Chapter 652: Curse Rune
Chapter 652: Curse Rune
"A concept cannot heal, Amelio," said Arthur with a smile as he readied his weapon. "As long as I feed the conceptualized sharpness inside your body, it will not cease to exist."
This was an attack on a different plane of existence. Even the fallen god could not fight against a concept. This was the real power of the creator, who could treat everything as a resource as long it existed.
"How impertinent of a kid to treat me this way?" glared Amelio as he touched his back and watched the blood on his hands, as if amazed that he was still capable of such a human feat. "However, you must keep feeding this with mana, and it cannot be easy."
"I was wondering what that attack is, as it seems different from Intent," said Ilia Perli while glancing at the white strands that formed the dagger. "It seems that it's something far stronger."
An intent was something only grandmasters wielded and having one separated an Astra-Ranker from what lies ahead. It was said that only a few people could use it, bending the world to their wishes. For those people, the process was this:
Awakeners strengthening their wills → connecting those wills to the world → fusing their Intent with a concept → bending the world using that concept.
However, this was different from what Arthur did. Although it also manipulated the world, Arthur did not need to train his willpower to affect the world directly because it listened to him. This allowed him to use concepts differently but also limited their powers with his mana.
A powerful awakener who mastered Intents did not need to use mana, as his mere existence was fused with a certain concept. It was the same as moving his arm, but it was different for Arthur, who used mana to use his runes.
Amelio knew that, hoping the wound would disappear once Arthur used most of his mana. But unfortunately, a concept was still something humans could not manipulate, and Arthur risked his body turning into runes.
"We need to finish him off before I run out of mana," said Arthur to the Major. "At that time, there will not be hope for any of us, including this kingdom. However, I have a plan. First, I need all of you to buy me time."
Major General Ilia stared at Arthur before nodding and turning toward his men. After raising his arm, the soldiers dispersed around the battlefield with the gobkins. The shadows, the humanoid monsters, and the soldiers all worked together.
"This is the closest we can get to world peace," said Arthur while raising his hand toward the sky. "Come, Lilo!" he shouted, and the dragon roared before it dived downward. Arthur jumped, and Lilo became underneath him, allowing Arthur to land on its back.
"I will not let you run away!" shouted Amelio as he appeared in front of Lilo, and no one could stop him. "I have other stats than just strength," said Amelio as his arm disappeared, slashing at Arthur.
"Lilo!" shouted Arthur, and the violet mana exploded, enveloping the two of them. The slash passed through their body as Lilo flapped its wings and soared toward the sky, leaving Amelio with nothing but rage.
The slash cut through the ground, leaving a deep gush that no one could see its end. If Arthur were struck with that, he would have died without a doubt. It was a good thing that Lilo was an elusive dragon.
"How many tricks do you have, outsider?" glared Amelio at Arthur, who flew toward his flying vessel. "If I cannot catch you, I will kill your subordinates until you return."
Arthur turned around to stare at the fallen god threatening him, but he was not worried. His gobkins and shadows can protect themselves better than anyone, and Ruki was still here to protect them.
"You can try that," said Arthur as he raised his hand. "I will leave now because I have this divine blood to use."
There was a small sphere of blood floating on top of his hand. Amelio's eyes widened as he stared at the blood, realizing it was his own. Then, his legs bulged as he crouched, ready to pursue Arthur.
"All, attack!" shouted Major General Ilia after realizing that Arthur had done something to enrage Amelio. His lightning appeared as fast as it disappeared, making him between Amelio and Arthur Silvera.
Every warrior on the battlefield bolted toward Amelio, who gritted his teeth in rage. But, then, the fallen god raised his hand instead of following Arthur, summoning the soldiers that had been standing all this while idly.
"Take him down!" shouted Amelio, forcing the serpent and the Skywalkers to surround Arthur. Then, all of a sudden, the sky separating Lilo from the Dome Mansion was filled with flying demi-humans.
Arthur did not despair but smiled instead. His reason for showing Amelio the blood was to see if the fallen god cared. The rage Amelio led proved that he was suspectable of something that Arthur could do inside the mansion, and that was curse runes, something he had never attempted.
The path forward was blocked, but the elusive dragon gave a roar of defiance as it entered a dimension of its own, separated from the rest. Then, as the attacks rained on the two of them, nothing could harm them.
"Attack all you want!" cried Lilo with arrogance as it soared upward. "No attack in this world can harm me! I am the untouchable king of the skies!"
"…you have grown arrogant, Lilo," smiled Arthur as he placed his hand on the dragon's long and scaly neck. "How has the training been?"
Lilo was not with him since he came back to Earth, and the reason for that is the training he needed to undergo with Hazel. Although Arthur does not remember the details, the reason is that the dragon's growth seems to stagnate.
However, Lilo was now far larger than Arthur remembered him to be in the battle against the hybrid. It was large enough to be a threat on his own, making Arthur believe the decision to send it with Hazel was the right one.
The Skywalks tried to obstruct them, but nothing could stand in the face of the Elusive Dragon. It flapped its wings to fly toward the sky, passing through the countless attacks that rained on it. Amelio received the total onslaught of a hundred attacks, preventing him from chasing after Arthur.
In a matter of a few seconds, Arthur was below the Dome Mansion. He did not need to open doors because Lilo flew inside through the metallic monster. Once they came out the other side, Arthur was in the control room.
The spherical hall lit up as Arthur jumped on the bridge connecting to its control panel. Lilo flapped its wings in front of Arthur, staring at its master with longing and unrecognition.
"We will talk later, Lilo," muttered Arthur while carrying the blood of the fallen god. "Go back to the battlefield and help them. I need a bit of time to give us a fighting chance."
"I understand, my liege," nodded the dragon before it dived back toward the ground and left the Dome Mansion. Arthur was left alone inside the spherical hall with the pulsating blood of Amelio.
"Even though it is just blood, I can sense the power within it," muttered Arthur while looking at the droplets. "I need to hurry. This is a race against time."
Arthur waved his hand, and a large circular platform appeared in front of the control panel. This was the runic creation circle, which he could use to construct and implant runes.
As runes were the language of the world, then every one of them could be deconstructed and rebuilt. This allowed them to create things that were not there, and this runic circle was built to deconstruct.
"Legacy, register this blood," said Arthur as a light appeared from the side, holding the blood in place. "Test subject… one: fallen god, Amelio."
The blood disappeared into the light, and Arthur walked toward the center of the runic circle. Then, runes appeared on his fingertips, which began to be deconstructed into smaller ones until he was left with nothing but runic lines.
"I was never a fighter, but a creator. If I create the right rune, I can bring down even the gods. I never believed I would do this, but the situation requires unethical means," said Arthur to no one.
Arthur raised his arms and controlled the runes, fusing them. He was not summoning a new rune but creating one customized to harm Amelio. This was a cursed rune; magic meant to destroy.
Amelio understood the dangers of having his blood taken away, and he was bound to seek Arthur. Therefore, it was a matter of time before the fallen god knocked on his doors, so Arthur needed to create a new rune before Amelio arrived.