Having cleared out the Winding Desert for their kingdom, the only thing left was for the completion to be recorded and the Area Zone would belong to Vita Kingdom on paper, allowing the Aether Castle to freely expand and claim the land systematically, then terraform it.
When the White-Haired Duo returned to Vita Kingdom triumphantly, they immediately headed to the Training Hall and entered separate private rooms. They naturally selected the free option to Rank Up and disappeared in a flash of light, heading to a special place no one apart from them could ever enter.
………
A few minutes ago.
Deployed Soldier sat in his swivel chair that was quite comfortable, going through some military doc.u.ments on his desk with a focused gaze. However, he was soon interrupted by a prompt to join an Umbra Video Call.
If there was one thing Umbra members always did, it was making time for each other. Despite being busy with various tasks, all of them quickly joined to see that the one leading the call was a basic member who was part of the army.
When he came on, he didn't waste time. He quickly spoke. "The Guild Leader and the Lady Boss are about to duke it down with some dumbass Rank 5 Elite that didn't run at the first opportunity. Let's watch it die a horrible death together!"
The Umbra members cheered and watched as the fellow got closer to the battle and allowed them to view it from a primal angle.
…….
Draco and Eva took on their physical enhancement forms, which were the Demon and Void Form. Apart from their stats in the relevant sectors doubling, they also had upgraded skills that were far superior to when they had been Rank 1.
For Draco, his upgraded Demon Form skill was Ruler of Nine Hells. The rest retained their same amounts because there was no need for them to increase since Draco's stats had.
｢Ruler of Nine Hells – Passive skill
Passive 1 – Hell's Call: Drag the souls of defeated opponents within your Rank into your Hell for eternal torture.
Note 1: This only affects sapient beings (NPCs) and sentient organisms (Monsters) at Rank 2
Passive 2 – Hell's Toll: Gain 0.01% permanent increase in stats for every soul captured.
Note 1: Maximum number of souls allowed is 10,000 at Rank 2｣
Draco knew he was sleeping on this skill heavily, but he simply had too many good skills that it was hard to use them all effectively. Nevertheless, he planned to make good use of them during the Tower of Babylon Unique Quest after he had Ranked Up.
As for Eva, her skills were plentiful and truly overpowered, just as insane as all of Draco's Demon Form skills.
｢Corrode – Active Skill
Effect: Infuse an entity – willingly or unwillingly – with pure Void Energy, f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y corroding their physique to become that of a Void Monster. This skill is unblockable, unavoidable, and incurable. Its effectiveness depends on the quality of the target.
Duration: Same as transformation
Cooldown: None.｣
｢Assimilate – Active Skill
Cooldown: None.｣
｢Void Implosion – Active Skill
Effect: Strike an area of space containing your target, and destabilizing it greatly before having it shatter into fragments, greatly damaging everything within. This deals 150% void damage per strike.
Duration: Same as transformation.
Cooldown: None｣
｢Thousand Forms – Active Skill
Effect: Split yourself into a thousand unique copies that have 10% of your relative strength and access to only your three main passive skills of Supreme Strength, Supreme Speed, and Supreme Defense.
Duration: Same as transformation.
Cooldown: None.｣
Effect: Summon the aspects of Void to slaughter your enemies.
Duration: Same as transformation.
Cooldown: None.｣
｢Devour – Active skill
Effect: Consume an enemy with less than 5% overall HP immediately, seizing their memories, skills, and stats.
Note: Memories and skills can be retained, but stats can only be transferred to NPCs or pets.
Cooldown: none.｣
｢Astral Domain – Passive skill
Effect: You are the child of the universe, a primordial species that came into being with the first light When in space or in the void, all stats increase by 10,000%.｣
Passive 1 – Heaven's Call: Welcome the souls of defeated opponents within your Rank into your Heaven for eternal paradise.
Note 1: This only affects sapient beings (NPCs) and sentient organisms (Monsters) at Rank 2
Note 2: Immortal Spirits can only be placed in Heaven for 3 days at Rank 2 (players will be given the option to log out or experience the paradise.)
