Chapter 822. His Determination

Chapter 822. His Determination

“GAA!!”

Thanatos spat out blood. She stared at Davey, her face twisted in shock as blood dripped from her mouth.

“You arrogant creature...”

"Let’s not make this harder than it needs to be. In the end, both you and I were made by the hands of Goddess Freyja herself."

Squelsh!

Davey plunged his sword deeper into her heart. He was able to destroy the destructive side of Neltaird the same way, but he wasn’t sure if Thanatos would die the same way. After all, she hadn’t entirely abandoned her divinity.

Sch, sch...!!

Thanatos grabbed Super Ribbon with her hand covered in scales, glaring at Davey with fury in her eyes.

“You... possess a unique power. A power not meant for a mere creature. I see...”

Her yellow eyes darkened further.

“The power to consume... Not only can you devour power, but also alter the rules to your liking.”

She finally figured out the truth behind his mysterious power. Being able to consume others’ powers alone was already heaven-defying, but what made it more devastating was the way he could adjust everything to suit himself perfectly.

Squelsh!!

As they continued their power struggle, Davey kicked Thanatos back, pulling Super Ribbon out from her abdomen. As she stumbled, he swung his sword down at her diagonally.

[Continuum-Attacking Blade]

[Singular...]

Thud!!

But before he could slash her again, an overwhelming force slammed him crashing into a wall.

“Cough!”

The sharp pain shot through his body, and it was a moment before he could think straight again. He quickly got himself together, trying to muster a defense against the next attack, but...

Roar!!!

A massive dragon’s claw ripped through the space and pinned him down. The tables had turned drastically in a matter of minutes. Without hesitation, she grabbed him and hurled him to the ground.

Whoosh!!

As she drew her power, purple-black wings spread behind her and the space around them began to distort.

Davey had noticed for a while now that she was trying to protect the blobs of flesh around her. He had wondered if it was simply maternal instinct, but that didn’t seem to be the case. It became clear to him that this flesh cave had a deeper purpose for Thanatos.

Suddenly, the area was engulfed by a thick fog. Soon after, a gigantic dragon—one far larger than before—stood before Davey while glaring ominously with its glowing yellow eyes.

Davey noticed she was gathering divinity in her body. He tried to reverse her divinity, but she wasn’t foolish enough to fall for the same trick twice. The power he tried to reflect reverted to its original state, eventually messing with him.

She gazed at Davey, carefully observing everything about him and countering his every move. It was now clear that mere swagger was no longer going to get him anywhere.

“Why are you smiling?” she asked.

“Cough... The space warped... How could I not smile?” Davey responded.

Thanatos frowned at his words. “If you’re that curious, figure it out yourself.”

‘But you’re looking inside of me, aren’t you?’

As Davey laughed, the enormous dragon formed a magic circle in its mouth. The space around them cracked before black tentacles began to spill out from within. Hundreds of tentacles, enough to cover the sky, tore through the space. At their tips were eyes that glinted ominously.

“Not enough... Not enough...!!”

“What’s not enough?” Davey asked.

“The vengeful hatred I’ve nurtured for ten thousand years isn’t pitiful enough to be destroyed by the likes of you.”

Purple energy began to gather in the eyes, each one carrying the power of a 9th Circle spell or higher. If they were simply Eclipse’s magic, Davey could dispel them, but with Thanatos in the mix he knew it wasn’t going to be easy.

Not that it mattered.

Zing... Zap!!

The air cracked, and the purple beams rained down on him all at once. Even with the authority of Predatory Assimilation, the overwhelming force made it nearly impossible to block more than one at a time.

Worse...

“Hrmph?!”

Thud!!

Thanatos focused on Davey's weaknesses when he used Predatory Assimilation.

He had to concentrate intensely when he was consuming such immense power.

[Confusion is setting in.]

She broke his focus with her words, and his Predatory Assimilation instantly faltered. Purple beams then pierced his body. The immense impact left his mind reeling.

Swish!!

Davey knew he wouldn’t have been able to block the attack if it weren’t for his divinity. Still, he didn’t need to block the attack in order to resolve it. He knew her Dragontongue was a non-physical law attack.

