Chapter 385 — Lightning, Contracts, and Theories Way Too Smart
Evans leapt.
Not just fast.
He literally split space, leaving behind a trail of lightning tearing reality apart.
In a fraction of a second, he was in front of Zahkariel.
His blade carved a blazing arc.
The impact triggered a blast of energy that shook the entire desert.
Zahkariel blocked.
In his hand appeared a blade of forgotten words, forged from dead oaths and words banned from the world.
The clash made the air vibrate.
Evans, his body coursed through by lightning, smiled.
— Finally, someone who lasts more than two seconds.
Zahkariel raised an eyebrow.
— You talk a lot for someone already sweating.
He raised his hand.
A storm of torn contracts exploded around him.
Fragments of pacts, broken promises, dead clauses whirled like a spectral hurricane.
Evans was sucked inside.
His body vanished for an instant in the spiral.
Then—
BOOM.
A surge of electrical energy blasted the attack from within.
Evans reappeared, still standing, his smile even wider.
— That's it?
Suddenly, thousands of shapeless masses made of burned contracts lunged at him, screaming without voices.
Evans raised his hand.
Lightning gathered.
Compressed.
Then became a pure projectile, shining like a star.
— Spear of Zeus.
He hurled it.
The attack ripped through space, split reality in a luminous streak, vaporizing everything in its path.
The creatures were erased.
A massive hole opened in space-time.
The desert trembled.
The sky seemed to twist.
Evans extended his hand.
The spear spun back toward him.
He kicked it away.
— Return to sender.
The spear shot toward Zahkariel.
Explosion.
Gigantic.
Sand was blown away to the horizon.
When the dust settled…
Zahkariel was still there.
He calmly brushed the dust from his jacket.
— I admit, that stung a little.
Evans chuckled.
— You tanked it… it would've been easy for you to die like that.
— Sorry to disappoint, replied Zahkariel. I signed up for a long career.
---
**Meanwhile…**
Mister Mind crossed his arms.
— According to your words, Elvis… just to buy bread, we'd cross distances that would've taken billions of light-years.
Lya nodded.
— So for normal humans, how does that work?
Do they die of old age before taking a few steps?
Mister Mind raised a finger.
— I asked myself the same question.
And I think there are explanations.
Haya sighed.
— What's he rambling about now…
— Listen to the puppeteer with his brain, continued Mister Mind.
For a normal human to buy bread without dying on the way, reality must be elastic.
Brakk followed up:
— What he's trying to say is that in cities or living zones, reality behaves "classically."
Lya understood.
— So it's only when you try to cross borders… leave a city, cross an ocean… that the dilation is felt?
— Exactly, said Brakk.
Bloodweaver thought aloud.
— So normal people live in bubbles of stability.
For them, the world seems small…
but if they look out the window of a fast train… they'd see galaxies rushing by.
Nova raised his finger.
— In other words: condensed reality zones.
Old cities and living places have become Reality Anchors.
He explained:
— Where human consciousness exists, reality refuses to fully expand.
Inside a city, 1 km = 1 km.
But once you leave… 1 meter = 1 galaxy.
Haya sighed.
— Sorry, but I doubt that's likely.
Ryn timidly raised her hand.
— I think it could be because of the Cohesion Field of the Heart… the Sun.
Since you said it maintains cohesion, maybe it projects a Stability Aura onto Earth.
Haya looked at her.
— No, you're too deep in denial.
It's obvious you're too dumb to think that.
Ryn froze.
Nova murmured:
— She just proposed a theory…
Mister Mind resumed:
— I think it's more of a passive scaling.
The mutation didn't just affect geography… but every atom of the planet, including humans.
He continued:
— A normal human unknowingly became an entity of universal structure.
They don't feel stronger… but their body is dense enough not to be crushed by a star-grain of sand.
Brakk raised a finger.
— I think it's involuntary biological adaptation.
Air and water are loaded with insane energy density.
Without realizing it, the average human became extremely solid… and moves at supra-luminal speeds.
Silence.
Elvis sighed.
— I think Mister Mind and Brakk have the most probable answers.
Valor rolled his eyes.
— Who cares how humans walk around.
You just want to show off with your theories.
Nova murmured:
— It really does sound like professors debating after midnight.
Lya stepped forward.
— Enough.
Now… it's time I deal with you, Mister Mind.
