felt the presence that he had against Granthar and the pseudo D Rank elementals. Something went beyond a mere aura. Something that felt like Ramiel was the ultimate ruler of the world around him.

Now that Sam thought about it, the reason he hadn't really noticed it against Granthar was because the king's presence had been contested by that of the other D Rankers for most of the fight. Here, Ramiel was the sole D Ranker.

As Sam and the D Ranker fought, Sam realized that the only way he was going to win here was to find some way of circumventing the peerless mastery of the world that Ramiel seemed to have. As both the realm's master and the titanic icon behind him struck, Ramiel's spear accelerating to far beyond escape velocity, Sam was trying to find what made the man tick. The secret power D Rankers had seemed to be a result of their ranking up ceremony, similar to how E Rankers gained bodies beyond mortal limits and immense stat bonuses. It felt like a Domain, but far more potent.

Sam only then realized that death was screaming towards his face so quickly that he couldn't dodge, even with Dao Juggernaut. Just before impact, he forced his will into action, and summoned a portal. The spear hurtled into it, and out of another portal that Sam created in front of Ramiel. In the brief moment between entry and exit, the technique blossomed into totality. A serpent of stellar fire, so hot that it lit the sky itself on fire, emerged from the portal. It opened its jaws, as if about to bite Ramiel. As far as Sam could tell, the pillar of flame was not under Ramiel's control, a sacrifice made to increase its power. Then a gargantuan pulse of aura erupted from the D Ranker, and the strange presence exploded in power, until Sam had to fight not to kneel before Ramiel. The serpent reversed its course, and turned back towards Sam. It continued to grow, its jaws looking like they were made from the raw matter of the Sun itself.

"What a fool," Ramiel taunted. "Did you not realize the caliber of prey that you thought yourself fit to hunt? A D Ranker is on another level to an E Ranker, no matter how strong. You cannot hope to touch my Authority."

The last word carried a conceptual weight that went beyond the System translation. It had a meaning so profound that the universe itself would have conveyed it had the System not been present.

Suddenly, Sam realized what was going on. Ramiel had fused his aura and Domain, forming a zone around himself in which his word was law. That was how he had rebutted his technique without actually using the skill. He had simply commanded it to be so.

Sam felt the power closing in on him and his three angelic allies. The earlier feeling of being forced to kneel redoubled. Sam found his knees buckling, despite all of his strength. It was something that went beyond mere stats, something that couldn't be fully expressed in terms of the System. Something atavistic, from when the universe had been young. Something of both the Dao, and the System.

Sam tried to open a portal, but it shattered before he could escape through it. The flame serpent neared, its jaws distending, tearing through the cloud below. It felt like a living nuclear bomb, something that would annihilate Sam if it struck.

Against all of his judgement, Sam closed his eyes. There was only one way out of this. For him to form an Authority of his own. He already had the components, something that few E Rankers could hope to match. He suspected that Domains were not often created until the peak of E Rank, when a cultivator was almost ready to ascend. His three Dao Seeds burst into flame as his attention fell upon them, lighting up the dark space surrounding his core. He nodded grimly to himself, knowing that he only had a split second to spare.

Sam galvanized his Domain, using the power of all three of his Seeds. He possessed more conceptual weight in the world of the Dao than most his level. Some of that came from his three Dao Seeds, but even more came from his Dao Heritage. With it, he could bend the rules somewhat. Sam focused on the power of his Domain, of the ability that let him edit reality in his vicinity, and erase enemy Daos. Then he thought of his aura, the expression of everything that he was as a cultivator.

A sudden pulse of power rocked his body as he realized that both his Domain and aura were two halves of one whole. His Domain took his will on a conscious level, and rewrote the world. Meanwhile, his aura was the passive form of that, declaring who he was to everyone in his vicinity, but without much more power than as a bludgeon against lower Rankers.

Sam felt a sudden connection to the world around him, something that went beyond being merely an extension of his senses. Every mote of the cloud beneath him, for a dozen feet in every direction, was a part of him, as much as his arms or legs. Every molecule of air was just as real to him as the blood in his veins.