He didn’t simply cut her body with Super Ribbon—he had slashed the space itself. With the power to sever non-physical powers for a certain period of time, her Dragontongue had been effectively sliced into oblivion.

"Alright, get yourself ready.”

She made a shocked face as Davey easily closed the distance like nothing happened and severed her Dragontongue. Twisting her body in desperation, she tried to avoid him, but he dropped in a complex arc and slammed Super Ribbon down on her.

[Continuum-Attacking Blade]

[Singular Power Slash]

Slash!!

The space around them tore apart, and he sliced one of her arms clean off.

GRRR!!!

She reeled backward, having suffered massive injuries.

The tide of battle suddenly shifted once again. It was nothing like the one-sided slaughtering from before.

[Why... Why can't I see it?!]

“What’s so strange about using the authority of the Abyss to block the authority of the Abyss?”

It was natural for her to react with such befuddlement.

After all, the authority of the Abyss she wielded was a reflection of her own mastery. For Davey, who had stolen that very power, it made no sense that he could use it to such a familiar and intricate degree.

But...

"Don’t tell me you...”

"Yeah, I also took your mastery along with your power.”

His Predatory Assimilation didn’t just consume strength. Davey had consumed not only her authority of the Abyss but also her mastery, just as he had been able to absorb experience from the heroes of the hall.

“You really should respect other people’s boundaries. How dare you look into my mind? Ever heard of privacy??”

[Horne!!!]

“Ah, if you’re calling me that then I assume you know why Freyja had given us humans the name Horne.,” Davey remarked.

Humans may be the weakest, but they had the most potential. And that was enough for Davey.

“I don’t know why you want to protect that cavern full of flesh so much, to the point that you dragged me into this space,” Davey said, panting hard as he gathered his strength. “But that means I can go as wild as I want here.”

Davey knew humans should always think of the worst possible option, just in case. And right now, Davey was about to unleash that worst-case scenario of power.

"Endure this madness if you can."

Davey gathered his power of taboo—something he had vowed never to consume—along with his Predatory Assimilation. As the overwhelming madness and hunger consumed him, Davey allowed a part of the madness to break free just before surrendering his will to it.

[Hmph?!]

She staggered, startled by the sheer force of the madness. It was enough to shake even a god.

And then...

“He... Hehe... Hehehe!!!”

Davey let out a dark laugh as the power of taboo unleashed his madness and he kicked her large body away.

His strength was incomparable to before. Because he couldn’t fully control it, and it clouded his ability to distinguish between friend and foe, it was a power he could only unleash in situations like this. Since she had trapped him in this alternate space, Davey had no hesitation in going buckwild.

The downside was that he had no idea if he could return to normal, or even what the repercussions might be on the outside world. On top of that his body, driven by the insatiable hunger, became far more violent than he imagined.

Alarmed by his drastic change in strength, she attempted to roll away from him.

Slash!!

But he slashed Red Ribbon toward her, ignoring time itself and cutting her body deep.

“Where do you think you’re going, huh? Come back here.”

As he allowed the madness to take control of him, the power she had unleashed on him began to dissipate. The power of taboo liberated him from all forces affecting him—even the power of the gods.

The power of taboo was, after all, a twisted corruption of Goddess Freyja’s own abilities.

[Hercules... Hercules!!!]

She screamed as if she was being haunted by some long-buried memory. But Davey moved even faster, tearing through her scales.

"Hehehe... Here? Or here?”

He prepared to unscale her, and she tried to resist, but he pinned her down to the ground with the twin swords Red Ribbon and Blue Ribbon that had flown toward him with telekinetic blade control.

“Your reverse scale... Let me see your reverse scale! I’ll let you go after I see it!” Davey said.

He became furious as he heard what his physical body was saying, his consciousness barely holding on. Yet, he didn’t intervene for his final move.

"It must be here somewhere... hehehehe," he muttered to himself. His body consumed by madness unwillingly unscaled her with a cruel grin across his face.

In order to win, he spared no means.

This was his determination.