Chapter 22 - Blinding Light

Trusting Roan to Aruna, and that Farvakhin found a way to escape, I narrowed all of my focus on one thing. The Leviathan. Finally finishing its growth I watched the head piercing the skies, surpassing even the clouds. Throughout its expansive body multitudes of arms sprouted, each at least the size of a tree. Even though its eyes were higher than the heavens, I could easily make out its malice. I grinned at the enormous ant. Its monstrous frame would just give me more to slice apart. Letting loose a roar that dispersed even the clouds, the Leviathan lunged at me with an infinite force. Noting the destruction its weight caused to the Earth, I ran under its attack, jumping up and punching its belly.  Watching it rocket through the air from the force of my punch, I gave it no time to gather itself before I was already launching another attack. Stabbing my blade as deep into the Leviathan's scales as I could, I used its body as an anchor, doing my best to keep myself from looking at the ground. It would be a long drop. Fwoom!!! The Leviathan blasted 3 of its skyscraper arms in my direction. Unequip. Aiming for one of the arms, I was free-falling through the air. Don't miss. I quickly realized that I had misjudged how far away his arms were. Still miles away from me, it became obvious that I had made my fall too early. Spreading my body as much as I could, I tried to maximize the air resistance keeping my body suspended in the air. His arm's getting closer! REACH!!! Even as I landed on the edge of one of its claws, the force of my impact threatened to send me flying again. It took all of my strength to remain on his claw. Reinforcing the Leviathan's insane size. I was just a speck on his claw, the stubbles of his hand appearing as if they were mountains. In just a few seconds, it had grown big enough to be considered its own continent. Its size just didn't make sense. Equip. I ran to the edge of the claw, stabbing my sword into its hand. Jerking from the pain, the Leviathan flung me through the air. Perfect!!! My plan the entire time was to get onto its back. I didn't expect it to work so well though. As a baby, it must have a hard time controlling its emotions. Now seeing it from this direction, I saw it had sprouted 4 enormous wings sometime after my assault. It flung me really high though. Thud! With a groan, I grimaced at my small victory. All of this pain just to get on his back. The impact forced me to cough blood, I spent a second trying to hold my guts in. I had to get to its eyes... even with how ungodly gargantuan the beast is, it should still have that weakness. FIght, Miko!!! Forcing myself to my feet, I quickly turned my hobble into an all-out sprint as a message flashed across my face. 10 seconds until the fury counters reset. Shit!!! Staring at the vast expanse blurring past me, I tried to push myself even faster. Even though I currently worked in a world of milliseconds, I still knew I didn't have enough time. This powerup won't last long, and it's as the cat said. He purposefully set this up to maximize my strength against the Leviathan. If I waste too much time, just the flap of its mighty wings could kill me. I can't let the death of Farvakhin's civilization be wasted. Screaming with a new resolve, I reached a new gear. My surroundings couldn't even be described as a blur. It was as if I was moving so fast that existence itself was lagging behind me. But would it be enough? Sprinting past endless scales, it felt as if every step I took cleared another universe. And it still wouldn't be enough. Hiss!!! Steam started bursting out from the cracks of his scales, covering his entire back. Making it impossible to see, even with my enhanced senses. If I lost my direction, I would end up sprinting right off the Leviathan, hurling to my doom. Dropping to the ground, I began coughing up gallons of blood as my insides twisted against each other. It felt like... no... He can't be here... Forcing myself through the pain, I lifted my head to see Vakash. With a blinding speed he kicked my jaw, sending me flying. Promptly using his telekinesis, he slammed me into the scales. As he walked forward, the pressure was too much for me to even stand. It took all of my strength to lift myself onto one knee. Trying to use it as support to push the rest of my body up, Vakash voided all my efforts with a flick of his hand. As my body hurled to his clutches, I realized a key fact. This wasn't Vakash. It was an illusion. Well, not exactly an illusion, his hand squeezing my throat was very real. Gasping for breath, I kept one thought on my mind. Equip! My system wasn't listening to me. Where is my sword? Out of options, I was forced to stare at Vakash's malicious grin. As black specks flashed across my brain, my only thought was that even a fake version of him needed to die. Unable to access my sword, I tried to use some of the martial arts Aruna taught me. Pushing my forearm into his shoulder to create tension, I wrapped my other arm around his, using the pressure to force him to let me go. Before I even dropped to the ground, I was already getting low in an attempt to tackle him. An attempt he couldn't even challenge. As we sprawled over the scales, I was already getting onto my feet so that I would have superior leverage. He couldn't even react as I jutted my elbow against his neck, grabbing his arm and preparing to roll him. Very quickly I got him into an armlock. Then he dissipated in a puff of steam, just as quickly as he had appeared. Sighing a breath of relief, a sudden pressure returned fear into my being. Looking ahead, I saw 5 more Vakash illusions approaching me. Suddenly inflated with rage, I screamed "Equip!" The surprise of my sword appearing in my hand didn't even phase me. I was too mad that the real Vakash, the stronger Vakash, was out there somewhere, and yet I still felt these fakes were a challenge to me. Has my training been for nothing? That was something I couldn't allow. These 5 had to die. Looking to strike first and put on the pressure, I bolted to one of the clones. He easily parried my strike. Realizing I had let them flank me, I silently cursed myself even as I became a blur of metal and flesh. Once again, my body was moving on its own, blocking strikes from all 5 of them at the same time. 5 seconds until Fury counters reset. Killing the first clone didn't reset the timer... I can't sit here playing defense then. Lowering my guard, I invited their strikes. As a sword pierced my thigh, I took the opening to slice the clone's head off, returning him to his earlier state as steam. Paying no mind to the injury, I pushed my focus onto the next target. I still had to put up some defense for now, or I would be overwhelmed. But the more I focused on his movements, the more openings I saw. As my arm was impaled, another clone died. 3 left. Swish! Barely dodging a sword that threatened to cut my head clean in 2, I tackled the assailant, positioning his body so that it would be impaled by his comrade's strike. Smiling, I kicked my boot through the steam, knocking the clone back. They would pay for being so aggressive. Red. Staring at the lone clone, my vision turned red. I looked down to see a sword piercing my stomach. He pulled the sword out, leaving my blood to fall to the scales, where it heated until it became steam. Ignoring the pain, I turned around with a fury and sliced him in 5 separate locations. As his dismembered body slid amongst itself, he returned to steam. One left then. I turned around to face him and saw thousands of Vakash. What the hell is the power of the Leviathan!? The recklessness of my plan finally brought my punishment to fruition, forcing me to fall to my knees as all of my energy faded away. Fury counters reset. As if my injuries weren't enough. Flashing a malicious grin, Vakash raised his sword to my neck, assuming the role of an executioner. No matter how hard I tried to raise my sword, to fight back, my body wouldn't respond. "Kid, must I do everything for you?" My eyes grew wide at that familiar voice. The one that took control of my body against the orc, the one that guided me to saving the princess. Who was my savior? "I'm the system, kid. More than that, I'm a part of you now. We are intertwined." The... system? "Yes, kid. That is what I said. Know what, we don't have time for this. The Leviathan is going to devour the world, and you're busy frolicking with his ghosts. Just let me take over." What? Take ov- His voice took over my body again, saying "Release." Ancient skill- Release.Consume any amount of souls.For each soul consumed, your stats will be increased by 10% for 30 seconds.532,723 souls selected.