Chapter 150:
Title:Crosses Above and Below
The battlefield had grown quiet but only for a breath.
Above Huey, the black rods still hovered like spears of judgment, suspended in the air by an unseen will. The wind whistled as they remained perfectly still, casting elongated shadows over the broken earth.
And then a pulse.
Huey's forehead shimmered. A burning mark began to emerge just above his brows, taking the form of a cross symbol etched in brilliant crimson light. His eyes flared open, unblinking.
"…Come forth, My First."
BOOOM—FSSHHHHH!
A wave of overwhelming energy rippled from his body like a sonic blast, warping the air and sending the remaining debris scattering.
Though his form remained familiar, something was now… different. Huey's body was now completely covered in etched crosses, glowing faintly—etched not as tattoos, but like living scripture carved into his flesh. His aura pulsed with power older than violence itself.
This… was Huey the First—a prime version of himself, the first incarnation sealed deep within his soul. Now awakened.
The rods above crumbled.
CHRRRRRK!
Like shattered glass carried by the wind, the black spears disintegrated into dust and scattered into the air, as if their very matter had obeyed their creator's will to vanish.
Sir Varion's eyes narrowed instantly. "That form…"
He could sense it something sinister lingered beneath the surface.
Without hesitation, Varion raised his hand and sliced the air sideways.
A faint chalk-white line zipped across the earth below him, he had seen enough to know Huey wasn't joking around anymore.
SKKKRRRRR!
Suddenly, the earth beneath split open in a massive 30-meter gash. The ground rumbled as a stone wall erupted upward, towering into the sky like a rising fortress.
The barrier wasn't just to split the battlefield it was to protect the one behind him.
Sakamoto.
From behind the rising wall, the young prince stumbled back in surprise, the stone monolith now obscuring his view of the fight.
Huey the First let out a soft chuckle. "Protecting the boy now? Very well… let's see how far that will take you."
RMMMMMBL—
The ground around Huey began to crack and quake. With a rumbling roar, enormous wooden roots burst from the soil like awakened serpents. Dozens, then hundreds, coiled and twisted as they rose high, then launched forward in unison all aimed at Varion.
Varion leapt backward distancing himself so as to be observant, his body flickering through the air with graceful precision.
But the roots followed. Like living monsters, they adjusted mid-air, snarling toward him with sharp ends, intent on impaling him from every angle.
"Lining: Horizontal Slash!"
Varion extended both palms in mid-air.
SHZZZZZZZZ!
Dozens of glowing white lines cut across the field like blades of light. Each line traced perfectly through the approaching roots.
SLASH—SLASH—SLASH—SLASH!
The roots were instantly severed, falling apart mid-flight and disintegrating before they could reach him.
He landed softly, feet skimming the ground like a whisper.
But Huey wasn't finished.
"You forgot to look up, brother…"
Varion's eyes widened. He jerked his head to the sky.
The clouds had darkened—and overhead, an army of giant black rods now filled the heavens. Each rod was colossal—the size of a passenger plane—and they began to free-fall one after another, tearing through the atmosphere like meteors.
"Can you protect the boy? Your regent? Or yourself?" Huey asked with an eerie calm.
Varion's heart skipped. He turned sharply toward the stone wall.
"No—!"
SHOOM—
He raced across the battlefield, his body moving faster than lightning, hand extended toward the barrier he'd raised earlier.
"Open—now!"
He pressed his palm against the wall. Glowing lines sparked across its surface—CRACKKK!
The wall shattered like paper, revealing Sakamoto behind it, eyes wide with fear as he stared up at the incoming sky-borne destruction.
Varion grabbed the boy, shielding him in his arms.
"Stay within my range."
Then, he lifted one hand to the heavens. His voice echoed like a commandment.
"Multiverse Lines: Universal Slash!"
ZZZZZZZZZAAAAAAAAM!
The sky lit up.
Thousands of glowing white lines wrote themselves into the air, covering the sky like a divine script. The rods plummeting toward them were intercepted mid-air—each one sliced and diced into harmless fragments by the lines before impact.
KA-CRACK! KA-CHING! KA-BOOM!
The sound of the rods shattering echoed across the valley as fragments of dark material rained down like black snow.
Varion wasn't finished.
With one gesture, he redirected all the sky-written lines forward, commanding them like swords.
"Go."
FWOOOOOOOSH!
The lines zipped across the field, targeting Huey the First, slicing through air and space. They closed in from all angles, then—
SHRRRRRIP—BOOOOOOOOOM!
Dust exploded. The ground erupted. Huey's form vanished in a whirlwind of destructive force. Craters formed where he stood. The trees behind him split in half.
It was devastation incarnate.
But then… from within the dust, a glow emerged.
A single hand, etched in light, pushed through the smoke. One of Huey's cross-marks flared brightly.
And out stepped Huey the First, completely unharmed.
Not a scratch on his body.
He smiled.
"You possess a terrifying ability, Varion. Your slashes are instantaneous. Unavoidable. They appear without travel time. But for someone like me…"
He held out his glowing palm.
"…I can cheat death itself."
Varion's face darkened.
Huey stepped closer.
"You would run out of Shen before I run out of lives. See for yourself."
Varion's eyes suddenly flinched.
He staggered slightly.
"…What the—"
Blood trickled from his shoulders.
STICK. STICK. STICK.
All at once, tiny rods—almost invisible—began to protrude from his skin. Forty in total, lodged deep into his shoulders, collar, and upper back.
Sakamoto gasped. "W-When did that happen?!"
Varion winced. "The first rod… the one he shattered into dust…"
He clenched his teeth as blood ran down his arms. "That wasn't ordinary debris. That rod was… atomized. Dissolved into particles smaller than sight. He turned them into invisible spears… and let the wind carry them."
Huey grinned. "You're quick with your brain, brother. You figured that out faster than I expected."
He raised his hand.
"And now… let's see how much longer you can hold out."
TO BE CONTINUED…