When the trident finally made contact with Sol's hand, inevitably the only thing it resulted in was in the teeths of the trigonal weapon shattering into pieces like they were made out of the most fragile glass and the shaft of the trident snapping in half, as though it had been brittled down due to the passage of time. It was an absolutely unbelievable and gobsmacking scene.
From a scientific standpoint, however, the explanation was rather simple. The counterforce had simply been too high and broke through the threshold that the weapon could bear at perfect condition.
It was not unlike the metaphorical example of an egg sent flying against a wall. It was as simple as it could get. His weapon was just too brittle when compared to the area it struck. But nothing was ever simple when it came to beings of their level. The simple explanation was the very thing that made the chaos spawn stare blankly at the end result— his most prized weapon shattering into absolute pieces. A phenomenon that should never be possible.
This went beyond the common sense he had been taught and had observed throughout his long long life. He was so shocked that he simply froze on spot
Sol, meanwhile, moved his hand around, observing it with his keen eyes, and nodded in satisfaction when he felt no pain and saw no wounds on his immaculate hand. The weapon had not even been able to leave a scratch on his perfect skin. It was a satisfying result indeed, knowing the implications the result entailed.
“Hmm… I guess your core isn’t in your weapon. I am glad that's the case. My hand wouldn't have been left unscathedd as it is now if you slided your core into your weapon.”
The last time he had fought in the depths of the 4th circle, that chaos spawn, which gave him a hard time being his opponent, had hidden his core inside his weapon— effectively empowering his weapon and hiding the most important part of chaos beings that made them so horrifying. A pretty smart move when all things were considered. At the end of the day, their cores were their only weak points…that could lead to their demise.
While high-level chaos spawns like the one he was currently facing had organs close to that of mammals – such as a brain, heart, lungs, and other organs of similar nature – those organs were in a way just there for decorative purposes.
These served next to no purpose in their living circumstances, so it was ideal to call it decorations that served in giving them a more humane form.
Destroying the brain would not stop them from thinking. Piercing their hearts would not kill them. How could it? They didn't need it to pump blood into their bodies as their entire bodily functions were marginally different from the creatures of order. They did not have the need to breathe either. In short, they had apparently no fatal points and could regenerate themselves from any and all wounds.
Even after cutting all their limbs apart, chopping them into pieces, pulling their tongues out, piercing their eyes and gouging them out, decapitating them and crushing their heads, or even dicing all of their body parts into pieces. They would still live. They would still regenerate. They would still fight on. Such was the absolute terror that was a chaos spawn. A living, breathing, killing machine.
But, there were no beings without weaknesses. Such was the fundamental law of this universe. The chaos spawns also held weak points but the only true weak point of note that they all had was their core. Something that fully formed once they became close to the Lord level— Duke-rank in beings of Order terms. Only by destroying their cores could they be completely killed. But therein lay the problem.
The emplacement of the core was only known to the spawn and that being alone. Not that Sol cared particularly for all that hoohaa. If they can be killed he would kill them, such was his simple thought process.
Now, he was only focusing on assessing his strength.
‘If we were to talk about the physique side of things, I should now be a little stronger than Nabu was during the time I saw her fight. So, this is the strength my body now provides me, huh?’
Sol chuckled and clenched his fists to form a fist. Power surged throughout his body with that single action. His body had now gone beyond the threshold that could be said to be normal even for a pure Dragon. Nabu was the strongest Duke he had ever fought and back then, she could have totally destroyed him if he didn’t have a dimension to help him escape and cut the truly short corners.
Even Kaiser, despite using his zone, was completely beaten up by her in her base form with just pure strength and now he was basically equal to her in terms of raw unbridled power alone. He couldn't help but be awed by that fact.
‘I wonder if I could transform into a full-fledged dragon now.’
He idly wondered. He remembered that Nidhogg, despite being a hybrid, could do so. He just wasn’t particularly interested in transforming into a super big flying target.
‘Now then.’
Since he had tested his physical body, it was time to see the results of his contract.
Sol had obtained three innate skills from Isis.
Nirvana.
Super Regeneration.
And lastly…
Holy Fire.
The Nirvana and Regeneration were basically two of the three core skills the phoenixes had. The third being Elemental Intangibility. He wasn't able to obtain that but he obtained something else, something that he required for his arsenal.
