Transmigrated with my corruption system

Chapter 168: Chapter 168: Boom

Before the words could fully register, Artorias watched as the youth’s devious crimson gaze vanished, replaced by an eerie obsidian light.

His eyes now burned like twin void orbs as he lifted a hand with a strained breath, his fingers poking the air three times.

"Huh?" Artorias breathed, confusion flashing across his face as he studied the youth closely.

He wasn’t afraid of a sneak attack. He was confident in his speed. By the time the youth made a move, he would have already countered.

At least, that was what he thought.

But before he could delve deeper into his thoughts, his figure suddenly vanished, reappearing several meters away. His eyes narrowed as the youth flicked his hand once more, as though preparing another attack.

Instead, a playful glint danced within his restored crimson gaze as he mouthed,

"Boom!"

Relishing the startled expression on Artorias’ face.

"Y-you..." Artorias growled, his lips twitching with rage. Had the youth really feinted an attack just to mock him?

Worse still, he had fallen for it.

Clenching his fingers in slight embarrassment, he prepared to land the final attack that would knock the youth unconscious so he could take him away.

Before he suddenly paused mid-motion as three distinct sharp pains, unlike anything he had experienced before, flared across his body.

But that wasn’t what concerned him.

Pain he could endure. He had endured it all his life.

What worried him was what was happening to him.

He could feel more than half of his energy reserves and power slowly slipping from his grasp. It was as if all the years of hard work he had spent accumulating them had been for nothing.

The sheer thought caused panic to spread within him as a deep, animalistic groan escaped his throat.

As his gaze fell on the youth before him, his thoughts cleared slightly as he remembered the strange gestures he had made.

"What... have you done to me?" he growled.

The once-controlled expression on his face had completely vanished.

Ignoring the question entirely, Ulric chuckled faintly in an evil tone as he struggled to his feet, as though the grave injury on his chest wasn’t nearly as severe as it had appeared.

He paused to appraise Artorias.

It worked!

Ulric yelled inwardly.

His Phantom Blades.

This was the first time he had used them against a truly formidable opponent since their advancement, and even he was surprised by the results.

He had known they were strong.

But when facing a B-rank being, he had doubted they would be of much use.

Now he could see he had been gladly mistaken.

Especially since most of his plan had hinged on them working.

Before the battle had even begun, Ulric had scanned Artorias with his Phantom Eyes, influenced by his Phantom Blades, enhancing his senses and allowing him to see beyond the physical into the metaphysical.

Since his Advanced Appraisal didn’t work on Artorias, he hadn’t thought it wise to enter the battle blind without at least a rough understanding of his opponent’s power.

Especially when that opponent was a B-rank being.

Through this special vision, he was able to perceive the energy within.

And with that, he could make a safe deduction using Thunderblade as a reference.

His plan had worked well.

Perhaps too well.

Besides observing the overwhelming reserves of mana contained within Artorias’ frame, he had seen much more.

Previously, when he had scanned Thunderblade, he had seen faint glowing threads flowing throughout his body, all converging toward a large core that seemed to hold everything together.

But when he looked at Artorias, it was different.

The structure was similar.

Only instead of one large core, he had five.

All shimmering with blinding light like miniature suns.

Far brighter than Thunderblade’s pathetic core by thousands of times.

With this knowledge, Ulric had planned to strike at least a few of them before the battle even began.

But that had been relatively impossible.

When this godly ability manifested as a skill, it came with multiple benefits.

The greatest was that he no longer needed to physically poke enemies for it to take effect.

As the name suggested, he could form a blade from this energy.

And since no one could sense the energy apart from him, the blade was practically invisible and undetectable.

His enemies could only perceive it when it struck true.

By then, however, it would already be too late.

The blade had only one flaw.

And it was fatal.

Its attack range was a measly three meters.

Once it traveled beyond that zone, the energy simply fizzled away.

He had worked on increasing the range, but it had proven more difficult than expected.

