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>A Surprise Awaits u there...
X―x―X—x—X―x―X
The continuation of the second floor of Nazzarick stretched out before Hiro, a nightmarish landscape inspired by the torments of purgatory itself.
The floors name itself was Afterlife Judgement. Even a dumbass would start making the connections. The theme of the three first floors are The Catacombs. The first floor was a graveyard, followed by the judgement of the Afterlife.
Then in the next, in Shalltear's domain, the last floor of The Catacombs, will certainly be...
"Hell..." Hiro thought to himself, as he watched the torments unfolding before him on those walls. He knew that surviving the monsters of Nazzarick was no challenge, but handle seeing those horrible torments, it wasn't feasible for all.
The air hung thick with an oppressive darkness, reeking of decay and lost souls. The walls of the royal corridor were lined with spectral figures, their gaunt, hollow eyes tracking Hiro as he moved forward, their whispers a cacophony of torment and despair.
For some reason they didn't attack. The spectral figures just stood there watching Hiro as he walked passed them. The hostile intent was clear, they were fighting the urge to jump on him and eat through his skin with all their might. But it's as if, someone else has proclaimed him as prey, the Alpha.
Hiro's footsteps echoed against the cold, obsidian floors, though his expression remained impassive. His power was undeniable, the weight of his aura sending tremors through the very fabric of this cursed place. Yet, despite his strength, he could feel the malevolent energy growing stronger with each step. The Wraith King was near.
Ahead, at the end of the corridor, the vast throne room came into view. Massive gates, adorned with the skulls of long-dead monarchs and adorned with glowing spectral chains, slowly creaked open. Beyond them, seated on a throne of twisted bones and otherworldly energies, was the Wraith King.
A towering figure, the Wraith King's form flickered and shifted, a colossal titan made entirely of shimmering spectrums, his body composed of the trapped souls of thousands. His ethereal armor gleamed faintly in the dim light, and his eyes glowed a piercing violet from within the endless depths of his helm.
Despite the ominous sight before him, there was an unmistakable charisma about the Wraith King. His posture, though relaxed on the throne, commanded respect and authority. He radiated an air of ancient nobility, a ruler who had once ruled not just through power, but through wisdom and an undeniable charm.
As Hiro approached, the Wraith King spoke, his voice a deep, resonating boom that echoed through the throne room.
"Ah, his majesty Ainz Ooal Gown told me about a promising intruder who's been a bit daring, adventuring to the Afterlife Judgement. But I wasn't expecting a human I must say." The Wraith King spoke, showing clear friendliness and anticipation for the upcoming battle.
"My name's Hiro. And I'm gonna beat you, King of the Dead." Hiro says, quickly taking his Katana in hand.
The spectrum get into a fighting stance. But the King makes gesture to stop.
"Wow, easy there little mortal. The only being in this world who holds the title of King of The Undead is his majesty Gown. I sincerely appreciate you looking so high at me, but unfortunately I cannot permit to commit such blasphemy against the 41 Supreme Beings." The Wraith King says.
Hiro stood before the titan, unflinching, his hand resting on the hilt of his sword. His eyes locked with the glowing orbs of the Wraith King, neither blinking nor showing any sign of hesitation.
"You see, you're a prominent soul, Hiro. I can't wait to collect you. There's nothing personal, but his majesty ordered your imminent execution," The Wraith King suddenly flinches, "I was hoping you'd accept to surrender at once and let me give you a merciful death. But knowing you thus far, you wouldn't want to leave without a challenge." He says.
"I didn't come here for empty words," Hiro replied, his voice calm, almost disinterested. "If you're as powerful as they say, prove it."
The Wraith King let out a deep, echoing laugh, his spectral form shifting slightly as he rose from his throne.
"Bold words. Very well, I shall grant you a battle befitting one of your expectations." His violet eyes flared with a menacing glow, and with a wave of his hand, the room itself seemed to tremble.
Spectral chains descended from the ceiling, ghostly apparitions swirled around the battlefield, and the once dormant walls began to pulse with an eerie, crimson light.
