Chapter 123: Never Lose Hope
Listen While Reading: Yagyu Sword Chronicles -----
Crack, crack…!
CRACK!
RUMBLE!
The entire world of Elios started shaking, giant cracks began to spread everywhere, and enormous quantities of lava from the blazing core of the planet started erupting everywhere. The Barbarian God was planning to absorb the planet's energy and use it to destroy Bing Xue and everything else.
His plan was nothing but insane, but seeing how insane he was and how his divinity worked, Bing Xue and everyone else below immediately could tell he was serious about his claims; he was insane.
“IF I HAVE TO DESTROY THE ENTIRE WORLD, I WILL! AS LONG AS I CAN KILL YOU!”
His form became larger, reaching over two kilometers in height, looking like an endless tower of a man, piercing the skies and the heavens themselves. Bing Xue noticed that it was as if the ground and the heavens merged with his body.
“So this is what a God who has taken over a world’s laws can truly do?” thought Bing Xue, glancing at the scene. “Umbra and Estrella never reached this stage, though; was it because they didn’t want the world to be destroyed, or… Somehow, the Barbarian God has a special power or ability given to him by somebody else? Something else?”
“COME! MY ARMY OF DESTRUCTION AND BLOODSHED!
The Barbarian God’s entire body, blazing with the lava of the entire planet rushing into his body, started to rapidly shapeshift, giving birth to thousands of aberrant, titanic divine monsters from his flesh and bones. They resembled all kinds of monstrosities and beasts; they not only aimed at Bing Xue but also at all the mortals beneath them.
“KILL HER! KILL EVERYONE! DON’T LET A SINGLE ONE LEFT! I SHALL FULFILL MY DESTINY! AS THE GOD OF DESTRUCTION!”
“Destruction?!”
And then Bing Xue finally realized that the Barbarian God’s true divinities weren’t War, or Bloodshed, actually. He embodied Destruction itself, a powerful Divinity that could bring the end to an entire world in a matter of minutes… or even seconds!
Meanwhile, down below, Ultimus smiled with fascination as he saw the entire World of Elios beginning to break apart, giant volcanoes drowning the once beautiful grasslands with magma, and as monstrous and aberrant beasts surged from the ever-growing body of his god.
“Haha… HAHAHA! He’s doing it! My god shall create a utopia of bloodshed and war!”
“What?!”
Mursha screamed in utter disbelief, full of complete indignation at the scenes happening in front of her. The world her family loved the world her tribe loved, the world her friends and the many other tribes protected, the world that the Bloodfang Wolf and his siblings and children also loved—it was all going to be destroyed.
All by that damned god, that monstrous god that should have never been born in this peaceful land! All because of him, the man in front of him!
“IT’S ALL YOUR DAMN FAULT!!!”
Mursha roared, full of anger and wrath, reaching Ultimus as her axe cleaved through his divine barriers, shattering them one after another. The furious yet weakened cult leader roared back, hitting Mursha with several blows of his bare fists made of pure divinity.
BAAM! BAAM! BAAM! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
The intensity of their fight continued to rise rapidly. Mursha’s attacks were precise and lethal, while Ultimus blows were strong, shaking her entire body, but were unable to pierce through her skin after being reinforced by her combination of Primal Power, Ki, Mana, and Spirit Energy, plus her own unique Bloodfang Aura.
“Dammit! Why won’t you accept your demise?!” Ultimus screamed. “Why must you keep struggling?! Accept your fate! The world is going to be destroyed and remade anew! There is nothing you can do anymore, Mursha!”
“Don’t try to preach on me, you bastard! I am not fighting alone!” Mursha said. “Bing Xue and everyone she brought with her, they’re strong! And they’re going to help me save this world! They… THEY PROMISED ME!”
Mursha’s Developing Divinity of Shadows started shaking and began to slowly grow. weaker, cracks started appearing through it, and at the same time, Ultimus continued hitting her, noticing her shadows flickered and grew weaker.
“Hahaha! Your Developing Divinity can’t help you for much longer! It's still developing, and much weaker than my Demi-Divinity!” laughed Ultimus. “Unlike you, I am but a single step from becoming a true god, MURSHA!”
With the laughter befitting a three-hundred-year-old madman, Ultimus gathered power on his legs and crushed Mursha’s face, pushing her down into the floor with a huge explosive kick!
CRAAASH!
“Ugh…! Aahh… Hahhh…”
Mursha slowly stood back up, gasping for air. She felt frustrated but wasn’t going down yet, not as long as she could breathe and stand up! Her Blood Runes continued to grow stronger, spreading red tattoos across her body until her skin almost resembled the same tone as Ultimus.
“I’m not giving up…! I am not… going to step back either!” Mursha roared. “I will not stop until I kill you, Ultimus!”
“THEN DIE!”
The red orc reached Mursha, materializing a huge spear, concentrating all his divine powers and mana into it, aiming at Mursha’s chest, and firing the spear towards her.
“Ugh… Agh!”
Mursha tried to lift her arms and swing her axe, but the weight of her axe had suddenly become too heavy; her entire body was growing weaker over time, and her energies were almost gone.
