Amelia the Level Zero Hero

Chapter 112

Kallistus Kal had sensed the surge in the Void’s essence, and once again, he had taken this opportunity to practice his newfound powers. He had monitored the movements of the angel for weeks now. So he knew that it would only pursue the strongest source of the Void.

He remained discreet with the use of his Void-blessed abilities. He ensured that his training sessions were always hidden by a far more powerful flare in the Void’s essence. While the [Hero King] preferred to act indiscreetly, he had no other choice. He knew that Guardian Angel Z357 could defeat him with ease.

That was why Kallistus had remained in hiding for the last few weeks. Even though his country needed him— even though his armies needed his help to defeat the Astrad Kingdom. He wasn’t sure how long he would need to act covertly. Right now, he was still observing, but he knew he would soon begin to make plans once more.

However, that changed when he felt the eruption of Void essence in the distance. It was overwhelming. It felt like the [Hero King] was standing before a rift, hearing the words of the Void as it whispered into his ears.

Kallistus Kal stumbled back as he lowered his hand. The voidling he had been conjuring vanished, and the room seemed to shudder. He felt a heavy pressure bearing down onto his back as he dropped into one knee, and he tried to steady himself.

“This is…?” the [Hero King] whispered between labored breaths.

He looked up, glancing towards the source of this terrible power. He heard the echoes of the Void as he rose back to his feet.

“—erish… rish… ish…”

Kallistus felt the Void essence permeating the room around him— pouring forth from a great distance away. It was greater than anything he had ever imagined. Even more so than he had hoped.

And he knew that it was what he had been searching for this whole time.

—--

Noele jerked up as her eyes snapped open. She exhaled heavily, before taking in a deep breath. She swept her gaze over her surroundings, staring at the grassy landscape with wide eyes. Her heart was racing. Her ears were ringing. It took her a moment to regain her senses.

And when she did, she paused to look down at herself. The Noble Spellsword stared at her cut and bruised body, before raising a hand.

“I am… alive?” she observed, utterly perplexed. “But— what happened?”

She asked the question to no one in particular. She didn’t even know where she was. It didn’t look like she was in Arelioth’s Pass anymore. Sitting on a bed of grass and surrounded by thickets of trees with no craters in sight, it was quite evident she was somewhere safe now.

“But the Lich King—” Noele started as she rose to her feet.

And she paused as she heard a groan coming from the side. She looked towards a figure lying face first on the ground. Her eyes widened when she saw him. Noele hurriedly rushed to his side as she called out.

“Garron!”

She turned him over as he sat up, rubbing his temples. The burly man shook his head as he grimaced.

“Where am I?” he asked.

And Noele could only purse her lips. “I… I don’t know.”

She looked up as she searched her surroundings. The blonde girl had no answer for him. She was just as confused as he was.

Garron opened his mouth as he glanced at her. “I—”

And he was interrupted by a flash of light. The two of them glanced back as they blinked, staring at a mountain range in the far distance. The sky shone with a bright light— like a giant purple pillar was descending from the heavens as dark clouds gathered above.

It was so far away, and yet, the two adventurers still saw it. The entire mountain range was bathed in a purple light, illuminated even in the dead of night. And they could even feel the power being emanated from Arelioth’s Pass.

It was… terrible.

“...what happened?” Noele asked as she rose back to her feet.

She stared at the lightning bolts crackling in the sable clouds. She thought she could see the face of a skull high in the sky. A shiver ran down her spine as she took a step back, and a voice answered her.

“We were saved.”

Noele spun around and faced a small figure sitting on a rock. She recognized him in an instant. He was Saros the Gnome Inventor. And he didn’t even face her as he spoke.

“That’s what happened,” he snorted as he shook his head. “We had our asses saved.”

Garron managed to force himself back to his feet, before narrowing his eyes. He stared at the gnome’s back and furrowed his brows.

“Saved? By who?” the burly man asked.

Noele watched as Saros turned around and faced them. He just rolled his eyes, waving a hand dismissively.

“You know who,” he said simply.

And both Noele and Garron exchanged a glance. They understood what the Gnome Inventor meant in an instant. They both made a sound of understanding.

“Oh.”

—--

Guardian Angel Z357 was engulfed by the blast of purple lightning. It consumed him— it burned the feathers on his wings as his metallic body cracked. His twelve eyes darted around in different directions as the electricity continued to course through him.

The lightning bolt vanished, leaving behind a massive crater where he lay. He jolted in intense pain, paralyzed and burning. And it didn’t look like he was going to break free from his paralysis any time soon. He would have lain there forever— until his body collapsed from the shock damage of the attack.

But his mind focused. His entire body tensed for a moment. And finally, he called forth one of his Techniques.

The only escape to his agony.

