Chapter 455: WHEN EVILS UNITE (1)
RUTO expected that he could beat Calyx Dalton, but he didn’t expect it to be this easy.
Granted that he used more power than he was supposed to, the battle still felt quite anticlimactic to him.
[At least, no innocent life was taken from this fight.]
It was a good call on his part to rent the whole inn. He also evacuated the owner and staff of the inn earlier. Hence, he had just returned to his room when Calyx Dalton and his companion ambushed him.
Speaking of the fake’s companion, it was a shame that he had missed killing him.
[That man must have called for back-up, so I should hurry up and kill Calyx Dalton.]
He approached the boy smashed in the middle of the crater, and the crater was located where the inn was supposed to be. Unfortunately, the inn was erased from the face of the earth when he tried to crush Calyx Dalton with his divine power earlier.
.....
And it wasn’t only the inn that was completely wiped out.
The forest that surrounded the inn and the foot of the mountain had been flattened out completely.
Yet, Calyx Dalton still survived.
“Evil people do live long, huh?” Ruto whispered to himself while looking at the unconscious Calyx Dalton on the ground. “What kind of god gave their blessing to protect someone like you?”
Despite being crushed by his divine power, Calyx Dalton survived in one piece.
The boy’s clothes were torn, and his exposed skin was burned. He was also bleeding from head to toe, probably from the impact when he was smashed to the ground while blocking his gigantic ball of divine energy.
And yet, after all of that, Calyx Dalton was still breathing- barely, but still alive.
[His body as a de Moonasterio is already sturdy, but I also see traces of pure divine power that could only belong to a god. No ordinary weapon could pierce through his body at this rate.]
He pulled out a dagger from the knife holster attached to his hip.
It was an ancient dagger called Moonblood.
The sharp blade and short handle covered with ancient texts from the dead Solanian Language glowed beautifully as he filled it with his divine power. His divine power served as a catalyst to activate the curses etched all over the ancient dagger.
After the curses were activated, he unceremoniously stabbed the dagger into Calyx Dalton’s heart.
Almost immediately, the boy coughed up blood and writhed his body while screaming in agony. He was still unconscious, but his body reacted to the pain caused by the ancient dagger and its curses. It must be killing him from the inside.
But the ancient and the curses were only there to weaken the de Moonasterio- he must still continue to attack Calyx Dalton.
“You have some fancy weapons with you, Ruston Stroganoff.”
To say that he was surprised when a naked man, who looked like he was made from wax candle, appeared beside him without making a single sound- while completely concealing his presence, at that- would be an understatement.
He immediately moved to stab the stranger in the heart.
But the blade of the ancient dagger just pierced through the cold air. The wax-like man disappeared along with Calyx Dalton’s body.
[Dammit!]
He jumped away from his spot when he felt a strong yet cold force coming his way.
It was a good call since the ground where he was just standing a few moments ago melted. Smoke emitted from the substance that caused the ground to melt. He didn’t know what it was exactly, but it looked like a melted candle.
“Ruston Stroganoff, why are you carrying a weapon made specifically to kill the de Moonasterios?” the “wax man” asked, laughing. “Are you a disciple of William or something?”
William was known as the ‘de Moonasterio Executioner,’ after all.
He just looked at the stranger who was carrying the unconscious Calyx Dalton in his arms.
[That boy has already calmed down?]
Calyx Dalton should still be crying and writhing in pain at the moment, but the boy was silent as if he was just sleeping.
[Did it not work?]
The strange silver glow that covered Calyx Dalton’s entire body seemed to be doing miracles on the boy.
“Don’t worry, it worked,” the stranger assured him as if he could read his mind. “The Moonblood was designed specifically to kill the de Moonasterios. Since the de Moonasterios have sturdy bodies, the first curse was designed to soften their skin to allow the blade to pierce through.”
He was surprised to hear that, but he tried his best to keep up a poker face.
[How did he know that...?]
“The second curse is designed to poison the de Moonasterios’ blood with Impure Mana,” the stranger continued. “But the Impure Mana instilled in the ancient dagger didn’t come from the dead Darkness attribute users- it came from the dead gods who wielded Darkness when they were still alive.”
He clenched his hands tight when his mind finally began to figure out who the “stranger” was. But he found it hard to believe. If his hunch was correct...
[How could he still be alive?]
“Finally, the last curse was designed to corrupt the divine blessing that the de Moonasterios received from my brother.”
He felt his heart sank at the stranger’s words that confirmed his suspicion.
[As I thought- he’s Callisto de Luca himself.]
“Once the divine blessing was broken down by the curse, the de Moonasterio stabbed by the ancient dagger would feel pain like never before,” Callisto de Luca said. “Of course, the curses don’t automatically guarantee the de Moonasterio’s death. They only serve to weaken the de Moonasterio. You must continue attacking them while they’re still in their weakened state.”
He knew that.
That was his plan, but Callisto de Luca suddenly appeared.
“Fortunately, I was the one who created Moonblood,” Callisto de Luca said. “Thus, I’m the only one who could undo the curses.”
Now that he had confirmed his suspicions, he didn’t have any reason to listen to Callisto de Luca anymore.
He threw the Moonblood, the ancient dagger, at the dark sky.
It was suspended in the air, glowing beautifully above his head, while the pointed end was directed in Callisto de Luca’s direction.
“Ruston Stroganoff, it won’t work on me,” Callisto de Luca said, laughing. “Didn’t you hear me? I told you I was the one who created Moonblood. I can undo the curses even if I was reduced to this awful state.”
