Chapter 232
Seeing the sword's effectiveness, even the Trident was a disbelief.
"M-My Prince. How are you doing all this?"
First the ultra-high pressure water beam, then the Giant avatar, and now this.
The burden needed for doing this kind of stuff is so immense that the Trident can't recall the last time it was used like this.
"Well, it's definitely not easy," muttered Axel, the veins on his head popping out due to the high concentration. He was currently doing a lot at once. He could increase his water control and summon water through the Trident, but the rest, he had to do on his own.
However, Zeta didn't seem impressed, looking at the Avatar showing off with a disapproving look.
"Fancy."
She had no intention of stopping just because of a glowing blade made out of water.
Thick wooden spikes grew out of the World Tree which stabbed towards Axel's avatar at once.
"It's not just for show, you know?"
The avatar ran the blade lightly through the stakes once, but the sword cut through the stakes with no resistance at all.
"…." Zeta looked at the damage just one swing and caused, and then looked at the sword again. This time, there was some healthy amount of fear in her eyes.
Axel looked at his creation proudly. "Cutting-edge technique, huh?"
"How...? It's… It's just water, right? And how are you even doing all this?!" Zeta was in disbelief.
Even getting an avatar should require a huge amount of mental control and power, let alone constructing and maintaining a sword like this.
This imitation of the World Tree is not a relic, but an extremely powerful sentient living being, grown from a small chip of wood from the real legendary World Tree itself.
The World Tree is the most powerful being the Aetherworld, worshiped even by the Aetherian Royal Family who draw their power from it. And the Entity is the most powerful being on Earth. That's why, with the World Tree qualities and the Entity's nourishment and power, even a small piece of wood the size of a bean which Zeta had with her was able to grow into this giant.
It can borrow unlimited power from Entity, and also has extreme control over the light element, enabling it to do tasks such as taking humanoid form, or regenerate. All Zeta has to do is to give orders.
What was bothering Zeta more was the fact that while she was only giving out instructions right now, and the world tree was bearing all the load of power and execution, Axel, on the other hand was only using the Royal Trident to summon water and increase his water control.
The rest, he was doing all by himself.
"How is your mind not exploding right now?!" She demanded.
Zeta was currently having an existential crisis as she realized the sheer difference between them. But, Axel wasn't going to be kind enough to wait for her to get her head straight.
The avatar took a step forward and swung the blade across the huge tree.
A giant shield grew through the branches of the World Tree while it'll roots dug through the ground in order to brace itself. The wood at the surface was hardened to the point even the toughest metals would break.
"Useless."
But, when the giant sword came, it went straight through the tree like it was nothing, also cutting off the Giant's hands along with it.
"You're not going win!" Zeta refused to accept defeat. "Water cannot beat the Holy Affinity!"
A Giant Shield made out of Light materialized in of the Giant while a sword made out of plasma appeared in the other.
"I've already told you, it's not about the affinity. It's about the warrior, you basic bitch. Basically, even if your affinity is good, you're too shit at using it. It's like giving a race car to a wom— a beginner."
"You—!"
Zeta slashed the plasma saber, unable to control her frustration.
Axel's avatar guarded with the water blade.
The result?
Axel's giant sword didn't move an inch while the plasma saber was cut in half.
"Gotcha, bitch."
Actually, the light saber was pretty tough. But the resonance caused by the water molecules was just too powerful. Anything coming into contact was being cut down before breaking down.
"Now, time to 'log' off the nature's network." Axel swung again, and this time, his sword landed on the Light Barrier which Zeta had now made extremely thick after realizing the sheer extent of the "water sword's" sharpness. This light barrier was able to actually momentarily slow down the blade, as Axel's also has a defensive skill of Light element.
"Ha! You can't cut through everything!"
Seeing the opportunity, Zeta immediately sent out the millions of roots to suck out the world from the Avatar.
"I get that. Light Affinity is pretty good at defense. Saved me a time or two as well," said Axel, the number of veins visible on face increasing.
"But… " Axel paused as His eyes momentarily glowed blue. "Who said this was the final form?"
Suddenly, the sword let an ear-piercing sound as the resonance increased to max.
SLASH
There was a blue flash, as the sword swung cleanly in a huge arc. Then, the giant split in two, rolling to falling ways which caused an earthquake.
"Well, that sure was ground-breaking." muttered Axel, stabilizing his Avatar over the shaking ground as he lowered the intensity of the sword's power again.
But before he could get some releaf, the tree started to regenerate again!
"Oh, Hell No!"
Not on his watch. Axel sliced again, cutting the pieces into more pieces, and then again. He just kept chopping, not giving the giant the tree the time to recover.
"How long will… SLASH… will you… SLASH… regenerate? There has to be a limit, right?" He muttered, more to himself than the creepy tree which refused to die.
Axel was going for simplicity. Hit it until it dies.
But, not long after he said that, he suddenly felt a splitting pain in his head.
[Speaking of Limits, Axel, you're already reaching yours] Came the system's warning in red fonts.
