Chapter 109

Arc 13- Public Enemy No.1 - Part 11

An angel clashed with a Creator.

Normally, the Creator would always have an advantage over the angel.

However, the Queen of Virrasil - the Creator - was fighting the first angel - Lucifer.

Lucifer is one of the three beings who have broken the taboo between an angel and a Creator.

The taboo is only in place to weaken the angels - then later the Sixth Dimensional Gods - against their Creator, the Supreme One. The reason was simple; angels are the only creations of the Supreme One who can match him in power.

Since the taboo is broken, the Queen of Virassil doesn’t get an unfair advantage over him.

“Impressive, first angel.”

The two God-like beings clashed with their energy swords faraway from the light -- Ultraverse.

Lucifer flapped his wings and increased the distance between them.

"Thanks," he replied sarcastically to her sarcastic praise.

The two white wings on his back spread wide as it lit up with white energy.

Lucifer narrowed his eyes as he used his feathers as weapons.

Thousands of feathers were shot at the Queen of Virrasil like bullets.

The Queen held out her right palm at it.

With a thin grin on her face, “[Vertigo].”

The feathers stopped moving.

“Hmm...”

Lucifer tried to take control of his feathers, but the Queen’s influence over them was too great.

Unlike Lucifer who can control the feathers with his mind, she was doing something else to it.

With [Vertigo] everything in the affected zone becomes defunct. They lose energy and momentum, thus can no longer move or work in any way.

But that’s not all.

“Become mine.”

Everything becomes her. It becomes her to control by controlling the surrounding of the object. Then she creates a miniature reality around the object and gives her complete control over it. She can use it in any way she wants.

So, now the feathers wobbled.

Sensing what was going on, Lucifer brought forward his four other wings and covered his body with it.

“Heh.”

With a flick of her finger, she threw the feathers at Lucifer.

The speed of the feathers had increased greatly.

Between Lucifer and the Queen, the distance was smaller than a few kilometres, so with the increased speed, the feathers should have reached Lucifer instantly.

Even then, Lucifer saw them coming as if they were snails moving on the ground.

(What will he do now?) the Queen thought as she felt her heartbeat increase in anticipation.

Lucifer spread his wings wide, which caused her to tilt her head in a confused manner.

She wondered why he would welcome her attack like that.

“AH!”

For some reasons, she squealed in excitement.

Lucifer paid her no heed.

Narrowing his eyes, he welcomed the feathers shot by the Queen.

She had equipped these with her skill [Authority]. Once it attacks the opponent, it will activate the energy within them. Once that’s activated, the Queen will have complete control over Lucifer’s existence.

When she changed it, Lucifer did not sense anything wrong with it. However, since he couldn’t sense anything wrong, he knew that she was concealing its true function.

He doesn’t know about Authority. But took a gamble.

“Is that…?”

Lucifer had used his wings as a cover to create something new.

In front of him, floated a green spherical energy ball.

The spherical energy ball spun furiously.

She increased the power of the feathers.

The Queen could attack him differently while Lucifer welcomed the attack, but she was enjoying her duel with Lucifer. She was excited to see what other tricks he had up his sleeve.

And Lucifer could move out of the way but didn’t. He simply wanted to get rid of those feathers.

(If I dodge it now, it could prove troublesome later on,) he thought to himself.

He doesn't know what it can do, but even then, he wanted to make sure this won't cause problems later.

“[The End].”

The green energy ball started to lose its spherical form and was shot at the feathers.

As soon as it touched the feathers, it started to whiter out of existence.

“Oh...” she seemed somewhat disappointed in what this skill of his can do. “That’s it?”

In this place, away from the Ultraverse, exists no time nor reality. To the feathers, Lucifer introduced the concept of time.

Creating time bubbles around each feather, he discarded her connection to them.

After billions of years had passed for the feathers, it started to wither out of existence.

“Please, do better next time,” she said as she flew right at him.

With the back of her hand, she slapped Lucifer in the face, throwing him far away.

While flying in the dark place, he tried to regain control but she kicked him in the stomach and made it harder for him to gain control of himself and fight back.

From the corner of his eyes, he saw the Ultraverse - which looked no bigger than a grain of sand.

Flying far from it, he groaned in pain.

Lucifer was not sure what happened but he realised he had been slammed into a wall.

(A wall?) he thought to himself with wide confused eyes.

With his back pressed to this “wall”*, he took a deep breath.

The Queen was coming at him. She was closing the distance rapidly.

“Damn it!”

Although he called all of his power to him earlier, he still hasn’t used it. He didn’t want to use it but merely intimidated the Queen.

Gritting his teeth, he realised that he had no other option but to let loose.

“CROSSING VOID!”

He accessed his true power. He accessed everything he had.

