The same scene as before played out. Shenlong, Dubaku, and Amara did their best to obstruct Aamon as Olivia pulled Roy into his shadow. Aamon didn’t even try to attack; he just waited for Olivia to reappear before continuing his charge.
As Aamon appeared before Roy, the armor on the demon’s wrist transformed into a long spike, which pierced through Roy’s chest. Before Aamon could attack with his other hand, Guillotine threatened to pierce through a mark on Aamon’s neck. With the damage increase from Olivia’s mark, Guillotine might very well chop Aamon’s head straight off.
When Jason’s attack forced Aamon to roll forward, Roy kicked Aamon and freed himself, but not before emitting a brilliant flare that temporarily blinded the demon. Roy took this chance to distance himself from Aamon as his companions healed the hole in his chest.
Aamon growled as he chose another target to pursue, then another, and another. Jason kept pace all the while. A hundred Bursts, a thousand, ten thousand. The Health cost quickly reached a million and beyond. If not for Roy, Carly, and Tank continuously recovering his Health, Jason would’ve died an unfortunate death.
As Jason struggled to keep up, Aamon felt at ease. He could afford to take damage—his armor, Health regeneration, and endurance were enough to keep this little game going for hours. Meanwhile, everyone’s nerves stretched thin as time passed. They were playing with fire, yet they had no other option.
Inevitably, what everyone tried their best to prevent happened.
Jason fell behind.
It wasn’t by a mile, just an inch. An inch determined whether Roy had the defense of a tank or not, and at this critical moment, when Aamon punched out, the holy warrior’s chest imploded as he flew backward at the speed of a bullet.
Roy disappeared into the rubble of a laser tower, his fate unknown.
Chapter 78
Aamon slowly withdrew his arm and turned to face Jason, who slid to a halt nearby with bloodshot eyes. Jason’s memory of Roy’s dead body overlapped with the present as his mentality collapsed; then, the broken pieces put themselves back together to form an even greater and more tenacious resolve.
The demon savored Jason’s fluctuating expression before asking sardonically, “How do you feel right now?”
Jason glared back silently as his Domain swept over to the rubble where Roy landed. To his surprise, he found no body or corpse—only a pool of blood. Jason guessed Olivia must have brought Roy to some shadow realm, or perhaps Eok hid Roy underground after Carly secretly healed the ant.
At this time, Olivia communicated to everyone via telepathy. Retreat and regroup! I’ll hold him back.
Before anyone could respond, Olivia appeared next to Aamon and pulled him into another dimension. No matter how powerful the demon was, he couldn’t escape from Olivia’s skill for five minutes. That was enough time to regroup and figure out a strategy to best Aamon. However, could Olivia escape alive once the skill ended?
Aamon glanced around with interest inside the endless black world. “A sealing technique? How unexpected.”
The demon instantly deduced the nature of Olivia’s skill. With millenniums of experience under his belt, how could he not?
“I wonder what type it is?” The demon punched out at full strength as an experiment. After seeing no change, he nodded. “Mm, I see.”
To Olivia’s dismay, the demon simply crossed his arms and waited. Worse, as if sensing her emotions, Aamon chuckled. “Surprised? Do you even know why I can’t break your technique? A Greater Path fuels it. Those things are beyond me, so I’ll wait.”
Unfortunately, Olivia had no attack power while the skill persisted. Otherwise, she’d fight with all she had. But that was fine. She wasn’t so delusional to think she could kill Aamon one on one. Her only goal was to sacrifice herself to let the others escape, and to this end, she succeeded.
Olivia felt at peace as she thought about the past two years, from her first meeting with Jason and Roy to now. The numerous relationships she’d formed were more genuine than those with her parents. The Alliance was her family now. To die for their sake felt right.
Aamon sensed Olivia’s state of mind and no longer felt any desire to provoke or mock her. Instead, he felt it was a pity for a warrior with her potential to die young. While it was his job to kill Jason and the others, he thought the Architect had lost his mind to send someone at his level to fight these kids. Did the tower want them to fail?
