Thud!
James' eyes widened to the limit.
His Excellency… Vane's head had fallen, with not even the slightest of resistance.
A part of the air vibrated slightly like the masked man was grinning ear to ear.
James immediately tried to rush to the grinning air, but a sudden feeling, his instinct told him, not to, but to check on Vane first.
He looked up, his pupils dilated instantly.
The lifeless head of Vane, which had just fallen on the floor, Flew back, sewing itself back to the lean body perfectly, like it was not just decapitated ruthlessly..
Vane also noticed the wobbly air instantly after opening his, after all, this was his plan all along— to catch the masked man off guard. Thousands of black chains rushed towards him from all directions.
Then—
AHhhhh!
A frail scream filled with horror, the scream of the masked man rang throughout the house, inside the black veil.
He manifested back, his body appearing just for a second, disappearing right back.
It was enough to see—
His arm had been destroyed, completely erased from existence, so that no matter how much he tries, he cannot regenerate it.
If he hadn't retreated with his maximum speed, it would have a certain death.
'He can probably make an area completely silent, consuming all sound in the area, and then his Marukami release being turned into sound, sensing him is theoretically impossible, as his aether to his aether core everything turns to sound and no one can see or hear sound, besides him.'
'In simple words, he's completely invisible and as fast as sound. The only way to take him down is through traps. My ability is not suited to fight against these speed types… but my Imperium cage cuts the connection of the physical body and the soul,' thought Vane solemnly.
This means that as long as someone cannot attack Vane's soul directly or he runs out of Aether, Vane is effectively physically immortal.
Suddenly, His eyes widened slightly.
Vane saw him, James—
James' bones surged and expanded, twisting unnaturally all over his body—from the bones of his feet to his skull, tearing through his flesh, causing immense pain.
His forearms thickened, the skeletal structure reinforcing itself like gauntlets of raw ivory.
Ribs stretched outward, curving and interlocking until they formed a natural breastplate, encasing his torso in an eerie, armour-like exoskeleton.
His spine jutted out, elongating into jagged ridges, while his shoulders and limbs were sheathed in layers of hardened bones.
All the white bones were stained red from the blood, giving the white bones a deep red hue, pieces of flesh still sticking to some parts, trying to resist being torn.
His teeth, covered with crimson blood, now fully exposed to the edges, revealed an excited, fierce grin as if enjoying the pain.
The Imperium cage and the celestial circle are both simply the full release of one's ability and aether, which, even by most talented individuals, can't be used more than once or twice.
It is everything that a person has to offer as a fighter. Most Numinas whose ability revolves around magical abilities use the Imperium cage, and the physical fighters use Celestrial Circle.
Both have the same meaning but are very different in action. most times, Celestial circle users try to end things as fast as possible with their overwhelming strength, while Imperium cage users want to extend it to the limit, to have the time for strategizing and traps.
Whoosh!
James immediately moved, appearing right beside the now destroyed shoe rack, punching the air with his full strength.
It was so unexpected for the masked man, who prided himself as invisible, that he was directly hit with the full force of James.
The air whobbled slightly, swirling and then disappearing again.
This was enough for Vane to notice.
Hundreds of Black chains moved instantly, led by the white chain of life, which was there to heal James if anything happened to him. James was the best bet for now, to win without any significant cost.
"HOW CAN YOU SEE ME?!!" The air yelled, its tone seven parts angry and three parts confused, a question aimed towards James.
"Do you know how bats see even without eyes?" James said simply, his lips moving clearly, but still no sound came, but it was clear to James that the masked man heard it.
'It's not exactly like bats, it's just that my physical senses are so enhanced because of my celestial circle, that I can easily see the huge waves that guy forms, every time he moves, Air or sound move much more rhythmically, not naturally. But why tell him that? Speaking only makes him stronger.' James thought silently.
It was clear to both James and Vane that the masked man wasn't simply 'canceling' the sound waves, he was absorbing them, and those extremely destructive explosions? They were just large amounts of sound waves, tightly compressed, moving very fast.
"Whatever, you're still just an ant!" The masked man's still invisible figure declared loudly towards the frightening seven-foot-tall skeleton armour chasing him, surrounded by hundreds of black chains, following James like a herd of sheep following their master.
