Chapter 597: Defying a Hegemon
His voice was calm but cutting, pulling Alex back to his senses.
"The Way of Error stands so high on the universal scale that even Elemental Rulers can barely comprehend its faintest properties."
"Most cannot touch it at all until they ascend to the Eighth or Ninth Rank, and even then, they must devote vast spans of time merely to grasp its most minor truths."
"So, for anyone to learn to wield it within eleven months, at just the Sixth Rank, as merely an Elementalist..." Odeseus leaned back slightly, his abyssal eyes glinting with a cold amusement. "It is the same as attempting to journey from the Mortal Rank to that of an exalted Elemental Ruler in a single year."
"An impossibility for all but a rare few."
Panic gripped Alex’s chest at the thought that he might not be able to use the Error nature of Darkness for quite some time. But he quickly forced himself to calm, because Odeseus would not bait him with false hope, not after telling him so much.
"But," Allowing for a moment to go by, before Odeseus continued, "You are a rare case even among the rare few capable of learning a higher aspect at your level. You have many advantages stacked in your favor."
"You have the help of the Domain Ruler. You possess an exceptional affinity for Darkness, and most important of all, you bear the Dark Ancient physique, which will serve as an immense aid in comprehending the higher aspect of Darkness."
Finally, his lips curved into the faintest smile, sharp and humorless. "And you have me as your teacher, the most qualified individual alive in this realm to make you achieve what should be impossible."
He let that hang in the air before his voice fell cold again. "But do not mistake my words for comfort. Even with such impossible advantages, learning even the most basic application will be extremely challenging."
"And the progress you make in less than a year may still offer a negligible difference in your death battle." The weight of his words pressed down, leaving no room for illusions.
"So," Odeseus continued, "You have a choice. Either you go all in and walk the Way of Error, gambling on the chance that even minor progress will tilt fate itself in your favor... or you take the safer path, refining your existing skills to higher levels, which will almost certainly improve your chances of success."
He waited for a few seconds before his tone shifted to one of calm curiosity. "You may take a few days to decide, but for now, prepare to show me the limits of your skills."
At once, the dark chair beneath Alex dissolved into shadows, the weight vanishing from under him.
Alex stood swiftly, clearing his thoughts and steadying his breath. "Can I use summons?" he asked.
Odeseus nodded without hesitation, as though already familiar with Alex’s ability to command multiple strong summons without suffering the usual burden, an acknowledgment that seemed to expect nothing less.
Alex stepped back, putting a sizeable distance between himself and Odeseus. Without wasting another moment, he donned the Dragon Mask, the cold surface settling against his face as his aura changed ever so slightly.
Ruler’s Pride came to life in the next moment, pushing all his skills to their absolute peaks.
He waited ten steady seconds, focusing his thoughts, then raised his hand and used the Summon Elemental skill.
He chose the aspect of his summon and, with every ounce of his mana poured into the casting, lines of power burned themselves into the void before him.
A vast circle bloomed into existence, intricate, ever-shifting runes overlapping with smaller rings, each layer rotating independently as though alive.
Twenty long seconds passed as the summoning circle unfolded to its full complexity, drinking on his vast mana pool. Just before all of his mana was used, Alex triggered the Temporal Reflection, making an invisible cold grip him as time bent, de-aging him by twenty-one seconds, a single heartbeat before he had used the skill.
The mana that was used returned, and so did his ability to once again use the skill.
However, since he de-aged himself, his connection with the circle was also severed, but it took Alex a moment to reestablish a connection with it. Once he was done, he was free to repeat the process since his skill was no longer on cooldown because, technically, it was never used.
He repeated the sequence again and again. Four full times, and each time, monsters’ maw connected to another realm, came alive.
As the summoning built, a stray thought crept in. ’Nyla would be thrilled to have met a Hegemon, especially him.’ His lips pressed into the faintest smile, but it faded as quickly as it came. ’Maybe another time,’
The Elemental Summon skill allowed contracted summons to remain by his side indefinitely, as long as Alex could sustain them. Nyla, his only contracted summon, had been roaming freely in the Ancestral Realm for the past year, chasing her own opportunities.
The last time he had heard from her, a few months ago, she had taken mercenary work with the Magi Empire’s second regiment, all while participating in some trial of her family’s.
She was busy forging her own path, and Alex had no desire to drag her away unless it was absolutely necessary. He could always introduce her to Odeseus another day.
