Chapter 352 Brance’s First Turning Point Quest (FINAL)
Observing the changes occurring in the center of the training room with wide eyes, Benny, Selene, and Gabby were amazed by how Brance’s hair changed from his highlighted aqua and white jet black to a blemish-free pure white, his skin bronzed and radiated in Light. At the same time, two large Golden wings unfurled from his shoulder blades.
The only member unaffected by the sudden change was Cynrik, who had already assumed his brother had gotten some Bloodline Abilities just as he had. Feeling the intense pressure from Brance’s body, Cynrik frowned and felt utterly repulsed by the Light Mana swirling around the room.
It was stifling for him, similar to how it felt stepping outside on a sweltering and humid day, just plain uncomfortable.
“Tsk, this asshat has been hiding quite a bit from us, wings, facial markings, hell, his little transformation even gives him a tan, not to mention that his stats have all increased.” Murmuring loud enough for the others to hear, everyone nodded at Cynrik’s observation before Gabby returned to reality.
“Hey, how long are you planning on holding me here? Let me go already.” Gabby’s voice came out as a faint whisper as a red blush crept unto her cheeks.
“Oh, knock it off, will you,” rolling his eyes, Cynrik released Gabby and walked beside her as she collected all the supplies that had been scattered by the small repulsory blast generated by Brance’s transformation.
As she was doing this, Cynrik sat down directly in front of Brance and examined the visual changes his brother had gone through.
‘Hair, skin tone, marks, wings, and a power boost. That’s more than what I get for sure. My Bloodline abilities aren’t nearly as broken on a surface value, but I gain complete control over Mana, whereas Brance gets stronger overall.’
‘Tobs, what is his boost right now?’ Scratching his chin, Cynrik resisted the urge to pat Brance’s new wings and diverted his attention by asking about the stat boost that came along with this angel mode.
-Host Brance receives a 125% Stat boost to all Basic Stats; however, with his current bloodline percentage, the [Nephilim Mode] will power down after three minutes. Once powered down, his stats will be reduced by 50% of their base value for 24 hours.-
‘That’s a pretty heavy drawback, but at 10% LightBringer, it is understandable. I can only imagine that the higher the purity of his bloodline, the greater his boost will become and the longer he can stay in that mode.’ With that thought in mind, Cynrik ignored the disgust he felt being so close to strong Light Mana Particles and activated his [Mana Sight] to continue observing Brance’s codex and Mana Signature, which was rapidly fluctuating as the battle continued in his SOC.
–Back in Brance’s SOC–
Staring at Brance, 20 meters away, Michael’s sword arm trembled as numbness set in as a sign that he had just been overpowered.
“How…how is this possible?” Terror in his eyes and slurring the words in confusion, Michael’s pupils constricted to pinpricks as Brance smiled confidently and rushed forward.
CLANG CRASH
Brance swung his blade toward Michael’s head, bringing down the Mana construct Greatsword, but right as it was about to connect, the Archangel contorted his body to the side while raising his weapon over his head to block the attack.
BOOOOMMM
Instead of being hacked in half, Michael slammed toward the ground in a blurred shadow.
“Ugh, *cough*,*cough*!” A mouthful of blood streaming from his mouth, Michael struggled back to his feet with his eyes flicking around desperately in search of his opponent, but to his dismay, Brance was already there beside him and had already delivered a savage side kick.
CRACK
The blow landed flush with Michael’s shoulder, emitting a loud crack as his collar bone broke like a twig and his shoulder dislocated.
-You have dealt a critical blow to your opponent.-
-You have dealt 7,000 damage to your opponent.-
“AHHHH!” Howling in pain as his body flew through the air as if being struck by a truck, Michael lost all feeling in his left arm, causing it to hang limply as a visible dent appeared in his armor.
Gritting his teeth and dragging his wings on the stone floor to slow his speed, Michael’s feet touched down, and he gripped his greatsword tightly in his right hand before charging forward and sending a powerful flaming slash at Brance, who quickly sidestepped and replied with a skill of his own.
“Tier-2 Paladin Skill :[Prominence Strike]!” After running forward and stopping four meters from the wounded Archangel, Brance infused his Mana Construct Greatsword with ample amounts of Light Mana.
His skill created five illusionary replicas of his weapon that all executed a downward slash in a circle surrounding Michael, leaving him with no chance to escape.
However, just when all five swords were about to connect, a ring of fire erupted from his body and blew back the illusionary swords, shattering them into dust.
“*Huff*, Is that all you’ve got, Mortal, *Huff*? I have been in situations like this more times than I can count. Do you not know that wounded creatures are the most dangerous?” Flashing a sinister smile, with blood coating his teeth, Michael flapped his wings and surged forward, ramming his armor-plated right shoulder into Brance’s chest and pushing him into the air.
“YOU HAVE ONLY JUST GOTTEN YOUR WINGS, AND YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE ME IN AIR COMBAT? THINK AGAIN!”
Grunting due to the hit, Brance sprung backward, planting his feet on Michael’s chest and kicking off to put distance between them, and made a split-second decision.