“Move… Move! Dammit… MOVE!”
She kept trying to push her body to her limits, but she had already reached them and broken them; there was no longer any higher ceiling to reach; her body was slowly dying and falling apart.
And the spear reached her.
BOOOMMM!!!
An explosion of divine flames erupted, engulfing Mursha. The orc warriors closed her eyes as she accepted her death with frustration and anger, trusting that Bing Xue would finish the job for her.
“Mother… father…"
Yet, although the heat was intense, she didn’t die, suddenly realizing the explosion never truly hit her. Her eyes opened wide, and she realized there was someone in front of her.
(Liste while reading: You Say Run + Jet Set Run )
A tall, mighty human woman with long, fiery red and orange colored hair, resembling fire, and sharp crimson and orange eyes, alongside skin as black as charcoal, covered with red and white tattoos.
Her arms were folded in front of her face and chest, protecting her vitals from being destroyed. The spear she launched reached her arms and exploded, leaving behind deep burn wounds over her arms.
But she was fine and alive.
“S-So strong…” Mursha thought. “Fiery Hair… Is it you?”
“I am!” Fiery Hair smiled back at the orc warrioress. "Mursha, do not fight alone! Mursha has friends… Trust friends now! We fight together, like family! Not alone!”
“You’re…!” Mursha was going to protest, wanting Ultimus all for herself, yet she realized that with that mentality, she would only die alone. “Thanks…”
“No problem!” Fiery Hair smiled, looking at the man in front of him. “Belze cursed him! Why he still standing?!”
“That damn curse’s still fucking me up…! But I can hold on for a couple more minutes, as long as I can kill them then… I can leave the rest to my god,” Ultimus thought. “HAH! Because in this form I am completely invincible, you bitches! NOW COME AND DIE!”
The red orc smiled as he gathered his powers and materialized two titanic fists of over twenty meters each, pushing them down towards the two warriors.
“Be crushed like the ants you are! {Divine Asura Red Sun Fists}!”
“Here it comes, Fiery Hair! Can you take it?!” Mursha roared, finishing to eat a pill Bing Xue had given her, regaining her energies.
“FIERY HAIR CAN TAKE ON ANYBODY!” Fiery Hair roared, her fists generating flames biologically instead of magically; in fact, her entire body exuded golden and crimson flames made of her Primal Power alone.
The two female warriors attacked the moment the titanic fists reached them. Mursha used her giant axe to cleave her way through, while Fiery Hair used her bare fists. Explosions of auras clashing against one another echoed everywhere!
BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM!
But above all, the titanic arms and the fists attached to them were rapidly gaining cracks, Ultimus couldn’t believe it, but this duo was actually doing it!
Crack, crack…!
CRACK!
“RAAAHHHH!!!”
Fiery Hair and Mursha roared at the same time; for a split second, their auras fused into a gigantic Aura Fist of their own, piercing through Ultimus divine technique and then reaching his body all the way in the skies.
“T-This is impossible! Just what… WHAT IS THIS?!”
CRAAASH!
Using all his body and arms, he tried to resist the gigantic fist rushing towards him, which quickly twisted its height and position, and then began pushing him into the ground, resembling a fist-shaped blazing meteor.
“T-This is divinity?!” Ultimus screamed, his skin and flesh burning. “But that Mursha’s divinity…! She shouldn’t have such power! How is this… POSSIBLE?!”
His eyes widened as he felt something—a spark, a new divinity, or, well, something developing within Mursha. Born from the fragments of the Developing Divinity of Shadows she took from Obsidian well, and combined with her blood aura, the remaining spiritual powers of the Bloodfang Wolf, and also, her Primal Power.
FLUOSH!
“Ultimus…! I already told you, didn’t I?” Mursha smiled defiantly.
RUMBLE!
Her aura continued growing, expanding endlessly, shaking the very Laws of the World of Elios.
The old red orc couldn’t believe it; his eyes widened.
He was shocked!
This… simply couldn’t be!
A mortal like her…
Developing a Divinity of her own?!
“No…! NOOOO!!!”
BOOOMMM!!!
The fist erupted into a huge explosion, yet Ultimus used all his power to literally punch the explosion away, jumping towards Fiery Hair and Mursha at the same time.
“Fiery Hair, he’s coming! Let’s synchronize!”
“Synchro- huh?!”
Fiery Hair’s eyes widened as Mursha touched her.
For a moment, it felt as though both could share thoughts.
“This is a new ability I just thought about, {Shared Battle Sense}!”
Mursha’s Divinity continued to develop as she gained a new Ability out of it.
{Shared Battle Sense}, the power to share a battle sense, thoughts, and emotions with a target!
But how?
“How was it possible for Mursha to develop a divinity so quickly without any Faith?!”
Ultimus gritted his teeth in utter disbelief, his giant fists rushing down towards both girls as he roared like a madman.
“DIE! DIE! DIE! DIEEE!”
Fiery Hair and Mursha synchronized; his blows were easily evaded or blocked by Fiery Hair’s superior physique, while Mursha sneaked behind him, constantly hitting him with her axe.
CLASH! BOOM! CRASH! SLASH! RUMBLE!