Kicking the “wall” behind him, he launched himself at the Queen.

Before she could react, she was punched in the face and left with a broken jaw.

Floating in the middle of nowhere, she slowly rubbed her chin as it healed.

Not a worry could be seen on her face. In fact, she looked excited.

Looking around, she did not see Lucifer anywhere.

He was moving too fast for her.

But even then, once in a while, she would feel pain. She knew that he was attacking her in one way or another.

Despite facing an enemy who was too fast for her, she smiled.

“But if I understand you angels… Urk?”

For a split second, she felt like her soul left her body.

“Wh-wha--wah?”

(Wh… What is this… My power...) she thought to herself.

Inside her mind, there was nothing but doubt.

Looking around, she doubted the very darkness around her.

(Is this a… dream?)

She looked down at her shaking hands.

(No...)

Her mind and her heart were filled with nothing but doubt. Doubt of the environment around her. Doubt of her story. Doubt of her life. Doubt of her old death. Doubt of everything.

In her human-like body, she covered her mouth with her right hand and tried to take a breath but it ended in failure.

Far from her, Lucifer stood still. Once again, he could be seen.

He seemed to be breathing heavily.

“If only my body didn’t have limits,” he muttered under his breath.

(I am… going to…)

She clenched her teeth.

“Didn’t think it would work against you,” without realising, Lucifer was smiling proudly. “Heh.”

The doubt within her increased further.

She doubted everything she knew. She doubted everything she saw.

“It seems my [Arcane Universe] is more powerful than I realised.”

Arcane Universe. Lucifer creates a new universe between his palms. A universe made of nothing but doubt. Once it is used on the opponent, they will doubt everything.

Since power relies heavily on the brain of a person, they become physically weaker.

So.

Lucifer raised his arm slightly and an energy beam was shot at her.

“How will you retaliate?”

(No.)

When in doubt, remember daughter… You are royalty. You have no time for doubt. You need to keep your head up, look at your subjects, and with a stern look on your face, raise your hand and command them. Doubt is a weakness you can't have.

(Indeed.)

Fighting past the doubt within her, she forced a smile.

(I didn't rule over the omniverse to give into doubt this easily.)

She raised her face and stretched her lips into a smile.

(My trump card!)

“[Supremacy: Zero Reversal]!”

And just like that, the doubt from her mind vanished.

Raising her hand, she blocked Lucifer’s attack.

“Is… Is that the best you can do?”

She looked up at him with a victorious smile on her face.

“Should have expected that you would use [The End] to conceal your true attack.”

“What was that skill?” far away from her, he muttered to himself. “Supremacy: Zero Reversal?”

Supremacy: Zero Reversal. It is a skill created by the Queen which can reset an attack of any calibre back to 0, nullifying it. It needs no condition to be activated.

She wanted to keep this trump card hidden but if Lucifer’s attack had hit her, she would have been killed.

Of course, she could come back from that, but death is not something she wishes to experience.

“Forget that, was that you trump card?”

“Indeed,” said as he closed his eyes.

Lucifer was not telling the truth. But at the same time, he was not lying.

He did use a trump card, but Arcane Universe was not it.

It was the [Crossing Void].

With those two words, he unleashes his true power, which he used for the first time in life.

“Is that the best you can do?”

Lucifer raised his right arm and covered his face with it horizontally. With his left hand, he held it on top of his right arm, but vertically. It resembled a plus sign.

“What an odd pose,” she said as she cracked her fingers.

Lucifer opened his eyes abruptly.

His arms turned pitch black.

The darkness -- nothingness -- started to twirl behind the Queen.

“How…?”

She was taken back for a moment.

Looking back, she saw what could only be described as a tornado of darkness, which was pulling her in.

“That’s…”

A small smirk appeared on her face.

“For a being who is residing in the darkness, I would have expected you to have a degree of control over it. But this...”

Realising how fast her heart was beating, she raised her hand and held her chest.

“This is truly the best Ultravese.”

In the next instant, she was standing in front of Lucifer.

“You have managed to surprise me over and over and over.”

She swung her right arms.

“Impressive.”

Before Lucifer could react, she punched him in the face with the force of a million big bangs.

Her fist buried into his face, breaking his facial bones.

“Truly IMPRESSIVE!!”

Lucifer was on the verge of losing consciousness.

Without even asking the question, she knew that Lucifer’s earlier state was temporary. She didn't question why she was faster than him all of a sudden.

“In your earlier state, you could have been a challenge, but now… You are nothing but an ant trying to pick a fight with an elephant.”

He did not realise how far he was thrown.

Lucifer forced himself to stay conscious.

From his nearly closed eyes, he noticed that he was flying right at the Ultraverse.

He knows someone is protecting it but even then, will it be enough?

The moment he crashes with it, he will destroy the whole place.

