Level Up Legacy

1300  Birth of A Monster

As the battle above was in full swing, the one below was reaching its climax. Rolan had proved to be a great match against Diana with his ability to change elements from one to another. Her ice shards turned to water with a swing of his hand, and her flames were robbed of oxygen before they died down.

But even though he had those counterattacks and more, Rolan could not land a single hit on Diana, whose speed reached astonishing levels. Her Iceheart Sword, which fueled her spiritual energy, also worked to enhance Soulfire. The flames on her wings burned stronger than any other, acting as the propelling force that allowed her to fly around the battlefield with ease.

In the end, the two clashed with one another at a speed that no one could follow, not even Alaric who was watching the battle unfold. He was analyzing the fight to find weaknesses that Diana could exploit, but he fell short, as everything was ending too fast for him to analyze.

His ability worked wonders, too, as he managed to record the fight and slow it down. Diana was more amazing than he initially believed. Her stats were still at the Deme-Rank, but her speed reached the Astra-rank level or even more. This was unheard of, even in higher worlds, but Alaric had a theory.

Arthur could transcend ranks because of his overflowing spiritual energy. It was generally believed that mana was the force that moved the universe, but mana was just fuel. Spiritual energy determined potential, growth, control, and even mental fortitude. Diana explained earlier that her ice could nourish spiritual energy.

The theory was that even though Diana herself did not have a lot of spiritual energy to begin with, at least not any more than a demi-human would have, she faced certain circumstances that changed that. She used the Isotox, an artifact that separated worlds, as a tool to evolve her abilities and grant herself spiritual energy to survive the gap — of one-hundred-fifty years — that existed between both worlds.

Alaric believed that the cycle was like this: the worlds tried to merge, the Isotox stopped them by gathering the spatial powers gravitating them to one another, and fueled the ice that enclosed Diana for one-hundred-fifty years. If her spiritual energy was growing for all that time, Diana was a monster just the same.

The universe was vast, but Alaric knew that such circumstances were rare enough to be unique in the entire universe. Factors like the method, artifacts, and environment could be replicated, but Diana herself could not be. She was the only person capable of retaining her sanity after waiting for one-hundred-fifty years, and the only one capable of using the spiritual energy to fuel her powers.

Diana flew higher toward the ceiling, raising her hand to summon her Soulfire once more. Fire spears burst from her hands before launching toward Rolan, who began rushing through the pillars and merging with them. Before the flames could strike the pillars, Diana called them back and landed next to Alaric.

"The bastard is using the sand thieves as shields," muttered Diana with a frown while her face was covered with sweat. She was overusing her mana to maintain that astonishing speed, something that Alaric found unnecessary.

"Miss, you can always use spiritual energy to fight him," said Alaric with hesitation before shooting his shot. "If you agree, I can estimate your spiritual energy, as long as you hold my hand."

"Estimate?" muttered Diana with confusion as Rolan was beginning to form after leaving the pillars again, staring at Alaric with confusion. "How would estimating the spiritual energy help us against this opponent?"

"I made some calculations and found out the exact amount of spiritual energy needed for Rolan to lose control over his elements. As long as you fight with spiritual energy, he cannot block nor attack. In the end, you will have the advantage."

Diana seemed doubtful but nodded nonetheless. Alaric was happy to see that her trust in him was growing. She offered her hand, and Alaric activated his ability. A hologram appeared in front of him, showing him how much spiritual energy Diana had. Then, he held her hand. Nôv(el)B\\jnn

Alaric watched the screen, waiting for the result. He could feel the spiritual energy inside Diana to be as abundant as the sea, but he needed an exact figure. After a few moments, the screen changed, and so did his face. Alaric turned aghast, his lips trembling as he saw the result on his screen.

[Spiritual Energy: Error.]

The three words were like thunderclaps in his ears. Alaric had never encountered this problem before, since his ability was at the peak of all analytics abilities in the universe. If he had to guess the reason, it would be that his current spiritual energy in this world was too low for him to estimate hers.

"How is it?" asked Diana, staring at Rolan sending countless attacks toward them.

"You can use it," said Alaric with a nod after swallowing hard. He had to wonder what kind of sick coincidence made two monsters end up together, with enough love between them that they would tear down the world for it.

Diana nodded and grabbed his forearm before flying away, avoiding the attacks and landing on the opposite side. Rolan turned toward them, preparing another volley of attacks to decide this battle. Alaric staggered back as they landed, watching the small woman stand still in the face of elements.

Then, there was a ripple.

After the ripple came an explosion of spiritual energy coming from Diana. The entire hall began to shake. The elements scattered, unable to bear the pressure imposed upon them. Rolan and Alaric fell to their knees, their souls screaming at them to escape. The two men raised their eyes toward the woman who stood expressionless. As beautiful as a goddess, but as terrifying as the devil.

Diana then conjured her sword again while Rolan struggled to rise. Alaric wanted to be a witness, but the spiritual energy inside the hall was multiplying every second, reaching a level where it was hard to breathe. However, he wanted to bear witness to what might be the birth of a monster.