Chapter 180: Its time for the big hunt. (1/2)
Malum was fired up to fight Fafnir at first. But, in a few blows, three planets had been destroyed because of him going through them. He had been flattened. Fafnir was even bigger than a giant but his speed hadn't dropped the slightest and his Manifestation was still doing wonders.
”Well shit,” Malum cursed as he stood up in the middle of a crumbling mountain. ”This isn't what I expected.”
Almost all of his bones and muscles were damaged in some way. If it wasn't because of his 'madness' and the inhibition brought by the Berserker's Path, he would have already collapsed.
Malum looked down. ”Hm, this planet is quite rich… I'll take it,” he muttered and placed both of his hands on the ground. ”I can only use it once after all.”
”[Fifth Red Art, Exhaurire],” he chanted and drove the Art to its maximum output. He withstood the pain originating from his magic circuits and drained the life energy and mana of the entire planet. The plants withered and turned into dust while Malum restored his mana and some of his injuries. When he finished, the entire planet had become an endless desert.
”[Fifth White Art, Sana Intrisecus],” he cast another Art and a white halo surrounded him. Most of his remaining wounds closed and only the deepest ones, as well as his fatigue, were not healed.
He gritted his teeth and cackled. ”My bad, Arima. You'll need a few months to recover from this. Karma, the 'you know what' please,” he demanded.
”{Coming,}” Karma answered in high spirits and the great sword changed into something else. The handle became a lot longer and the blade changed shape and curved.
The chain hanging down the weapon became a lot thinner and longer and hovered around Malum as if it was alive. The black dragon ended up with a large dark red scythe in his hands. The weapon was extremely threatening and the hint of purple on the edge of the blade made it look even more intimidating.
”It's time for the big hunt,” Malum laughed and kicked the ground. The agitation he created on the sand and dust around him provoked a giant sand storm.
He left the atmosphere with the scythe on his shoulder and suddenly bent his body when Fafnir teleported right next to him. He evaded a powerful claw-strike and commanded the chain with his thoughts.
The black chain coiled around Fafnir's arm and squeezed it. Blood spurted out and Malum jumped on Fafnir's arm. He ran on it until he reached the golden dragon's shoulder. Fafnir was about to summon a weapon from his 'Vault' when Malum smirked and wielded the scythe like a whirlwind before planting it in Fafnir's arm.
”Karma!” Malum shouted as he continued to run toward the dragon's neck barehanded.
”{Got it!}” Karma replied and the scythe made a sparking sound. A powerful electric current was sent through Fafnir's body, directly into his muscles and nerves. When his arm was electrocuted, his body acted automatically and contracted.
His arm straightened and his hand clenched. Ultimately, Fafnir himself pulled on the chain of Karma and the scythe dug even deeper. But he couldn't do anything about it as along as Karma was constantly channeling lightning through his arm with surgical precision.
The golden dragon roared in pain and wasn't able to stop Malum as he reached his neck. Malum stopped and pulled out Superore from his soul and fired at the dragon's neck. He couldn't produce lightning anymore so he was lucky that Superore had a separate mana storage as well as an enchantment that would cast the magic automatically.
The plasma and lightning fused and exploded on Fafnir at a very close range. Malum jumped back by riding the shockwave while Fafnir gasped for air. His throat had suddenly been thumped and all of his arteries had been crushed.
He growled and the bell above him tilted again. The sound made both Malum and Fafnir cough blood. It wasn't even an attack. Just the pure spiritual pressure brought by the bell's ringing.
Immediately after the first tune, the current produced by Karma stopped and Fafnir regained control of his arm. He prudently bent his arm and then pulled out the scythe with a savage expression. He recovered from the bell's influence faster and punched Malum with a fist full of pent up anger.
When Malum got hit, he discretely drew a magic circle on the dragon's claw before soaring through space. ”Karma!” He shouted and the end of the black chain flew toward him. He grabbed it and then pulled strongly.
The scythe spun in midair and then landed back in Malum's hands. He whirled it and then scraped the edge of the blade with his hand. Some of his blood traced the blade and glowed before forming runes.
”[Periit sacrificium sanguis] (Blood Sacrifice).”
”[Plasmodium falciparum dolore] (Pain Inhibition).”
”[Affectus earumque oppres] (Emotion Suppression).”
He chanted and Karma conjured her lightning magic. On the other hand, Malum chose to assemble darkness magic around the scythe.
”This will be an improvised magic. Focus,” Malum warned.
”{No problem,}” Karma responded confidently and Malum smirked.