Serpentlord (Rise To Omniscience Book 9), page 36
Now, he focused on something else — the threads of fate. What he was attempting to do was see the future, but not everyone’s, only that of a single being; the one currently pulling herself free of the stone beneath the waves. There was an explosion of water as Strangler pulled herself from beneath the ocean’s surface, one of her massive, glaring eyes locked onto him.
“Finally decccided to ssstop playfighting?” she asked, her sibilant voice hissing in her mind.
“What makes you think I was playfighting?” Morgan asked, raising an eyebrow.
“The fact that I wasss playfighting,” Strangler replied.
Her body began to contract then, shrinking rapidly, condensing down to only six feet in a matter of seconds. She floated in the air, the massive wounds he’d inflicted now no larger than pinpricks.
“So, you can shrink down that much?” Morgan asked, sharpening his senses and preparing to activate a skill.
Strangler opened her mouth and let out an excited hiss, then shot forward. She was blindingly fast, slamming into him center-mass before he could so much as blink. The air was knocked from his lungs, even as he tumbled end over end, triggering his Soulstream. Purple light flared around him, and he spun, blasting a stream of air down to throw himself out of the way of the serpent’s strike.
Strangler twisted, her body undulating as he stopped midair and shot back. Her mouth was open wide, and her fangs gleamed with small beads of poison. Morgan felt his broken ribs healing as his Soulstream exponentially sped up the process. In this shape, Strangler was everything she wasn’t at that massive size.
Fast, powerful, and lethal, she carried all her weight, condensed down into that small form. She had drastically increased her speed, and the danger he sensed just by being in her presence had shot straight through the roof.
Even with his body enhanced to ten times its usual, he still had a hard time keeping up with the World Beast. Strangler moved like a true serpent, slithering and slipping all his attacks, her body contorting out of the way of the flurry of punches, kicks, and slashes. She struck with blinding speed, forcing him on the defensive.
More than once, her fangs sank into his skin, injecting a burning venom that was only counteracted due to his Soulstream’s increased healing.
Morgan sped up even more, his blows so blindingly fast that his arms and legs were just blurs of color. Strangler continued to dodge, uncannily accurate in movements. Her tail whipped out, slamming into the side of Morgan’s head and sending him crashing onto the shore. He tore up the ground in his wake, ripping stone buildings down as he smashed through one after the next, finally coming to a halt several hundred feet away.
Strangler shot forward, and Morgan slapped the ground, opening a dozen rifts and sending forged black tridents through, trying to snag the snake’s slippery body. Strangler once again managed to avoid all of the attacks, slipping and twisting between the soaring tridents. Morgan vanished, teleporting behind the serpent. He vanished again then, blinking into existence and disappearing dozens of times, hoping to throw the snake off.
However, as he appeared for his true attack, Strangler swung her tail, and an arc of burning green caught him in the chest, driving him back toward the ground. The burning energy cut through his cloak, sliced into his skin and his ribs before he managed to shatter it. He breathed out, then shot back into the sky, dragging a wave of earth along behind him.
Strangler streaked down, but just as the two of them were about to collide, Morgan teleported away. His hopes were that Strangler would slam into the wave of earth, the attack too broad to miss. However, Morgan had forgotten about her ability to fast-travel as well. He cursed as the serpent vanished into a green-edged portal, leaving the wave of dirt to hit nothing.
Morgan hardened the earth, leaving the wave stuck in place. His Soulstream had only been going for about a minute so far, and the quick regeneration was getting him to the point where it was nearly full. He needed to pin the slippery serpent down if he wanted to deal any real damage, and right now, she wasn’t making it easy. However, with the power of his Sunscorch on top of his Soulstream, he should be more than quick enough to take this monster down.
Strangler shot from a portal to the right of his head, and Morgan leaned back, the whipping tail streaking by and narrowly missing. The front end spun back under the force of her momentum, and Strangler’s body began to radiate an immense amount of power.
