The Villain's Apocalypse-Chapter 36: Trial Finale
Chapter 36: Trial Finale
In a distant land far away from the clutches of the never-ending war, a lonely tree stood, swaying silently atop a small mountain. The tree was nothing special; it was just normal-looking, with fresh green leaves and budding flowers everywhere.
However, a certain individual was lying atop the tree, eyeing the battlefield cautiously with his bright golden eyes.
He was a handsome young man with luscious golden hair and a charming smile, adorning a silver metallic armor around his body, that rattled silently with each movement.
In his right hand was a weird sword with glass blades on it and in his left was an orb, a glowing orb that pulsated lightly with mysterious energy from within.
Small beads of sweat trickled down his forehead as he focused on the battlefield, staring at the two key figures, whose sheer presence was overwhelming for a star-rank individual like himself.
"What a mess." He commented, witnessing their battle with a massive grin on his face. He was truly enjoying the sight before him–the blood-pumping battle between the divine and the devil as phrased by the original author himself.
The sheer amount of goosebumps he felt, watching the clash was too much to count on. His dopamine spikes were constantly reaching their limit, adrenaline pumping down his veins, shaking his hands from the intense thrill and excitement.
"There it is, the Astralis–a one-of-its-kind weapon made from the fragment of a cosmic treasure, " he muttered, licking his lips. The staff was releasing a serene natural aura around it, captivating everyone with its presence.
Truly overpowering...
"WOW–! What a beautiful creature." His eyes shone with amazement as they landed on Vashthorax, the blood serpent. Its crimson scales simmered under the bright sunlight, amplifying the bloody aura spiraling around its body. The beast was massive, outsizing even the tallest building back on Earth.
Suddenly, a magnificent golden light flashed through, catching him off-guard.
"Urghh...the light is too blinding–!" A soft groan escaped his lips, his eyes squinting under the intense light emitted from the golden sun. It was the helios cataclysm–the overpowered ball of flame floating above the sky, emitting intense heat waves everywhere. He’d only read through it in pages and heard of it from other’s mouths but, witnessing it up close, in real-time was a much more thrilling experience.
"How can a battle be such...such heaven-defying...uhh...I can’t even describe it with mere words."
His eyes remained glued on the battlefield with anticipation coursing through his veins.
The battle continued for a while with both sides engaging against each other, until, we finally reached the climax. The blood serpent, Vashthorax sacrificed itself in an attempt to swallow the sun and remained unsuccessful, earning the wrath of the sun and burning away into nothingness. The Vrahan’s morale decreased further and Uravis’s sneak attack finally broke the camel’s back, shattering their pride.
"The time has come." Cassian stood up, clenching the sword tightly within his sweaty palms. The thing that he was currently trying to achieve was extremely risky and if made a mistake, then he would surely fail the trial, basically losing the chance to obtain the fragmented cosmic treasure.
"Not to mention the potential cure for the Soulbound curse." He shook his head, removing those negative thoughts away from his head.
Inhaling deeply, he clenched the orb in his left hand tightly, attempting to crush it using brute force. His face turned red after applying great strength to his left hand and slowly fine cracks started to appear on the orb, spreading around the surface with each passing second.
crack
crack
The orb glowed brightly under the immense pressure and with a startling boom, it shattered itself like a piece of glass, vanishing into thin air. The air wrapped around him and massive mana surged from within the shattered orb, rushing toward Genesis and fusing itself with it.
As Genesis received the huge pool of mana, the crimson gem attached to its hilt started glowing faintly, turning brighter with the consistent supply of mana.
The orb was called a mana-fusion bomb–a powerful artifact capable of mass destruction. Its usage was banned around many kingdoms and even the Luminaire Empire had ceased its production due to its high danger value.
The one that he’d just used was taken out from the Empire’s treasury after receiving permission from the Emperor. He had requested it from his father and after giving a suitable excuse, he managed to successfully obtain it without much effort.
’Perks of being the crown prince of a fricking empire, hehe...’
The bomb had highly dense mana inside it, inserted carefully to avoid any direct exposure against the natural mana within the air. Its usage was quite simple and direct–you just had to expose the natural mana with the artificially crafted mana within it, causing a usual chemical reaction to occur. Once both of them are combined, the bomb would blast off killing everyone within a radius of thousand miles.
Oh, and the bomb holder would die too, with zero chance of survival until and unless, he had a powerful protection artifact of some sort. So, it was basically a suicide option with limited chances of survival. Thankfully, Cassian changed his plans immediately after acquiring the Genesis and observing its capabilities.
Since Genesis was currently cursed, it required a great deal of mana to simply use its ability even once. The bomb solved this requirement as Genesis didn’t require ’natural mana’ but just ’mana’, a source with sufficient energy within it to charge its attack.
In the end, Cassian decided to take the risk and detonated the bomb, hoping for Genesis to absorb its mana and charge itself. It was just a bet, a calculated one but still just a bet. If something had gone wrong then he would have either died and failed the trial or, exposed his location further complicating things.
He had carefully plotted everything and used the Zherath army as a shield to protect himself and enter their territory, just to complete this trial in a single scoop, removing any disturbances that could have potentially hindered his plan.
Yes, the mountain that he was currently on was within the Zherath territory and he was tasked to guard the mountain from any potential invasion.
"Well, It was nice witnessing the legendary battle with my own eyes and I gained a ton of knowledge and experience through it. Thanks for everything." He turned toward Uravis and took a small bow–a gesture of appreciation.
Lifting his head up, his eyes burned with resolve as he lifted Genesis high above in the air and slowly muttered,
Devouring Curse.