The ground around them started shaking and being completely destroyed as Mursha and Fiery Hair continued fighting—their spirits, their souls, their powers.
They were one for that very moment!
“Dammit! Come here- ACK!”
Ultimus was being punched from left and right without being given any time to respond properly by Fiery Hair, all while Mursha cleaved his back or his arms, slowly weakening him even more.
“No…! This can’t be happening!” He kept screaming. “I am… I AM A FUTURE GOD!”
“No, I don’t think so!”
Mursha rushed in front of him, her axe overflowing with...
DIVINITY!
“N-no…! Where are you getting the Faith to gain so much Divine Power from?!”
“Faith, you ask?! Don’t you see it all around the world?!”
“What…?!”
Ultimus eyes widened, his divine senses noticing the despair and screams of millions of people across the world of Elios.
They asked for salvation, for things to get better, and for someone...
For a warrior to protect them!
“Everyone is sick of you and your damn cult!” Mursha roared. “You didn’t improve this world! You only made it WORSE! YOU AND YOUR DAMN TRIBE! YOU AND YOUR DAMN GOD!”
Ultimus entire face started growing distorted as he couldn’t believe Mursha’s insolence.
No, he simply couldn’t believe the entire world’s population and their insolence!
After being completely dominated by the cult for hundreds of years.
Even now, they hate it?!
Even now, they don’t worship his god enough?!
“S-Shut up… SHUT UP! SHUT UP! SHUT UUUP!”
Ultimus screamed, but his divinity, instead, continued to grow weaker and weaker.
And all around the world, there are warriors, hunters, gatherers, and even farmers.
They all cowered in fear, praying, and praying.
They knew the beast spirits were gone; they knew that the barbarian god was going to kill them.
But someone…
They wanted someone to help them!
A hero…
They need a liberator—someone to avenge their ancestors and their families.
Their legacies trampled upon these wicked cultists!
“Please… someone…”
“Someone, help us…”
“Oh warriors…”
“Warriors of the Bloodfang Tribe…”
“The last true warriors that resisted until the end…”
“If only you were here, if only… you could help us!”
Their faith, their prayers for help, their hope! It all continued flowing towards Mursha; her shattered divinity restructured itself, forming something new.
A new Divinity altogether!
“THIS IS BULLSHIT!”
Ultimus couldn’t believe it; he didn’t want to believe it.
His fists continued clashing against the two women, and Fiery Hair fearlessly tanked many hits. Even as she began bleeding and gasping for air, some of her bones were already broken.
BOOOM!
“GO, MURSHAAAA!”
Crack, crack…!
CRASH!
With a furious roar, she punched Ultimus into the ground and destroyed his last divine barrier that he used to protect himself. Mursha leaped out of Fiery Hair’s back and reached Ultimus.
Her axe grew ten times larger than originally, a Divine Manifestation of her Divinity!
“PAY FOR WHAT YOU’VE DONE… NOT ONLY TO MY FAMILY, BUT TO THE ENTIRE WORLD, ULTIMUS!”
“No…! STOP…! STOOOP!”
The axe cleaved through Ultimus face and then descended towards his chest, slashing him apart continuously, setting his entire body ablaze.
SLAAASH!
“T-This can’t be happening…! Me… DYING?! After all… I’ve accomplished…! G-Gaaahh…! UUUAAAAGGGH!”
In that very last moment, Ultimus saw the true nature of Mursha’s divinity.
His eyes glistened as tears fell from his eyes.
Even as a monstrous madman, he could see the beauty of her strength.
Her Divinity was simple.
It wasn’t Battle, nor was it Bloodshed or Fighting, or anything like that.
No.
It was, perhaps one of the strongest emotions any person could have.
An emotion they never abandoned, no matter what.
There was simply no stronger emotion than it.
HOPE!
The Hope of the entire world of Elios, she held it within her heart!
“My god… Was I… wrong the entire time?”
BOOOMMM!!!
Ultimus entire body was sliced into two halves and then disintegrated, vaporizing due to the immense heat produced by Mursha’s newborn Divinity.
The Divine Connection he had with the Barbarian God was cut off, as the God above the skies suddenly felt a large part of his strength disappear.
As a young god created by an evil cult, his powers depended greatly on the one who carried his Divinity when he was made.
A connection, Ultimus was something similar to a pillar!
“Ultimus…! Was killed?!” The Barbarian God vomited blood. “No…! This can’t be happening! He was the second strongest to me!”
And then his eyes saw Bing Xue appear in front of him, her entire aura exuding tremendous power.
“What’s wrong? Can't you fight now that your little puppet is dead?”
“TCH…! NAH, THIS IS NOTHING!”
The God of Destruction clashed against Bing Xue as the skies were split apart.
RUMBLE!
Meanwhile, within the ancient ruins, the seals of the five Great Divine Beast Spirits rapidly came undone as the ancient divinities that once protected Elios were finally freed.
“The world… is ending!”
“We must do something quickly!”
“But at our current strength, what can we do?!”
“Wait… I know!”
“You mean…? To choose vessels?”
Seth smiled as he nodded.
“I know exactly the perfect vessels for you.”
-----