Algernon vanished and reappeared instantly, not with a standard teleport, but with a spatial flash that tore open a seam right above Rizevim. He brought Exidio down in a blinding, vertical arc, intending to cleave him in half.
Rizevim, however, was already reacting. He raised the central Sephiroth Graal cup slightly. The cup didn't block the blow directly; instead, a surge of golden-white energy erupted, forcing Algernon's strike off course by generating an instantaneous, localized burst of powerful rejection of vital force.
The massive blade screamed as it scraped against the marble floor, missing Rizevim by inches. He once again pushed off with immense speed, realizing the ultimate defensive power of the Graal.
"Clever, Algernon!" Rizevim shouted, his voice ringing with dark joy. "The Graal controls life! You try to kill me, and it simply tells your killing intent"
Algernon immediately ceased relying on brute force. He launched a barrage of rapid-fire spatial cuts, tearing open five silent, high-pressure dimensional rifts around Rizevim. These were not sword swings; they were pure, concentrated destruction of space itself.
Rizevim laughed, but the attack forced him to move. He darted away, using the three golden cups in a defensive choreography. He focused the power of the Graal subspecies.
One cup was pointed toward the collapsing spatial rifts, feeding them constant regenerative energy that attempted to seal the wounds in reality as fast as Algernon could open them.
A second cup was aimed at Rizevim himself, wrapping him in an aura of absolute vitality that made him faster and more resilient.
The third cup was tossed into the air, creating a momentary point of reference that manipulated the flow of time around Rizevim, allowing him to move fractionally faster than Algernon's perception.
The battle instantly escalated to a dizzying display of spatial manipulation versus existential power manipulation. Algernon was faster and commanded the raw, dimensional forces but Rizevim was functionally immune to direct fatal blows, protected by the control over life and death.
Algernon reappeared twenty meters away, Exidio humming dangerously. He had landed no hits, but had verified Rizevim's defense.
"Is this immortality all you have, Rizevim," Algernon taunted, his eyes glinting. "The Graal won't stop me from tearing your defense apart one layer at a time!"
Algernon slammed Exidio into the ground, and the entire structure of the throne room began to bend and fracture. He was weaponizing the castle itself, using spatial pressure to collapse the building onto Rizevim, attempting to force the rogue Devil to dedicate all three cups to defense.
Rizevim merely smirked, catching the third cup as it fell back into his hand. "You think small, Algernon! This is why I am the future! The Graal doesn't just heal!"
Rizevim pointed one of the cups at the corpse of Marius Tepes. A stream of golden light erupted, wrapping around the dead brother. The wound in his chest sealed, his crushed heart began to beat again, and Marius stood up—eyes now vacant and glowing with golden power, a mindless puppet controlled by the Graal's manipulation of his soul.
"Meet my new shield!" Rizevim roared, sending the soulless, infinitely regenerating Marius charging toward Algernon.
Algernon didn't waste an ounce of effort on the soulless construct. He simply snapped his fingers.
A flash of purple light, mixed with a searing bolt of azure electricity, erupted around Marius. Algernon had simultaneously used his Law of Destruction to shatter the spatial bonds holding the body together and his Law of Thunder to obliterate the physical mass into superheated plasma.
The twin attacks were immediate and total. Marius's regenerated body vanished in a silent puff of smoke, utterly annihilated before the Graal could even attempt to reassert control over the remnants of his soul.
Algernon glared across the ruins of the throne room at Rizevim, the edge of his mouth twitching upwards into a chilling, dismissive smirk.
"Rizevim, if that's all you have, you stand no chance," Algernon stated, his voice resonating with cold contempt. "It's time for me to get serious."
With that declaration, Algernon threw all pretense of constraint aside. The aura that had previously contained his power—a carefully controlled bubble of spatial distortion—collapsed inwards, and unleashed his true force.
A cosmic storm of power erupted from his core. The air in the throne room turned black, shimmering with constant, violent, purple-blue spatial ruptures and jagged bolts of azure lightning.
The sheer magnitude of the release was world-shaking. His power level instantly skyrocketed, reaching an astronomical height that palpably rivaled the Heavenly Dragons at their peak. It was a chaotic, beautiful, overwhelming force that combined the absolute command over space, the elemental fury of thunder, and the sheer, unbridled demonic energy of his lineage.
The pressure alone was enough to make the three golden Graals in Rizevim's hand shudder.
"You should be grateful to be able to make me waste my time with your pathetic self, Rizevim," Algernon stated, his voice now layered with power. He lifted Exidio, and the greatsword, now feeding on the unleashed aura, grew hotter and more destructive. "Now, let's see how your precious trinkets handle genuine calamity."
The unleashed power of Algernon was a physical force. The very stone floor beneath Rizevim began to buckle and crack from the sheer weight of the his aura. Algernon pressed his assault instantly, becoming a blur of black and purple light.
He launched a massive, concentrated beam of Chaos Thunder—a fusion of spatial collapse and raw lightning—aimed directly at Rizevim's head.
Rizevim, pale and visibly strained by the overwhelming aura, had no choice but to dedicate all three Sephiroth Graal cups to the defensive. He formed a triple-layered golden shield, its energy straining to ward off the catastrophic assault. The shield held, but the impact sent Rizevim skidding backward, tearing up the marble floor.
"You waste power, Algernon!" Rizevim snarled, sweat dripping from his brow, his arrogance replaced by desperation. "This energy is endless"
Algernon's form flickering as he utilized rapid spatial jumps combined with thunderous speed. He bypassed Rizevim's attempts to counter-attack with the Graal's life-force projection, moving too fast for the cups to lock onto his existence.
