Chapter 167 retcons:

  Added the following bolded things:

  Truth be told, Amber felt a slight sense of impending doom, whether it was the premonition of a sixth sense, or just mere overthinking, she didn’t know. It especially didn’t help that the Core Skill she received for hitting Level 250 was not useful at all, granting her the exact same ability as one of her curses, but with numerous limitations. However, the sense of tension served only to motivate her.

  [Due to their strength, Legacy Branch Skills for Fledgling Divine Accursed Demonic Blood will now be granted or offered every 25 levels.]

  Chapter 169:

  When Frei left the Grand Fortress, all she expected to see was ruination upon arriving to Froststone, and for good reason. After all, the Arcane Council had finally decided to make their move by lending a helping hand to Demon of Genesis, and to achieve that it was necessary for the Republic of Mercenaries to fully collapse; for order to be gone. As for what they were hoping to achieve by lending their assistance to the demon? Frei wasn’t privy to such things, nor did it matter to her.

  Because at the moment of leaving, her main worry had only been one, and that was the fate of the small town. The town of Froststone, where Thorn resided, her last remaining “family” or at least the closest she had to that. Of course, she still had a real family member remaining, but to her it wasn’t the same. After all, she had been raised by mercenaries, and while she didn’t hold great attachment to the republic, she did hold quite a bit of attachment towards Thorn, an uncle-like figure.

  Which is why she rushed with all her might towards the town. The journey to her, felt like an eternity, even though it had been just a couple of hours. And when she arrived her main worries had been confirmed.

  Everywhere she looked, everywhere she glanced, the same picture was present: pure and utter destruction. The sight made her suck in a sharp breath, her chest felt suddenly empty.

  Was her life truly destined to be this cruel?

  Her shoulders bobbed up and down before they started trembling, and that’s when she felt it. A small warmth placed on top of one?— a hand resting on her shoulder.

  “Frei, what are you doing here?”

  Frei blinked and spun, and what greeted her was a familiar figure. An old wizened man with white combed-back hair, bronze and weathered skin. His robes were slightly burnt, and he had some soot on his face, but otherwise, he was uninjured.

  “Thorn?” Frei blinked. “Did the Arcane Council leave?”

  “Leave?” Thorn paused before chuckling.

  “You think I’d let those fools leave? I killed them.”

  Hearing him Frei relaxed, and she smiled. “I’m surprise you’re still in one piece, old man.”

  The old mage laughed: “These old bones aren’t as weak as you imagine. The hardest part was avoiding Froststone being destroyed.”

  “It’s not destroyed?” Frei was confused.

  Thorn frowned. “I thought you were a world-renowned mage, can’t you sense the mana disturbance from the illusion spell?”

  “Oh…”

  The elf blinked in shock before glancing around once more and picking up what he meant. Shaking his head, the wizened mage continued:

  “Anyway, what brings you here?”

  Frei hesitated before speaking: “I was worried; worried about ya old man. Thought that you may die from this event.”

  Thorn frowned. “Worried about me? I should be the one that’s worried about you. An extremely strong demon is after your friend.”

  “My friend?”

  He rolled his eyes. “The girl you called master before.”

  Frei finally understood, but after a moment she became confused. “But why would you be worried?” She tilted her head. “I’m pretty strong, you know?”

  The old man massaged the bridge of his nose. “Because, this is no normal demon. Many strong mercenaries have died at his hands already, higher level than you or me. It’s natural that I’d be worried, especially when I just learned it’s coming after your friend specifically from those council-scum I killed.”

  Frei frowned hearing that, already piecing together where Thorn was going with this. And a moment later, Thorn met her gaze with utmost seriousness.

  “Anyway, I’d suggest you stay away from your friend from the time being. Otherwise, you may die.”

  It was as Frei had expected, which made her go quiet. The two of them shared the silence for a few moments, before she sneered, twisting her head in displeasure.

  “So that my dreams die right then and there? Ya, right.”

  Now serious, she looked away and into the distance.

  “All I’m hearing is that I need to be there right now.”

  Thorn sighed. “You worry about me, yet you still act as free as ever.”

  Stepping forward, he stood next to her, following her gaze. Then, after a moment, he scowled, glancing at her.

  “Just know that if you die, I’ll drag you back from hell and give you a damned scolding, ya brat.”

  Frei chuckled as she began to channel her mana, but before she left she glanced at Thorn one last time.

  “Since when did ya do parenting?”

  Thorn snorted: “Since you decided to be a dumb kid again.”

  She smiled, and with that, her body melted into shadows as she departed once more. This time, in a different form of hurry.

  * * *

  Amber had known that this fight was inevitable, hiding or running wouldn’t change anything, which is why she had chosen to face this with her head held high ?— or as high as she could ??— and get it over with. However, even though she was well aware of the impending fated battle, she still couldn’t have anticipated this development.