No matter the case, he locked onto Olivia’s position as the shadow realm dissipated and planned to kill her painlessly as a gesture of respect.
When Olivia reappeared in reality, she sensed the familiar presence of her companions. They hadn’t listened to her at all, yet strangely, she felt happy.
Jason stood nearby, so when Olivia reappeared, he saw her expression of peace in the face of death. Something clicked inside him at that moment.
Jason activated World Conqueror as a hundred swords from his inventory appeared in the sky around him. He pumped as much Battle Energy inside them as he could, transforming them into a hundred Guillotines. The strain from controlling so much energy at once sent cracks through his soul, yet he cared not.
Jason sliced down with his hand.
A hundred swords flew out under his control to attack Aamon from every direction in response to his command.
“Come!” Aamon growled as his body began to vibrate under the threat of death. Through a unique method, the force created from his muscles circulated within his body and accumulated endlessly.
When the first sword reached Aamon, he slapped out with his hand, destroying the sword entirely. Jason was unfazed. Left, right, up, behind, Guillotine came from everywhere. Each time Aamon attacked, a portion of the force accumulated within his body exploded out from his hand to wreak destruction upon the world.
One, five, ten, fifty.
Aamon dodged left and right as he defended against the endless wave of Guillotines. To the demon’s frustration, Jason replaced each broken sword with another one, his inventory full of weapons from the demons he’d killed.
At the same time, Jason grew more experienced in using Guillotine. As he initially created it to fight Sethess, a giant monster, the skill now seemed inefficient against Aamon. It was too long, too large.
Realizing this, Jason began to modify the skill without giving Aamon any time to breathe. Tighter, harder, sharper, more compact. Thanks to World Conqueror, Jason could control a hundred Guillotines at once, but now that he started to modify the skill, his already cracked soul deteriorated further.
Time passed as Guillotine morphed into another skill entirely. Each change Jason made put Aamon under greater pressure, yet the veteran demon remained unharmed nonetheless. Inside his body, however, the continuous usage of vibrational force started to break down his muscles.
In the end, a minute passed, and World Conqueror deactivated. Almost immediately, a large crack split down Jason’s soul from top to bottom. Blood poured out of his ears, eyes, nose, and mouth as pain ravaged his senses. Even then, he attacked.
Now, with World Conqueror deactivated, no longer were Jason’s Battle Energy skills free of cost. Guillotine initially consumed 5,000 Battle Energy before reductions, while Sunder, the newly formed skill, took 7,500.
Jason’s Battle Energy gauge instantly hit zero, his 1.2 million Health dropping at a frightening pace. At the rate he cast Sunder, he consumed over a hundred thousand Health a second. Even then, he attacked.
Fundamentally, Battle Energy formed Jason’s muscles, flesh, and brain, so when he converted everything into Battle Energy, his body turned transparent. He grew increasingly faint as his Health dropped as if he would disappear in the next moment. Even then, he attacked.
Carly and Tank hastily cast all their major healing skills, bringing Jason’s Health back to a safe level. However, to continuously heal a hundred thousand Health every second was beyond their current capabilities. In the end, Jason’s Health inevitably neared zero.
As Jason
grew more ghost-like with each passing second, the backlash Aamon dreaded finally occurred. Each of Aamon’s limbs suddenly twisted unnaturally, as if someone wrung them like a wet rag. Blood sprayed out in all directions as Aamon’s bones shattered under the uncontrolled vibrational force. Like a puppet with its string cut, the demon collapsed to the ground.
At the same time, the numerous swords in the sky lost their glow and fell. Tank squeaked atop Carly’s shoulder, a sound of both confusion and sadness. The healer herself let out a relieved sigh after Aamon collapsed to the ground but came to a sudden realization after hearing Tank. She turned back to Jason only to find a pile of items on the ground. For a time, everyone fell silent as the battle ended.
After a minute, Carly, still in denial, ran over to the items and confirmed they were Jason’s.
“Look out!” Amara suddenly screamed from the sky.
Carly instinctively cast a barrier and spun around. Aamon, completely covered in blood, broke through her shield with ease and reached for her throat. At the last second, Shenlong teleported over and slashed down with his spear. Unlike before, Godslayer cut three inches deep into Aamon’s wrist, nearly severing it straight off.
