NOVPUB
Chapter 394: 394
Far away, in another city, Vellok paced restlessly. His agitation was palpable as he muttered to himself, "The seal... Were those gods targeting the seal?"
"But there’s been no sign of it being touched or weakened," he continued, frowning. "So her claim about the ratmen’s worship shouldn’t be possible."
Vellok’s frustration grew until his eyes glowed with a golden light. He cast his gaze toward the empire, seeking the emperor. The emperor, sensing Vellok’s scrutiny, raised a hand and revealed the seal.
At first glance, the seal appeared intact, but upon closer inspection, a faint crack was visible. The golden light in Vellok’s eyes dimmed as he stumbled backward in shock.
"No wonder," he whispered. "Even a crack was enough to provoke the world’s response."
Back on the battlefield, Gurnak and Vorenza stood locked in a tense standoff. The Demon Queen, skilled at reading the hearts and minds of others, seemed to know exactly what Gurnak was about to do.
Gurnak no longer carried himself with any sense of grandeur. His plans to use the mage tower against the demon invasion had taken an unexpected turn, complicated by Vorenza’s growing curiosity. He clenched his fists, his thoughts resolute. "The tower can’t stay here any longer."
A phantom chain materialized in Gurnak’s hands. Their eyes clashed like duelists preparing for battle. Vorenza reached out toward the portal from a distance, summoning a massive, clawed hand that lunged to seize the tower.
Gurnak tightened his grip, and the sound of shattering glass echoed across the battlefield as he severed his connection to the tower. Simultaneously, a portal opened beneath the structure, preparing to swallow it whole.
Vorenza’s roar of rage shook the air. "That is mine!"
Gurnak shook his head firmly. "No, it’s not."
The scaled claw latched onto the tower, gripping it tightly and pulling with immense force to drag it out of the portal.
The hand strained, its muscles bulging as it fought against the tower’s unyielding mass. The ancient structure refused to budge, its stone walls remaining steadfast.
"Enough," Gurnak murmured, raising his free hand.
"Stubborn creature," he muttered, raising his hand. The phantom chain in his grasp shimmered, extending towards the scaled hand. It wrapped around the monstrous appendage, tightening like a constrictor.
The phantom chain remained taut around Vorenza’s monstrous limb, but now his focus shifted to the tower itself. The air around it shimmered and warped as Gurnak manipulated gravity itself. The tower began to lose its gravitational pull—not in weight, but in its connection to the world. It became weightless, like a feather caught in a gentle breeze.
Vorenza roared again, her frustration mounting as the tower, now defying the laws of physics, began to rise effortlessly. The portal, unable to stabilize the shifting mass, flickered violently, its edges writhing in chaos. With a final, furious shriek, Vorenza was forced to release her grip.
The tower ascended smoothly, as if freed from an underwater current, soaring above the battlefield.
Gurnak then turned his attention to the portal. Instead of closing it, he reversed its flow. The swirling vortex began to spin in the opposite direction, its pull becoming a powerful outward force. The scaled hand, still bound by the phantom chain, was violently repelled, flung backward with tremendous force.
Vorenza shrieked in surprise, canceling her clawed projection to avoid being dragged further by the vortex’s relentless push.
With a final surge of energy, Gurnak gently guided the floating tower through the reversed portal. It vanished in a flash of light, transported to its new location. The portal then collapsed in on itself, leaving no trace of its presence or the tower’s original position.
Vorenza staggered, reeling from the loss of her prize and the sudden reversal of power. Her burning eyes locked onto Gurnak, fury radiating from her very being. "You dare, filthy creature?" she snarled, her voice dripping with venom.
Gurnak simply shrugged, allowing the phantom chain to dissolve into the air. "Filthy creature? No. I merely retrieved what was mine."
He met her glare with calm defiance, though a simmering anger flickered beneath his exterior. "Consider this a lesson. Some things are simply beyond your reach."
Nothing was said as Energy began twisting the air around Vorenza, done was the human figure she took in place was a huge spider demon. Her eight legs shifted rhythmically, and her multifaceted eyes gleamed with malevolence.
Gurnak responded equally, The goblins of this world are unlike the normal goblins as they are easily the size of a normal human. The mage robe on Gurnak’s body was carried away by the wind.
