Chapter 1545: Duke Horacio [3]
Two fists collided at supersonic speeds. Both were infused with monstrous amounts of energy; opposing forms of energy at that.
The impact was almost perfect. Both forces canceled each other out, pushing those who created them backward.
Meanwhile, the residual force slammed down into the ground below with nowhere else to go.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!
The mountain peak was completely destroyed, leaving it as a plateau. The shower of flying rocks and debris struck the ground at the base like a meteor shower, creating a mass of craters that destroyed a lot of the flora that once inhabited that area.
The force of just one collision was enough to create a disaster for the creatures that lived on this isolated mountain, but it would've been pitiful if it ended at only one.
Damien and Duke Horacio immediately regained their balance and charged at each other, fists outstretched and mana recalibrated to destroy the other side.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The two traded an array of punches. To the outside observer, they became two flashes of light that rapidly jumped around in the sky, causing sparks to fly with every movement.
Countless shockwaves spread through the air, causing boom after boom to resound through the atmosphere.
But the details within their fight were more complicated than they looked.
Every punch both of them threw was aimed at the other's fist. It was indeed a fight that took physical strength into account, but their true battle was in the concept of infusion.
Telekinesis was a power derivative of spatial laws. The Sacred Abyss Universe law that Horacio used was pretty much just space.
Every time he threw a punch, he infused it with different concepts of space that were present in his home cosmos.
They were highly similar to the concepts of the True Void Universe's spatial law. After all, they were both defining characteristics of space, no matter how convoluted that space was.
When Damien noticed that Horacio was mainly using space, he happily reciprocated using the same law.
Space was his origin as well. His power had blossomed into something magical with the passing of time, but the very first affinity he awakened was space. It was his most favorite law.
Damien's current space law was enhanced by Existence. Using this superior law, he was able to alter and combine concepts in ways he could've never dreamed of before.
A foreign spatial law versus an enhanced one. These two forces continuously collided in ways equal and opposite to each other.
Damien and Horacio constantly made micro-adjustments to their energy, trying to usurp each other's law. However, neither had been able to find an upper hand yet.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Out of nowhere, Damien flipped his body, bringing his foot to Horacio's chin.
BANG!
It wasn't a cheap move, but an abrupt show of proficiency that Horacio wasn't expecting.
Damien's movement took place within the spatial layers. In his perception, the man's body inverted out of nowhere.
His kick to the chin was powered by space, and through the momentum gathered within the spatial layers.
When it struck Duke Horacio, it snapped his head back and sent a shockwave straight through his skull.
The world was warbling in the Duke's eyes.
He could feel within his body, several systems had been spatially displaced. He didn't recognize that it had happened until he started feeling the aftereffects of such a change.
"Hmph!" He snorted.
It was definitely an impressive showing from the enemy, but he wasn't to be outdone!
VOOOOM!
A huge pulse of mana was expunged from his body. Along with it, his organs were rearranged back to their regular positions, and Damien was thrown away by the spatial chaos.
The Duke cracked his neck. Against an enemy like this, using regular power wasn't enough.
His eyes rolled back, revealing his pure white sclera.
Damien's brows furrowed.
'Strange.'
He took three leaps back and made substantial distance from the Duke.
The aura around his body was completely different from before. He still felt like himself, but at the same time, he gave off the feeling of a higher entity.
A strange energy swirled around in the air. Malakh and Mana met in one place, but they did not reject each other as they usually did.
'In front of True Godhood, all energy is just energy.'
Damien's eyes narrowed. He had sensed this aura before. He knew exactly what the Duke was doing.
'An Edict.'
As far as Damien knew, Edicts were exclusive to the True Void Universe. However, it seemed a similar concept existed everywhere.
'A proof of Godhood. It is something granted to all who can reach that level, no matter where they come from. Only the form changes to match the laws of the home cosmos.'
If Duke Horacio was using his Edict, a concept Gods didn't use unless they were facing truly dangerous enemies, then it meant that he'd acknowledged Damien's strength and ability.
He wouldn't be holding back anymore.
'This is good.'
Damien wanted to test his limits. He needed an enemy who wouldn't look down on him.
And he needed to improve Existence, which wasn't something he could do unless the enemy was at his best.
'Let's do this.'
Did he want to go big, or did he want to go fast?
BANG!
Duke Horacio appeared beside him before he realized what was happening.
'Fast it is.'
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
Damien moved back at extraordinary speeds, but the Duke always managed to keep up.
The atmosphere made loud bangs as it became unable to handle Horacio's presence.
He was moving on an "impossible trajectory."
That could only mean...
'...he's started to influence time.'
Damien grinned wildly. His body was soon covered in a formelsss film of energy. He disappeared from sight.
The rest of the battle could not be viewed from the outside world. Damien and Horacio were now zipping around inside the fabric of spacetime.
It was a confusing ethereal dimension that almost didn't exist. They both were accustomed to it, but if anyone else was put in their shoes, their minds would have been broken by the sheer conceptuality of their position.
Back and forth, they attacked each other.
Strengthened by his Edict, Horacio was exerting a level of control over the natural world that Damien had never seen in someone other than himself.
It was beautiful.
It was fun.
Damien was having a great time, but he wasn't satisfied with just this.
He didn't want to control the fabric of spacetime.
He wanted to warp reality itself until it was nothing more than a reflection of his desires.
He wanted to be an Absolute.
VOOOOOOM!
The universe heard his call.
The "Existence" within him roared, begging him to complete it and gain the control he spoke of.
Reality began to twist.
That "something" which had been changing in the Heavenly World, that "something" which Damien only recently sensed...
It began to rear its head again.
Damien felt his blood getting hotter. His mind got clearer as his thoughts disintegrated.
At a certain point, all he saw was white.
Space and time were merely a single aspect, but they were fundamental in keeping reality as stable as it was.
Space and time...
Under the weight of Damien's presence, they began to tear.
It seemed something like an "Edict" was blooming inside of his body.