Third Rebirth: Godsfall Apocalypse

Zarek pointed out a forefinger over his shoulder like he was firing off a gun.

"Bang," he said softly.

A line of Ash came from his fingertip, immediately expanding into an enormous golem Turned. It whirled with an ashy grey-white, like sands whirling in the wind, or a work of art formed of countless dots. It formed the roaring image of swinging scythes and hammering fingers.

BANG!

The big cat Turned ran right into it.

'Hm?'

Zarek's eyes narrowed, and he rolled out of the way. A streak of black made it past the golem as it vanished into the wind.

'A spatial ability? No, not quite. Interesting.'

Zarek wasn't too surprised as he popped back up to his feet, pulling out the lance from its strap on his back.

He activated his second use of \\[Angel Wing Flash], but only for a distance of barely two meters. Slipping to the side of the big cat Turned, he struck out once again.

The sleek creature vanished again.

Zarek's gaze became colder. Usually, meeting such an opponent, he would feel his blood boiling, his excitement hitting a new cap. But instead, his veins seemed only to be growing more icy, his distaste increasing.

He leapt back as he got a better look at the creature. It looked a lot like a panther, shaded in black and shimmering beneath the sunlight before it vanished into the darkness once again.

However, it was smaller than a big cat should have been. It had more the size of a medium-sized dog than a true big cat, being barely a meter or so in length.

This only made it more agile and even faster. Although it was theoretically B Class, its raw speed was probably more of a match for an A Class creature. Without \\[Angel Wing Flash] and his experience, Zarek would have been dead twice over by now.

Zarek's steps came to a grinding halt, his heels lifting up from the ground as his steel-toe boots dug into the soft soil. His amber eyes flashed with a deathly color, streams of Ash coming from the corners of his eyes and the exhale of his lips.

He spun his lance in one hand, flicking out his free wrist and forming a quill in the air. Mnemonic Anato Scribe activated, and Zarek activated Inscribe, drawing out a Matrix for \\[Unholy Beacon] in a single blink.

Suddenly, he felt danger from his back, but he didn't move immediately. Just when it seemed like he would be decapitated from behind with a swipe of the small panther's claw, he vanished, activating \\[Angel Wing Flash] once again.

The small panther was just about to run into the hovering scroll, but when Zarek appeared again, he could sense that it was about to use its jumping Skill one more time.

Unfortunately, its Skill failed. Well, its purpose failed.

Before he vanished, Zarek had activated \\[Sudden Drop]. The sudden vacuum caused all the wind pressure in front of the creature to vanish in an instant. Because of that, the scroll was pulled toward the small panther, slapping against it before it could flash away.

Zarek had used the speed of the small panther against it. And the result was it being marked with its own personal taunting Skill. However… it didn't seem as though anything had happened.

Yet, that didn't seem to stop Zarek from launching himself at the creature and its new location.

He struck out with the lance, his eyes cold and calculating.

The Turned dodged, and yet a line of blood still appeared on its body.

Zarek pulled back again, striking once more.

The Turned tried to make some distance, only for it to still be ripped into.

Once. Twice. Thrice.

Zarek moved like the wind itself, his strikes landing true every time, the speed of the creature seemingly being meaningless to him. And yet, despite how many strikes he landed, the nature to hide and run of the small panther never seemed to activate.

If the creature had been capable of confusion, maybe it would have experienced it. Unfortunately, it wouldn't get the chance.

Zarek's eyes flashed, his Ash formed again, drilling around the lance into a spiral of twisting blades.

The small panther felt the accumulation of energy and immediately decided to flash again.

Zarek seemed to punch a hole through the air with his strike, piercing forward so fast the winds howled and combusted. But he hit nothing but air; the small panther was much too fast.

And yet… Zarek didn't seem to make a follow-up attack.

Slowly, he stood to his full height, relaxing his battle stance as Ash fell around him in a harrowing snowfall.

A distance away, the small panther appeared, only to look down at its body in what would have likely been horror if it had such emotions. Its body was being quickly burned away right in front of it, a hole in its body rapidly expanding in crackling flames.

Soon, it looked like nothing more than burning paper dancing in the wind. As for Zarek's shadow, it gained a new member to replace the wasted golem.

'Not good enough,' Zarek thought to himself.

There was an interesting synergy between taunting Skills and Godsfall. There were some sensory types capable of reversing the flow of taunts, using them against their casters. This was why these Skills were mostly used against unintelligent creatures with poor Charisma.

So, Zarek had wondered. What if he could use his Profession to attach his taunt Skill onto opponents?

Apparently, one answer was that he could completely nullify Skills that should have made you incorporeal. On top of that, speedy opponents would have a very hard time dodging the residual and area-of-effect collateral damage of his Godsfall.

Essentially, this gave his attacks—specifically their Godsfall aspects—a homing ability that was extremely difficult to dodge.

And that was just one aspect.

Axiograft… it was exactly what he had hoped to form from the fusion of his abilities in this life, and so much more at the same time.

Zarek's eyes narrowed, and his head turned in a certain direction. At the end of the swaying plain of tall grass, he saw a rotting creature standing in silence.

'That's not a Turned.'