Chapter 50: [Chapter 50 ● Varkyros—The Cinder of Contradictory Limitation!]

It was a deep realization for her when she understood how easily Clementine neutralized her strongest ability she had created as an Infernal Blightflare Kalthara!

And her too, with but a single sub-ability. The rank gap did not matter. The race did not matter nor did it matter how strong she was; all that mattered was that—before Clementine—Blood kneeled. Existences obeyed.

"Ah? Are we done so soon? I thought you would give me some challenge, little Auguszta, but you disappoint big sister," Clementine teased. Perfectly knowing that the main challenge she would face was always against Varkyros and never against the Burningblight, despite it having evolved too.

Auguszta gritted her teeth, truly not liking what was happening. Moreover, as Aezaleon tried to comfort her, this pain and self-disappointment only intensified. To think she was so weak that her husband was worried about her.

At this point, she finally remembered Varkyros, which she had forgotten about momentarily because of the suppression and her own blood rebelling against her.

Auguszta activated the effect one and two of Varkyros—[Paradox Ember Dominion] and [Absolute Cap Enforcement]—both amplified and stabilized by the five unique traits of this flame for the first time. Using the latter, she enforced the limitation...

<Limitation—Null Suppression>

It was then reinforced by trait one of Varkyros—[Contradiction Reinforcement Engine]. Where the contradiction made sure that nothing could break the enforced limitation.

<Contradictory Enforcement—Every attempt against the imposed limitation will be invalidated through contradicting the attempt>

Simultaneously, a field of red-black embers erupted from Auguszta the second [Paradox Ember Dominion] was activated. A suppression zone was created, making the limitation fixed, resulting in the suppression from an absolute ability being nullified immediately.

The paradox made sure that it happened, despite the actual reality denying it.

The passive effect [Blood Harmony Absolute] tried to override the imposed Limitation in the zone, but it got contradicted simultaneously. Clementine was stronger obviously and her ability too was stronger, but the Paradox Ember Dominion capped that strength at a fixed level by contradicting it and generating a paradox in the ember zone.

Clementine made a surprised expression.

"A mere elemental power fighting against an absolute sub-ability," she noted, then waved her hand, focusing her energy on the passive sub-ability to activate it fully. Immediately, the Limitation was overridden. "How laughable~!"

CRACK!

The stability was broken and the balance shattered. The ember zone collapsed on itself. Auguszta, who had just gotten back on her feet, wavered as she felt the return of the suppression.

She also came to realize that at her current level, imposing limitations on something as abstruse as blood suppression was not possible. It was like one piece of information dominating another. She was only capable of imposing limitations and contradicting something that was physical, like physical matter or energy. 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮

And, fortunately, blood was indeed something physical.

Even if she cannot end the suppression through limitation and contradiction, she was still capable of converting that suppression into strength and reducing it through Varkyros’s passive effects three and four—[Inverse Amplification Law] and [Limitation Assimilation].

Through the latter, Auguszta turned a major part of the absolute suppression into a high boost toward her overall strength. With the former, the stricter a suppressive limit was, the stronger Varkyros became. In simpler words, she got even more amplification to her overall capabilities while simultaneously absorbing a major portion of the suppression from the absolute ability.

VOOOOM!

Abruptly, all of her body was burning within the red-black flames as the suppression went from absolute to 100 percent.

It was important to note that this was only possible because of the difference between their material and spiritual ascension ranks and Clementine’s current absolute abilities working in an incomplete state.

—[Auguszta—Material ascension rank 4. Spiritual ascension rank 3.]

—[Clementine—Material-Spiritual ascension rank 1. (Five material-spiritual fused ascension cores).]

Subsequently, Auguszta also activated her new ability she acquired after her evolution—[Transformation: Lioness of Burningblight].

It was the form of a calamitous-humanoid hybrid embodying the predatory destruction and the decaying flames of the Calamity: Infernal Blightflare Kalthara.

CRACK! CRACK!

An ability that changed her very physical form. Her pale flesh became a fusion of charred armor, molten fissures, and blight-fire veins. Her eyes darkened to an even deeper red hue. A tail of a lioness emerged from behind her and two ears materialized atop her head.

Her body released an aura field capable of ceaselessly degrading her surroundings within a radius of five thousand meters.

The air became toxic with heat distortion.

The ground cracked and combusted, making her enemies in this radius experience gradual internal ignition. The earth was a pan, and she was the fire heating it to a melting point.

Not to mention the [All Parameters Amplification] Auguszta received in this transformation; it further strengthened her massively. Her max prowess reached Class 4 thresholds in effective radius.

Her strength had become enough to rupture reinforced structures with raw force. Her speed combined the predatory agility of an Infernal Blightflare Kalthara with burst-phase movements. Her endurance gained from her armor made her capable of absorbing damage and partially converting it into fuel for the element Burningblight.

Her regeneration became capable of rebuilding using burning decay, rather than conventional biological healing.

Also, in her current form, because of corruption, she was again capable of absorbing suppression and major damage done to her to amplify her flames’ capabilities. She was capable of negating damage and absorbing the destruction she herself caused too.

Overall, everything Auguszta used was focused on self-enchantment.

Be it the negation of the suppression Clementine put on her, absorbing it, or using her flames to amplify her strength in overall parameters. Her powers appeared to be focused on only three foundational aspects: Self-Enhancement, Suppression, and Corruption.

Though the latter two appeared completely ineffective against her current enemy!

However, this wasn’t all, as Auguszta began imposing limitations on Clementine, one after another, without stop.

Energy was not an issue for her currently because the suppression itself from an absolute ability fueled it continuously, including all the other effects.

These were all physical limitations, of course.

Mostly they focused on weakening Clementine as much as possible. Moreover, every limitation was never stacked; it only enhanced and amplified the rest of the limitations through the Varkyros trait of [Dual-Mode Execution]—making each one more powerful instead of creating a new effect.

Auguszta activated all five effects simultaneously for the first time.

—Paradox Ember Dominion

—Absolute Cap Enforcement

—Inverse Amplification Law

—Limitation Assimilation Core

—Residual Law Imprint: Paradox Field

...

What the effects did was simple: the first one created the fixed Limitations and the second made the fixed limitations harder to break even in instability. The third converted negative effects into positive ones. The fourth was an adaptation effect, making her stand her own even against overwhelmingly powerful enemies, concepts, laws, or powers. The last ensured that even if the enforced limitation was overridden, its effects wouldn’t immediately be gone, but would be a gradual process.

Overall, if Auguszta put a physical limitation on Clementine—like her strength should be halved!

Limitation—[Strength Reduction],

Then even if Clementine used an ability that amplified her strength by 10 times, that wouldn’t happen; the ability would become ineffective because of the paradox that would come in the ember zone through contradiction, keeping the imposed limitation fixed, stable, and not easily breakable.

While the third and fourth effects would bring in the concepts of conversion, absorption, and adaptation, making Auguszta more capable, versatile, and able to handle all kinds of situations.

After all, Varkyros was a flame born on Limitation and reinforced through Contradiction.