Eclipse of Despair: Zelderus' Last Gambit

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Sukuna raised his two hands and joined them as he said,

"Domain Expansion: Malevolent Shrine "

"Huehhahhahahhaah."

Just as Sukuna chanted "Domain Expansion," a series of murmurs reverberated all around the forest.

Zelderus, who was a few meters away from Sukuna, couldn't help but get goosebumps. But he didn't retreat, as if he understood what Sukuna was doing. He formed a wide, inhumane grin as he shouted toward Sukuna, who was levitating and grinning toward him,

"A battle of Rifts is what you want, ha! I am all for it!"

Zelderus finally revealed his grimoire around his hand, which was pure black as if it had straight come out of the Abyss. It had purple symbols and outlines around him as he chanted with his deep, hoarse voice:

"Abyssal Magic: Rift of the Unreturned "

"Everything's over."

"Despair!"

"Hahahah."

"Die! Die! Everyone will die!"

At the same time, and similarly, murmurs that could be heard clearly also reverberated around the whole jungle, and a wave of darkness erupted from where Zelderus was. It looked as if it painted the whole world black and swept towards Sukuna.

At the same instant, a shrine appeared behind the grinning Sukuna and shook the surroundings heavily.

In this ordinary jungle, the battle of a Rift and a Domain from a different world started!

The darkness from the rift shot towards Sukuna, but just before it came toward him to engulf him, the front part of the wave shattered!

Before Zelderus could react, everything around him collapsed into nothingness!

"What?! What happened to the rift?" Zelderus's body shook slightly, and his thoughts started to became wild.

In this foreign world, Cursed energy acts violently toward mana and wants to destroy it. The spell "Rift of Unreturned" of Zelderus utilizes very pure mana despite its sinister effects. This mana reacts with the negative energy of the world that is present everywhere to activate the spell, but this negative energy is a bit different from the cursed energy due to being from different worlds.

Zon's body utilizes this negative energy and converts it into something similar to that of Cursed energy. But when Zon was born in this world, he also had a little bit of mana due to the Laws of this World. This mana fused with his cursed energy, creating a much more powerful, violent, and upper form of energy compared to the mana.

This cursed energy is amplified many times when he chanted "Domain Expansion." This energy reacted very violently with the mana from the attack "Rift of the Undead" and destroyed it completely, fully nullifying the spell effects.

"You think you can match my domain? Know your place, fool." Sukuna who was still levitating with two of his hands forming the signs, mocked him.

Swish

A long slash appeared on his neck, and blood started flowing, showering the surroundings.

"Abyssal Magic: Obsidian Veil "

Zelderus chanted another spell instantaneously, and a pale black veil covered his body for a brief moment before it disappeared. At the same time, the slash on his neck regenerated fully.

Swish, swish, swish, swish.

Countless strikes slashed Zelderus, who took them straight on. After he chanted the obsidian veil, the damage he took was reduced, but still, some deep slashes appeared on his body. Those also regenerated quickly.

Suddenly, the slashes changed, and-

Swish, swish, swish-

The slashes that were cleave had now become dismantle! This was because Zelderus's body didn't have any cursed energy, so it was slashed by cleave before.

Pshk, pshk.

Zelderus's body was slashed again, and blood continuously flowed from his body, forming a crimson fountain of blood.

"Hahahahahahaha. You look pathetic." Sukuna laughed at the bloody scene as he maintained the domain.

"If it weren't for my natural regeneration, I would have been dead. I need to end this quickly before my regeneration starts to get overwhelmed and gets weakened. Because if it did, then I would die in the next moment. It seems that spell is my only choice." Zelderus, who was being showered by the slashes, gritted his teeth in pain.

He then began to regain his posture as he began to chant something,

"In the shadowed realm where echoes wail,

Abyssal depths, thy servant unveil.

From twisted void and boundless night,

I summon thee, creature of fright.

By whispered secrets, dark and deep,

From the abyss, my command, thou shall keep.

Through realms unseen and veils torn,

Appear, creature of the abyss, reborn.

From the chasm's core, rise with dread,

Creature of shadows, by my words led.

In the name of darkness, let thy form take flight,

From the abyss, emerge into our sight."

"Abyssal Magic: Summoning of the Cursed."

Peuuuuuuuuuuu.

A pure black swirl of energy descended upon the battlefield, covering the whole jungle and making it nighttime from the previous evening.

Raaaaaaaaaaaaaah.

A devilish roar emerged from the swirl of energy, shaking the surrounding.

After a few moments, the swirl of energy dissipated and revealed the figure of a leviathan in its place. The leviathan, with a serpentine figure, was pure black, with glowing red eyes and obsidian scales. The leviathan gazed toward Sukuna, who was a little surprised and was on guard and became serious from before.

The slashes had also come, targeting the Leviathan, but due to some reason, they were deflected in the next instant.

The Leviathan then gazed toward Zelderus, who was next to him and had a wide grin despite the slashes that were still targeting him and releasing a huge amount of blood from his body.

"Creature from the Abyss! If you help me kill this human, then half of my life force and his full soul will be yours! Will you accept this contract?"

The Leviathan gazed toward Sukuna and grinned widely as it said in a deep, ancient, and dominating voice,

"Hehehehe. I accept your conditions, Summoner."

The Leviathan then pressed his tail toward Zelderus, and suddenly, a sphere of energy covered him and that also deflected the slashes!

The Leviathan slithered along Zelderus and slowly walked toward Sukuna.

Sukuna, on the other hand, had understood the situation as a sly grin appeared on his face. He closed his domain and also walked toward them slowly!

To be continued...

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