Chapter 251: Power 2
"...This might've been a stupid choice."
The Ain mumbled as she looked at Arthus Krancheska charging towards them while surrounded by black flames.
Hansoo spoke towards the Ain.
"You should've just ran away."
"Heh, I'm just here to fulfill the prophecy of the future."
Hansoo scoffed.
Future.
The reason why he had run so hard was because of this.
Hansoo stopped his thoughts and started to analyze the situation.
His side had 2 people.
He who had reached level 250.
And an Ain who had reached level 300.
The opponent... A monster at level 330.
'Nowhere close enough.'
Hansoo laughed bitterly.
There was a huge difference between level 200 and 250.
The difference between level 300 and 330 was even larger.
Though he was extremely strong for a level 250, a difference of 80 levels was not a joke.
It would be a hard fight even if they had an army.
'But... It's still possible.'
The odds weren't on his side but the possibility still existed.
Since he wouldn't be standing here in the first place if there was no possibility.
He would've just kept on running away.
Being powerful was relative and there were always flaws and weaknesses.
Just like the strength his opponent had.
'Flame of Destruction.'
Hansoo stopped thinking and tensed up his muscles.
It was time to focus now.
Then.
Booooom!
"Bastards!!!"
Arthus Krancheska, who was still in the distance, poured out a tremendous amount of black flames.
While melting down all the walls around him.
Though it was extremely inefficient and wasteful to do so, he could allow himself to do so with his strength.
The heat from the flame melted Hansoo's reinforcement and started to burn his Dragon Essence Blade and the Thousand Soldiers Armor.
Such might even though it wasn't directed at him.
'If I hit it directly...I'll just get erased!'
But there was nowhere to dodge.
A wall of flames that didn't give him an inch of room to dodge.
Then.
Kiiiiiiing!
A strange noise started to pour out from the body of the Ain next to Hansoo.
The black shadow shrouding it expanded and contracted and wriggled around.
'Insane bastards!'
As Arthus Krancheska was gleeful from the thought of burning up these two with the flames.
Whoooosh!
Light started to explode out from the shadow lingering around the Ain's body.
As if the light, which had been contained by the shadow, blew out.
Like something being born from a egg, the light blew out from the Ain's body and lit up the surrounding space.
At the same time.
Whoooosh!
It started to surround the flames that had filled up the surroundings.
And it didn't stop there.
The light retracted back inside the Ain's body.
Along with the flame.
Shrrrrrrrk!
The flames got sucked into the Ain's body.
Into the body of the Ain who coveted the existence of the Flame of Destruction.
'What the...'
Flame of Destruction.
Fire from times of extinction.
Or in another word, flames from before the time of extinction.
Relics earned from the lands up north as the Protection Elixir came into existence and the Spirit Lands opened.
It was a flame created from those relics.
Of course the power behind it was tremendous.
This fire could even burn up the world.
Though Arthus hadn't put all his strength behind his attack, it wasn't something that could or should get sucked in that easily.
'...Is this what the commander had told me about?'
<the flame of destruction is indeed strong but it won't work very well against the ains. so... always beware of the seal being destroyed.>
Krancheska made a dumbfounded expression while thinking of the words from the commander of the magic brigade.
Whooosh.
The Ain made a refreshed expression as it devoured up the flame.
This power.
This was power that truly belonged to them, related to their origins.
It was the power of the Spirits which they controlled in the past when they ruled the world.
And the power which they needed to gain after going into the Spirit Lands.
"Though it's fake... It's really been a while.'
A content smile appeared on the Ain's face.
The look of the Ain was completely different after it had devoured the flames.
The shadow-like body started to shine.
From the flame surrounding it.
The shadowy and smoke-like body had all been turned into flames and surrounded her body.
A human created from flames.
The Ain who looked like it had been birthed from the sun emitted a completely different aura from when it had the shadowy look from before.
'Flame. Not bad.'
Though there were countless kinds of Spirits, the Ain who had forgotten her name liked the flame the most.
It was the most useful and the most destructive.
But there was no time to waste.
Arthus Krancheska examined the Ain closely.
'She can't be invincible.'
He understood that she had a high compatibility with the flames.
But even if that was the case, she wouldn't be able to handle an infinite amount of energy.
It was a rule of the world.
Arthus Krancheska scanned his opponents and smiled.
'That's her limit huh.'
Her body was leaking out flames.
Which meant she had absorbed as much as she could.
Well, there might be a bit more room.
But Arthus Krancheska didn't have any plans of letting her eat up anymore.
'Try eating it up again.'
The prison which held the Flame of Destruction started to squeeze itself according to Arthus Karncheska's will.
Kooooooong!
The artificial spirit, which was struggling in pain, couldn't handle the pressure and let out flames again.
