Chapter 147: Flicked and Nerfed
Auren stared at the middle-aged man with mixed emotion. There is a tinge of fear, respect and unreliability mixed in.
Unsure if he is truly a friend or a foe.
His chest tightened as waves of suffocating power rolled off him, heavier than anything he had ever felt. The sheer weight of that presence pressed on his lungs, and it was only by sheer will that he didn’t buckle.
Then he saw it.
FLASH!
With the most casual wave of his hand, the man shattered the enormous conjured swords surrounding him.
The blades broke apart like fragile glass, shards dissolving into motes of useless mana that scattered in the wind.
The sound wasn’t even metallic, more like brittle porcelain snapping in the sky.
That was all Auren needed.
That display alone told him the truth.
This isn’t a man at all... he’s a Primordial Beast in disguise!
But what chilled him wasn’t the destruction itself, it was the name he saw in his head.
Wait... this middle-aged man is actually the Primordial Beast Ugha?
"Correct, master,"
Bigbird’s voice trembled inside his consciousness, caught between reverence and terror.
"And if I’m not mistaken, it was also he who granted the Blessing of Eternal Fire that forced my evolution a couple of years ago."
The revelation made Auren’s heart pound louder in his ears.
Across the field, Romeov finally stopped his rampage.
’This...’
His golden armor was cracked and scorched, his eyes narrow and calculating as he regarded the so-called man.
For him to casually snap one of my ultimate skills like a twig... there’s no doubt, this is a true Primordial. And to think he stands with that boy, the same boy who holds Bhuka’s other half.
He looked at Auren now filled with deep curiousity,
Just what kind of existence is that kid?
Romeov turned to Akhub, his voice lower than usual. "What should we do?"
The crimson beast, no larger than a dog but vibrating with violent mana, curled his lips back to bare his fangs. His red eyes glowed like coals.
"We fight them, of course."
Auren flinched. Akhub’s spirit was blazing and reckless, completely opposite from Bonbon’s calm, almost smug indifference.
"Oh?" Ugha’s voice rumbled like magma cracking through stone.
He leaned closer to the tiny beast, eyes half-lidded with amusement. "You’re certain you want to try me, Akhub?"
"Why not? Just because you’re a single level above me doesn’t mean I fear you," Akhub snapped. Sparks of lightning began crawling over his fur as his horns glowed faintly.
"I’ll take you and that ugly moss-covered thorn together!"
Meanwhile, Greg’s voice rang urgently inside Romeov’s mind, cutting through his pride.
My lord, as much as I share your will to win with Lord Akhub, you must choose your enemies carefully! Stop Akhub before it’s too late. The Primordial Beast of Fire and Chaos is not someone we can challenge so casually!
Romeov swallowed hard. He could already sense the gap in strength. He jumped between them, dropped to one knee before the beast, his golden cape falling across the ground.
"In behalf of Akhub, I would like to apologize."
As an emperor, he knew the measure of power better than most thanks to his access to ancient libraries back in the capital.
And there was no denying it—Ugha stood as the second strongest of all Primordial Beasts, surpassed only by Druka.
The truth is, even if Bonbon and Akhub rejoined to become one, Even then, victory would be a gamble.
Doing his best to calm down, Romeov chose his words carefully while turning to Akhub.
"I think this is enough for today, Master Akhub. We should return to Austerra since we have much more important meetings to attend."
Then he turned toward Auren, bowing slightly. "The truth is, I was merely toying with this young man. I never intended to kill him."
Auren snorted under his breath. He could practically see the lies dripping from the emperor’s perfect white teeth.
"What?!" Akhub rounded on Romeov, tiny eyes narrowing.
"You’re backing down now? How disgraceful! An emperor retreating because the enemy is ’a little stronger’? That’s pathetic!"
"Whahaha!"
"Nyahaha!"
Laughter erupted, shaking the ground.
Ugha’s booming guffaw mixed with Bonbon’s squeaky giggles. The sight of the massive man holding the chubby creature by its cheeks was almost ridiculous.
"Should I remind you," Ugha grinned, dropping Bonbon to the dirt, "that ever since you split from this little one, you can barely touch half your true strength? "
He dusted his hand off, confidence radiating from his movements. "And even if you two were whole again, I’d still beat the crap out of you."
The words were oil on fire.
Akhub’s small body erupted in light. "You want to try me!?"
His three horns blazed as arcs of lightning cracked across the sky, mana pulsing dangerously.
"Sure," Ugha said simply.
Then, his form blurred.
In the blink of an eye, he vanished.
Auren’s jaw dropped. Even with his heightened senses, he couldn’t track him.
Romeov’s trained eyes failed as well. Even Bonbon squealed, too slow to follow.
