Chapter 76: The Curse of St. Helens

Chapter 76: The Curse of St. Helens

Safamu roared. His Tribulation was reaching its climax. As proof, the northern lights were beginning to disperse, and the last of the wisps were falling like cursed snowflakes. Unfortunately, most of them were touching the ground, reinforcing the final rune of the Tribulation.

The Earl felt both enraged and hopeful. Three different human armies surrounded him. One of them, the last to arrive, had been largely massacred by the animals. Knocked unconscious and transported under wisp fire, thousands of stupid humans had greatly helped the lion. Thanks to their unwitting sacrifice, the buried rune of St.Helens was far from having reached its full potential. A colossal amount of energy was building up in the ground, but Safamu was optimistic about his chances of survival.

However, not all humans had the IQ of a mosquito.

A strategist clearly commanded the second army. Positioned in the shelter of a small pine wood, the human troops attacked and defended intelligently. Their commander exploited the animals' weaknesses. Mainly, Safamu's subjects didn't work together. Worse, they regularly split up and found themselves isolated.

In addition, their physical advantages often made them careless. Many were lured into rudimentary traps - camouflaged holes lined with stakes, snares placed on the ground, or thin ropes stretched between two trees. Their mobility was reduced, and their attacks blocked. Most humans were individually weak, but a thousand wounds would eventually overcome the animals.

Nevertheless, some of the animals were thinking things through and managed to make the army bleed in return. The survivors would also be wary of traps in the future, which was positive from the Earl's point of view.

Unfortunately, there was a third army - the source of the lion's rage. Made up of around a hundred men and women, this group really wreaked havoc. The red-and-gold-clad warriors moved in small groups and effectively eliminated his troops. Each human was individually strong, and some were of Baron rank. Faced with their teamwork, the animals didn't stand a chance.

Safamu turned to his last Viscount. The latter was wreaking havoc in the ranks of the first army. Whispering to the wind, the lion ordered his subordinate to change targets. He would have cared for it himself, but the men were far from his Tribulation.

Suddenly, the ground shook. The last wisp had disappeared. The Tribulation was coming to an end.

The lion stood up proudly and roared.

Crouching on a branch, Guandi threw down his scabbard and grabbed his greatsword. A smile spread across his face as he saw the monster approaching rapidly. Some giant crocodile was planning to take one of his teams by surprise. The beast was nearly ten meters long and could have swallowed ten men without flinching. Guandi had no intention of letting him get away with it.

The commander had never killed a Viscount alone, but his two Supremacies gave him the confidence to try.

The wind rushed through the trees and blew in his direction. No scent would betray his ambush. The swordsman held his breath as the animal approached the fighting group. His men moved stealthily through the forest without concern for the Viscount. The reptile had good camouflage and must have thought himself invisible.

When the beast was no more than twenty meters from his men, Guandi turned his sword, catching and reflecting a ray of sunlight. The beam was lost in the canopy. The sword continued to turn, changing the angle of the reflection until it reached the beast's eye. The beast blinked - a basic reflex. [Sun Rush].

Transported through the beam, Guandi reappeared a meter away from the Vicomte, his greatsword falling like an executioner's axe. The weapon must have weighed close to a hundred kilograms and came down with all the warrior's power. [Heavy Strike]. His Strength exceeded two hundred, and the result was bloody. The blade sank almost twenty centimeters into the crocodile's eye.

Covered in fluids, Guandi stepped back instantly. He hadn't had time to withdraw his sword, but his swift reaction saved him from being crushed by the crocodile's roll.

"General, shall we..."

"Get the hell out!"

As his men scurried away, Guandi winced. It was going to be a tough fight.

The reptile howled before shaking his head one last time. The greatsword was violently ejected from his eye and flew some twenty meters away. Guandi's strength was monstrous for a human, but it seemed insignificant in the face of his opponent's power.

"You're going to die, human," the beast articulated with difficulty.

Guandi raised an eyebrow. He was impressed that a monster with such an impractical mouth could speak.

"You're the one bleeding right now," he remarked.

A sort of laugh escaped from the beast's throat. "Your most powerful attack barely pierced my eyelid and part of my eye. I wonder how you intend to penetrate my scales," laughed the Viscount.

Guandi shrugged and walked towards his greatsword. The crocodile stepped aside, and Guandi began to run. Ten meters from his weapon, the Viscount seemed to accelerate magically and almost teleported between the sword and its owner.

[Steel Call]. The sword shot toward its owner before striking one of the crocodile's hind legs. It was one of Guandi's most deadly techniques. The blade failed to pierce the reptile's scales. Shit.

