The Seraphic System
Chapter: 15
Notice: I've started up a pa/ t reon with four chapters in advance, details at the bottom of the chapter if you're interested I'll keep posting regardless
(The Tempest Deva - Part 1)
Groaning as my whole body flared with pain that was gradually dulling as my regeneration fixed my body, I had to wonder what the fuck had just happened. I rubbed away the dust that was getting in my eyes.
The impact that had hit me had contained magic, and thus it had bypassed my physical immunity.
Damn it, I had been inches away from collecting the object of my mission only to feel something large slam into my body and break most of my bones.
Then I was flying through many different walls and found myself here.
Pushing a massive piece of concrete off me, I got up and looked around only to stare flabbergasted. I wasn't in the mansion anymore, looking at the mansion now it had been wrecked and several houses in a straight line leading to me all looked ruined.
I'm pretty sure all the guards that were in the mansion are dead.
That wasn't what was the source of my bafflement, though. The titanic serpentine form towering over the mansion itself was. Its eyes were lazily gazing at me as if my existence meant little to it.
The storm above it seemed to swirl around the large serpent's body as the central point. The harmless rain earlier had stopped and was replaced with thunderbolts that struck out randomly every few seconds.
Houses in the distance were on fire and the sound of sirens could be heard. Screams of terrified humans scrambling away in their cars, all of this created an apocalyptic atmosphere.
'Appraisal'
{Name: Namara}
{Title: The Tempest}
{Race: Deva}
{Power level: 12000}
Oh.
Well, shit.
I guess the mission was a failure then. I didn't sign up to fight whatever this was meant to be. On the bright side, it was a good experience and something I could learn from.
The serpent which I had now identified as Namara still lazily gazed at me. A brief look at the hovering tail that had lightning crackling through it showed me what had sent me flying through several buildings.
Yep, I'm out. With that in mind, I turned around and booked it out of there. Unsurprisingly, Namara didn't stay still, as he immediately reacted to my attempt to escape. By sending a fucking bolt of lightning thicker than the Eiffel Tower down in front of me.
The sheer force of the attack sent a shockwave that made me skid back a few inches and eviscerated the alleyway and surrounding buildings I had planned to escape from.
A resounding ground-shaking boom reverberated through the air, which made me wince at its sheer volume. I paused and slowly turned back towards him.
"You think you can escape me, child?" He spoke.
His voice oddly enough wasn't angry or even had any emotion at all, not what I expected since I had tried to rob his weapon of power. I'm sure it was pretty valuable to him.
The voice itself sounded tired. Maybe apathetic was a better word? It rumbled through the sky like the lighting he had just blasted a shot of down at me. I frowned at him.
"I don't suppose we can just call it a day and go our separate ways?" I asked with a casual shrug.
The large serpent's eyes bore down on me as its opened maw revealed its sharp teeth, followed by the abyss of its mouth.
"Amusing, it won't change your fate, but I guess I'll spare my time to play with you a bit, it's been a few months since the previous attempt at theft, and you even managed to get into the vault. Congratulations." He spoke boredly but with a bit of an amused drawl at the end.
"Don't suppose I can get a consolation prize for my efforts?" I responded while looking for a way I could get some cover and escape.
"You have a valid point, I guess I shall give you the mercy of a quick death? How does that sound?" Despite his words, he didn't seem interested in, well, anything going on at the moment.
I put on a mock thinking pose, as if I were pondering on something difficult.
"That's generous, but I believe I will have to decline, maybe we can arrange it at a later date?" I responded.
A genuine snort of amusement was all I got in return before the sky lit up. Shit, I guess the peace talks were over. The lightning crackled in the sky as multiple swords of lightning formed in the air, each big enough to match a bus.
I think I'm seriously out of my depth here.
The lightning swords suddenly shot down at insane speeds, they all left streaks of light trailing behind. Summoning all my strength, I jumped away with a boom and unfurled my four pairs of golden wings.
A massive sword of lightning predictably struck where I was just standing, melting everything around it from the sheer heat and leaving small static shocks dancing around from the residue of the lightning sword.
Namara observed with a detached air, his lack of enthusiasm evident in his demeanor as I quickly avoided each of the eight lightning swords. The scene repeated itself much like the first, leaving behind a trail of destruction in its wake.
