Chapter 704 - Book 6, Chapter 96 (1/2)

Book 6, Chapter 96 – Selene's Reawakening

“The Avatar is stronger than ever before The God King's will is eating away at her spirit There isn't anything left of her If you destroy the Eyes of Time it will destroy the foundation of her ht”

The Khan had weakened His words were delivered painstakingly, like every syllable drained him

Selene's will had been usurped and bound to the God King's Destroying his hold on her would probably leave only an e through days of darkness, depression and shame

The Khan knehat it was like He'd lived that hell It was a terrible existence, a fate worse than death Better to set her free Over the last few years Selene had struggled Forcing her to live on after all of this was the cruelest forer flooded Cloudhawk's mind and the Khan's words made him see red But he held it beneath the surface, like a volcano His response was firo But the Selene I know is the strongest person I've ever met She never backed down from pain or hardshi+p She never ran away fro head on, a warrior in every way!”

Janus and the Khan pulled back and listened They looked at Cloudhawk in silence, grappling with the saiven up faith, while he still held so tightly to it?

When he spoke again, his voice powerful and resolute, it was as though he'd read their minds “I believe in her more than I believe in myself!”

There is where it had lead No one expected it Who would have thought the relic Selene was given would bear a portion of the God King's will? Who would have believed it would turn her into this? And the transfor's power that even a fraction had turned Selene into the nighth every second she became more difficult to overco to save her Everything she'd done was unintentional The will of the God King, forcing her hand The root of their proble of Sumeru Without it there was no probles Cloudhawk learned fro never solved anything [1] Nothing was iht to Ruin and prepared to strike

Selene's silvery eyes saas to come and to answer it, several dozen nearby Seraphs were sed into balls of light They burned as though set afla into flows of power that wrapped around Selene A pearlescent aura hugged her to for defense

It was first struck by a bolt of lightning Like a water pistol shooting a gey was cast aside Not a scratch was ain The i fissures to spread across it Everyone was forced to squint and look away fro flare that ensued But the shell did not break!

How could be get through? Cloudhawk scowled as he groped for an answer

He guessed that her shi+eld was using the powers of the Tey field that surrounded it Breaking through quickly, even with his level of strength, would be difficult As he puzzled it out Selene was raising her weapon for a counterattack

CRACK!

A peel of thunder sounded as glaring lightning and brilliant crystal ht, cast off froht Cloudhawk had seen Selene's face The heartless indifference in her eyes was like nothing he'd ever seen But there in the deepest parts of her gaze he thought he saw a struggle He had to believe Selene was still in there!

“Wake up!”

Cloudhawk held Ruin with both hands and hacked it toward her

Selene was sub a trench in the dais twentyAn instant later Cloudhawk appeared overhead and thrust Ruin at her shi+eld, only to be deflected onceDirect attacks weren't going to break through

The two traded es Several times Cloudhawk landed ould have otherwise been devastating blows, but accoe to hi clear that the wasteland's leader was running out of ht his way into Skycloud, defeated Praelius' Commander-General, bested Stormford's Spatial Master, and cut down a thousand soldiers in between There were lile person could do He could not be expected to fight at his peak at all times

For Selene it was different She had the power of the Temple at her beck and call, in addition to her Holy Vest sure every act was correct and efficient She would not be quickly running out of steain to decline He would be forced onto the defensive Janus and the Khan watched their exchange and realized that giving aid would be difficult Cloudhawk's poas too great and his attacks too fast With the blessing of the Te her a chance to counter

Just then, an intense wave of y filled the space Selene stopped dead in her tracks as though locked in a trance

This was it Cloudhawk launched into a flurry of attacks, delivering ten in a handful of seconds

Cracks began to appear along the shell of energy However, this didn't last long Even such a devastating onslaught wasn't enough to collapse her will, so the fractures quickly sealed closed

A new figure appeared above the dais: Beautiful, perfect and dignified The Cloud God had arrived! It was he who released the mental attack

But the God underestimated Selene He could not keep her wholly locked in the world of illusions

“The ht theyappraisal was followed by four quick swipes at Cloudhawk At the same time she used her mental powers to whisper into the Cloud God'swith these lesser lifeforms Do you wish to know your future? Better you end your own life before you find out”

In response the Cloud God lashed out with another series of mental raids But to his bewilderment, little was accomplished It was then he discovered that he was in a trap His fight with Lucian must have been a deliberate decision by the Avatar

In order to quickly defeat the Master Demonhunter, he'd been forced to utilize several powerful attacks in a row Each one was draining, but 'killing' the man thousands of times in his world of illusions was especially strenuous Now his mental capacity was less than half, and the impact of his attacks were reduced With these restrictions, he couldn't hold the Avatar down

The former God was forced to increase the intensity of his attacks as ht and joined theforces, Selene finally began to lose ground Janus and the Khan finally saw their chance, and together the four launched into a brutal tandem offensive The cracks in her defenses reappeared andexhaustion, his attacks were visibly effective