Not that he was complaining.

It was still one of his most dangerous abilities.

For it to work, all he had to do was draw his enemies close enough.

And boom.

The blades would do the rest.

Something Artorias was slowly coming to realize as his pupils constricted violently.

This had all been a trap.

One the youth had plotted before the battle had even begun.

A plan designed to leave him with a crippling disadvantage before the real fight started.

Scary. Too scary.

Artorias breathed heavily as he appraised the youth before him once more.

It seemed his strength wasn’t the deadliest weapon he possessed.

Some might even deem his cunning mind more terrifying.

Each trait alone was already horrifying.

Combined in a single individual, they sent chills racing down his spine.

Snapping out of his thoughts, Ulric’s grin widened as he watched Artorias slowly regain his composure.

A being of his rank must have been trained to adapt in any situation.

Besides, he must have already realized his energy hadn’t been completely stripped away.

This was only a temporary disadvantage.

Given Ulric’s calculations, it would take a few hours before Artorias regained his full strength.

The duration would be shorter against far stronger opponents.

But for now, it was enough.

As if responding to his thoughts, Ulric waved a hand.

In the next instant, his figure blurred in and out of existence as multiple copies split from him.

Each perfectly identical.

Before all of them charged toward Artorias.

With three energy cores shattered, that left Artorias operating at roughly two-fifths of his strength.

Having already fallen victim to the youth’s schemes once, Artorias was far more cautious this time.

He didn’t know what attack the youth had used.

But he could tell it required close proximity for a brief period.

A mistake he had no intention of repeating.

He had underestimated the youth once.

Now he was paying the price.

Growling, he charged forward to meet the incoming clones.

Initially, he intended to obliterate all of them in a single strike.

That proved more difficult than expected. ƒгeewёbnovel.com

Each clone maintained enough distance from the others to prevent a complete wipeout.

As if that weren’t enough, every time one clone was destroyed, another immediately took its place.

At first, he wasn’t worried.

In fact, he considered it beneficial.

The energy cost of creating clones should have been enormous.

Surely the youth would run out eventually.

His optimism vanished moments later when his expectations were subverted once again.

Frustration welled up inside him as he roared inwardly.

How the hell did the little brat have this much energy?

If he compared himself, he barely possessed a hundredth of these reserves back when he was a D-rank being.

And as he remembered the youth’s rank once more, the frustration finally exploded.

This was absurd.

He was a B-rank.

The battle should have ended in a single exchange.

Yet it had dragged on for this long.

The longer it continued, the more humiliating it became.

Until he finally snapped.

A mana-fueled explosion erupted from his body, creating a shockwave that spread for tens of thousands of meters and annihilated every clone at once.

The move consumed a huge portion of his already diminished mana reserves.

But he no longer cared.

"I am done with your games," he bellowed.

"Come face me if you dare."

***

At the side, Ulric had watched everything unfold while tapping into his Limitless Refinement.

As he observed, every movement etched itself into his mind.

He simulated alternate variations, analyzed habits, and studied Artorias’ battle style.

But even then, it wasn’t enough.

From the way he fought, Ulric could practically feel the decades of combat experience radiating from him.

Experience that allowed him to handle nearly everything with ease.

He needed more. He needed to experience it himself.

That was why, when Artorias called him out, he stepped forward.

An eager glint shining in his eyes. To Ulric, the figure before him had ceased being an overwhelming threat.

Instead, he had become a treasure trove. Watching him approach, Artorias’ lips twisted into a mocking smile.

"Even with barely a fraction of my power, I can still defeat y-"

The rest of his words froze in his throat as a golden light suddenly exploded around Ulric.

His strength soared alongside it, increasing at least tenfold.

The entire scene gave Artorias the illusion he was staring at one of the fabled legendary warriors.

His thoughts were cut short as Ulric’s voice echoed into his ears.

"I’ve finished studying you."