"Wha—?" Akhub gasped as a chill ran down his spine. Ugha was already behind him, fingers poised as if ready to flick.
In desperation, Akhub summoned a dimensional shield, a shimmering dome of protective runes that wrapped around his small body.
Ugha only smiled.
"Tag."
Poink!
Then came the explosion.
KRAKABOOOM!
The flick detonated like a cannon.
The barriers shattered instantly, fragments dispersing into sparks.
The impact made the air itself convulse. A thunderous shockwave blasted outward, carving a crater into the ground.
Ooof!
Wowooow~
Auren and Romeov were hurled backward, tumbling like leaves in a storm.
Auren only managed to protect himself and Bonbon with a hastily summoned elemental barrier. Romeov crashed hard, barely activating a defensive artifact before humiliation and injury swallowed him.
Akhub, however, took the brunt of it.
The tiny red beast shot across the horizon like a flaming meteor, his squeals trailing after him.
He tore through the skies, smashing into the distant desert with such force that sand geysered upward like volcanic ash. The sound of impact echoed across both territories.
Auren clutched his chest, heart hammering.
What the heck was that...?
Romeov groaned, brushing dust from his armor, face twisted with barely concealed frustration.
’Just a flick, and that power felt like a level nine destructive art skill! ’
Meanwhile, Akhub crawled out of a broken valley, his dimensional portal dragging him back to the battlefield.
His squishy rear was swollen comically, yet his fury burned hotter than ever.
"YOU BASTARD!"
His roar cracked across the air. Lightning surged around him like a living storm.
But before he could attack again, Ugha’s expression hardened.
"This is my final warning."
The world itself seemed to hold its breath.
The middle-aged man’s form melted away, like an illusion peeling off.
His presence ballooned, pressing on every living thing within miles.
BWOOM.
The clear sky darkened in seconds, clouds boiling into storms overhead. The ground trembled.
KUGHUUMMMM!
Before their stunned eyes, the man transformed into his true self.
A monstrous serpentine dragon uncoiled, scales glowing a deep blood-red.
Nine vast wings unfurled from his back, blotting out the sun. Jagged black horns jutted like obsidian towers from his head.
His body crackled with dark fire laced with lightning, every movement threatening destruction.
His tail burned like pure eternal flame, leaving sparks that hissed against the stone. His eyes glowed a haunting, hollow white.
At full length, his body stretched over three hundred meters. The mana flooding from him was suffocating, heavy enough to crush weaker soldiers without him lifting a claw.
Romeov’s eyes widened. Greg’s voice pierced his mind again.
My lord! A surge of fire mana is sweeping the land. Those with fire affinity can evolve here and now!
Romeov scowled bitterly. His affinity lay with earth and wind.
’Too bad.’
The only reason he was able to wield other elemental ability was thanks to the artifacts he wore inside his armor and on his rings.
Auren, on the other hand, felt his veins ignite thanks to his natural fire elemental affinity.
"No way..."
His mouth hung open. He trembled as he stared at the overwhelming form of the Primordial Beast of Fire and Chaos.
Even Bigbird inside his mental space could barely contain himself.
"Master!" Bigbird’s voice shook with awe.
"It’s Lord Ugha! His true form! I can’t believe I’m seeing this... and his flame mana—it’s pouring into me! It’s like my very essence is being reborn!"
Auren gasped as fire mana surged into his body.
His Phoenix blood ignited, cells glowing faintly as if his skin itself had become embers. Every breath filled his lungs with strength. His core expanded, flooded with unimaginable power.
This... this is a jackpot!
Auren thought, greedily pulling the fire into his core.
I can feel myself growing stronger by the second!
But then Bigbird’s voice faltered.
His brilliant feathers dimmed, one by one, falling away like dying embers. Cracks spread along his fiery skin, glowing faintly as if made of fragile glass.
"Uhm... master..."
"What’s happening?" Auren shouted inwardly, diving into his consciousness.
Bigbird stood before him, body trembling. No longer the magnificent phoenix of fire and red stripes, instad, he looked like a bird on its last breath.
Feathers falling. Skin breaking. Old mana leaking like sand through a sieve.
Auren’s heart squeezed. "Don’t tell me..."
Bigbird smiled faintly, voice soft. "I guess... I’ll see you soon, master."
Then, with a blinding glow, his body shattered apart. The fiery bird collapsed inward, folding and hardening into a single massive egg, burning faintly with molten cracks.
Unlike before, it wasn’t gold but more like a magma egg with golded lights seeping out on the cracks.
Auren reached out with trembling hands, but it was too late.
The Phoenix had fallen silent.
And once again, his ultimate weapon has been sealed.
For a second time, and for a bigger comeback.