Chapter 484: Rewards From The Akashic Records

Nico laughed at the answer, though his eyes kept returning to the bodies around Caelus.

"Fair enough. I didn’t expect to meet you while fighting for first place."

"Neither did I. What did you do to those things?"

Caelus pointed toward the ashes beside Nico. He hadn’t left a single piece large enough to form a new body.

"My Authority of Lightning. They can’t multiply if I burn away every bit of them."

A creature stretched its neck out of the portal behind him. Nico lifted two fingers and sent a golden bolt through its open mouth.

[Authority Activated: Lightning.]

Lightning spread through the creature’s body and burned it from inside. When its back burst open Nico struck the falling pieces with smaller bolts until nothing remained.

Caelus could see why he had climbed so quickly. Nico had a power well suited to dealing with these things.

"I suppose you’re here to take first place back?"

"Would you believe me if I said I was just passing through?"

"No."

"Then why ask?"

Nico grinned and turned toward the next portal.

"You’ll have to hurry. I’m not giving it away."

Caelus was glad he hadn’t started making threats over the ranking. He could enjoy competing with someone who understood that they were fighting the same enemy.

A long arm suddenly tore through the portal and caught the edge of the fountain. The stone broke beneath its fingers as a creature much larger than the others dragged itself out.

Its chest held several rows of faces. Their mouths opened together and sent a thick wave of black fluid toward the three of them.

Nico burned through the front of the wave with a bolt of lightning. Caelus caught the rest with Telekinesis and forced it upward before it could splash across the road.

[Power Activated: Telekinesis.]

The creature pulled its head back as its own attack struck its faces.

Sylvia slipped beneath its raised arm and drove her sword into its side. Death power spread through the wound while Caelus locked the growth trying to close over her blade.

The monster twisted toward her.

Caelus opened a short passage beside her through his Space authority. She stepped through and emerged at his side as the creature’s hand smashed into the place she had stood.

[Authority Activated: Space.]

Nico drove a bolt through the striking arm and blew its shoulder apart. The creature twisted away from the lightning, giving Caelus a clear view into its chest.

[Racial Trait Activated: Stellar-Devil Fire.]

Dark red flames poured into the opening. The faces shrieked as fire burned through their defenses and spread inside the body.

Caelus kept Origin Lock on the flesh until the monster collapsed into the pool. Its limbs burned down without producing a single new creature.

Nico stared at the flames.

"How many powers do you have?"

"I guess I have a lot."

Sylvia laughed beside him, but Caelus was already moving toward the next wave.

He spread Origin Lock over the creatures crossing the plaza and sent his swords through them. Those trying to flee along the rooftops were pulled into the open by Telekinesis.

Freya finished the ones slipping through the side streets. Behind her Himmel’s gun kept firing as monsters fell on either side of the road.

Nico filled another portal’s opening with golden lightning. His name held first place until Caelus brought down the swarm gathering over an empty landing field.

[Rank 1: Caelus Kross.]

[Rank 2: Nico Adler.]

"Finally."

Caelus didn’t stop to admire it. The portal above the field widened and a thick mass of bodies began forcing its way through.

He flew toward the open ground and moved clear of the others.

[Transformation Activated: Chaos Devil Dragon.]

[Transformation Bonus: Power +50.]

Black scales spread across his arms as his body grew. Horns swept back from his head while vast wings opened above the landing field.

The monsters that had been diving toward him now fell beneath his chest.

Caelus caught the largest in one claw. Origin Lock stopped its body from splitting as he drove it into the rest of the swarm.

BOOM!

The landing field cracked beneath the impact. He swept his burning hand through the creatures still in the air and dragged them down into the fire.

Nico flew out over the fountain and stared at Caelus’s enormous new body.

"Oh, come on. You had that too?"

Caelus laughed as he crushed another group beneath his claw. Nico’s next bolt struck the monsters gathering behind him, but the gap between their contributions kept growing.

Sylvia rose beside Caelus’s wing and sent Death power through the creatures trying to reach his back. He covered the gaps with his swords and pushed the swarm away from the buildings.

Together they cleared the last bodies pouring through the opening.

Far beyond the city, Aron caught a limb large enough to cover an entire hill.

The monster facing him had dragged most of its body out of a tear in the sky. Its many legs crushed the empty ground while a huge mouth opened beneath its belly.

God Emperor Leopold drove a golden spear into that mouth. The blast tore through its body and threw chunks of black flesh across the plain.

Each chunk began growing legs.

Aron spread both hands and covered the falling pieces in stellar fire. They burned before they could scatter, while Leopold blocked another limb from reaching the city.

"See? I told you this would happen!"

The devil king tore the limb in his grip away from the monster. Blood struck his flames and burned in the air.

"You didn’t believe me. I’m never wrong about these things."

"Not now, Aron!"

"Then perhaps you should listen next time."

The monster’s belly split wider and released a beam toward them. Leopold met it with a golden shield while Aron drove his burning claws through the creature’s exposed side.

Their combined force pushed it away from the city. The ground beneath it broke as Leopold drove his spear deeper and Aron’s fire spread through the wound.

The monster’s legs buckled beneath it. Golden light burst through its back while stellar fire consumed the flesh falling from its body.

Back at the plaza, Caelus watched the last nearby portal shrink.

He held the edges shut with his Space authority while the remaining monsters were dragged clear. Sylvia killed them beneath him as Himmel shot the ones trying to burrow into the broken road.

The tear closed.

For several seconds Caelus waited for it to open again. When nothing happened he released his transformation and landed beside Sylvia.

The sounds of fighting faded across the plaza. Far away a final burst of golden light filled the sky, followed by a wave of heat.

Then the warning above Caelus’s ranking changed.

[Invasion repelled.]

[Contribution assessment complete.]

[Early Primordial Leaderboard.]

[First Place: Caelus Kross.]

Nico landed near them with a tired laugh.

"I should have asked about your powers back at the Embryo Zone."

Caelus smiled.

"Welp. You were too busy showing us your embryo."

Before Nico could reply golden circles appeared beneath their feet. Matching light surrounded Freya and Himmel as their ranking panels changed.

[Ranked participants will now be transferred for reward distribution.]

Sylvia caught Caelus’s hand. He recognized the Akashic Records’ power and allowed the transfer as the plaza faded around them.

They appeared in a vast white hall with other ranked fighters arriving on separate platforms. Nico stood nearby while Freya hurried to Himmel’s side.

A golden system panel opened directly in front of Caelus.

[Congratulations, Caelus Kross. You have placed first on the Early Primordial Leaderboard.]

[Your rewards will now be granted.]