Passive 2 – Heaven's Toll: Gain 0.01% permanent increase in stats for every soul blessed with ascension.
Note 1: Maximum number of souls allowed is 10,000 at Rank 2｣
Eva chuckled when she saw the last skill especially. She knew very well that unlike Draco's hell which was fully functional and waiting for sinners, her heaven was but a horrible and warped dimension that was in some ways worse than Draco's hell.
To send anyone there would be far crueler than Draco sending them to hell. It also put pressure on Eva to rectify this great bloodline flaw, or her bloodline would be stuck this way when she and Draco achieved 100% purity.
The first thing she and Draco did were to summon their avatars. Cthulhu, the Beholder, the Four Hors.e.m.e.n, Baphomet, Abaddon, Archon, Baal, Dagon, Ifrit, and more spawned around the frightened Sand King. They immediately received their Masters' orders to assault this beast, and that they did.
Cthulhu roared in a weirdly distorted voice, the Void Terror spawning void-coated tentacles that struck at the Sand King continually. They bounded the monster down, preventing it from digging back underground to escape.
However, its movements soon stagnated as the Four Hors.e.m.e.n got close. Immediately, their passive trait was activated as various negative statues bombarded the Sand King.
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Diseased> Status effect. You have successfully resisted.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Decaying> Status effect. You have failed to resist.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Enraged> Status effect. You have failed to resist.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Starving> Status effect. You have successfully resisted.｣
You have been hit with a <Thirsty> Status effect. You have successfully resisted.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Insane> Status effect. You have failed to resist.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Stunned> Status effect. You have successfully resisted.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Confused> Status effect. You have successfully resisted.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Weakened> Status effect. You have failed to resist.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Fear> Status effect. You have failed to resist.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Slow> Status effect. You have successfully resisted.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Charmed> Status effect. You have successfully resisted.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Blind> Status effect. You have failed to resist.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Deaf> Status effect. You have failed to resist.｣
｢System to Monster Announcement
You have been hit with a <Silenced> Status effect. You have successfully resisted.｣
The poor Sand King could only lie there and repeatedly listen to the system prompts in its brain telling it about the status effects it had resisted and those that stuck.
The horrible thing about the Four Hors.e.m.e.n was that they would eventually get you. After the first round hit, the second round would start the next second, forcing a check against the targets Endurance and skills against status effects.
Draco and Eva were not idle. Draco directly used his most powerful attack skill, Disintegration!
｢Disintegrate – Active skill
Effect: Bathe an Area Zone in the purest hellfire. This deals 1,000% disintegration damage.
Duration: Same as transformation.
Cooldown: none.｣
Draco opened his arms wide and the land beneath everyone's feet split apart to show a fiery hell below. Immediately, the demons within the hell screeched with glee, throwing hellfire upwards, engulfing the entire Area Zone in hellfire.
Due to system mechanics, only the Sand King suffered the pain of this, being roasted from within and without due to the intensity of the flame.
This was when Eva used the Corrode skill to make things worse, infecting the Sand King with Void Energy that would continue to change its existence unerringly as long as Eva was in her Void Form.
｢Name: Sand King – Major Rank monster
Level: 222
HP: 32,467,389/34,320,000｣
Right now, only about 15 seconds had passed out of their one-minute long duration, but the overall damage Draco and Eva did was abysmal. This was because of the gap between the two entities.
Even though Draco and Eva were powerful, and their abilities truly transcendent, the game severely limited their abilities through Rank Suppression and Level Suppression as well.
The current Rank Suppression was 3 tiers. This meant that Draco and Eva's damage and defense were reduced by 90% while the Sand King's damage and defense were increased by 90%.
The level distance was 122 levels, meaning that their stats were reduced by 99%. Although every 5 levels of difference equated to 5% of stats gone, the AI had been programmed to take pity and had capped the suppression at 99%.
After all, who would have ever thought that some people would actually be crazy enough to try and fight beings with just being able to output 1% damage?!
Yet, despite all this, Draco and Eva had still been able to deal nearly two million points of damage in just 15 seconds. This alone showed the senseless powers their forms had. Should the enemy have been Rank 3, they would not even need a second to deal with them.
