Chapter 160: Through the Trenches!
The Veridi belonged to the former group, a tribe so ancient that they predated the Wrathful Gods. Manifesting once a million years as angels, birds, dragons, and other winged creatures, with signature armaments that multiplied the prowess of their innate skills.
No one knew where they came from. Their leaders and numbers a well-kept secret. Not even Vel was aware of Nabu and Utu's Veridi background. Had she known, she couldn't have possibly left the crew to deal with entities that the Great didn't dare to touch.
[Divine Strength]
The situation had devolved into a nightmare. Utu's Divine Power on full blast as his claws closed in on Vel. She didn't lose focus—her mind locked on Marcus' Temple even as the Veridi's claws threatened to hack into her body and soul!
Here, Ishtar came to the rescue. Her saint-class dragons flanking Utu in a flawless pincer attack! The deity laughed like a demented fiend, the sky answering his shrill laughter with a rain of Destiny Bolts!
The gray lightning shattered Ishtar's dragons! Her strongest move reduced to fiery sparks in the blink of an eye. Find adventures at m_v l|e-NovelBin.net
Menaka didn't hesitate, blitzing towards Utu in a flash of Quantum Tunnelling. Or so she tried to. But by the time she'd activated the Second Secret, Menaka noticed that her surroundings had changed. The colosseum replaced by a cloudy mist valley.
"No need to worry about them. They're dead already. Utu is the dominant twin. If not for the limits on foreign Superior Beings being so harsh, I am not sure Agravain would be his match.
You're a lot better than I gave you credit for…but you are no Agravain. None of you are." Nabu's voice boomed across the land, giving Menaka the impression that he'd become one with the world.
Gurus sought the end of their own sufferings and the achievement of eternal bliss. On that path, they split into two, Selfless and Ero Gurus. But though the two travelled different roads, they only had one destination: the Divine Fantasy.
Build your palace through the Divine Secrets, and flavor it with your Pyromantic Thesis. When Palace of Indulgence and Pyromantic Thesis became one, the Divine Fantasy took shape—unlocking the Guru's true potential.
The power of a Guru's Fantasy couldn't be compared to the ones borrowed through mantras. They were much, much stronger.
And Menaka now stood…in Nabu's Divine Fantasy—a delicate predicament.
The Astalon had ran out of options. But as all visualized Vel's impending demise, the Queen Regent never once lost her cool.
Better, her lips curled up! This odd reaction followed by an abrupt shift in ambient temperature!
Utu's claws melted in burning fumes, smoldering smoke oozing from his flesh as he fell in a pool of formless flames!
Humano Hakim made his entrance, holding his chest and struggling to stay on his feet as he lurched towards Vel. "Give…me back my blood!" Hakim didn't beat around the bush, his right hand stretching towards Vel as the left stayed glued to his chest.
'How could we forget? The Beast cannot stand Blood Nobles, making them incompatible with his powers. So, while Hakim has lost all Fylkir characteristics…he can now exploit 100% of the Beast's boons.'
Indeed. Though the psychological damage was no doubt devastating, Vel turning Hakim human didn't necessarily make him weaker. For now, just like Caligula with the Heart of Malice, Hakim could exploit 100% of the Beast's gifts—including his Inner Flame:
The World Smelting Flame!
Shapeless tongues of fire tightened on Utu's flesh, evaporating the deity's armor while his divine power melted under his very eyes.
Focused on her task, Vel didn't answer—visualizing Mithras through the lens of the Sixth Secret. An angelic gate crystallized before her, followed by a silver key that slammed into the lock and forced it open step by step.
Mantras, Divine Power and Secrets all drained Mental Fortitude—a mysterious and unquantifiable attribute with a hierarchy of its own:
Broken, Fragile, Flawed, Balanced, Steel, Stainless, Adamantine, and Limitless. The Mental didn't increase with Sid Level, determined at birth and fluctuating through trials and tribulations.
