The Demon Monarch System

Chapter 556: Astarat's War: Humans v. Terrors (IX)

Astarat's War: Humans v. Terrors (IX)

Solomon's expression remained unperturbed while Brukti's anger triggered a spontaneous reaction from the Death Essence within a kilometer radius. Although it grew quite active, Solomon's pressure interfered with the fluid movement of the energy. In fact, Solomon raised his hand and exerted an immense amount of pressure on the Death Essence in the area.

"Whether or not you become angry is meaningless to me. Far too many humans have been sacrificed for your horrendous cause," Solomon said as his expression finally showed a small change. The constant battles between humans and Terrors had truly taken a toll on Astarat's people.

Their freedom to perform small tasks was robbed from them, especially from those who lived close to the Catastrophe Line's borders. For example, small families like the Kaisers, who lost a considerable amount of family members to the frequent Terrors assaults, were just some of the few affected by the Terror's actions.

Despite the fused demeanor of both Solomon and Xezos, Solomon's strong emotions bled through the composed demeanor gained from Xezos. Fortunately, it wasn't overwhelming enough for Solomon to make an irrational move. As he possessed the upper hand, he understood there was little to no need for him to waste his precious Spiritual Essence.

Nevertheless, Brukti felt no concern over Solomon's opinion. He simply wanted to destroy the human before him that seemed to have grown beyond his caliber of strength. Thus, his immediate decision was to absorb all of the Death Essence nearby.

However, Brukti had never absorbed such a huge amount of Death Essence, and his body hadn't even finished digesting the surplus of Death Essence used to form the armor wrapped around his body.

Of course, Solomon was unaware of Brukti's potential limit. After all, the Disaster in the past showcased bizarre limits. Compared to how much Brukti had absorbed thus far, the Disaster in the past consumed at least ten times more.

"You shall not decide what I can and can't do! You are not the master of my actions," Brukti roared. He struggled against Solomon's pressure, increasing the force of his Death Command. As a result, the Death Essence stalled by Solomon's interference once again displayed signs of flowing towards Brukti.

After witnessing this scene, Solomon took a moment to contemplate his next decision. 'Should I just let him absorb this Death Essence? If he does so, then thin remainder won't be enough to increase his strength once again. The only issue is just how strong will become if I allow him to absorb that?'

While Solomon's current power far surpassed a normal Zul or Soul Saint, Solomon couldn't overlook the tremendous boost in power Brukti gained after absorbing the Death Essence from a thousand Rank 4 Terrors.

It was difficult to gauge if this subsequent absorption could potentially equal up to his current power. Thus, Solomon remained conflicted. Although he could request help from Soren, it wasn't ideal as his transformation was too brutal. Besides, risking both of them losing their combat ability was too severe of a consequence.

As he contemplated this decision, the ground surrounding Brukti caved in. It was impossible for the ground to withstand the monstrous forces of both sides battling against each other. However, Brukti continued to struggle while savagely glaring at Solomon.

Eventually, Xezos' voice sounded in Solomon's mind. "Let him advance with his actions. Even if he grows stronger, I'll share stronger techniques with you. However, you must understand that these techniques place a hefty burden upon you."

"How extreme?" Solomon asked, trying to weigh the advantages and disadvantages of taking the risk.

"It'll reduce the time limit to the standard number," Xezos admitted.

Upon hearing this, Solomon's expression grew solemn. The use of those stronger techniques would effectively reduce the technique's duration by half. Before he could make this decision, he needed to understand just how much stronger these techniques were in comparison.

"How much power can I draw out in comparison to the Constellation Press?"

"Approximately four times more. But, it can only be used in instant bursts, or you run the risk of causing an unstoppable internal combustion," Xezos answered.

"Fine, I'm willing to take the risk," Solomon said while lowering his palm. Like water rushing out of a broken dam, the Death Essence flooded towards Brukti which created a typhoon of deathly energy around his body.

The influx of strength elated Brukti, which soon brought the menacing grin back to his face. "Hahaha! That's right. You should know when to give in because I would have inevitably had my way with this power. Nothing is powerful enough to trounce the Death Command of Az'kayzak the Wicked Devourer!"

