Realm of Myths and Legends

-15,840

-99,000

In his rage, Ourami charged forward through both of Izroth's attacks and received them head-on.

Ourami was taken aback by the fact that Izroth could still move so freely under the restraining effects of his Epithet of Force; however, he was more annoyed at the trick Izroth used earlier.

Given Ourami's stage of power, his original perception was nothing to scoff at. But, it was due to that exact reason that the effect of Siren's Song on Ourami was so great.

Of course, it was just his perception, Ourami would not be so bothered. However, for some reason, his Epithet of Divination also seemed to suffer from whatever trick Izroth used!

"My Epithet of Divination is not responding...! How is this possible?!" Ourami thought to himself as he scowled.

What Ourami and even Izroth himself did not realize was that Ourami's Epithet of Divination was directly linked to perception.

Ourami's epithets were not like different from the titles of celestials. It was not something external or separate yet connected to their true self.

Because of his unique physique and cursed body, Ourami's epithets were one with him. Therefore, as long as his overall perception was affected, his Epithet of Divination would also suffer in the process!

"I've had enough of your tricks!" Ourami roared as the crack beneath his feet shattered with every step.

Swoosh!

In an instant, Ourami appeared in front of Izroth. This movement was similar to the one he used to knock Izroth out of the sky during their first encounter.

Right now, Ourami no longer cared if his condition worsened. Nor did he care about the bet. He wanted nothing more than to break all four of Izroth's limbs and keep him barely holding on to life by a straw!

As for the location of the portal and information about the other world, while it was true having Izroth's cooperation made things easier, it was not as though he had no way of extracting the truth.

"I still need him alive. But, one does not require limbs to breathe!" Ourami internalized.

Ourami opened his hand as the silver claw-like armor around it trembled. At the same time, he used his Epithet of Force on himself to accelerate the movement of his hand. This created an attack similar to the Sword Arts: Four Steps of Death that Izroth used against him. The attack and movement acted as one action. It was as if Ourami meant to mock Izroth by using his own skill to tear off his limbs!

〈Battle Alert: You have adjusted the effects of «Time Dilation».〉

〈Battle Alert: You will now perceive everything at [90%] of its original speed!〉

Seeing that Ourami rushed forward without any regard for defense, Izroth lowered the Time Dilation, causing everything around him to seem slower than usual.

However, even though it was just a 5% difference, Izroth immediately felt a heavy burden placed upon his body.

The burden was not so great that it obstructed his movements, but it almost called out as a warning to Izroth. From that, he understood that if he attempted to go any further than this with his current skill level of Time Dilation, he would step into dangerous territory.

'To think a 10% difference would cause this much strain on my body even with my present physique. If that's the case, if I were an average person, wouldn't it be difficult to even maintain 1% with such a low skill level?'

In terms of physique, Izroth was confident that even if he was not somehow at the top of the list among players in RML, he was definitely within the top ten. After all, thanks to his Heavenly Golden Body, B-ranked skills or lower were useless against him. This meant that one had to rely solely on A-ranked or higher skills just to even graze him. Or, at the very least, an attack equivalent to an A-ranked skill. Not to mention, his Might stat further enhanced this effect.

Nevertheless, even with so many layers of defense at his disposal, Izroth knew that he could not let himself be hit head-on by Ourami's attack. Otherwise, he would not know how he died.

'I could avoid this attack, but I would have to give up the opportunity I created. Though if it fails, then... No, such a thought is useless. After all, since when have I, Izroth, been afraid of taking a risk?'

Instead of employing his Enhanced Instantaneous Movement to escape from Ourami's head-on attack, Izroth lowered his blade to the earth.

....Oooooooom!

Right as Ourami's hand was mere centimeters away from his face, the world within the surrounding fifty meters turned black and white.

"This is...?!" Ourami's heart sank when he experienced the black and white world.

That's because, unlike most others who were unaware of Kyvernos' large-scale attack, Ourami's cursed body and epithets allowed him to see that chaotic place.

Therefore, when he witnessed a similar change in the world around him, Ourami instinctively hesitated. However, Ourami was unaware that this slight moment of hesitation would be what led to his ultimate downfall.

Not long ago, Izroth struck Ourami with his First Baneful Sword: Destruction. Then, almost instantly afterward, the pillar received his Second Baneful Sword: Kill head-on. Now...

