Chapter 184: Fighting Back

Immediately following our victory at Elysium, more contamiation zones began rapidly appearing all over the world.

They truly were getting desperate...

Unfortunately for them, Zangriol said they weren't any closer to actually infecting the world.

All of this was just for show. To demoralize and overwhelm us with their forces.

It was almost enough to make me laugh.

We had slain three of their Generals since coming to this world. And with it, acquired three of the legendary swords.

Currently, we had Bravery, Vengeance, Honor, Justice, Deception, Hopelessness, Weakness, and Ignorance.

We had more of them than Difar did now.

And based on Cain's actions, I could tell he was worried.

We had begun a campaign around the world fighting the Corruption.

Generals were actually a very rare sight and everyone here currently had the ability to kill them. With the exception of Rune and Nasuria, of course.

The Enforcers, Aldaril, Vakra, Isabella, Cassandra, and myself.

Zangriol likely could have taken one down as well, but he was more concerned with fighting the shadow dragon.

We confirmed that she had arrived.

It seemed like Cain really intended to overwhelm us. But he underestimated Delvandal.

Currently, we were entering another contamination zone with Vakra.

"Now then...I want to run some tests with this purified divine energy power. Stay back and let me handle it, you two," Vakra said.

Neither of us had never seen Vakra fight seriously. I got the impression that he was really powerful, but exactly how strong was still up for debate.

"Are you sure? Will you be okay?" Isabella asked.

"Aww...are you worried about little old me?" Vakra said.

"Actually, now that you mention it, go ahead. If you die, I might laugh at you," Isabella said bluntly.

"My heart aches at your words... But to answer your question, I'll be just fine. I've taken the necessary precautions with animus energy to nullify any possible infection. Now then..." Vakra said.

He readied himself in a combat stance with his fists out. I saw a spark of divine power on his arms.

The creatures approached him and he disappeared...

When I say disappeared, I mean he actually teleported. The space around him warped and he reappeared in front a Corrupted behemoth.

The ground cracked as soon as he landed and he punched the monster straight in the chest.

There was a chaotic burst of gravitational power and the creature violently exploded...along with everything else standing nearby.

The force of the impact caused gravity to distort in the nearby vicinity. The pieces of the creatures that dispersed twisted and bent unnaturally.

Vakra continued to teleport around the field while eliminating enemies with single strikes.

Eventually, a Corrupted serpent managed to almost catch him off guard and lunged at him. He caught its mouth with one hand and sent a strange flashing azure magic through it.

The monster warped and twisted before crumbling to dust.

"Excellent. So that's how you use it... This is good. Very useful, indeed..." Vakra said.

Then he turned and swung his fist at another Corrupted behemoth.

It lightly tapped a monster and Vakra paused.

"Damn you..." He muttered.

The behemoth punched Vakra and sent him flying backward.

He landed at Isabella's feet and simply stared up at the sky.

"You okay?" I asked.

"My physical capabilities are weakened in this state... I don't have any muscles..." Vakra said.

"Ah. You became a skeleton again?" Isabella said.

Vakra nodded and got himself up.

"However, I can still use magic to move with my harness. And my magic is greatly boosted in this state. For example..." Vakra said.

The Corrupted behemoth that punched him roared and stepped closer. Vakra simply held out his hand.

"By compressing something into a small enough state...past its schwartzchild radius, I can create a singularity. A gravitational anomaly capable of destroying entire worlds. Something that not even light can escape from. In other words..." Vakra said.

Suddenly the Corrupted behemoth froze in place and rose into the air.

"Grroooooaaa?"

Its body began to rapidly compress on itself until I could no longer see it.

It did so with a sickening crunch...

Then...I began to see the space around the area warp...

"Eureka...a black hole. Now then..." Vakra said.

Several more creatures began running full speed at us now and were all slammed into the ground by an incredible gravitational power. I could see the space around us warp as the gravity crushed them all.

Then the black hole expanded and began to suck all of the Corrupted horrors into it. One by one, their bodies distorted and twisted as they were absorbed.

Finally there was a flash of azure energy and the larger creatures burst into what I can only describe as being something like fire...although it was cold. They melted and disintegrated as they fell to pieces.

Vakra had yet to even move a muscle...or rather, a bone...

Eventually, the contamination zone dispersed and Vakra clutched his hand at the black hole.

It simply disappeared.

"Can you...still control that if you change back?" I asked.

"Finally, a good question," Vakra simply said.

I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Yes. I can control it, just not as well. I can't make black holes while in my human form. I can only disperse them by untangling the singularity. And even that is still pushing it. Don't worry, I take my curse into consideration when fighting... The gods forced me to limit my power..." Vakra said.

This crazy bastard is way more powerful that I thought... Damn, I wish he would join us on the ship... Someone as capable and intelligent as he is would be useful. Even if he's an insufferable asshole...

"Are you sure you won't reconsider joining us on the ship?" I asked.

"Positively. I have no interest in joining your little crew... Besides, if I wanted to go to another world, I would either build a gateway or transport myself," Vakra said.

"You can move freely between worlds?" Isabella asked.

"Yes. That is one of many powers I possess. More accurately, you could say that my power is something that defies certain aspects of reality. I can manipulate time, space, gravity, and deconstruct living things...or nonliving in the case of these Corruption monsters. I can generate azure chaos energy and can easily create extra-dimensional pathways to move freely to any place I wish. One of the perks of being a living paradox," Vakra said.

I was beginning to fully understand why people were terrified of him all over the world.

This guy was ridiculously powerful.

Likely, even if we fought him at full power before obtaining the heart stones, he would win.

"If you can do such things, why do you act like we're stronger than you?" I asked.