  Just a mere hour after seeing the vision on her Legacy Branch Advancement, the Servant of Chaos had made his appearance. A mere hour.

  With it happening so soon, many preparations that Amber intended to make had become impossible; even something as simple as familiarizing herself with her new Legacy Branch Esence Skill or even trying to understand the limits of her now strengthened body were no longer feasible without putting her life on the line.

  Well, it’s not like I wasn’t staking my life already, and it’s not like I haven’t faced death before… she commented as her fingers trembled slightly, tracing a line on her neck. Maybe just maybe, I am?—

  “Your silence sure is a statement.” The Servant of Chaos smirked, interrupting her. “But the silence of your death will be so much more deafening.”

  He pointed his index finger towards Amber.

  “Ripper.”

  ?—overthinking it, her mind finished her train of thought as she looked up, her heart steadiying.

  Just like in the past, a gigantic sword swung down towards her, except it’s speed was several times faster than ever before. It’s edge broke through the sound barrier as she side-stepped, before a moment later the sword cleaved right into the ground with a burst of billowing dust.

  “Hm, more composed than I expected, not bad, Amberrr,” his voice came with a growl.

  Hearing him, Amber cracked her neck. In the end, it’s all just mere instinctual fear.

  She let out a long breath as she felt her skin shiver with goosebumps, before finally coldly meeting his gaze.

  “You will pay for the vision in the Legacy Branch.”

  The demon chuckled. “And what will you do to make me pay? Offer your head to me? Beg for me to spare you? Tell me.”

  And Amber teleported in front of him.

  In a split second she used Accursed Strength to the fullest, including burning one of her two one-week long cooldowns of it, along with it she used Accursed Reignition and Accursed Battery, increasing her strength several-fold. Then she used Primordial Exertion?— all of it. And finally, with Essence she made use of her new Essence Skill: God’s Divine Constitution.

  Her strength soared higher than what she had used to hurt the Primordial Spirit of the Shattered Tower, and all of it went into?—

  Her fist.

  She punched the Servant of Chaos’ face, digging into his cranium as the space before her exploded. Sending the damned demon flying away.

  “I’ll beat the shit out of you, that’s what I’ll do.” Amber snorted.

  In the end, all of the nervousness she felt was due to her Essence or whatever telling her it was dangerous, but if she compared it to the literal trauma she had from being beheaded, it was truly laughable. All the damn Servant of Chaos was doing was essentially emitting a big and scary aura to terrify her, except it seemed to transcend literal space from the looks of it.

  Her heart began to beat once more, but this time she welcomed the feeling of pressure, savoring it. Her entire body was trembling with jolts of pain just from using Essence just now, and her headache from earlier hadn’t subsided, but to her right now all of this merely served to push her further. This battle was the perfect opportunity to see what she truly was capable of, even if she had to use more of her life-span she would welcome it.

  Unauthorized usage: this tale is on Amazon without the author's consent. Report any sightings.

  This was her nature.

  She smiled and ducked. A moment later, a gigantic sword cut the air above her, breaking the wind.

  “As I thought, crushing you wouldn’t be so easy,” the Servant of Chaos’ voice rang in the surroundings. “But this is just the beginning.”

  Following his words the platform lit up with unstable purple fixtures that were soon to blow up, but all Amber did was close her eyes and expand her senses. And off to the distance, she saw him. The Demon of Chaos with his finger pointed into the air. His sunken in face was visibly healing each moment.

  Found you.

  She summoned her trusty Cursewelder and disappeared, leaving the pyramid where she had been behind to explode in a violent purple explosion. In a blink, she found herself already in front of the Servant of Chaos, swinging at the stupid smirking demon.

  And that’s when thanks to the Curse of Foresight and the new Core Skill she had gotten, she saw the future?— a barrier being summoned. Milliseconds later, the sword struck as the shattering sound of a mirror resounded, but Amber was unfazed as she continued to swing at her enemy.

  A flurry of hits came, but all of them were blocked by subsequent barriers. And even though the Servant of Chaos was being gradually pushed back, all he did was maintain his stupid smile.

  “Relying on temporary power, is not enough to win against me, once you lose it, it will be your undoing…”

  Hearing him, she couldn't help but smile. “Is that so? Then, what if the temporary power becomes even higher?”

  Following her words, she commanded for her Essence to seep deep into her bones, pushing her own body as she felt her own ligaments break and her bones creak. Then, she reset the cooldowns of Accursed Strength, Accursed Reignition and Accursed Battery; and once more she used them on her already empowered self?. And the result was?—

  The barrier that was conjured by the Servant of Chaos shattered and the sword pushed further.

  “What?!”

  In an instant, she sliced the Servant of Chaos in half and sent his torso flying, his blood splattering across her face as she flicked her tongue, tasting it.

  This was just the beginning.

