Assimilate All Talents

Chapter 351 Broken Peaks

sol's muscles tensed and his mind sharpened as he used [overpower] to squeeze every ounce of potential stored in his body. his perception expanded, the world around him moving at a crawl as if time itself had slowed. his eyes locked onto varek, who appeared sluggish—moving at only a third of his previous speed. it wasn't varek who had slowed down, it was sol's agility and intelligence, amplified past 1500 that made the large beastman seem like a lumbering giant.

varek, still charging forward with the raijin's fist crackling with deadly electricity, had no idea what he was rushing into. his lips twisted into a confident sneer as he closed the distance. but to sol, the attack was too pitifully slow to even register as a threat.

sol's figure blurred. with an effortless lean to the side, he dodged the electrified maw of the raijin, the air crackling where it passed.

varek's eyes widened in alarm. 'what the hell?!' his instincts which he inherited from the raijin when they fused screamed in warning, urging him to flee.

before varek could even follow those instincts, sol struck. moving with speed that defied comprehension, sol closed the gap and delivered a left hook straight to varek's face. the impact was catastrophic.

boom!

the sheer force of the punch sent varek hurtling like a meteor, his body obliterating one of the towering peaks of the jagged peaks range upon collision. rock and debris cascaded like an avalanche, dust clouding the air.

sol was about to follow after him until he felt a disturbance in his mind barrier.

'sin of pride... it's trying to make me think that i should cause even more destruction as a sign of my might. good thing the mental barrier is working.'

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since he created the skill [mind ward (variant)] the sin of pride had been rather silent. sol was secretly a little worried that the barrier had no effect and was still influencing his thoughts but he was glad it wasn't the case.

as for the desire to cause more destruction, sol felt neutral about it. if there were sentient races or large numbers of living beings in the area he would be much more hesitant, but this region only contained old ruins and a few species of birds who had long since flown away when the battle started. he still wouldn't go around destroying any of the peaks without cause but that didn't mean he would hold back his punches against varek. he couldn't afford to.

sol felt how much time he had left with [overpower] and could sense varek was still alive so without any hesitation he disappeared towards the obliterated peak.

in a blur, sol reappeared beside him, his movements too quick for varek to track. the stone sword in his hand warped and wrapped itself around his fist taking the shape of a sharp spike. slayer aura was infused into the makeshift weapon and without hesitation, sol plunged it into varek's chest.

the spike pierced through flesh and bone, creating a massive, gaping hole. blood erupted from the wound, spraying the jagged rocks around them.

varek staggered backward, his eyes wide in disbelief. he clutched at the wound, feeling the shattered remains of his ribcage and what was left of his heart. half of which was completely erased, and the other half being slowly consumed by the slayer aura from sol's brutal attack.

and yet, he didn't fall.

for the average a-ranker, even with their high vitality, would have been fatal. but the ancient blood of the raijin coursing through varek's veins kept him standing. the raijin's innately powerful regeneration worked desperately to keep him alive but could not combat the deadly effects of the slayer aura.

sol's piercing gaze locked onto varek. his expression was calm, but his eyes burned with cold determination. "you're still standing," he said, his voice low and sharp. "not for long."

varek bared his teeth, blood dripping from his mouth. he could feel the life draining from him, but he refused to show weakness. "you think this is enough to kill me?" he snarled, though the words lacked conviction.

sol didn't reply. he didn't need to. his sword reformed, reshaping into a blade. he raised it high, preparing to deliver the final blow.

but just as sol was about to swing, varek screamed, "if i'm going down, i'm taking you with me!"

in a last-ditch effort, varek summoned every ounce of his remaining strength. he intended to unleash the raijin's law technique in one massive electrical discharge.

but when he tried, his mind went blank.

"no! wait!" varek sputtered in disbelief, realizing his final gambit had been completely nullified. his face paled as sol's blade descended.

shwing!