Chapter 72 - Fighting the Tepes King!
King Tepes disappeared from the throne.
Alear barely had time to react. His instincts screamed a warning, and he tilted his body to the side at the last possible moment.
Swish!
A pale hand pierced the space where his head had been a fraction of a second earlier. The pressure of the blow was so absurd that the air current it generated sliced off several strands of his hair.
Fast!
The thought crossed Alear’s mind as he used his own movement to spin his body and counterattack. His right fist, charged with the essence of [Bajiquan], shot forward like a spear toward the vampire sovereign’s abdomen.
BAM!
The impact was violent. The full force of the blow, combined with his demonic aura concentrated at a single point, exploded against King Tepes’ stomach, pushing him several meters backward.
The vampire sovereign slid across the black marble floor, carving deep grooves into the stone before finally stopping.
For a brief instant, the hall fell silent.
King Tepes slowly lowered his gaze to his own abdomen and frowned slightly. There was no visible wound, but the faint discomfort on his face was undeniable. He could taste the metallic flavor of blood rising discreetly in his throat.
"...Interesting..."
Without adding another word, he slowly raised his right hand.
Instantly, a gigantic claw formed of black energy mixed with intense blood-red condensed above him, larger than Alear’s own body. The magical creature descended with devastating violence, tearing apart everything in its path.
SHRRRAAAAA!
The attack crossed the space where Alear had been an instant earlier, shredding columns, walls, and part of the throne room’s ceiling as if they were made of paper. The destruction did not stop there. The cutting wave broke through the castle’s outer walls, opened a massive scar in the surrounding forest, and continued advancing toward the horizon, making even the distant mountains tremble before its power.
But...
Alear was no longer there.
In the exact instant the claw would have struck his body, he used [Flash Air], disappearing like a ghost.
The next moment, he reappeared beside King Tepes.
Without giving him time to react, his left fist, once again propelled by [Bajiquan], struck the vampire sovereign’s ribs squarely.
BOOM!
The impact reverberated throughout the entire hall.
King Tepes was violently thrown sideways, crossing several meters before colliding with one of the hall’s gigantic columns. The structure cracked from top to bottom under the force of the blow, scattering stone fragments in all directions.
This time, the vampire sovereign did not contain his fury.
"INSOLENT!!!"
His speed exploded in an absurd manner. In a single instant, his body was already moving at nearly half the speed of light. The air around him ignited due to friction, while his figure disappeared in a dark-red blur, advancing against Alear with a murderous intent capable of making space itself tremble.
The two collided.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
The throne room immediately transformed into a true battlefield.
Fists, kicks, elbows, and knees were exchanged at speeds almost impossible to follow. Between each physical blow, condensed blood claws, blades of darkness, black spears, and explosions of [Demonic Power] appeared incessantly, crisscrossing the environment in every direction.
Each impact made the entire castle tremble. Gigantic columns collapsed, and the ceiling began to give way in several places, but neither of them cared much about it...
Alear always dodged at the absolute limit, exploiting every available centimeter to escape the attacks. His enhanced reflexes and the extraordinary combat reading ability provided by his [Mystic Eyes] allowed him to anticipate movements and react to strikes that would have been impossible for any High-Class devil to follow. At the same time, [Reinforcement] continuously amplified his physical capabilities, while [Hierro] hardened his body to an absurd level, allowing him to block direct attacks without suffering significant damage and deliver blows strong enough to break even the resistant defenses of King Tepes.
Whenever he found the slightest opening, he immediately responded with precise [Bajiquan] strikes, alternating them with fire, lightning, wind, and gravity spells in a practically uninterrupted sequence. The combination of close-quarters combat and spells launched at the exact moment forced King Tepes to remain constantly on the defensive, giving him no space to regain the rhythm of the battle.
For his part, although he was on the defensive, the vampire sovereign fought with the refined brutality of someone who had accumulated centuries of combat experience. His movements were simple yet lethal. Each punch carried enough force to pulverize mountains, while his blood claws and dark magic relentlessly pursued Alear, granting him not a single moment of rest.
The explosions caused by their clashes became increasingly violent.
BOOM!
Alear slid under an elbow strike, spun on his axis, and struck King Tepes’ jaw with a powerful rising [Bajiquan] blow. The impact made the vampire sovereign’s head tilt backward, but before he could capitalize on the opening, a knee strike came toward his chest.
He crossed his arms.
BANG!
The shock sent him flying dozens of meters backward. His feet tore through the marble as he regained his balance. But he didn’t even have time to breathe.
King Tepes was already in front of him again. The vampire’s fists disappeared in a sequence of blows so fast that only dozens of afterimages remained in the air. Alear retreated step by step, dodging some attacks by centimeters and blocking others with his forearms reinforced by [Reinforcement] and [Hierro].
BAM! BAM! BAM!
Each block made his bones vibrate.
"You’re losing your rhythm, boy!" King Tepes roared.
Alear responded only with a cold gaze.
When the next punch came toward his face, he moved inside the vampire’s guard instead of retreating.
