DUMM! DUMM! DUMM!
Loud sounds resounded across the hall, this time the situation was very different from what it always had been, Rex was delivering the blows.
Rex punched forward towards Echo, who avoided the punch barely, with a deft dodge. Rex did not pull back his missed fist, under the effect of 'Overlord's Rage' he changed to a sweep that the Echo failed to dodge, It was sent shuttling to a pillar. Rex did not relent in his strikes in anyway, he followed up and continued laying strike on strike on Echo.
As Rex continued to layer blows on blows on Echo, the Hourglass was responding in its own unique way, the empty husk of the upper chamber of the hourglass was no more. The contents of the lower chamber were unyielding in their defiance to the Law of gravity, as they rapidly flowed into the upper chamber.
Rex couldn't even spare a glance at the hourglass. Even though he currently had the upper hand in the exchange, he could not afford to make any mistake. The Echo was still a very much capable opponent, any slight mistake would immediately change the ongoing advantageous flow of battle.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Rex struck relentlessly, his punches sending vibrations through the hall, In the midst of his relentless assault, Echo smiled. As it did so, A force radiated out from it and struck Rex's chest, sending him sliding backwards.
"Well Done," His haughty copy Echo, said one last sentence before it dissolved into sand, sands that disintegrated into dust and flowed into Rex.
"DUUNNNNN"
The moment this happened a strong vibration travelled through the whole of the hall, rattling the whole of the hall. Rex managed to catch a glimpse of the hourglass as the earthquake-like vibrations assaulted the hall. It had returned to its prior state, the very way it was when he entered the hall, having all of its content stuck unnaturally in its upper chamber.
The Hourglass dissolved just like his copy had, but it did not flow towards or into him Echo did. It just dissolved into complete nothingness, and as this happened, the hall began to change.
The tube-like lightning remained, the pillars remained, even the obsidian throne remained. But a tangible thing was gone, the majestic and ancient vibe of the hall seemed to have dissolved into nothingness with the hourglass.
This development did not bother Rex in any way, it had no reason to, he had succeeded; he had defeated the powerful copy. He fell on his knees and broke into maniacal laughter,
"HA-HA-HA-HA-HA"
Nothing could beat the satisfaction of victory, talk less of when it was combined with the sweet expectation of a superb reward.
"Ding!"
A chime resounded as strings of words began to appear in his view.
OVERLORD QUEST: COMPLETED
RESOLVING LEY LINE 0%
RESOLVING LEY LINE 50%
RESOLVING LET LINE 100%
LEY LINE COMPLETELY RESOLVED
OVERLORD THREADPATH 007 FOUND
RESOLVING OVERLORD THREADPATH 007
1%
As the last word appeared, the string of words disintegrated from view and was replaced by a loading bar.
The next instant, Rex felt a drag in the very core of his being like his soul was being pulled out from him. Thankfully for him, the feeling did not last at all.
One moment he was feeling a drag in the very core of his being while kneeling in an ancient hall that had lost its shine, the next, he was back at the deathfield of Alderom, flanked in all sides by humans and undead's frozen in combat.
His hand was still in contact with the Meteorite, he saw the micro glyphic markings that ran all across the meteorite slowly disappearing, the meteorite slowly losing its mystery as the markings disappeared.
As the markings ebbed out of existence, time flow in the deathfield of Alderom moved from a standstill into a snail's pace as it slowly moved towards the norm. Within this interval of still, Rex analyzed the death field, it was just as he left it.
His interaction with the meteorite had been an event free from the flow of time, he concluded as he saw the state of the battlefield. The progress bar that had appeared in his view was now at 11%. Rex knew instinctively that the moment it reached 100%. His quest will be over.
It already was, he had achieved the goal of the quest.
HE HAD DEFEATED ECHO.
The prompts that had been triggered after he did so, further cemented the fact, that the goal of the quest was met, but as he stared at the residents of Alderom that were currently caught in an epic brawl with undead creatures, he swore to use the rest of time he had to offer them as much support as he could..
"Haaaaaaaa!!"
Wailings of despair and clinks of metals resounded across the deathfield.
Time flow had returned to normal.
The instant it did Rex felt a restriction lifted off him, the weight that had held him in place as he had observed the death field was gone.
SKILL: OVERLORD RAGE ACTIVATED
Swooshh!
Rex shot forward, his whole being reinforced by his fusion skill.
*****
"Arka, get back from it!, Get back from it now!" Sir Toran screamed. Earlier in the day he had led a simple team to hunt the Chaos Bear, during which he met an erratic warrior, A brute that assisted them in defeating the Chaos Bear and taking all of its spoils in return. The development had really eaten into him.
He had hoped for a peaceful evening after the events of the day. But he rather met the most terrifying of nights he had ever seen in his long life.
Arka, was a member of his six-man team that was currently battling a dark skeleton under his charge. Moments ago, they were a seven-man team, the seventh man had suffered a fatal strike from the Dark skeleton's rusted sword.
Arka had gone berserk following the development.
He threw caution to the wind as he dashed head-on into battle with the Dark undead. Holding nothing but a pitchfork. His ears deaf to Toran's call. The fallen man was his closest friend. He could not stand the pain, he wanted payback from the Dark skeleton.
"Come Back!, Come Back!" Toran kept screaming, his heart was already furling into a ball from Arka's death even though it was yet to happen. He had lost enough today to feel the approach of death.
Toran shut his eyes, too pained to watch what was about to unfold.
"DUM!!!"
He heard a muffled punch, he listened on even though he could not watch. But the scream never came, rather a form of silence took hold of his environment.
Sir Toran opened his eye, to Arka standing, his pose frozen. He glanced to his sides, the rest of his team stood with mouth agape. His attention went to the most important thing, their enemy, the Sword Wielding Dark Skeleton.
It was no more, it lay on the ground, its skull shattered.
"Wha- - -What Just Happened!!" Sir Toran screamed.
The warrior beside him managed to react to his scream. He tore his eyes away from the bone husk of the Dark skeleton and stared in a new direction, his mouth still open.
Toran saw a familiar figure, spotting it's signature unclad look. It was the erratic warrior that had assisted his team in defeating the Chaos Bear.
He was tearing through the deathfield, his body strangely illuminated by a colourful tattoo that ran all across it. Each of his move taking down a dark skeleton. He never punched twice as he swept through the battlefield like a tornado.
Toran did not know when he froze or when his mouth slowly slid open. The sight that was unfolding before him couldn't be any more Epic. He had lived long enough to tell when a myth is being borne, and right before him, he could tell a myth was awakening.