Chapter 166: Heisenberg Steps In
-----
“So this is where she is.”
Heisenberg appeared right in front of Anna, only a thin membrane of light and darkness between the two of them, Anna’s barrier, which she had conjured as she put her soul and mind inside of Neberius' soul, trying to slay Uroboros once and for all.
Because she knew it would take her more than a couple of seconds, she conjured this barrier, using Gram as its pillar. It was strong and very tough; not even Heisenberg could easily pierce through it.
“This barrier…” He muttered. “She has control over both Celestial and Demonic Powers. But based on all the information Beelzebub had deciphered from her, she had no connections with any Constellation of both factions.”
“She is an enigma.” Shade, his loyal retainer, spoke within his shadows. “Only a few months ago, this girl was nothing but a weak and normal child, in a coma due to Mana Overdose, like many others.”
“Yet upon her awakening, thanks to her brother’s efforts, not only was she able to grow as far as becoming comparable to an S-Rank Hunter, but she has been trying to go even beyond that.” Shade spoke. “Her growth speed is utterly baffling, and above all, she always seems to be one step further than anybody else, even Beelzebub.”
“An intriguing girl indeed.” Heisenberg touched the barrier with his fingers, caressing it gently.
His powers started to flow from his body, slowly beginning to infect the barrier with chaotic swirls of energies, his aura erupting with a still-developing yet incredibly powerful {Radiance} of his own.
“You’re the one that convinced my little sister to betray me; you’re the one that predicted our arrival and stopped us and even killed Roy; and you’re the one that even convinced the still-doubting Scarlet to finally betray us,” Heisenberg said. With each word, he seemed to be slowly losing his cool, growing furious.
His eyes shone with crimson red light, utter rage surging from them.
If it wasn’t for this girl... If it wasn’t for her!
He would still have the loyalty of Scarlet and Annabelle, he would still have his family, and he would have accomplished all his goals!
“If it wasn’t for this damned girl!”
With utter rage, Heisenberg’s arm disfigured, transforming, and growing enormous, resembling the countless fleshy tendrils of many monsters and creatures unified together, piercing through the barrier, and infecting it.
Hundreds of tiny jaws started biting through it, absorbing the energy of the barrier, and destabilizing it!
Heisenberg’s strongest ability and part of his still-developing {Trait}…
“{Absorption}”
FLUOSH!
A gigantic spiraling black hole surged from his hand, beginning to forcefully absorb the barrier!
Gram trembled as it pierced Neberius' chest, slight cracks surging from within its blade as the runic arrangement making up the barrier started to shatter and destabilize!
“No matter how strong this barrier is, your power can absorb it all!”
Shade felt proud of Heisenberg’s strength, boasting it as if it were his own.
“Hmm, quite a tough barrier; using such a strong weapon as the core is not good,” Heisenberg said. “It might take a couple more seconds to destroy it.”
Crack, crack..!
Countless cracks started spreading across the barrier, creating shockwaves of force that made the entire castle tremble even stronger than before.
The force of Heisenberg’s power was utterly overwhelming.
Anna’s brilliant barrier slowly started to grow corrupted, turning liquified and beginning to melt as if it were ice.
All while Heisenberg absorbed its powers, gaining a bit more energy to boot.
“{Absorption}…” Heisenberg admired his powers. “With this ability, I will become the strongest, so I can finally reshape the world to how it should have always been, Shade. Eventually, humans will have to fight with their tooth and nail for survival, no longer sheltering themselves in these concrete boxes.”
“A wonderful world where we’ll be the supreme ones.” Shade smiled. “You, above all of us.” He said it with a fanatical smile.
A calm yet wicked smile surged on Heisenberg’s handsome face, and a brilliant scheme surged in his mind, as he could already taste the flavor of victory the moment he noticed the barrier finally beginning to disappear.
“Now… Die pitifully, mere steppingstone.”
Heisenberg’s entire body transformed, his upper body quickly twisting into a malevolent amalgamation of countless monster body parts stuck together aberrantly.
“Give me the power I need to accomplish my goals!”
His jaws opened, reaching towards the still unconscious Anna, and he was about to swallow her whole!
“{Spectral Rush}!”
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
“UGH?!”
However, in a split second, a powerful spectral presence encompassed his entire body and released thousands of slashing attacks over him, tearing apart his flesh while weakening his very soul!
“What…?!”
Heisenberg quickly stepped back, as Shade created a barrier of darkness right before a phantasmal figure reached towards him and attempted to decapitate him with a pair of black knives.