Sam opened his eyes, and desperately summoned a portal, the incoming ray of death only fifty feet away. Gravity alone wasn't strong enough to let him through in time, so he pushed himself, Jariel, Ozriel and Altariel through with his Dao.

They appeared nearly ten miles away, watching as a nuclear lance split the heavens and earth, tearing through the cloud below, and those above. Sam's legs nearly collapsed beneath him as the meaning of what he had just done caught up to him.

You have fused your aura and Domain into one cohesive whole!

You have gained a Fundamental Skill!

Psuedo-Authority: Peak E Rank

To a high Rank cultivator, the world is simply a subordinate. How could the earth, the waters, and the heavens above compare to one meant to rule them? Using Authority allows a cultivator to establish a zone of control around themselves that allows for the alteration of physics, and that of System abilities. This ability is a prerequisite to reach D Rank, and you have gained it dozens of levels earlier than you should. As you grow, it will as well. The power of Authority is determined by the amount of matter that it can transmute, and the range of that transmutation. Additionally, a Domain precludes the domains of all others within one step of power of the user, at least before C Rank. A Domain may be compressed by a higher rank cultivator, but only may be broken by one two stages higher. Reaching D Rank will dramatically enhance this ability.

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Current Range: 12 feet

Current Power: 1 ton of transmutation

Sam could still feel his Authority's passive effect, linking him to localized reality. He felt like a minor god, with absolute control. Absently, he snapped his fingers. The cloud beneath him turned into concrete, and then back into cloud. The applications for battle were already springing into Sam's head.

He eyed up Ramiel, and the angel stared back at him. Sam smiled, and raised Terra's Will. The weapon expanded, and expanded, until it was as large as a tree trunk. Branches of forked Dao lightning exploded outwards, limning the weapon in pure power. Sam had a chance now. Not a good chance, but one nonetheless.

Ramiel leaped, the cloud beneath him cracking apart as his true strength came to bear. Sam only had a few seconds to react, and he immediately used his Authority, reinforcing his control over localized reality. The air shimmered as Sam wove his Dao into it, creating a bulwark that could hopefully stand up to a single attack or two. Sam knew that Ramiel could contest his Authority, but could not completely remove it.

The angel, borne on wings of flame, struck with his spear, directly at Sam's invisible wall. Sam raised his hammer and swung as Ramiel's spear sank into the air itself. It was only impeded for the briefest of moments, but that was enough for Sam to find an edge. Terra's Will smashed the spear away, letting the three cherubs pile in. Each was almost D Rank, and there in terms of their stats. Together they assaulted Ramiel, managing to land a few good hits. Then Ramiel recovered his spear, and with a sudden flash of motion, turned into a swirling tornado of flame, his body and spear at the center.

Jariel cried out as his flesh was burnt to a crisp, before being torn away from his body by the fierce wings. Ozriel had time to escape, his armor helping with his endeavor. Altariel hadn't been as close, and she was able to flicker away from the attack. The tornado itself was quite narrow, sacrificing size for power. Otherwise, it would have been hard pressed to break through Jariel's defenses so easily.

Ramiel stood there, blood like lava dripping down from his wounds. He took a deep breath, and narrowed his eyes. A tidal wave of pressure surged out, as the D Ranker unleashed his Authority. It expanded out for almost half a mile, pressing down on Sam's own Authority like a leaden weight.

Sam felt his zone of control narrow, shrinking to about six feet. However, as the System had said, he was too powerful to be fully suppressed. Sam could also feel his control increasing, as his zone of influence shrank down. The density of power remained the same, which was likely why it was so hard to fully suppress a Domain. It was like trying to compress water. Doable in the world of the System, but still quite difficult.

Sam fought back, swinging Terra's Will again. Ramiel parried it with his spear, and closed in. The weapon snaked out, and pierced through Sam's shoulder. With a quick snap of his wrist, Ramiel tore Sam's left arm off. A searing hiss split the air as the spear cauterized the wound, slowing down the regeneration.