"Seriously? It's simple. I can't touch you because that would reset reality again, correct? And Isabella is so incredibly dense that my gravity powers have no effect on her. She's enveloped by a barrier of light and magic that makes her harder than anything I've ever seen. I can't kill her. And I can't kill you. Therefore, you're stronger than I am. Do you want a trophy?" Vakra said.

"I'll pass. But still, thank you for all of your help, Vakra," I said.

"I'm only doing this to save all of creation. I don't care what you think I'm doing."

"You can either accept my gratitude or spit on it. I don't care," I said.

"Maybe we should find the next contaminated zone? I'm also curious to learn how Aldaril and the Enforcers are doing," Isabella said.

"Very well. Let's get back to the dropship. Hopefully, they have some reports on new contamination zones," Vakra said.

* * *

Since Iris had been doing several tests and experiments with the Enforcers, they had begun to see great increases in their power. At this point, each of them could be considered stronger than even we were before the heart stones were implanted.

At the same time, Iris began having suspicions that using these strengthening methods might allow the three of them to take on a third Aspect.

It was exciting to see our trusted allies gaining so much strength.

Currently, we were close to their location.

I could see from above that Carlos, Jallah, and Leiso were all obliterating the Corrupted soldiers.

Each of them fought separately as to not get in the way of the others. Despite being completely surrounded on all sides, they were still doing very well.

I looked at Carlos in particular. It was rare to actually see him fight since he preferred to be in a laboratory.

He danced around slashing enemies with claws of flaming blood while firing darts from his own body.

These darts would form into tendrils after impacting and literally tear the Corrupted monsters to pieces.

The entire area surrounding him had been completely covered in bright orange flames. Many times, he would sprout tendrils of blood from his own body and tear enemies apart. All the while melting them with fire in the process.

From the looks of it, Carlos was incapable of bleeding to death and rapidly produced infinite amounts of blood from his body at will.

Meanwhile, Leiso created spikes and spinning blades out of iron covered with water that neatly shredded the Corruption around her. It looked like she was putting in minimal effort.

Jallah was doing something similar.

All it took was a light tap and his enemies exploded when he touched them. None of their attacks had any effect on Jallah and the ones who managed to connect, experienced what Jallah calls: Hyper-Kinetic Reversal.

He reflected their own kinetic energy back onto them a thousand-fold.

Isabella and I were lowered from the ship and immediately joined them.

We tore through the battlefield and within minutes, the contamination zone dispersed.

"Wow. That really was something! Even with our increased power, we still can't keep up with you two," Jallah said.

"They're still the greatest of our ranks, you know," Carlos said as he retracted his blood and closed his own wounds.

"It's good to see you both again. We appreciate your help," Leiso said with a smile.

"You can always count on us. We're friends, aren't we?" Isabella said.

"Of course. But I would say you two have become closer to family at this point," Leiso said.

"Excuse me, but we're at war, right? Stop being so sentimental," Vakra said.

"Morale is important for troops at war. I would expect an Admiral to understand that," Leiso said.

"Irrelevant. And just so you know, I'm already getting reports of another contamination zone forming nearby," Vakra said.

"You heard him... Let's get back to-"

Suddenly, Vakra's watch started letting off a siren that interrupted me.

"Hm...? Looks like a call from Rastair. I'll put her on speaker if anyone's interested..." Vakra said.

"Hello!? Vakra! Emergency!!! I need help right now!!!" Rastair shouted from Vakra's watch.

"Sure. Do you need soldiers? I can send a few ships..." Vakra said.

"I NEED MORE THAN THAT!!! SOME BASTARD SHOWED UP AT RIPPER ISLE AND SLAUGHRERED EVERYONE!!!"

"What did he look like?" I asked quickly as I got closer.

"He...he had blonde hair and blue eyes. Kinda tall and pale. He wore black armor and...he was kind of hot, actually. But beside that, HE KILLED MY MEN AND WOMEN!!! THAT BASTARD NEEDS TO DIE!!!" Rastair said angrily.

Kinda...hot? Really, Rastair!?

"That was probably Cain. He's the one doing all of this right now. Anything else to report?" I said.

"He had some kind of big-ass dragon that kept smiling. It was horrifying. It ate so many of us... Please! I need help! I'm on my way back to Elysium on the Leviathan...and with the few crew members I have left. Mizik...please. I'll do anything... Even all of those dirty things Vakra said you wanted from me!" Rastair said.

I glared at Vakra and he cleared his throat.

"Ahem...we're going to make our way to your location. I'll get the Astrum and as many troops as I can muster. Hold tight," Vakra said.

"What was happening when you left the island?" I asked.

"That guy started channeling some kind of power into the ground. He said it was a perfectly secluded location or something... He's probably still there."

It would likely be a while before we could actually reach Ripper isle...and our airships were much faster than even the Leviathan.

I had a somewhat sinister idea.

"Rastair. If we avenge your people, you'll owe me your life. My only request is that you join my crew and pilot the ship Vakra is building."

"Seriously? You'd do that to me right now...? Fine...I can agree to that. But, do you still want to do dirty things with-"

"NO! VAKRA WAS LYING ABOUT THAT!" I quickly shouted.

"Killjoy... Okay! Meet me wherever I am after you get the troops together. I'll be in contact."

Then the call went silent.

Vakra tapped his watch a few times and raised it to his mouth.

"ALL FORCES, THIS IS SUPREME ADMIRAL VAKRA! FLEETS ALPHA AND DELTA MUSTER AND PREPARE FOR WAR! CONVERGE ON RIPPER ISLE! THIS IS SUPREME ADMIRAL VAKRA WITH CLEARANCE CODE: 8009447. BEGIN OPERATION: ARMAGEDDON!!!"