Chapter 1313: Saint Emperor [11]
Fighting with Destruction any longer would be pointless.
Instead of focusing on a single law, since they'd come to the end of this battle, it was time to stop placing such restrictions on themselves.
"I will now use everything in my power," the Saint Emperor said.
"Survive until the end, or there is only one fate awaiting you."
Damien's eyes narrowed.
He was clear on what was happening.
'He's running out of steam.'
The Saint Emperor had an enormous mana capacity, enough for him to use it almost continuously for years without reaching its bottom.
However, he couldn't match Damien.
Damien, who not only had the Ananta Matrix, but also the Void supporting him, wasn't someone who could ever run out of mana.
It didn't matter if he never replenished himself. His capacity itself was an infinite source.
But the Saint Emperor didn't need to know that.
'Plus, he can still kill me if he tries.'
Damien couldn't explain how. He wasn't knowledgeable enough to understand it, but his intuition told him if the Saint Emperor really used everything he had, he could still kill the nigh immortal Damien.
'An enemy like that...I can't let my guard down.'
He prepared himself, silently circulating his mana in preparation for a-
BOOOOOOM!
The Saint Emperor was already upon him.
Space and time constricted, and creation formed a space with unique rules that suppressed Damien's laws.
Destruction ran rampant as the Saint Emperor landed a punch on Damien's chest, pushing through his body and soul to force him into pain.
The Saint Emperor already understood that he couldn't kill Damien with Destruction. Instead, he used the law to "destroy" Damien's senses.
His perception was cut off, nearly blinding him, and in that moment, the Saint Emperor continued his attack.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Lightning struck down from the heavens. It was wrapped in flames from the sun, and when it struck the earth, rather than dispersing, it arced along the ground as if the earth itself was a conductor.
Damien was barraged with the elemental forces, and his movements were slowed by the laws of Ice. As he tried to dodge and avoid everything coming at him, he slammed into the electrically charged earth and experienced the shock of his lifetime.
"Khhhh...!"
Damien gritted his teeth and flipped back to his feet, rapidly counterattacking.
He was severely inhibited. He could still use his physical senses, but his awareness had been completely disconnected.
Without it, he could only rely on physical reactions to respond to stimuli, which was a huge problem.
'There's a solution to this.'
Just as the Saint Emperor intuitively used his laws to attack, Damien could do the same to defend.
He spread mana into the surroundings, infusing his will into Space and Time.
Those two forces that maintained reality became his eyes and ears. The shadowed environment became clear once more, just in time for the Saint Emperor's approaching fist to come into view.
BANG!
Damien leaned his body to the side, barely avoiding the attack. In the same movement, he swung his leg around and kicked into the Saint Emperor's side.
BOOOOOOM!
The attack was infused with laws of Samsara. Taking a page out of Yong An's book, Damien tried to create a field that suppressed the Saint Emperor's connection to the two laws and cut off his regeneration.
"You adapted fast!" The Saint Emperor praised.
"If I couldn't even do this much, we wouldn't be fighting right now!"
Damien grinned and kicked backward, making distance between them.
'He's far superior in the usage of fundamental laws. No matter how fast I learn, I can't close a billion-year gap with just 3 years of battle.'
Damien wasn't arrogant.
As he continued to dodge the Saint Emperor's attacks by a hair's width, it wasn't hard to see the difference between them.
The Saint Emperor could wield his laws with such proficiency that they could only be described as beautiful.
Space and Time could function as Life and Death, the elements themselves could become Creation and Destruction, it didn't matter what he used, as long as his intent was there, the laws would become whatever he wanted them to be.
Meanwhile, Damien was definitely skilled, but he didn't have that level of comprehension. That was a level one could only reach through strenuous training over an unholy amount of time.
'I wanted to keep it at this level, but that's impossible.'
If he wanted to come out on top here, he had to stop using the base components alone. He could only win with Existence Law.
And so, he rapidly switched his strategy.
Honor was a fake concept. It could only exist in times of peace. When one's life was on the line, what was honor? What was pride?
