Chapter 114: BONDING

Chapter 114: Chapter 114: BONDING

There was a brief silence.

Asmodeus didn’t hesitate.

"It doesn’t matter."

He paused, his eyes gleaming with something that might have been contempt.

"After all, you paid the cost for yours too when you used it."

The line hit Ifrith like a physical blow.

Because Asmodeus was right. Ifrith had sacrificed something enormous when he used his own forbidden power—pieces of himself, fragments of his existence, memories and emotions and aspects of his being that could never be reclaimed.

Ifrith didn’t respond.

He became silent.

He looked toward the sky.

Then toward Theon.

Then—

His eyes fell on NIVARETH.

Ifrith suddenly realized something.

His eyes widened.

He turned toward Theon and shouted.

"THE SWORD!"

But the battlefield was now completely overwhelmed by noise. Thunder. Wind. Fire. Crashing rocks. The enormous spell above them. Theon couldn’t hear him.

Ifrith shouted again.

"THE SWORD!"

Still nothing.

Again.

"THE SWORD!"

Theon remained unable to hear him, his attention fixed on the catastrophe that was about to descend upon them. The tension was almost unbearable.

Then suddenly a voice echoed inside Theon’s mind.

It was Cryvathar.

Unlike Ifrith, Cryvathar didn’t need to shout. His voice reached Theon directly, clear and distinct despite the chaos that surrounded them.

"Use the sword to block it."

Theon looked down at NIVARETH.

His expression became uncertain. He looked at the gigantic catastrophe forming above him, at the elemental fury that was preparing to consume everything. Then he looked at the sword in his hands, at the blade that had been his companion through so many battles.

He doubted whether even NIVARETH was capable of stopping something like this.

"I’m not sure if even NIVARETH could block it."

Cryvathar responded immediately.

"You do not even believe in a primodial sword."

Theon answered.

"No."

Cryvathar cut him off.

"It’s fine."

Then Cryvathar gave him the instruction that would change everything.

"Just become one with the sword."

Theon was confused.

"How?"

Cryvathar explained.

"Raise the sword up. Focus all your mana and energy into it. Submit yourself to it. And block the attack."

Theon looked at NIVARETH.

The sword felt different in his hands now—heavier, more substantial, as if it had gained weight in the moments since Cryvathar had spoken. He understood that Cryvathar wasn’t telling him to simply use NIVARETH. He was telling him to synchronize with it completely, to become one with the Eternal Frostblade in a way he had never attempted before.

Theon took a deep breath.

Then he said.

"Okay."

Then he raised NIVARETH toward the sky.

He closed his eyes briefly, shutting out the chaos that surrounded him. The thunder, the wind, the pressure of the approaching catastrophe—all of it faded into the background.

Then he began gathering every bit of mana inside his body.

The mana began moving.

From his core. Through his body. Down his arm. Into his hand. And finally—

Into NIVARETH.

The sword began glowing.

Its aura increased. Then increased again. And again. And again. The pressure surrounding NIVARETH became enormous, the blade releasing waves of energy that crackled through the air.

The ground beneath Theon cracked.

The air around him trembled.

But Theon continued.

He gave NIVARETH more. More mana. More energy. More of himself. His body screamed in protest, his muscles straining against the pressure, his blood pounding in his ears.

The aura kept increasing.

Once. Twice. Again.

Until NIVARETH’S presence began becoming powerful enough to draw Asmodeus’s attention.

Asmodeus looked downward.

His eyes settled on Theon. Then on NIVARETH. He realized what Theon was attempting, and for a moment, he laughed.

Not because he was impressed. Because he thought it was impossible.

"Boy, what you’re doing won’t work."

His expression became serious.

"I am a primordial demon."

He looked down at Theon with contempt.

"And you’re just a mortal."

The words shook Theon’s confidence.

For a brief moment—a single, terrible moment—he doubted himself. His grip on NIVARETH tightened. His thoughts raced as he looked at the enormous spell above him, at the apocalyptic spell that was about to descend, and he questioned whether anything he could do would be enough.

*Can I really stop this?*

Cryvathar voice returned.

This time, there was no patience in it.

"Just do it already."

Theon opened his eyes.

His hesitation disappeared.

He looked directly at the incoming catastrophe, at the elemental fury that was descending upon them. He tightened his grip around NIVARETH, his fingers pressing into the leather wrapping with desperate intensity.

He planted his feet and raised the Eternal Frostblade then prepares himself.

Asmodeus finally brought his hands downward.

The gigantic elemental sphere began moving. At first slowly, then faster, then—

It fell.

The sky itself seemed to collapse. All five elements descended together in a devastating wave of destruction. Lightning tore through the darkness. Fire burned across the sky. Water spiraled through the attack. Earth crashed downward. Air compressed everything into a single, terrible point of annihilation.

The entire battlefield began disappearing beneath the attack.

Asmodeus watched from above, certain that Theon was finished.

When the attack reached Theon then he raised NIVARETH.

BOOOOOOM!

The collision was cataclysmic.

The force was overwhelming. Theon nearly lost his footing, his arms shaking violently as the weight of the attack pressed down on him. His body strained against the pressure, every muscle screaming in protest.

The ground beneath him began collapsing.

His clothes tore.

Blood began appearing from the strain, seeping through his skin as his body struggled to contain the power flowing through it.

But he didn’t lower NIVARETH.

He kept holding.

The attack continued crashing against the sword, its elemental fury seeking to overwhelm him, to crush him, to erase him from existence. The pressure became unbearable, and Theon felt as though his entire body was being crushed.

But NIVARETH remained raised.

The connection between Theon and NIVARETH deepened.

Instead of Theon merely feeding mana into the sword, his energy began flowing together with NIVARETH’S power. The boundary between wielder and weapon began disappearing, the two becoming something new, something greater.

The Eternal Frostblade responded.

Its aura exploded outward, waves of power rippling across the battlefield. The cataclysm began being pushed back—not completely, not easily, but enough.

Theon screamed as he used everything he had.

He refused to fall.

The attack continued.

The entire battlefield was swallowed by elemental destruction. Lightning. Fire. Water. Earth. Air. All of it converging on a single point, all of it seeking to consume everything within its reach.

Yet somehow—

Theon blocked it.

NIVARETH remained raised.

The catastrophe was prevented from reaching him.

For a moment, everything became still.

Then a blinding light erupted from the collision, so bright that it seemed to consume everything. The entire clearing disappeared beneath it. There was no sky. No ground. No trees. No clearing.

Nothing.

Only white.

Within the overwhelming whiteness—

Lyra’s voice was heard first.

Her voice was filled with terror as she called out Theon.

"BIG BROTHER!"

Then Ifrith screamed.

"MASTER!"

Silver voice followed.

"NOOOOO!"

And finally—