As the final moments of calm before the storm settled in, Hiro gripped his katana tighter, his mind focused and prepared. This was no ordinary battle. The Wraith King was not just an enemy—he was the embodiment of ancient power, the ruler of a domain where only the strongest could hope to survive.
But Hiro had never lost a fight. And this, he assured himself, would be no different.
"Abysal Chains!" the Wraith King chanted. From the cracks, ghostly chains erupted, their ends wreathed in cold, flickering blue flames. The chains shot toward Hiro, moving with the speed of lightning and the inevitability of fate, each one humming with the captured essence of lost souls.
Hiro dashed to the side, his reflexes honed beyond human capacity, his body flickering in and out of visibility as he slipped between the chains. But the chains weren't bound by normal rules—they adjusted mid-flight, splitting into dozens of spectral tendrils that continued to chase him, twisting and turning like living things.
"Impressive," the Wraith King's voice echoed. "But it is futile."
Hiro slashed through the nearest chain. His katana, enchanted with hypercharged energy, cleaved through the ethereal bonds, shattering them into a thousand glimmering particles. But even as they dissipated, the fragments reformed, growing back as quickly as they were destroyed, doubling in number.
The Wraith King's violet eyes gleamed with malice. With another gesture, the throne room itself began to change. The ceiling above them warped, extending endlessly upward into an infinite sky of swirling purple and blue spectrums, while the floor beneath them transformed into a bottomless ocean of wailing souls.
"Domain Extension: Afterlife Hell," the Wraith King intoned, his voice booming with divine authority. The very space around them now belonged to him, an extension of his will. "In my domain, all souls are slaves to me."
Hiro's body burns to oblivion as only his soul remains there; a spectrum with lines drawing the edges of his annihilated body, weapon-less. This confused him a second, but it showed the power of the Domain Extension technic.
A hurricane of spectral winds whipped through the room, dragging Hiro off his feet and throwing him toward the black ocean below. The souls, drawn to his life force, screamed in pain and agony as they reached for him, their incorporeal hands pulling him closer to their cold, endless grasp. Hiro struggled to regain his balance, flipping mid-air.
But the Wraith King wasn't done yet.
"Soul Tithe."
The spectral sea beneath Hiro churned violently, and tendrils of pure spectral energy wrapped around his legs, arms, and chest. Each tendril pulsed with an unnatural rhythm, draining Hiro's essence into the swirling abyss.
Hiro's energy was being siphoned every second. Yet, in the midst of this assault, a calm determination washed over him. With a roar, he summoned a surge of power from deep within, shattering the tendrils with an explosion of raw, primal energy.
Understood? Energy coming his creator's soul. Albeit a replica, it was powerful.
The Wraith King's eyes narrowed. "Not, enough..."
With a single, devastating strike, Hiro unleashed his own energy, cutting through the spectral hand in one brilliant flash of light. The hand exploded into thousands of ghostly fragments, dissipating into the swirling winds of the Wraith King's domain. The Wraith King watched, the amusement fading from his glowing eyes.
And while the King was off guard for a second, Hiro shouts the iconic line, "Hypercharge Unleashed!"
Then, his soul erupts into a formidable burst of energy that erased every single lost soul on sight. Without enough essence, the domain extension fell apart...
But so was the terrain around them– having become a star shaped floating island in the middle of the void.
Hiro regains consciousness, the Wraith King, obviously damaged, staring at his burnt armor and pierced chest. His blood was souls and the gore was a galactic liquid.
"So THIS was the attack that annihilated Aurora the Witch..." The King immediately regenerates then looks at Hiro intimidatingly. "Strong, but not enough to make me collapse..." He says.
"Lost Monarch." He chants.
The Wraith King's form expanded, his armor shedding to reveal a figure made entirely of pure spectral energy. His size dwarfed mountains, his body a vortex of swirling souls and lost spirits. His aura was so overwhelming that reality itself bent around him, space folding and twisting in unnatural ways.
