Epoch: A Berserker's Rise

Chapter 241: Baphomet

Seeing he wouldn't be able to rely on his domain much, Tazolos gritted his teeth and sent a big fireball at Adam. However, as it went past his domain and entered Adam's, it quickly got weakened, and in the end it was extinguished before it could even touch Adam.

Adam shook his head and said "Now I see what you have sacrificed. You no longer have your Essence, do you?"

Tazolos' face turned grave, but he said nothing and rushed toward Adam. Adam shook his head, he was best at melee fight, and Tazolos still chose to close up the distance.

Domains would dilute a little with distance, and the closer one was to the origin of the domain, the stronger it would be. As such, Tazolos' domain was getting weaker and weaker as he came closer to Adam.

When he was one hundred meters away from Adam, his Domain had been suppressed to only one meter, and when he entered within ten meters of Adam, his domain could only stick to his skin.

Then, Adam used the First Stance of the Eternal Art, bringing Tazolos to the ground.

Gravity Press!

Tazolos, even though he was very strong and could fight against the gravity, it would multiply his flying cost by many times, so it simply wasn't worth it.

However, the moment he touched the ground, Adam switched to the Third Stance of the Eternal Art, the one he hadn't had the opportunity to use against the demons.

Absolute Space!

Suddenly, Tazolos felt as if he was cut by a thousand swords, he felt like every part of his body was being slashed by a singular sword. The pain was immense, and in an instant Tazolos was covered in his own blood.

The cuts weren't deep, most were superficial even, but they still bled and made Tazolos look much worse than he actually was.

But the real attack wasn't in the immediate damage, as after the first sword strikes, another appeared. Tazolos tried to move, and found it especially easy. Moreover, as he moved forward, the cuts at the front of his body were nullified.

However, he found out those in his back were doubled in power, making even bigger cuts. Tazolos growled "What kind of devious attack is this?!"

He tried to move a few more times, but every try would result in the same way. Fortunately for Tazolos, Adam didn't have infinite Qi, and so he was forced to stop so he wouldn't have his energy depleted.

When Adam stopped, Tazolos' skin had already completely, leaving his flesh bare. Even his flesh and his muscles were in a bad state. As the attacks ceased, Tazolos tried to heal, but he found out there was an energy that made healing himself much harder than it should be.

Adam grinned and with a wave of his hand, rain began to fall around them. The moment one of those raindrops hit him though, Tazolos almost cried out in pain, and he understood those weren't mere drops of water, but some kind of acid!

He quickly used his domain to shield himself from the attack, sighing in relief. However, that could only be a temporary solution as every time a drop hit his domain, it would sap a little of his power. He couldn't help but look at Adam like he was a monster, he didn't understand how he could be so powerful.

But what shocked him was when he felt the space around him freeze, he recognized this feeling, the last time he felt it was when Adam cut off his legs.

Understanding he only had a few instants left, Tazolos hurriedly stabbed his own chest with his hand, and took out his still beating heart. Under Adam's shocked eyes, Tazolos squeezed the heart so hard it turned into meat paste.

As he did, Adam felt the surrounding space twist, and two rifts appeared, out of which a pair of doors appeared. Those doors were metallic, and adorned with jewels. They definitely would be beautiful if it weren't for the carvings of demons eating humans' insides.

The doors were opened, and a demon of the same race as Tazolos appeared. Adam could feel a powerful aura coming from the demon, but it was nothing compared to what was behind the door. Whatever was on the other side was vastly more dangerous than this demon, who could even make Adam feel danger.

The demon's red eyes turned to Tazolos, who looked like an old man now. Even his red skin turned paler, and the aura of his body turned fainter. Tazolos said with a weak voice "Lord, I sacrificed my vitality for you to kill this man."

The demon grunted "What a useless demon, if it weren't for the command of the Higher One, I wouldn't even come close to your disgusting aura, even if you gave me all your life."

Tazolos didn't seem to mind the humiliation as he said "As long as my Lord kills this Northman, I will make sure to put in a good word for you in front of the Ancestor."

The demon sneered "While you may be useless, you sure made a powerful enemy. I never heard of a someone breaking through the Second Restriction while being a mere Silver Rank. Before we fight, I wish to know your identity."

Adam put his sword against his shoulder, he had already stopped his earlier blow, and he said "I am Adam Collins, strongest human on Earth, also known as the adventurer Valiant Heart, or the Aqua Sovereign."

The demon replied "I am Baphomet, one of the Demon Kings under the Higher One, the great Sin of Wrath, Satanas. What you see is one of my clones, and I am here under the request of the Higher One."

Adam nodded and said "I see. Before our battle" Adam's domain contracted around Tazolos, who became much weaker because of the sacrifice, and sent him into the ground. He said "I don't want any nuisance, nor do I want to search for him after our fight."

Baphomet shrugged "As long as he is not dead." As he said that, a black flame burst out of his body, and Adam felt the danger coming from Baphomet rise to an unprecedented peak.

Baphomet threw a big ball of black fire toward Adam. The later could feel that this attack had gone way past the cap of Hero strength, it came from a bona fide Legend.

With a wave of Adam's hand, the space in front of him started to distort as it absorbed the black flame, making it appear right behind Baphomet.

Baphomet raised an eyebrow as he dispersed the flames with another wave of his hand and said "Interesting, I haven't fought against a spatial expert for quite some time. But weren't you supposed to be an Aqua Sovereign?"

Adam smiled and their surroundings started chilling as a snowstorm appeared around them. At the same time, a tide appeared below them, out of which one could see sharks swimming around.

Baphomet said "Impressive, despite only being a Concept, you are able to use all the potential of your power of understanding to rival an early Essence. Unfortunately, that isn't enough."

As he said that, their surroundings suddenly turned hotter as the sea below them was evaporated, and the snowflakes didn't take long to suffer from the same fate. Replacing the sea of water were now black flames, while the snowstorm turned into a firestorm. In under a second, all the water elements around them had been turned into fire ones, and their power were even stronger now.

Adam frowned and asked "Is this the power of an Essence?"

Baphomet suddenly toward Adam, who was only able to see him thanks to his improved reaction time. Adam moved to the side, barely dodging a deadly punch. The space behind the punch had been ruptured open, and a huge rift several kilometers long had been opened in the sky.

Baphomet said "While you may have achieved the power of an Essence, it is of the weakest Essence. This body only has the power of an Intermediate Basic Essence, but it is more than enough to leave you no chance of survival. Even an Early Basic Essence could defeat you though."