My eyes narrowed, I didn't want to fight but it seemed to be the only way I would be able to buy myself time to think of a solid escape plan. Light burst outwards from me.
Two copies appeared, one on either side of me, and I created an intense burst of light, temporarily blinding Namara. I took this time to use quite a bit of effort to make my body disappear and created another clone of myself as a replacement.
The light died down slowly as I stopped channelling energy, and I saw Namara's eyes only half shut, looking a tiny bit more interested.
My copies ran to either side of him, making him look at them lazily before giving an insidious-looking smirk that looked improper on his serpentine face. The large rows of teeth certainly didn't make it any better.
He stopped paying attention to them after a moment of staring and looked directly at me.
"Impressive, it may have even worked if I couldn't smell your scent and hear your movement. Something your clones don't possess." He started casually, which made me nod.
I had suspected that would happen. It was worth a shot anyway, and I hadn't expended a lot of mana on the clones themselves. Snapping my finger, the clones dissipated.
I guess I'll stick to more direct attacks, forming a ball of holy light that shimmered into existence, I quickly sent it at Namara as more of a probing attack. Not to say the attack was weak, it had a decent amount of power in it.
The ball of holy light shined ethereally, this tended to happen when I added holy power to my attacks. I let the ball shoot towards him.
Namara's large form suddenly moved. The large serpent was faster than he should be allowed to be with such a massive body. He bent his serpentine body and let the ball of light fly past him.
The ball itself exploded somewhere in the distance, but I didn't pay too much attention to it. I propelled myself away as Namara's tail flattened the building I was standing on a few seconds later.
Four Light spears formed around me, each packed with a nice serving of holy light, which made the air around the light spears burn from the sheer heat. I shot one directly at him and made the other curve around either side of him for a pincer attack.
I didn't stay idle as this happened either as I slammed to the ground and used Mokuton. Roots swirling up and wrapped around his large form in an attempt to stop his movement.
I wasn't surprised when lightning spears appeared around his body and fired into all my light spears. The attacks collided and both exploded in a massive display of light.
Namara's interest remained mild at best as I gave him a grin, and suddenly, a large light spear emerged from the ground, striking him squarely under the chin. His head jerked upwards, and I took this chance to fly away.
I quickly distanced myself from him before Namara regained his composure. A colossal pillar of lightning surged from the sky, accompanied by a strong gale that impeded my flight, slowing my speed down noticeably.
The massive pillar of lightning barely missed me, and I felt a small shock travel through my body from the static surrounding it. I shook it off and dived out of the way as a tail swung at me.
I understood he wasn't being serious, even if it annoyed me that even after all my training, I was still being outclassed like this. He didn't even seem to be bothered by my attempt at stealing his weapon of power.
There was also the fact he was a warrior who had been alive for thousands of years. I doubt even my prodigy perk which allowed me to learn things that took years in mere months would allow me to breach that gap so soon.
The tempest Deva's attacks didn't end there. Namara, now sporting a burn on his chin, unleashed a barrage of hundreds of smaller lightning bolts, each crackling with power.
Weaving through the hectic and unpredictable bolts of lightning, I grit my teeth as I was hit with the static shocks as they passed by.
As I kept dodging through the bolts of lighting raining down on me, a lightning bolt finally struck me, causing my muscles to spasm painfully as I gritted my teeth and endured the shock.
Namara took this time to slap me out of the sky with his tail. Once again, I was sent spiralling down through several buildings. I had acted in time and used my quirk Hardening to offset some of the damage.
Fortunately, he hadn't infused his tail with lightning this time, so while I still went flying through the air, I emerged unharmed. Something I saw him instantly note as his eyes sharpened for a second before becoming apathetic again.
Deactivating my quirk. I shot Namara a glare, irritation coursing through me. Bursting out from the rubble that was partly on top of me, I fixed my gaze on the passive Tempest Deva.
I had been conserving mana to avoid exhaustion and potential danger, but it seemed I had no choice now but to attack seriously. Namara's lack of seriousness would work in my favour.
It also didn't help that now I realised I didn't have many offensive skills apart from Light Embodiment and Mokuton. With Murasame destroyed, I couldn't even properly use Sun Breathing.
"You're quite the impressive child, aren't you? Not that it'll change the outcome of this little scuffle we are having, but impressive nonetheless." He spoke as he slithered over me.
