Chapter 1243: Shiro's Vengeance
"I don't suppose you're willing to hear me out and have a civil conversation?" Aekari asked while standing up.
"Civil? You think I will be civil with someone who killed me twice and made slaves of people to act as your exp bags?" Shiro glared as Aekari nodded his head in defeat.
"That's true. I don't think I would be civil with myself either." He sighed while dusting himself clean.
"Then can I talk to you as a parent? Seeing as how the phoenix called you mom, am I to believe you are a parent as well now."
"If you were anyone else, perhaps. But knowing you Aekari? You can go f*ck yourself." Shiro scoffed as she has had enough of this farce. Dashing forward, she wanted to savour the feeling of extinguishing his life little by little with her bare hands.
Seeing that Shiro was in no mood to converse even after beating him this hard, Aekari could only sigh.
Activating several berserk skills, light erupted around him as he could only force himself to try match her in pure stats.
*BANG!!!
Slamming his body against Shiro, Aekari narrowed his eyes as his form started to shift.
His body was now akin to floating pieces of armour connected by a galactic body, a myriad of stars burned with gold and blue flames while his hair was replaced by the same fire.
Opening his mouth, Aekari started to chant in the old language of their world as Shiro widened her eyes.
She recognised this skill, it was one of Aekari's most powerful skills during his time as a hero. If the skill had undergone any upgrades, the devastation could be beyond imagination.
"So you finally chose to throw caution in the wind." Shiro muttered as she sent out a pulse of mana, forcing the two to separate before slamming her hands down.
Taking a deep breath, a tier 9 magic array expanded out from beneath her, covering the entire battlefield.
Now that Aekari was no longer bound by Iriel's skill, he could leave whenever he wanted. Thus her only option was to drag him into her own domain.
Her new core rumbled with the energy of both creation and destruction, causing the world to twist and tear, unable to fully handle her new powers.
Her divinity of destruction blazing forth before being counteracted by creation.
Now that she was a being of balance, her new domain will undergo changes to match her new power. Her divinity will also change but she had already made the necessary adjustments prior to this moment. She had already understood what kind of god she wanted to be.
Visualising the domain was simple and an image formed in her mind.
"Behold oblivion's waking chorus. The call of nihility and the dawn of creation." Aekari proclaimed as the clouds split apart, revealing the dawning sky.
A crack spread across the skies before being torn apart by a pair of spectral hands, revealing the cold darkness of the endless space.
A deep rumble could be heard resembling the sound of a horn, calling forth the calamity of mankind. The signal of the end.
Mana rivalling the levels of Shiro prior to her new ascension exploded out from Aekari as he stabbed down with a greatsword. Three tier 8 magic circles erupted from the crack in the sky, stacking upon each other and threatening to upgrade to the next tier but failed.
From within the crack, galactic clouds could be seen, slowly moving before revealing itself to be a giant eye. Moving itself back, the mighty form of a dragon could be seen, its body crafted from densely packed stars and purple flames.
Appearing in front of the magic circles, Aekari's form started to shift once more as a halo could be seen behind him.
Watching all of this happen, Madison couldn't help but swallow her saliva in anxiousness since she didn't think she could stand against a skill of that calibre even if she had the time to prepare.
Wanting to go help Shiro out with her buffs from the 72 demons, she was held back by Lyrica who had finished dispatching all of the gods.
"Trust in Shiro, she's got this handled. If she was worried, she would've called for us." Lyrica reassured as Madison nodded her head.
Turning her head to where Shiro was, she noticed something strange. Despite the tier 9 magic circle, nothing was happening.
Narrowing his eyes, Aekari fired his skill as a torrent of stars shot out from the mouth of the dragon. The skies burned red with ominous omens as the meteor storm was about to reach Shiro.
"This has gone on long enough." Shiro muttered in a low voice as she slowly opened her eyes.
As though the seal on her mana had been lifted, an overbearing suppression of energy exploded out, causing everyone to hold their breaths from the pressure.
Snapping her finger, the world was suddenly greyed out before disappearing.
Without even being able to protest against its destruction, the dragon disappeared within a wave of darkness.
The cold grasps of death brushed against their mind as cold sweat dripped down their backs.
Everyone within the range was now floating in the dark unknown. They could not see which way was up nor could they see which was down. Their perception shifted between first and third person, the rules of reality bending with every fleeting second.
They could open their mouths but no sound could be heard.
In this realm of nothingness, there was only one sensation. The impending sense of death.
Feeling a pair of eyes staring at him, Aekari quickly turned around and saw what was behind him. A looming figure whose body was made from black crystal that seemed to hold every universe within, streaking long white hair with faded edges that seemed to disappear into the world around them.
While the only features he could see were the white eyes and eyelashes, he could tell it was Shiro.
Behind her, he could see a black hold crafted from a mix of creation and destruction energy. An orb of darkness surrounded by the swirling ribbon's energy, separating this realm in two halves. One with the soothing energy and life-force of creation, the other with the cold brutal blade of destruction.
In this moment, Aekari knew. Even if he was to use everything, burn his lifeforce to the limit and sacrifice everything he had, he could never compete.
In the face of unyielding force, there was only one thing he could do and that was to prostrate himself in hopes of being allowed to speak.
Meanwhile, Nan Tian, Madison, Lyrica and everyone else finally got a full glimpse at Shiro's new found powers and understood she had now surpassed the realm of mortals. Even the gods could not compare now. In front of her, the gods may as well be ants.
Before they could notice the world shifting, they were returned to reality as Shiro now stood in front of Aekari who had planted his head against the ground.
Her form still resembled what she looked like within the domain but the edges of the black crystal slowly broke apart, revealing her standard look.
"What the f*ck are you doing." Shiro said coldly as rage burned in her eyes. She wanted him to fight, fight until the bitter end just like she did. She wanted him to fight and understand that death was inevitable while oblivion gripped at his soul.
But it was cut short as he bowed down and surrendered.
She could only feel her anger rising without stop.
"Get up." She demanded coldly.
"I will surrender my life to you. You can do with it as you wish. But please, listen to what I have to say." Aekari begged as Shiro summoned her sword and lashed out in annoyance.
Shredding his right arm into pieces, Shiro watched as he refused to get up.
Gritting her teeth, she grabbed him by the scruff of his collar and lifted him up, glaring into his eyes to see some semblance of defiance. For even the smallest sign of the will to fight back. But there was nothing, only defeat and resignation.
"Pathetic." Shiro spat while throwing him against the ground.
"I have crawled back from the depths of hell, fought against despairing odds and slaughtered my way up so I can grant you the despair of death. But here you are, prostrating against your enemy!?" Shiro shouted while kicking him in the face, causing him to tumble back.
Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Aekari could feel his vision blurring from the pain but continued to prostrate towards her.
"Please, just listen to what I have to say." Aekari begged once more as Shiro stabbed her blade into his leg. Corruption spread throughout his body but he did not move.
Standing in front of him. Shiro could feel her anger reach new heights but with no outlet.
"ARGGG!" Shouting out with rage, Shiro swung her sword to the side, cleaving apart a deep chasm where the bottom couldn't be seen.
Seeing that there was still no reaction from Aekari, Shiro kicked him in the jaw, causing him to fall back before slamming her heel into his chest.
"Speak your last words." Shiro squeezed out reluctantly as her foot threatened to crush his throat.