Even Rank 4 enemies would barely be able to survive longer against them, despite having some notable suppression against the duo at Rank 2.
Draco and Eva cycled through their active skills, Draco punching and stomping the Sand King, causing the earth to crack and tremor as a result of the sheer power. In other places within the entire Winding Desert Area Zone, the place was unstable as the land quaked.
Eva was even more brutal than Draco, plunging her fingers into the carapace of the Sand King and injecting endless amounts of Void Energy. She would also move her fingers around, messing with the internals of the Sand King.
Soon, the duration of their transformation came to an end, yet they had 'only' managed to reduce him down to 4/5th of his total HP. The duo, who were in full sync, immediately entered their mental power forms, the Devil and Goddess Form.
｢ Name: Draco – Rank 2 Dark Archangel
Str: 100
Dex: 100
End: 100
Int: 1000
Spr: 100
Cha: 400
Lck: 100
Combat Skills: Angel's Blessing (Corrupted)1, Mind Blast, Supreme Charm, Mind Sunder, Mind Explosion, Devil Minions, Endless Mirage.
Non-Combat Skills: Devil's Guile (Rank 2), Supreme Telekinesis, Supreme Psychometry, Supreme Apportation, Supreme Transvection, Supreme Telesthesia.｣
None of Draco's Devil Form skills had changed, leaving them the same as they were from the onset. However, just like his Demon Form, his stats in the important areas had practically doubled.
｢Name: Riveting Night – Rank 2 Divine Goddess
Str: 100
Dex: 100
End: 100
Int: 1000
Spr: 100
Cha: 400
Lck: 100
Combat Skills: Divine Curse, Divine Following, Divine Blessing, Goddess' Wrath, Angel Army, Endless Mirage.
Non-Combat Skills: Celestial's Dignity (Rank 2), Element Regulation, Spacetime Regulation, Supreme Telepathy, Supreme Menticide, Supreme Channeling, Supreme Projection, Supreme Precognition, Supreme Retrocognition.｣
Eva likewise had no skills that had changed, only her stats. The White-Haired Duo opened the field by using the same method as before, summoning their related Aspects/Avatars to field the battle!
Devil Minions! Angel Army!
From the earth came various devilish lords, from Lilith the First S.u.c.c.u.b.u.s, Asmodeus the First Incubus, Mephistopheles the Broker, and more, numbering exactly fifty. From the heavens came the song of angels as they descended upon the earth.
In truth, being called Angels was kind of wrong since that was meant for her Void form. What Eva actually summoned were the aspects of her Goddess Form, which were the other notable goddesses in history.
Aphrodite, Ishtar, Freyja, Venus, Yue Lao, and more came down from the heavens, bringing light and life to the land. Just being there, all attention suddenly fell on them, Asmodeus and Mephisto drooling with open l.u.s.t.
Lilith harrumphed jealously and kicked the two in the rump, making them snicker meanly. As for the Goddess, they saw the reaction of the masses and smiled. As Goddess with Beauty and Fertility in their domains, they loved nothing more than being fawned and l.u.s.ted for, just like Original Amaterasu had which Eva chastised her for.
Even the Sand King forgot to use this interlude to run away, blushing bashfully like a young boy seeing his crush talk to him for the first time in his life. It quickly regretted such a display when all attention returned to it the next second.
Immediately, it tried to flee but was forced into a confused state as Draco used Mind Sunder.
｢Mind Sunder – Active Skill
Effect: Split the mind of a chosen target into two, forcing each side to fight the other.
Duration: Same as transformation.
Cooldown: None.｣
With this, the Sand King was taking nonstop mental damage. Eva doubled down by using her own passive skill as well, Supreme Menticide!
This allowed her to directly plunge into the mind of the Sand King and see the two sides that were fighting furiously for domination. Immediately, Eva dropped chaos into the mix by f.o.r.c.i.b.l.y multiplying the copies by 3, creating 6 consciousness that were now embroiled in war.
Draco did not let her fight alone as he added on Mind Blast which dealt 1,000% mental damage to the target. He then used Supreme Telekinesis to drag every rock and blade he could access in the entire Area Zone to rush over here and crash down upon the Sand King intermittently.
