“Well,” Kaelios snapped his fingers, summoning the clone back into existence, “I did say there would be five stages, but I’ll let you see the last two abilities now.”
“…?” Alex raised an eyebrow, confused. “Why?”
Kaelios grinned. “Because I’ll combine the final two stages into one. You’ll understand why soon enough.”
“Alright.”
Without hesitation, Alex opened the two panels, starting with the fourth ability.
[Fated Cataclysm (Artifact++)]
“Two pluses?” Alex blinked in surprise.
Having a single plus already indicated something extraordinary.
Two meant the ability was beyond comprehension.
It was probably something extremely rare or only owned by beings as powerful as the gods.
He continued reading the description.
[Allows the user to summon a massive explosion of raw destiny energy, obliterating everything in its path.
Consumes 70 Destiny Points. No cooldown.]
It was one of the shortest skill descriptions yet, which was surprising because [Fated Cataclysm] was by logic his strongest skill.
He had expected to have to read at least 5 pages of text just to understand how it worked, but oh well.
Maybe it was so powerful that even putting it into words wasn’t possible?
“Seventy Destiny Points…” Alex sighed, rubbing his temple. “That’s expensive.”
“And there’s a good reason for that,” Kaelios said with a knowing smile.
Alex understood the implications.
Using this ability would require him to save up or fight exceptionally well to avoid running out of Destiny Points too quickly.
It wasn’t something he could spam recklessly, especially since his other skills also consumed points.
Though of course, it didn’t have a cooldown either, meaning that he could in fact use it repeatedly.
Kaelios gestured toward the next panel.
“Now, for the final ability. My strongest one. Honestly, I’m surprised you managed to inherit it.”
“Your strongest ability?” Alex’s heart raced.
As a chosen one, he had inherited the powers of Kaelios, the God of Destiny.
However, the strength of these powers varied.
As said before, some chosen ones received minor skills, while others obtained immense power.
The fact that Alex had gained Kaelios’ strongest skill meant he was among the rarest and luckiest of chosen ones.
Maybe that’s why he was chosen to begin with? Kaelios did say that “Destiny” favoured him or something like that.
Alex thought it was nonsense, but as long as it benefited him, maybe…
“Never mind,” he shook his head.
He opened the fifth panel without hesitation, skipping the chance to test the fourth skill.
[World Cleaver (Forbidden Skill)]
“Forbidden…” Alex’s eyes widened as he read the title.
Forbidden Skills were on a level above [Artifact].
They were world-ending abilities, capable of leveling cities or even reshaping the fabric of reality.
The [God of Darkness]’s infamous [Dark Blade] was a Forbidden Skill, which is what had killed Alex and probably destroyed the entire country in his past life.
Even the most powerful beings rarely had access to such abilities.
At most, only the strongest individuals, like [Grand Mages], possessed a single [Forbidden Spell].
Those who had two were legends.
“World Cleaver…” Alex muttered. “This was your strongest skill?”
“Correct,” Kaelios said. “It’s the pinnacle of my power.”
Alex couldn’t contain his curiosity any longer and checked the description.
[World Cleaver (Forbidden Skill)]
[Summons the colossal [Blade of Destiny], capable of striking anything.
When activated, the user channels all available power to unleash a devastating slash that ignores all defenses and bypasses immortality.
If the target survives (almost impossible), it will be bound by [Destiny Shackles], unable to use skills or regenerate for 60 seconds.
Consumes 100 Destiny Points. No cooldown.]
“…Damn,” Alex muttered, reading the description again.
A hundred Destiny Points.
That was insanely costly, even for a skill of this caliber.
He couldn’t use it casually, it would require precise timing and absolute certainty to land the hit.
Though to be honest, he had a feeling that the [World Cleaver] skill couldn’t miss.
It was undoubtedly the ultimate trump card.
“If your limit is 300 Destiny Points,” Alex asked, “does that mean you could use this skill three times in a row?”
