Supreme Paragon Reborn: Humanity's Rise To Galactic Supremacy-Chapter 350: Devil’s In The Details

A powerful shockwave echoed between the two towering figures upon collision, shattering the windows of nearby buildings.

Unwilling to risk a reckless attack, Michael repositioned, his feet sliding across the falling debris of a skyscraper as Nemesis gave hot pursuit.

"I don’t get it!" The man roared.

"Why did you refuse my offer?! Had you joined my faction, we would have been unstoppable! Me as the leader, and you as second-in-command!"

Grabbing a massive chunk of debris, Nemesis hurled it toward Michael.

"No one! Across the whole world, not a single person had ever received such an offer, and yet you had to go and refuse it!"

With a slash of Devil, Michael cleanly cut the projectile in two.

"Do you still not get it?"

Michael mused out loud.

"If people like you, who seek power only for themselves, who hinder the progress of those below them, continue to rise to the top, humanity can only suffer."

Shattering buildings all around, the two clashed in the midst of the ruined city.

Nemesis laughed. "Such a pretentious moron... A fool like you doesn’t deserve even a shred of power!"

The shadows around them darkened, taking the shape of swords. They moved as if they had their own will. They cut through solid metal in their path, heading straight for Michael.

Due to their sheer number, evading all of them was nearly impossible. Numerous cuts marred Michael’s body.

Insidiously, he came to realize that Nemesis’ shadows didn’t just inflict physical damage. His mind clouded slightly, his soul stirred.

Nemesis smirked. Once touched by his shadows, an opponent’s body would begin to deteriorate.

Unfortunately for the Absolute Lord, there was no way to know that Michael possessed the Archwarlock technique. Each wound inflicted... whether to body, mind, or soul, only made him stronger and more ruthless.

"How?!" Nemesis clenched his teeth, stunned as Michael grew faster and more powerful.

With a roar, the Absolute Lord unleashed his aura. An explosive shockwave blasted the surrounding debris, sending it hurtling in all directions.

The overwhelming pressure made it clear that Michael was utterly outclassed. The gap between a Radiant and an Absolute Lord was immense, seemingly beyond even his control.

However, rather than panic, his mind raced with possibilities.

After becoming a Lord, his Mind had reached one million points. The attribute that most non-fighters didn’t fully understand the purpose of, nor how incredibly advantageous it was in practice.

A fraction of a second later, Michael arrived at a solid plan of action. Among his abilities, two had yet to be fully leveled, left lingering at a certain threshold for one reason or another: Dash and Blink.

But now the stagnation seemed to have lifted from his consciousness.

Reducing Nemesis from an opponent to a sparring partner for advancing his techniques, Michael focused on advancing the use of the two abilities.

"You slippery bastard!" Nemesis began to sense that something was amiss.

His attacks connected, yet each one only seemed to make Michael stronger. Even worse, Michael’s soul weapon carried such a threatening edge that it managed to inflict several wounds on the Absolute Lord.

The spectacle the drones were broadcasting was mind-blowing. To most of the population, the fight looked like two lights hurling attacks beyond mortal comprehension.

Of course, while the battle between the faction leaders stole the spotlight, it didn’t mean the rest of their members were idle.

Since their leaders didn’t want to be interrupted, the troops clashed with each other directly. Although the Bottomless Void held superior numbers, their tactics fell short against the planning of the Indomitable Alliance.

Gradually, the ruined city was being obliterated to dust.

Eventually Michael came to a pause. Every visible part of him was drenched in his own blood.

"Is that all you’ve got?!" Nemesis taunted, taking advantage of the rare opportunity to strike with everything he had.

Ignoring him, Michael glanced at the system window before his vision.

[Dash has evolved!]

[Dash → Lightning Surge]

[Technique: Lightning Surge]

[Rank: Epic]

[Description: Increases your agility by 2,000% for 1 second. While active, your body partially transforms into lightning, allowing you to pass through enemies and ignore collision. Has a 30-second cooldown.]

[Blink has evolved!]

[Blink → Riftstep]

[Technique: Riftstep]

[Rank: Legendary]

[Description: You can teleport to any location within a 20-meter radius, even through solid matter, without requiring line of sight. Has a 1-minute cooldown.]

"At last..." Michael heaved a sigh. None of his techniques were able to level up anymore, meaning he had already reached their supposed limit.

Naturally, that didn’t mean he couldn’t improve them further by directly evolving them, but the process was going to be far more grueling from now on.

Currently, he had to focus on synergizing them together.

"Perish!" Nemesis’ mouth watered in anticipation of his victory. So many projectiles had been hurled toward Michael that surviving seemed utterly impossible.

The breath of the Absolute Lord hitched a second later. Utilizing Riftstep, Michael teleported away from the projectiles, appearing high overhead to Nemesis.

"You—"

Nemesis began to respond, but before he could, golden lightning surged across Michael’s body as he used Lightning Surge for the first time.

Although its use lasted only a brief moment, it seemed to stretch into infinity from Nemesis’ perspective.

Michael was considered fast for a Lord, which was why, by abruptly increasing his agility twentyfold, his swiftness skyrocketed to the point of rivaling, if not surpassing, a King’s.

Everyone held their breath as Michael appeared right next to Nemesis, slashing with Devil at full force, carrying tremendous inertia behind his strike.

BOOM!

A clean hit.

Giving in to the pressure, Nemesis was hurled downward like a ragdoll. Colliding with the ground, he broke through it, finding himself in an underground garage.

Ugh!

Barely clinging to consciousness, a large gash opened on his head. He saw Michael following his trail, appearing right beyond the smoke.

Yet rather than despair, Nemesis smiled menacingly.

"It’s over!" Nemesis proclaimed, with bloodied teeth. "I admit, you took me by surprise, but you failed to finish me! Now that I know about these two techniques, you will never catch me off guard again! This is my victory!"

In response, Michael tilted his head, smiling with amusement.

Abruptly, changing the battlefield, both of them now obscured by thick smoke. Meant the drones broadcasting the live stream would need a few moments to arrive, creating a blind spot.

"Fool." Michael said in a cold tone.

"War isn’t fair, and neither is this fight. Your ego blinded you from the start."

Nemesis narrowed his eyes.

"Stop bluffing—"

The Absolute Lord halted mid-sentence. A monstrous claw flanked him unexpectedly, protruding from his chest and tearing his still-beating heart out of his ribcage right before his stunned pupils.

Capitalizing on the minimal chance of being seen, Devil assumed his physical form after Michael had secretly hurled him behind Nemesis’ line of sight.

Seeing that their plan had succeeded, a menacing smile spread across Devil’s face.

"W—What is the m—meaning of this?" Nemesis’ voice grew shaky as he coughed up a mouthful of blood.

Could he have been outmaneuvered by Michael’s teammate? It shouldn’t have been possible. Even his sense of an Absolute Lord failed to detect any presence behind him!

Nearing him, Michael took the heart from Devil’s claw, allowing him to return to his soul before the drones could spot his figure.

As if on cue, a few seconds later, the drones appeared beyond the smoke. From the spectators’ point of view, Michael had emerged victorious, having ripped out the heart of an Absolute Lord straight from the chest!

"I did warn you that you would come to regret threatening my family, didn’t I?" Michael whispered mockingly, crushing the heart before Nemesis’ eyes, sealing his victory.

"Don’t fool yourself... This is only the beginning of your suffering."