Without A Trace. He phased out of his corporeal form, and the electricity immediately dispersed. He sank into the ground, clinging onto his lance as it was taken with him. He took a moment to regain his bearings before shooting out of the earth and ending the effects of his Technique.

He landed a dozen feet behind the Fledgling God Vessel as he raised his lance. He was prepared for another surprise attack. But it didn’t come.

“Amazing…” a voice said.

Guardian Angel Z357 raised his head back as he narrowed his twelve eyes. The voice wasn’t distorted— in fact, it almost sounded perfectly normal. At least, for the one who had said it. It still had an ethereal tone which an ordinary man or woman would not carry.

But that was because it was said by Ar’elith the First Lich King. He held his hands up, whispering softly as he faced the empurpled sky.

“This power— why did I reject it for so long? I should have heeded the call of the Void from the very beginning. I feel incredible. I feel… invincible…”

Guardian Angel Z357 heard the warbled voice coming from the last word. But it was unlike before. It was calm. It was controlled. Beforehand, it was like the words struggled to even form in this world. But now, Ar’elith spoke for the Fal-Deus like he was speaking for himself.

He had become the vessel of the Void. A Fledgling God Vessel. And while he still contained some semblance of his own consciousness, it would soon vanish.

Guardian Angel Z357 shook his head. He quickly assessed the situation in this brief moment of reprieve. The Fledgling God Vessel had nearly destroyed him with a single attack. The angel’s wings were torn and tattered— bits of feather had been burnt off to reveal the metal frame underneath.

Chunks of his metallic body had been broken off, and bits of wire stuck out as they crackled with electricity. It was not an effect of the lightning bolt, but rather it was simply his insides. As an artificial being, he had no organs. He only had machine parts.

Based on that very brief clash between himself and the Fledgling God Vessel, Guardian Angel Z357 knew that he did not stand a chance of winning this battle. It was to be expected. After all, he was faced with a Demigod-level threat.

Perhaps an Archangel would be more suited to deal with this problem. But it was only Guardian Angel Z357 who was present here in Planet 16B. So it was up to him to complete his task and defeat the Fal-Deus.

And he knew he did not need to destroy the enemy standing before him to win. He just had to weaken the Fledgling God Vessel, dispel the outpouring Void essence, then seal the rift on the chest of the transformed Lich King. It was a three-step process, and each step was necessary in that specific order.

But he determined that this process was enough to contain the Fal-Deus for at least another ten thousand years. After all, it was similar to what he had done the last time he had been activated, and it was the only method he knew of that was capable of stopping an immediate return. Although… there was no vessel back then.

Unfortunately, every other attempt he had carried out to stop the Fal-Deus had only ever brought about temporary results. So this was what Guardian Angel Z357 knew to do.

And he acted to carry it out.

Lance Duplication. He raised his right hand, creating dozens of copies of his lance overhead. They shot forward as they streaked through the air. They propelled with such immense speed, they instantly reached the Fledgling God Vessel.

But Ar’elith hardly even reacted. He simply raised his staff, conjuring a wall of ice. The volley of flying lances crashed into the barrier as the nearby ground was ripped apart. However, the attacks didn’t pierce through— they never reached their target.

“You cannot kill me,” the transformed Lich King said as he strode forward.

Guardian Angel Z357 flew back, aiming his lance at the Fledgling God Vessel. Bursting Ray of the Sun.

And a blast of golden light shot out. A massive beam that instantly expanded hundreds of feet wide from its source. It tore apart the earth, shredding open another new valley in Arelioth’s Pass. It would have destroyed everything in hundreds of miles. But as it reached Ar’elith, he just raised his staff.

“I have…” he whispered as a spear of ice was formed right above him. “Ascended.”

The projectile streaked forward. It tore straight through the beam of golden light, rapidly flying straight for Guardian Angel Z357. His eyes grew wide as his own attack was easily shorn apart. He tried to disengage— he tried flying out of the way of the spear of ice.

But it swerved after him. It moved faster than he did. And he was forced to protect himself.

He held his lance forward as he conjured up a barrier. Field of Isolation.

An iridescent dome fell over him. It was his greatest defensive Technique. It should have protected him from even his own strongest attacks. But as the spear of ice clashed with the barrier, he realized it wasn’t enough.

His Field of Isolation cracked open as he raised his lance. And the spear of ice shot straight through the barrier, before clashing with his lance.

There was a pulse of light. Guardian Angel Z357 was sent flying back from the shockwave as he barely parried the projectile. He crashed into a nearby mountain, destroying the mountaintop from the sheer impact of his fall.

He tried to pick himself up, but sparks flaked off his right arm. He collapsed back onto the ground as he craned his neck up to face the approaching winged figure. The Fledgling God Vessel drifted towards him as the realization settled in.

