Annihilation
Leylin looked at the blackened skeleton in front of him, focusing on the abyssal red flames within its eye sockets. “I told you you’d definitely perish here today,” he said slowly, as if stating a fact.
“Hahaha! Nightmare Warlock, I curse you in the name of calamity!” Black teeth clattered, sending spiritual vibrations from the depths of Salilus’ truesoul.
“You showed your final corrosive attack, but after that all you have is this feeble curse? What a disappointment…” Leylin brought his hand down against this surging curse power.
*Crash!* All the World Origin Force in Dreamscape surged violently, becoming endless destructive thunder. Powerful arcs of lightning swept across the area, exterminating all traces of the curse’s power.
*Swish! Swish!* The moment the curse was broken, Leylin and Salilus both executed their moves. The two transformed into endless glows that crossed the speed of light in their intent to kill.
The entire space seemed to distort in a single moment. In a fraction of a fraction of a second, they’d exchanged hundreds of blows.
Salilus’ laws of calamity and decay constructed a black skeletal structure whose rigidity far surpassed all the metals in the world. It was enough to calmly bear the indiscriminate bombing of destructive thunder as if nothing was happening.
Red runes appeared intensely around Leylin’s body, blooming with bright light. They formed an indistinct crimson armour as the entirety of Dreamscape’s World Origin Force roared. Before Dreamscape itself was consumed, the defense of his armour would not be broken. Even if it sustained damage, it would repair itself rapidly.
*Ring! Ring! Ring!* The two reached the limits of speed in a flash, disappearing from Dreamscape to arrive at a strange place.
Time and space were slightly distorted in this region, a vast glowing river of space and time flowing beneath them.
“Is this a region close to the spacetime river? Only a place such as this can withstand our wrath. It is more than suitable to serve as your burial ground…”
*Crack! Crack!* Leylin’s chest was scratched by a black skeletal finger. The crimson armour fell apart at once, but was immediately restored to its original unblemished form. Tens of strikes upon the dreamforce armour dimmed the red radiance within Salilus’ skull, and the black skeleton began to crack.
‘Fights between beings of law come down to a contest of inside information and origin force in the end, eh? It looks like I need to put making origin force weapons on my schedule…’ Leylin gravely faced his opponent.
Even though he had traded blow for blow, his consumption of origin force had reached a terrifying level. If it wasn’t for Dreamscape footing the bill, perhaps he would have exhausted all his resources already, and even his soul would have been sucked dry.
Now however, backed by the support of Dreamscape, Leylin had forced the Lord of Calamity Salilus to an impasse.
[Beep! Origin Force Imitation Weapon has been constructed. Correcting orbit!] After trading blows hundreds of times, the A.I. Chip had captured the orbit of Salilus’ movements. Dreamscape roared, and a misty green sword directly appeared within Leylin’s grasp.Using concentrated origin force as a weapon was not something that Leylin had envisioned, this could only be considered to be a prototype.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Your glory came from Dreamscape, and unto Dreamscape you shall return!” Leylin chanted in a low voice, thrusting his longsword in a strange arc.
*Clang!* In an infinitesimal moment, the green origin force longsword momentarily weaved through Salilus’ defences and pierced into the centre of his skull.
This was the main focus of Leylin’s attack. Faint cracks had long began to appear on the skeleton, but now it exploded even more violently. The clanging sound seemed to start a chain reaction, and finally the black skeleton was blown apart. Pieces of the skeleton continuously crumbled without end, becoming fine powder that was melted away by the destructive snow.
“No, how could I fall here? I, Salilus, am a Lord of Calamity, the Monarch of Decay…” After his body was finally destroyed, the red spark of a truesoul of laws emerged from the endless explosion. It was filled with the power of laws of calamity and decay.
Breaking away from its mortal shell, the truesoul of laws now became even more powerful. It suddenly burned up, its form momentarily expanding to become a star that burned with white heat.
The massive star was in upheaval, and it suddenly rushed towards the river of space and time. The vast and mighty river itself was a little attracted, emitting a strange inwards force.
“You’re already dead, your time has ended! Stay…” Leylin naturally would not allow Salilus to slip away from his grasp. In his current form, he had taken the initiative to throw himself into the spacetime river. He could perhaps accumulate energy over a few thousand years, allowing himself to revive.