CLASH!
“You! How dare you interrupt my master’s meal?!”
Shade went on an insane fanatic fit as he screamed back at the attacker, noticing her appearance as she slowly removed herself from the phantom she had become.
And it was nobody else than Sara, of course.
“I won’t let you touch Anna!” She roared, her eyes glowing bright red. “That’ll only happen over my dead body!”
Although she was already technically dead, that didn’t matter to her. Heisenberg and Shade swiftly learned what she truly meant with those words.
“One of her followers, I assume?” Heisenberg’s wounds slowly regenerated, the phantom flames covering his body turning off one after another. “I suppose someone as crafty, strong, and resourceful as her did have some followers. Though I’ve never seen you again, who are you?”
“You don’t need to know my name.” She said.
“I recognized her.” However, Shade quickly recognized her, putting off Sara's attempts to act tough and mysterious. “She is Hunter Sara, an A+ Rank Hunter that was previously stated to have died... She was responsible for the Undead Invasion incident a couple of weeks ago.”
“Oh?” Heisenberg raised his eyes. “Yet another of the puppets of the gods, it seems. Well, no matter. You will die here. {Demonic Eyes}”
Suddenly, Heisenberg’s entire body was covered in giant crimson eyes, charging Mana and firing powerful, scarlet-colored beams against her, which exploded and vaporized anything they touched.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“Dammit! Anna!”
Sara flashed through the air and evaded the beams, but she noticed a few went straight towards her! She quickly expanded her phantasmal hands, unleashing shields made of phantom flames and using them to redirect the crimson beams.
“{Phantom Reversal}!”
Phantom energy was a special type of essence that seemed “empty” to an extent; it had the great talent of harboring other energies within a nebulous and cloudy substance and naturally redirecting them elsewhere, like mirrors.
This attribute of the phantom energy was something Sara had been using to phase through physical things and also to unleash her powerful attacks.
FLASH!
The beams were released elsewhere, saving Anna. Sara was unable to control their trajectory, so she could not use this spell as an easy trump card against Heisenberg’s long-range attacks.
“Hmph, you’re not even worth my master’s time!”
Shade surged from within Sara’s shadows, elongating his body into a gigantic, slender form with long arms and legs and giant, sharp claws, while his hair grew longer, resembling a sea of darkness. He roared with a haunting voice. His giant claws gathered his Shadows and Demonic Energy, generating a space-distorting essence.
“{Void Claws}!”
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
He released a barrage of crazed claw attacks; each attack distorted space itself, skipping through space and attempting to reach Sara despite her dodging ability!
“What is this ridiculous power?!”
Sara was unable to adapt to the void distorting space. With several claw attacks reaching her one after another, her phantasmal body was quickly sliced apart, several pieces of it exploding into phantasmal flames and dissipating.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
“ARRGH!”
She was thankful she hadn’t gone back to her physical form, as the damage would have been even more severe. However, the pain of losing her “mass” was just as agonizing as losing a limb.
Sara quickly phased through the floor and flew right below Anna, attempting to quickly grab her and escape with her in the worst-case scenario, all while her mass slowly began to regenerate.
However…
CRAAASH!
Two black claws pierced through the wooden floor, reaching towards her. Shade wasn’t going to give up, chasing her while climbing through the ceiling like a spider.
“{Void Pulse}!”
Shade roared, releasing a pulse of black void essence, distorting space and dragging Sara right towards him!
“You will NOT disturb my master’s work!”
He opened his jaws monstrously, dislocating them and extending them as Sara saw a deep blackness surging from within them.
“GRAAAH!”
“This guy’s scarier than me!”
Sara had thought she was the scary ghost here, but this bastard was already on another level of creepypasta.
“Dammit!”
She quickly fed all her Mana to her black dagger, which was Bael himself. The dagger glowed with a mighty power, suddenly transforming, and covering her entire body with an armor of spikes.
CLASH!
The spikes pierced through Shade’s mouth and chest, blood splattering everywhere, and his scream of agony could be heard.
Bael couldn’t speak, but Sara could hear his wicked laughter within the dagger.
“An armor of spikes? Well, that wasn’t bad at all!”
The armor quickly transformed again into a black spear, piercing Shade’s chest and then releasing a shockwave of phantasmal flames, blasting him away!
BAAAM!
His entire body was flung away, quickly collapsing on a wall a hundred meters away, his entire body slowly melting into darkness, recovering at a ridiculous speed.
