Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 106: Not as planned

But things didn’t go as planned.

Just as his punch was about to make contact, a ghost came out of Varyn’s stomach, jagged fangs opened to bite him, and at the same time, his hand on the weapon began to sink through.

’What the...!!’

He stopped his punch with great difficulty, releasing the fire blast, and at the same time, he used an explosion at his feet to get away, yanking his hand from the weapon.

He glanced at his right hand after he created space between them. He couldn’t believe what he was seeing. The surface of his hand was covered in black essence that disappeared to show the frost beneath!

Quickly, he brought fire to his hand, but it was slow in burning out the frost. ’How’s this possible?’

"Surprised?" Varyn was resting on his scythe, smiling. "It’s not ordinary frost. It’s the cold of the underworld. It’s not something easily burned."

Vale narrowed his eyes. ’This is going to take time.’

Varyn continued speaking. "This weapon is my construct, and it’s called the Thousand Soul Scythe. It’s made from the souls and spirits of a thousand people, and their spirits are mine to command. You can’t kill me." He ended simply.

"Humans die," Vale reminded him. Unless you reached the rank of Master Knight, where you started gaining the traits of immortality.

Varyn scowled. "Not me!"

He bounded forward, his scythe held ahead, crossing the distance fast. He began a series of slashes, trying his best to cut Vale, but the two of them were just as fast as each other.

Varyn suddenly growled, created space between them, then stabbed down and tore the ground as if it were paper. A small glowing red tear appeared on the surface, and from there, numerous translucent hands reached out.

Ghostly spirits poured out, some spreading throughout the room, bringing the chill of the underworld with them, while others began to merge. Four-legged monsters resembling wolves formed, each as tall as Vale, and every step they took left frost in their wake, making the ground crack and groan.

Vale inhaled and then exhaled with fire, turning his surroundings hot, but the cold was unrelenting, bringing the temperature down at a dangerous rate. ’The cold of the underworld is stronger than the fire of the Infernal?’

"You seem surprised," Varyn said, his three wolves surrounding him, growling with eyes of cold. "The underworld is a place of bitter cold. It’s a place of eternal endlessness. The last cold and..."

"Dominion!" Vale shouted.

His body glowed, points of light gathering on his skin before exploding outward, rippling in a wave that blanketed the room in intense heat.

The cold receded, and heat took over, but only briefly, as it quickly guttered and disappeared.

"There was a reason why I was chosen to fight you," Varyn gestured. "Your fire or my cold."

Vale raised his right hand forward. "Infernal Ball!"

Fire gathered into a concentrated orb between his hands, compressing into a miniature glowing red sphere that he unleashed!

BOOOOM!

A massive beam of fire energy thrummed and then shot forward. The explosive blast slammed into Varyn and his ghosts, passed through them, and then struck the wall, turning it to ash. It continued forward, disintegrating everything in its path, leaving behind a scorched, barren, smoking line in its wake. 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝐰𝚎𝕓𝐧𝚘𝘃𝗲𝐥.𝐜𝚘𝕞

Varyn’s translucent figure flickered, and his wolves seemed unstable, but they were mostly unhurt. The cold surrounding them had vanished.

Varyn looked at the destruction Vale had caused and shivered, his translucent form shaking. "If I wasn’t like this, I’d already be dead. They didn’t tell me the level of your power!"

Vale smiled faintly. "I don’t know the level of my power either. Time to end this."

Then he spread out his hands and murmured a chant. Black binding lines appeared in his hand. Immediately, he changed formation and shouted, "Infernal Ball!"

Varyn flinched, but the miniature orb of red that gathered in Vale’s hand was suppressed by the dark binding light and vanished as if it had never existed.

At the same time, Varyn sent his wolves forward. They opened their jaws, fangs ready to bite, but Vale made a small fireball appear in his hand while he chanted. Just like before, black lines appeared around the fire, but this time, it swallowed them instead.

The wolves reached him as he flicked his fingers, and the fireball shot forward. It passed through the wolves without any effect.

The wolves bit down, but suddenly, there was no Vale there. They whirled in confusion, their translucent bodies overlapping as they searched.

At the same moment, the fireball that had passed through Varyn suddenly vanished and was replaced by Vale. The fireball reappeared where he had been, right by the wolves! He had switched places with his fireball!

Varyn whirled, his face filled with shock, but before he could say anything, Vale reached out with a hand filled with black lines and touched Varyn’s shoulder. The black lines extended and ran down his body, binding around him.

His form flickered and solidified. Several spirits flew from his body and dispersed. "What?"

Vale smiled, his green eyes shining with the intensity of his roaring fire. "Ah, sometimes I forget I have other types of power. It’s quite interesting, right?"

Varyn tried to lift his weapon, but it had been bound to the ground by the same black lines. The same lines Vale had placed on it earlier during the fight! His voice was hoarse. "What’s happening? What did you do?"

Vale smiled. "It’s my other power, Pactbinding! It’s not only for making contracts. You can also use it to bind and make pacts with things that are non-living. I just love my fire too much. Now then, shall we finish this?"

Pactbinding. It was made up of two essence types, pact and binding. By making a pact with his attack, he agreed to switch places with it. Then, with binding, he unbound Varyn’s body from the souls that had been making it translucent.

The wolves suddenly found themselves turned solid, their bodies composed of different human forms twisted into the shape of wolves.

BOOM!

They tried to run back to their master, but the Infernal Fireball that Vale had bound in place exploded, ripping through their bodies and sending chunks of flesh flying.

Vale’s hand tightened on Varyn. "We have so much to say."