Unsealing Emptiness

But this was only the start, just when Podas was wondering why Ozul let himself get hit, his entire body felt a sense of fear.

It was as if his body was telling him that something terrible would happen if he did not do something about it.

However, Ozul did not give him a chance to think as the wisp of Ball of Purity hardened to form a thick needle that struck towards Podas.

The needle tore through his hardened skin as the pained scream followed right after.

The needle did not stop just after piercing the skin, but it ripped apart the skin and internal organs till it came out of the other side!

Blood spurted out of Leader Podas’s mouth as he looked at the gaping hole in the chest!

.....

His blood-shot eyes were threatening to come out of their socket as Podas furiously stared at Ozul while holding a hand over the wound.

He could not believe that he was outsmarted by a kid who did not even look a little over 20! How could he accept defeat against an opponent who also did not use Mana in the battle!?

Was he so weak as to easily be defeated by a random kid who did not even have Mana?

‘No!... I’m not weak!...’- Podas did not want to accept such an outcome after all his efforts for decades!

“Y-you!...M-monster!...”

Podas could not hold on any longer and fell on his knees. The needle had missed his heart, which gave him some hope to survive this ordeal. He just needed to stay alive till the ‘Anomaly’ behind had reached the state that he wanted it to be!

“*Hah!*... You are a disgrace to the... *hah...* absolute Darkness.”

Ozul also kept panting to catch his breath and wrap the Ball of Purity around the wound on his shoulder. There was no blood to stop, but he could not leave such a nasty injury around his shoulder unattended.

Moreover, he still felt pain, which was reduced when the small layer of Ball of Purity covered the wound and pressed it together.

However, Ozul also knew that it was not the time to tend to his injuries. Podas had not died, but he was also in no condition to stop him. And this was also what Ozul wanted right now.

It would only waste his time if he stayed to finish him because he felt as if the Monster would reach the End Stage any minute now.

Unfortunately, Ozul was too late. As if answering to his worries, the 8 meters tall ‘Abomination’ again gave out an ear-splitting cry, announcing its presence to the world!

But this was not all! Even in the dark of the night, people could see the dark clouds which started forming all around the sky.

The dark clouds also announced their presence by sounding out the thunderbolts that roamed in them. Crackling noises could be heard all around, and in the blink of an eye, things came to a standstill.

This time, even the Monster did not cry or yell. Only the wind generated by the clouds sounded out in the air.

Ozul looked in the sky as the clouds started to rotate above the 8 meters tall Monster, generating some kind of vortex!

He did not understand what was happening, but the amused chuckled near him indicated that someone knew.

“HAHAHA!!! The time has come! You will all bow down to me. Hahaha...!”

Podas still held a hand over his injury, but no matter the pain, he only laughed in delight. His weird behavior caused Ozul to be wary of the odd phenomena that occurred around the Monster.

‘What does he mean by the time has come?...’

Ozul did not have a good feeling about this. He looked on abruptly as the spiral of clouds started to thicken, and electric sparks began to form around it.

It was at this moment when he noticed that Podas seemingly forgot about the gaping hole on his chest and held an unusual stone that had runes etched on it.

He did not have the time to stop him when Podas injected Mana into the stone before the runes began to shine with a bright light.

Ozul was struck with a difficult choice. On the one hand, he had to deal with the phenomenon happening around the Monster, and on the other hand, he had to do something about Podas, who was obviously up to no good.

But he did not have time to think when both the Monster and the rune held by Podas began to shine with a blinding light.

Ozul had a bad premonition that this event would only worsen the situation for him. He moved to finish off Leader Podas before he could become a threat again.

However, before he could reach him, Leader Podas’s body started to float in the air! The Monster, on the other hand, gave out a loud cry when it felt something inside it.

The ‘Abomination’ wanted to move its body or get rid of the eerie feeling inside it, but no matter how much it resisted, nothing worked.

Ozul also could not do anything when in front of his eyes, Podas’s body started to rush towards the Monster!

Meanwhile, Podas started to laugh out loud, not caring about the stinging pain. Ozul steadied his breath and hurriedly ran after him, but he could not catch up with the speed that Podas flew with.

“HAHAHAHA!!!... Try, try all you want!... I will become a GOD!”

Ozul did not mind Podas’s taunts, but he was concerned at this moment. He could not understand what was going to happen when Podas reached the Monster, but it certainly wasn’t something that he would like!

In a matter of seconds, Podas flew right into the Monster. The latter tried its best to swat away this ‘fly’, but for some reason, it could not move its own body.

Ozul only watched with an expressionless face when Podas actually went inside the Monster! The Anomaly’s body just split apart and allowed the former to enter like it was his own home!

He could not see anything happening inside the Monster’s body, but Ozul noticed how the cloud’s vortex forming above the Monster started to disappear into thin air.

The Monster’s body suddenly stopped glowing, and it started to scream! The loud cry filled with extreme anguish filled the skies.

“What now...”- Ozul muttered, looking at the Monsters body, which started to shrink at a visible rate. Whatever changes happened to the Monster, it alerted Ozul it could be related to his leg, which was somehow still inside that Monster!

“SO MUCH POWER. I FEEL IT! YES... THIS IS IT. HAHAHA...!”

Ozul heard Leader Podas’s voice, which seemed to be filled with pure euphoria. It was at this moment when it all clicked in Ozul’s mind. His eyes widened with surprise;

‘Don’t tell me... he created this Monster just to absorb its power?!’-

But thinking up to this point, it all made sense. Why would Podas even create a Monster this powerful if they could not control it? However, this plan of his exceeded Ozul’s assumptions because merging with a power such as this was insanity. Absolute madness.

At this moment, only two loud voices were heard. One was the pain-filled screams of Monster, while the other was the delighted laughter of Podas. The Monster was being absorbed while it could not even resist. Hence, the reason for its shrieks filled with agony.

Still, Ozul could not even interfere in this process as he somehow knew that going near the Monster at this moment would only harm him.

However, just as Ozul had predicted, the process of one absorbing the other came to a stop only a few moments later.

The Monster’s size, which had slowly reduced to about 4 meters, again started to increase. It also stopped screaming. And the situation turned on Podas, who had long ago stopped laughing like a fool.

“URGHH... WHAT IS HAPPENING!? WHA-....”-

Ozul knew that something must’ve gone wrong with the whole process when he heard Podas’s screams.

He still did not understand why would Podas even try to absorb a being that had reached the peak of Rank-10? At this stage, the purity and the amount of Mana inside an individual was not something a Rank-8 or even a Rank-9 Mage could fathom.

‘Why is everyone, who I think to have some brains all turn out as idiots?...’

Ozul could not help but shake his head in disappointment. After that, he shook his head to wake himself up from these useless thoughts. His leg was on the line, and here he was thinking about how stupid someone was.

Unknown to Ozul, Podas was not so much of an idiot as he thought him to be. How could he know that Podas had perfectly planned everything?

However, Podas underestimated the power contained within those life-like symbols on Ozul’s leg! Even Ozul himself was unaware of it despite his profound ‘connection’ with darkness, how could Podas even begin to comprehend it?