A bright golden flame formed around Sol’s hand as he approached the frightened Lord-ranked chaos spawn.
“I don’t really need to know where your core is. Not when I have this.”
The flame engulfed Doro entirely, that too in just a mere moment, and all he could do was release screams of pain as he helplessly tried to fight back.
“I just need to reduce you to ashes.”
Sol watched impassively as Doro's body broke down into mere particles with the advent of time. The screams resonated the fear and anguish that came from his very soul as the holy flame had the power of purification against Chaos and any kind of unnatural power like undead.
“Man, Anubis is really a goat.”
Sol laughed when he realized just how badass Anubis was to have chased after a woman that represented his very opposite.
“Hmm… The flames are a bit too weak. Something's not right.”
When all that was left was nothing but ashes, Sol scratched his chin thoughtfully before examining the remains of the chaos spawn.
The Holy Flame was a power that was extremely harmful to creatures of Chaos and evil. It was a flame of purification; A flame of good.
But, Sol remembered clearly using those flames to heal Skuld and Verdandi alongside Sheherazade when he woke up after reaching the Duke rank.
So then, if it was a flame to purify the so-called beings of evil. Why did it heal them? Chaos should be the true evil of this world after all. That was what the goddesses dictated.
Sol formed a simple conjecture but decided to test the waters a little more.
…
…
…
A few hours later alongside a few more stack of ashes marring the desolated lands of the 6th Circle, Sol was now sure of all his conjectures.
“This power is pretty broken.”
The Holy Flame was indeed a flame of purification. But it followed the will of the user.
Long story short, if the user wished to heal, it would. If he wished to burn it would.
But it didn’t just stop there. The flame also followed the intent of the user.
Depending on the definition of <<Evil>> and <<Good>> the power and effect of the flame could be altered and strengthened accordingly.
Sol did not consider the people of chaos as “Evil” in general. In his opinion. This war was just one of ideals and not one that spanned between the morality of things. It had next to nothing to do with good or evil.
Because of this cognition, the power of the flame was weaker than they should be. But if he really decided and more importantly believed that someone was evil, then the power would amplify manyfolds to destroy that being and erase him from the face of this universe.
Rather than calling it the flame of good, it was more apt to call it the flame of judgment— his judgment.
“This isn’t the normal Holy Fire, I suppose.”
Sol nodded. He didn’t think that he was particularly smarter than the average being.
It was impossible that Tiamat or Gabriel didn’t know about this feature. Much less someone on the caliber of Anubis who practically exuded the aura of a scholar.
If they said nothing despite wielding such specifications then…it simply means that the true Holy flame could only destroy “evil” as defined by a clear set of rules created by either the goddesses obviously or the divine beast that represented the core of that power— Gabriel.
As for the fact that he could actually set his own rules, Sol guessed that it was because of Isis’ power. The one she had shown in the desert when she interrogated those slave traders. [1]
“My little cute phoenix is really something else.”
He sighed and stood up. He had already been here for far too long and he was becoming rather bored. At least, he now had a better understanding of his powers and evolution into the new realm.
As for his Dimension and Domain. Those could be slowly explored later.
‘Should I head out to the 7th circle now?’
Sol walked away, unhurried and carefree.
He had no intention of fighting the King ranked Titans or any traitors that were entrapped in the 7th level.
The difference between the King rank and the Duke rank was not so easily closed and fighting a King would surely exhaust him no matter how powerful he became.
What he wanted to do now, going up to the 7th circle of this place housing the damned, was to find the secret zone hidden in the 7th circle of Tartarus.
From what Tiamat told him, he would find something very interesting once he sets foot in there. [2]
[1]: You can refer to Chapter 161 to learn more about Isis' powers of judgment.
[2]: I am pretty sure you can guess who he is going to meet. Heh this is almost poetic.
(AN: Anyways, what do you think of Sol's current skill set? The flame of judgment is a very powerful tool and perhaps his first true attack skill throughout the entirety of this story. Until now I have been busy making Sol into the very incarnation of a cockroach XD. I believe survivability and escaping is the most important. Now time to add the guns.)
AN 2: I started a new story called MIDNIGHT PRINCE. For the contest Fantasy carnival. Please take a look and vote for it. It would be really helpful. I really wanna win that contest Haha.
