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Chapter 76: The Curse of St. Helens
Chapter 76: The Curse of St. Helens
Chapter 76: The Curse of St. Helens
Safamu roared. His Tribulation was reaching its climax. As proof, the northern lights were beginning to disperse, and the last of the wisps were falling like cursed snowflakes. Unfortunately, most of them were touching the ground, reinforcing the final rune of the Tribulation.
The Earl felt both enraged and hopeful. Three different human armies surrounded him. One of them, the last to arrive, had been largely massacred by the animals. Knocked unconscious and transported under wisp fire, thousands of stupid humans had greatly helped the lion. Thanks to their unwitting sacrifice, the buried rune of St.Helens was far from having reached its full potential. A colossal amount of energy was building up in the ground, but Safamu was optimistic about his chances of survival.
However, not all humans had the IQ of a mosquito.
A strategist clearly commanded the second army. Positioned in the shelter of a small pine wood, the human troops attacked and defended intelligently. Their commander exploited the animals' weaknesses. Mainly, Safamu's subjects didn't work together. Worse, they regularly split up and found themselves isolated.
In addition, their physical advantages often made them careless. Many were lured into rudimentary traps - camouflaged holes lined with stakes, snares placed on the ground, or thin ropes stretched between two trees. Their mobility was reduced, and their attacks blocked. Most humans were individually weak, but a thousand wounds would eventually overcome the animals.
Nevertheless, some of the animals were thinking things through and managed to make the army bleed in return. The survivors would also be wary of traps in the future, which was positive from the Earl's point of view.
Unfortunately, there was a third army - the source of the lion's rage. Made up of around a hundred men and women, this group really wreaked havoc. The red-and-gold-clad warriors moved in small groups and effectively eliminated his troops. Each human was individually strong, and some were of Baron rank. Faced with their teamwork, the animals didn't stand a chance.
Safamu turned to his last Viscount. The latter was wreaking havoc in the ranks of the first army. Whispering to the wind, the lion ordered his subordinate to change targets. He would have cared for it himself, but the men were far from his Tribulation.
Suddenly, the ground shook. The last wisp had disappeared. The Tribulation was coming to an end.
The lion stood up proudly and roared.
Crouching on a branch, Guandi threw down his scabbard and grabbed his greatsword. A smile spread across his face as he saw the monster approaching rapidly. Some giant crocodile was planning to take one of his teams by surprise. The beast was nearly ten meters long and could have swallowed ten men without flinching. Guandi had no intention of letting him get away with it.
The commander had never killed a Viscount alone, but his two Supremacies gave him the confidence to try.
The wind rushed through the trees and blew in his direction. No scent would betray his ambush. The swordsman held his breath as the animal approached the fighting group. His men moved stealthily through the forest without concern for the Viscount. The reptile had good camouflage and must have thought himself invisible.
When the beast was no more than twenty meters from his men, Guandi turned his sword, catching and reflecting a ray of sunlight. The beam was lost in the canopy. The sword continued to turn, changing the angle of the reflection until it reached the beast's eye. The beast blinked - a basic reflex. [Sun Rush].
Transported through the beam, Guandi reappeared a meter away from the Vicomte, his greatsword falling like an executioner's axe. The weapon must have weighed close to a hundred kilograms and came down with all the warrior's power. [Heavy Strike]. His Strength exceeded two hundred, and the result was bloody. The blade sank almost twenty centimeters into the crocodile's eye.
Covered in fluids, Guandi stepped back instantly. He hadn't had time to withdraw his sword, but his swift reaction saved him from being crushed by the crocodile's roll.
"General, shall we..."
"Get the hell out!"
As his men scurried away, Guandi winced. It was going to be a tough fight.
The reptile howled before shaking his head one last time. The greatsword was violently ejected from his eye and flew some twenty meters away. Guandi's strength was monstrous for a human, but it seemed insignificant in the face of his opponent's power.
"You're going to die, human," the beast articulated with difficulty.
Guandi raised an eyebrow. He was impressed that a monster with such an impractical mouth could speak.
"You're the one bleeding right now," he remarked.
A sort of laugh escaped from the beast's throat. "Your most powerful attack barely pierced my eyelid and part of my eye. I wonder how you intend to penetrate my scales," laughed the Viscount.
Guandi shrugged and walked towards his greatsword. The crocodile stepped aside, and Guandi began to run. Ten meters from his weapon, the Viscount seemed to accelerate magically and almost teleported between the sword and its owner.
[Steel Call]. The sword shot toward its owner before striking one of the crocodile's hind legs. It was one of Guandi's most deadly techniques. The blade failed to pierce the reptile's scales. Shit.
[Sun Rush], [Sun Rush]. Using his rectilinear movement skill twice to get behind his enemy, Guandi retrieved his weapon. He moved into a defensive position just in time: the crocodile's tail was about to lash out at him. [Micro]. His leg muscles protested as Guandi jumped. The tail passed beneath him before slamming into a tree. The pine trunk burst into pieces, offering no resistance to the Vicomte. Guandi knew that a single blow like this meant death.
