We took our places as the barrier activated around us, they stood across for me, with a few meters between them. Sylvar had his spear and Bell wasn’t carrying any visible weapons, but I’m pretty sure she’s got her hidden daggers on her as usual.
As for me, I’ve got my Fangs of the Basilisk twin blades on me, and I was itching to get started. I’ve been so busy lately with running the nation that I haven’t had the time to spar or train.
But even if I am a bit rusty, I can rely on my eyes and reaction time to make up the difference until I get back into the swing of things. And thanks to my Healing Factor, I haven’t had to worry about my body getting out of shape or anything, I’ve been able to maintain peak physical condition.
”Let’s wrap up this tournament with a bang! Final match…BEGIN!”
Both Sylvar and Bell immediately shot towards me from either side, closing in on me rapidly. I swiftly drew out one of my blades as Sylvar sprang up to my right and slashed his spear down at me, before Bell leapt up at my left and drove a lightning coated dagger at me, which I stopped by grabbing her wrist.
I then swung them across and flung them up into the air, before taking aim and firing out a sticky spider web net up at them.
Bell quickly grabbed Sylvar’s wrist and teleported both of them out of the way before they could get ensnared, before Sylvar swung his spear across to slash at an Obliteration Magic blast I fired at them, splitting my blast in half.
I then teleported behind them and blasted out a sonic screech from my mouth, as Sylvar quickly responded by spinning around and unleashing a sharp burst of wind, dissipating my noise blast before it could affect them.
I swiftly parried as he drove his spear straight at me, deflecting it away, before catching a dagger flung at me by Bell with my teeth.
I then fired our Repulsion from my palm to send them both flying back, Sylvar breaking their fall by firing out a wind blast behind them and canceling out the momentum, before shockwaves of power burst out from both of them as they landed, entering their Elemental Sage Modes.
Guess I’ll transform too…Lazarus Mode should be enough for now.
The two of them then shot towards me as I transformed, a massive wind blast and devastating lightning bolt rapidly shooting towards me.
I countered their attacks with Obliteration Magic blasts, before drawing out my second blade and blocking as Sylvar sprang up right in front of me and swung his spear straight down.
I slashed my other blade out to the right as Bell flung two daggers at me, deflecting them and shattering the blades, before I unleashed a shockwave of Repulsion to blast them both away from me.
I then drew Bell towards me using Beckon, before she teleported away to avoid getting caught. Sylvar then closed in on me and slashed at my side, which I blocked with my left blade, before he drew back his spear and drove it straight at my chest, with I deflected with my right blade.
As Bell fired out several streaks of lightning at me to back him up, he spun his spear around and whipped the base of the handle up at my chin, which I sprang back to avoid, before teleporting to evade the lightning converging in on me.
I reappeared up in the air, as Sylvar began twisting and swirling the air around him, forming a tornado rising up towards me rapidly.
I teleported in right in front of him, and as he began to spring back in alarm, his tornado starting to dissipate, I slammed my foot onto his midsection, and as he let out a sharp gasp of pain, sent him flying back and slamming onto the barrier wall with a pained groan.
Right as I kicked him away, a massive lightning blast came barreling towards me, which I swiftly blocked by forming a Defense Magic barrier.
Suddenly, as the lightning began to fade, Bell teleported right into my barrier and slashed at my face with a dagger. I tilted my head back to evade it, her blade nicking the bridge of my nose, before I fired out a wind blast to send her flying back, right as Sylvar sprang up behind me with his spear raised.
Without turning around, I blocked his slash with one of my blades, before whipping my tail up at him. He suddenly let go of his spear and grabbed my tail, starting to throw me over his shoulder before quickly letting go and springing back while firing a barrage of wind blasts at me, as I formed an Obliteration Magic blast and took aim.
I fired my blast at him and quickly teleported away, one of his wind blasts clipping my right shoulder. As I reappeared up in the air, a powerful lightning blast came shooting up towards me, which I swiftly blocked with one of my blades, before forming an Absolute Defense barrier as Sylvar swung his spear across and sent a barrage of slashing shockwaves up at me.
I then quickly teleported away as his slashes broke through and shattered my barrier, narrowly evading his attacks.
Okay, they’re putting up a pretty decent fight against me in this form…I then fired out several Obliteration Magic blasts at them to force them to back away and halt their attacks, giving myself an opening.
Time to end this…
”You guys fought well, but it’s over now…,” I smirked, as I began to enter Diablo Mode, unleashing my full power.
Now, then, how should I end this? I’ve got plenty of options, which one would be the most-…hm? What the…? I was…glowing. And so were the two of them.