The sky darkened even further, now completely blotting out the sun. Green lightning flashed, forking across the darkened clouds and illuminating a scene out of a nightmare. Strangler’s voice echoed out then, hissing and filled with power.
“Zone: Venom Globe!”
The entire world turned green, Morgan’s eyesight becoming immediately blanked out, completely useless inside this field of poison. His skin immediately began to smoke as well, and when he inhaled, a burning pain began to wrack his body. Of course, his Soulstream was still active, so he was quickly healed, but the pain was still present and very real.
Growling, Morgan thrust his hand to the side, pulling his silver spear from a pocket dimension and running his power through it. He hadn’t thought he’d need to use a weapon with the ability to slay gods on a beast, but there was no other way he was going to win here. Strangler was stronger, faster, and more powerful than he was. Even with his most powerful skills active, he might not even be able to hit her, let alone win.
A streak of something parted the cloud of venom, and something smashed into his chest. Morgan felt bones shift and buckle, only for his Soulstream to shove them back into place. Burning pain followed as venom entered his lungs, only for his Soulstream to heal them as before. The pain continued all over his body, the venom burning at his eyes when he tried to open them, forcing them closed.
He swung blindly, his Perfect Aura Control doing absolutely nothing in this burning world of green light. Strangler was invisible here, her aura blending perfectly with that of her own power. Had she been the usual void, he would have known where she was, but she appeared to be smarter than that.
The spear began to morph, flowing over his arm, but the impact of Strangler slamming into his face was enough to disrupt that process. Morgan’s head rang as his shattered nose reformed. He tried forging a helm, but the corrosive cloud of Strangler’s Venom Globe melted the construct as soon as it formed.
Morgan shot to one side, trying to escape the globe, but something slammed into him, throwing him down. He tried to teleport but only found more venom when he came out. He had no direction, all of his senses having been completely destroyed. Only his sense of touch remained accurate, and that gave him only pain, both from the venom and the attacks from the serpent.
Although he was holding up for now, Morgan knew that his Soulstream would run out eventually, and when it did, he would start taking real damage. He needed to do something to get himself out of here, disrupt Strangler’s skill, or blow it apart.
He threw an arm to the side and used Light Star. It only took an instant, the skill flashing brilliantly as he poured RP into it. The explosion of light and gravity should have forced Strangler’s skill apart, but when the light faded, Morgan saw only green. The hiss of pain that he heard, told him that he’d succeeded in at least injuring the oversized serpent.
Morgan used his Infernal Star, darkness coalescing and expanding in an explosive burst of power. It tore at the fabric of Strangler’s skill, though this time, it didn’t manage to hit her. Morgan felt several hard impacts as the snake struck, shattering bones, rupturing organs, and breaking his spine.
He hung there, his body twisted and broken. The shining, silver spear slipped from his fingers, falling to the world below. He began to cough then as the venomous cloud entered his lungs, burning away at his insides.
“You’re through!”
The voice echoed around him, as well as the hissing, ratting laugh of a pleased beast.
Pain flashed through Morgan’s entire body as a pair of fangs sank into him, venom pumping into his body at an alarming rate. However, this was exactly what Morgan had been waiting for. His palm slapped down on the serpent’s head, trapping her body against his own. Ignoring the intense pain of the venom liquifying his insides, Morgan used Sunscorch.
A burning orange-red nimbus surrounded him in an instant, destroying the cloud of green that had been surrounding him up until now. Strangler, whose body was still attached to his own, screamed as the burning power of the sun scorched her flesh.
Sunscorch was Morgan’s other Ultimate skill, and aside from giving him the power to embody the sun itself, it made him effectively invincible. He could not be hurt, and no attack would reach him. Even as he watched, Strangler’s fangs were forced from his side, the glowing aura forcing her back.
The serpent twisted in on herself, shrinking down so small that he couldn’t hold her. A moment later, she slipped from his grasp, growing to some thirty feet in length.
Morgan stared at the serpent calmly, his body pulling itself back together as his bones, organs, and skin healed themselves.