  Amber chased after the demon with a teleport.

  Truth be told, she had no real plan for this fight. After all, the Servant of Chaos she fought in the past had died after getting beat up enough; she had no way of knowing if his most powerful version had a death-defying trump-card or anything of the sort, or even his ways of attacking her and killing her. This entire showdown was a mystery to her, and that was also why she simply followed her instincts which told her one thing:

  Kill him as soon as possible.

  Which is why, she focused on swinging. Like a feral beast, she did her best to tear apart the demon as soon as possible, entering the zone just like when she had fought the Primordial Spirit of the Shattered Tower. With deft precision, she sliced through the barriers the growling demon tried to conjure, shattering right through them and cleaving into his body repeatedly.

  Even though his skin was shining with magic, making it much tougher it didn’t even matter to Amber. To her it was simply a barrier to get through; a cut to the rib, one on the collar-bone, one to the neck?— it was a flurry of combos that quickly overwhelmed the defense of the Servant of Chaos and tore apart the environment. The dirt was ground to nothingness, and the surroundings were constantly burning from the effects of her curses.

  The environment was quickly being turned into ashes, and yet Amber didn’t pay attention to that, but instead focused on killing the demon who was groaning. At this point, he was purely on the defensive, and he was still missing his legs, yet in spite of all of that he still let out the occasional dry chuckle.

  “And here I thought you had gotten complacent,” he said with a mocking tone. “But even now you underestimate me?—”

  She headbutted him, breaking his teeth, but the demon still continued almost as if it didn’t affect him.

  “If you really think this is enough to stop me, then you’re dead wrong.”

  Amber ignored him, and continued to attack him with the same intensity. And finally with a powerful swing her sword?— cleaved right through his neck. Beheading him. His head went flying like a piece of fruit, yet even as it flew it’s expression simply morphed into a smirk, something Amber took notice of.

  “Like I said before: killing me is not enough to cause my death.”

  Following his words, Amber saw the splattered blood; the mangled body; the flying head?— all of them began to shine in a purple light. And with each passing moment it intensified, leaving Amber to frown as danger permeated her surroundings.

  The light around her quickly reached a blinding level, and then?— exploded. Amber swung her sword, making use of the once-a-week use of the Curse of Deflection, allowing her to “parry” most of the damage.

  But even then, she felt her flesh being torn as the blinding white radiance engulfed her. For a moment, she was blind but it quickly faded as the now blackened surroundings became visible. Columns of smoke were rising into the sky, and yet the Servant of Chaos was nowhere to be seen.

  Amber frowned as her wounds and armor healed, her bones intact, and that’s when she sensed him.

  With a one-eighty spin, she swung and a loud clang resounded.

  “As I thought, you’re not one to be underestimated.” The now uninjured Servant of Chaos said, pinching the sword between his fingers with two purple barriers covering his skin. “But now that I’ve seen what you’re capable of doing, you stand no chance.”

  Amber scoffed, and stored her sword as she replaced it with Arkara’s Staff. She immediately stirred her Essence as she began to create a Primordial Desintegration Bolt and a Primordial Blazing Bolt at the tip of the divine artifact, not even bothering to use it in bow form.

  “Want to know why you stand no chance?” he grinned, not even bothering to move. “Because, I am?—”

  The two attacks finally took shape at the tip of the staff, creating a blue and black stake, and Amber didn’t hesitate to swing it.

  “Chaos…”

  And the attack hit. Creating a pillar of blue and black at point blank, engulfing Amber and the Servant of Chaos together. Such an attack, especially now that she was empowered, was bound to hurt the Servant of Chaos, the real Servant of Chaos.

  Even if Amber didn’t necessarily understand it, she knew that even just the earlier kill had damaged it in some way. Which is why? all she had to do was keep on fighting, and eventually she would be victorious. It was a simple battle strategy that she believed to be incredibly effective.

  Amber stepped back and?— an arm swung from within the flames. She raised Arkara’s Staff just in time to block as the impact traveled through her entire body like a sledgehammer. The ground beneath her feet exploded as her eyes widened for a moment, before she gritted her teeth.

  “Uninjured?”

  “You did injure me, but mere injuries are not enough to stop me.” His other fist came quickly, forcing Amber to block again. “In the face of my weakened true self, you are truly an insect. If this is all you can do, then you only have one fate and that is… death.”

  She managed to swap back to her sword as the next hit came, and then another?— and another. The Servant of Chaos picked up incredible momentum as Amber had a small realization from blocking.

  These are my? moves—

  And a fist hit her neck, almost snapping it as her brain rattled. Then another one hit her ribs, sending her flying and nearly breaking her now upgraded bones. She spun in the air for a moment, before landing and sliding across the large plains where they were fighting.

  “So he can copy what I can do?” Amber bit her lip, that certainly left a terrible taste in her mouth.