[Sun Rush], [Sun Rush]. Using his rectilinear movement skill twice to get behind his enemy, Guandi retrieved his weapon. He moved into a defensive position just in time: the crocodile's tail was about to lash out at him. [Micro]. His leg muscles protested as Guandi jumped. The tail passed beneath him before slamming into a tree. The pine trunk burst into pieces, offering no resistance to the Vicomte. Guandi knew that a single blow like this meant death.

The Vicomte charged at him with supernatural speed, and the general used [Sun Rush] to hurry backward. Without moving at the speed of light, the skill allowed him to follow a ray of sunlight. When the air temperature was constant, this meant moving quickly in a straight line. Unfortunately, each use of his skill cost him around one-twentieth of his aether reserves.

The crocodile attacked again, and Guandi dodged, using Micro to fully exploit his body. It was dangerous, as his attributes were relatively inhomogeneous.

His Strength and Agility were over two hundred, but his Constitution could not exceed two hundred without triggering a third Tribulation. Therefore, each movement under Micro threatened to rupture his muscles or ligaments and break his bones.

Guandi couldn't do anything about it at the moment. He was ambitious but not crazy. Braving a double Tribulation would guarantee him a bright future. Perhaps, for his next Tribulation, he could even face a triple one before reaching Tier 1...

The Vicomte's next charge exploded eight trees of a respectable diameter. The difference in attributes between the two adversaries was ridiculous. The crocodile's physical attributes must have approached the five-hundred mark. I cant wait anymore.

As the crocodile advanced once more, Guandi closed his eyes. [Natural Focus], [Great Battle Flow], [Warrior Trance], [Mastery - Greatsword].

The world slowed down, and Guandi's useless thoughts disappeared. Micro was a terrifying Supremacy that allowed him to feel his body and command it finely. His body was a weapon, and Mastery turned that weapon into a nuclear bomb.

A crimson aura covered his blade. Guandi imagined it capable of slicing through the world.

Opening his eyes, the warrior detected a movement, and raised his sword. Blood spurted.

Without giving the crocodile time to understand, he took a step forward and lowered his weapon again. The crocodile stepped back too late to dodge completely. The greatsword sank into its snout like butter. The crocodile disappeared briefly before reappearing twenty meters away, snout bloody, tail shortened and short of one eye.

Guandi smiled as he confirmed the effect of [Mastery - Greatsword]. His Will was now superimposed on his blows, making them as sharp as his mind would allow. The reptile's constitution was not up to the task.

The two adversaries stared at each other for a second. The crocodile's able-bodied eye moved for a moment to look at the piece of tail he had lost, and Guandi took advantage of this. The alligator panicked as he saw his opponent approaching and opened his mouth. Hundreds of water pellets shot out, each projected at the speed of a bullet. The beads shattered a tree trunk before continuing toward the warrior.

Prometheus's hand trembled as he watched the volcano. Or rather, the volcanic explosion. He'd never seen an atomic blast, but it had to look like this.

Debris, magma and ash were projected on a vertical axis only. A column two hundred meters in diameter was the stage for absolute destruction. A pillar of black clouds soared skyward. Galloping faster than sound, the ash billows were occasionally overtaken by red, orange and white blazes. At the center of this spectacle, a blood moon seemed to have risen, mixing magma, explosion and rage. St. Helens glared down at her prisoner.

The bloody Moon and her pyroclastic blast remained confined, imprisoned. Without the System, few spectators would have survived. The line between life and St. Helens' wrath was clear.

Beyond this boundary, calm returned instantly. Apparently, the Tribulation was personal, and the System had no desire to destroy the Moon it had just created.

In short, anyone stupid enough to get within two hundred meters of the Earl would have been vaporized. But at two hundred and five meters, the person would have suffered only from the sound wave - which would have been enough to kill any pre-System human.

"Fascinating," he breathed. Only Guandi's grunt answered him. Now a Viscount, the general grumbled at the loss of his left arm.

Ignoring his subordinate, the King focused on the pillar of cinders and magma. One day, his Tribulations would look like this. The System would make him a god. And I'll make humanity a divine civilization.

The curtain of ash parted. A black, smoking mass advanced toward the woods. Prometheus smiled. It was time to become an Earl.

Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)

PHYSICAL:

Strength 159

Constitution 284

Agility 194

Vitality 298

Perception 299

MENTAL:

Vivacity 176

Dexterity 202

Memory 50

Willpower 295

Charisma 150

META:

Meta-affinity 148

Meta-focus 99

Meta-endurance 98

Meta-perception 51

Meta-chance 114

Potential: 1270

Tier 0

[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED.

[Tribulation]: Tribulations are coming.

Time: 3 hours 57 minutes 12 seconds.

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