A phantom Targaryen roared from behind Leylin’s back. Runes of the Nightmare Absorbing Physique appeared on the serpent’s body, melding with the laws of devouring to become a powerful black hole that extended formless shackles towards Salilus’ truesoul.
“This is… The attraction of dreamforce! Damn…” The enormous truesoul star roared, numerous marks appearing within it. These were all scars left behind by using dreamforce, and all of a sudden they had broken out.
As a native of Dreamscape, Salilus fundamentally did not have the ability to resist the attraction of Leylin’s ability. At the brink of the spacetime river, a strange scene appeared. An incandescent star unwillingly changed its marks, slowly retreating away. A roaring figure faintly appeared at its centre.
The powerful starlight was continuously swallowed up by the black hole, turning a tunnel of distorted light. In the end, that phantom of a truesoul was swallowed whole by the black hole that was many times smaller than it, and not even one ray of light had escaped.
“Ah…” The dark crimson runes on Leylin’s body began to squirm, dripping off like melted metal. His skin split apart as his body grew larger.
[Beep! Host is absorbing extremely high energy matter, detected to be rank 8! Body of laws will not be able to endure it much longer. Time left…] The A.I. Chip alerted Leylin with a red notification, and even the screen began to flicker.‘As expected… A rank 8 existence is not something that I can devour right now. If I were to forcefully shove this down my throat, I will be choked to death!’
Leylin’s expression changed, ‘If not for Dreamscape…’ He did not hesitate to use his bloodline powers, teleporting back into Dreamscape itself.
*Rumble!* The World Will projected a feeling of joy, and imposing origin force surged forth to form a two-plated millstone that slowly removed the origin force Leylin’s body was exuding.
Leylin stood within the centre, in a mysterious state as he closed his eyes. His body had reached tens of metres in height, but now it began to shrink once more. The origin force mixed with Salilus’ powers escaped from his body, returning to nature in an extremely complex conversion.
At this moment, Leylin too had entered a strange dream. The owner of this dream was none other than Salilus, but at this point only a creature who’d grasped a sliver of the power of laws.
After a period of observation, the corners of Leylin’s lips curled up.
“You’ve already fallen, but your will is still hoping for something more? What a pity… My bloodline ability is the bane of your last hope!”
“Innate bloodline ability— Dream Eater!” A red eye opened behind Leylin’s back, swallowing everything within the dream. The sky broke apart and the earth crumbled. A crescent moon appeared within the endless void, a faint withered eye upon it.
“I’ve found it!” Leylin roared, killing the memory of the high-energy creature that would turn into Salilus in the future. He rose into the sky with a stomp.
“Annihilation!” A punch that carried massive destructive power struck the crescent moon, attacking with origin force. Under a howl of utter despair and anguish, the blood red moon exploded, and the withered eye within shattered as well. The dream now shattered, Leylin absorbed it ten times as fast.
By the time Leylin’s consciousness returned to his body, he looked like a normal human being once more.
[Beep! Energy dissipating, Host’s body returning to normal!] [Beep! Law of decay absorbed, host has obtained information. Stats changing.] Very soon, the A.I.Chip showed Leylin his new stats. [Leylin Farlier, Rank 7 Warlock, Bloodline: Targaryen Serpent (rank 7). Strength: 257.71, Agility: 200.01, Vitality: 350.98, Spiritual force: 611.27, Body of Laws. Law Comprehension: Devouring (100%), Massacre (58%), Calamity (27%), Decay (15%), Curses (1%). Origin force saturation level: 27.99%]“Calamity, decay and even curses?” Leylin stroked his chin. He had garnered enough divinity back then with the first two laws. It seemed that Salilus too had relied on them to enter rank 8.
‘Although it is much better than swallowing the dream demon’s will back then, I’ve only received this much of a reward after devouring a rank 8 Lord of Calamity… The World of Gods seem to reap a higher amount of benefits in that case…’ Leylin shook his head in exasperation.
He knew for a fact that Dreamscape had expended even more powers than him, hence it had reaped the greatest amount of rewards this time. The origin force that aided him in battle was provided by it, so it absorbed the Lord of Calamity as well. As for himself, he had only managed to comprehend some laws.
Of course, a portion of powers that Salilus had not found in Dreamscape were also absorbed by him, hence the increase in his stats.