Vel possessed a Stainless Mental and could in fact multitask. But aware that she only got once chance to reach Mithras, she didn't dare to take risks—shutting down her senses to speed up her Nirvana!
Hakim's patience waned. But as the humanized huntmaster was about to go rogue, Lyssandra appeared at Vel's right, facing the disgraced Rashukan.
"Hakim, Her Majesty had already predicted that she'd own you moving forward and left a message for you: 'Hakim, I can't help you…yet. There is no cure for the parasite that turned you human…yet. But if you behave and protect my Nirvana, I might come up with a cure…yet.
Sorry, I'm no good with rhymes.'" Lyssandra gave a colorful retelling of Vel's words. Black lines forming on Hakim's forehead as he noticed the jab at his style.
"What if she fails?" If before Hakim would have a pun or counter ready, now he couldn't care less—completely obsessed with the urge to restore his Fylkir blood.
"That is irrelevant to you. So long as my lady doesn't die here, she will fulfil her end of the bargain."
"Good! Remember your words!" Hakim agreed to Lyssandra's terms, settling so fast that Lyssandra couldn't help but feel suspicious.
There was no trap, however. From the moment he'd regained his humanity, nauseating feelings bombarded Hakim from the inside. So much so that he now struggled to contain the need to vomit around the clock.
It had to stop. He couldn't be human—anything but that!
"Hakim, you are thinking backwards. Where do you think Aurelia is right now? Your 'brother' is in the Weaver's hands, and you want to assist his enemies?
Get a grip, huntmaster! Your next choice could very well decide your brother's fate! The Weaver can restore your blood. But who can save Aurelia from His Excellency?" Utu sneered at Hakim's move, fading out of the World Smelting Flames and reforming a step behind the formless blaze.
"Can't argue with that one," Hakim whispered, his eyes lowered as his dark pupils dilated.
That muffled whisper didn't escape the gathered sages' ears. Utu burst into laughter, Lyssandra's brows furrowing as she joined her hands in a mudra.
"So, I guess they're lucky I don't care for common sense." Hakim made a sweeping motion, the bodies of 60 hidden creatures emerging from the void, burned to death by the World Smelting Flame.
The charred corpses of 60 Destiny Beasts crashed left and right. A thousand more revealed themselves, led by three squads of deities that looked like they wished to eat Hakim alive!
"Huntmaster…what is the meaning of this? Don't you care for y—"
"Shut the fuck up you cum-guzzling whale. There ain't a man under the blue sky who can pin Aurelian down. The Weaver ain't even half a man. For what should I be worried about that bottomed out punk?
Now you're gonna do me a favor and shut your bitch ass.
I'm mad!
Real mad!
And want nothing more…than to set your world on fire!" Hakim backed his words with actions, sending a storm of tyrant-class flames sweeping through Utu's hidden troops, and making a mess of the deity's forces!
"AAAAAAAARGH!" Right around this time, Nabu's scream rumbled across the Blood Colosseum, followed by his armored frame tumbling from the heavens and cratering below. Sargon pierced through Nabu's chest; his eyes stretched to the limits as if he still couldn't believe the facts staring him in the eyes.
Menaka appeared on top of Sargon, one with sword and flames as she looked down on Nabu.
"I have acquired your Archetype. Lord Nabu, in this life, you will never defeat me," Menaka said with shocking confidence.
Nabu didn't argue. His Mental shattered by Menaka's overwhelming might!
"This power…belongs to us. How?!" Nabu was confused. Even as Trajan dispatched a Minor God and joined the other Abominations to suppress his subordinates, the deity still struggled to make sense of this absurd turn of event.
One moment, he was beating up on Menaka with his Divine Fantasy. The next, all his moves disintegrated before they reached their target. His limbs turned against him, and Sargon hacked him down!
More confusing still, both the Right of Annihilation and the Power of Fate rippled in that sword, both at a level that seemed to come straight from the Triumvirate.
Menaka answered with a stomp—reducing Nabu into a thousand pieces!