Chapter 150: Bael’s Rematch 2
-----
SLASH!!!
Anna’s unavoidable spinning attack slashed through Bael’s Defensive Demonic Aura, his hard armor erupting with darkness, trying to resist her attack!
“{Abyssal Armor’s Defense}!”
FLASH!
Anna suddenly felt pushed back several meters as Bael laughed, having successfully blocked her attack, and defended himself!
“Hahahaha! Did you think I wouldn’t come prepared to hunt you down?!” Bael laughed, his spear growing three times as large and overflowing with abyssal energies. “I’ve put on my strongest armor suit, and this is my second strongest weapon, the Demonic Abyssal Spear of Darkness!”
As Bael laughed, he reached Anna in a split second while she was flying in midair! His spear flashed with lightning speed, reaching her head, and attempting to end her with a single strike into her face!
“Aim, become a sword.”
“W-What?!”
FLASH!
Suddenly, Aim’s soul emerged out of her Purgatory Realm, his cat-like form melting into golden and purple metal, turning into a lustrous and sharp katana!
Ding!
[You have temporarily transformed the Sealed Demonic Soul {Aim, Twelfth Apostle of Death, King of Anger} into the [Demonic Jaguar’s Lightning Katana (SSS+ Rank)] Weapon!]
[While in this State, Aim’s powers are partially liberated and transformed into the equipment’s stats and abilities!]
[You have equipped the Demonic Weapon, its powers overflowing through your body.]
“I’m a sword?!”
As Aim screamed in disbelief and Bael glanced in surprise at what Anna had just done to another of the Death Apostles, she quickly received Bael’s spear attack from both Gram and the weaponized Aim.
It was time for her to showcase her true strength through dual-wielding. She grabbed Aim’s sword tightly and slashed both Aim and Gram at the same time. At the same time, a cross-shaped attack made of black lightning emerged.
“{Thousand Blades}: {Demonic Lightning Cross}!”
An attack combining Demonic Energy, Celestial Energy, and Lightning reached Bael’s spear, blocking its almighty strike as an explosion of multiple elements engulfed their surroundings.
BOOOMMM!!
RUMBLE!
The endless corridors surrounding them blew into smithereens by the dozens. Everyone else that had just arrived watched at the scene as, within the smoke, two figures swiftly continued their clash.
“YOU! What is your damn name?!” Bael roared, his armor looking covered with bruises as he clashed against Anna’s relentless sword attacks.
“Anna, remember it well; it’s the name of your new master.” Anna smiled with such confidence that it made Bael vomit blood out of pure anger.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Anna’s dual-wielding sword techniques became much more effective than her single-wielding version, simply because she could use Thousand Blades twice as much.
Although the MP and Ki consumption was ridiculous, because of her many perks and fast regeneration of Mana, she was capable of keeping this up for a long while before growing tired.
And above all, Aim’s katana form was surprisingly amazing; it held his lighting powers and additional demonic energy and mana, helping her save her own reserves!
Of course, with her new armor, gauntlet, and Hel’s Grimoire equipped, she had tens of thousands of MP to spare, but even that would run low quickly if the fight continued endlessly.
Especially because of Bael’s special ability.
Ding!
[The {Eighth Apostle of Death, King of Wickedness, Bael} exudes a mighty {Abyssal Demonic Life Draining Aura} from his body and armor!]
[Any foe’s HP and MP are being drained by -0.5% with each second within 10 meters around him.]
“The more this battle extends, the more I’ll be at a disadvantage.” Anna thought. “I have to end this quickly!”
Bael’s spear flashed right in front of her, almost piercing through her head seconds before she evaded, moving down her head and then sliding through the wooden floor, her two swords swinging rapidly against him.
“{Thousand Blades}: {Lightning Blade Storm}!”
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Her attacks became a storm of slashes made of lightning, engulfing Bael’s entire body. His armor exuded an Aura of Abyss, reducing the damage from all the attacks.
However…
FLUOSH!
Anna’s hands touched his armor, glowing brightly as countless golden chains wrapped around his legs before his spear could reach her.
“{Demon Sealing Chains}!”
“URGH…?!”
Bael was shaken that Anna could conjure spells without incantations. And one as complex as chains made of celestial light that could temporarily seal the powers of demons!
“This is… USELESS!”
However, with a roar of might, Bael forcefully broke the chains, which shattered into fragments of light. He then chased Anna, his spear raining down on her as countless strikes befell her body.
“{Abyssal Needles}!”