Unfortunately for James, what the masked man said was the truth. He was still just a squire lowest of the Numina, just one step above an average human.
It's like a puppy chasing a lion, even if the puppy could smell the lion better, the Lion will still tear it to shreds.
The only reason the masked man was running was those black chains, like the puppy has the support of hundreds of tigers.
Suddenly—
Boom!
An extremely powerful explosion.
It was aimed at James' back, but unfortunately for the masked man, it was instantly absorbed by the black chains chasing James.
"Tchh!" the Masked man groaned in frustration.
'It's not like he didn't know that the chains can absorb aether. He isn't that stupid either. He's getting desperate?' thought Vane, amused.
"If you surrender now, I will only arrest you. You will at least live, you can't run away because of the veil, you can't win as well, just accept the defeat." Vane spoke sternly. If he were willing to accept arrest, the church could read his mind and learn why he is attacking Leor's family in the first place.
Vane didn't have the confidence to catch him alive, as the cultists are very good at killing themselves to avoid capture.
"Hahahahah!" A manical, loud laughter rang through the silent house, making Vane narrow his eyes.
"The Arrogance of this little shit!!" The masked man laughed coldly, like he had just heard the funniest joke.
"Facts are not arrogance, they're just facts…" Vane replied in an eerily calm voice.
He did not like one bit, being belittled by a man wearing a chicken mask.
"Ahahahah I see I see, Let's see who's right!" His deep voice, filled with unnatural confidence, rang again.
'Where does this confidence come from? And you call me arrogant?' Vane's mouth twitched, thinking flabbergasted.
Suddenly, Vane frowned deeply, his face turning ugly. He instantly moved his hand in a retreat gesture. Signaling James to get beside him..
James immediately retreated, now both standing side by side, just in front of the ruins of James's room door.
The world seemed to shudder.
A deep, guttural hum vibrated through the air, not a sound but a sensation—a sensation which rattled their bones, twisted their nerves. Even though Vane was currently unable to die, he felt the unfamiliar fear—the fear of death.
Vane immediately rapped huge amount of black chains around James and himself, but he knew these were not even close to enough.
They both could feel the weight and their certain death.
Their instincts screamed at them to run as far as possible, but they knew that wouldn't save them either. Where can they run? Every bit of air in seven to eight kilometers is reverberating.
The air wrapped, cracking like glass when hammered. Every molecule, every atom, every particle inside that veil trembled furiously, like they also just sensed their deaths.
The air all around the living room was bending and moving so fast that there was no way James could locate the masked man; no, he could locate him, but it meant everything in eight kilometers was the masked man.
Vane's frown deepened, even after covering him and James entirely with Aether-consuming midnight black chains, still desperately searched for the masked man, as he knew their only way to survive was to stop this power before it was released.
"Feel the power. The terror of Achilles!" The voice seemed to come from all directions at once, like thousands of people were standing, surrounding them and speaking the same thing at the same time.
Both Vane and James pupils widened, their pupils dilating. They recognised "Achilles," But this was no time for that.
Vane instantly forced himself to calm down.
'There's only one way: kill him. It doesn't matter if I die after that. At least he will be gone.' '
He had made up his mind.
His eyes started bleeding, his heartbeat slowing to a dangerous level. Warm Blood seeped out from his nose and mouth, tainting his white skin with a constant red flow.
His aura became fierce, almost crushing to both the masked man and James.
Vane felt like he was falling from the sky at an immense speed.
James turned his gaze towards Vane, His palms sweating. It was as if he was standing beside a thousands of meters big mountain. He felt like an ant in front of that mountain.
Vane's voice turned into a murmur, a dangerous raving—
"Aegis—
This time his voice was clear, not being silenced by the masked man all of a sudden.
Then—
Bang!
Vane's words were cut off abruptly, a bullet hitting invisible vibrating air—
But…
Blood pooled out from the empty air.
"Guess you don't have to die today." Leor's voice rang, cold, yet so soothing to Vane.
A.N.= The contract got rejected :( 'This book doesn't suit the market', Anyways who gaf, I will make one which suits the market, I am not dropping this book since I see so much potential in the story, but as one can expect the update rate will be lowered, 4/chap per week, I am also publishing this book to other platforms too, to reach more readers.
And also, thank you Kin0 for boosting my confidence.