He ignored the “Half-blood God” and sent his divine power to the Moonblood.
Then, in just the blink of an eye, the Moonblood was duplicated again and again until the copies reached thousands of pieces. And now, it looked like he had a dome made of daggers above him.
“I left the original Moonblood as it is,” Ruto said, spreading his divine power among the duplicates. “But I modified the replicas I made in order to kill the de Lucas, too.”
He smirked when Callisto de Luca fell silent.
Then he waved his hand.
The thousands of pieces of the Moonblood replicas all flew in Callisto de Luca’s direction.
He heard the Half-Blood God curse before he created a barrier to protect himself and Calyx Dalton.
Soon, the two were covered with the daggers.
By he knew that attack wouldn’t be enough to kill Callisto de Luca and Calyx Dalton.
This time, he used his Mana.
He summoned Hiu- the ancient bow that had been his companion even in his first life. Then he created a lightning bolt shaped like an arrow.
That single lightning arrow could kill the Half-Blood God.
If it hit the thousands of daggers that were currently attacking Callisto de Luca nonstop, the daggers would serve as a good conductor for his lightning arrow. Then it would explode and roast the de Luca head along with Calyx Dalton.
“Die,” he whispered to himself, then he shot the lightning arrow.
“Sorry, but I can’t let them die yet.”
His eyes widened from shock when a child suddenly appeared before him and grabbed his lightning arrow using his bare hand.
The hand that grabbed the lightning arrow turned into a cloud of black smoke and covered the lightning arrow until turned into dust.
[No, that’s not black smoke.]
It was Darkness- Darkness in its purest form!
[This child...]
Black-jet hair, glowing red eyes, gray skin that almost looked purple.
[No, it’s not a child.]
It wasn’t even human.
The person standing in front of him pretending to be a child was like a huge lump of pure Darkness.
“Helstor,” Ruto said in disbelief. “The God of Eternal Darkness.”
“I’m honored to be recognized by you even though I was reduced to this state,” Helstor said. “Yes, you are right. I am Helstor- the God of Eternal Darkness.”
Helstor had an angelic face, his voice sounded soft, and his gaze looked warm. He was even dressed like a noble child.
.....
But there was one thing that he learned to recognize at one glance when dealing with gods.
It was something that the gods could never conceal.
“Eyes,” Ruto said while preparing to attack. “Your eyes are crazier than Callisto de Luca’s.”
Helstor’s eyes turned into little crescent moons when he smiled. “Have you ever met a sane god, Ruston Stroganoff?”
He immediately jumped in front of the god and grabbed his face to force Helstor to open his mouth. When the god’s lips formed an ‘O,’ Ruto opened his mouth and immediately sucked in Helstor’s divine power and life force.1
To his surprise, instead of pulling away from him, Helstor grabbed him by the shoulders and kept him in place.
Ruto coughed up blood.
He didn’t know how Helstor did it, but he blocked him from absorbing his divine power and life force. The next thing Ruto knew, Helstor was already breathing pure and poisonous Darkness into his mouth.
Then he heard and felt an explosion near them.
He didn’t have to turn around to know that Callisto de Luca managed to escape from the thousands of Moonblood replicas that he sent his way.
After all, the original Moonblood found its way to his chest.
He managed to move his body a little, so he prevented his heart from getting stabbed. But when he was stabbed in the back, the dagger still pierced through his chest. It barely missed his heart, but that didn’t mean he was safe.
After all, the blade of the ancient dagger activated the own curses in his body. Thus, he did not only cough up blood this time- he was actually paralyzed by pain.
“How dare you make me bait?” Callisto de Luca complained behind him, and he was obviously talking to Helstor. “My Masterpiece almost got damaged badly because of your ridiculous plan, Helstor.”
“Don’t complain when you survived,” Helstor scolded Callisto de Luca. “And I see that you already sent your Masterpiece to a safe place, so why are you still complaining?”
Ruto couldn’t believe this.
Callisto de Luca and the God of Eternal Darkness should be enemies because of their conflicting goals, so why were the two forces working together now?
[I did not see this coming.]
“Callisto de Luca, you don’t stand a chance against the real God Slaye1r,” Helstor said, then he turned to Ruto with glowing red eyes. “He’s the child of the god among gods sent to this world to hunt us down.”
Ah, his identity was exposed.
Then it left him with no other choice.
Ruto closed his eyes, mixing his Mana and divine power together in order to make himself explode.
[I’ll take you down with me.]
***
NEOMA gasped, shocked when her anklet suddenly snapped and the eight Moonstones suddenly flew in different directions. “Oh, no.”
She was just about to remove her anklet before she went to bed.
But it suddenly snapped, and now she was stressed out while picking up the Moonstones rolling on the floor. She was alone in her bedroom since Lewis was guarding outside, while Stephanie went to the kitchen to get her a glass of warm milk.
“Why did you suddenly snap?” Neoma whispered to the Moonstones in her hands. Then she let out a sigh, disappointed in herself for not taking better care of the gift that she received from Ruto. “I’ll apologize to Ruto once we see each other again.”
[I wonder if he’ll surprise me at the final exam?]1
***
NOTE: This is only Part 1 because this is supposed to be a long chapter... but my computer crashed and I wasn’t able to recover the other half (my dumba$$ forgot to save). I didn’t have the energy to rewrite the whole thing, so please accept this for now. Thankfully, this chapter was saved as a draft here on WN so I just had to revise it a bit, same with Ghoul Duke (already saved here, so update was posted earlier). Sorry. >.
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