Return of the Fallen Volume 12 Chapter 126
While everyone was focused on one another, it was Kazuki and the shadow who had their eyes on the seals Gardius had in place. The two shared similar thoughts as they observed the seals closely.
(His power is insane and it seems the seals can only handle so much of it.)
Kazuki recalled as the first seal was placed around this now barren world. It had taken several seconds, while the seal over the Artifact had taken a fraction of a second.
What he and the shadow witnessed when Gardiu’s flexed his powerful might was the seals fluctuate. To the naked eye, nothing seemed to have happened to them on the surface but Kazuki’s eyes and the eyes of the Shadow were anything but ordinary. Not only that, both had their expertise in the ways of energy. They both could see something deep within the seals break down little by little.
Kazuki and the Shadow immediately began to come up with their own theories.
(Surely Gardius is aware of what he himself is capable of. There are still traces of damage in the seals he’s placed. Though minuscule, they in fact are there. With his Artifact, he should have a near-infinite supply of energy to fix them so why has he not already done so? No, why have they not repaired automatically with a mere thought from him? Could it be…)
Kazuki could not be certain since he was too far away from both seals but he theorized they contained Origin energy. He eyed Gardius’s ring and wondered.
(If he put those seals in place with Origin energy from his ring, it’s no wonder that other Gods could not get through it. Whether entering or exiting, these Gods have many cards up their sleeves but even the Supreme Gods have failed in breaking his seals. I can’t say for sure that the barriers he made have instances of Oriing energy weaved and fused in them but what other explanation can there be? No, I must be 100% certain, otherwise, mistakes will only follow.)
Kazuki needed to confirm the makeup of these barriers. If he could find out what energy was laid within them, he felt he could counter, possibly even break through them. If they were made up of lesser energies then there was still a possibility of cutting through them with his sword forms but if they really did have Origin energy inside, that type of energy, there was no way he would be severing it, especially since a Supreme God was the one who put it in place.
(I need to get close to either the seal covering this world or the seal behind Gardius.)
Kazuki watched the floating treasure behind Gardius. It was trapped within his seal. Getting to the one behind him was basically out of the question. That left the barrier around the world. Although most of the suppression of this world had been lifted after the treasure had been sealed, there was still enough left that Kauzki’s senses could not extend all the way to the barrier around the world. He would need to get at least a few miles within range of the barrier to sense it with his aura. Outside of that, he would be clueless.
(Should I just have a go for it? Should I let the others know?)
If he made a run for it without informing the others they may think he really ran. However if he told them he wished to go and sense the barrier around the world, they would most likely just be confused or think it’s a waste of time without him telling him about his other abilities.
(If I tell them I want to go to the barrier and sense it they’ll wonder why and will want answers otherwise they won’t trust me. If I tell them it’s because I might be able to cut through the barrier they may then turn on me. If I can cut through the seal behind him, what’s to stop me from stealing the treasure out from under their collective noses and escaping through the barrier around the world? There’s no doubt I would immediately become their enemy if they know there was a possibility I can break Gardius’s seals.)
Kazuki was left with a compromising choice that could lead to not just one Supreme God as his enemy but several. He cursed the fact that Arc and the other Artifacts were still unresponsive. He knew it had to do with Arc’s missing piece floating silently in the sky but why this was happening, what level of danger it was, or how to reak it, he had none of the answers.
While Kauzki was contemplating things at hyper speed, the shadow was no longer in the snake creature’s body. The moment Gardius launched his magic attack the shadow moved as well. He shot upward at high speed and as the explosion came rumbling forward, he hid directly behind the Artifact treasure floating in the sky, or rather he hid behind the seal that surrounded the purplish-black Artifact.
As soon as the explosion passed by, the shadow tore off the body and stored it inside of its shadow form.
It did this to try and be sneaky. It felt that Gardius would be unable to sense him while he was in his shadow form. When it came to hiding, none were greater than he, or at least he thought so.
Kazuki knew what he wanted. It was obvious.
(If the shadow can’t get the artifact right away it will hide in wait for an opportunity to leap into someone else’s body.)
Kazuki quickly relayed this information to everyone onboard. He let them know exactly what the shadow was as well as his current location.
Hearing this, no one was uplifted by this news. It just meant another hidden danger they now had to worry about.
“Don’t worry about the shadow, just focus on the fight.”
No one felt reassured by Kazuki’s words. The biggest among them, Cainen spoke harshly.
“What do you mean don’t worry, are you fucking kidding me. Gardius is a God among Gods, dealing with this bastard alone will take everything we have and we still may not come out on top. Now there is this shadowy lowly thing hunting us from a hiding spot. Fuck why did I even come here!?”
Before anyone could respond to this, Gardius had already cocked his back once more.
“Good, you have shown me something unexpected. That ship though will not last. I will eventually crack it like an egg. The moment you all spill out. I will slaughter every last one of you like the little hatchlings you are.”
Everyone felt Gardius’s energy climb like crazy and Brella roared out Stasha’s name as Gardius’s fist came flying forward.
“STASHA!”
Stasha’s eyes lit up and the sails of her ship shined with silver light as she shot off in a random direction just in time to avoid Gardius’s attack. This time though his attack was not one that spread across the planet like a tidal wave of death. Instead, his attack became a dangerous plasma-like bolt of energy. it was layered in darkness and surrounded a fist-sized red sphere of power.
This energy was similar to what Gardius fired at Kazuki earlier during their short one-on-one fight.
This power chased after everyone and it was just as fast as Stasha’s ship. No, because Stasha’s ship was heavily damaged at the beginning, this plasma beam of death was even faster and was gaining on them.
Just as the beam of death was about to strike the ship’s stern.
Stasha reached out and a large orb of light sprang forth from the deck of the ship and appeared directly in front of her. This orb of light had rings of gold orbiting around it, spinning like cogs or gears in a well-tuned machine. Her hands surrounded this glowing orb and she grit her teeth and shouted.
“HOLD ON TO SOMETHING!”
She had barely finished saying this when she willed the rings and cogs to instantly rotate in the opposite direction.
The sails shifted on the ship and the ship itself teleported a mere 10 feet away from the beam. This was just enough for the beam to miss but it turned around in the air and came chasing after them again.
Stasha willed her ship once more but did not teleport. Instead, she flew her ship like a true master. The ship was already tilting to one side, with a wave of her hand, the sails folded in and her ship tilted further and began to dive at a harsh angle like it had been shoved off a high cliff.
The beam chased them from behind as if it wished to eat their very souls.
“COME AND GET ME!”
Stasha led the ship toward the ground as if she were about to crash head-on. At the last second before impact, she roared.
“OPEN!”
With her roar, the ship responded, and the sails opened once more. Her ship suddenly was forced upward at a new angle and the beam just missed and exploded into the ground below.
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