Chapter 659: Time Domain Vs Gravity Domain
The two attacks split the world into a blinding collision of crimson and gold. Sanguine Devastation, a spear of condensed divine blood, howled towards its mark with enough force to split the heavens.
A torrent of radiant power detonated from the female Arbiter’s outstretched palm. A smaller version of the smite from earlier slammed into her partner’s chest, smashing him violently to the ground.
The blood beam roared past, grazing the tips of his robes before vanishing into the stratosphere, where it exploded in a distant crimson starburst that turned night into day.
Whooom!
The plaza shook, the ground shook under the shockwave as the sky became pure red.
"Ein..." The taller Arbiter’s voice shook with a slight weakness before his body trembled with restrained fury as he climbed to his feet, golden cracks running across his once-pristine form. "What do you think you’re doing?"
"What I must."
Her answer was cold, carrying a trace of emotion for the first time, as if she was annoyed. "If you’re going to stumble around like a fool and lose to this insect, then I should have come alone."
Her harsh words froze the air.
Even Serena and Lumina glanced at each other in disbelief.
’Are they going to fight each other?’
The taller Arbiter bit together and growled. For the first time, his flawless expression twisted into something ugly and almost human.
Golden veins pulsed across his body, bulging and spreading like rivers of molten sunlight beneath his marble-like skin. The heavens themselves seemed to roar as his divine aura exploded outward, a radiant inferno that scorched the atmosphere and shook the foundations of the world.
"Shut up!" He snapped at her. "I’ll show you just how serious I am!"
And then he vanished.
The ground beneath Asmodeus’s feet shattered as the Arbiter reappeared in front of him, fist already burying itself into his gut. The impact folded his body inward and hurled him backwards, but before he could hit the ground, he twisted midair and slammed an elbow into the Arbiter’s jaw, sending cracks across its flawless surface.
They clashed like beasts, blow for blow, strike for strike. It was no longer predator and prey but two titans at the pinnacle of power, tearing at the seams of reality. Every impact carved shockwaves into the landscape. Every dodge shattered the sound barrier.
"HAH!"
"Nnngh!"
BAM! Asmodeus’s head whipped sideways from a brutal uppercut, black blood spraying from his mouth. CRACK! His knee rammed into the Arbiter’s ribs, bending the divine shell inward. BOOM! An overhead kick smashed through the radiant barrier, slamming the celestial down into the earth.
All the while, something interfered with the space around them.
The female Arbiter extended her hand, fingers spread. The air above the battlefield warped and twisted as if crushing the world itself into a singular point. Gravity bent, forming a spiralling well that dragged everything toward its core.
"Perish. Demon."
But the golden eyes of Asmodeus shone brighter, the world inside his time domain slowing further as if to resist her power of gravity. Reality stuttered and faltered, resisting the pull as his will reshaped the flow of time itself. Sparks of distorted energy flickered and drained the land of mana where the two forces clashed.
Time against Gravity.
Inevitability against inevitability.
"Even now you struggle..." the female Arbiter spoke with a rather bright voice, while her voice trembled slightly with a strange emotion, and it wasn’t fear or anger... "But those efforts are futile!"
"Struggle?" Asmodeus spat blood after hitting the Arbiter and grinned, his fangs glinting pure white as his black halo burst with energy. "No... this is fun, a nice warm up!"
’Damn her magic is making me slower. I can barely keep up with them when using this strange new power at full force.’
Asmodeus knew he couldn’t win right now and instead was trying to buy time until they returned to where they came from.
Woosh!
With the flap of his new wings, Asmodeus took to the sky.
He couldn’t keep fighting here with his wives and children; the city looked a mess, and they both drained the mana-enriched ground dry because of their high level of consumption.
"Get back here! The male Arbiter followed, while the female scowled at the two women, half kneeling from the immense pressure of the two Arbiter’s.
She reached out, and a huge black sphere enveloped Asmodeus and the tall Arbiter.
The ground beneath their feet ceased to exist. There was no plaza anymore, no empire, no citadel, just broken space and molten stone after the female created a larger domain to contain them.
Boom!
Their fists collided in midair, the impact birthing a shockwave that shattered distant mountains. Asmodeus twisted his body mid-spin, catching the Arbiter’s next strike on his forearm before driving a vicious kick into the celestial’s ribs. The blow hurled the towering judge through the air, but he recovered instantly, golden sigils flashing beneath his feet as he reappeared behind Asmodeus in a burst of radiant light.