Sam swore beneath his breath and funneled the pain into his Dao of the Avenger. Now that he had a reason for revenge, his Dao was full to the brim with power. Directing some of the red and blue light to his hammer, Sam wove together Manifestation of Vengeance. As Ramiel prepared to strike again, Sam closed in. The spear punched through his abdomen, but that gave him the opportunity to swing his hammer unchallenged.

The weapon struck Ramiel's head with the full force of three thresholds of Strength, and delivered its charge of energy. The man's head deformed, and the opposite side detonated, spraying gore everywhere. Ramiel staggered backwards, his entire head a bloody ruin. At once, Sam and his allies struck, carving into Ramiel's flesh. His health steadily dropped, and for the first time, Sam wondered if he was about to win.

A wave of power erupted from Ramiel's body, knocking everyone else backwards. Spears of fiery light rocketed out to slam into the cherubs. Sam managed to swat his one away, but the others were not as lucky. The lances of flame sank deep into E Rank flesh, and detonated, blasting apart chunks of burned flesh.

Sam skipped along the ground, coming to a halt a mile away. Where Ramiel had stood, a golden god of sunlight and nuclear light stood, wings a hundred feet long extending out from his back. His spear was sheathed in a massive light projection, enlarging the weapon until it fit the new size of its wielder.

"I did not expect an E Rank whelp and some of my former servants to push me this hard," Ramiel spat. His voice was like thunder. "But here we are. You are about to see why I have ruled this realm uncontested for millennia!"

Sam didn't answer, focusing on the glowing red circle positioned directly over the center of Ramiel's torso. Sam had taken a huge amount of damage, empowering his Superior Weak Point skill to new heights. A spear of light grew out of the end of Terra's Will, and Sam directed all three of his Daos into the weapon. The hammer started to shift, flicking from place to place as his Dao Seed of Travel made itself known. It started to pulse with reddish light as his Dao Seed of Reaction got in on the action as well, matching the circle floating over Ramiel's skin.

"Can you three stall him?" Sam asked his wounded companions.

All three were severely injured, but they didn't let their wounds stop them. They nodded in unison, before triggering their most powerful skills. All three of them had some sort of personal enhancement ability which manifested in different ways. The only common theme was that they grew in size. Jariel grew extra arms, flaming swords appearing out of thin air for him to grab. Ozriel's scythe grew into his flesh, and another one grew out of his other arm, turning his hands into blades. Finally, Altariel's bow expanded until it was almost twenty feet tall. She expanded with it.

Sam charged, his Authority shrouding him from Ramiel's ire. He could still feel the angel's will pressing down upon him, trying to pop his Authority like a soap bubble. Unfortunately for the D Ranker, Sam was just too strong.

The three cherubs raced alongside Sam, wincing in pain as pieces of burnt flesh flew away into the wind. Their wounds were slow to heal, with tiny tongues of flame licking at the edges of the injuries.

As they ran, all four gathered their powers for the final clash. Sam prepared the most powerful Manifestation of Vengeance he had ever created, his hammer becoming invisible beneath a brilliant sheath of lambent energy. The world itself bent as the conceptual gravity of the strike tugged at the ambient Dao.

Jariel's swords expanded and contracted, drawing in more heat from the air until the swords were hotter than the surface of a star. Ozriel's scythe arms gleamed with liquid darkness, dripping down to eat away at the clouds below. Altariel drew her bow, nocking a telephone pole sized arrow of white light to it.

By this point, Ramiel was barely a hundred feet away, his spear twisting and turning through the air as he waited. His regeneration had seemingly repaired the worst of the damage, but Sam could still tell by his Dao that most of the internal trauma had remained, sustained by Sam's Dao Seed of the Avenger.

The D Ranker's health was low, lower than it should have been against four E Rankers. Ramiel was surprisingly weak. When one had legions of slaves to do their bidding, perhaps even cultivators grew lazy and neglected their training. Although Ramiel possessed the raw skill that every high Rank cultivator had, by dint of his sheer speed and strength, he wasn't that impressive beyond that. All he could really do was weave together elemental flame and his Dao.