The Vicomte charged at him with supernatural speed, and the general used [Sun Rush] to hurry backward. Without moving at the speed of light, the skill allowed him to follow a ray of sunlight. When the air temperature was constant, this meant moving quickly in a straight line. Unfortunately, each use of his skill cost him around one-twentieth of his aether reserves.
The crocodile attacked again, and Guandi dodged, using Micro to fully exploit his body. It was dangerous, as his attributes were relatively inhomogeneous.
His Strength and Agility were over two hundred, but his Constitution could not exceed two hundred without triggering a third Tribulation. Therefore, each movement under Micro threatened to rupture his muscles or ligaments and break his bones.
Guandi couldn't do anything about it at the moment. He was ambitious but not crazy. Braving a double Tribulation would guarantee him a bright future. Perhaps, for his next Tribulation, he could even face a triple one before reaching Tier 1...
The Vicomte's next charge exploded eight trees of a respectable diameter. The difference in attributes between the two adversaries was ridiculous. The crocodile's physical attributes must have approached the five-hundred mark. I cant wait anymore.
As the crocodile advanced once more, Guandi closed his eyes. [Natural Focus], [Great Battle Flow], [Warrior Trance], [Mastery - Greatsword].
The world slowed down, and Guandi's useless thoughts disappeared. Micro was a terrifying Supremacy that allowed him to feel his body and command it finely. His body was a weapon, and Mastery turned that weapon into a nuclear bomb.
A crimson aura covered his blade. Guandi imagined it capable of slicing through the world.
Opening his eyes, the warrior detected a movement, and raised his sword. Blood spurted.
Without giving the crocodile time to understand, he took a step forward and lowered his weapon again. The crocodile stepped back too late to dodge completely. The greatsword sank into its snout like butter. The crocodile disappeared briefly before reappearing twenty meters away, snout bloody, tail shortened and short of one eye.
Guandi smiled as he confirmed the effect of [Mastery - Greatsword]. His Will was now superimposed on his blows, making them as sharp as his mind would allow. The reptile's constitution was not up to the task.
The two adversaries stared at each other for a second. The crocodile's able-bodied eye moved for a moment to look at the piece of tail he had lost, and Guandi took advantage of this. The alligator panicked as he saw his opponent approaching and opened his mouth. Hundreds of water pellets shot out, each projected at the speed of a bullet. The beads shattered a tree trunk before continuing toward the warrior.
Gaundi planted his sword in the ground and crouched behind it. [Bulwark]. A giant ghostly sword superimposed itself on his blade. Reinforced by Mastery, the skill stopped the Viscount's attack. A second later, Guandi straightened up and burst out laughing. The reptile was fleeing.
Time to hunt.
Priam and Anatole were seated about a kilometer away from the lion. The two men watched in fascination as the final bouquet was prepared. The underground rune was accumulating energy and seemed to follow some blueprint. The more energy it absorbed, the more complete and deadly it became. Sphinx slept peacefully in Priam's mass of hair. Her heritage, combined with her age, meant she had to sleep a lot.
Priam coughed and thanked Anatole when he handed him a handkerchief to wipe up his blood. Usually, coughing up blood wasn't good news, but Priam wasn't worried. He had created the situation himself by asking Sphinx to attack him physically. Not being a masochist, there was a reason behind this request. Priam intended to kill Safamu in one shot. If one of his Tribulations caused him to lose consciousness or made him vulnerable in any way, the lion had to die before.
So Priam had overloaded [Kinetic Control] again until one of his meridians had failed. Fortunately, his Vitality and a few drops borrowed from Spring were healing him.
"I feel like I've overeaten," he said.
Anatole shrugged. "I've calculated that you've racked up about a billion Joules. That's about one fifty-thousandth of Little Boy, the atomic bomb dropped on Hiroshima. Concentrated in a single piercing attack, I wouldn't put much stock in the lion's skin."
"That's two hundred and forty thousand calories. The equivalent of one hundred and eighty-four kilograms of cooked white rice. You bet I feel full!" said Priam.
"I don't know what amazes me more. That it's true, or that you thought to do the math..."
Priam smiled but didn't comment further. [Kinetic Control] wasn't exactly a secret, but he wasn't foolish enough to confirm Anatole's assumptions by answering his roundabout questions.
Priam had read enough books to know that bragging, even to a soon-to-be-dead man, could be dangerous.
"It's about to start.
"You're right. I could hardly dream of a more beautiful sight before I die."
Priam frowned for a few seconds before asking a question that was burning his tongue.
"You're a genius, Anatole. You could have helped humanity, especially in these difficult times. Instead, you decided to destroy it to save your family. Was it worth it?"
Anatole materialized an aether Rubik's Cube before answering.
"My daughter loved this kind of game. She was very clever. She was our pride and joy with Nora - my wife."
He turned to Priam. "You must have dreamed of your soul mate, right? Someone who understands you in an absolute way. Who supports you, motivates you, and pushes you to excel. Someone you'd love without limits and for whom you'd be ready to give everything, without it even being an effort for you..." Anatole's eyes gazed into the past. The melancholic smile on his face was for people who were already dead.