Axel was startled. "What?! But I'm not even using my magic and body right now!"
In the previous fight, Axel had used his body to its limits at the beginning, then he had reached the limit for his magic, and finally, his soul. This time, he has made sure not to cross any of those three.
So, how exactly is he reaching his limit?
[It's your mental limit, Axel.]
Axel was stunned. "Mental limit, wft?"
Since when has he started to have a mental limit?
Soul? Understandable, can't be controlled for most cases. Magic? Mostly it only increases with time, so little control over it. Body? You have control, but can't expect too much.
But mind? That was one thing he thought he had full control over.
And now the system is saying he's reaching his mental limit? That has never happened before! Not even during the numerous beating, not during cruciatus, not when he took on a directly attack from Voldemort, not when he was injected with painifera venom, and not when he fought Aslot and got hit by a soul extinguisher.
Why only now? When this fight is getting more difficult?!
[The Royal Trident is not an Ordinary Relic. It usually takes a lot effort just to get it's acknowledgement, and then a long period of training just to get accustomed to the burden of using it. With any training, you're directly using it on such a large scale.
Look at the size of your avatar. The amount of water you're currently controlling together amounts to higher than 4 million gallons of water. Furthermore, you're also simultaneously compressing an Armor over it, reinforcing the whole body, and synchronizing the movements perfectly, and maintaining the sword. What you're doing is impossible for others. Of course there will be a limit.
Over that, you've also been resisting the Entity's control without any protection.
It's already a miracle you can do half of those things without dying.]
'What in the bullocks?!' Axel was NOT happy.
He was just beginning to explore his abilities! There was so much more he could do! And if he has already reached his limit, then how the hell is he supposed to deal with this freaking tree?
"What the—?" But, when he actually checked his mind, he realized that the system was indeed right.
Right now, his mind was in a mess, struggling to hold everything together. The load of handling so many things at once was catching up to him. And he hadn't even realized because his tolerance for pain has increased too much after the Soul Extinguisher.
What might have made others pass out even before the Giant Avatar was made was just a minor headache to Axel, allowing him to concentrate perfectly despite the pain.
Axel gave up the idea of sawing the tree to death with his giant sword. It was great, but not compatible with an enemy that can regenerate. To be honest, Axel wasn't even thinking about the enemy when he made the sword. He just got the idea and thought it was really cool, so he went with it.
But now he needs to do something else. Something that'll finish this world tree once and for all.
The branches of the tree were beginning to wrap enough the Avatar, trying to suck on its water. "You know what? Take it." he muttered, allowing the tree to absorb the water.
"In fact, take it all."
The Giant avatar started to disperse, separating into small water molecules. And when they fell to the ground, they started to aggressively dig into the world tree.
"What in the mother nature…?"
While Zeta was gathering energy to prepare for an ultimate counter, Axel's abrupt change in action threw her for a loop.
At first, the world tree readily accepted the water. Water was good for it as it could absorb magic and minerals from it for accelerate its growth. But when Zeta remembered what Axel had done to the roots previously, suddenly Axel's intentions dawned her.
"Hey… stop!"
But, was there anything that could be done to stop him? How can you stop the water molecules when they're literally forcing their way in the tree's body which is full of pores?
Zeta tried to block the entry, but the thing was, the surface area of the world tree was huge and very difficult to micromanage.
The corner of Axel's mouth raised. "That's right. I'll destroy you from inside!" (No pun intended…)
"No! I can't… take it anymore! STOP!" Exclaimed Zeta, trying her best to stop the water. But there was no stopping Axel now. He was using everything he had left into this last gamble.
The water reached inside and started to also take control over the water that was already inside the tree. This water forced new openings throughout every part of the world.
After that, Zeta's bush was just helplessly pumped full of Axel's fluid without being able to put any resistance.
[Tree synonym: Bush. You can search it I'm not kidding]
The world tree was water-logged, and the water refused to leave, sticking to the tree like a glue, infiltrating every surface.
Axel fell to the ground, his brain no longer braining anymore.
With the last bit of concentration he could manage, he focused on the water that had now completely molded with the tree
[Crystalize]
From every part, the tree began to solidify, a layer spreading through its entire massive body that reached deep into the ground.
And that took away almost everything Axel had as he slumped back, blood dripping out of his nose.
It was times like these that he envies the people from Kraken who can get unlimited power from the Entity.
But oh well, if he didn't have power, he had technique and control.
"And that, should be enough," he muttered, snapping his fingers.
[Break]
For a moment, nothing happened.
*Click* *Crack….Crack*
But then, tiny cracks began spreading throughout the surface of the world tree, growing in number as they spread. The speed of spreading increased until cracking sounds and filled the clearing and the whole tree was riddled with them.
Axel blew out a puff of air, and the tree began to break down into tiny shining particles which slowly started to fall to the ground.
"That was… something."
Laying on the ground, Axel watched tiny crystals fall slowly to the ground, admiring the view. "Daphne was right," he mutter. "Nature is amazing after all."
"Destroying it was even more fun though."
…..
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