The flames pouring out from near his heart, mixed with his mana, flowed through the mana circuits in his body and reached the extremities of his fingers with the shape of an arrow.
And then.
Roaaaarrr!
The flame let out a huge noise and poured out from the tips of his hands and rushed towards Hansoo and the Ain at a terrifying speed.
But it couldn't compare to the might of the wall of fire from before.
It was tiny.
But as the Ain saw it.
'...That's a bit too much.'
The Ain smacked her lips.
Though it existed, it wasn't a true spirit's power and instead was contaminated with mana and filled with the opponent's hatred.
It would be hard to absorb it in the first place and it would puncture a hole in her heart if she did it anyway.
Since it was dozens of times more condensed than before.
Although the size was small, the heat was much higher than the wall of flames from before.
The Ain quickly decided.
To attack instead of defending.
Whoooooosh!
The Ain's body exploded.
Well, the flames that its body was made of to be exact.
Then.
Shrrrrrrrk!
The dispersed body of the Ain flew across the air and started to surround Arthus Krancheska's body.
Then the cloud of flames which had surrounded Arthus Krancheska's body started to attack him.
Like a swarm of bees.
"These annoying bastards...!"
Krancheska used his mana to protect his vital spots and at the same time sent out a wisp of consciousness into the arrow of fire which he had shot out.
He couldn't waste it.
Whoosh!
The arrow made a sharp turn as he controlled it.
And the arrows started to head towards Hansoo's heart.
Hansoo shouldn't be able to stop it or dodge it.
Since there was that much energy within it.
'I'll at least get one person.'
As Krancheska laughed.
Boooooom!
A blood colored light started to pour out from Hansoo's body.
Well, from the flail in Hansoo's hand to be exact.
The flail started to heat up like a furnace and a smoky existence started to appear above it.
<finally...freedom!>.
<uaahahahaha!>
<yes! that guy's a descendant of the kingdoms as well! use our strength!>
The souls hiding inside the flail with the mana node's energy left behind those words as they disappeared.
Well, they weren't disappearing to be exact.
They were finally being freed from the cursed flail and going back to where they should be.
They, who had been suppressed by hatred turned into a pure energy form and flowed through Hansoo's entire body.
Then.
Boooooooom!
The body which had been already strengthened from the Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement, the Dragon Essence Blade and the Body Enhancement Surgery got enhanced even further from the strength of the mana node.
A streak of red light started to pour in the Demonic Dragon's Reinforcement which was filled with dark golden light.
The red energy flowed into the silvery liquid as well.
Kuudududuk!
Uududuk!
A body which was countless times stronger than before.
Hansoo squeezed out as much energy as he could and smashed down his flail.
Towards the arrow.
The moment the chunk of metal and the flame arrow collided.
Boooooooom!
An unbelievably loud noise rang throughout the entire maze.
A noise so loud that it even caused both Arthus and Hansoo to frown.
Then.
Boooooom!
"Ugh..."
The cloud of flames attacking Arthus was deflected back from the mana shockwave created by the clash.
Krancheska stole a glance at the Ain which had turned back into her human form and chuckled at Hansoo.
"Not bad. But how are you going to continue if you barely blocked that simple attack?"
And Hansoo nodded inwardly to the words of Arthus who was staring back at him expressionlessly.
His words were right.
His body had been subjected to an unbelievable amount of force just from smashing away a simple arrow.
He was the one who had swung but it felt like he had been hit instead.
It was more like a meteor than an arrow.
Though it was just a single moment, the amount of force had stopped him briefly.
The hand holding the flail trembled immensely as his entire body tried to absorb and handle the force.
If the Ain hadn't distracted Arthus then he would've gotten a fatal injury from more attacks.
'...80 levels in difference. It's really huge huh. Even though I applied the Power Destruction as well...'
This couldn't even be called a fire anymore.
It was a bomb which was filled with energy.
The energy sent out by an existence 80 levels higher than himself was hard even for his enhanced body.
The Ain could just disperse their body but he wouldn't be able to approach Arthus at this rate.
The Nine Dragons Spear should be able to smash through his attacks and damage him, but he would get killed before he could try to use it.
Which meant that this wasn't a battle where he should try saving things.
'I need to use it I guess.'
Then.
Rummmblee.
The souls appeared from the flail in his hand and started to disappear again.
A number far greater than from before.
The amount of energy that had come out was immense in itself.
Like a waterfall exploding out from a broken dam, the energy from the mana node suddenly surged and started to pour out in all directions.
If all this energy headed towards Hansoo then even his own body would blow apart.
The energy flowed towards a completely different destination from before.
Not towards Hansoo's body but to the depths of the flail.
As a result.
Rummmblee.
The flail started to let out a huge noise and Krancheska frowned as he watched and shouted.
"The power! How can such a weakling like you use it!"
Krancheska was dumbfounded at this scene.