Energy began rising from his body, shredding the top he had on, showing his thin muscular body that was growing in size. Behind him appeared a huge magic circle like a Halo hanging behind him. The gravitational force from him made the rubble left of the city began floating to the sky where they were.
Gurnak stands on a floating chunk of rock, his squat, muscular goblin frame outlined by shimmering gravitational distortions. He raises one clawed hand, and the battlefield bends to his will. Chunks of rock levitate, orbiting him like moons. The pull of gravity shifts erratically, making the ground beneath them unstable.
Gurnak moved first, his hand flicking downward. A wave of intense gravitational force crushed the floating rock beneath Vorenza, sending cracks spiderwebbing through the rock. Vorenza leaped, her movements unnaturally swift, and spun a cascade of webs infused with the threads of concept. The webs didn’t just ensnare matter—they disrupted gravity’s flow, creating pockets where Gurnak’s pull became chaotic.
"You fight gravity itself," Gurnak growled, raising his hand again. The air warped as he conjured a localized black hole, dragging Vorenza’s web into its event horizon. The apperance of the black hole had a devastating effect on the surrounding as thing were being pulled into it.
Vorenza hissed, anchoring herself with her web to an unseen space. Her silk shimmered with ethereal light as it resisted the black hole’s pull, and she launched herself at Gurnak with terrifying speed.
The goblin cancelled the skill and dodged with a burst of altered gravity, soaring higher into the air. A staff appeared in his hand that emitted a pulse, bending space itself. Vorenza was caught mid-leap, her trajectory diverted into a nearby rock spire. She collided hard, the impact sending cracks through her carapace.
But Vorenza retaliated, unleashing a burst of webbing infused with threads of time. The strands struck Gurnak, freezing his motion for a fleeting second. In that moment, Vorenza pounced, her fangs aiming for his chest.
Gurnak raised a clawed hand, as Vorenza buckled while an invisible force attempted to drag her down. The air groaned as gravity itself rebelled against natural order. Vorenza countered with a flick of her front legs, shooting silken strands infused with metaphysical energy. These webs didn’t merely bind—they halted the concept of "falling," rendering Gurnak’s manipulation of gravity inert around her.
Gurnak scowled, leaping high into the air and altering his personal gravity mid-jump. His body zipped in erratic arcs, avoiding Vorenza’s attempts to ensnare him.
Gurnak broke free with a gravitational shockwave, hurling Vorenza backward. She hissed in frustration as blood seeped from her wounds. Gurnak pressed his advantage, manipulating the battlefield to his will. Floating boulders crashed down were Vorenza was, pulled by enhanced gravity, while celestial chains formed from the ether wrapped around Vorenza.
Vorenza screamed, her webs surging outward like a tidal wave, ensnaring the chains and snapping them. She chanted in an unearthly language, summoning a colossal spider-like avatar composed of her own life force and the World Law of Dominion. The construct was so big it’s head penetrated the clouds and towered over Gurnak, who summoned his own astral manifestation—a celestial chain, glowing like a fragment of the night sky.
The two constructs clashed, the shockwaves tearing the valley apart. Gurnak poured his strength into his chains, binding the spider avatar and dragging it down. Vorenza howled, her form flickering, but she refused to relent, weaving a final web that pierced through Gurnak’s celestial construct, unraveling it.
With the appearance of their avatar came the manifestation of a judge-like symbol, which immediately caught the attention of the two combatants. Gurnak wore a cautious expression, while Vorenza’s face lit up with glee.
Recalling the laws governing Six-Stage beings, Gurnak surveyed the battlefield and noticed how drastically it had changed. The remnants of what should have marked the presence of a city were now completely erased.
Even the advancing demon army had halted, maintaining a wary distance to avoid becoming collateral damage in this escalating conflict.
Vorenza, though grinning outwardly, was silently hesitating. Mages were always troublesome, and she had assumed this goblin mage would be an easy target. Yet, here he was, proving to be a far greater challenge than she anticipated.
If there was one thing they both agreed on in this battle, it was that they needed the world intact. This meant taking their fight elsewhere. Eyeing the judge-like symbol, Vorenza considered her options. Abyssal demons might not answer to such symbols, but their appearance could still serve as a useful diversion to relocate the fight.