When the trident finally made contact with Sol's hand, inevitably the only thing it resulted in was in the teeths of the trigonal weapon shattering into pieces like they were made out of the most fragile glass and the shaft of the trident snapping in half, as though it had been brittled down due to the passage of time. It was an absolutely unbelievable and gobsmacking scene.
From a scientific standpoint, however, the explanation was rather simple. The counterforce had simply been too high and broke through the threshold that the weapon could bear at perfect condition.
It was not unlike the metaphorical example of an egg sent flying against a wall. It was as simple as it could get. His weapon was just too brittle when compared to the area it struck. But nothing was ever simple when it came to beings of their level. The simple explanation was the very thing that made the chaos spawn stare blankly at the end result— his most prized weapon shattering into absolute pieces. A phenomenon that should never be possible.
This went beyond the common sense he had been taught and had observed throughout his long long life. He was so shocked that he simply froze on spot
Sol, meanwhile, moved his hand around, observing it with his keen eyes, and nodded in satisfaction when he felt no pain and saw no wounds on his immaculate hand. The weapon had not even been able to leave a scratch on his perfect skin. It was a satisfying result indeed, knowing the implications the result entailed.
“Hmm… I guess your core isn’t in your weapon. I am glad that's the case. My hand wouldn't have been left unscathedd as it is now if you slided your core into your weapon.”
The last time he had fought in the depths of the 4th circle, that chaos spawn, which gave him a hard time being his opponent, had hidden his core inside his weapon— effectively empowering his weapon and hiding the most important part of chaos beings that made them so horrifying. A pretty smart move when all things were considered. At the end of the day, their cores were their only weak points…that could lead to their demise.
While high-level chaos spawns like the one he was currently facing had organs close to that of mammals – such as a brain, heart, lungs, and other organs of similar nature – those organs were in a way just there for decorative purposes.
These served next to no purpose in their living circumstances, so it was ideal to call it decorations that served in giving them a more humane form.
Destroying the brain would not stop them from thinking. Piercing their hearts would not kill them. How could it? They didn't need it to pump blood into their bodies as their entire bodily functions were marginally different from the creatures of order. They did not have the need to breathe either. In short, they had apparently no fatal points and could regenerate themselves from any and all wounds.
Even after cutting all their limbs apart, chopping them into pieces, pulling their tongues out, piercing their eyes and gouging them out, decapitating them and crushing their heads, or even dicing all of their body parts into pieces. They would still live. They would still regenerate. They would still fight on. Such was the absolute terror that was a chaos spawn. A living, breathing, killing machine.
But, there were no beings without weaknesses. Such was the fundamental law of this universe. The chaos spawns also held weak points but the only true weak point of note that they all had was their core. Something that fully formed once they became close to the Lord level— Duke-rank in beings of Order terms. Only by destroying their cores could they be completely killed. But therein lay the problem.
The emplacement of the core was only known to the spawn and that being alone. Not that Sol cared particularly for all that hoohaa. If they can be killed he would kill them, such was his simple thought process.
Now, he was only focusing on assessing his strength.
‘If we were to talk about the physique side of things, I should now be a little stronger than Nabu was during the time I saw her fight. So, this is the strength my body now provides me, huh?’
Sol chuckled and clenched his fists to form a fist. Power surged throughout his body with that single action. His body had now gone beyond the threshold that could be said to be normal even for a pure Dragon. Nabu was the strongest Duke he had ever fought and back then, she could have totally destroyed him if he didn’t have a dimension to help him escape and cut the truly short corners.
Even Kaiser, despite using his zone, was completely beaten up by her in her base form with just pure strength and now he was basically equal to her in terms of raw unbridled power alone. He couldn't help but be awed by that fact.
‘I wonder if I could transform into a full-fledged dragon now.’
He idly wondered. He remembered that Nidhogg, despite being a hybrid, could do so. He just wasn’t particularly interested in transforming into a super big flying target.
‘Now then.’
Since he had tested his physical body, it was time to see the results of his contract.
Sol had obtained three innate skills from Isis.
Nirvana.
Super Regeneration.
And lastly…
Holy Fire.
The Nirvana and Regeneration were basically two of the three core skills the phoenixes had. The third being Elemental Intangibility. He wasn't able to obtain that but he obtained something else, something that he required for his arsenal.