His elbow sank violently into King Tepes’ ribs.
CRACK!
Immediately after, a palm strike hit the sovereign’s chest. Then another. And another. Each [Bajiquan] movement was executed without waste, turning the short distance into a storm of explosive impacts.
King Tepes was forced to take two steps back.
Taking advantage of the moment, Alear raised his hand.
Five pinkish-red magic circles appeared simultaneously around him.
"Fire."
Lances of compressed fire, scarlet lightning, wind blades, and spheres that resembled black holes advanced at the same time.
The explosion completely engulfed the vampire sovereign.
*BOOOOOOM!*
A cloud of smoke filled the hall.
But Alear knew it wasn’t over. A second later, this fact was proven. A wave of condensed blood cut through the smoke like a blade.
He tilted his head.
The wave grazed his face.
The next instant...
King Tepes appeared before him. Without any sign of the previous injuries. His eyes burned with an almost animalistic fury.
"Pathetic."
His right hand advanced.
Alear raised his arm to block.
But, for the first time since the beginning of the fight...
Something felt different.
King Tepes’ claws were enveloped by an extremely dense layer of magical power, compressed to an absurd level.
"...!"
His [Mystic Eyes] perceived the danger a moment too late.
The blow completely broke through his guard....
SPLASH!
An explosion of blood spread across the hall.
The claws pierced straight through his stomach, opening a massive hole in his body.
"GH...!"
The air left his lungs.
Before he could even react, King Tepes violently twisted his arm. Alear was ripped from the vampire’s claws and launched like a projectile.
BOOOOOOOM!
His body tore through three consecutive columns before colliding with the hall’s wall, which exploded in a shower of stones and debris.
A thick cloud of dust rose immediately.
Blood flowed continuously from the enormous wound in his abdomen, forming a crimson pool over the rubble.
King Tepes observed the scene without moving a single muscle. A cold smile full of contempt slowly appeared on his face.
"Pathetic..." he mocked, his voice echoing through the destroyed hall. "Was that the best an arrogant brat like you could offer? You came all the way here saying you would take my daughter... and now you’re lying on the ground, bleeding like a pig. What a disappointment..."
He took a step forward, prepared to end the battle with the final blow.
But then...
Alear moved. Slowly, he rose from the rubble, wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth with the back of his hand. His body trembled slightly, but his expression remained calm, almost indifferent. Pinkish-red flames enveloped the enormous hole in his abdomen. The destroyed flesh burned, regenerated, and returned to place in a matter of seconds, as if that mortal wound had never existed.
The [Immortality] copied from Ravel through [Idle Transfiguration] worked exactly as he had expected. That had actually been the main reason he had taken the blow head-on. At the last moment, he could have easily activated [Flash Air] and made his body intangible, completely nullifying the attack. Instead, he decided to use the confrontation as an experiment to test the limits of his regeneration in a real battle against an Ultimate-Class opponent. The result was satisfactory. Even so, he could not deny that someone at that level of power was truly impressive. If he hadn’t possessed that regenerative ability or the ability to become intangible, that single blow would have been enough to put him in an extremely dangerous situation...
King Tepes stopped mid-step. His eyes narrowed, unable to hide his disbelief.
"...What?"
Alear slowly rotated his neck, letting out a brief sigh.
"What were you saying again?" he asked, as a mocking smile appeared on his lips. "Ah, yes... ’pathetic,’ wasn’t it?"
Before King Tepes could respond, the atmosphere around Alear changed drastically. Black lightning began to crackle violently around him, enveloping his entire body until transforming him into pure electricity. His hair floated under the electric discharge, while his magenta-pink eyes took on a much darker and more threatening glow.
The [Black Lightning], the supreme technique of his [Zenith Tempest].
ZUUUUUUUM!
His body disappeared.
King Tepes barely had time to raise his guard before Alear reappeared behind him, delivering a kick enveloped in black lightning directly against his spine.
CRACK!
The vampire sovereign was thrown forward, spitting out a large amount of blood. Before he could regain his balance, Alear had already appeared beside him again, striking his face with the devastating speed of a lightning bolt!
He transformed into a true hurricane of black electricity. His body appeared and disappeared around King Tepes at absurd speeds, making it impossible to follow him with the eyes. Each blow was calculated, brutal, and coated with black lightning that pierced the vampire’s body, burning muscles, nerves, and bones from within. King Tepes still tried to react several times, but his attacks only hit afterimages. Without any chance to regain control of the battle, he was reduced to a punching bag, receiving punches to the abdomen, elbows to the ribs, knees to the face, and kicks so violent that they sent him flying repeatedly from one side of the hall to the other...
After enduring that overwhelming sequence of blows, King Tepes finally managed to create some distance. His body trembled slightly as he observed the numerous wounds scattered across his pale skin. Deep cuts allowed blood to flow freely, several ribs had been fractured, and burns caused by the black lightning covered much of his body. Even so, his immortal nature immediately went to work to rebuild it. The vampire regeneration was absurd. That guy was worse than a cockroach.