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Bael finished his attacks with a powerful kick in Anna’s torso, blowing her away like a rag doll, her body piercing through countless rooms at the same time.
“Ahahaha! You rely too much on Skills, but your techniques are incredibly poor!” Bael mocked Anna’s efforts. “You’re strong, but you’re nothing compared to us Demons, who have lived for thousands of years!”
Bael leaped into midair, shattering the floor where he was and reaching Anna like a blur of black color, only to be greeted by Anna’s cheeky smile.
“Yeah, I know very well you’re all terrifying monsters,” Anna said. “That’s why I’m over-geared.”
As Anna spoke, Bael reached her with his spear, hitting her chest and blowing her away.
“Enough with your nonsense!”
CLASH!!!
The strike alone made Anna’s crimson armor release countless sparks of crimson light. Anna, however, smiled, even as she felt her ribs breaking.
“{Bleeding World}”
[Spending -10000 Blood Energy.]
[The Ability [Bleeding World] has been activated!]
[The World Bleeds as the Screaming Maiden struggles in agony.]
“What?!” Bael muttered. “This is…! The presence of a Void Ruler?!”
Bael could only see as Anna’s entire crimson armor erupted with a tremendous burst of crimson energy, engulfing him in a huge scarlet sea.
Everything turned red.
BOOOM!
The scarlet sea similarly consumed everything that Sara had seen before when this same attack was conjured against Astaroth. She knew it took a while to activate, as Anna needed to take a ridiculous amount of damage.
But once she could finally bring it out, its effects were utterly devastating! To Bael, it felt as if millions of crimson hands started tearing apart his body piece by piece, all while his armor was shattered into thousands of pieces of debris.
“UUUAAAGGH…!”
With a visceral and demonic scream, Bael fell through several rooms, collapsing twelve rooms below, his armor breaking apart to reveal his appearance; he resembled a huge gray-skinned and muscular Oni.
His hair was long and silver-colored, and he had two pairs of black horns adorning his forehead; one of them was shattered. Several parts of his body were covered with black fur.
And of course, the damage he took was severe; his entire body was bleeding, and it wasn’t regenerating either.
The power of Bleeding World not only dealt 1000% Damage based on Anna’s Magic Power, but it also ignored half of the target’s magical defenses, drained their health, and inhibited their wounds from regenerating and closing down.
Their blood was, constantly being drained. If this were used on a whole army, the true depiction of the technique’s name would come.
A Bleeding World.
The fantasy that the Bleeding Scream endlessly sought, a being born from the world’s screams of anguish, their agony, their pain...
A primordial pillar of all life, agony!
“U-Uurrgh…! T-This can’t… be!” Bael muttered, gasping for air as he forcefully stood back up, looking at his own armor, which had been destroyed. “My armor…!”
Anna’s wounds were slowly being healed as she encompassed herself in several healing spells, fused with her Celestial Aura and Shiro’s healing and support skills.
She quickly jumped down to confront him.
“You’ve not seen the last of me yet…!” Bael roared, his chest suddenly beginning to wiggle, as a huge crimson eye opened from within! “{Crimson Eye of the Abyss}!”
RUMBLE!
An enormous beam of pure darkness and crimson energy reached Anna from his chest! Anna didn’t expect the bastard to have such a trick below his sleeve.
“Now this is getting annoying.” Anna’s entire body started to turn into a specter, fusing with the lightning coursing through her body as she turned into pure black lightning, both of her swords piercing through the beam at the same time.
“{Thousand Blades}: {Dual Spectral Lightning}”
With both swords overflowing with lightning and celestial energy, Anna descended like a flash of thunder, piercing through Bael’s beam, and reaching his chest, slashing both of his arms off, and then leaving a huge wound over his torso!
SLASH! SLASH!
BOOOM!
The lightning from both attacks electrocuted his body! Yet in his agony, the Death Apostle continued fighting, tightly grabbing his black spear, and attacking Anna with everything he had.
“You damn brat! All those powers you have are useless if you fight like a fucking amateur!!!” Bael screamed in frustration. “What makes me the angriest when I fight you is how you lack so much technique! GRAAAAHHH!!”
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
Anna felt taken aback by his words. She indeed lacked a lot of technique; her movements were imperfect; she wasted too much energy utilizing her powers; and she overused all her abilities too much, relying on them to compensate for her lack of experience and technique.
It was inevitable. Unlike him, she was someone who started fighting only half a year ago. She was a simply human girl before this, while Bael had been a Death Apostle for thousands of years.
