Return of the Fallen Volume 12 Chapter 120
“You…who are you and what is it you want?”
Gardius found himself in a bizarre situation. One he’s never come across in all his life. He knew he overwhelmed Kazuki in terms of power and could kill him with a single attack but the problem was Kazuki’s speed had been exceptional. He was able to avoid Gardius’s attacks and therefore he was not easy to kill.
If he did not kill Kazuki, then Kazuki would spread rumors and ruin his reputation. Even if Gardius takes hold of the Artifact and rules over all Realms Higher and Lower he would still have those who would laugh behind his back.
They would fear him outwardly while talking shit when he was not around.
To a God, what mattered most was their own personal strength, after that, it was maybe to the downside, their self-image. Gardius was a being who had built his strength through blood and trials of life and death. He knew where his power came from and exactly how he obtained it. However, it could be said that others would not know this. If he took hold of the Artifact, the element of space would fluctuate greatly. This would give Kazuki the chance to flee and spread all the rumors he wanted.
Fear was a powerful tool to keep others in check but it was not the end all be all. If others truly believed that he ruled the universe due to luck and obtaining a special Artifact, they would always look down on him and he knew this.
So again, he was stumped. Kazuki was an enigma.
(He holds no greed for the Artifact but then why did he come here? He was after it moments ago but he doesn’t actually seem to want the power this Artifact contains.)
Gardius’s aura rose and surrounded this entire place. His voice contained a mighty power as he called out in frustration.
“Did you not hear me? Speak! Who are you and what is it you want!? You’ve come for this treasure yet it’s like you don’t actually want it.”
Kazuki smirked.
“True I have come for that treasure but no, I don’t actually want it. You see I only want to obtain that for a friend. There’s no way you would believe that though, heh. As for names, why exchange them now? You and I are not friends nor are we on friendly terms. You knowing my name and speaking it would only send disgusting chills up my spine. I’d rather not hear it spill from your mouth.”
Gardius was even more confused and angry. Kazuki’s claim of wanting the Artifact for the sole purpose of giving it to someone else and a friend at that was absolutely preposterous. To freely give up a treasure that could affect an entire Higher Realm or more, this made absolutely no sense to him.
At the same time, he could detect not a hint of a lie from Kazuki. All this to say he was perplexed.
(Who is this strange man and what in the 7 Realms of hell are his true goals? He wants to give this to a friend, he’ll ruin my reputation if I don’t kill him and he’s unafraid of my power even though he knows I can kill him with a single move. Is this all an act or is he really serious.)
Gardius knew Kauzkiw as trying to buy time as well. The longer this all played out, the more chances something could go wrong but Gardius did not care about that. Anything that happened, he was confident he would come out on top. There was no concern, no situation he would not overcome. This is what he truly believed but still, as he looked at Kazuki and saw his smirk, he couldn’t help but feel something was off.
Kazuki continued to smirk and laughed inwardly.
(I’ve made it so now he won’t take the Artifact unless he kills me first. Like other Gods, he cares too much for his reputation and the damage I will cause if he takes the Artifact before he kills me. Still, this isn’t the best situation. ARC WHY THE FUCK WILL YOU STILL NOT RESPOND!? CODEX! SWORD! DOES ANYBODY HEAR ME!?)
Kazuki really was buying time. He could not clash directly with Gardius for he was simply too strong. If he slipped up for even a moment, death was all but guaranteed.
He simply wanted Arc to respond and claim the treasure for itself. Once Arc took in its missing piece, its power should ascend to levels never before seen. At that time Arc would be able to handle Gardius with a mere thought. This is how ti should be but the problem was, none of the Artifacts were responding. More than that, the floating hollowed-out jewel in the middle of this chamber should have recognized Arc by now.
If everything was just bad luck or coincidence, Kazuki who doesn’t even believe in luck would gladly accept it here and now as if it were a religion. At least if it really were simply bad luck that the missing piece has yet to reconnect with Arc, and it suddenly did, it would mean things could still be settled smoothly.
As things stood, its lack of communication, the fact that Kazuki nearly died too many times to count since entering this place, and the fact that this entire place has been off and weird did not sit well.
As things stood, Kazuki was waiting for either Arc to respond or for Gardius to hurry up and run out of energy. Once it got to that point, he would no longer need to worry about Gardius’s magic attacks. He knew something was strange though. The ring Gardius wore was an Artifact. Kazuki knew this already. Even if he couldn’t observe it with his eyes, he knew this was an Artifact because he felt a small familiarity with it.
It was the part of him that was an Artifact that knew the ring was also an Artifact.
(That ring is doing something to the energy in our surroundings. Is it helping to amplify his attacks or could it be helping to supply him with energy.)
Kazuki couldn’t immediately tell what this ring was capable of but his instincts and his vast knowledge were telling him things were not so simple.
With no clear answers or at least answers that didn’t satisfy Gardius, this led him to more frustration.
“Fine! I’ll admit I don’t understand who or what you are but it is clear, you are my enemy. If you don’t die, it will only make things annoying in the future. Besides that, the fact that you wish to buy time and are trying to lead me along by the nose, this enrages me the most.”
He lifted his hand this time instead of a single finger. With an open palm, Gardius fired thousands of fused magic beams all at once. These beams were not so simple. Some fired straight at Kazuki while others split from one another and bounced around before coming at him.
As these beams of instant death came racing toward him, Kazuki did not simply wait around. His eyes glowed with several different lights creating a myriad of colors. The power of gravity, aura strengthening, ki, aura breath, and more erupted from within and he kicked off the ground with enough force to splinter it.
He dodged these beams with a speed unmatched.
(I can’t simply let things go like this. If Arc and the others won’t respond, I’ll have to snatch that Artifact out of the air myself!)
Several beams came flying toward his face. Kazuki used gravity, wind, and fire to accelerate even further and change direction in mid-air. He flew at a wall and to his surprise the beams were still upon him. They were so fast that if he stopped for even a split second they would strike him and kill him instantly.
As he dodged these bolts of plasma and beams of destruction, the pyramid was taking damage nonstop. It quickly repaired itself after each blow but it was clear the more damage it took the repair time took fraction longer to fix.
Kazuki stepped on the wall and rushed up it, running straight up with no regard for physics.
(How can he use so much energy nonstop?)
Each beam consisted of enough power and destructive force that it could destroy billions upon billions of Lower Realms and currently, there were thousands chasing Kazuki. The power Gardius was using was not something sustainable, yet he was still firing this highly fused magic with no regard for energy reserves.
(It has to be that ring!)
Gardius’s anger rose seeing Kazuki still escape death and he knew this was buying time just like Kauzki wanted. He felt humiliated for the sole fact that he needed to step in and fight more seriously.
Gardius took a step away from the purplish-black Artifact before his ring began to glow.
“Whether you wish to have this for yourself or you actually want to give it away, I no longer care. The fact of the matter is…
His ring flashed and a barrier formed around the floating treasure.
“You won’t be obtaining it either way.”
A powerful barrier sealed around the artifact and Kazuki was surprised that the moment this happened a change occurred. The element of space warped drastically and the suppression effect on him disappeared entirely. Not just on him here but all throughout this world, the suppression was gone.
As soon as this happened, the pyramid began to tremble and shake violently as loud booms rang out from one particular direction. Something was coming.
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