CHAPTER 77: FINAL COUNTDOWN - 1

The Titan took another step. Its massive foot came down, and the island in front of them shattered.

A huge boulder, the size of a small hill, was thrown into the air. It tumbled towards Rhys, who easily evaded it. His speed was also slowed by that, so Kaelen reached the front.

He poured the strength stored in his blood into movement as his form became a crimson blur before Rhys.

Rhys tried to anchor a Low-distance Jump on Kaelen’s back, preparing to pull himself forward and get ahead of his reckless cousin.

But Kaelen was not just a brute.

He was a cunning demon.

He felt the spatial anchor lock onto him. In the instant before Rhys could activate the jump, the part of Kaelen’s back that Rhys had targeted simply... dissipated.

It turned into a shower of blood, breaking the connection.

The skill failed. Rhys’s momentum was broken, and he stumbled, falling back a few steps.

"Son of a cuck..."

"OK, Daddy..." Kaelen’s words almost made Rhys choke on his saliva.

[Worthy opponent, really.]

’Shut up. Look after Sera.’

[Well, she will be fine.]

’Good...’

Kaelen reached the Titan. He landed on an island a few miles away from the Titan, a grin on his face.

Rhys watched, wide-eyed, as his cousin threw his head back and laughed. His maniacal voice echoed across the silent void.

"Come on, big guy! Give me your power!"

The Titan’s next step was on the island. The massive leg loomed over Kaelen as he turned to wave at Rhys and stomped down.

’Splat.’

"This suicidal son of a cuck..."

Kaelen’s trait allowed him to store every bit of damage he had received in his bloodline. He could use this power for rejuvenation or in attacks.

There was no way to kill him completely unless every bit of his blood was erased from existence, which was what Rhys had done before.

A small drop of blood was enough for him to rejuvenate.

This lunatic had stored his blood inside the bodies of the disciples of the Ashton family. That’s how he revived even after Rhys erased him earlier.

Rhys was sure Kaelen had his blood stored in countless places. So technically, killing him was impossible unless one could completely erase every drop of his blood from this world.

’What a cockroach...’

Now Kaelen had absorbed the crushing force of the Titan. Rhys could imagine the power he was going to have.

The red paste that had been Kaelen began to bubble. It slithered across the ground, covering the shattered remains of the crystal island.

A low, guttural sound echoed from the bubbling mass.

The blood began to rise, no longer a simple puddle, but a churning pillar of crimson and black. It took a new shape.

The form that emerged was a nightmare. Kaelen was now easily twelve feet tall.

His skin was no longer just pale; it was a horrifying fusion of crimson flesh and jagged, black obsidian that mirrored the Titan’s own hide.

Spikes of the same black rock jutted from his shoulders and back. His single, blood tendril was now thicker.

He opened his eyes. They were still red, but now they held swirling, miniature galaxies within them.

[WARNING! Entity has undergone a forced evolution!]

[Name: Kaelen Ashton]

[Race: Blood Demon]

[Cultivation: Stage 2 (Low)]

[Trait: Bloodline Stalker]

[Evolution 1: Can store accepted damage in every cell of the blood.]

[Evolution 2: Can mimic the last crushing force until the power in the blood runs out.]

’Stage 2...’ Rhys’s mind went blank for a second. The Labyrinth’s level cap had been broken. Kaelen had used the Titan’s power to force a break through.

Kaelen looked at his new, larger hands. He clenched them into fists, the sound of grinding rock echoing in the plaza. He let out a roar.

"THIS IS IT!" he screamed, his voice a deep, rumbling bass that shook the very island Rhys stood on.

"THIS IS TRUE POWER, COUSIN! THE POWER OF A GOD!"

He turned his galactic eyes towards Rhys. The playful, manic glee was gone, replaced by a cold, absolute confidence.

"The game is over. Now, you die."

He moved; he simply took a step, and the space between them seemed to fold. He appeared directly in front of Rhys, his massive, rock-infused fist swinging down.

Rhys had no time to think. He activated his own Origin Skill.

"EPOCH OF CINDERS!"

The domain of grey ash and silver-black flame erupted around him. Kaelen’s fist slammed into it.

CRACK.

A fissure spread across the surface of Rhys’s domain. The sheer, brute force of Kaelen’s attack was something his law was not prepared for.

The Epoch of Cinders was a perfect counter to consumption and regeneration, but it was not a perfect shield against pure, overwhelming physical might, at least for now.

Rhys never imagined Kaelen would attack physically, as his own physical might was stronger.

Rhys was thrown backwards, skidding across the crystal ground. He felt a sharp pain in his chest.

The impact had strained his domain to its breaking point.

"Your little laws are cute," Kaelen sneered, taking another step. "But they are nothing before the weight of a mountain."

He raised his hand. The shattered crystal ground around him began to move. Spikes of black, Titan-infused rock, each the size of a spear, erupted from the floor, shooting towards Rhys.

Rhys’s domain flared. The rock spikes entered his sphere of influence and instantly crumbled into fine, grey ash. But the force behind them was still there.

Rhys felt like he was being pelted by a hailstorm of invisible cannonballs. He was being pushed back, his domain shrinking under the relentless assault.

The fight was happening in seconds, yet the Titan had already taken a few more steps, nearing the central island.

’No, we have no time...’ Rhys cursed anxiously.

Kaelen did not seem to care about the Labyrinth challenge as he attacked Rhys. Rhys knew a new principle needed to be added to his domain. A decree of defence.

[Burning 10 billion years of lifespan to create a new Origin Decree...]

He focused his will, not on annihilation, but on the concept of an unreachable wall. He pictured the Titan itself, its unstoppable, unyielding form.

He poured that concept into his domain.

The grey ash within the Epoch of Cinders began to swirl and compress. It solidified, forming a series of thick, overlapping plates of dark, hardened material.

It was the ash, given the properties of the Titan’s hide.

"[Decree of the Unmoving Mountain]!" Rhys roared.

The rock spikes slammed into the new, ashen plates. They shattered into dust, their force completely negated. Rhys’s domain held firm.

Kaelen’s eyes widened slightly.

"Clever. Very clever. You learn quickly, cousin. But can you learn fast enough?"

He disappeared. Rhys’s senses screamed a warning. He looked up. Kaelen was above him, hanging in the air, his body radiating a crushing gravitational force.

He had stolen the Behemoth’s power.

’Did that mean if he had a small bit of energy, he could mimic the owner of that energy...?’

"Let’s see how your mountain holds up against the weight of a star," Kaelen said, a cruel smile on his face.

He brought his hands together, and the gravity around Rhys intensified a hundredfold. Rhys felt his knees buckle.

The ashen plates of his domain began to crack under the immense pressure. The ground beneath his feet splintered.

He was being crushed.

He needed another decree. Something to fight against this unnatural gravity. He thought of the wind, of his Tempest Weaver profession.

He pictured a storm that could push back against a mountain.

[Burning 20 billion years of lifespan to create a new Origin Decree...]

"[Decree of the Raging Tempest]!"