He had gone through countless battles, while she had only been blessed by a dozen!
Anna felt forced to use every little trick, power, skill, and gear she could use, which could give her an advantage over these monsters from other worlds.
But even as she felt justified for doing what she should, she still felt frustrated with herself because, no matter how much she hated him, she had to admit it.
He was much more skilled!
“Then become my teacher once I become your master!” Anna roared with a smile, and Bael’s eyes opened wide as her hand pierced his chest through the wounds she created.
“What nonsense are you talking about- ARGH!”
Her will quickly entered his soul as she started cutting it through her lightning spectral body, which, by combining with her Sunlight Blade Skill and her Thousand Blades Skill, turned her very soul into countless swords.
“{Thousand Blades}: {Soul Blade}!”
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
“She can turn her very soul into blades?!” Bael was shaken. “A-Amazing! Why does an enemy have to have so much talent?! If only she could have been a demon that would have joined my army... What a pity!”
Although Bael couldn’t help but praise Anna through his own thoughts, he wouldn’t let her get away with it! He fought to the very end, his manifestation emerging through a mindscape connecting their two souls.
“{Abyssal Mind Pollution}!”
FLUOSH!
He found the perfect opportunity to use this technique, now reinforced and enhanced after being overwhelmed by her Divine Eyes of Truth when he tried to consume her soul before.
“Hahahah! Fool! Did you think I let you do this willingly? It was all for this moment! I’ll consume your soul now!”
“This is…?!”
Anna felt like darkness began to consume her soul midway through her attacks; Bael’s soul now resembled an endless sea of the abyss.
The darkness kept creeping through her; Anna’s soul was wavering and shaking, infected by the darkness.
Yet…
FLASH!
A giant golden eye merged from within her soul, shining brightly and seeing through it all. This time, Anna didn’t call Sepa, who was resting and restoring her Cosmic Energy reserves rapidly.
She simply channeled the powers of her Divine Eye of Truth once more!
Ding!
[The {Divine Eye of Truth} sees through all things.]
[Mental erosion is being canceled.]
[Mental erosion is..]
[Mental eros…]
[Me…]
[…]
Countless notifications popped up endlessly as Anna canceled the mental erosion that Bael desperately conjured over her soul.
“It’s not working?! But this Nightmare Spell is something that Baal taught me!” Bael roared furiously. “You’re so stubborn! Why do you fight so much?! Why do you resist your fate with so much tenacity?!”
As Bael asked this question to Anna, hundreds of weapons made of the darkness he conjured reached her soul, piercing through it.
“Shouldn’t that be obvious?” Anna said, her soul manifesting her Demonic and Celestial Powers at once, making her form resemble a fusion between a small angel and a small devil! “It is because tenacity is the only thing we humans have left! {Abyssal Gaze}!”
The black jewel in her gauntlet shone brightly, her Divine Eyes of Truth powers fused with her Abyssal Gaze Ability, her eyes turning into spiraling black holes, gazing through Bael’s entirety.
FLASH!!!
Bael suddenly felt like his mind was being eroded back, his will was being shackled by eternal darkness, and his eyes looked at Anna with both anger and admiration.
“You’re… one of a kind…”
His last words crossed his mind before his entire soul was compressed and sealed within a black sphere. The rest of his body was distorted around his seal, resembling a small black knight doll.
While he was temporarily unconscious, Anna quickly threw him into her Purgatory Realm. The conditions were met, as his soul was too weakened and sealed to fight back.
Ding!
[The weakened soul of a Death Apostle has been sealed within the {Purgatory}!]
[The powerful Demonic Soul has lost all its abilities to exert its true powers inside.]
[It has now been marked with the {Prisoner of the Purgatory} Stigma.]
[This Demon Soul now belongs to you to use.]
“Done… Ugh…”
Anna fell to her knees, gasping for air. She was completely exhausted, and her body was cracking in agony.
The rest of her friends and her familiars were, meanwhile, fighting a small army of Demons that had emerged to back up Bael, although unsuccessfully at that.
[The Cosmic Throne {One Eyed King of the Aesir} is forever thankful to you for having saved the life of his incarnation.]
[He has rewarded your heroic deeds with [Fruit of Awakening (S+ Rank)] x1 and [Asgard’s Divine Orichalcum Ingot (SS+ Rank)] x1!]
[The Cosmic Throne {Heroic Thunder Hammer} is amazed by your incredible feats!]
[He has generously rewarded you for slaying two demons with the [Hero] Title!]
-----