Chapter 239: Abrupt
As the domains clashed violently, Adam moved without hesitation. Before, he couldn’t truly kill them. The rift’s overwhelming death affinity had suppressed his own, blocking his ability to claim a life. But now, everything had changed.
Asura’s Domain pushed outward, forcing the rift’s influence back inch by inch. The pressure shifted. The balance cracked. And for the first time since the fight began, Adam felt it clearly, his death affinity responding again.
The three monsters sensed it too. Their movements slowed for a fraction of a second. A faint hesitation flickered through their forms, subtle but real. That tiny pause was all Adam needed.
He didn’t stop to overthink it. Even if the opposing domain weakened his control, even if Asura’s Domain wasn’t at full strength, this was enough. It had to be.
By the time the thought finished, Adam was already gone.
He appeared directly in front of them, his body wrapped in crackling force. Lightning tore across his skin from the sheer speed of his charge, while darker, green-tinted bolts split the air around him as the two domains collided violently.
The battlefield couldn’t handle it anymore. The ground fractured further, air warped under pressure, and space itself seemed unstable. Neither side had touched yet, but destruction was already spreading.
Then Adam struck.
"Judgement."
The swing came down clean and fast. Power compressed into a single motion, then released outward in a violent burst. A spiraling wind cyclone erupted from the blade, tearing straight toward Conquest.
If Conquest had been human, it would have cursed Adam for only targeting him.
Instead, it was simply hit.
The cyclone slammed into its body, lifting it off the ground and throwing it backward. Its resistance faltered mid-air, its presence visibly weaker than before.
Adam noticed instantly.
The rift’s death domain was still supporting them, but now it was being contested. Its boost wasn’t as stable or overwhelming as before.
And unlike them, Adam hadn’t relied on external amplification from the start.
Now, with his domain active, even if incomplete, his strength had risen slightly above his baseline. Just enough to tip the edge.
He didn’t get time to follow up.
War and Famine didn’t move to help Conquest this time. There was no hesitation left in them. The moment Conquest was sent flying, both monsters launched forward together.
They closed the distance instantly.
Adam stepped forward to meet them head-on.
War and Famine hit him together the moment he stepped in. Their coordination sharpened instantly, far beyond before. The pressure from death had changed them. Now that they could truly die, every movement carried urgency, precision, and ruthless intent.
Conquest didn’t rise again.
Its body lay broken in the distance, its presence fading completely. This time, there was no regeneration or return. As long as Asura’s Domain remained active, death had become final and all three of them knew it.
That realization pushed the remaining two to their limits.
They didn’t hesitate. They didn’t hold back. Every strike was calculated for survival, not dominance. They fought like cornered beasts, because for the first time since the battle began, that was exactly what they were.
Famine moved first.
A hooked tendril snapped toward Adam, slicing through the air with a sharp, whipping sound. Adam reacted instantly, his blade cutting through it cleanly. The severed piece dissolved before hitting the ground.
He countered without pause.
A wind blade infused with death affinity surged forward, faster and sharper than before. The attack cut through the distorted air, aimed directly at Famine’s core.
But it didn’t land.
Famine’s body split apart unnaturally, its mummy-like form unraveling into thin, tape-like strands. The attack passed through the gap, missing completely as the creature reformed a moment later, already repositioning.
At the same time, War attacked.
Electricity burst from the pauldrons on its back, crackling violently. The ground beneath it reacted, small fragments lifting into the air. Those fragments condensed rapidly, forming dense, glowing shards.
They shot forward like bullets.
Adam twisted his body, narrowly avoiding the first wave as they tore through the space he had just occupied. The impact behind him shattered the ground further, leaving deep, smoking craters.
This is getting worse.
His breathing tightened slightly as he felt it.
His essence was dropping, fast.
Unlike his talents, Asura’s Domain wasn’t something equipped. It was something he had learned, something he actively maintained. Every second it stayed active, it drained him.
And if it ran out...
Everything would reset back to the beginning of the fight.
I have to end this now.
But thinking it and doing it were completely different things.
War and Famine had already adapted. They no longer overcommitted. They struck only when they had an escape. Every attack was followed by immediate repositioning, denying him any clean follow-up.
Adam moved, tested angles, pressured their defenses, but every opening vanished the moment it appeared.
They weren’t stronger than him.
But right now, they were harder to kill.
He tightened his grip, mind racing, searching for a decisive move. Timing, positioning, domain pressure, everything had to align perfectly. One mistake now, and the advantage would disappear.
Then it happened.
Without warning, the pressure around him vanished.
Asura’s Domain... collapsed.
The dark lightning faded. The crushing force disappeared. The battlefield shifted instantly as the rift’s death affinity surged back in, reclaiming everything Adam had forced away.
The rift’s death affinity surged back in, swallowing everything Adam had pushed away. The battlefield shifted instantly, pressure crashing down from all directions. War and Famine didn’t hesitate, they felt it too. The advantage had flipped back.
Far from the battlefield, deep within the rift’s core, darkness gathered in a vast chamber. The space was silent, heavy, and suffocating. Black stone walls pulsed faintly, veins of death affinity running through them like lifeblood.
At the center sat a throne.
A figure rested upon it, unmoving, yet dominating the entire space. The overwhelming death domain that covered the rift didn’t come from the land itself. It all originated from this single being.
Before him, a projection flickered.
The battlefield appeared clearly; Adam, War, and Famine locked in conflict. Every clash, every shift in pressure, every flicker of power was reflected perfectly within the image.