Mister Mind smiled.
— We've talked enough.
Ryn raised her magic.
— It's time we deal with you.
The wind blew.
Evans' lightning roared in the distance.
Zahkariel cracked his neck.
And this time…
No one talked theory.
Chapter 386 — Let the Chaos Begin
Nova stepped forward.
— I'll take care of Elvis.
The dragon slowly turned his head toward him.
His icy eyes gleamed.
— Are you sure you want to deal with me?
Valor raised his hand.
— Nova, leave him to the Great Valor.
Nova sighed.
— Sorry. But he's already reserved. Go find someone else.
Elvis tilted his head slightly.
— Why are humans so pretentious…
Nova drew his sword.
— I want to test the new moves I've created.
The next instant—
He vanished.
A shiver ran through the air.
Nova reappeared behind Elvis.
He sheathed his blade.
Silence.
Then—
Dozens of slashes appeared across the Frost Dragon's body.
Not normal cuts.
Slashes that sliced space itself.
Luminous fissures ran across his scales, as if reality had been cut before matter.
The ground behind Elvis fragmented into geometric lines.
Valor crossed his arms.
— Well… now what am I going to do?
He stepped forward, hands in his pockets.
Then he began to levitate.
Calmly.
As if gravity had signed a contract with him.
He descended slowly to face Bloodweaver.
— You'll be my opponent.
Don't disappoint the Great Valor.
Bloodweaver looked at him.
— I hadn't planned on impressing a narcissist today… but fine.
Haya cracked her neck.
— Then my opponent will be the naïve one.
A black staff materialized in her hand.
Black lightning covered her body, twisting the air around her.
Ryn summoned two daggers.
— Be ready.
Haya raised an eyebrow.
— You fight with daggers?
Did Lya influence you?
You're supposed to be an innocent support.
Ryn smiled softly.
— I'm an offensive support.
More precisely.
Her voice was calm.
Almost too calm.
Haya chuckled.
— We'll see what you're worth.
The ground trembled.
Scourges emerged from the earth.
Curses, chains of shadow, spectral hands tried to grab Ryn.
Ryn vanished.
The curses were cut mid-flight.
— Offensive support, I said.
---
**Meanwhile—**
Evans held his blade.
Lightning enveloped him.
— Lightning Blade.
He cleaved everything in his path in a streak of light.
The desert was split in two for kilometers.
Zahkariel blocked with his blade of forgotten words.
The impact hurled him back violently.
Sand exploded around him.
Evans followed up.
One strike.
Then two.
Then twelve more bolts.
Each strike split reality, leaving luminous scars in the sky.
Zahkariel retreated, blocking again and again.
His arms trembled under the pressure.
— Not bad… for a walking toaster.
Evans smiled.
He raised his hand to the sky.
— Judgment of Aetherion: Celestial Cataclysm.
The name echoed like a divine decree.
The clouds exploded.
Lightning fell.
Not one bolt.
Not ten.
Hundreds.
Columns of light struck the desert.
The heat vaporized the sand instantly.
The ground turned to black glass.
Gigantic craters opened, so deep the dimensional crust glowed beneath.
The air screamed.
The sky bore a luminous scar, as if someone had clawed the horizon.
Evans ran his hand through his hair, slicking it back.
Lightning coursed across his face.
His smile gleamed in the storm.
— That was just the warm-up.
The dust settled.
A figure emerged from the main crater.
Zahkariel.
His jacket slightly burned.
He exhaled.
— Well… that stung a little more.
Suddenly—
A sword strike.
Fast.
Brutal.
Evans parried.
But the force pushed him back for kilometers, carving a trench behind him.
He planted his blade into the ground to stop.
He raised his head.
Zahkariel stood tall.
His aura had changed.
Heavier.
Older.
— My turn to warm up.
---
**In the distance—**
Nova and Elvis prepared to resume.
Haya and Ryn clashed amid curses.
Valor was still talking about himself in the third person.
And Mister Mind observed.
Silent.
— Interesting…
Chapter 387 — The Nightmare Artist
While battles raged everywhere…
Mister Mind and Lya faced each other.
A quick exchange.
Sharp.
Precise.
Then suddenly—
Mister Mind stepped back.
He approached the monster Evans had eliminated upon his arrival.
The body still lay there, faintly smoking.
