BXBX NOVEL Chapter 56: Praise the Lord and Break Them All!
Akamana…are you mad? You are mind-controlling a girl from the Balmarian Aristocracy, yet have the nerve to call me arrogant? Have you forgotten that messing with the Balmarian Aristocracy is half the reason the Great Blood Empire got wiped out?!
Scoundrel! You're the one who should know her place. Just because you've spent centuries beating on weaklings, you think you're invincible?" Elektra snapped, becoming a blaze of silver flames as her Sid units erupted in full force.
Dazzling light spread across the sky, as if the rays of a thousand suns had descended on Flameheart City.
[Pyretic Hell]
Aware that she faced the number one Guru in the history of the Purple Dawn Continent, Elektra didn't dare to hold back, lunging at Akamana with her full strength. The Queen blitzed through the air, clawing at Akamana's neck at lightning speed.
The Grand Priestess closed her eyes, her lips curling up as she waited for Elektra's blow. Just as promised, Akamana used a mantra to reduce her physical attributes and Sid Level to Great Expansion tier, smiling like a playful child about to commit a prank.
But the moment Elektra's flaming claws neared her neck, the Grand Priestess turned a bit more serious. A leg sweep came from nowhere, breaking down Elektra's flames, and sending her rolling to the side.
Elektra's priestesses stretched out their hands, firing flaming bolts, boiling streams, and floods of molten lava that raced towards the Grand Priestess.
The Queen's eyes widened in confusion, but by the time she'd landed on her feet, a front kick had smashed into her face, sending her flying back with spurting blood. Worse, the priestess' elemental projectiles fused into a ball of flaming energies, floating beside Akamana.
To the onlooker, both Zealots and Elektra's priestesses, Akamana had not once moved from her start to finish.
That changed the moment next. The grand priestess loosened her fighting stance, joining her hands in a prayer sign before breaking into a dance.
"I praise the Lord for this day…and the lives that I take. That they may live on through him, in the one true paradise..." the Grand Priestess whispered and stomped her foot, causing the colossal fireball to break into a volley of arrows that nailed Elektra's priestesses to death.
Their corpses burst into flames, the embers drifting into the distance.
"I come, I see, I take, and go," Akamana whispered, and this time around, the Grand Priestess appeared behind Elektra, sending her elbow crashing into the Queen's skull.
Had Akamana's physical attributes not been restrained to Great Expansion, Elektra's skull would have burst this very instant. Instead, it just cracked a little, blood dripping from the back and staining her white robe.
But shrugging off the pain, Elektra burst forth, attempting to put kilometers of distance between Akamana and her. But barely had she taken off that the Grand Priestess' knee came crashing into her temple, sending her reeling once more.
"I come, I see, I win, and go," Akamana whispered, unleashing a barrage of murderous kicks that came slicing through Elektra.
It was as if she was everywhere at the same time, reaching the speed of light. But if the Grand Priestess' physical attributes were indeed suppressed, how was she so fast?
And as if that wasn't bad enough, she could dismantle mantras and Sid-based skills, reshaping them in a finger snap. Elektra didn't want to consider the obvious answer. Because the implications…were just too frightening. But once Akamana stomped her foot, kicking off a storm of ambient Sid that sent the Queen crashing into the distance, the bloodied Elektra could no longer ignore the obvious:
"Divine…Integration. You are already one…with the Nexus of Sid." Elektra couldn't believe the words she uttered, yet there could be no other explanation. Only Divine Integration, the ability reserved for those who'd reached the highest level of Sid mastery and obtained transcendent power, could explain Akamana's maddening speed and skills.
"Sid Manipulation is the foundation of a Guru's powers. The higher your control over Sid, the more insane your feats become. As a fellow Sage, you should understand that intuitively, so why are you so obsessed with powerful mantras and invincible abilities?
Shame. Ishtar darling, don't be like Elektra. Mantras, talents, Inner Flames, forget all that rubbish and improve your Sid Manipulation. When it reaches the highest level…" Here, Akamana stretched out her hands, weaving her fingers like a maestro.
The myriad particles of Sid pervading the atmosphere turned into invisible blades that sliced through Elektra's body. Her blood gushed forth, draining out of her gaping wounds as her vision blurred.