“Screw off!” With a deep growl, Aamon used his other arm like a whip and smacked at Shenlong. The spearman blocked with his spear but underestimated the strength Aamon had left and needed to take several steps back before dispelling the force behind the blow.
Thankfully, Shenlong’s intervention gave Carly enough time to retreat to a safe distance. Amara, now a single person, flew over and inspected Aamon’s body with shock. “How can you even move?”
The state of Aamon’s body was miserable. His tendons hung from his limbs like vines while his muscles looked like shredded beef. Indeed, how could he move?
“Look closer,” Shenlong answered as he panted from exhaustion.
Black lines covered Aamon from head to toe. By using Essence as strings, he was able to manipulate his body with his mind.
The fight wasn’t over.
Unfortunately, Carly, Tank, Shenlong, Olivia, and Amara no longer had enough energy to pose any threat to Aamon, even though the demon’s Health hovered around 9%. Earlier, Jason wasn’t the only one going all out. While he suppressed Aamon, Amara, Olivia, Dubaku, and Shenlong used everything they had to whittle down the demon’s Health. Meanwhile, Carly and Tank consumed all their mana to heal Jason.
As it was, both sides were running on fumes. Peter and the others could come as reinforcements, but Aamon would receive all kinds of boosts from runes if they did. Plus, Peter and the others were nothing before Aamon’s stats. In the end, Shenlong and the others could only fight until their last breath.
Just as Aamon wanted to act, one of the swords on the ground suddenly twitched. It was barely perceivable, and only Aamon with his superior stats noticed it. The demon racked his brains as to why, yet no matter how hard he thought about it, he couldn’t figure it out. Perhaps he imagined it. He was delirious and debilitated, after all.
Focusing once more on Shenlong, Aamon prepared to move, but this time, five swords on the ground began to rattle uncontrollably. Mystified, Aamon cautiously jumped back. Doing so only seemed to agitate the weapons, as nearly a hundred swords started shaking.
Before everyone’s eyes, the swords lit up with a gray glow. Specks of light flew out from the weapons and gravitated together. From sword marks in the ground to Aamon’s own body, motes of gray light flew out and combined. From a small orb of light to a large ball, the light eventually formed a humanoid figure.
Aamon wasn’t sure what was going on, but he knew it wasn’t anything good. His instincts pushed him to act, and so he did. A single step and he was before the mass of energy. To the demon’s relief, a swipe with his arm was enough to disperse whatever it was.
However, as if they were inseparable, the motes of light drew towards one another once again. No matter how many times Aamon swiped or clawed, it was futile. Worse, the speed at which they gathered continued to increase no matter what Aamon did.
At this time, Tank let out a joyous squeak. The others awakened from their stupor, and while they weren’t sure what was happening, they moved to defend the light. To them, they couldn’t be more familiar with it. It was Battle Energy!
Seeing the frenzied attacks of Shenlong and the others, and the fact Aamon couldn’t do anything to the light, he decided to retreat. As both sides fought, Battle Energy continued to coalesce into the shape of a human.
In moments, Jason reappeared in a ghost-like state. His eyes slowly opened as if waking from a deep sleep. Glancing around, he appeared lost and confused. Only when Tank squeaked again did his eyes flash with intelligence.
At this moment, Olivia appeared from the shadow of one of his items. She looked at him in surprise, relief, bewilderment, and joy. “Jason?”
“What’s up?” Jason stretched his limbs like he would when waking up in the morning.
“You, uh.” Olivia struggled to find the right words. “You died, or at least I thought you did. Don’t you remember?”
“Huh?” Jason rolled his eyes and patted Olivia’s shoulder. “You still need to work on your jokes.”
Jason suddenly stiffened as memories flashed through his mind. Guillotine, Sunder, Roy, and Aamon. All of it came back to him in a flash, dazing him. Jason glanced down at his transparent hands as Olivia asked in a hurry, “What’s happening? Is this a skill? Why didn’t you tell us?”