“Tier-3 Paladin Class Skill [Light’s Force]!” With time short on his [Nephilim Mode], it was time to make his final push, and temporarily increasing all of his Skills by 0.5 Tier, it was time for the finale to begin.
Waving his arm, Brance opened the remote access window for the Command Column and saw the Tier of his [Radient Tower] had increased to 3.5, and along with it, the buff/debuff of the second floor had risen from 35% to 45%.
Tapping the screen as he soared backward through the sky, Brance slid the slider to maximum and felt the Tower rumble as the counter in the top right of the window broke past 35% to 36, then 37.
In response to his stat increase, Brance’s eyes locked on Michael, his body loosening up, and his wings changed angle, allowing him to make a wide arc through the air and meet him head-on.
Several rounds of back and forth combat transpired, with Brance winning every single one now that his stats thoroughly outclassed Michael.
But to Brance’s surprise, Michael was barely hanging in there even when on the back foot. From his Tier-4 armor to the Tier-4.5 sword he was using, even if the Archangel couldn’t physically match Brance, his gear seemed to make up for a fraction of the stat deficit he was experiencing.
Despite this, Michael was wounded several times during each clash between the two. Sure he could block most of the attacks from instantly killing him thanks to his gear, but that was only the initial damage, not the concussive or force damage dealt by kinetic energy.
Even if he could stop a full power punch, the excess energy was sent through his armor into his body, dealing chip damage, so even though he was keeping up, he wasn’t unscathed, unlike Brance, who, since the airborne fight began hadn’t lost a single point of HP.
“Time to end this, Lord Michael.” After the most recent clash, Brance scanned Michael’s injuries and looked up at the HUD floating overhead. All three off the bars were in bright red and only had a sliver remaining, indicating that he only had roughly 3-5% of each stat remaining.
“This can’t happen; I am His Eminences top general, a Seraphim; how could I lose to a Mortal, a NEPHILIM!” Collapsing to his knees and dropping his sword, Michael stared at the sky with dead eyes.
“Your arrogance and pride, this bullshit you keep spouting about me being a mortal and how much better than me you are, are the reasons you have lost Lord Michael.” Brandishing his Mana Construct Greatsword, Brance stepped forward and began channeling a large portion of his remaining MP into the weapon.
“You being here tells me you already died once, and although I have no idea which Strife it was during, it doesn’t matter to me at all. You were merely a whetstone from the beginning, meant to sharpen my skills and increase my prowess in combat.”
“And while you were my enemy and an all-around arrogant asshole the entire time, I still enjoyed our battle; take some solace in the thought that I will carry on our bloodline in the future,” Brance said as he brought back his blade.
“Your Eminence, help me, please….” Looking toward the ceiling, Michael pleaded for help from the God Of Light, but his words fell on deaf ears as Brance’s blade severed his head in a single swing, killing what remained of the once high Tiered powerhouse before shattering his body into particles.
Watching as Michael’s remains disappeared, Brance collapsed on the floor and powered down all of his skills, including the [Radient Tower], which in response to being released, sent the Mana Codex Core into his inventory, leaving Brance sprawled out on the side of a mountain, staring at the calm skies above.
“You did well, Brance…even I didn’t expect the fight to be as one-sided as it was.” Manifesting out of nowhere, Tobs sat down beside Brance while speaking in her hologram form.
“Sigh, thanks, Tobs; it was…something else for sure. Also, thank you for not instantly bombarding me with notifications; you can send them over now.” Flashing the AI a weak and thankful smile, Brance couldn’t help but feel a sense of loss as the last traces of the power he temporarily grasped during the fight left his body, leaving him in a weakened state.
-Turning Point Quest: Challenge for Supremacy has been completed.-
-After battling against the Spirit of a being several times stronger than yourself, you have come out on top and won the battle for supremacy over your soul.-
-Your Success in battle has allowed you to fully integrate the Divinity fragment once owned by Michael Demiurgos, The Seraphim and Former General of the God Of Light’s Army, making it your own. Therefore, you will not suffer any consequences upon fully integrating this fragment.
-Defeat the LightBringer Spirit – Michael Demiurgos (Complete)
-Reward: One 2-Karat Secret Grade HolyFire Pristine Affinity Gem.
-Reward 2: Blue Print for Michael Demiurgos HolyFlame Greatsword, “White Flame of Death”.-
-Reward 3: You have unlocked Hidden Stat, Grace. This stat has absorbed and purified all the points in your Killing Intent, replacing them entirely. When you kill a being with a soul, you will purify said soul earning points in Grace instead of KIN, in a ratio dependent on the strength of the soul of the being.-
-The Conversion rate of KIN to GRACE is 1:15
-Current Grace- 5220 – 4.5g :
-Reward 4: You have gained 45 points in your Will Power Stat.-
-Reward 5: You now have complete control over your Bloodline Abilities and can activate them freely.-
-By absorbing the Divinity Fragment housing the Spirit of Michael Demiurgos, The Seraphim and Former General of the God Of Light’s Army, you have repaired all damage to your SOC and Soul.-