Sam blitzed the lord, his hammer swinging in from the right. A portal irised open before him, just as Ramiel skewered the place he had been with his spear. The titanic man loomed over Sam, his spear a dozen times longer than his entire body.

Sam emerged from the portal next to Ramiel's head, already swinging. As predicted, the D Ranker was able to react, and his spear head whipped up to block. Another portal formed, and Sam's attack appeared in front of the glowing red circle poised over Ramiel's chest.

As soon as the hammer struck the red circle, it accelerated to unbelievable speed. The wreath of Dao surrounding it turned into an inferno, before loosing all of that power as a searing beam that pierced straight through Ramiel. The entire center of Ramiel's chest came apart, a great spray of flaming ichor spilling down. Ramiel stumbled, a hole piercing all the way through his torso.

The three cherubs took advantage of this, and unleashed their attacks. Jariel became a blur, speeding across the realm lord's body, each strike tearing into flesh. Ozriel's scythes danced across the air, unleashing blades of the void that sank into Ramiel's legs. FInally, Altariel sent her arrow streaking towards Ramiel's head.

Sam opened another portal, but before he could escape, Ramiel's left arm hurtled up and grabbed him, pulling him out of the sky. Ramiel started to shake him, preventing him from opening a portal. Sam realized at that moment that the combined weight of his Daos and his Authority made him strong enough to resist Ramiel's attempts to lock down space. Instead, the angel was forced to use crude techniques like this. Although it worked, it gave Sam a lot of contact with the man's flesh.

Sam slammed his hand, with as much force as he could muster, against the hilt of his hammer. A wave of power coursed through the weapon with ease, before entering Ramiel's body. With the man's expanded form, his D Rank defences were weaker than normal, as most of his flesh was being supplemented with energy.

A river of light cascaded down Ramiel's arm, tearing apart the flesh. It speared straight through into his chest, before exploding out the back of his body. Ramiel looked down at his ruined chest in horror. His fingers slackened, and Sam pushed himself free, using a portal to whisk himself away to safety.

Ramiel clapped one hand to his chest, and his face twisted in rage. Sam could feel the man's aura growing and growing as his anger stimulated it. With a roar, Ramiel slammed the butt of his spear down on the ground. A supernova of fire tore through the air, washing the cherubs away, and nearly reaching Sam.

Ramiel slumped over in the aftermath of his strike, almost completely spent. He had focused too much on showing off near the beginning of the fight, and hadn't realized that he should have taken the fight more seriously.

Sam closed in, the stump of his left arm still wriggling as it tried to regrow. The hole in his stomach was closer to healed, but it was still a gaping wound that punched straight through his body.

"Arrogance doesn't mean anything if you don't have the power to back it up," Sam taunted. "To think that a D Ranker could be brought to such a state by those supposedly lesser to him."

Sam had discovered through his many encounters with those stronger than himself that they really didn't like being mocked by those of a lower Rank. It was an almost surefire way to make them react, and add some fuming anger to the battle, clouding the minds of Sam's foes. While higher Rank cultivators couldn't be distracted in the same ways as mortals, their emotions still remained as strong as ever.

Ramiel struggled to muster the strength for another full power attack, his entire body shrinking as the effects of his augmentation skill vanished. He quickly reverted to his normal form, that of a ten foot tall man with wings of fire and a regal appearance. Only, that veneer of regality was gone now, replaced by the bitter raiments of defeat. Even if Ramiel won this battle, his Dao would be forever tarnished by the sort of dishonor that being tested such by an E Ranker would create.

"You…" Ramiel's face twisted with so much rage that he couldn't force the words out for a few moments. "You bastard son of a whore!"

Sam felt rage of his own gathering. However, in his case, that rage actually served to help him, given his Daos. "You shouldn't have said that. At least my mother loved me, unlike yours, off in secluded cultivation. Tell me, Ramiel, do you have any true family? Those who would give a damn if you died?" Sam's face hardened. "When you die?"