“Youuu…!”
“I’ve seen enough.”
“{Demonic Flesh Sword}”
Heisenberg stepped forward, raising his hand. His blood, flesh, and bones quickly materialized into a giant sword made of pulsating red flesh, covered in eyes, whose blade was his sharp bones.
It overflowed with a demon aura almost equal to the weapons made using the Death Apostles themselves.
“Shade, you can rest for now. You’ve once again shown me your loyalty.” Heisenberg smiled, flashing towards Sara at lightning speed.
His legs transformed into the fast legs of a black-furred cheetah, while his arms gained stronger muscles, bulging up grossly.
“{Eye of Paralysis}”
With a cold tone of voice, his crimson eyes shone, releasing a wave of demonic power that somehow paralyzed Sara!
“UGH?! I can’t move?! W-What is this…?!”
Heisenberg possessed countless skills from all the monsters used for his creation, many of which he had created after fusing weaker ones.
He was, quite literally, a reflection of Jack himself!
“Perish.”
The cold chimera swung his bone sword, and a wave of crimson Aura surged from within, attempting to absorb everything. It quickly sliced through Sara’s very soul.
“{Eternal Winter Domain}!”
FLUOSH!
However, before Sara was to be fully cut down, a powerful snowstorm descended upon everyone, filling their entire surroundings with snow and ice.
The wind was so strong it pushed Heisenberg away, making him fail his lethal blow. Sara was saved by the air, although her soul, still wounded, was now extremely weakened.
“Uuuugghh…!”
She quickly turned physical again, collapsing to the ground and barely standing on her knees. She was gasping for air. She felt her very soul leaking her Mana.
“More pests…”
Heisenberg quickly stood back up, going against the cold. An armor of fur and scales grew above his body, his long silvery-white hair waving by the wind.
His sword grew larger and more monstrous, spreading tendrils of flesh and veins pulsating over his arm. More eyes popped up, as if signifying the growth of his power.
“Sara!”
Baihe appeared amidst the snow, riding a large white wolf, and quickly arrived at Sara’s side, giving her a special “Ghost Potion” that only Sara could drink, something Anna had made and handed to Baihe just in case she wasn’t around.
It sometimes baffled her how much she could predict the future or what could happen to others; maybe she was just overly paranoid too, preparing for as many scenarios as possible, but that was also how they had survived this far in this utterly chaotic mess of a world.
“Gulp, gulp… Hahh…”
Sara drank the potion, gasping for air. Her soul slightly healed itself, enough for her to not feel such excruciating pain. Though pain remained nonetheless,.
“You okay?”
Baihe gently helped her stand back up, the phantasmal assassin nodding.
“I’m fine.”
Baihe nodded. There was little time to chat. Two monsters that were equal to S-Rank Hunters were already on their way to slay them.
Heisenberg was to the north, and Shade was already rushing towards them from the east.
However, these two weren’t the only ones who were going to fight against them.
“Anything that stands on my path shall be extinguished; I will not STOP until I accomplish my goals!” Heisenberg roared, mostly for himself. Every time things became serious, he would always recite words to lift his ego and feel stronger. His emotions were the key to the manifestation of his shapeshifting abilities, after all.
SLASH!
He swung his giant sword against both girls, releasing a gigantic slashing wave of crimson and purple essence, mixing chaos and demonic energies!
“Everything for my one and only Lord! I shall carve a bloody path for his glory!”
Shade’s monstrous body grew taller and even lankier, with sharp claws surging from both his arms and legs as he grew a long tail with a hand at the tip. All his claws attacked at once, resembling a rain of sharp black blades.
CLASH!
However, instead of reaching their target, both attacks were blocked by a flash of golden light that burned through Shade’s darkness and a purple-colored blur, which blocked Heisenberg’s tremendous attack with another of its own.
BOOOM! BOOOM!
Two explosions of magic particles engulfed all participants in this battle as Heisenberg and his loyal servant glanced at the two other members of Anna’s group that had arrived.
A young blonde boy wearing shining golden armor and a divine spear, and a girl wearing black armor with giant spider-like legs popping out of her back.
Both exuded powerful Auras, clashing against the other two.
Heisenberg slightly twitched his eyes as he saw the one he once called his little sister.
“Annabelle… So you’ve decided to come and confront me, despite everything?” Heisenberg asked her.
“Brother…” Annabelle clenched her fists. “I won’t let you hurt Anna!”
-----