Chapter 32: Death Mark

"Heh, you're like a cat. I have to kill you nine times. Will this be the ninth time I crushed your skull?" Necrolith began to release a black miasma, forming thousands of claws that sewed together in the sky before eventually they merged into eight large legs.

Swelling outward, hundreds of spikes grew out of the tendrils, looking like thorns from the most dangerous vines. Laughing with a strange, pervasive madness, Necrolith slashed forward with his hands causing the eight legs to shoot forward.

The large black waves caused even the air to split apart as Barabin held up his arms. Hundreds of stone fists shot out of the ground as a large dome formed around him.

Bang!

The dome shattered instantly as Necrolith laughed, looking down at the ground with a flash of nostalgia coming across his face.

"Oh hoh. This again? You never learn, do you Barabin?" Necrolith slammed his foot down, jumping high into the sky as eight lines of black endless power surged from his body. Beneath him, hundreds of stone pillars shot up into the sky, turning into sharpened swords as Barabin broke through the ground. Scoffing, Barabin coughed out blood, looking down at his hands as his heart beat faster and faster.

"Those three better arrive on time," Barabin stepped back off his foot before the ground in front of him shattered into nothingness. A large black cloud of destruction spread in his direction, melting the earth walls he erected with little effort.

Necrolith controlled shadows, and infused them with Ki to strengthen them to densities much tougher than the most durable steel. Zigzagging in countless directions, Barabin sent the sword floating to his side soaring into the sky, striking the small skeleton floating on a black form.

Boom!

Necrolith held up one hand, pushing forward against the large massive destructive sword force from the sword, and simply laughed as his feet barely trembled.

"You-you haven't gotten stronger. Heh, so pathetic. A little bit of blood and your power would sky rocket. Still afraid of hurting your students?" Necrolith pressed off his back foot, instantly cutting the distance between him and Barabin in half, before dozens of dark claws flowed forward, striking the countless swords spinning in his direction. "Meanwhile, here you are, facing death over a little 14 year old boy."

"You think you know Howard?" Barabin laughed and pushed off the ground, creating hundreds of stone monuments behind him that resembled thousands of monolithic gravestones. "Ha, you may be stronger than me, but you'll know true terror in a couple of years."

Barabin shut his eyes, seeing the images of countless dead students appear. The sadness welled up inside of him before a drop of blood fell from his mouth. A strange series of marks had appeared on his arm, underneath his clothes, that looked like thousands of slashes going deeper and deeper into his skin.

'I got to keep this up," Barabin felt the world around him spinning. "Once they are here, it will all be over."

Necrolith instantly shattered the space between them and appeared in front of Barabin, sending his arm flying forward and uppercutting towards Barabin's chin. Smiling, Barabin stepped back, dodging before he kicked out with all his might, his entire body glowing with a strange, ominous light, before Necrolith shattered into the ground.

Bang!

Necrolith flipped into the air and laughed, a large smile growing on his face. Looking at Barabin, a strange clarity seemed to spread over him, causing the slight fear he felt to disappear.

"Heh, you keep saying I'll feel fear, but look at you? Heh, how much longer till the death marks turn you into dust?"

"Heh, you figured it out?" Barabin tossed off his black jacket, revealing the countless bloody marks strewn all over his body. It looked like an expert at torture had slashed every inch of his upper body. His skin had turned dark red, beating faster and faster, as thousands of stone hands shot up from the ground.

Death Marks allowed for a Rank Breakthrough. Barabin had always been in the A Rank, forcing himself to abstain from blood from the fears of distant past. Barabin used to strike terror into thousands a night, slurping up blood from numerous children, on the surface.

Hundreds of years ago, something changed when he met her. The most beautiful woman that ever hit him so hard he still sees stars.

"Heh, She's almost here." Barabin stepped forward, shooting like a bullet towards Necroliths' position. Holding out his hand, a fist hundreds of times larger and more powerful appeared, forming from spirals of sand that shattered the remaining distance between them.

Necrolith, smiling, simply held out his hand, receiving the massive fist before his feet lightly dug into the ground.

Boom!

A large gale split the earth in two, creating a massive valley of destruction, before Necrolith's other hand flashed forward. Touching against Barabin's cheek, a beam of light shot in the other direction, crashing into a mountain and shattering it instantly.

"Oops, heh, I guess your nine lives are up." Necrolith wiped off the dust on his hands and laughed, hopping over towards the millions of zombies beneath the plateau. Pointing at one of them, soon the zombie floated into the air, landing in front of him with a crazed expression.

"Where is he? Where's Howard?" Necrolith put his hand against the zombie's head, causing it to start to melt and turn into flakes of dust. Looking down at the ground, Necrolith smiled, watching a dust cloud disappear in front of his eyes. "Heh, Barabin, you tried to hide the demon king in the ground? Really? I'm a Night Lord, come on man."

Barabin smiled and reached down, instantly causing a coffin to appear in front of his eyes.

"Well, Howard. So nice to finally meet you," Barabin cracked two jaws with his left and right hand as the middle one cackled. "Time for the main course!"

"Die you jerk!" Howard's fist shot out of the ground, glowing with strange spirals of black around it,, before it slammed against Necrolith's back.

Boom!