The Wraith King transformed into pure energy. And with the reduced battlefield, Hiro will have a much more difficult time dodging his attacks.
A swirling mass of spectral energy warped and darkened around the King, his body elongating, distorting beyond its previous form. The violet glow in his eyes intensified, and slowly, impossibly, a second head began to emerge from his titanic shoulders. This new head was identical to the first but darker, more sinister—its eyes were twin voids of blackness, the absence of all life, sucking in the very light around them.
"Vhros'aan..."
The Wraith King, now two-headed, radiated an aura that made the very realm tremble—this was not just an increase in power, but a summoning of forces older and more dangerous than anything Hiro had faced.
"Sy'thaan Vhros'aan, takara non-ek. Ai'thal toqaren."
The ground beneath them warped, spiraling into an endless abyss, while above, the sky collapsed into a swirling vortex of darkness. Reality itself was folding, as if the Wraith King was rewriting the rules of the universe to his own kin.
"Crown," the second head rasped. The chant quickened. "Koz'seth... Halanak!"
Suddenly, a rift tore through the heavens, revealing the heart of the forbidden spell. A colossal maw, large enough to devour entire worlds, began to form in the center of the void.
"Do you feel it?" the original head of the Wraith King boomed, his voice still possessing that dark charisma. "You will not merely die, Hiro. You will be erased, forgotten even by time!"
The vortex grew larger, pulling in the very essence of the throne room. The walls crumbled into nothingness, the spectral chains dissolved into energy, and even the souls trapped within the Wraith King's form were being drawn toward the rift, their tortured screams fading into the distance as they were consumed.
Hiro felt the pull—an overwhelming force trying to drag him into oblivion. He planted his katana into the crumbling ground, bracing himself against the void's force. His heart pounded, but his eyes remained sharp, focused.
He wasn't about to let this be the end.
With a swift motion, Hiro raised his hand, summoning a barrier of pure, blinding energy. The shield flickered, crackling against the overwhelming power of the spell. But it wasn't enough. The rift's pull intensified, growing stronger with every passing moment.
Then, from the second head, the final words of the spell were uttered.
"Mokai Syth'roth… Devour All."
The maw in the vortex roared to life, an unimaginable force that could tear through dimensions, reaching down toward Hiro.
Time itself was being sucked. But Hiro was ready.
With a roar, he tapped into the deepest reserves of his power, his body glowing with a radiant, white-hot energy. The force of his aura shattered the remaining chains of the Wraith King's domain, pushing back the ever-tightening grip of the vortex.
"If you want to erase me, you'll have to do better than that!" Hiro shouted, his voice cutting through the maelstrom.
Channeling his power into his blade, he raised it high above his head, the very air trembling with the force of his next move. His sword glowed brighter and brighter, until it became a beacon in the collapsing realm, a singular point of pure, unyielding power.
"Hypercharge Unleashed; Oblivion Breaker!!"
With a single, devastating strike, Hiro brought his sword down, sending a beam of pure energy shooting toward the rift. The light cut through the darkness, parting the swirling vortex and severing the connection to the forbidden maw. The force of the attack was so intense that the ground beneath him buckled, and the vortex itself shrieked as it began to collapse in on itself.
The world around them started cracking. Reality was breaking in front of everyone.
And suddenly, The Wraith King holds Hiro with both hands. He was off guard, too focused on destroying the rift that he didn't watch iver the King.
"You are mine. HIRO." The second hand shouts, as the King held Hiro's body with his mere spectral hands.
"Had we met in different conditions, I would have probably befriended you." The first head says.
And then, with a swift motion of his hands, The Wraith King pulls Hiro closer with cataclysmic brute force, he pulls Hiro closer and closer, he tried fighting iver but no success.
"I have fulfilled my mission. It is time for a reset." The two head chant.
And in the next second, Hiro gets pulled inside the King's spectral body. And with the rift having reached its peak velocity. The King himself gets absorbed by the Forbidden Spell.
"HAHAHAHAHA!!!" He laughs, maniacally announcing his victory, and decaying to nothingness.