He had made a miscalculation. He would fail to defeat the Fal-Deus here.

The only reason he had succeeded in sealing away the Void last time around was because he had the assistance of the Elder Dragons. But now, he was alone. And he was completely outmatched.

A sense of dread threatened to overtake the machine. The fear that he would be destroyed in this battle weighed on him. But before he could be clouded by those emotions, he quickly purged his feelings and analyzed the situation.

Reassessing… Guardian Angel Z357 knew he was not going to complete his objectives here. So he shifted his priorities. Rather than trying for a resounding victory, he had to resort to simply temporarily sealing away the Fal-Deus.

He was aware that it was no different than closing a rift. The Fal-Deus would return soon enough— perhaps in a day or so. But that was the only way he could defeat the Fledgling God Vessel.

Preparing the seal… must delay Ar’elith until then. He raised his lance with his left hand. Fire Nova.

He pointed, and a ring of crimson flames rapidly closed in on the transformed Lich King. But in response, Ar’elith raised his staff, wreathing his body in an armor of ice. As the ring of crimson flames touched him, there was a powerful implosion. A blast that engulfed him entirely. But otherwise did not harm him.

He continued to float towards the fallen angel as chunks of his ice armor broke off.

Guardian Angel Z357 staggered to his feet as he swung down with his lance, unleashing Technique after Technique at the approaching Ar’elith.

Shackles of Domum. Heavenly Meteor Shower. Three Point Laser—

But it didn’t matter. The Fledgling God Vessel broke through the ethereal shackles. He countered falling stars with his own volley of projectiles. And he tanked the blast of red light.

He reached the angel as he brought a hand out.

Dispel Depravity. Guardian Angel Z357 thrust forward with his lance.

There was a flash of purple light. The rift— the eyeball— on the chest of the Fledgling God Vessel flickered for a brief moment. And he simply caught the lance with his right hand. He tossed aside the weapon as the Technique failed to slow him.

And he pinned Guardian Angel Z357 to the ground.

“You cannot compute my power, can you?” Ar’elith asked as his eyes blazed brightly with purple flames. “I have surpassed what your feeble machine mind is capable of processing. I have become a god.”

Guardian Angel Z357 stared at the transformed Lich King for a moment. He lay on the ground as the metal on his face bent from being crushed against the rock ground. And he replied simply.

Not yet, he said as he brought up his right hand as a spell circle formed at his fingertips. Seal of the System.

There was a flash of iridescent light. The magic shone brightly in Guardian Angel Z357’s hand as he swung for the transformed Lich King’s chest. Ar’elith’s flaming eyes dimmed for a brief moment—

And his figure was wreathed in a purple light. Guardian Angel Z357 blinked as his target teleported away in an instant. His hand swept through the air, and his seal dissipated into nothing.

He stared with round eyes as the Fledgling God Vessel reappeared a hundred feet high in the air, looking down at the crater.

“That was…” Ar’elith stared in disbelief for a second. Then he chuckled in a distorted voice. “You almost got me. But did you really think such petty tricks would work on me?”

Guardian Angel Z357 picked up his lance and leant on it. He raised a hand to his right shoulder as a green glow shone, and the damages he had received began to repair. But slowly— too slowly.

The transformed Lich King spread his arms wide as a purple aura began to permeate the air around him. The Void’s essence in the area thickened as the sky was empurpled, and the clouds crackled with a dark lightning. A thin layer of sleet began to cover the landscape. A hundred miles, slowly freezing over just from his presence alone.

He cackled wildly as he stared down at the injured angel.

“I do not even need to get close to you to kill you!” the Fledgling God Vessel bellowed as the eddying clouds began to glow brightly. He pointed his staff down at the crater. “Now die—”

His voice boomed out as Guardian Angel Z357 flinched. But Ar’elith couldn’t finish. Just as he was about to swing down with his staff, a voice cut him off.

“That’s enough.”

The transformed Lich King froze. Guardian Angel Z357 raised his head. It was a familiar voice. A female voice. But the both of them would have recognized that voice anywhere. More specifically— they would have recognized the voice’s tone.

After all, it was a bored voice.

They looked down at the base of the mountain as a young woman stood underneath the moonlight. She had brown hair. She carried a rusted sword. Her black and blue cloak was torn and tattered, but even as it blew with the wind, it refused to fall apart.

She stared at the damaged body of the angel, before looking towards the twisted figure of the transformed Lich King. She did not visibly react. She just stood there, waiting expectantly.

“You’re…”

Ar’elith lowered his staff as his flaming eyes flickered with recognition. With the need for vengeance. His gaze bore into her, and he spoke with a calm fury, recalling her name.

“Amelia.”