"The world becomes yours to do with as you see fit. Then perhaps you could break my spell and stab me in the back. Now that would be fun," Akamana said in a honeyed voice, and with one step, appeared in front of the bloodied Elektra.
The aura of the continent's strongest came crashing in full force, casting a veil of despair on the queen's psyche.
"I come, I see, I take, and go. I praise the Lord and break them all. I come, I see, I win, and go. I praise the Lord and break them all.
Invincible, maybe not, but Elektra…you at least, are nothing in front of me. So accept your inferiority, your helplessness, surrender, and I might make you my pet...that the world doesn't lose the joy of your smiling face," Akamana said with a sweet and gentle tone, but the moment next, her eyes turned sinister, nailing Elektra with overwhelming killing intent.
"Empress, stop…UNDERESTIMATING ME!"
[Blood Convergence]
Despite her sorry shape, Elektra's eyes didn't lose their light. On the contrary, they burned brighter, and with a maniacal look, the fox queen slammed her hand into the blood pool at her feet, causing a burst of rosy flame pillars that soared towards the sky.
All the blood on the scene turned into rosy flames, flooding Elektra's body, and she stood up, pulling in a deep breath.
[Inversion]
In the blink of an eye, Elektra's injuries healed completely, and she returned to peak form—no, she now possessed even more energy than she did at first. Seeing this, Akamana tilted her head, her lips curling into a smile of appreciation.
"You can use the Inversion skill? Makes you the fourth person since the fall of the Great Blood Empire. Beautiful. You're pretty much immortal now," Akamana said with a nod of appreciation.
One of the most complex applications of Sid Manipulation, the Inversion skill enabled the user to borrow Sid's connection to the Flow of Time to reverse the state of their bodies—enabling them to heal from virtually any injury and keep themselves young forever.
Since the fall of the Great Blood Empire, only three people were known to have mastered the Inversion skill: Akamana's father, Akamana, and Vel'Asha. But now, Elektra appeared as the fourth, and she'd mastered it younger than any of them.
"No champion can hold the belt forever. And as the junior generation never fails to surpass the old, it is only right that I surpass you all.
Akamana, 900 years ago you were the undisputed leader of the time, but that was 900 years ago. This…is my era," Elektra said in a bold and defiant tone, joining her hands together, and rubbing at maniacal speed.
The moment next, disruptive energies unfurled, pervading the atmosphere, and breaking the stability of the ambient Sid. At the same time, invisible walls formed around Akamana, reducing the Sid she had access to.
"You've chain-locked a Disruption Field with an Isolation Seal to shatter my control over ambient Sid…Vel'Asha's favorite trick. She taught you well." Akamana gave an appraisal, and with a relaxed look, stepped forward.
"And I'm only getting started," Elektra sneered and stretched out her left hand, aiming at the Grand Priestess.
[Orbital Alignment: Nine Luminaries]
Nine celestial bodies took shape in the sky, firing colorful beams that each concealed arrays of nuclear missiles—all racing towards Akamana.
"Good girl. Alas…I praise the Lord…and break them all." But despite being the target of enough firepower to destroy a nation, the Grand Priestess didn't lose her composure, and raised her right hand, aiming at the celestial bodies.
The beams, nuclear missiles, and celestial bodies...all broke down instantly, turning into light particles before scattering in the distance.
Elektra went livid, and as her mind buzzed at the realization that her strongest mantras still got dismantled by Akamana in a heartbeat, the fox queen looked left and right, shocked to see an infinity of Akamana surrounding her from all sides.
"Is that it? Is that all? Shame...I've been thinking I should find Ishtar darling a replacement so I can keep her as my successor. Elektra girly, do you think Ahriman would like you as its vessel? You fit the bill talent-wise. It's the personality the problem.
Ahriman likes its girls pure of heart. Oh well. We still gotta try. At worst, I will mind-warp you into a cutesy so Ahriman feels comfy in your body. That way I get to keep Ishtar by my side while ridding the world from a troublemaker. The perfect ending!
So Elektra, in exchange for the sacrifice I'm going to have you make, I'm giving you one last chance to pull off a miracle...before I end your life, hopes and dreams.
Hahahaha! Haahahaha!" Akamana broke into a peal of frenzied laughter, the reverberating noise causing Elektra's eardrums to rupture in brutal snaps.