Chapter 604: Stripped [2]

Advent of the Three Calamities

Everything was going as planned.

Jackal had foreseen everything. He acted in accordance with what he had seen.

His confidence stemmed from his vision.

And yet...

"H-how is this possible...?"

He took a step back, staring at Julien, who was still standing. In his hand was an unassuming black sword while his head was lowered.

His entire body was drenched in blood, pooling beneath him.

In his current state, he should be dead.

From the blood loss to the sword that had pierced his body. There was simply no way for him to remain standing.

'This doesn't make sense?"

"What sort of trickery is this...?"

A thought crossed his mind as he looked at Julien. It all started to make sense then.

"Necromancy?"

Indeed, Julien was a curse user. It wouldn't be strange for him to know necromancy. Perhaps, the only reason he was still standing was because of some sort of necromancer-related power he had placed on himself.

"So that's how it is..."

Although Jackal wasn't sure, he didn't feel like Julien was still a threat.

To him, it was over.

"Struggling even in death. How pathetic."

Shaking his head, he took a step forward, his sword raised as he got ready to end things.

He was just about to slash down when—

".....!?"

Julien raised his head, his eyes hollow.

Staring into his eyes, Jackal felt his back drenched with cold sweat. There was something about his gaze that left him completely unsettled.

And as if that wasn't enough...

He soon moved.

"What?!"

Jackal's entire expression shifted. Especially when he saw Julien raise his sword and slash down in his direction.

Swoosh!

It wasn't anything impressive—just a single slash. And yet... It almost seemed to follow his movements, tracing down like a snake ready to bite.

Even then, Jackal managed to avoid the strike without much of a problem.

He was just about to retaliate when Julien's second strike came.

Swoosh!

This time, it was faster, more precise, and more ruthless!

Jackal barely had any time to process the strike before it was already on him.

Clank!

Sparks flew in the air as Jackal managed to block the attack.

But...

The third one came.

It was even faster than the previous one. Jackal wasn't able to react in time. All he could do was stare at the approaching sword with his own shock as he just barely managed to get the body of his sword to block it.

Bang!

For the first time, he was pushed back.

'How is this possible?!'

Jackal's shock intensified when he saw Julien approach him. He seemed to be in some sort of trance.

Tracing some sort of path...

Jackal's face twisted when he saw this.

At the rate things were going, he was going to lose.

He took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a brief moment. His thoughts quickly calmed down, and when he opened his eyes again, several different Juliens appeared in front of him, all attacking him from several directions.

The world seemed to slow down in that moment.

He could see all the possible paths that Julien could take to attack him and acted accordingly, lowering his body as he pushed his foot forward to counter-attack.

This was his trump card.

This was the reason why he had never treated Julien as a threat. Their tiers didn't differ by too much, with Julien being slightly behind.

His emotive magic was also vastly superior, scary to some extent.

But to Jackal...

It was nothing.

He could see it all. Whatever Julien planned, the moment he activated his ability, he could see it all.

...And since he could see it all, there was simply no way for Julien to win.

Or at least, that was how it was supposed to be.

SHIIIIING—!

A shattering sound manifested within Jackal's mind as he witnessed the seven figures ahead of him shatter all at once, a single sword tracing down from an angle the images hadn't covered.

"....!?"

Jackal's eyes widened at the sight, his expression quickly shifting as he scrambled to re-adjust his posture and block the attack.

But how could he?

As if the sword knew exactly where he was going to move, it altered in the air, crashing down against him from above.

Clank!

Sparks flew yet again as Jackal was sent scrambling back, his steps shattering the wooden floor beneath as blood seeped out from his mouth.

"Huek!"

Holding onto his chest, he felt a burning sensation running through his body as he tried his best to recompose himself.

But that proved to be an impossible task as Julien appeared before him again, his entire presence seeming massive as he raised his sword up.

"Ah!"

Jackal screamed, his vision shattering once again as the sword came cleaving down from above.

Bang!

His body was sent reeling back again, his back crashing against the nearby wall as more blood flowed out of his mouth.

Thump!

Falling face down, Jackal let go of his sword as it clattered on the floor. His expression grew pale as he saw Julien move towards him again.

"No, no..."

He rushed to grab his sword, but by then it was already too late.

Julien was already upon him.

Jackal's eyes widened in that moment as he activated his skill. That was when he saw it.

...Darkness.

That was all he saw.

And in that moment, it became clear to him.

'I'm going to die!'