“Precisely,” Kaelios replied with a smirk.
“Damn,” Alex muttered again.
The lack of cooldown on these skills was terrifying.
As long as he had the points, Kaelios could keep spamming them.
“Alright.” Kaelios clapped his hands. “It’s time for the final round.”
[Final Stage Start.]
[Defeat the clone one last time. Both of you start at 0 Destiny Points.]
[Use everything you have. You’ll need it.]
Alex’s stomach churned at the system message.
The clone now had access to the full range of Kaelios’ abilities, including [Fated Cataclysm] and [World Cleaver].
It would be stronger than ever.
The clone’s grin mirrored Kaelios’ as the fight began.
The clone lunged forward, summoning ethereal blades of energy.
“It will use some of my other skills to, by the way, gotta keep it hard.”
“Damn.”
Alex barely dodged the first attack, countering with a strike from [Heaven’s Chains].
The chains wrapped around the clone, locking it in place for a moment.
But the clone broke free almost instantly, retaliating with a barrage of slashes.
Alex was thrown backward, his health bar dropping dangerously low.
This was on an entirely different level.
Alex died three times in quick succession.
Each time, he was revived by the system, his frustration mounting.
He wasn’t even able to reach 10 Destiny Points to revive himself with [Destiny Shift]!
The clone’s mastery over their shared abilities was overwhelming.
Every move Alex made, the clone countered perfectly.
On his second attempt, the clone reached 70 Destiny Points.
Alex’s eyes widened as it activated [Fated Cataclysm].
A massive sphere of golden energy formed in the clone’s hands, growing larger with each passing second, eventually going up in the sky and growing to the size of the entire [Garden of Destiny].
“What the f—”
Before Alex could finish, the sphere detonated.
The explosion consumed everything in its path, tearing through the arena with raw, unrelenting force.
[You have died.]
[Undoing user’s death.]
But…
He was instantly killed again.
[You have been killed again. The power of “Fated Cataclysm” still lingers.]
This effectively meant that reviving himself that way wasn’t possible, especially with the 5-seconds limit of [Destiny Shift].
And so, Alex died.
[Reviving…]
Alex’s consciousness returned, and he gasped for air.
His body trembled as he recalled the sensation of being obliterated.
It wasn’t just physical pain, [Fated Cataclysm] had torn apart his very existence.
“Holy shit,” he muttered, staring at the clone in disbelief.
If this was the power of the fourth skill, he could only imagine what the fifth could do.
Determined, Alex tried again.
This time, he fought with everything he had, carefully managing his Destiny Points and using his abilities with precision.
The battle raged on, with Alex narrowly dodging attacks and landing a few blows of his own.
But the clone was relentless.
Even when Alex gained the upper hand, the clone would adapt, forcing him back into a corner.
Finally, Alex reached 70 Destiny Points.
He knew what he had to do.
Summoning every ounce of strength, he activated [Fated Cataclysm].
Golden energy surged around him, forming a massive sphere in his hands, which went up to the sky, growing more and more.
As the power built up, Alex felt his body strain under the immense pressure.
His vision blurred, and his heartbeat thundered in his ears.
For a moment, he wondered if his body could handle it.
But then, the energy reached its peak, and Alex unleashed the explosion.
The arena was engulfed in light.
Time seemed to slow as the golden energy tore through everything, annihilating the clone in an instant.
Alex felt the shockwave ripple through his body, leaving him momentarily dazed.
When the light finally faded, he saw the clone’s shattered form dissolving into particles.
Even it knew it couldn’t revive, as [Fated Cataclysm] was still present.
[Final Stage Passed!]
Alex fell to his knees, breathing heavily.
He had won without even using [World Cleaver].
Kaelios appeared beside him, clapping slowly.
“Well done. I didn’t think you’d pull it off.”
Alex smirked, his exhaustion evident. “Yeah… me neither.”