Life Number 0-Chapter 40: Element Halt lll
No doubt, I agree... Valeras too, as you know."Morgan, ever alert, listened to their murmurs. Disgust crept onto his face. Then, in the smoke, he glimpsed something—air tearing apart, a void splitting open, a movement beyond sight.A supersonic gust—Howard was now before the sons. A punch tore through the pressure, crushing the ribs of the first until his bones screamed. The impact sent them all flying as if yanked out of time, crashing violently, the earth fracturing beneath the force of his strike.Howard regained his stance. Exhaled forcefully. Roared—the bellow of the raging bulls:"I brought you here to fight, not to watch, you puppets."He glared at them, steam snorting from his nostrils."The fall of this kingdom starts with this."
Morgan responded in a calm tone, born of conviction:"You are right about that, Howard... He is the biggest reason for all of this... But that does not apply to these ones."Howard, steam rising from his nose."So that’s how you see it, Golden Boy."He lifted his gaze to the sky. Deeply, as if the answer lay there."I truly see it." 𝒻𝑟𝘦𝘦𝘸ℯ𝒷𝑛𝘰𝓋ℯ𝘭.𝘤𝘰𝘮
But in a moment, his eyes betrayed that smile... something else, something he didn’t understand...Smoke, hot smoke, began to rise from the crumbling corpse before him, but... it wasn’t the smoke of death.It was the smoke of birth.Fiery lines formed and embedded themselves within him, merging with his wounds at an unnatural speed. It wasn’t just healing... it was forced regeneration, harsh, grotesque!’Damn... Regeneration?!’The King’s voice erupted in shock, and his being retreated backward."Human! Who are you, damn human?!"Egologia slowly raised his head, his eyes closed for a moment, but when he opened them, they glowed like burning embers... a wide grin split his bloody face.The King no longer smiled, his eyes staring in terror.Just moments ago, he was speaking... and now?Now, he wasn’t sure of anything."What are your limits? When do your tricks end?!"He was delirious, he refused to believe, he was... afraid.But Egologia? He looked directly at him and uttered:"They will always be subject to the tide.""They...?"The King’s aura trembled!Then came the voice... "I have evolved... and discovered your nature well, perhaps that helped me, thoughts do that..."It was a calm voice, and it continued..."After embedding my research in a long quest, while you spoke alone to the trees, the weak soil... my blood discovered a curse."’A curse...?’The King didn’t understand, and he feared what he didn’t understand.Egologia continued, in a lower, deeper tone:"Humans...""Land...""Sky...""And even the ocean...""All of them...""Will always be subject to hell.""The fate of all scum."The King truly trembled, and it was evident even in his being. He felt that the air he breathed was no longer his, he felt that... reality was beginning to change against him.But he held on, and smiled... "Hell? Has your mind exploded?"The King laughed, a confused, shaky laugh within his being... "Perhaps you’re in it now!"....."Nah!""I have always been....""A hundred lives.""I am Hell...""Hell who will build his paradise here."BOOOOOUUUUUM!!!!A earth-shaking explosion.It wasn’t just a scream, it was a declaration.The body was freed from constraints, everything was purified, everything ignited.Egologia had become a body of flame.The fire wasn’t covering him... it was him.The King gasped, something inside him screamed, ’Fire?’ he screamed horribly, as if his tongue had lost the ability to speak. "You decided to use it? It won’t be enough, I..."BAAAUUM!!A fiery explosion shot toward him, spinning at a terrifying speed, like a burning bomb...Then! The ice that dominated the place began to evaporate under the heat of hell. Egologia raised his arm forward, and with a thrust, he hurled a horizontal beam of fire from his palm...Direct hits! On the icy aura...The fire struck the King’s chest like a hellish cannon, his body twisting under the pressure, the frost around him melting, and smoke rising from his burning being.Gwaaaaaah!! A savage howl echoed in the place, it wasn’t just pain... but anger, the anger of a being seeing his power crumble before something he never thought he’d believe.Egologia. A leap. A surge.His movement was like an arrow, as the flame surged again from the air, spinning, and his right hand glowed with hell for the next strike.Boom!!!The second strike was stronger, a