“Ssso. You’ve been hiding another ssskill,” Strangler hissed, her eyes narrowing.
Morgan struck out with a punch, his burning aura lancing outward and striking the serpent in the face.
Strangler screamed as she was blasted from the air, slamming into the sea and causing another crater to form. Honestly, by this point, Morgan wondered what the overreaching ramifications would be for destroying this much land beneath the ocean’s surface. Whatever it was, he doubted it would be good.
Faults beneath the ocean floor were probably shifting, driving larger and larger waves their way. If the World Beasts themselves didn’t destroy Faeland entirely, he had a feeling this battle might very well finish it off.
Strangler shot from the ocean, streaking up to hover before him. Her jaw was crooked to one side, eyes blazing with hate. Morgan flared his aura, the burning orange-red pushing back all the green and illuminating part of the sky with his own immense power.
Strangler’s body blazed brighter, her broken jaw cracking open as she activated a third Ultimate skill, her words echoing with power.
“Pure Form: Divine Serpent!”
55
The hue of power burning forth from Strangler’s body suddenly shifted, turning from a corrosive acid green to a shining blue-green. The World Beast’s body shifted as well, her upper body expanding rapidly and becoming more humanoid. She grew a female-shaped torso, a pair of scaled arms growing out, and her head extending on a long serpentine neck.
The transformation took less than a handful of seconds, but when it was over, Morgan found himself staring at a half-snake, half-humanoid woman.
Although the serpent now had a distinctly feminine upper body, her lower body was still that of a snake. Her head also sat on two feet of serpentine neck, which was extremely unnerving. Her upper body was still clad in scales, the same color as the rest of her, and though her facial features had become a bit more human, they were still distinctly serpentine.
“You may be indestructible now,” Strangler said, speaking out loud and without extending the ‘S’ sound as she normally did. “But in my Pure Form, you will be unable to harm me. So, I guess we’re in a stalemate. However, I’m willing to bet that my Pure Form skill outlasts whatever you’re using.”
Morgan’s grip on the spear tightened, the metal flowing up his arm as soon as the transformation had begun, and now, the Godsteel weapon appeared to have shrunk by about half. He recognized the aura Strangler was giving off, and even had she not spoken the name of her skill aloud, he would already have known what it was.
Somehow, the serpent had a shard of divinity, a small piece of divine power. Perhaps it was what set World Beasts apart from the rest, though, if he remembered correctly, Strangler hadn’t actually swallowed anything divine, unlike the Elder Dragon Breaker. Regardless of how this creature came to possess a skill that held divine power, he now had a way to stop her.
It was obvious why she believed herself to be invincible. Normal skills couldn’t harm gods or divine power. Sarah was the exception, as she only had access to a pseudo-divine power, whereas Strangler had access to the real thing. It was nice of her to allow him to activate the spear’s full capabilities, even if she didn’t have to.
His Sunscorch would prevent her from harming him either way, but it was easier to use the spear when he wasn’t being tossed around like a rag doll. The liquid-like metal flowed over his face, finally allowing him to see the full blazing aura around Strangler’s body. He wondered if he should be thanking her for making this so easy.
Before, he’d been unable to see a thing, but now that she was oozing divine energy, he could see exactly where her core was located. She’d put it in a smart place, somewhere he would have to hit by chance more than anything. In this divine form, Strangler was now some twenty feet long. Her upper body comprised about six feet, and the rest was all serpentine.
“You all finished with your little tricks?” Strangler asked mockingly. “You going to try hitting me? I invite you to, because—”
Strangler was cut off as Morgan flashed forward, his hand slamming into the side of her long neck and blasting her from the sky.
The serpent shrieked an unearthly scream as the Godsteel coating his fist burned at her divine power. She slammed into the water, blasting it away from herself as she cratered the ocean floor. The ripple effect from that impact flowed along, sending massive, jagged cracks all along the coastline and shaving several chunks of Aster off the mainland.
Morgan followed, knowing that as with his Sunscorch skill, he only had a limited amount of time with the Godsteel cloaking him before it turned back into a spear.