”Huh!? What is this, what’s going on!?” Exclaimed Rion, as he began glowing too…and as I looked around, several others were starting to glow as well, Belia, Az, Draco…I then froze as I saw Persia glowing too, among several others…
And then, a familiar voice echoed out…
”Finally…I finally did it! Unfortunately, I could not mark everyone whom I want to trap, but this is good enough! I…I will sacrifice every last drop of Divine Magic I’ve got left, along with the very essence of my being, to ensure that this works!”
No way…that voice, it sounds like…not-God. But how!?
Damn it…I can’t move or use any magic, what the hell is he upto!?
A bright light then appeared above the stadium, and I felt myself getting pulled towards it, unable to do a thing about it. Shit, don’t tell me…that orb of light I saw before…was that him!?
”This is my revenge, did you really think you could get away with killing me!? I have gathered as much Divine Magic as I could, and I have just enough to pull this off…I cannot kill any of you, but…but I can seal you all away! It may not even last for all eternity, but I can guarantee that it will hold for at least a few millennia! One thing is for sure…all those whom I have marked, your involvement in this era is over!”
No…no, no, no! You’ve gotta be kidding me…!
”You bastard, I’ll get you for this! Not-God!” I yelled furiously, as I desperately tried to break free, but to no avail.
”That means nothing. Once this is done, I will well and truly cease to exist. This is goodbye, Kuro Black…and I get the last laugh.”
”Fuck, fuck, fuck! This can’t be happening!” Snapped Sylvar, straining to try and break free.
”Petty bastard…!” Growled Bell, struggling too but it was no use.
One by one, everyone who was glowing was dragged towards the bright light, helpless to break free.
Draco and the Elemental Dragons, Zero and a few other Vampires, Belia, Az, Persia, Rion, Azeria and Fuo…
”I genuinely wish I could have marked so many more of you…but with the meagre amount of Divine Magic left, this is my limit. All of you will now enter a deep, long sleep. And I sincerely hope you never wake up…,” Remarked not-God, his voice slowly fading.
The bright light then began to take shape, forming a large, pyramid-shaped barrier around us…I started to feel sleepy, as I felt less restrained, but still unable to use any of my powers, as several voices echoed out from below…
”My lord!”
”No, Bell, Sylvar!”
”Come on, you can fight this!”
Sorry, whoever said that, but…I don’t think I can…
”Kuro! Az! Persia! Please…don’t go! Come on, damn it, break free!” Suddenly came Rai’s voice, sounding despaired.
I gritted my teeth, fought off the growing drowsiness with every fiber of my being and turned my gaze down towards them, straining my arm and shakily pointing…
”Rai! Jhin! I’m leaving you guys in charge of Abyss! I’ll…I’ll be back someday! Don’t…don’t let me down, you guys!” I exclaimed with the last bit of strength I could muster.
”Yeah…we’ll be back…,” Came a faint voice from my left, as Persia latched on to my left arm with a weak smile, her eyelids fluttering shut, before her head bumped onto my shoulder as she succumbed to the drowsiness.
Damn it…I can’t stay awake much longer myself. Most of the others are already asleep, and this pyramid-shaped barrier is almost completely formed. Everything’s going dark…
”Oh, no, you don’t! You’re not passing out that easily!” Snapped Diablo, jolting my consciousness and keeping me awake.
”We can unravel this, it’ll take a long time, possibly even centuries, but we can’t do that if you lose consciousness!” Added Lazarus urgently…right as I felt someone grab my right arm and pierce my claws into their arm.
”Hey…mind lending me some Divine Magic? I could use some to…unravel…this barrier…,” Smirked Belia, her eyes slightly droopy, but a determined look in her eyes, “I’ll be damned if I let Samsara get away with this crap! It’ll take a whole lot of time, but-…”
”Perfect timing, psycho bitch! Three heads are better than one! Help us keep Kuro awake, and we’ll help you unravel the barrier!” Exclaimed Diablo, using the connection from my claws to talk to her.
”Oh, well, now, this is a pleasant surprise, I totally forgot about you two…heh, sure, leave it to me, my dear children,” She nodded with a grin, before pausing and adding with a frown, “Wait, back up, what did you just call me!?”
”Kuro, focus on staying awake. Even with Belia’s help, this barrier is ridiculously complex, so it will probably take a couple of centuries at the very least,” Lazarus informed me.
”Looks like we’re fully sealed in already. No time like the present to get started on this!” Added Diablo.
”Hey, I know, let’s play some simple games to keep from losing our minds! Let’s start with a word game, use the last letter of the previous word and you can’t repeat a word that’s already been used. I’ll start…penis!” Exclaimed Belia.
”Uh, super.”
”Reincarnation.”
I’ve…I’ve gotta put up with this for centuries? This is gonna be hell…
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