Chapter 338: "Earn it."

Chapter 338: "Earn it."

Without sparing any further attention toward anything else, Rakna immediately shapeshifted and triggered Obsidian Blood. His body expanded in the blink of an eye and a short burst of crimson mana enveloped his body and colored his fur; a color that remarkably spread to Sonata as well.

Whilst fighting Zasha, he had refrained from using his Trait for the simple reason that he knew he needed his full speed in order to contend with the scorpion. However, Roias was not a creature that could be fought in the first place. He could feel right down to his soul; speed would not matter if there was not enough force being dealt out.

"A man of few—" The Téras paused his sentence to lean back as a claw swept over him. "—words, I see," he finished calmly and then swiftly leaped away as a kick threatened to snap his neck. He calmly latched onto the room's wall by stabbing his hand into it.

The Terminal Room possessed the exact same configuration as other Plateaus, which included the infinitely high ceiling hidden in obscurity.

"Hm, Zasha must have been distressed battling you. He's a talented man but his idleness and chatty attitude are flaws of his," Roias remarked with his unbreakable grin, rubbing his chin with his free hand at the same time.

"Bastard, aren't you awfully chatty as well?" Rakna spat as he looked up at the Téras, his alternate tone and attitude deteriorating viciously, even more so than usual. Nyx walked up behind him in the meantime and quietly inspected Hans' body with a difficult expression, noticing the fact that there was no blood anywhere.

"Perhaps, I am," Roias shrugged.

"If you wanna waste time yakking about, why don't you start by coughing out how you know my full name?" The werewolf inquired whilst silently talking to Ceres and connecting to the Terminal with Eye of Symphony.

[Hans has inserted the data piece and the reboot program has been properly launched. However, it seems something is halting its progression. Evidently, I would assume it's the Téras' doing.]

'And Eye of Symphony cannot crack through it... It's this guy's presence that's disrupting the signal somehow. It's as if he's encroaching on the System by just being there.'

[I... can attempt to download myself into the Terminal through Eye of Symphony's link and carry out the loading internally. Before the System is restored, I should be able to temporarily separate from you. But...]

'It will take time, won't it?' Rakna huffed quietly.

[Yes. At least several minutes, plus the actual loading time.]

'...do it.'

[Understood. Please be careful, Rakna,] Ceres said and disconnected from him, her core program being transmitted into the Terminal. At the same time, Roias answered the werewolf's question.

"How do I know of your affiliation to the Kind Demon?" The Téras smirked even wider if that was possible. "Well, that is a very interesting query with a fittingly stirring answer. But you must earn it. Why don't you give me a reason to answer you?" He uttered and pulled his hand out of the wall before putting his feet on it.

Incongruously, he stood vertically and put his hands behind his back.

"Show me what the Kind Demon's Kin can do. I'll give you the first move. But be quick, if you don't entertain me enough... I might just decide to kill you before you can react."

Quickly, he mentally commanded Sonata to fly out and switch into a Dual Chain Blade. Roias raised a curious eyebrow and was already on his way to flick the chain that very clearly was attempting to bind him.

But... "[Valkal.]" He blinked in surprise when he felt a weak, but unseeable force, deviate his hand and make him miss entirely. That was more than enough for Sonata to temporarily wrap around him and restrain his movements.

Rakna had already started preparing for this opening so his attack came instantaneously. Full of energy and Intent, his punch was about to land on the Téras' head when it suddenly stopped.

"...what?" The werewolf uttered as he felt everything that he had put into the attack vanish. Both the mana and Intent were gone. Only the dimensional and internal energy remained, which led to a small but loud repercussion, but far from its expected scale.

And what had caused it managed to even baffle the mind of Rakna's Inferno Star state. Roias was pushing back his trembling fist with nothing more than his open palm, visibly devoid of struggle.

"Wonderful technique and initiative," the Téras praised with a nod. "I have never seen such a well-polished and powerful Internal Art before. That was a beautiful Intent as well. However, you have much to learn yet," he stated and grabbed Sonata's chain and broke it with his grip strength.

The weapon slid off his body and he proceeded to use the same hand to reach for the werewolf's stomach. He put tension into his finger and then flicked it, promptly rocketing Rakna into the wall behind with a sonic boom.

Right after, Roias hummed as he caught sight of the shadows around him wriggling. A multitude of glowing eyes suddenly peered at him and dozens of large aerial beasts emerged. They screeched and attacked him from all sides.

The Téras chuckled and stepped back just in time for one of them to plunge into the wall. He then pivoted his feet and backhanded another; disintegrating it on contact.

Releasing the internal energy that pinned him vertically to the wall, he let himself fall and landed on the back of a large shadow pterodactyl. With folded arms, he casually tapped the beast's back with the tip of his foot and a hole was blown clean through it.

"Fascinating," Roias remarked as he pinched two more shadow undead out of existence. It was as if his touch alone was a threat. "A sub-relative form of necromancy?" He muttered to himself and looked down whilst crushing a giant eagle's skull.

He spotted Nyx pointing her hand at him with five silver and red magic circles revolving around each other around her arm. "Oh?" He exclaimed and a beam of lunar energy and shadows buzzed out of her arm and coiled around the room as it ascended toward him.

The Téras eyed the spell-like construct adorned with a pair of spectral wings. He pulled out a hand from his back and just like what he did to Rakna, his palm both stopped and erased the incoming threat.

"These sorts of things will not be able to reach me," he declared as he lowered his hand.

"Oh, yeah? What about this?" Rakna snarked from behind and Roias had of course sensed him. He shook his head and unhurriedly looked over his shoulder.

"As I said, you will...!" His nonchalant expression finally morphed into something different. In front of his eyes, the werewolf was swinging a Guandao at him... with a particular eight-branched cross hanging from his wrist, the well-known symbol of a certain God said to be the nemesis of Téra.

"[Crescent of A Falling Star!]"