  It didn’t help that from the looks of it, it was as if the attack hadn’t done anything to that damned demon.

  “It is not a copy, it is an upgrade.”

  Her hairs stood on end hearing him behind her, Amber reacted and teleported away as the spot where she stood was engulfed with a pillar of purple and black flames. The effect was incredibly similar to the Primordial Desintegration Bolt and Primordial Blazing Bolt, which confused her slightly.

  Is the Demon of Chaos really that powerful?

  She furrowed her brows but ultimately shook her head, there was simply no way that she was outclassed like that. If she had been, he would’ve killed her already. Which simply meant, that her current strength was still not enough to overwhelm the demon.

  She dodged his incoming attack and once more teleported away, and for a moment she considered using the All-powerful Pendant of Arkara, but she wanted to avoid using that card for now. After all, she did hope she could use it as a bargaining chip to get the elves to stop hating her; even the idea of using it to extend her lifespan was truly if she couldn’t help it.

  Biting her lip, she took out one of the many potions she had gotten from the Shattered Tower. The Potion of Titanic Strength. She uncorked it and quickly drank its contents as she felt her strength once more soar.

  “Already running?” The demon manifested behind her. “Truly pitiful.”

  This time he attacked her with a sword swing of his own, but she blocked it almost effortlessly as she took the opportunity to drink two more potions; the potions of Everlasting Essence and Immemorial Mana. Then she pushed the demon away as she grinned at him.

  “Running? I’m just getting started.”

  He returned the smile. “As expected, but you will soon learn it is all futile. Your death is inevitable.”

  Amber didn’t bother to respond as she lunged for the demon, this time freely making use of her Essence, channeling it throughout her body as almost searing pain spread throughout it. Her entire being was burning, and that wasn’t all but she felt her own blood boiling itself to transform into curses for her to become stronger.

  Almost instantly, the two of them entered in a close-range sword fight where blood constantly was spilled, whether it was hers or the Servant of Chaos’ was hard to tell. But just like her, the Servant of Chaos’ injuries healed just as fast, which gave her a small sense of crisis but it didn’t last long.

  Because, even though she had been unable to glean what her Legacy Branch of Fledgling Divine Demonic Blood did at first; she was now beginning to understand it a little. While the names of her Legacy Branch Skills had changed, its effects hadn’t from what she could tell. So all the changes had been from her new Essence Skill.

  Transcendent Accursed Blood.

  An Essence Skill, that unlike others, she hadn’t been able to intuitively understand at first. But now, she was finally beginning to comprehend it. Aside from granting her the unique changes to her blood, it also yearned for one thing and one thing only, and that was sanguineous drainage. It yearned for the spillage of blood, whether it was hers or the blood of others.

  And with each passing moment, she was growing stronger and also beginning to sense something more?— the Servant of Chaos’ blood. Her Legacy Branch had allowed her to make a connection to it, one she could use to push her own curses into him. A realization that made her glee.

  “Gagh!” He groaned, faltering for the first time. “Youuuu nasty little?—”

  Her sword collided against his, before she took the chance to take a breath and breathe?— blue Essence fire engulfed the demon, pushing him back for the first time since he had reappeared. This was her advantage, and the way she would overcome this challenge.

  Amber grinned, and taking advantage of the Servant of Chaos faltering, she drove her sword right through her chest, spilling his blood. She made use of Crimson Fuel to burn it and dig into the demon more, drawing a chilling growl from him.

  “Amberrrrrrrr!”

  His voice shattered her ear-drums, causing blood to explode from her ears as she became dizzy for a moment. But, she shook it off and stirred her Essence, as she used the Essence Skill she had learned in the Grand Forest; Storm of Destruction.

  Lighting exploded at her hand, engulfing the demon as he let out a loud and powerful booming grunt?—

  “Enough!”

  Almost instantly, the lighting storm was snuffed. She felt her own Essence violently tremble, making Amber freeze up. Isn’t this just like the hydra?! She gritted her teeth as she used Abyssal Channel?— her title Skill with a powerful curse ?— the Curse of the Abyss.

  “Blast!”

  A powerful explosion engulfed the demon; exacerbating every curse present on his body and yet?— Amber groaned, feeling pain rippling throughout her as she threw up a mouthful of blood.

  “You don’t understand it, do you?” the Servant of Chaos stood before her, his wounds healing. “I am chaos. In chaos, your own attacks can hurt you. In chaos, there’s no such thing as victory, only… doom.”

  Amber tried to stand, but she felt a rippling nausea engulf her as she saw the Servant of Chaos grin. And then, her entire body froze up as she became unable to move.

  The demon placed his hand atop of her head, and whispered:

  “Now, become sustenance for me.”

  Following his words, she felt the warmth within her begin to leave her as her Essence began to?—

  Dissipate.

  discord come join!