Chapter 151: Cherubim
The battlefield was a ruin of broken stone and still-whirling ash. Yet in the heart of it all, Sir Varion stood tall, defiant, despite the blood dripping from his shoulders where dozens of thin rods still protruded.
He turned his head slightly. "Sakamoto," he said in a firm but calm tone, "I want you to try that technique you used earlier."
Sakamoto blinked. "Huh?"
"I'll create an opening for you. Once it's done use it. Can you do that?"
The prince nodded. "Yes, sir."
Varion exhaled deeply. He brought his trembling palm to his chest. Though still wounded, he steadied his breath and focused.
Crackle…
White lines, glowing like chalk on obsidian, spread from his palm across his body in symmetrical formations. One by one, the black rods impaled in his flesh shattered, breaking into shards and clattering to the ground. Though a few still remained deep within, the visible ones were gone.
He dropped his arm, eyes locked on Huey the First.
"You really thought that would hold me down?"
Huey gave a casual shrug. "I never said that, Varion." His tone suddenly darkened. "But I'll give you one last chance before I decide to kill you… Turn over the Yggdrasil piece you possess."
Varion cracked a smile. "You can try to get it off my balls."
FWOOOM—
He vanished from sight.
The wind split—and in that instant, Varion reappeared in front of Huey few meters away , palm slicing the air as he muttered,
"Baguazhang: Baritsu."
A silent force curved through the atmosphere. Though the air didn't ripple, a blade of pressure sliced through space with such precision it left reality trembling. It cleaved toward Huey without disturbing even a single leaf—and struck.
THOOM!
Huey's body was launched like a missile, bouncing off the ground, crashing into rocks and debris, flipping and skidding until he came to a violent halt, half-buried in rubble.
He barely looked up when Varion was already there.
"Shàolín Style: Palm of Iron Sand."
His palm—coated in swirling, raw Shen energy—drove forward like a hammer wrapped in divine heat.
Huey leapt back just in time, but as he landed—THUMP!
An invisible force struck his chest, slamming him backward again. He crashed into a craggy hill, coughing out breath and blood.
But even as the dust flew and carried Huey away —SNAP!
Huey raised his fingers—and clicked them.
CRACK—WHOOSH!
Two massive rods, jagged and crackling with black energy, pierced into Varion's shoulders, erupting in front him and launching him through the air, both fighters where simultaneously sent flying backwards in pain both taking a hit from each other.
"Now!" Varion yelled mid-flight as he past Sakamoto . "Do it, Saka!"
Sakamoto rose to his feet, both hands trembling. He inhaled deeply, focusing all his energy.
He extended his palms.
FSSSSHHHHH—
Three flames swirled around each other in his grasp—black, orange, and blue—twisting like chaotic serpents. The ground beneath him fractured violently. Dust spun into the air. The aura around him began sucking in nature itself—leaves, grass, wind, even light—all pulled into a golf-ball-sized orb forming in his hands.
The earth rejected it was an abomination to nature itself.
Lightning danced. The sky darkened. Animals fled from different angles . Trees bent in fear.
Sakamoto muttered, almost not believing his own words:
"Hybrid Art: Cherubim."
He unleashed it.
VWHHOOOOOOOOM!!!
The tiny orb tore through space like a divine comet. As it surged forward, the earth cracked open, lava exploding from beneath in its wake. The very sky turned black, and rain began to fall in defiance of nature's laws.
Huey stood his ground, palm extended. "I'll take the hit. I can regenerate through my cross—"
But as the orb drew closer…
Huey's eyes widened.
"…No… this isn't right… the properties… the structure…"
"I won't survive this."
POP—
He vanished.
Then came the sound.
BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM!!!
It was like the sky had been torn apart.
The orb expanded in a flash, becoming a roaring sun, and exploded—no, erased—everything it touched. The shockwave swept outward like a tsunami of wrath.
3,000 trees—gone.
50 mountains—leveled due to the force of his attack.
The ground shattered into wide canyons. Lava burst forth, spilling into the cracks. The air ignited. The sky split.
The explosion's shockwave was so massive, even the walls of SUHA Headquarters trembled. Glass shattered. Maps fell from walls. Generals screamed as sirens rang out.
Meanwhile…
In the forest beyond—
Silas and Solomon were caught in the blast.
Silas vanished instantly.
But Solomon was still mid-motion—no time to escape.
WHOOOOOOOSH—
His body ignited. Flesh vaporized. Skin boiled. Bone seared. In one blink, his form was burned to near-skeleton, the flames erasing rather than killing. No healing could save what was lost.
His charred body hit the ground with a thud.
Sakamoto fell to his knees, gasping, drenched in rain and ash. His arms trembled. His eyes were wide with disbelief.
"I… I didn't think it'd go that far…"
Sir Varion lay face down several meters away. He growled in pain, lifting his body slowly.
Snap! More glowing white lines surged over his body as he vaporized the final rods impaled in him.
He limped over to Sakamoto, blood dripping, aura low.
He placed a hand on Sakamoto's shoulder.
"…What the hell was that?" Sakamoto asked, looking up. "The first time I used it, it wasnt that strong, but now? This was… insane I don't understand it."
Varion took a long breath.
"My prince… that power you just used… it will only get stronger every time you call upon it"
He narrowed his gaze, studying the devastated land around them.
"You've… you've just acquired a God-tier ability. And I have no idea how."
He looked into the boy's eyes.
"I only taught you how to control your Shen for basic combat. But this… This is the work of the Devil."
Sakamoto's heart stopped. "Wait—Solomon! Where's Solomon?!"
He turned frantically toward the wreckage, screaming, "Solomon! Solomon!!"
In the smoldering crater, something stirred.
A small shape—wet, dark, and strange—flopped in the lava as it cooled into crust.
"…A… catfish?"
Sir Varion's eyes widened. "No… He survived."
Sakamoto blinked. "What?"
"That… that is Solomon's emergency ability." Varion knelt beside the creature. "A life-saving technique passed down through his generation."
"Aestivation: Survival Dormancy."
He explained quickly.
"It's called the Mud Sleep. Or Aestivation Shell. Like the suckermouth catfish that survives droughts, Solomon can transform into this state, encasing himself in mud or bio-matter… shutting down everything… regenerating slowly over time."
Sakamoto stared. "So he's… alive in there?"
"Yes," Varion said. ". No harm can come to him now. Pick him up."
Sakamoto stepped into the scorched land, picked up the strange little fish, cradling it gently. Its gills pulsed faintly.
Sir Varion stared at the boy. In his mind, something whispered.
Did this kid just… combine all the sources within him—Shen, Od, and maybe something more… into one attack?
That's… impossible.
He snapped back to reality, brushing the thought away.
"We need to return," he said finally, his voice heavy. "Back to headquarters. There's much to explain."
TO BE CONTINUED…