2 days later.
Elsos Ruins.
Bell and Artemis Familia stood at the very peripheral edge of the Elsos Ruins.
The ruins ahead of them consisted of ancient architecture. Dormant sigils were carved across the fractured walls, radiating antiquity.
A pressure leaked from deep within the ruins, withering the surrounding nature towards destruction and rot.
Bell and Goddess Artemis both wore severe looks on their faces just from feeling that tremendous pressure radiating from within the ruins.
.
He took a deep breath to steady himself and looked at Goddess Artemis besides him, his voice coming out serious and grave.
"Goddess Artemis... I want you and your Familia to keep a watch outside. While... I'll go in to check on the seals." His expression turned to a no-nonsense one.
!?
"You want to go in alone, Bell? Why?" Goddess Artemis asked while barely holding back her opposition at his proposal, opting to hear his reason first.
"Goddess, you and your whole Familia will most certainly be wiped out if you go in." Bell spoke frankly, his voice hardening further.
"Hey!" Lante tried to protest but was shut down by a hand from Goddess Artemis.
"You're being brutally honest. But, what guarantee is there that you'll be able to achieve what me and my Familia will get wiped out doing?" Goddess Artemis' voice carried no resentment at his words. Instead, it was genuinely questioning. Because his words rang true in her godly senses.
Bell did not reply.
Rather, he took in his surroundings. Goddess Artemis stood ahead of him. Lante, Rethusa, and other Artemis Familia members surrounded them.
Some held curiosity. Some took offence at his words. Some even feeling like Bell had lost his mind.
His gaze came back to rest on Goddess Artemis.
Bell took a deep breath and... finally let go.
[Ittou Shura] detonated to life. His strength crested upwards. His speed followed.
Level 1— Level 2— High Level 2.
It did not cease.
[Ittou Shura] was slammed to full throttle. His strength peaked. His speed scaling up without end.
High Level 2— Level 3— Mid Level 3.
[Instinct] rose. Golden strings to victory blanketed the world.
[Grega] erupted. A loop of revolving flames flowing behind him.
Bow in one hand. The cracked Liberator in the other.
His presence continued to expand non-stop.
Finally... An Eight Handled Wheel slowly arose above his head.
The withering pressure from Elsos was pushed back in response.
Bell looked into Goddess Artemis' wide open eyes.
"Is this enough, Goddess?"
Goddess Artemis did not reply. Her green eyes lost in the golden strings unfolding in his ruby pupils.
She snapped out of her stupor a moment later.
"Yes... Yes, enough." Her voice came out a little hurried. Her cheeks dusted pink.
Rethusa, Lante, and other Artemis Familia members slowly snapped out of their shock.
No one objected now.
Hence... Bell walked.
Deep into the Elsos Ruins.
Against the tide of fate.
Alone....
...
..
.
After walking for 10 minutes in a straight line, through the pathways of the antique ruins.
Bell finally reached an open area.
A giant scorpion like monster rested in the very centre of this expanse. It had one-eye, six-arms, and multi-legs with glowing red marks across its body.
Antares.
It roused from its dormancy at Bell's intrusion. A roar rumbling from it. Followed by a colossal pressure flooding the whole area.
ROOOOOOOAR!
Gravity increased exponentially.
Bell felt as if a whole mountain range had come down to rest across his shoulders.
Clunk
The spokes of his wheel spun in response.
His muscles spasmed. Their density increasing. Their compression rate rising.
He aimed his hand towards Antares. His other hand pulling back.
The loop of revolving flames behind his back snaked over his shoulder towards his arm, materialising as a bow of crimson flames pointing towards the monster.
"Know your place...Fool."
WHOOSH!
His surroundings were scorched. Three arrows accelerating towards the scorpion at Godspeed.
They collided against Antares' head faster than a heartbeat.
BOOOOOOM!
A massive explosion resounded a moment later.
Visibility dropped. Steam covered the area. Moisture from the expanse being evaporated rapidly.
Bell took a step forward. His surroundings made space. Environment dissolved and reassembled.
Two of Antares' claws quickly cleared the area of excessive steam.
Yet... Bell was no longer at his original position.
Its singular eye constricted abruptly.
Bell was falling down from above. Straight onto Its head. His left hand pulled all the way back.
The wheel above him revolved.
Clunk
His bone density shot up. His hand bones hardened further. His bone rigidity soared.
"United...States...Of...Smash!!!"
His fist landed on the scorpions head in an instant.
BOOOOM!
Its head was knocked down. Leftover force from his blow making the ground beneath them quake.
Yet... four scorpion claws headed for him from below in mere moments.
Golden strings twisted and turned across his vision. Hundreds of paths to dodge shone before him.
However, even faster than them was...
Clunk
The Wheel.
His neural strength amplified. His neural plasticity improved. His nervous system went into overdrive.
He felt time slow down. His mind gave a command. His body followed with extreme fluidity and negligible resistance.
Two claws headed for him from the left and right. His body responded instantly, his hands revolving in a semicircle to slightly redirect their angle away from him.
While his two hands were occupied. Another pair of claws reached him. A single leg came up in response to redirect a claw to collide against the other with a fluid motion.
BOOM!
He moved once again. His surroundings becoming a mirage. Some distance was created between him and the scorpion.
[Grega] X 100.
Hundreds of fireballs materialised above. Their shape becoming fluid as they knitted themselves into intricate chains of flame.
The chains dropped a moment later on Antares, sealing its limbs and movement for a short while.
Bell took Liberator out of its scabbard. Cracks ran across the blade from its last use.
Goodbye.
He spoke inwardly to the blade one last time before pointing it skyward.
Flames of [Grega] covered its edge a moment later.
His strength plummeted back.
Mid Level 3— Level 3— Level 2— Level 1.
Pure vitality flooded Liberator, along with his leftover mana.
Cracks across its blade increased in size and depth.
A pillar of radiance was released skywards.
"Astra—Vesta Calibur!!!"
Liberator was swung a moment later, plunging the world in pure radiance.
BOOOOOOOOM!
The sword of Liberator slowly dissolved away under the relentless channeling of his mana and vitality.
... Bell put his arms back down a moment later. Only the handle of Liberator was left in his hand.
Smoke covered the area ahead of him.
Finally.
It was over...
He had really done it.
He had barely let his guard down when...
[Instinct] went insane. Warnings blaring inside his mind like rumbling thunder.
Bell gazed forward through the smoke, his eyes landing on the still standing Antares.
!!
It had swallowed his [Astra—Vesta Calibur] and was pointing its mouth back at him. A blinding energy accumulated between it's jaws.
Bell did not have time to react before the monster reflected his attack back at him.
Too clo—.
BOOOOOOOM!
He was drowned under the radiance of his own [Astra—Vesta Calibur] instantly.
Dust and smoke spread everywhere.
Bell being done in by his own ultimate move.
...
..
.
***
[300 Power Stones = 1 Bonus Chapter]
[8 chapters ahead on P@tr3on = [email protected]/Not_Aaryan]
...
[Authors Thoughts]
Our boy was done in by his own finisher.
After all... how could it so easy to handle a legendary monster like Antares?
He got uno reversed at the very end. Just like a certain Gojo.
...