Ascent(III)

Instead of panicking, Amon calmed down, and his gaze became even firmer.

'The only advantage I have here is that I don't think any of them assumed I'd come out of this alive or at least, they didn't think my mind would survive. Otherwise, they wouldn't have given me access to the real legacies.'

His figure flashed across a horde of undead, leaving a trail of decaying bodies in his wake as he only got faster and faster.

Fortunately, he'd found that by using his decay ability, he didn't have to physically consume the undead he killed.

'Now, I must understand what the end goal of this all truly is. Obviously, it's to revive the First Warlock… but is that truly the case?'

'This all comes back to my original dilemma—is the Third Prince the First Warlock himself or a figure rivaling them?'

'I'll get all my answers after I kill 'him'.'

BANG!

As Amon absentmindedly killed the last of the undead within the cave, his senses suddenly flared, and he hurriedly retreated, dodging a beam of toxic green liquid.

'I see.'

In front of him, seated on a throne, was the Undead Queen.

She had dark green skin, rotten and lacerated beyond belief, as pus and black blood dripped from her wounds to cover her naked body. Her long hair, made of centipedes, reached her feet, and her pupils, an endless swirling abyss of brown and green, seemed to know only violence and chaos.

Seeing Amon dodge her attack so easily, she shrieked in anger and sent a flurry of beams his way.

Amon thought to dodge but instead, he raised a hand and took hold of the neutral aether around him. It gathered and solidified, forming a shield of white in front of him.

BANG!

The beams exploded, and a cloud of chaotic neutral aether blinded them both.

"SHEEEEE!"

Soaring out of the cloud of aether, Amon sent a fist flying forward, forcing the Queen off her throne as she jumped and then came down with a falling ax punch.

Suddenly, Amon's stance shifted, and he retracted his punch, slightly jumping to then spin sideways upon himself and launch a powerful kick at the Queen.

Taken off guard, she didn't have time to react and was sent crashing into a wall.

The Queen immediately recovered, madly screaming as her body burst with aether, her powerful green aether manifesting to coat her body. But this wasn't all.

The ground trembled, and instantly, mounds of earth arose and began to spin, sucking neutral aether from the surroundings to gain mass and lethality.

Amon's gaze narrowed.

'Earth affinity…'

Neutral aether gathered around him and coalesced to form a simple spear with a single-edged blade. He spun it around, the shaft whipping as his green-purplish innate aether flowed through both his body and the spear, imbuing the latter with a royal glow.

ZHIM!

The Queen sent the mounds of earth she'd summoned toward Amon, their speed so high they began to catch fire. Amon zipped through them, but to his dismay, they immediately all imploded. However, this didn't pose much of a problem as the aether coating him thickened, bearing the brunt of the shock and allowing him to continue speeding toward the Queen.

Unlike what she'd expected, as soon as he left the meteors behind, he planted his foot and sent his spear flying at her, then formed another spear that he sent with just as much force.

Her expression soured, but just as she was about to form a shield, the spears exploded, not to harm her but to blind her. Amon appeared behind her, his spear moving to perform a vicious thrust. But the Queen wasn't so easily defeated; at the last second, she gathered aether in her throat and roared out with full force.

BOOOOM!

Amon was pushed back by the terrifying waves that echoed, causing him to miss and leaving him open to her counter.

CLANK!

Their clash ensued, raging on as all sorts of complex aether manipulation abilities were displayed without using a single spell. The Undead Queen showed terrifying prowess, her experience evident and her skills refined as each of her hits was sent out with intention and planning.

She punched with the force of a gorilla, moved with the speed of a cheetah, and dodged with the grace of a swan as she skillfully weaved her Earth manipulation, pushing Amon to what seemed to be his limits.

On the other hand, Amon seemed to find great fun in this battle, each exchange akin to an enlightening lesson as his improvement and growth knew no limit. The endless amount of knowledge and theory he'd accumulated began to solidify and take root, his skill, long since stagnated, soared with no end.

His gift of growth constantly tweaked his body, allowing him to wield his spear to its fullest potential and making him even closer to aether, something he thought to be impossible.

His swings carried both his own and the world's aether, and his thrusts held an edge the Queen couldn't ignore, even if she wanted to. She soon found herself overwhelmed, unable to block a slice before a cleave fell, unable to parry a thrust before a fist slid across her face, and unable to react as her own aether slipped out of her control and left her defenseless.

"Thank you."

Amon spoke these words as his spear plunged into her chest and pulverized her heart, his decaying ability immediately activating to turn her body to ashes. As her life force was extinguished and her existence turned into origin aether, the Queen looked at Amon, and for a moment, Amon swore he saw traces of devotion and reverence flash within her cold and mad pupils.

'Good stretch.'

Amon walked over to her throne and sat on it, a ginormous cloud of ash appearing in front of him. These were all the undead he'd killed and decayed. Closing his eyes, he began to cultivate and absorb them as Genesis and Necros Cells began to form in his body.

'A few hours….'