"I didn't believe in all-consuming love. I was resolutely rational. I thought that unconditional love could only be one-way. That love without limits was dangerous. Yet Nora was my soul mate."
Anatole looked at Priam with an intensity that shocked the young man. "For them, I'm capable of anything."
Priam swallowed. Dialoguing with a fanatic was impossible. He knew he'd kill him soon - and Anatoe knew it too - but he wanted to understand.
"Honestly, I hope to meet someone like that someday. But deep down... I also know this soulmate would hate it if I sacrificed billions of lives to save her."
Anatole remained silent for a few moments before turning to the oncoming Tribulation. Priam thought he wouldn't answer, but a soft voice surprised him.
"You're right. That's why I'm glad to die. I don't want my daughter to know what I did to buy her resurrection."
The sky turned red, and the earth began to tremble. Nature's wrath was gathering momentum before exploding. Priam asked one last question.
"Do you regret your actions?"
"Hahaha." Priam turned to Anatole, who was laughing. His heartfelt laugh almost made Priam forget the crimes he'd committed.
"Not in the least, Priam," he finally smiled. There wasn't a trace of cruelty in Anatole's eyes. Before his family, the rest of humanity was just worthless. "I wanted to resurrect my daughter, and I succeeded. Without my actions, without my crimes, the System wouldn't have asked you to kill me. By killing myself, I resurrect my daughter. The Concepts have kept their word."
Priam's eyes widened. "What?!"
The world exploded.
The cloudless sky allowed Safamu to see the Earth. His birthplace. He was born a simple lion, with no real intelligence. He snorted. No, he had been intelligent and conscious. But he knew now that his intellect had been limited.
The lion smiled, thinking wistfully of his former life. He had happy memories of that time but wouldn't have gone back for anything in the world. His ego sometimes made him sad, but it was his own.
He had been King of the Savannah, but now he was Safamu, the Earl. Today was just one step on the way to becoming King again.
The underground rune materialized. The Noble concentrated exclusively on it. His subjects, like the human armies, had retreated. To attack him now was to invite the Tribulation. The lion knew that if he survived, they would all return like hyenas sensing weakness. But for now, he was alone.
The Earl's eyes could detect aether. He saw the rune begin to turn slowly on itself. Its diameter had grown to almost two hundred meters, and its color was reminiscent of the flames of a forest fire. The rune sank into the ground, modifying the soil it passed through. Rock and dust turned to lava.
Under the Earl's paws, the moon began to tremble. The air came to a standstill, and Safamu took a final breath. More than two hundred meters deep, the giant rune stopped. Esoteric writings began to appear, their white color blinding the lion's aethereal perception momentarily. He blinked. Suddenly, the mental chains that had been holding him back gave way. At last, he was free to flee. But it was too late.
End of the Tribulation:
Curse of St.Helens
The world turned red. Then white. Then black.
Prometheus's hand trembled as he watched the volcano. Or rather, the volcanic explosion. He'd never seen an atomic blast, but it had to look like this.
Debris, magma and ash were projected on a vertical axis only. A column two hundred meters in diameter was the stage for absolute destruction. A pillar of black clouds soared skyward. Galloping faster than sound, the ash billows were occasionally overtaken by red, orange and white blazes. At the center of this spectacle, a blood moon seemed to have risen, mixing magma, explosion and rage. St. Helens glared down at her prisoner.
The bloody Moon and her pyroclastic blast remained confined, imprisoned. Without the System, few spectators would have survived. The line between life and St. Helens' wrath was clear.
Beyond this boundary, calm returned instantly. Apparently, the Tribulation was personal, and the System had no desire to destroy the Moon it had just created.
In short, anyone stupid enough to get within two hundred meters of the Earl would have been vaporized. But at two hundred and five meters, the person would have suffered only from the sound wave - which would have been enough to kill any pre-System human.
"Fascinating," he breathed. Only Guandi's grunt answered him. Now a Viscount, the general grumbled at the loss of his left arm.
Ignoring his subordinate, the King focused on the pillar of cinders and magma. One day, his Tribulations would look like this. The System would make him a god. And I'll make humanity a divine civilization.
The curtain of ash parted. A black, smoking mass advanced toward the woods. Prometheus smiled. It was time to become an Earl.
Status: (Average value for a Homo sapiens male before integration: PHY 10 / MEN 10 / META 0)
PHYSICAL:
Strength 159
Constitution 284
Agility 194
Vitality 298
Perception 299
MENTAL:
Vivacity 176
Dexterity 202
Memory 50
Willpower 295
Charisma 150
META:
Meta-affinity 148
Meta-focus 99
Meta-endurance 98
Meta-perception 51
Meta-chance 114
Potential: 1270
Tier 0
[He Who Eludes Death] charge: PRIMED.
[Tribulation]: Tribulations are coming.
Time: 3 hours 57 minutes 12 seconds.
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