The narrator:
— Oh no… what's he doing now…
Mister Mind placed his hand on the corpse's head.
Silence.
Then—
He tore out its soul.
A luminous, unstable sphere emerged from the body.
He smiled behind his cracked mask.
Then he injected his dark energy into the soul.
The soul vibrated.
Twisted.
Deformed.
It grew denser.
Heavier.
More powerful.
— Interesting…
He molded the soul with his hand.
Like clay.
It transformed into a dark violet mace, surrounded by a corrupted aura.
The weapon pulsed, as if it breathed.
Behind the cracked mask, a smile spread.
— This monster had the power to increase its mass.
But with my energy… it gained two other interesting abilities as well.
He turned toward the soulless body.
He raised his hand.
And altered its nature.
The corpse rose.
Its flesh reconfigured.
Its bones rearranged.
It took on a humanoid form.
Now its body was covered in compacted sand, like natural armor.
Only its face remained visible.
Short black hair fell slightly over its forehead.
Its eyes…
Two deep violet orbs, crossed by luminous black fissures, as if darkness itself had learned to shine.
They seemed to absorb the light around them.
Mister Mind spread his arms.
— Look at this masterpiece.
The narrator:
— Is he opening a museum or are we in the middle of a war?
Mister Mind then raised his hand.
He summoned the souls he had absorbed at the restaurant.
Dozens.
Then he condensed them.
Fused them.
Then he invoked the soul of another hunter he had absorbed.
He merged it all into a single overpowered soul.
Lya stared at him.
— So you didn't eliminate those innocents for nothing.
Mister Mind tilted his head.
— There is no coincidence.
He tapped his temple.
— But I must admit… because of your attack earlier, some of the souls I absorbed died permanently.
Lya narrowed her eyes.
— Admit it.
You deliberately eliminated them.
— You guessed right.
— And that doesn't bother you?
Lya remained cold.
— What do you expect me to feel?
They're already dead.
I can't do anything for them.
Mister Mind stepped closer.
— You may have left Father…
but it's not too late to return.
You're like us.
You feel no compassion for them.
Come back to us.
Lya answered without hesitation.
— Don't even dream of it.
— Too bad.
It was a limited-time offer.
He infused his dark energy into the fused soul.
Then inserted it into the body he had shaped.
A massive release of aura exploded.
The sand around them rose.
The air grew heavy.
Then—
The body opened its eyes.
It looked at its hands.
Then at its reflection in a broken blade.
— I must admit…
I'm handsome.
The narrator:
— Oh no.
He's already talking.
Mister Mind smiled.
— He possesses the physical abilities and power of the monster…
as well as the powers of the hunter, reinforced by the souls I eliminated at the restaurant.
He levitated the violet mace.
— Nightmare.
Take the mace.
I forged it from the soul of the monster whose body you now have.
Nightmare grabbed the weapon.
Space vibrated under its weight.
— Not bad.
Mister Mind raised his arms.
— Now it's two against one.
Lya didn't move.
— No matter.
Nightmare swung the mace.
The ground cracked under the gravitational pressure.
— I was born ten seconds ago…
and I already want to hit someone.
— You adapt quickly, said Mister Mind proudly.
---
**Elsewhere—**
Valor raised his hand toward Bloodweaver.
— Show me what you're worth.
Or rather… show the Great Valor what you're worth.
Bloodweaver sighed.
— Do you always talk about yourself in the third person?
— The Great Valor does not mingle with ordinary pronouns.
The narrator:
— He's really going to get hit.
The wind blew.
Evans and Zahkariel prepared to resume.
Nova and Elvis still stared each other down.
Haya and Ryn exchanged black lightning and shining blades.
And at the center…
Nightmare stepped forward.
The sand beneath his feet turned into cosmic dust.
— So… who's first?
Chapter 388 — Lightning, Oblivion, and Clones Too Fast
Evans spun his blade, lightning dancing around it.
— You talked a lot earlier—
A hand suddenly grabbed him by the collar.
His eyes widened.
Zahkariel.
He hurled him violently toward the ground.
Then, in the same motion, disappeared and reappeared above him.
Kick.
Impact.
Evans blocked with his blade.
The shock fractured the air like glass.
He smiled.
— Thanks for the momentum.
He planted his sword into the ground and unleashed a massive discharge of electricity, using his blade as a conduit.
Lightning erupted in a column.
