Chapter 1538: Battle Against The Last Remaining Fragments
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A few months ago, Arthur would have never imagined he would be in such a situation, fighting against such powerful foes, no less... but now, things were different.
He wasn’t particularly skilled at using weapons either. He had never trained seriously, and his father wasn’t the warrior type, but thanks to his sister’s help, he had acquired various skills that enabled him to learn how to wield a weapon quickly.
And so, he gripped his glowing spear tightly, thrusting it upward and then downward, deftly parrying the blows of his foe. The dinosaur’s claws, attempting to crush him, were pushed back, fragments of stone and crystals within them falling to the ground.
"{Divine Spear Of Yin & Yang Arts}: {Heavenly Demonic Ascension}!"
His spear accumulated energy over time, Yin and Yang Ki swirling within its form until Maria’s brother unleashed it all in a single, piercing blow, combining golden light with black and red energies fused as one.
B O O O M !
The piercing blow released a shockwave of energy, rising like a pillar of powerful Ki. It tore a hole through the Original Nightmare Curse’s body, shattering two of its three heads and causing large cracks across its form, pieces falling apart.
"RAAAAHH!"
The creature roared furiously, using its remaining head to unleash a deadly breath of nightmare flames, blasting Arthur away and burning his body.
BOOOM!
"Agh!"
Arthur rolled across the ground as Alma rushed to him, using her Healing Magic to swiftly help him recover from his wounds. Meanwhile, Celes conjured giant hands made of Spiritual Water Essence.
"{Divine Water Spirit’s Palms}!"
The massive palms pushed the monstrous dinosaur back, crushing the fragment of the Original Nightmare Curse into the ground as much as possible.
"Arthur! Are you okay?" Alma asked, continuing to heal him.
"I’m fine...!" Arthur muttered, quickly standing up. "Thanks for healing me, Alma, but we cannot stop fighting. We have to finish off those things as quickly as possible!"
"Yeah...!" Alma nodded. "Emily, Sofia! Let’s go!"
"On it!" Emily roared, her gauntlets enlarging as she leaped into midair, punching the dinosaur and shattering its crystal jaws.
"{Thunderous Rampage}!"
A thunderous barrage of powerful lightning blows engulfed her foe, relentlessly striking everywhere and further breaking apart its body.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
"NNNGGHH...!"
The dinosaur groaned, resisting the blows as black miasma bled from its cracks, transforming them into thousands of tentacles.
"Don’t underestimate me!"
As it roared, the tentacles seized Emily, sapping her Dream Essence and flinging her around like a ragdoll. They slammed her into the ground, lifted her, and repeated the assault, her armor growing disfigured and breaking apart with each blow.
CRASH!
"YOU’RE NOTHING BUT AN INSECT!"
CRASH!
"YOU TRULY BELIEVE...!"
CRASH!
"YOU CAN DO ANYTHING TO ME?!"
CRASH!
"JUST BECAUSE THE MORE COMPETENT ONES CAN DO ANYTHING TO ME, IT DOESN’T MEAN THAT SOMEONE AS WORTHLESS AS YOU COULD EVER HARM ME!!!"
CRAAASH!
"Aaaaaggghh!"
Emily screamed in agony, feeling her bones breaking. Alma panicked, rushing toward her. With Celes’ help, she summoned several sea serpents again, coiling around the dinosaur and forcing it down.
BAAAM!
"Shit, Emily! You fucking bastard!"
Martina roared angrily, her hammer rapidly expanding to a gigantic size. As Alma and Celes held the dinosaur in place, she prepared to crush it—a perfect combo!
And yet...
Her hammer struck something else entirely. A giant golden palm intercepted her blow, revealing a giant made of gold and purple crystals.
The other Avatar of the Original Nightmare Curse had stepped forward, resembling an ancient terracotta soldier crafted from gold and purple metal, with glowing purple crystals across its body.
"Did you think you could easily overwhelm him together?! Don’t make me laugh, you worthless scum!"
The Avatar laughed, punching her hammer away with a powerful shockwave of white light. The hammer seemed destabilized, its dream essence being absorbed.
Martina fell to the ground, rolling across the hard, cracked pavement. The giant rushed toward her, raising its foot to crush her.
"Worthless scum...?"
Martina’s eyes widened as she faced the impending attack. Yet her hammer glowed brightly, growing even larger.
"After all the shit we’ve gone through... we’re still worthless scum to you?!"
Her hammer surged upward, clashing against the golden palm.
C L A A A S H !
"NGH?!"
The Original Nightmare Curse’s eyes widened, startled by the force of Martina’s attack... and yet, it smirked, pushing down harder, using its energies to destabilize and absorb her dream essence.
RUMBLE!
"You think you alone stand a chance?! You’re going to get crushed, the same as everyone else!"
"Nah, not me alone. I am never alone! Right, friend?!"
Her eyes glowed bright red as her Aura erupted. Suddenly, illusions of herself appeared, each wielding a giant hammer—her own Dream Weapon—rushing toward her foe.
"Illusions?! You think you can fool me with—"
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
"W-WHA...?!"
The Avatar of the Original Nightmare Curse was left speechless as each blow from these "illusions" felt real!
This was the mastered version of Illusion Magic, the power to solidify illusions and imbue them with a portion of her magic power.
This was Martina’s Awakening!
"I am not worthless, and I’ll never be alone ever again!"
As she screamed, Martina cried, her eyeliner staining her tears black. Her attacks bombarded her foe with countless blows, his golden armor beginning to shatter.
"Y-YOU DAMN...!"
The Avatar of the Original Nightmare Curse roared angrily as Martina held her ground alone! But not for long, as another figure emerged, striking the giant from behind with several piercing blows.
CLASH! CLASH! CLASH! CLASH!
"WHAT...?!"
The giant golden soldier crashed to the ground, glaring back to see Sofia floating in midair. Her powerful Dream Spirit had evolved once, granting her mechanical-like Valkyrie Armor of Hope.
This included the ability to fly using metallic wings and propulsors, which she combined with her Light and Metal Elemental Magic to fire powerful metallic projectiles from a distance at her foes.
"It is as she said! She’ll never be alone anymore!"
"Sofia!"
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