Eight disks formed from a powerful, green current of air hovered above Mama Ipoh's outstretched hand, each one overlapping the next in a mesmerizing spiral. Her arm, steady and resolute, pointed skyward as if commanding the heavens themselves. The air around the disks crackled with intensity, radiating an overwhelming force that sent shivers down Hephaestus's spine. He could feel the sheer might emanating from the swirling disks, each pulse a reminder of the formidable power he now faced.
With a fierce battle cry, Mama Ipoh hurled one of the green disks toward Hephaestus. The air around it roared as the spiraling hurricane surged forward, crackling with unrelenting energy.
The blade of light that had pierced Hephaestus's body and the glowing ring of light that bound him to the tree began to dissolve into radiant sparks, fading into the air. As the bindings vanished, Hephaestus's body tensed, and a sharp glint of realization flickered in his eyes.
I can use my power again! That explains it... I couldn't copy her technique immediately after taking the hit. That blade—and that ring of light—must nullify all powers when they strike. No wonder my blades crumbled to ashes. But now…
A sinister grin spread across his face.
Now, I can do this!
Raising his arm, he roared:
"By the piercing light of dawn, pierce the target in sight… Fūrinjutsu, Hoshi Rank of the First Tier: Piercing Light Fang!"
Mama Ipoh's eyes widened in shock. The first hurricane disk was just seconds away from colliding with Hephaestus, but her thoughts raced.
So, I was right… He really can copy any ability he's hit with!
A blade of light, moving at the speed of light, shot forward from Hephaestus's hand. As it streaked through the air, a glowing ring of light formed on either side of the blade, radiating a powerful, otherworldly energy. The hurricane disk was still closing in, but it hadn't yet reached its target.
Effortlessly, the blade of light collided with the green hurricane disk, dissolving it in an instant. Without losing momentum, the blade surged forward at blinding speed, hurtling toward Mama Ipoh.
The blade pierced through her shoulder with brutal precision, a spray of blood bursting from the wound as she let out a pained cry. The ring of light followed closely, beginning to close around her.
But before it could ensnare her, Mama Ipoh gritted her teeth and, through sheer willpower, hurled all her remaining hurricane disks into the sky. Her scream of defiance echoed, carrying her resolve even as pain wracked her body.
"You thought that would be enough to stop me?" Mama Ipoh growled, her voice brimming with defiance.
With a sharp glare, she reached out and grabbed the blade of light barehanded. Blood trickled from her palm, but her grip was unyielding.
"Piercing Light Fang… A Fūrinjutsu technique that fires a blade of light at its target, forming a ring within the sword to trap and seal the opponent's spiritual energy as long as the ring remains in contact with their body." Her voice was steady, despite the searing pain in her shoulder. "But it has a glaring weakness…"
Her fingers tightened around the glowing blade, veins bulging with inhuman strength. "It's powerless against those naturally strong without relying on spiritual energy!"
With a guttural roar, Mama Ipoh wrenched the blade from her shoulder, sparks flying as her immense force resisted its piercing power. She tightened her grip further, and the blade shattered in her hand, disintegrating into a cascade of luminous sparks. The ring of light dissolved along with it, vanishing into nothingness.
Mama Ipoh smirked through the pain, sweat dripping down her face as her breathing steadied. "Not enough… Far from enough," she said, her voice a quiet but unshakable declaration of resolve.
Hephaestus began walking toward Mama Ipoh, a smirk plastered across his face.
"Well, I can no longer peer into your memories… What a shame," he said mockingly. "But it doesn't matter. I've seen everything I needed to know about your precious country—Sylvanara, the hidden nation of shamans on the planet Verdantia Sanctum. And I know the access point to your country is hidden somewhere… Maybe I should find it, after I've laid your head at my feet. What do you think?"
Despite the pain in her shoulder, Mama Ipoh met his stride, walking toward him with unwavering resolve.
"So, you can only copy one ability at a time," she said coolly, her voice cutting through his arrogance. "And if you want to use another technique you've been hit with, you have to relinquish the previous one, don't you? It must be troublesome for someone like you."
She tilted her head, her gaze sharp and defiant. "But let's be honest—you don't have the criteria to access my country. Even if you somehow stumbled onto Verdantia Sanctum, you're so weak that you wouldn't survive for more than two hours. You have no idea how powerful the spirits on that planet truly are."
Her words hung in the air like a challenge, daring him to respond.
"It's always the same with powerful people like you," Hephaestus said, his tone laced with cold amusement. "Your fire burns so brightly that you can't imagine a tiny spark of light like me might one day devour a forest fire. But mark my words—my ascension to the heavens will begin with your death."
His voice grew colder, more menacing, as his two eyes of arken burned with a determined, murderous fury.
Without warning, his arm morphed into a gleaming red katana, the blade pulsating with an intense, fiery glow. The light emanating from it grew so vivid it seemed to bleed into the air around him.
"Treat others the way you want to be treated," he said, his voice devoid of warmth. "That's what fools say. But for me, it's not a principle—it's my ability. If you strike me with power, you'd better be ready for that same power to bite back."
With a swift motion, he swung the glowing katana through the air. Dozens of blades of light erupted from its arc, slicing through the space between them with deadly precision. Rings of light were already forming within each blade, ready to trap and seal their target.
"Is that so?" Mama Ipoh said, her voice dripping with arrogance. A wide, mocking smile spread across her face. "Then I'll use your same foolish logic for a little while."
She began preparing her next incantation, her hands moving with practiced precision.