He plunged into the ocean, his hand latching around Strangler’s neck and burning her. The serpent shrieked again, her clawed hands ripping at his Godsteel armor and doing more damage to herself in the process.
Morgan rose from the ocean, holding the serpent by her overly long neck. His hand tightened, and the World Beast’s eyes bulged. He thrust his hand forward, plunging into the spot where her torso connected to her upper body. Strangler, realizing what he was doing, twisted her lower body around, the tail slamming into his head and causing him to lose his grip.
Although Morgan didn’t feel a thing, the town of Aster did. He smashed into the mainland again, his body sending a massive series of cracks. Huge chunks of stone rose, while others concaved, the ground around him splintering and falling apart. He kept traveling down, until he was surrounded by water.
Morgan used Rift, flashing up to Strangler and lashing out with a powerful kick. The serpent threw up an arm to block, but the Godsteel covering his arm, helped by his massive boost in Strength and Agility, thanks to both his Soulstream and Sunscorch, tore straight through the appendage as though it weren’t even there.
The arm spun away, blood spraying into the air as it fell. Morgan’s fist kept going, but the serpent managed to dodge. Now that she knew she couldn’t make physical contact without hurting herself, the snake took a different route. Her other arm extended, and a glowing green-blue bar of energy slid out.
Her arm regenerated, much as he’d seen the goddess Sarah’s body regrow during their fight, as she clutched the staff in both hands.
“You don’t seem to understand how this works,” Morgan said, his voice coming out oddly tinny due to the metal covering his face.
Strangler screeched, swinging the staff with all her might, but Morgan simply flared the power of his Sunscorch, the intensity of the flaming aura surrounding him increasing a hundred-fold. The staff burned up before it even reached him, and Morgan struck again.
The World Beast was forced to back down, her hands flying as she desperately fought to keep him from her core. By now, she had to be realizing that she’d made a terrible mistake by using this skill. However, judging by the fact that she hadn’t changed her size or shape as she had before, the skill confined her to the shape she was in now.
Strangler’s arms and tail were smoking now, continually burning and regenerating as she tried to fight him off. Morgan continued to press his advantage, speeding up more and more as he drove her down toward the surface of the ocean.
The World Beast was tough, one of the strongest creatures he’d fought to date. But compared to the goddess he’d killed, Strangler was a pale imitation at best. He’d probably have lost without the use of all his skills and the silver spear, but a victory was a victory, and he was going to have his, no matter what he needed to use to get it.
Strangler bellowed as she hit the surface of the water, and green light began oozing from her body. The ocean began to change, bubbling green and corrosive and spreading fast.
“Your comrades will all die!” Strangler hissed.
The energy was spreading fast, and Morgan realized that if he kept pushing her into the water, it would eventually reach the ships.
He spun, hurling the serpent back toward land, but she vanished into a portal, coming back out in the sea about half a mile away.
Morgan used Rift, feeling his heart speed up. Strangler saw she couldn’t win, so she was trying to bide her time by going after the escaping ships to try and run out the clock. Grinding his teeth together, Morgan began the game of cat and mouse. Even with all his enhancement, Strangler was still faster, managing to avoid his attacks by contorting her body or slipping through portals.
He could already start to feel the strain from the Godsteel, and the timer of his Sunscorch was running out. His Soulstream would last a little longer after that, but it would do him no good against a creature with divine power.
He needed to be able to predict where she would come out so he could be there when she did. Reading the threads of fate was hard enough, and in the middle of a battle like this, it was all but impossible.
No, he said to himself. Not impossible. Just difficult.
He had faced difficult challenges before, and they always had a solution. He was on a clock. His Sunscorch would run out in two minutes, and his Godsteel spear would last perhaps half a minute after it ran out. After that, this fight was basically over. He didn’t know how much longer Strangler’s skill would last than his own, but from the way she spoke and how powerful her skills had been up until now, he suspected it would be more than enough time to finish him.