I surveyed the once-quiet city, now partially engulfed in flames, with debris scattered everywhere from stray attacks and the numerous lightning bolts that missed me.
Namara's mere presence caused destruction, flattening buildings with every movement his large body performed, while he was indifferent to the destruction he caused.
I could see why Shanu was worried about this guy, this situation was getting out of hand. Shanu wasn't going to be happy about all the destruction and deaths this had undoubtedly caused.
Enhancing my body with chakra, I didn't respond to his idly musings as I shot towards him. This got me a curious look from Namara as he almost looked amused at the idea of me trying to physically fight him.
When I got close to him and saw his tail begging to rise for another swipe at me, chains of lights burst from my body fast enough to impress an Uzumaki and quickly wrapped around the large form of Namara.
I needed to get closer, so my chains would be stronger. I could have launched the light chains from a distance, but Namara could have easily evaded or destroyed them with his magic.
The hundreds of chains did their best to restrict Namara's movement as he began resisting it.
Dozens of chains tore apart as his body pulled against them, As Namara's powerful form strained against the chains of light, I focused my energy, channelling all the vines underground.
With a quick motion, I placed my hands down on the ground and summoned forth tendrils of vine imbued with chakra. The wooden tendrils surged forward, intertwining with the chains of light and reinforcing their hold on Namara's massive frame.
Knowing that the light chains and chakra-infused wood wouldn't last long, I didn't waste any time and gathered a large amount of light in my outstretched hand.
Thanks to my adept rank in light embodiment, I could shape it into a large construct. Which I did, and I forced it to take the form of a giant hammer.
Namara's eyes looked at it in intrigue, and his tail lit up with lighting as all the chains around his tail slowly shattered.
Swinging the large construct around to gain momentum, my hammer struck at him which he predictably swiped at with his tail. The hammer and his lightning-infused tail struck, creating a massive shockwave from the impact.
I didn't waste time and formed two giant light spears that shot at The Tempest Deva blocking my hammer construct. He in turn matched me with lightning spears of his own.
I backed off as Namara destroyed all the chains binding him. Opening his maw, a focused shockwave erupted out and shot at me. The invisible force harmlessly passed over me. I retaliated back by sending two giant rods of light back at him.
"So my suspicions were correct, how curious. An ability to negate all physical attacks, perhaps?" Namara mused as thunderbolts flashed from the sky and intercepted my light rods.
"I don't suppose I can just settle this was a somewhat heartfelt apology for trying to steal your weapon?" I asked halfheartedly.
I sent a rotating ball of condensed holy light at him for good measure. I didn't expect Namara to accept, after all. A powerful gust of air that ripped apart buildings with ease sent the ball back towards me.
Taking control of the ball of holy light, I sent it circling back to Namara now with double the momentum than before. A lightning spear once again formed and met the ball midair, causing a large explosion.
Namara snorted and responded to my not-quite-serious question with a lazy raise of his tail and the tip pointed at me. Lightning sparked and a large stream of lighting burst out chaotically, somewhat going in a straight path with random diversions.
The stream of miniature lightning bolts heading straight for me with tremendous speed. Judging by the way it was melting and destroying everything it touched, that wasn't a good sign.
"I've grown tired of playing with you, feel honoured that you held my interest for this long," Namara said, but I didn't feel any pride in his voice.
Uh oh, it looks like we were getting serious. Despite the powerful attacks being thrown around, we hadn't been doing more than probing each other.
Surprisingly, his form shrunk, a weird sight as the large titanic serpent shrunk into the form of a man. I was also confused. Why was he shrinking into a human form?
'Appraisal'
{Name: Namara}
{Title: The Tempest}
{Race: Deva}
{Power level: 9965}
I felt myself grow even more baffled, his power level had shrunk a good bit too. It made no sense for him to give up of his power.
The only advantage I could see was him gaining a smaller body which meant a smaller target but compared to the sheer strength his large form provided him with. I didn't see the trade-off.
Now in his humanoid form, descended from the air from which his body had shrunk gracefully and stood atop a colossal piece of rubble, likely once a grand mansion given its immense size.
Namara had lightly tanned skin with spiky black hair and piercing electric blue eyes that were slightly slitted, which currently held a bored expression as he gazed at me.
His shoulders were slumped, making him look disinterested and uncaring for everything around him. A certain look in his eyes caught my attention as I examined his new form.