A few moments later, Brukti flew towards Solomon as his physiques continued to grow larger mid-flight. By the time he reached Solomon, Brukti's physique had swelled to over twenty meters tall. Just Brukti's fist was enough to dwarf Solomon's comparatively small body.

However, the size difference didn't affect Solomon. He remained rooted in the spot as a burst of starlight appeared around his fist for a split second. The moment the two fists collided, a large spatial crack formed, followed by Brutki's arm being blown apart by an infinite series of lacerations.

"Arcanic Practice: Starlight Wolf Fang," Solomon muttered. For an instant, his body lurched, but Solomon exhaled, regaining control of his body. It was just as Xezos described; anything more than a split second was too dangerous for his body. Even the instantaneous flash of increased power caused a bout of instability to wash over his body.

Fortunately, this state wasn't maintained by Solomon alone. Xezos's Arcanic Soul assisted Solomon in stabilizing the transformation. So a complete disruption could happen if Xezos could no longer keep this state together for Solomon or if his vessel was in tatters.

Brukti stared at his missing arm in shock before looking back towards Solomon's tiny figure. "What trickery are you using?! Why are you coming out superior in all of our exchanges despite my increase in power?! I don't understand!"

"That's the reason; you don't understand. You think raw power is all there is to combat? You're too inexperienced to be our true opponent. You will never amount to more than an overgrown bundle of useless power," Solomon answered indifferently.

The rage in Brukti's eyes deepened due to this comment. In his eyes, Solomon was criticizing the power given to him by Az'kayzak, an individual he worshipped as his idol. Needless to say, Brukti found this unacceptable. Therefore, he regenerated his arm instantly and released the same energy from earlier.

"You will not belittle the power of an esteemed member of our race," Brukti snarled. He clasped his hand together and smashed them towards Solomon's head. But, unlike the earlier strike, his hands emitted a dense collection of deathly energy.

Solomon could sense the difference in this attack as space around the deathly energy seemed to tremble in response. Usually, this response only appeared after their attacks collided.

'He's using a ridiculous amount of Death Essence now. This is good,' Solomon thought as a starry film appeared before his closed fist. The attack looked similar to his previous strike, but it was in fact different. The starry light enveloping Solomon's hand didn't appear as sharp.

"Arcanic Burst!" Solomon announced inwardly. His fist collided against the space right under Brukti's fist, creating an explosion of arcane energy. Although the explosion was sudden, Solomon kept the technique confined to a four-meter radius. But, the energy with that small distance was absurd.

The blunt blast radius flung both Solomon and Brukti backward as a humongous spatial rift fluctuated before them.

The other side released an unusual energy wave that exited the rift for a split second before returning along with the closure of the rift. However, this didn't escape Solomon's detection.

'Was that the world's source back there? Has this fight already grown to the level of requiring the world's intervention to maintain its stability?' Solomon wondered. The world's deterioration was a known topic amongst the War Academies and Supreme Family.

So, Solomon felt some worry for the aftermath of their battle. Sadly, it was unavoidable.

Unlike the prior strike, while the energy surrounding Brukti's hand was shattered, his arm wasn't blown apart. This surprised Solomon as the devastation of the Arcanic Burst was even stronger than the Starlight Wolf Fang.

Of course, Solomon understood that Brukti used a copious amount of that deathly energy. So, it was only fitting that it absorbed a considerable portion of the attack.

Be that as it may, Brukti didn't emerge unscathed. He staggered as he climbed to his feet.

Meanwhile, Xezos urged Solomon to remain motionless. It was already a horrendous struggle for him to subdue the violent burst of energy circulating throughout his body. Regrettably, Solomon made a grave underestimation.

Brukti's regeneration triumphed his own! By the time Brukti recovered from the attack, Solomon was still motionless. The only saving grace was the lack of emotion from Solomon's expression made it challenging to discern his internal state. At least, that would have been the case for a sane opponent.

Brukti smashed his hands into the earth carelessly, injecting the ground with an abundant stream of Death Essence. Geysers of deathly energy sprouted from the ground in an erratic path heading straight for Solomon!