"Slow."
A hammer of divine force slammed into Asmodeus’s back, forcing him to one knee. He roared and countered with a brutal uppercut that split the Arbiter’s lip and sent a spray of golden ichor into the air. The liquid burned holes in reality where it landed, hissing as if the world itself rejected it.
Or maybe the energy inside was just too powerful.
They traded blows faster than sound could keep up, disappearing, reappearing, colliding in streaks of light and shadow that scarred the land.
Each time Asmodeus landed a hit, the Arbiter’s perfect form fractured further, hairline cracks webbing across his radiant frame. But each time the Arbiter struck back, Asmodeus felt the weight of using his current powers pressing down on his bones.
A palm strike shattered his jaw.
A blast of concentrated divine aura tore through his side.
A knee to the chest sent blood splattering from his lips.
"Haa...Haa....Haa.... Damn it."
His breathing became faster and more erratic. The weight of battling this creature gnawed at his body, eating away at his stamina like fire through dry parchment. His vision blurred, and the time field around him began to fluctuate and lose intensity.
’Tsk...! My domain’s collapsing. Her gravity is too strong. It’s exhausting to keep resisting it.’
He staggered back, narrowly dodging a golden spear that exploded where he’d been standing a heartbeat earlier. The Arbiter followed, panting and movements a fraction slower, his wounds refusing to heal as quickly as before.
"Running out of steam, are we?" Asmodeus wheezed, grinning through bloodied teeth. "I thought the gods made you perfect."
The celestial glared in silence.
"Tell me," Asmodeus continued, straightening and wiping blood from his chin. "What’s it like? Knowing a mistake like me has you on the ropes?"
"Be silent!"
"Touched a nerve?" Asmodeus chuckled and stepped forward. "You’re slowing down. Your little divine battery’s burning out. How much longer before you crawl back to your masters?"
The female Arbiter’s eyes snapped toward him, gravity rippling outward in a violent pulse that warped the air and bent the light itself. The pressure crushed the air like a tin can around him, splitting the air and making it hard to breathe.
’Perfect...’
’There it is... the pattern. It’s not constant — it’s rhythmic. Every surge is preceded by a dip. If I can time my domain with that lull... I can move through it.’
Asmodeus spread his arms slightly, taking another deliberate step forward into the maelstrom of gravity. The weight hammered against him, bones creaking, flesh tearing, but he kept going.
"Come on then," he taunted, lips curling into a feral smile.
The Female’s glare sharpened.
She lifted both arms towards him and showed a slight grimace. The pull doubled, tripled. The air screamed under the pressure, but Asmodeus didn’t stop. He dragged himself forward, step by step, his aura blazing brighter with every inch.
’Yes... that’s it. I see you now...’
Asmodeus hadn’t faced people with abnormal elements before. The gravity used by the female Arbiter confused him at first. It might even be the case that her using it on him spurred him to awaken this time domain instead of something he was used to.
He spat blood onto the broken ground and laughed again.
"Thanks for the lesson, woman." He roared at the beautiful woman, his voice booming over the battlefield. "You were a brilliant teacher."
And with that, he vanished in a blur, despite the gravity and charged like a raging bull once again.
The air screamed as Asmodeus tore through it, his form bending the very laws of motion with each step. The female Arbiter’s eyes widened. "How?" He slipped between the momentary gap of her gravity, weaving his body like a butterfly between blades.
"Impossible! How can a mortal ignore gravity!?"
The boom of impact drowned out her words.
Asmodeus’s fist smashed into the male Arbiter’s jaw with enough force to send shockwaves ripping through the battlefield, the blow driving the celestial backwards like a comet.
He appeared behind him before the body could even fall, driving a savage kick into his spine that sent him hurtling higher into the void.
"Now let’s try this again."
Asmodeus raised his bloody hand toward the heavens, divine light swirling at his fingertips. "Let’s end round one." The male Arbiter floated without consciousness as the divine aura gathered rapidly into a bloody sphere of death.
’I’ve done it.’
He kept focus on the female, but this time she didn’t intervene. Instead, her wide eyes just watched him with a bizarre expression.
"DIE!"