Chapter 263: Fighting A Phantom

The scream shook the very air around me.

The Phantom suddenly pounded its own chest with both fists, the sound echoing like war drums across the sky. Then it let out another cry—not of rage, but of anguish—before collapsing to one knee. Its massive armored body trembled, and the Deathmist around it surged in jagged, uneven bursts.

My wings flared instinctively as I hovered, eyes locked onto the creature. Something was wrong.

The Deathmist churning around its body wasn’t as violent anymore. It hesitated.

“What is this…?”

I focused, trying to make sense of it. That’s when a forgotten memory stirred—one of a passive skill I had never seen in action, until now.

[Executor’s Halo (Passive)]:

A passive aura of absolute authority. Reality subtly aligns around you, enhancing Essence flow and suppressing disorder. Beings that defy the Original Command instinctively recognize you as an enemy and react with fear or hostility.

My eyes narrowed.

That was it. This creature—this abomination born from corrupted Essence and anti-life—was recoiling from my very presence. My body, my aura, my existence… it was poison to it. A threat. An offense to its nature.

It was afraid of me.

A small grin tugged at the corner of my mouth. If that’s how it felt, then now was the time to strike.

“Silver,” I commanded.

With a screech like metal grinding stone, Silver rose beside me. Crimson mist poured from his wings, swirling toward his maw. Energy gathered fast, condensed and burning. The pressure around us thickened like a storm about to break.

While Silver charged up, I flared my wings once—just once.

Boom.

In a blink, I was behind the Phantom, the wind of my passage shaking nearby trees. It was still on one knee, but those red eyes flared, sensing me.

Too late.

Silver’s beam fired. A concentrated lance of crimson fury exploded from his mouth, roaring across the battlefield like a divine judgment. It struck the Phantom’s chest dead-on.

And right then, I raised my staff high overhead. Violet Essence surged down the shaft, wild and hungry. I activated the skill.

[Blitz Hakai]

The air collapsed inward. Violet light flared. With all the strength in my frame, I brought the staff down in a single, brutal strike on the Phantom’s back.

BOOM.

The dual impact hit like twin meteors. The Phantom’s armor cracked, spiderwebs running down its chest and across its spine. Deathmist exploded from the force, flaring outward in violent waves.

The ground beneath its knees split open, then blasted apart as its body slammed down into the crater with thunderous force.

I flapped upward again, hovering with Silver as we assessed the damage.

Smoke hissed from the Phantom’s chest and back. Cracks shimmered faintly across the armor. Silver’s crimson beam… it had worked. Just like my Essence, it had burned through the Phantom’s defenses.

My eyes narrowed.

That meant something. Silver, created from a corrupted soul, shared a strange kinship with the Deathmist. Yet he was loyal to me. His power, despite its origin, was aligned with mine—and just as deadly to the Phantom.

But we weren’t done yet.

The Phantom stirred.

Its massive hands clenched. The trembling stopped. Its head slowly lifted. The red eyes burned with renewed fury. Then it screamed—a long, ragged shriek of pure hatred that split the skies.

Deathmist surged around its body like a rising tide.

Above it, a massive hand began to form—black and seething, almost a hundred feet across. The fingers curled into a fist. Then it came crashing down.

It wasn’t an attack. It was an execution—meant to squash both Silver and me like insects.

Silver shrieked and spread his wings wide. Blades of wind formed instantly along their edges—dozens, then hundreds. He flapped once, and the blades launched in a relentless stream toward the incoming hand.

I didn’t hesitate.

I pointed my staff upward.

[Havoc Sfera]

Essence swirled into a tight sphere on the tip of the staff, spinning faster and faster until it vibrated with lethal energy. The moment it peaked, I fired.

A wide beam of violet destruction erupted forth, racing up to meet the descending hand.

Both attacks struck together.

Silver’s wind blades sliced through the Deathmist, carving deep gashes. My Essence beam hit the center, burning a hole straight through it. The giant hand shook, then convulsed—

And exploded.

Deathmist burst outward in a wave, scattering like shredded clouds across my domain.

The moment the Deathmist hand shattered, I didn’t waste a second. I flapped my wings hard and shot forward, arriving instantly in front of the Phantom.

My body twisted mid-air, and all the strength I’d built up surged through my waist and arms. I gripped my staff tight and swung it in a wide arc, aiming straight for the Phantom’s chest.

It sensed the attack and swung its massive fist to block me.

BOOMMM!

Its hand, made of churning Deathmist, exploded the instant it clashed with my staff. The blow continued through, slamming into its armored chest with a violent crack. More fractures spread across the metal plating.

The Phantom screeched, a harsh sound that echoed through the corrupted forest, and its massive body skidded backward, tearing up the ground. Its entire right hand had vanished, torn away in the exchange.

But just as I caught my breath, the Deathmist on its body stirred violently. Like liquid smoke, it swirled and pulled together—and within seconds, the hand was whole again.

My eyes narrowed, growing serious.

Above us, Silver let out a piercing screech of his own. I looked up to see two giant crimson blades forming in the air, crossing each other like an X. They spun toward the Phantom at high speed, whistling with deadly intent.

The Phantom responded quickly, waving its remaining arm. A thick wall of Deathmist surged up in front of it.

The blades struck.

But instead of breaking through, the Deathmist rippled—then swallowed them whole. Like stones dropped into deep water, the blades vanished without a trace.

And that told me what I needed to know.

Physically, I had the edge. My attacks left damage, even if the thing regenerated quickly. But in terms of control and quantity, the Deathmist was its domain, and it wielded it like a natural extension of its body.

So I decided I’d just beat it down before it could react.

I lowered my staff, touching its tip to the cracked ground. My voice was calm but firm as I gave a command through my domain.

“Freeze.”

Essence rushed down the staff and into the earth. Ice exploded outward in all directions, spreading beneath the Phantom’s feet and locking them in place. It tried to resist—the Deathmist churned violently—but the cold crept up to its knees before it could stop the spread.

That was enough.

I surged Essence into my wings and took off with a thunderous flap. The ground behind me cracked under the force as I slammed into the Phantom’s chest, lifting its massive body straight into the air.

Its frozen leg snapped clean off below the knee as I dragged it upward. I rose higher, passing above it in a blur, then stopped.

Letting go of my staff, I let it hover beside me and clenched my fist.

[Seismic Burst]

Essence and raw strength poured into my arm. A glowing violet aura lit up around my fist. I struck down.

BOOM!!!

My punch landed square on the Phantom’s back, right on the already cracked armor. The entire lower plate shattered, pieces flying as its body shot down like a meteor.

BOOM!!!

It slammed into the earth, kicking up dust and tearing a crater into the corrupted forest floor.

Creation is hard, cheer me up!