As seconds passed, the formless dark pools gathered to the center into black, viscous blobs, their surfaces trembling as if something immense was straining to break free.
Sixty long seconds ticked by. Then, with a sound like air collapsing, the darkness of the first pool dissipated, revealing a towering creature that loomed where the shifting darkness had been.
It was an alien, towering nearly four and a half meters tall, a hulking mass of muscle sheathed beneath plates of violet and crimson chitin. The armor gleamed with an oily sheen, catching the faint light like polished obsidian streaked with blood.
Its frame was carved for war. Four thick arms hung at its sides, each elbow sprouting a sickle-like blade of bone that gleamed like butcher’s steel.
The hands ended not in fingers but in paired claws, curved and cruel, designed for rending flesh and splitting armor.
Its face was no less monstrous, part hound, part dragon, the muzzle stretched long and lined with jagged teeth. Twin eyes burned like molten coals, smoldering with mindless hunger.
Every breath was a threat. The air whistled through the slits along its neck, half-snarl, half-hiss, as though the very act of living demanded violence.
One by one, the other three summons stepped from the darkness, the darkness collapsing around them.
A berserker clad in chitnoues armor, an archer with a bow of obsidian wood, a healer robed in pale light, and finally a tank, the only human among them, an old man who wore a variation of a suit and carried a pure white book.
Each carried the aura of mastery, each one a specialist, perfect for a specific role. Each of them could rival nearly any Elementalist in the Realm.
Alex followed suit by using thought Acceleration that sharpened his mind until seconds stretched like minutes. Mana Amplification thickened the air around him, every pulse of his twin hearts driving his veins alight with raw force.
In his hand, he chose Misery, the blade he knew better than any weapon for having used it in so many battles.
He was ready.
The air stirred, and opposite him, a clone of Odeseus rose from the black, sculpted from darkness and intent. It wielded a long sword, its presence that of an Elemental Ruler.
The clash began.
A minute into the one-versus-five battle, Alex was already pushed to the edge, forced to trigger Mana Overdrive. His Ancient Heart roared to full capacity, pumping enough power through his body to tear it apart if he lost control.
Another minute, and the first of his Elementals fell, body dissolving into smoke.
At first, their battle was competitive, blades crossing, laws clashing, summons striking in perfect rhythm.
But slowly, inevitably, Odeseus’s clone began to overwhelm them. Not with sheer power, but with flawless battle instinct and elemental control so refined it made every strike count.
Another sixty seconds later, the field was painted in silence. The last of his Elementals collapsed, their forms scattering into ash. Alex remained standing, but barely, his chest heaved, and even his grip felt weak around the cold hilt of his blade.
The clone stood in the distance, uninjured, confident, and ready to end the battle.
But Alex was not done just yet, his final trump card, the skill he had been mastering for the past two years. The skill he knew would make or break his duel with Zarach.
Temporal Reflection stopped and time recoiled, allowing Alex to see the present once more. Alex stood renewed, restored to near perfection. He was the last man standing, and it was time.
Dragon Monarch Aura.
As always, the skill came alive like a ravenous beast, but this time, the beast was one he had learned to ride.
The changes surged through him like wildfire, every nerve and fiber burning alive, yet sharper than ever. His grasp over elemental law growing into terrifying clarity, and the resistance he felt because of the clone, vanished.
Yet the gift came at a price.
His instincts grew sharper, more primal, as though a beast long chained within him had been forced awake. Anger coiled in his chest like a living flame, and with it came pride, vast, unshakable, undeniable.
But this time was different.
Unlike when he had first touched the skill’s power, Alex did not suffer from the change because now he did not resist it; instead, he welcomed it.
His gaze fixed on the clone of Odeseus, and in that moment, he no longer saw a figure worthy of recognition. It was nothing more than a puppet, a pest in his way.
The desire surged in him to crush Odeseus’s confidence for daring to believe that he would fall so easily.
Yet, reason did not abandon him. Clear as crystal, Alex knew the truth. The clone before him could not be overpowered, not with raw force, but victory was still achievable.
Victory was still achievable, and it was by proving that he was already greater than Odysseus had ever been at his age.
To prove to the Hegemon that he would rise higher, eclipse him, and one day leave him in the dust.
The sheer thought of defying a hegemon and winning, if only in spirit, was intoxicating. Exhilaration sang through his blood, mingling with his swelling hunger for supremacy.
The aura rose around him, thick and oppressive, draping over his form like a mantle of ancient power.