Divine Apostasy Book 11 - Chapter 37

Chapter 37

The Destruction Realm valued decisiveness, strength, and destruction, which all suited Ruin’s Saraph body. He felt a primal response to the environment and, if he wanted to understand the essence of Destruction, he needed to explore those sensations.

Ruin dismissed the dungeon’s warning and tried not to judge an entire Realm of Harvesters. Knowing the core in his center originated from the blood and viscera of millions of creatures and people made him sick. He would deal with those feelings later. Right now, he needed to fight.

It appeared Ruin had really upset the dungeon. He didn’t know if it was the added Minions responsible for that or the fact he’d shredded one of the dungeon’s creatures and tried to harvest it. Regardless, he felt confident only one boss had directed the creatures before. Now three hovered in the distance.

The massive bats had a wingspan of a hundred feet. Their bodies were comparatively small and covered in spines. Each had a fifty-foot tail they used as whips, and each snap of those tails created cracks of thunder. Their long legs and arms were pulled tight against their body but could easily snatch unaware enemies.

Name: Dire Shriek

Description: An agile creature with bat-like wings, talon-tipped limbs, and an ear-splitting shriek capable of vaporizing its prey.

Estimated Power: Tier 3 Level 3

Strengths: Speed, Sonic Attack, Evasion

Weaknesses: Cold, Blunt

The three Dire Shrieks had power levels equal to Demigods, and using his Bamboo Viper or Shadow Steps wouldn’t work well on such large creatures.

Ruin vaulted into the air, his four Saraph wings propelling him higher with a forceful beat. With access to magic again, he channeled Jumbo, an old Fighter spell. As he climbed into the sky his body grew larger, only stopping the growth when he reached a height of twenty-five feet. He summoned the Wrathful Crow Beater into his right hand. The bo staff matched his new size and immediately absorbed a small amount of raw Destruction Essence swirling around his core. The weapon’s appearance transformed into black wood with blue runic carvings covering its surface.

The three Dire Shrieks circled above, their enormous wings casting shadows on the battlefield below. Their jagged, spike-covered bodies radiated menace, but the impending combat produced a roaring fire of desire in Ruin’s chest. His newly activated Apocalypse Destruction Core thrummed with power, urging him forward.

It took a significant amount of Ruin’s Willpower to stop himself from charging forward recklessly.

The first Dire Shriek, likely feeling the same battle lust, failed to control itself and swooped toward Ruin with startling speed. In just a blink, the creature’s fifty-foot tail lashed out like a whip.

Ruin twisted mid-air, his wings folding tight against his back as the tail cracked past, missing him by inches. The air shuddered as the tail’s tip tore through it.

Using the momentum from his turn, he swung his staff, striking the creature’s tail. The runes covering the staff ignited with a burst of frost. Ice spread from the point of impact, and the creature jerked its tail back, flinging frozen shards into the air.

The second Dire Shriek dove at Ruin. It screeched, the sound cutting through the air like a blade. He altered his hearing to suppress the painful sound as the sonic attack slammed into his body. The strike rattled his bones causing an itching sensation across his skin. His teeth ached and his inner ear flashed in pain.

Ruin took many strikes to the ear during his Step training. The tiny bones and fluid in the ear were easy to disrupt and caused significant distraction through pain, disorientation, and nausea.

Despite Ruin’s Archangel Body Fortification and armor, part of the attack landed. While blood trickled from his ear, years of intense training made him immune to such trivial damage. These Dire Shrieks didn’t know any of that, and he used it to his advantage.

Ruin went limp, his wings faltering.

The Dire Shriek couldn’t resist the bait, and it attacked, talons flexing, each claw the length of a spear.

Ruin exerted his Will, hardening the air around and under his feet, providing a temporary platform. The dungeon resisted his manipulation, causing the air to quake. He flexed his determination, overcoming the dungeon’s interference and bending the air to his will.

The Wrathful Crow Beater deflected the talons. Using the air platform as support, Ruin jammed the end of the staff into the ankle joint and poured ice magic into the creature’s leg.

The cold magic spread into the creature’s limb, freezing its movement. With a powerful swing Ruin smashed the frozen ankle, and the severed talons plummeted toward the ground.

The third Dire Shriek attacked from behind, its tail sweeping horizontally. Ruin sensed the strike and ducked, letting the tail pass overhead. The churning air caused by the tail destroyed his air platform, and he spread his wings to stabilize his motion.

The speed of the creatures’ movements shocked Ruin and he suspected they might utilize some type of micro teleports to move. To slow their attacks, he pushed his Will across the sky and used Destruction Essence to create a subzero blizzard.

Frigid gusts blasted the creatures and snow swirled toward the ground. Frost formed across his body, but the cold didn’t bother him. The three flying bats hated it.

The first Dire Shriek, now enraged, aimed another sonic attack at Ruin.

He swung his arms forward and collected a mass of snowflakes. Compressing the snow into a parabolic dish that he froze in place.

The sound bounced off the dish destroying the reflector in the process. The returning sound waves struck the beast causing it to stagger from its own attack.

Ruin didn’t enter Last Breath fully but used a fraction of the ability to speed his thoughts enough to track the Dire Shrieks more effectively.

The first beast recovered from the sonic attack in just a blink and charged Ruin. Its talons struck at him like sharpened battering rams.