Zahkariel was struck head-on.
His body was engulfed in a torrent of white-blue electricity.
His clothes partially burned.
His skin smoked.
The sand beneath him turned to black glass for kilometers.
The desert became a massive incandescent crater.
Even the air remained charged with static electricity.
Zahkariel stepped back, his torso smoking.
Burns ran across his arm and side.
He exhaled slowly.
— …It's getting serious.
— Imperial Flash.
Evans vanished.
An electric trail split the desert.
He reappeared before Zahkariel and struck with a devastating kick.
The impact created a circular shockwave that lifted mountains of sand.
Then Evans followed up.
He attacked from every direction.
Front.
Behind.
Above.
Below.
Each strike was devastating.
Each blow carved luminous scars into space.
The ground fragmented.
Dimensional fissures briefly opened before closing again.
Zahkariel was overwhelmed by the speed.
He parried as best he could with his blade of forgotten words.
His arms trembled under the pressure.
Then—
— Bite of the Storm Dragon.
Evans cloaked himself in an aura of colossal electric dragon.
The dragon roared.
Then lunged at Zahkariel.
At that instant—
Zahkariel raised his blade.
— Slash of the Sworn Oblivion.
He cut.
A single motion.
The blade released a black, silent wave.
No explosion.
No sound.
Just a dark line that erased everything it touched.
The electric dragon was severed instantly.
Evans' aura was split in two.
A massive gash appeared across his torso.
Blood gushed.
His energy scattered violently.
He leapt back, reappearing farther away.
He dropped to one knee.
— If I hadn't disengaged and left my attack behind…
he would've cut me in half.
A smile spread across his face.
— Interesting.
He inhaled deeply.
Lightning began circulating through his body again.
But this time, it didn't escape.
It stayed inside.
It stimulated his cells.
Each electrical impulse accelerated cell division, burned dead tissue, and forced muscle regeneration.
Nerves reconnected.
Fibers resealed.
The wound closed under a bluish glow.
A thin luminous scar lingered for a few seconds… then vanished.
— Electro-cellular self-stimulation.
I should patent that.
Zahkariel stared at him.
— Did you just invent regeneration mid-battle?
— Yes.
I'm creative under pressure.
---
**Elsewhere—**
Haya moved almost instantly.
She struck Ryn with her staff.
Ryn blocked with her two daggers.
The impact produced a shockwave that fractured reality around them.
Dimensional shards fell like invisible glass.
Ryn boosted her speed.
They exchanged blows.
The ground exploded beneath each impact.
Haya raised her staff.
— End of the game.
She struck.
A hyper-powerful blow.
The air compressed.
Then exploded.
A black wave deformed the desert for kilometers.
Sand was pulverized.
The ground sank dozens of meters.
Ryn blocked.
But she was violently repelled.
Curses rushed at her.
She raised her hand.
— Purification.
A massive burst of light erupted.
The curses dissolved instantly.
She accelerated, leaving a luminous trail behind her.
Haya accelerated too.
But behind her, residual images remained.
Then those images attacked.
Ryn barely dodged.
Haya smiled.
— They're not just afterimages.
They're speed clones.
Each image is a version of me slightly offset in time.
I can even swap places with one of them to move backward.
Nova, from afar:
— Ah. So she's cheating.
Ryn raised her daggers.
— Luminous Cut.
She slashed.
The clones exploded into shards of energy.
But—
Haya was already behind her.
— Dark Tentacles.
Shadows burst from the ground and lunged at Ryn.
She cut them down instantly.
Haya applauded.
— Not bad.
But let's see how long you last.
— Long enough.
---
**Meanwhile—**
Nightmare charged at Lya.
He raised his mace.
— Try dodging this.
He swung.
The mace passed through Lya.
She had turned intangible.
The strike continued.
It hit the ground.
Explosion.
A massive crater formed.
The desert was ripped apart for kilometers.
A gravitational wave even distorted the horizon.
Nightmare blinked.
— …Oh.
Mister Mind sighed.
— Be careful.
She can turn intangible.
Nightmare stood up.
— Ah.
So I have to aim when she exists.
The narrator:
— He learns fast.
That's worrying.
Lya reappeared behind him.
— Exactly.
The battlefield trembled.
Lightning roared.
Curses screamed.
Speed clones exploded.
And at the center—
The war spiraled out of control.