Eva added her own Goddess' Wrath, an Area Zone AOE that dealt 1,000% random damage, to the mix. The sky became red as thunder and lightning acc.u.mulated. A red bolt of Divine Lightning formed and struck down upon the land, attacking everything but her allies.
Since only the Sand King was present, it bore the brunt of the attack. As the skill took form through Divine Lighting, the random damage changed to Lightning Damage. Unfortunately, this was weak against a Sand/Earth type like the Sand King, but it was enough to get the job done.
Draco followed up with Angel's Corruption, allowing him to strike the Sand King with a random debuff. He smiled with amus.e.m.e.nt when he saw it was the <Weakening> Debuff again, which was just what he and Eva needed.
The duo then cycled through the skills once more since they had no cooldowns. Draco focused on using Telekinesis while Eva used her menticide and Element Regulation to attack the Sand King.
By the time their two forms expired, they had reduced the Sand King's HP by another 1/5th.
With 3/5ths still to go, things were not looking optimistic, even if they called out their final forms, would it make a difference? Well, the answer was a strong yes in this case.
The White-Haired Duo shared a look and smiled, transforming into their most powerful forms, the Dragon Form and the Light Form.
｢Name: Draco – Rank 2 Black Dragon
Str: 1000
Dex: 1000
End: 1000
Int: 1000
Spr: 1000
Cha: 100
Lck: 100
Combat Skills: Destruction Claw, Orb of Destruction, Destruction Wave, Destruction Blast.
Non-Combat Skills: Dragobond, Aether Conversion, Draconic Superiority (Rank 2), Destruction Aura, Bloodline Control, Magical Perfection.｣
Apart from the new skill, Destruction Wave, and an upgrade to his passive skill, Magical Perfection, there were no changes in the skills of the Dragon Form, but its stats were terror-inducing.
｢Destruction Blast – Active Skill
Effect: Send out a beam of concentrated and condensed Destruction Energy that strikes all targets in a straight line for 1,000 meters. This deals 1,500% Destruction damage.
Cooldown: None｣
｢Magical Perfection – Passive skill
Effect: All spells and magical casts deal 200% more damage and all magical spells cast towards the user are weakened by 92%.｣
｢Name: Riveting Night – Rank 2 Sun Goddess
Str: 1000
Dex: 1000
End: 1000
Int: 1000
Spr: 1000
Cha: 100
Lck: 100
Combat Skills: Hand of Light, Orb of Light, Light Wave, Light Blast.
Non-Combat Skills: Might of Light (Rank 2), Purification Aura, Elemental Control, Elemental Perfection, Element Regulation, Spacetime Regulation.｣
｢Hand of Light – Active Skill
Effect: Strike with a hand formed with Light Energy, ripping apart the defense of any enemy and dealing 500% Light damage to a single target.
Cooldown: None.｣
｢Orb of Light – Active Skill
Effect: Send out a ball of concentrated Light Energy that pierces any target and disintegrates them into nothingness. This deals 1,000% Light damage to a single target.
Cooldown: None.｣
｢Light Wave – Active Skill
Effect: Send out a wave of cleansing and edifying Light Energy that strikes all targets within an Area Zone, dealing 700% Light damage.
Cooldown: None｣
｢Light Blast – Active Skill
Effect: Send out a beam of compacted and focused Light Energy that strikes all targets in a straight line for 1,000 meters. This deals 1,500% Light damage.
Cooldown: None｣
｢Purification Aura – Passive skill
Effect: Control all forms of Light Energy with ease, also possessing a total immunity to it.｣
｢Elemental Control – Passive skill
Effect: Subdue and command all light element and sub-element species in the world below your State of Being.｣
｢Elemental Perfection – Passive skill
Effect: All attacks and elemental casts deal 200% more damage and all elemental attacks cast towards the user are weakened by 90%.｣ ｢Angel's Blessing (Corrupted) – Active Skill
Effect: Send out a chosen debuff to every enemy within an Area Zone. Cannot be dispelled.
Duration: Same as transformation
Cooldown: None.｣