fiery projectile embodied in a direct punch to the being’s core, his skin melting, and the frost breaking and thrown backward..He opened his mouth, a frozen howl came out like a hidden blade, a wave of ice shot out rapidly extending like the arms of a desperate beast..But he wasn’t there!Suddenly appearing behind him, above him, below him, from every angle.Boom!Boom!Boom!The projectiles poured, one, two, three... countless, each strike was a fireball exploding into a punch, igniting more ribs, turning the structure into howls and screams....With a burned body and a hoarse voice, he raised his hand formed in the midst of the hellish storm, and plunged it into the ground."If you are hell..."The earth shook.The ice everywhere began to clump as if seeking life below. "Then hell is not enough to burn me!"Walls of black ice rose.It was a sea of frozen thorns that suddenly extended from the ground, deadly spikes..."This is what I was waiting for."His palms met, in a clap..In a fraction of a second, all the heat that had accumulated, all the anger, all the strength, all the pride and the pleasure of revenge... gathered in his palms.And he opened his palms at once.[Crimson Volcano Eruption]The final hell cannon fired.It was wider, and purer, a fiery wave collided with the icy chain, clashing like mythical beasts, fire and ice... heat trying to devour cold, and cold trying to choke fire.But the difference was clear... with the succession of screams in the icy aura, it disappeared for a moment, as if his voice was cut off, or his life that was severed.The giant laser passed through everything, completing its purpose in turning the icy garden into... its final fate.The ice cracked, black turned white, white turned to ash, and the ash... evaporated.An earth-shaking explosion....The aura burned....The King... Obliterated!
In the midst of the steaming plaza, smoke rose from the burning halo, and the ground beneath his feet was nothing but fine ash.There was no screaming, finally, there was only him.He slowly raised his hand, watching his scorched fingers, his hot, regenerating wounds..."After all..."He spoke in a quiet voice that filled the void around him."It’s my last life... and I didn’t appreciate it."He smiled bitterly, his voice trembling with realization."grotesque."His fist glowed. A radiance as if the sun had formed beneath his skin. Explosion. Blood splattered. Teeth scattered. The nose shattered. The face deformed into a grotesque, mangled mess.He withdrew his fist only to drive it forward again, this time into the abdomen, tearing through flesh and bone, launching Howard like a meteor. He crashed, smoke billowing upon impact. But he wasn’t alone—an onslaught of aerial punches followed, Morgan’s aura manifesting in thousands of blows, raining down like celestial artillery on the point of impact.Morgan halted. Regained his breath. Focused. This required everything.As for the three sons, they stood, the silence between them heavier than any blow."Damn... Is this beast truly this strong?""We see him being restrained before our father.""I question people’s sanity these days.""
And in another place... In the dark room, resembling an inverted tomb, the hurling him away. He landed steadily, delivering his prepared words: "We are more than that, Howard."
Morgan was in constant vigilance. The punches pierced through the monstrous defenses with ease—flexible, penetrating, golden radiant.A strike to the chest squeezed the breath out of Howard, followed by a devastating fist aimed at his mouth. But before the impact, Morgan’s eyes widened—his punch was engulfed in the bull’s maw. Pressure. Pressure. Pressure.He smirked coldly."How noblewoman dangled, her body suspended by crimson threads. Something was breathing, pulsating, writhing slowly as if savoring her restraint. Her arms were bound above her head, the threads digging into her flesh like fangs tasting their prey. On her shoulder, as if climbing slowly, a tendril rose to merge with the threads themselves. Egologia was there. Hanging with her on the ceiling, his head upside down, his feet planted as if the world had flipped solely for him. His voice was not loud, but it was harsh—at least to her. "Don’t worry... I won’t harm you, my lady." The sound of the threads tightening and her ragged breaths... He added, savoring the moment. "I’ll ask you a few questions." His smile held no warmth. "What is the SkyWars?"