"By the light of the first stars, I summon the chains of binding. Fūrinjutsu, Hoshi Rank, Second Tier: Binding of the First Light!"
A brilliant shield of light materialized in front of her, shimmering with ethereal energy. As the blades of light from Hephaestus flew toward her, they were submerged into the shield, vanishing the moment they made contact.
She turned her gaze toward him, her expression cold. "Don't you think it's odd? The incantation says 'chains of binding,' but all you see is a shield. I suppose that's because any projectile that enters the shield transforms into chains of light." She paused, her eyes narrowing with a hint of curiosity. "Now that I think about it… how many blades did you throw?"
Hephaestus's eyes widened, realizing what was about to happen. He reached for another blade of light, but before he could strike, multiple chains of light shot out of the shield as if they had risen from water, wrapping around his limbs and rendering him immobile. The chains sealed his blade as well.
"Another one of your tricks, you sickbed wretch?!" Hephaestus spat, struggling against the chains.
With one hand holding the shield in place, Mama Ipoh raised her other arm into the air, her two fingers pointing toward the heavens.
"If you hate my tricks," she said with a smirk, "you're going to despise my other ones. It's time for the seven remaining disks of hurricane to return."
A powerful current of air whipped through the sky, building in intensity. Hephaestus felt it before he saw it—a blinding green light shot up from the sky, the source of the energy now visible.
Mama Ipoh's smirk widened. "Goodbye, little spirit."
Hephaestus screamed in rage. "God damn it!"
Before he could react, the green light crashed down, and his body was cleaved—not in half, but into multiple pieces. All of his limbs were severed, his form torn apart by the overwhelming force of the hurricane's return.
As the shield of light that Mama Ipoh had been wielding dissipated into sparks, she took a long, deliberate sigh.
"It's time to get a little rough," she muttered to herself.
With a sudden motion, she clapped her hands three times, then began chanting another incantation.
"By the red light of the dark red sea… grant me your destructive power, and erase this miserable insect so that he may be an offering to the dark red sea, to drown in your endless ocean of suffocating heat."
She pointed the palm of her hand toward the multiple severed limbs of Hephaestus scattered on the ground.
"Hametsujutsu of the Third Tier: Red Offering of the Red Sea!"
An intense glow of red light erupted from her palm, surging forward with unimaginable force. The explosion that followed was catastrophic, sending shockwaves through the air.
Viora, who had been watching from a distance, instinctively covered her ears in terror at the deafening sound.
The smoke billowed up thick and dark, but as it began to clear, there was nothing left of Hephaestus. All that remained was a vast, scorched crater where the technique had been unleashed.
The technique had completely annihilated him—his limbs, his body, his very essence—reduced to nothingness.
In an instant, Mama Ipoh had vaporized a 50-meter radius of ground.
"Oh well... I know you told me to only interfere at the very end, but seriously—leaving only a hand behind? That's pretty embarrassing for the self-proclaimed strongest of the ten lower corrupted spirits sent by the wicked follower."
Mama Ipoh's eyes widened in surprise. She lifted her head, searching for the source of the voice.
A boy stood there, his tired eyes half-lidded, as if the scene before him hardly fazed him. He wore a simple white haori, shirtless beneath it, and baggy black pants that hung loosely around his legs, with only sandals on his feet. His eyes shimmered, like mirrors reflecting the world around him—unmoved, yet alert.
His long blond hair cascaded down his back, the ends gently swaying in the breeze, as if he were untouched by the chaos around him.
The boy also held something in his grasp—a severed hand, one of Hephaestus's limbs.
Mama Ipoh stared at him in shock. "Who the hell are you? And how long have you been there?"
Her thoughts raced, still reeling from the unexpected appearance. What the hell? Did he manage to grab one of Hephaestus's limbs and make it to the tree? No... I should have been able to see him, or sense him in some way... Have I grown that weak?
The boy, sitting nonchalantly in the tree, spoke as though the entire situation were beneath his concern.
"I was always there... sometimes just behind you, sometimes right in front of you, sometimes with my hand at your neck... sometimes with my hand at the little girl's neck. But I suppose you didn't notice me," he said, his tone indifferent.
After a brief pause, he added, as though it hardly mattered, "But I might as well tell you this, even though it's pointless. My name is Immemorvis... Immemorvis Obscuritas, one of the ten lower corrupted spirits sent by the followers of the wicked."
Mama Ipoh suddenly felt something gripping her shoulder. She spun around, instinctively throwing a punch at the presence—only to strike nothing. She turned back and found the boy standing right in front of her.
He looked at her with a tired smile. "I jumped down from the tree, walked behind you, placed my hand on your shoulder, and then walked here," he said, casually pointing to the spot where he now stood.
Mama Ipoh's eyes widened in disbelief. "Impossible. You were still in the tree... how could you be that fast?"
Immemorvis tilted his head slightly, his expression still nonchalant. "Impossible? It's not impossible... Your mind simply can't perceive what lies beyond your limits."
chapter thirty-seven end
{after chapter poem}
They say that to be forgotten, one must die,
But you can be forgotten while still living.
Everyone, everything, will eventually fade away.
Not even the most powerful, the richest man, can escape this fate—
Not even gods.
To live is to know that one day,
You will be forgotten,
And you will forget your own existence.
To die is to be forgotten.
But as for me, it doesn't matter—
I cannot be perceived by the souls of others.
When I, and all others, fade into oblivion,
We will go to the place of the forgotten—
Residing in pure darkness,
Laying at peace in the forgotten shadow forever,
And beyond that.
It doesn't matter how long we sleep in that darkness—
Time means nothing for those who are forgotten.