Eyes I could now read much easier than his serpent eyes. They held something that I felt myself understand deeply. It gave a weird sense of familiarity which confused me.
"Come, boy, since you wanted to steal my weapons, let me give you a first-hand view of how they should be used," Namara spoke in that same almost uncaring way.
Ah. So that's why he changed into his human form. Strangely enough, this only increased my wariness of Namara. Suddenly, I felt my instincts scream as I looked at a piece of shattered glass behind Namara who stood silently.
I enhanced myself with as much chakra as I could manage in such a short time frame and pushed myself away. My form blurred away, and I felt something cut my cheek as two familiar-looking weapons came slicing through the air behind me.
The Tempest Chakrams now held a faint shimmer of blue light around them as they came flying towards their owner. He almost in a lazy manner caught the two blades, one in each arm.
Lightning crackled in the sky, heralding his intentions, as the surrounding storm intensified tenfold. The winds send debris of where our fight flying around. I wasted no time and appraised the weapons.
Tempest Chakrams
Forged from the celestial winds themselves, the Cyclonic Chakrams are dual-edged, razor-sharp discs that embody the chaotic essence of Namara, the Tempest Deva.
Material: Crafted from a combination of ethereal alloys and storm energies, these chakrams exhibit an ever-shifting, swirling pattern resembling miniature cyclones. The edges of the chakrams are razor-sharp, capable of effortlessly cutting through earthly and celestial matter alike.
Control Over Storms: When wielded by Namara, the Cyclonic Chakrams enhance the Deva's control over storms. With a mere flick of the wrist, Namara can command the chakrams to summon thunderstorms, tornadoes, or hurricanes with precision, unleashing destructive forces upon its adversaries.
Aerial Mobility: The chakrams are not just weapons but extensions of Namara's serpentine form, capable of hovering and manoeuvring independently. This grants the Tempest Deva unparalleled aerial mobility, allowing it to swiftly navigate both terrestrial and aerial realms.
Storm Empowerment: Upon contact with storm-related phenomena, the Cyclonic Chakrams absorb and amplify the energy, becoming even more formidable in the presence of turbulent weather. Namara can harness this stored power to unleash devastating attacks or create protective barriers.
Sonic Disruption: When thrown, the chakrams emit a thunderous sonic pulse, disorienting and incapacitating foes caught in its wake.
No wonder Shanu wanted me to take these things away from Namara, here I thought Murasame had been a decent starter sword.
He stared at me for a second, then he moved. Much faster than he had before, he blurred over the rubble and reached me. I backpedalled away as all I could do to narrowly avoid the swing to my jugular.
I didn't escape unharmed as his other Chakram blade cut deeply into my forehead. I sent a powerful light spear at him to get some space as I confusedly touched my forehead.
Why did he hit me there? Suddenly, I understood as blood started pouring from my forehead into my eyes, the cut healed itself, but the blood was still there. Clever, he cut my forehead, so the blood would obscure my vision.
I didn't have much time to think, as he was back in my personal space. I formed a spear of light and attempted to block the incoming strike, only for the Chakrams to cut through the light spear with only a brief pause.
The energy in the spear destabilised and exploded, sending us body skidding back.
I struck my palm toward him, unleashing an explosion of pure holy light. The mass of superheated light burned everything it touched and shot toward Namara.
The Tempest Deva opted to jump back onto another building, avoiding the searing energy as it burned a path through the city. I winced a little as the energy hit an orphanage.
Shanu was going to give scold the fuck out of me. God damn it, maybe I should just let Namara kill me to avoid it?
Namara didn't stay idle and threw one of the Chakrams towards me, the circular blade left a streak of blue light arcing behind it as it shot straight towards me. I flew up, and annoyingly the blade turned direction to chase me.
I launched a light bomb at it, knocking it off course momentarily, but the blade circled back to me. I couldn't focus on it for too long as I had to dodge a bolt of lightning from Namara.
Then he was beside me and I felt a sharp pain as he struck my lower tendons. I managed to send a crude jab at him with my left fist that he skillfully avoided. I summoned a spear of light and shot it at him.
Namara cut through it and spun, sending the Chakram at my neck which I barely avoided. I felt his knee drive into my stomach as he kicked me through a building, he got up close again, and I'm pretty sure he realised it was my weakness.
