Chapter 2344: Escalation

After killing hundreds of Azi clones, Kefla attempted to recuperate her spirit and natural energies by meditating high in the sky. However, as if she had been marked by the initial encounter, ever more Azi clones came charging at her, denying her the chance to rest.

"Fuck! Fuck! Fuck you all....!" shouted Kefla, firing off eerie green spheres that tore through Azi clones as if they were paper mache.

Adding to Kefla's frustration, a two-headed Azi abruptly appeared behind her, emerging from an eerie black fracture in Space-Time before trying to bite her. She responded by spinning around and kicking one of its heads with enough force to make it turn like a twisted rag, but the second head managed to bite down on her shoulder.

Though Azi's teeth failed to pierce her skin, the pressure of the bite dislocated Kefla's shoulder, causing her to exclaim, "You bitch...!" before landing a heavy punch that caused a gaping hole to appear in the clone's stomach.

Undaunted by the severity of its injuries, the Azi clone snickered evilly as the blood from its wounds congealed into thousands of additional clones. Its laughter was cut short when Kefla flared her energy, expelling it as an explosive wave, but it had served its purpose. Kefla's power had waned considerably, so the clone was certain it was only a matter of time before she was overwhelmed.

As if to give credence to the clone's final thoughts, the rosy hue faded from Kefla's hair, tail, and the fur covering her body. Soon after, her fur coat began to recede, leaving her in her Super Saiyan Sage 2 mode with golden hair, green irises, and red markings around her eyes.

Popping her shoulder back into place, Kefla glared hatefully at the Azi's encircling her, asking, "Do you eerie fuckers really believe you can defeat me? You have no fucking clue who you're messing with..."

Providing Kefla a moment to catch her breath, one of the Azi's said, "You must be a descendant of that monster, Sun Wu Kong. But that durability won't save you. Once you've exhausted the remnants of your stamina, we will capture and consume you down to the last hair on your tail."

Snorting through her nose, Kelfa, or, more specifically, the Caulifla part of her personality, responded, "There's only one dragon who's allowed to eat me, and you sure as shit ain't him."

Punctuating her words, Kefla smacked her lower abdomen, manifesting an intricate, tribal-like pattern that rapidly spread across her stomach, back, shoulders, arms, and legs. As it did so, the energy emanating from Kefla's body surged violently, first exploding as a wave of pressure with enough force to disintegrate several clones before congealing into an eerie black and purple aura that caused her spiky hair to gain a violet hue.

Though the Authority of 'Hakai' didn't exist outside the Internalized Realm she originated from, Kefla possessed a remarkable affinity with the Law of Destruction. She had yet to master it, but the pattern that had developed across her body allowed her to fuse the destructive energy with her Sage Made, permitting the use of the 'Sage God of Destruction' transformation.

Spreading her hands and arms wide, Kefla opened her eyes to reveal black sclera and violet irises as she said, "Fuck off..." in an eerie tone that sounded like a call from the void.

Before any of the Azi's could respond, purple 'flames' emerged from the centers of their chests. They resembled tiny embers at first but quickly spread to encompass the entirety of the draconic entities' bodies. Since the flames spread from the very core of their being, it wasn't long before the encirclement became a mass of eerie purple flames that disappeared moments later, leaving no traces.

Wiping away a trickle of blackened blood leaking from her nose, Kefla watched as it dissolved into a fine mist before allowing her transformation to dissipate. Then, even though she really wanted to continue, she turned her gaze skyward and said, "I forfeit..." in a somber tone.

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Though he didn't like following other people's orders, Izayoi decided to seek out World Dragon Kurma after clearing most of the Azi clones in his area. To that end, he darted across the sky like a meteor, headed for the elevated ruins of the Inner Gates.

Contrasting the chaos of the Outer Gates, the Inner Gates were quiet to the point of being eerie. Even with his enhanced, borderline supernatural senses, Izayoi couldn't detect a single sign of life. There weren't even any Azi clones, almost as if they were willfully avoiding the area.

Touching down near a series of destroyed statues, the remnants of which were more than 60m tall, Izayoi scanned the area with creased brows. He might not be able to sense anyone, but he trusted his instincts. They were telling him there was a presence nearby, so he took a moment to consider the best course of action before pretending to drop his guard.

No sooner had Izayoi dropped his guard than a beam of radiant golden light rained down on him from above, its force powerful enough to drill into the nearly indestructible ground beneath him as if it were a pressure cutter slicing through sheet metal.

As the light cleared away, leaving a seemingly bottomless pit that glowed with a faint golden light, a remarkably tall figure with nearly obsidian skin appeared. His body was garbed in white robes, adorned with gold, and a massive gauntlet covered the entirety of his left arm. However, his most prominent features, besides his fiery white beard, were his golden eyes, the glowing rune on his chest, the four-pronged halo atop his head, and the twelve wings flowing from his back, each formed of golden light.

Appearing behind the angelic figure, Izayoi flexed the fingers of his right hand, the sleeve that previously covered his arm now missing as he remarked, "You know, I always thought Angels would be more monstrous in appearance. You actually look pretty badass."

Instead of turning around, the angelic figure teleported behind Izayoi, a cross-shaped sword of light appearing in his right hand as he said, "Burn in the light of Truth."