“Activate...”

He hesitated for a moment.

(Should I activate the traps…?)

Earlier, when he unleashed all of his powers, he placed some traps around for the Queen.

Activating them would take quite a lot of energy and focus.

Instead, he took a deep breath.

“CROSSING VOID!!”

The angels are made so they cannot access their true power for a long time or they will become abstract of an existence.

However, they can access it for a brief moment.

After a second, their body will start to break apart and then the said angel will lose control and become an abstract entity.

So, Lucifer accessed all of his power but he didn’t use all of his time. He stopped before he lost control.

Every system has a flaw. A flaw that is usually overlooked by the creator.

The same rules apply here.

What if an angel stops using their true power before the time is up? There is no rule that says they can’t go for a second round.

Naturally, the angel will not have enough power to reach that state again very quickly.

But Lucifer is different.

He is the Ultraverse itself. The Ultraverse is him.

Every atom of his makes this Ultraverse. Every atom of the Ultraverse makes him up.

So.

He called all the excessive energies from the Ultraverse. Magic, the energies left by dead worlds and universes, and stole a proportion from everyone he could.

Now…

“To think you could reach that state again… Impressive.”

The Queen shot herself towards him.

But Lucifer merely waved his hand.

A large square appeared, encompassing both of them within it.

Lucifer cracked his finger and moved.

And so did the Queen.

Unlike last time where she couldn’t react to him, this time, she was more than fine.

She could see him move in front of him.

Around the Queen, a faint green light could be seen.

That faint green light was related to the thread that is known as time.

She was manipulating time and space around her to increase her speed and keep up with Lucifer.

“This is exhilarating!!”

Lucifer’s finger twitched and the square around them started to wobble.

She paid it no heed and continued to aim at Lucifer.

In return, he clicked his tongue.

(Less than half a second left...)

He shot himself at her.

His hand lit up with faint golden light.

Her hand lit up with faint white energy.

And so, they started to trade blows in close-quarter combat.

Their blows generated enough energy that was bigger than an Ultraverse.

If the square was not around them, it would have destroyed the other Ultraverse.

Luckily for Lucifer, the square absorbed the energy and sent it back to him so he has enough power to keep up with the Queen.

Even then it was not enough.

Lucifer was faster but he was outclassed in everything else.

To make matters worse, she was going easy on him,

Her excited laugh that echoed in the deepest part of his mind caused him great pain.

(Damn it… How was Nazar able to battle her? I can’t keep up with her, even in this state.) He thought while his face was punched. (She is just toying with me. If she was serious...)

Although Lucifer had the upper hand a few times, she was able to gain the upper hand and learned of his trump cards.

(And my power...)

With each blow, Lucifer was losing more and more power.

The square encompassing them could not keep up with it.

(No, that’s not true...)

The Queen was learning. Adapting.

She was using Lucifer’s weapon against him.

(My other traps… !!)

A rude awakening.

“I have nullified them all.”

Lucifer has made a fatal mistake. This infinite and living darkness is everybody’s enemy.

But it can also be an ally of some.

If the right threads are touched, the darkness becomes their ally.

So, the Queen had known about his traps and destroyed them all, except for the square which she is using against him.

Seeing the agonising look on his face, she smiled thinly.

“You are not a disappointment, Lucifer… Not as big as your God, at least.”

She held him by the neck.

He was losing power and the square was working against him now.

“To think a mere angel would stand right in front of me and give me an exciting battle.”

In her hand, a sword made of red energy appeared.

“To think someone like you could be so fun.”

Tightening her grip on the sword, she stabbed him in the chest.

With a large hole appearing in his chest, he coughed blood.

“I am impressed… Very impressed,” she said with her teeth grinding while at the same time, smiling an evil smile.

The Queen slowly took out the sword.

“But you are beneath me. Someone like you can never come close to me.”

She swung her arm once more.

The sword was about to slash off his head.

“!!”

But suddenly, Lucifer vanished into thin air.

He did not have enough power to leave her grip but someone else did.

He was removed from the battlefield by someone else.

“An invisible player?!” she sounded agitated. “Who is it…? The Dragon?”

Before letting out a heavy sigh, she searched around for a moment for this invisible player but she did not find anything.

But suddenly, she swallowed the saliva in her mouth to wetten her dry throat.

Streams of sweat started to come down her face as she blinked very fast and smiled in a flustered manner.

“That was close… I nearly killed him.”

Instead of being relieved, she should be feeling flustered.

“If that had happened, it would have interfered with his plans.”

If she had killed him, the Ultraverse would have been destroyed with no trace.

“A-ahem.”

She coughed and slowly regained her composure.

Plastering a stern expression on her face, she spoke.