"...You still... haven’t..." King Tepes growled, raising his head with difficulty. His red eyes overflowed with almost palpable hatred.
Alear walked slowly toward him, his footsteps echoing through the hall reduced to ruins. The flames around his body intensified for a moment, completely sealing the last remaining wound.
He stopped a few meters away from the defeated vampire sovereign.
"It was a good fight, I admit," he said calmly. "If I didn’t possess some rather unusual abilities, I probably would have been defeated. But... it’s over. I’ll grant you a dignified death. I’ll also take the opportunity to test a technique that, until now, existed only in my imagination."
Without the slightest hesitation, Alear raised his right hand. One of the magics he had copied from Mio Naruse through [Idle Transfiguration] was instantly activated: [Gravity Magic]. Attraction and repulsion collided violently in the palm of his hand, compressing space until giving birth to a small, unstable, and distorted black mass, as if a fragment of the void itself had been materialized. He named that technique [Imaginary Mass of the End]. Until that moment, it was his most devastating offensive ability. Anything hit by that mass was not simply destroyed; it was erased from reality itself, ignoring practically any physical or magical defense.
With a simple movement of his hand, Alear launched the [Imaginary Mass of the End] toward King Tepes. The vampire sovereign barely had time to widen his eyes before his body was completely swallowed by the black distortion... disappearing without leaving even a trace of his existence.
The [Imaginary Mass of the End] probably represented the pinnacle that [Gravity Magic] could achieve. In certain aspects, it had a resemblance to the legendary [Power of Destruction] of the Bael Family. It was no coincidence that Wilbert, a descendant of that lineage, had developed such a unique version of that characteristic. Both powers personified destruction in its purest state. Even so, the [Imaginary Mass of the End] was, at least in theory, even more terrifying. While the [Power of Destruction] reduced its target to non-existence through absolute destruction, that technique simply erased it from reality itself, as if it had never existed.
However, a power of that magnitude came with an equally absurd price. The creation of the [Imaginary Mass of the End] consumed a colossal amount of [Demonic Power] and still required a few moments to stabilize the gravitational singularity before it could be fired. It was a devastating technique, but extremely impractical in prolonged battles or against opponents who gave him no opening. As soon as he used it, his face lost all color, and an intense feeling of exhaustion coursed through his body. His [Demonic Power] reserves had been drained so violently that, for a brief moment, even remaining standing required effort.
"...I wonder if Wilbert was also capable of using a technique like this? Or was I the one who truly created it?" he murmured, taking a deep breath. "He probably followed a different path, focusing on the ’attraction’ aspect. According to some records, his supreme technique was powerful enough to create a true black hole and erase an entire continent from the map... Well, if I teach this ability to Mio in the future, she will definitely surpass her father..."
Setting that aside, Alear began walking toward Valerie’s presence. Throughout the entire battle, King Tepes had deliberately avoided launching attacks in that area, probably to avoid putting his own daughter at risk. Upon expanding his senses, he also realized that Nobunaga had fulfilled her part of the plan. At some point, she had simply assumed her spiritual form, saying she was going for a "walk." Really... she was a troublesome Servant. Even so, he couldn’t complain about the results. She had practically exterminated most of the vampires of the Tepes Clan, leaving only those who managed to flee during the chaos of the battle. Even the guards responsible for watching over Valerie had abandoned their posts a few moments ago, fleeing in panic after feeling the death of King Tepes. Thanks to that, the path to her was completely clear....
__________________
(A/N: And we’ve reached the penultimate Chapter of this mega release! The next one will be the last, so we’re almost at the end of this arc. I hope you all enjoyed the battle between Alear and the Tepes King. I wanted this fight to showcase Alear’s current limits without making him feel invincible.
I’d also like to talk a bit about [Imaginary Mass of the End]. Even though it’s currently Alear’s strongest offensive technique, it’s far from perfect. It consumes an enormous amount of [Demonic Power] and also takes time to stabilize before it can be used, so it’s definitely not a technique he can spam in every battle.
That said, it’s still a technique that’s evolving. In the future, it may take on different forms and applications. I was heavily inspired by Hakai, as well as Goku Black’s abilities, especially his ability to create weapons and other constructs using Ki.
As for Alear’s current power level, this is essentially his limit at this point in the story. Thanks to his incredible versatility, copied abilities, and unique techniques, he can fight—and defeat—any opponent within the Ultimate-Class. However, if his opponent were a Satan or a God, the outcome of this battle would have been very different. He most likely would have died.
Finally, I’d like to hear your thoughts. I’m thinking about giving Valerie four Pawn pieces, allowing them to become Mutated Pieces. Do you think that suits her, or would you prefer a different set of Evil Pieces? Let me know your theories and suggestions!
See you all in the final Chapter of this release!
Get access now for just $6.99 USD and read everything ahead of time.
Light spoiler: his luck might be terrible... but the story only gets better from here.
My Patreon: /Adam_Kadmon
Thank you for your support — it makes all of this worthwhile.)