Just as lost as Olivia, Jason rubbed his chin as he tilted this way and that. “Hmm. HMM. Was it my Battle Physique? Hmm.”
Seeing Jason unable to answer, Olivia quickly explained what happened. The trembling swords, the motes of light, everything. It was only then when Jason fully woke up, his mind clear and his eyes bright.
How could he forget?
Just earlier, he felt something calling to him, but he knew if he listened, he’d never wake up again. Disoriented and confused, the thought of Baal, no Aamon, killing everyone made him struggle with all he had.
Wait, why did he think of Baal?
Jason suddenly gasped in realization. This had happened before, in the previous timeline. But back then, he didn’t have a Battle Physique or Battle Energy. What was the cause? Why did he come back to life? Did one of the gods interfere? Or was it himself?
By this time, Jason’s Health had recovered to around 10%, and after awakening, the phenomenon Olivia witnessed stopped. Did that mean he was capable of something but wasn’t consciously aware of it?
Jason decided to forget about the reason after hearing Amara scream in pain. It didn’t matter as to why. He’d worry about that later. For now, he closed his eyes and changed his perspective like when he learned how to use his soul. Since Battle Energy made up his body… no wait, that didn’t matter. Whether it was flesh, blood, Battle Energy, or his soul, they were all him. That was what mattered.
Jason called out to the parts of ‘him’ in the world. In this case, it was the Battle Energy he expended to cast Guillotine and Sunder. Battle Energy permeated the ground, in Aamon’s body, the air, and whatever else the skills touched. Weren’t they technically all Jason?
To Jason’s surprise, the parts of ‘him’ out in the world responded to his call. It was a strange feeling, like talking to a clone of yourself. Was this normal? Could Roy and Amara do the same thing? If so, why didn’t Roy wake up as Jason had in the previous timeline? No, something else was at play here.
Again, it didn’t matter if it was normal or if the others could do it. Time was of the essence, so Jason tugged at the severed parts of himself. Everyone watched as motes of light in the thousands flew at Jason at a far faster speed than before. His ghost-like body grew tangible, and in seconds, he appeared as good as new, albeit naked.
Only when Olivia coughed and spun around did Jason realize the situation. Embarrassed, he used the passive effect of World Conqueror to manipulate his items on the ground. He was fully equipped and ready for battle in no time, with
100% Health at that.
Aamon looked over, wide-eyed and terrified as his fears came true. As Jason lifted his fingers, the one hundred swords on the ground floated up, then pointed towards Aamon. The swords lit up with Battle Energy before zipping forward as Aamon roared in defiance. Then, a hundred Sunders ripped his body to pieces.
At that moment, a soft chime rang through the tower. A notification appeared before everyone considered a participant.
Congratulations!
Humanity has completed the tower’s trial (Tier 3).
Points are awarded based on your contribution.
Calculating…
You have received 104,350,000 points.
You can spend your points at the “Reward Shop.”
Finally, it was over.
Jason remembered something important just as a wave of relief came over him. Ignoring the reward shop, he started to search for Roy.
Chapter 79
Shenlong, Carly, Amara, Dubaku, and Olivia made a pitiful sight. Towards the end of the fight, each of Aamon’s blows broke through their armor, eventually turning them into scrap. After the demon died, Amara, Olivia, and Carly swapped to other equipment, while Shenlong and Dubaku simply continued to face the world half-naked.
They were dazed briefly by the notifications but promptly halted any thoughts of exploring the reward shop, as alluring as it was. Like Jason, they searched for Roy. The pool of blood among the rubble was the only clue, so they started there.
“I thought you hid him,” Jason spoke to Olivia as he crouched down to inspect the blood.
The assassin shook her head, a concerned look on her face. “I don’t have an ability like that. Yet.”
At this moment, the air in front of the group shimmered as two figures appeared, one small and one large. Miraculously, it was Roy and Lavos, except something was off. The minotaur now appeared transparent and serene, as if worldly matters were beneath him. Thankfully, Roy’s chest no longer sported a giant hole.
Towers of Heaven: A LitRPG Adventure (Book 3) Page 35