Damien wanted to match the Saint Emperor's pace for the sake of the connection they'd built through this battle, but victory was more important than anything.
His moves changed.
Instead of wielding the individual forces like the Saint Emperor did, Damien brought Existence itself under his control.
He formed illusions that superimposed on reality and became reality through his power to counter the Saint Emperor's domain skills.
He took hold of the fabric of reality and toyed with it as if it were just some regular cloth, forcefully changing the rules of this world to his advantage.
If he couldn't win through normal means, he would just cheat.
Because even that was a part of his power!
"Hahaha, as expected, there is no one else like you, Damien Void!"
The Saint Emperor roared out gleefully, ignoring the line of blood trailing down his chin.
"Come, come at me with everything you have!"
BOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
Damien obliged.
He used the entire weight of existence itself to bear down on the Saint Emperor, forcing him to the ground.
He could feel it.
The Saint Emperor's Divine Energy was weening. Its potency wasn't nearly as it was when they started, and if one looked at the amount alone, he was practically on death's door already.
'When did he become like this...?'
Damien gritted his teeth and continued attacking. The Saint Emperor didn't stop just because of his thoughts, after all.
He continued onward.
The more he fought, the faster his mana depleted, but the closer he got to the true meaning of Existence.
It became impossible to track the battle.
They moved too fast, and as the forces they controlled became vaguer and vaguer, trusting the battle one saw to be the battle that was ongoing became a fool's dream.
Reality became a lie under their control. Fate became a joke, and power became trivial.
The Saint Emperor reached the heights of existence where Damien stood, and above the concept itself, they fought for supremacy,
There was no light, no sound, and no wondrous imagery.
They were fighting a battle only they were privy to, a battle far above the level they should have ever been able to reach.
They weren't even fighting each other anymore.
They were fighting themselves.
Because as they grew closer to the base of existence, their own mana left their control.
Damien seized control over the Saint Emperor's mana and attacked him from within, while the Saint Emperor did the same and attacked Damien's mind and body.
Damien felt the blood leaking from his pores, and he saw the blood leaking from the Saint Emperor.
Bloody tears dripped down his face.
It was a beautiful battle.
It was a beautiful battle with an opponent he did not wish to die so early.
"You bastard, stay alive! Stay alive and watch me accomplish everything you dreamed of!"
He roared as he rushed forward with his light of existence, attacking once more.
"Me? Stay alive? Hahahaha, you delusional brat! The one you should be worried about is yourself!"
He talked big.
If anything, he was good at talking big.
But...
What did it matter if he talked big?
He didn't have mana left.
Even now, he was fighting with his life force as collateral.
There was no way for him to avoid death.
There was no way for him to continue fighting.
The wounds on Damien's body piled up as he refused to let himself heal, but the Saint Emperor's body withered away even faster.
No matter what he did, he couldn't save that man.
No matter how terrible of an idea it might've been to save that man, he couldn't get rid of the desire to save him.
But his body didn't listen to his desires.
His mind roared and thrashed, begging him to stop. His heart beat wildly as it pleaded with him to halt his movements.
However, nothing could stop the wheel of fate that the two of them rolled down the hill.
The only way for it to stop...
SHIK!
A sword of existence stabbed through the withered Saint Emperor's chest.
The only way to stop this twisted fate was to see it through to the end.
Tears of blood dripped down Damien's face and onto the Saint Emperor's shoulder as the two stood in silence.
The Saint Emperor rested his head on Damien's chest as it became difficult for him to keep his eyes open.
"It was an honorable battle, child..."
The Saint Emperor spoke weakly.
He hardly had the energy to speak.
His existence was being swallowed by the sword in his chest, and his remaining life force was already exhausted after he used it as a medium to control existence itself.
"As expected, you were the one..." he said, forcing out his last words.
"...you were the protagonist of my story, Damien Void."
Damien gritted his teeth. He clenched his fists hard enough to dig holes through his palm.
"...just a little more," he said, forcing the energy of [Heal] and Life Laws into the Saint Emperor's body.
It was impossible to save him.
There was no meaning in this action at all, but...
"...please, let's just talk a little more before you go."