'Third Baneful Sword: Annihilation.'

Earlier, in order to reduce the numbers of Ourami's army and even the playing field against other legendary realm powerhouses, he used his Third Baneful Sword: Annihilation.

Originally, with its cooldown time of 336 hours, Izroth should not have been able to activate the skill again for two weeks in-game time. At least, this would be the case if not for one of the skill's effects called Restless Intent.

Restless Intent made it so that whenever Izroth's third baneful sword eliminated a target, its cooldown was reduced by 5%. And, after killing hundreds upon hundreds of the ancient races under Ourami's command with the skill's Wave of Annihilation, the cooldown on Izroth's third baneful sword had reaped more than enough lives to fully reset!

Ourami's movements froze as he felt a portion of his strength leave his body. He wanted to act; however, there was an almost instinctual fear every time he remembered his earlier attempt at trying to forcibly break free of Kyvernos' influence.

The backlash at that time combined with just having faced two powerful figures was what reduced him to his present state.

But, it was not Ourami's own will that decided on this course of action. Instead, he was being impacted by the fear effect of Izroth's Third Baneful Sword: Annihilation!

Simultaneously, a huge flood of power poured into Izroth's body as he pilfered a part of Ourami's power due to the World of Annihilation effect of his third baneful sword. This caused his attack stat to soar from the mid-4,000s to almost 30,000 points!

'Oh? It's only this much? I guess even in his weakened state, the difference in our base strength is still too much.'

The amount of strength taken by World of Annihilation varied based on the target's strength. The stronger the target, the more challenging it became to absorb their strength.

Regardless, it still caused Izroth's current attack stat to more than quadruple!

As Izroth's power surged, the Wave of Annihilation from his third baneful sword engulfed the surroundings.

〈Battle Alert: Due to the target «Pillar of the West, Ourami»'s HP value, the effect «Great Annihilation» has been activated»!〉

Ooooooom!

If it were most other individuals, they would have been instantly killed from the effects of the third baneful sword's Great Annihilation. However, since Ourami was considered a boss rank opponent by the system, the Great Annihilation effect sent out a second Wave of Annihilation. Though it could not really be seen as a mercy.

-746,300

«Critical Hit»

-1,492,600

The first Wave of Annihilation that crashed into Ourami already dealt a massive amount of damage—even more than Izroth's Ruthless Slaughterer: Unbridled Kill Count!

But, because of the critical strike of the second Wave of Annihilation, it was almost as if the pillar was hit by a total of three Wave of Annihilations instead of two!

"AH!" Ourami cried out as he broke free of the crowd control restrictions placed upon him by the third baneful sword and shook off the fear effects.

However, even without his Epithet of Divination, Ourami was overcome with a foreboding sense of danger. Every fiber of his being told him to retreat. But, the more this feeling set in the angrier the pillar became.

How could his pride allow him to retreat against someone he ridiculed and called an insect? If he retreated, wouldn't that make him less than an insect?! What pride would he have left to show his face as a pillar?!

"DIE!!!!" Ourami unleashed an earth-shaking battle cry as his power exploded and he pushed his hand forward the last few centimeters to tear off Izroth's head! This time, Ourami no longer cared whether or not Izroth lived!

But, just before the pillar could grab hold of Izroth's face, the black and white world transformed into one of pure white.

Everything in existence seemed to have disappeared around Ourami. Even Izroth, who was right in front of him, could no longer be seen.

The next moment, the pure white world abruptly turned into a black abyss. In this abyss, not a single speck of light could be seen and no life was present. It was to that point that Ourami, who was trapped in this black abyss, was incapable of even feeling his own life.

Meanwhile, Izroth received a stream of alerts from the system as in his eyes that existed outside of that pure white world and black abyss, Ourami's body was turning to ash—as if his very existence was being erased.

〈Battle Alert: You have successfully used the skills «First Baneful Sword: Destruction», «Second Baneful Sword: Kill», and «Third Baneful Sword: Annihilation» in the correct sequence!〉

〈Battle Alert: You have activated the hidden effect for the skill «Third Baneful Sword: Annihilation»!〉

〈Battle Alert: The effect «Origin of Obliteration» has been triggered!〉