A bright golden flame formed around Sol’s hand as he approached the frightened Lord-ranked chaos spawn.
“I don’t really need to know where your core is. Not when I have this.”
The flame engulfed Doro entirely, that too in just a mere moment, and all he could do was release screams of pain as he helplessly tried to fight back.
“I just need to reduce you to ashes.”
Sol watched impassively as Doro's body broke down into mere particles with the advent of time. The screams resonated the fear and anguish that came from his very soul as the holy flame had the power of purification against Chaos and any kind of unnatural power like undead.
“Man, Anubis is really a goat.”
Sol laughed when he realized just how badass Anubis was to have chased after a woman that represented his very opposite.
“Hmm… The flames are a bit too weak. Something's not right.”
When all that was left was nothing but ashes, Sol scratched his chin thoughtfully before examining the remains of the chaos spawn.
The Holy Flame was a power that was extremely harmful to creatures of Chaos and evil. It was a flame of purification; A flame of good.
But, Sol remembered clearly using those flames to heal Skuld and Verdandi alongside Sheherazade when he woke up after reaching the Duke rank.
So then, if it was a flame to purify the so-called beings of evil. Why did it heal them? Chaos should be the true evil of this world after all. That was what the goddesses dictated.
Sol formed a simple conjecture but decided to test the waters a little more.
…
…
…
A few hours later alongside a few more stack of ashes marring the desolated lands of the 6th Circle, Sol was now sure of all his conjectures.
“This power is pretty broken.”
The Holy Flame was indeed a flame of purification. But it followed the will of the user.
Long story short, if the user wished to heal, it would. If he wished to burn it would.
But it didn’t just stop there. The flame also followed the intent of the user.
Depending on the definition of <<Evil>> and <<Good>> the power and effect of the flame could be altered and strengthened accordingly.
Sol did not consider the people of chaos as “Evil” in general. In his opinion. This war was just one of ideals and not one that spanned between the morality of things. It had next to nothing to do with good or evil.
Because of this cognition, the power of the flame was weaker than they should be. But if he really decided and more importantly believed that someone was evil, then the power would amplify manyfolds to destroy that being and erase him from the face of this universe.
Rather than calling it the flame of good, it was more apt to call it the flame of judgment— his judgment.
“This isn’t the normal Holy Fire, I suppose.”
Sol nodded. He didn’t think that he was particularly smarter than the average being.
It was impossible that Tiamat or Gabriel didn’t know about this feature. Much less someone on the caliber of Anubis who practically exuded the aura of a scholar.
If they said nothing despite wielding such specifications then…it simply means that the true Holy flame could only destroy “evil” as defined by a clear set of rules created by either the goddesses obviously or the divine beast that represented the core of that power— Gabriel.
As for the fact that he could actually set his own rules, Sol guessed that it was because of Isis’ power. The one she had shown in the desert when she interrogated those slave traders. [1]
“My little cute phoenix is really something else.”
He sighed and stood up. He had already been here for far too long and he was becoming rather bored. At least, he now had a better understanding of his powers and evolution into the new realm.
As for his Dimension and Domain. Those could be slowly explored later.
‘Should I head out to the 7th circle now?’
Sol walked away, unhurried and carefree.
He had no intention of fighting the King ranked Titans or any traitors that were entrapped in the 7th level.
The difference between the King rank and the Duke rank was not so easily closed and fighting a King would surely exhaust him no matter how powerful he became.
What he wanted to do now, going up to the 7th circle of this place housing the damned, was to find the secret zone hidden in the 7th circle of Tartarus.
From what Tiamat told him, he would find something very interesting once he sets foot in there. [2]
[1]: You can refer to Chapter 161 to learn more about Isis' powers of judgment.
[2]: I am pretty sure you can guess who he is going to meet. Heh this is almost poetic.
(AN: Anyways, what do you think of Sol's current skill set? The flame of judgment is a very powerful tool and perhaps his first true attack skill throughout the entirety of this story. Until now I have been busy making Sol into the very incarnation of a cockroach XD. I believe survivability and escaping is the most important. Now time to add the guns.)
AN 2: I started a new story called MIDNIGHT PRINCE. For the contest Fantasy carnival. Please take a look and vote for it. It would be really helpful. I really wanna win that contest Haha.
