[Chapter 287: You Want to Materialize My Fear?]
Daniel stood inside the Golden Light shield, his left hand still shielding the shaken Monica. His seven-feet-tall, burly frame cast a massive shadow in the dark space. He quickly ran through his options in his mind.
The Rite of Divine Empowerment could raise his mana limit. The Golden Aegis Rite could protect his body and exorcise evil. The Seven Lamps of Dominion Rite could summon the mighty power of the stars to suppress the surroundings. And the Guard Invocation was even more incredible.
Any one of these spells could kill this Clown a thousand times over. But...
Daniel looked at Pennywise, who was sitting by the gutter, shaking a balloon. He knew well that although these spells could kill it countless times, they couldn't truly destroy it. As long as the fear in Derry remained, the Clown would be hard to kill.
Now, he either had to cut off the fear gripping the entire town... or wield a supreme power -- a power the Clown simply couldn't resist -- to erase the Clown at its source.
'Do I really have to destroy all of Derry town?'
As Daniel weighed his options, he suddenly caught a faint, low murmur full of confusion and annoyance.
"Damn it... why... why can't I feel your fear?"
Daniel's eyes snapped toward Pennywise.
My fear!
His heart stirred, and his eyes lit up.
"Are you looking for my fear?" he said. "Do you want to materialize my fear?" A smile crept across Daniel's face. "Then I shall grant your wish."
Pennywise seemed to sense something wrong and immediately tried to stop the materialization. But it was too late.
An unprecedented aura of destruction filled the entire space. Under this destructive force, Pennywise felt true death for the first time.
"You madman, what have you done?" Pennywise bellowed hoarsely, looking up. It felt a power it couldn't comprehend, much less control.
Driven by this overwhelming energy, it was forcibly pulled down into the real world.
Boom--!
Above the gloomy outskirts of Derry, a hundred-mile stretch of black clouds was instantly drained. They converged into a massive, dark-red vortex. Deep underground, in the Karst Cave, everyone first felt an absolute silence.
Then--
"Crack!"
An indescribably terrifying pillar of dark violet light -- steeped in a world-ending aura of destruction -- pierced through the thick ground of Derry Town. It blasted through layers of rock, hardened reinforced concrete pipes, and every barrier.
In an instant, it shot into the underground chamber.
The lightning was too fast, too bright, and too fierce. It didn't look like ordinary lightning but more like a spear thrust down from the heavens -- capable of pinning down a planet.
The moment that pillar appeared, all phantom monsters in the Karst Cave evaporated, turning to ash before they could even scream.
"Ahhh--!!!"
Pennywise let out the most shrill and desperate howl of its existence.
It tried to flee, tried to dive into the shadows, but the lightning locked onto every inch of its soul.
Rumble!
The pillar struck the Clown squarely in the wooden horse square.
At that moment, Monica felt as if she'd gone blind and deaf. The entire world seemed to dissolve in a flash of brilliant white.
As a Dominion Incarnate of Higher Ascendant Order, Daniel feared very little. But there was one fear that remained absolutely unforgettable -- Heavenly Tribulation.
A law of heaven and earth, Heavenly Tribulation was absolute destruction sent to erase those who defied heaven -- a heartless judgment by the laws themselves.
In the depths of Daniel's consciousness, this fear had always been magnified beyond measure.
When Pennywise tried to "steal" this material from Daniel's subconscious, it simultaneously invited the Law of the world's death sentence.
Though Pennywise couldn't manifest a true Heavenly Tribulation, even a trace of its rules was enough to erase Pennywise.
Heavenly Tribulation was irrational destruction that wiped away all your Karma.
Pennywise thrived on fear, so it severed your connection to all fear itself.
Under Heavenly Tribulation, you had to endure everything head-on.
All Karma was bound by its rules -- it could instantly wipe out everything you had.
The deafening thunderclap lasted a full ten seconds.
When the blinding light faded, Daniel remained in position, his mana shield still protecting Monica behind him.
Even though this was only a Heavenly Tribulation materialized by Pennywise -- and less than a tenth of a real one -- Daniel had felt what true terror really was.
The Five Thunders he usually summoned were far too weak compared to this.
And before him...
There was no Clown left. No wooden horse.
The spot where Pennywise had been sitting was now a bottomless, massive crater, its edges scorched and glowing like molten lava.
The air filled with the sharp scent of ozone and sulfur.
"Heh... heh..."
At the crater's edge, a small piece of white scrap cloth trembled slightly.
Pennywise wasn't dead.
But what remained was more pitiful than death.
Only a mangled head hung from half a ribcage, its cracked body leaking a faint golden light -- deadlights -- that seeped and faded away.
Its yellow eyeballs were shattered, leaving two bloody pits.
"You... you... madman..." it stammered, every word soaked in the pain of a soul tearing apart. "I never expected such a nightmare to lie deep within a human heart -- one that could slaughter gods."
"As long as the fear hasn't vanished, you won't die?"
Daniel slowly walked to the crater's edge and looked down.
His seven-feet-tall frame, illuminated by the fading lightning, appeared both divine and cold. His shadow fell over the writhing mass of mangled flesh.
Pennywise's cracked lips trembled violently.
It opened its mouth wide, desperately trying to swallow the fear nutrients that once flowed endlessly in the air.
But now, there was nothing to be felt.
"No... this can't be..."
Pennywise's voice was filled with unprecedented despair.
Daniel wasted no words. Raising his palm, he commanded, "Die!"
Boom!
A massive palm of glowing orange-red energy shot out and pressed down on Pennywise's remains.
"Ahhh--!"
One last miserable scream tore through the air before Pennywise's remains violently disintegrated.
Bang!
Without suspense, Pennywise exploded like a rotten tomato; no blood splattered -- only countless dark-red dust particles filled the air.
Then, they were burned away by the lightning-fire swirling around Daniel.
[Ding! Killed a B-rank Evil Spirit, obtained 50,000,000 merit points!]
[Ding! Killed a B-rank Evil Spirit, obtained the Spell "Five Elements Thunder Prison."]
[Note: Five Elements Thunder Prison can seal space, cut off all Karma connections, and invoke the Five Elements Lightning Tribulation to slay living beings.]
[Current Rank: Tier One. Upgradable!]
*****
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