Algernon materialized directly in front of Rizevim, who didn't have time to fully engage his defense. He didn't use Exidio; that would have risked damaging the Longinus fragments with the resulting force.
Instead, with devastating, focused precision, Algernon channeled his power into a single, kinetic strike. He executed a vicious, lightning-fast kick aimed squarely at Rizevim's chest.
The blow connected with the force of a crashing mountain. A wave of concussive force, infused with Algernon's destructive aura, slammed into Rizevim's torso, shattering his remaining defenses. Rizevim let out a choked cry, his body instantly losing control.
Rizevim was sent flying across the massive hall with horrifying speed and momentum. He gets embedded deep into the stone and magically reinforced wall opposite the dais, the impact causing a spiderweb of cracks to shoot across the entire surface. He hung there, motionless, pinned by the force of the Algernon's kick, blood trickling from his mouth.
Crucially, the sheer impact violently dislodged the Longinus fragments from Rizevim's grasp. The three golden Graals scattered across the room, tumbling and skittering to a stop in different corners of the massive, ruined hall.
Algernon took a deep, steadying breath, his power rapidly receding back into a controllable, contained aura. He walked slowly toward Rizevim embedded in the distant wall—defeated, but alive.
He had only taken a few steps, however, when he stopped mid-stride. A low sound of irritation escaped his throat.
"Damn, what happened today?" Algernon muttered, looking genuinely annoyed. "I'm always getting interrupted at the good parts."
He hadn't sensed a dimensional breach, yet his heightened awareness signaled a change in the ambient energy—a change so massive it bypassed conventional detection. He slowly turned around to face a spot that had been utterly empty moments before.
Standing there, perfectly still and quiet, was a figure of profound power wrapped in deceptive innocence: a cute young girl with long black hair that reached down to her hips and large, black eyes.
Her ears had pointy tips, a clear sign of her draconic nature, and she was dressed in intricate, black Gothic Lolita attire. The air around her didn't crackle with energy; it simply ended, replaced by an unnerving, infinite void.
Algernon stopped, his face shifting from irritation to a complex blend of caution and satisfaction. He brought one hand up to cover his eyes, a gesture of theatrical exasperation, but the smile remained on his face—a deep, strategic smile.
"Ophis, the Infinite Dragon God," Algernon stated, his voice ringing with recognition and a terrifying lack of surprise. "You were definitely not on my schedule today."
Ophis simply tilted her head, her black eyes expressionless but possessing the cold depth of the void.
Algernon slowly lifted his hand slightly from his eyes, letting his gaze fully meet the profound nothingness contained within Ophis's black eyes. The weariness and strategic playfulness vanished.
Beneath his half-raised hand, Algernon's own eyes were glowing dangerously, radiating a searing purple light that pulsed with the contained power of space and thunder.
"Now," Algernon stated, his voice dropping low, charged with palpable menace. "Are you also going to be in my way?"
Ophis remained utterly calm, her small frame radiating a terrifying stillness. She tilted her head slightly, her delicate features expressionless as she delivered her verdict.
"The power you just released," Ophis stated, her voice a soft, flat whisper that nevertheless seemed to echo from an endless distance. "It is not enough. You are no match."
"So what?" Algernon growled, tightening his grip on Exidio.
Ophis, however, made no move to fight. She simply observed him, an unreadable expression in her deep black eyes.
I just sensed this level of power after a long time," Ophis explained, her voice remaining soft and monotone, entirely devoid of malice or fear. "It was... substantial. I just came over to see."
She then began to slowly float toward him, her movements graceful and unnervingly silent. She ignored the presence of the defeated Rizevim and the unconscious Valerie, focusing entirely on Algernon.
"Interesting," Ophis murmured as she approached, her gaze never leaving his glowing eyes. "You can help me defeat Great Red."
Ophis stopped floating, her small form hovering a few feet from Algernon.
"Why should I help you?" Algernon asked, his dangerous glow not diminishing.
Ophis fell silent. She simply paused, analyzing the question based on her singular desire. Then, she slowly opened her small hand to reveal a miniature, purple snake, coiled perfectly in her palm, a living symbol of her infinite power.
She tilted her head again, offering the only currency she truly understood. "Power?" she whispered, the question delivered as a cold, absolute guarantee.
Algernon's smile hardened with pure contempt.
"Why would I need your power in order to defeat Great Red," Algernon stated, "when you can't even defeat Great Red on your own?"
Ophis once again fell silent. She didn't react with anger or defense.
"We will meet again, Demon," she stated flatly, the miniature purple snake in her hand vanishing back into nothingness.
And then, with the same unsettling stillness with which she arrived, Ophis simply vanished from the hall, the Infinite Dragon God melting back into the chaos of the dimensions without opening a gate or leaving a ripple.
Algernon immediately lowered his guard, the dangerous glow receding from his eyes. He let out a long, heavy sigh, running his hand over his face.
"Oh, boy," Algernon muttered. "I wasn't ready for that."
(END OF CHAPTER)
chapters are released early and uncut on Patreon, ahead of public publication along with exclusive NSFW works.
If you wish to walk ahead of the world…If you want to see the Empire rise before history records it—
You know where to stand.
Special thanks to all my EPIC members and,
LEGEND: Franco Steam
MYTH: Asaf Montgomery
patreon.com/xxSUPxx