"Noooo!"

He screamed in terror as Julien's sword came cleaving down on him, his eyes turning bloodshot, and the mana inside of his body building up to form a shield.

The sword soon reached the shield and then—

It stopped.

Silence.

"Haa... haaa..."

As Jackal's heavy breathing echoed in the air, he stared at Julien, who had suddenly stopped, his entire body frozen in motion.

"W-what?"

Startled, Jackal hurriedly moved away while coughing several times as blood poured down from his mouth.

Quickly reaching for his sword, he pointed at Julien, but even then, he got no reaction.

As if frozen in time, Julien had stopped moving completely.

And that was when it finally dawned on Jackal.

"Dead..."

Julien was dead.

His face was drained of all color, and his chest was no longer moving. He also didn't feel a single heartbeat.

"He's dead..."

Mumbling the same words again, Jackal's lips quivered before he suddenly burst out laughing.

"I knew it! Hahaha!"

His laugh boomed throughout the surroundings as he moved towards Julien.

"There was no way he could've survived that!"

He had been certain the first time.

How could someone survive a stab in the body? Even if he had some sort of skill that allowed him to live for a little longer, there was simply no way for him to remain standing like that.

"It's impossible!"

And he was proven right.

Jackal didn't waste a single second. Moving behind Julien, he stabbed his sword into his back, piercing his heart directly.

Spurt!

Blood splattered all over the walls as Julien's body limply fell forward.

Thump!

"Hahaha."

Jackal burst out laughing again, his face twisting as he bent over and ripped Julien's shirt apart, displaying the wounds he had placed over him. Placing his hand over Julien's back, his face grew maniacal.

"It's time I finally take what belongs to me back."

A powerful glow suddenly erupted as the blood in Julien's body squirmed before slowly moving and assimilating into Jackal.

"H-ha."

Jackal's chest trembled as he felt the blood slowly moving from Julien's body to his. The wounds that he had sustained from Julien's last-ditch attack started to heal rapidly while his vision grew hazy.

He felt a strange, yet familiar power start to settle into his mind as his vision started to become clearer and clearer.

In that moment, the world around him suddenly started to open up.

Jackal felt like he could see and predict everything, foreign images flashing in his mind as the blood continued to seep into his body, slowly accumulating.

His head raised as his face twisted in euphoria.

Right then and there, he finally started to feel complete.

He... finally started to feel like Oracleues.

"Haaa."

As a turbid air escaped from his lips, Jackal removed his hand from Julien's body. His expression, which had previously been twisted, calmed down as he looked towards his surroundings.

"Everything... it feels so different."

He couldn't quite explain the sensation he was feeling, but he felt a lot more clearer-headed.

But still...

"....."

Lowering his head and staring at his hands, Jackal's brows furrowed as he noticed strange blue veins covering his entire hands. He felt a strange sense of rejection coming from the blood he had just assimilated.

But he wasn't too worried.

"Give or take, a couple of years."

Jackal understood that he had yet to fully merge with the blood. It would still take some time for him to do so, and in that time, he planned on going back to the church and slowly absorbing everything.

By the time he did...

A faint smile tugged at the corner of his lips.

"....The Church of Oracleus will be the only church left."

Slowly lifting his head and looking at his surroundings, Jackal took a step forward, and his body disappeared. At the same time his body disappeared, so did the bodies of all that had been present.

All besides Julien, as he remained on the floor, his body completely lifeless.

Gradually, the surroundings started to repair themselves, and it wasn't long before everything was restored to how it was once before.

The barrier covering the surroundings shattered, and a strange silence filled the surroundings.

...A silence that was soon shattered by the single sound of a knock.

To Tok—

"Julien?"

It was Leon.

He had come to visit Julien in order to pick up some of the stuff he had left before. He had expected Julien to answer immediately, but received no answer.

"Julien?"

Leon frowned, his brows furrowing.

"I know that you're in there. The innkeeper told me that you just came in. I also have your keys."

To Tok—

Leon knocked again.

However, even as he knocked again, he received no response.

Growing irritated, Leon placed the keys in the lock and unlocked the door.

"I'm coming..."

Click!

The door opened, and Leon entered.

It was as he was about to open his mouth that he finally saw Julien, sprawled on the ground with not a single breath in him.

"Julien!"

His expression changed drastically.

"Hey, wake up! Julien!"

Leon tried to wake him up, but there was no denying the scene in front of him.

Julien...

He was truly dead.