Chapter 718 - Forced Two-star Ascension?!

Moranti was focused on detaining Halmut but failed to directly evade the Sun God's heated, multi-colored breath at point-blank. Halmut showed no care for the people self-destructing for his safety, solely focused on his survival at any cost.

The Sun Dragon forced Skaryn to back off while evading the Skaryn's swiping scythe, thanks to Skaryn's hesitation to delay the kamikaze cosmician. But Halmut was unable to escape Skaryn's death-defying charge, which showed no regard for the next wave of self-destructing cosmicians.

"HE'S MINE, MORANTI!" Skaryn only showed anger at his old friend, who dared step into the lopsided fight. "TRUST ME!"

Sighing, Moranti teleported away and gave in to Skaryn's demands. Considering how Skaryn was alive and well despite the many people overwhelming him, Moranti didn't bother arguing further. He understood the other reason why Skaryn hated having help.

While Lunara and Moranti watched curiously and Kylon watched in anxiousness, Skaryn dared to charge into an encirclement of exploding cosmicians. But the explosions never came…

All eyes were on Skaryn as multiple copies of the man appeared behind the four cosmicians preparing to blow. Suddenly, two rings of energy encircled each of the cosmicians, cutting off their rampant energy and sealing them into crystal orbs covered in archaic writing. Each copy of Skaryn then lobbed their orbs to the real Skaryn before fading out of existence.

Halmut began to tremble more than ever before. Losing his protection was enough to leave him horrified but the manner in which Skaryn removed those cosmicians left Halmut further shaken. "Y-you…"

"You gave me five hundred years to do nothing but study the seal containing me, so what else would you expect? Did you forget who I am?" Skaryn scoffed at Halmut, charging back at the Sun Dragon. "Today I end everything, no matter what it is you throw at me!"

With nothing left to lose, Halmut roared with all his might. He entered his hybrid form and forcefully grew larger and larger. Halmut crushed an abundance of stimulants as he forcefully took in their energy. Now, Halmut's energy levels exploded to new limits as his spare energy was bursting at the seems and practically burning away outside of Halmut's body.

"NOOOOOO!!" Halmut roared. "I REFUSE!!"

"He's… ascending?!" shouted a cosmician in the crowd, the first of many to shout in a mix of confusion and excitement.

Skaryn finally paused his charge and took a moment to better analyze Halmut's new transformation. Yet Skaryn's determination remained clear in his gaze.

"No…" Kylon trembled slightly, terrified to imagine what was happening. She and the others from Kartonia were the first to confirm their fear. Halmut was no longer at lv. 99, but lv. 100.

However, unlike the crowd or those watching from the waiting room, Skaryn didn't even frown. The Dark God only sighed disappointingly. "Halmut… you consider that a proper ascension?"

"IT'S MORE THAN ENOUGH TO DEAL WITH YOU!" Halmut's roar echoed through the chamber, stealing the attention of the few people who still hadn't shifted their eyes toward the battle.

As Halmut trembled, growing more and more powerful, Skaryn glanced about the chamber in surprise. Finally, after a few moments of silence from the crowd and nothing but roaring laughter from Halmut, Skaryn shouted out a question, "I thought no two-stars could take part in the competition?"

"Correct, but challenger Halmut entered as a one-star. Ascension is allowed during the challenge of Glacier Keep but the restriction on two-star items remains."

It wasn't Oli's voice that responded but the confident answer was enough for all challengers to understand how Halmut's ascension was to be handled.

"SEE!" Laughing, Halmut mocked his long-feared foe, "Now, you are NOTHING to me!"

"So… ascending to two-star is allowed? Why wasn't that explained earlier?!"

To Halmut's utter shock, Skaryn only showed excitement while witnessing Halmut's ascension. And Skaryn's follow-up complaint left the ascending two-star with a sense of uneasiness.

Just as Halmut had been cloaked in energy moments ago, a shroud of multicolored energies fell over Skaryn. But, unlike Halmut's burning energy that dissipated as it oozed out of him, Skaryn's energy was dense and flooded the space around them. As Skaryn's energy poured out, the dark purple energy filled with streaks of other colors pooled at the feet of everyone on the ground.

"Y… You can't--"

"Your forced ascension is trivial, Halmut," Skaryn taunted, unafraid of the growing, hybrid Sun Dragon. "We're both unstable mid-ascension, but I can already tell how much weaker your energy is."

"I--"

"You fail to understand what true strength is!" shouted Skaryn. "Stimulants and shortcuts will get you nowhere fast, so allow me to escort you to your life of uselessness!"

Before Halmut was able to react, he felt a set of claws tearing into the back of his throat. The attack was simultaneous with the flash of spatial energy, not even giving Halmut the time to move or defend himself.

Forced to retaliate, Halmut swung his newly-grown tail at Skaryn, along with his claws.

"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!!"

Halmut's tail and forearms were immediately severed. The Sun Dragon was unable to believe what was happening. He wanted to retrieve more stimulants from the last of his storages but that was impossible now. All Halmut could do was shake and cower as Skaryn slashed off his legs.

"There…" Skaryn sighed, watching Halmut fall to the ground. The Dark God took a moment to enjoy the absolute fear in Halmut's eyes.

"H-how… How come…"

"How come you can't heal?" Skaryn chuckled, sharing Halmut's horrified thoughts aloud. "Take a look at your nubs… Your fake energy isn't enough to overwhelm my new strength."

With trembling eyes, Halmut painfully looked down at his missing limbs. Darkness coated his wounds, dispersing any morsel of energy that dared attempt to heal Halmut. "Y-you… You can't--"

"Oh, I can do anything to you…" Skaryn scoffed, brandishing a devilish grin. "You dared threaten me with Kylon's life… You crippled my interference in your plans with her contract as collateral… Then you dared blame me when you defied our deal and warped her mind, forcing yourself on her…

"You dared do whatever you want… So I'll do the same, runt…"