Something I would have to solve in the future. I backed away and sent light chains at him, followed by a large light circle that tore through the air towards him. Ducking under the other Chakram that had just circled back.
Namara destroyed the chains easily with a few swipes of his Chakram blade cutting through them. He casually caught the other blade from the air, and I braced myself.
The two Tempest Chakrams began glowing and suddenly the surrounding air began spinning. Suddenly, I felt a strong wind pick up, swirling around me faster and faster. Before I knew it, I was caught in the centre of a rapidly forming tornado.
Reacting quickly, I flew out of it just as it properly formed and started to get stronger. It attempted to draw me in with the powerful suction the tornado was creating.
Large pieces of debris flew past me, whipped up by the intense winds. I watched entire piles of collapsed rubble from ruined buildings effortlessly picked up within the tornado. Turning it into a massive grinder.
Massive rocks started slamming into me, not able to do any damage, but it was annoying and my view of Namara was quickly being obscured.
A dim light caught my attention and I dodged just as one of the blades came right past my neck. A leg appeared a moment and smashed my face hard enough to cave it in, sending me flying away.
Spreading my wings out, I righted myself in the air, my face regenerated, and I glared at the floating Namara who had his arms crossed.
"How curious, some sort of regenerative ability? I wonder how much it can take. You're impressive boy, you have the potential to rise into the realm of gods with all the abilities you've displayed to me thus far." Namara complimented me and I listened while looking for a way out.
"I don't suppose you've had a change of heart? I think we've taken it far enough." I gestured to the half destroyed city with a raging tornado rampaging around.
I wasn't too upset by it, but I would rather not continue this needless slaughter. My angelic instincts wanted me to go down and help the humans, who were crying in despair as rocks fell on top of them.
"No, your fate will still meet its end here today. It's merely a shame you decided to make the foolish decision to try to steal from me. As for the mortals, their lives have no meaning, in the end, their deaths will have minimal effect on the world." He replied.
"Strange, the stories depicted you said that you used to cherish human life, I can't help but wonder what happened." I said idly fishing for information, mostly so I could get some wiggle room with Shanu.
Finally, I got the first true reaction from Namara, a minute widening of his eyes before his expression went back to his apathetic state.
"That doesn't concern you." He replied dismissively.
"I disagree, considering it's the reason I'm here. To take away the weapon of power from an evil deva. I understand that look." I spoke carefully, noticing him flinch minutely.
Namara's eyes narrowed and his lips thinned.
"Perhaps betrayal? No. You don't have the anger. Or maybe it was the death of a lover?" I questioned calculatingly, watching his expression closely, I noticed the pain that flashed in his eyes.
Bingo.
I felt sympathetic for him, beyond my angelic instincts, I knew the kind of pain he was in. I had grown a lot colder in this new life, I've done some horrific acts even, but I truly felt sympathy.
He just looked so defeated, even with all that power and wealth.
"You know, I doubt she would approve of this." I spoke, maybe with a bit of emotional manipulation I could make his emotions distract him. A small edge but an edge nonetheless.
Namara's eyes sharpened, and he became more focused than he had been since the battle had started.
"It's a shame, maybe if you didn't lack any training in hand-to-hand combat or had some sort of weapon, you may have been able to contend with me." Namara spoke somewhat melancholy.
The Tempest Chakrams crackled with lightning. Namara raised his arm and a gigantic pillar of light came exploding down. The speed was multitudes faster than all his other attacks, which made dodging impossible.
I hastily formed a barrier of light around me that instantly started cracking under the powerful attack. The cracks let in small shocks that made my body spasm and weakened the shield further, which in turn let in more bolts before I was gritting my teeth in pain.
As the lightning faded, I barely had a moment to lift my arm before a forceful kick knocked me back. My arms throbbed in pain, then dulled to numbness moments later.
Namara shot through the air towards me, and behind me, hundreds of light spears materialised behind me and I commanded them to rain down onto Namara, forcing him to evade and retaliate with lightning spears of his own.
I quickly opened my inventory and grabbed Manasa's stone. I hadn't forgotten about it, but I had been hoping to avoid a fight, which now seemed a certainty considering there was a barrier covering the whole of the city.
Pushing a bit of mana in the stone I felt Manasa's unique signature pulse.
Looks like the true battle had begun.
-END-
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