Swinging his sword in an arc that extended nearly a kilometer, the angelic figure cut through the statues Izayoi had been looking at, along with tens of buildings. Izayoi managed to evade it without issue, but he could feel his body gradually weakening due to the aura exuding from the presumed Archangel's body.

Before the angelic figure could issue a follow-up attack, Izayoi closed the distance between them instantly, burying his fist into the man's abdomen. To his surprise, his blow drilled into the man as if he had punched a block of stone, several cracks radiating from the point of impact.

Looking at Izayoi for the first time, the angelic figure frowned, his voice deep and resonant as he said, "Heresy..." in a condemning tone.

As Izayoi leaped back at a velocity rivaling teleportation, the cracks on the angelic figure's body exuded golden light before a massive eruption spread through the area, leveling an area nearly a hundred kilometers in diameter. Izayoi was almost swept up by the explosion, but he managed to teleport away at the last moment, grinning as he gazed at the epicenter to find a far more 'biblically accurate' representation of an Angel.

In place of the obsidian-skinned man with nearly flawless features, there was now an eldritch abomination with ivory-white, almost marble-like skin covered in innumerable holes. A total of thirteen golden eyes adorned the upper half of its face, while the lower half was a horrendous maw of gold-tipped fingers in place of teeth. Instead of resembling a man, it now had breasts tipped with moving eyeballs. It still possessed twelve wings, but they jutted out at awkward angles and varied in size.

Before Izayoi could issue a quippy one-liner, Seiun appeared before him, creating a barrier as an invisible wave swept through the area. In its wake, the rubble around him began to dissolve away, reduced to ashen piles of salt.

Speaking into Izayoi's mind, Seiun warned, "You must not look directly at it. I detect the presence of an Authority that exists outside the scope and influence of the Central Network. There is a 63.29883% probability it's the result of a Tier 6 entity's influence..."

Having learned of the existence of Soul Tiers from Vahn, Izayoi's usually casual demeanor faded away, replaced by a severe countenance. He had the potential of a pinnacle Tier 5 being, but the difference between Tiers 5 and 6 was so vast that reaching the pinnacle of the former was scarcely any different from being the absolute weakest Tier 1.

In stark defiance of this 'truth,' Izayoi punched his right fist into the palm of his left hand, regaining a battle-hungry grin as he exclaimed, "Now I'm fired up...!"

Kicking off the ground, producing a distinct 'dinging' sound as he did so, Izayoi charged at the biblically accurate angel with his eyes closed. In response, the angel's chest opened up like an abyssal maw, resembling the mouth of a lamprey that exuded golden light, but Izayoi was 'much' faster. Before it could try to swallow him up, Izayoi slammed his fist into the air less than a meter away from the angel, shattering it like the sugar glass used in movies.

Though a fracture in Space-Time ordinarily wouldn't be a threat to the angel, it didn't anticipate Izayoi immediately appearing behind it, landing a heavy kick to the center of its back. It had specifically adopted a form that was immune to physical blows, but, as if to defy the 'Truth,' Izayoi's punch sent it crashing into the vacuous tear in reality, nearly ripping it to pieces before the Central Network intervened, expelling it from the Game.

Expecting more of a fight, Izayoi watched the spatial rend gradually repair itself, remarking, "Is that it...? in a disbelieving tone.

Appearing next to him, Seiun replied, "It may have been borrowing power from a greater Authority, but it was ultimately a fairly ordinary Archangel. If the Central Network hadn't intervened at the last moment, I would have assumed it was the creation of another competitor."

Clicking his tongue, Izayoi groaned, "What a drag..." before slipping his hands into his pockets and resuming his search for World Dragon Kurma. Before he could get even three steps, however, every muscle in his body tensed, preventing him from walking into the scythe that had appeared at his neck...

Emanating from Izayoi's back, the voice of a young boy could be heard remarking, "You should have kept walking. Every route invariably leads to death, but you could have experienced a painless end if your senses were less attuned..."

Instead of stepping away from the scythe and trying to counterattack, a dauntless smile developed across Izayoi's face as he mused, "You know, I was hoping to lure out a big shot, but I never anticipated that Death itself would come for me..."

Narrowing his red and violet eyes, Death, appearing as a young boy with white hair and androgynous features, replied, "You are an ally to the Sage Dragon Emperor and an enemy of Truth. No matter the path you took, you were bound to meet me sooner or later..."

Turning his head, resulting in a thin cut on his neck, Izayoi stared back at Death and asked, "Then what's the holdup? With your power, I'm sure you could have killed me by now if you wanted to."

Furrowing his brows, Death remained silent for several seconds before stating, "I may have a use for you. If you're willing to cooperate with me, I will permit you to-"

Interrupting Death's proposal, Izayoi kicked the prepubescent Aspect in the gut, sending his tiny body flying backward like a bullet. Seiun was able to analyze Death's abilities the moment his scythe cut Izayoi's neck. As a result, Izayoi now knew that Death couldn't activate his powers due to the restrictions of the Pandemonium Gift Game. Thus, while the vast majority of creatures would feel helpless in the face of Death, Izayoi had a massive grin as he approached the extremely pale and heterochromatic youth, musing, "I've always wanted to kick Death's ass..."

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(A/N: Alternate Titles: 'Kefla is surprisingly sensible...','Trypophobians beware...!','Don't Fear The Reaper...')