Ruin’s increased mental processing proved immensely valuable. He dodged the attack, jumped on top of the talons, and leaped upward.

Using the staff like a spear, Ruin delivered a sharp upward strike to the beast’s open mouth.

A giant tooth snapped off, its razor edge slicing into the Wrathful Crow Beater before tumbling toward the ground.

The beast bellowed in pain and, maybe, surprise.

This close, the creature’s sonic cry struck Ruin instantly, and a wave of agony rippled through him. He gritted his teeth, blood trickling from microtears that covered his body.

Ruin growled, the pain causing his Saraph body to respond. Reaching to the ground below with his Will, he fought against the dungeon’s resistance, slapping it out of his way.

With pure Will, Ruin carved massive chunks from the floor, careful not to destroy any Minions. With a wave of his left hand, he brushed twenty million cubic feet of air away.

The sudden loss of air pulled the three creatures downward, and their wings didn’t work well in the thin air that remained.

Ruin flicked his right hand upward and sent ten boulders hurtling toward each of the three Dire Shrieks.

Without significant air resistance, the massive blocks crossed the two thousand feet almost instantly, crashing into the still falling beasts.

The wing of the first beast cracked after failing to dodge one of the hurtling stones, and it faltered, dropping even more quickly.

Another chunk embedded itself on the spikes covering the second creature’s body, the blow knocking it upward.

The third evaded the projectiles with the help of perimeter air rushing into the low-pressure area, throwing the stone slugs off course.

The third beast attacked Ruin, its talons extended to rip him apart, and he braced himself to meet the attack head-on.

At the last moment, the Dire Shriek yanked its taloned feet upward, and Ruin’s staff swept past without striking anything. The agitated air around them made unpredictable movements and hid the approaching tail hidden behind the beast’s body.

The tail struck Ruin in the back, sending him spinning upward toward the spikey body of the creature. Pain flared across his spine, but his Archangel body absorbed most of the force, distributing it across his entire frame.

Overlord sent Ruin an image of the fight from the ground, providing a warning that another of the creatures approached from below and it appeared the two Dire Shrieks intended to smash him between the two spiked bodies.

Ruin sent a thank you to Overlord and instead of trying to stop himself from striking the body of the third Dire Shriek, he dismissed his staff, summoned a great sword, and with a hard beat of his wings hurtled himself into the creature’s body.

The great sword sliced through the thick skin of the Dire Shriek, and Ruin’s momentum took him into the creature’s body.

A mass of organs and fluid stopped Ruin’s movement. A moment later, everything shook as the second Dire Shriek struck the third as it attempted to smash him.

For a second Ruin floated weightless as the two creatures hovered in the air.

Ruin increased his Core Velocity and pulled at the surge of energy. Then he cast one of his favorite spells.

Fire exploded outward as a Molten Fire Ball the size of a wagon blasted through the opening he’d cut in the third creature’s body. It struck the second beast below with a satisfying sizzle.

Ruin poured a massive amount of power into an Inferno spell and it incinerated the closest organs, but the Demigod creature had too much durability to completely burn.

That didn’t matter as the sudden pain stunned the creature long enough for Ruin to cast Jumbo again.

The third Dire Shriek’s body shredded as Ruin’s body burst out.

Without hesitating, Ruwen slashed downward with all his strength. The great sword sliced through the wing joint of the second Dire Shriek which spiraled downward, its body still blazing from the initial fire ball, sticking like paste to the creature’s skin.

The final Dire Shriek dove from above, magic building around its throat as it charged its sonic attack.

Ruin used a combination of Will and Destruction magic to wrap the creature’s blunt snout with bands of air. Just as it unleashed its sonic blast, he yanked the bands tight, snapping the beast’s mouth shut.

The bonds failed after a second, but the damage was done. Shattered teeth fell from the Dire Shriek’s mouth, falling like sharpened snowflakes.

Ruin dismissed his sword, summoned his staff, and hurled it like a javelin. The weapon passed through the creature’s open mouth and struck the back of its throat.

The Dire Shriek wobbled in the air, the pain in its mouth and throat stunning it.

Ruin had missed his mobility, but now that he had a working core he could Blink or power his Divine dimensional abilities to teleport.

As expected, the Dungeon resisted Ruin’s attempt to teleport, but he brushed it aside and appeared on the back of the last Dire Shriek. Summoning two blades he swung them down, slicing off both wings before jamming the blades into the creature’s brain.

The final Dire Shriek went still and fell limply.

Ruin hovered in the air and glanced across the battlefield.

The Divine beasts made short work of the Minions, but with a constant supply of power, Ruin’s friends created new ones. The improvements Uruziel made allowed them to take control of the battle and they were a few minutes from complete victory.

Multiple scouts report movement, Overlord said over their link.

A flurry of images passed through Ruin’s mind as Overlord relayed the reports from the Scarecrow Aspect Clones acting as scouts.

Two seconds later Ruin could see for himself.

It appeared the dungeon didn’t want to wait to crush Ruin. Golems rose from the ground, shadowy figures poured from the distant tunnel, and bony creatures pulled themselves from the mound.

Something big is following those shadows, Overlord said. Killed the clone too fast to get a look. I’m guessing, based on the flood of enemies, the dungeon boss is making its way up the tunnel.