“That damned bastard. How dare he turn me into… into this… DAMN YOU, -----------------------”

She felt two hands on her shoulders, which caused her body to jerk.

“Talk not in such a barbaric manner, vixen.”

That chilling voice from her back made her gulp.

She could feel the hot breath of the other person on her ear.

“For I have made you aware not to speak my name.”

A voice that slithered through her very being.

“Vultures are listening.”

She wondered, what does he mean by vultures?

And so, he smiled as a thin smile that ripped his face in half.

“O’ Queen of Virrasil, have you forgotten the tale I told you? A tale of a world with vultures.”

She sucked in a breath.

“Although the vultures can’t interfere with this part, they can still hear you.”

Pushing aside her fears, she asked a question with a serious face.

“This part... This part of the omniverse?”

“Indeed.”

She placed her hand on his hand and removed it.

“You told me it is possible.”

He held up his palms.

“Guilty as charged.”

The change in the way he spoke and acted was annoying to her. One day he would act holier than thou, the next like a poet and the next like a moron with no worries in the world.

“So… It’s impossible?”

“The most impossible thing ever. Try pushing the narrative of the vultures on a God who exceeds it.”

Seeing the veins pop up on her face because of anger, he let his arms loose and giggled.

“〜Just kidding♫〜”

She frowned.

“I am working on that, actually. It is true he is above such concepts, but this plan of mine which I put into motion recently should work. Maybe. There is a 1% chance.”

“I see...” she bit her lip. “What if you can’t?”

“Hmmm,” he rubbed his jaw with his right hand while he crossed his left arm around her chest. “I have prepared 1,420,805 back up plans in case.”

“...Interesting.”

She knew that he had planned for every possibility, but to think that he had that many plans in place surprised her.

“!!”

Then it hit her.

Why are they taking the long route? Why take a path which leads to failure? Why did they not use the backup plans earlier?

“Why not use one--”

“No.”

His immediate yet serious reply caused her to trail off.

“It must go according to my plan. The main plan, I mean.”

“Why?”

“What is the main plan?”

“Your death.”

He loosened his left arm and with the index of his right hand, he pointed at her.

“Bingo!”

She rolled her eyes in annoyance.

“If we do not follow my plan, you won’t be able to steal the Dragon’s ability and steal God's omnipotence. And of course, I won’t die either. Pathetic. I won’t accept an ending like that.”

“What if...”

She looked down.

“What if that main plan fails?”

He let out a heavy sigh.

“If I force a narrative on him, it should be easier. If that won’t happen, we will stick to emotional manipulation and use her as a last resort. So, keep that quite no matter what.”

“And if that doesn’t work?”

The Queen acted like a queen and asked a question with a very serious look on her face.

This was her conviction.

She won’t be just a minion anymore. She will question the person she is working with.

She has asked a similar question before, but never got a concrete answer. Right now, she wants to push pressure on him so he can tell her the truth. The truth about this plan. The truth about its outcome. And more than that... will it really work?

“And if the plan after that doesn’t work? And the one after that? Did we waste all this time and power on a useless endeavour?”

Usually, if she lashed at him like this, he would punch her with the force of fifty exploding megaverses.

But now…

“Why did you bring me back?”

“You would have come back a few thousand years later. But I brought you back earlier so I could die quicker.”

“Hah...”

She was not sure whether to laugh or scream.

The heat of her body increased, muscles tensed, and her fist clenched.

“Well done. You really played me well.”

“Indeed. I did. You are all nothing but pawns in a greater game.”

He moved closer to her.

“But you are a pawn that will ride to the status of a king in this game of chess.”

He placed his hand on her shoulder and smiled in a careless smile.

“Besides, I have millions of plans currently running simultaneously. In the end, you will reach a state higher than your father. That’s my promise to you.”

“And if I don’t?”

He brought his face closer to her ear.

“Don’t worry, I won’t fail.”

She clicked her tongue.

“If everything fails, we will switch places,” he added in a carefree manner.

In an instant, he was standing far away from her.

Looking at the Ultraverse not far from here, he smiled subconsciously as if he was reminiscing about the past.

“Anyway, why did you reveal your trump card to Lucifer?”

He was still looking at the Ultraverse and not her.

“Your willpower is amazing, so you could have overcome that with ease. So, why show off your trump card?”

“One of my trump cards,” she said arrogantly.

“But why?”

“He was just so cute, I couldn’t let him go without giving him a small present.”

“I see...”

He looked at her and smiled widely.

“In other words, you are stupid and you didn’t think that far?”

She collected energy in the palm of her hand - in the form of an energy ball - and shot at him.

Swinging her hand, she slammed the energy in his face.

Usually, something like this would cost the Queen her life, but now he giggled and vanished into thin air.

Being left alone, she let out a heavy sigh.

“What a pain...”