Chapter 248: Ch248: Thunderous Awakening
’Wake up...’
A soft, feminine voice echoed inside Daniel’s mind.
*ZzZap!*
"Haaah...!"
"Haah... haah... haa..."
Daniel jolted awake as though someone had violently shaken him out of a deep sleep. His eyes flew open, hand shot to his left chest as his heart pounded against his ribs.
*Thump! Thump! Thump!*
The high-pitched ringing in his ears slowly began to fade. Daniel blinked several times, trying to clear his vision.
But the scene before him left him speechless.
Valmond was impaled through the chest by a jagged stone spike, its sharp, bamboo-like tip jutting out from his back. Blood stained his clothes as his body hung motionless against the stone.
Nearby, Klaus relentlessly pelted Zero and Alucard with a barrage of rocks, overwhelming the two of them with his relentless attacks.
*BOOM! BOOM! CRASH!*
Meanwhile, the Devilish Child lay sprawled on the ground, its massive body twisted onto its back. Its countless legs thrashed wildly against the floor, desperately clawing at the stone as it struggled to turn itself upright.
"Die!" Klaus roared, launching another huge rock toward Zero.
But just then—
*BZzZZzraK!*
A bolt of lightning slammed into Klaus’s leftshoulder.
"Gah!"
The impact sent him staggering sideways, his feet skidding across the stone floor. The rock he had launched veered off course, crashing harmlessly into the wall instead of striking Zero.
"It’s trying to coat itself in webbing!" Alucard shouted.
Zero immediately turned toward the creature and thrust out his palm.
"Burn!"
A swarm of fiery spirits erupted around him, followed by a barrage of blazing fireballs that rained down on the Devilish Child.
*BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!*
Flames engulfed its massive body.
A brief moment later, Klaus slowly straightened himself. He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth and lifted his gaze.
His eyes met Daniel’s.
*Spit!*
"Still not dead, huh?" Klaus sneered, his fingers slowly curling into a fist. "This time, I’ll make sure to burst your brain out of your skull and feed it to that monster."
"Try me," Daniel replied, his palms spreading apart as violent arcs of lightning danced across his fingers.
The sharp crackle of electricity filled the air.
Before Daniel could make another move—
*Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!*
Countless rocks tore through the air, shooting toward him at terrifying speed. They collided head-on with the lightning bolts, exploding into fragments as sparks scattered across the battlefield.
*Bang! Bang! Bang!*
Daniel’s eyes narrowed. ’Tch, I need to get close to him,’ he thought, his gaze fixed on Klaus.
From a distance, it was obvious that neither of them could end the fight quickly. Their attacks continued to collide, neither side gaining a decisive advantage.
In a battle like this, the one with the greater mana reserve would eventually win.
But closing the distance was easier said than done.
Klaus’s attacks came relentlessly, leaving barely any room to advance. Every time Daniel tried to move forward, another wave of rocks came hurtling toward him, forcing him to dodge or blast them apart.
Then, a sudden idea struck Daniel in the middle of the fight.
’What if I...’
Daniel twisted his body sideways, narrowly slipping past several incoming rocks before sprinting forward. Instead of wasting his lightning against the barrage of projectiles, he suddenly lowered his palms and redirected his attack.
*CRACK!*
A few lightning bolts shot downward and slammed into the ground beneath Klaus’s feet.
*BooOOM*
The earth ruptured. Chunks of soil and loose stones blasted upward, followed by a thick cloud of dust that surged straight into Klaus’s face.
"Ugh...!"
Klaus staggered back, raising an arm to shield his eyes as the dust obscured his vision.
Daniel’s lips curled into a faint grin.
The cloud of dust bought him exactly what he needed.
An opening.
"Let’s see where you can run now," Daniel muttered, his figure disappearing into the swirling dust.
"Status."
——————
Name: Klaus Marrow
Age: 43
HP: 6780/12500
Mana: 4290/10000
——————
...
The distance between Daniel and Klaus rapidly closed.
Just as Daniel had predicted, Klaus suddenly raised a stone wall before him, forming a solid defensive cover. But Daniel was already prepared for it.
Taking a quick breath, he placed his palm against the stone wall and immediately unleashed his Fourth Form.
*BzZZzZap!*
Lightning surged from his palm and passed straight through the stone wall.
"Caught you," Daniel muttered.
Yet in the very next second, the stone wall shot forward and slammed into his face.
*BAM!!*
Daniel’s cheeks flattened against the wall from the sheer force of the impact before the ground beneath him erupted, launching his body into the air.
When Daniel finally opened his eyes, he found himself suspended in midair, with chunks of shattered rock scattered around him.
Klaus stood to the side, having barely dodged his Fourth Form. His finger was pointed directly at Daniel, and a jagged rock hovered before it, aimed straight at him.
’Everything... feels so slow.’ Daniel’s pupils trembled as he watched the rock. ’I’m going to fall and die. Is that it?’
His gaze shifted toward Klaus.
’Then, I’ll at least take his life with me.’
Immediately, warmth spread through Daniel’s right hand. It grew hotter and hotter as electrifying energy surged through his veins, making his fingers twitch.
Without thinking, Daniel unleashed his Third Form straight at Klaus, with no idea whether it would work or not.
He simply had no other choice.
*KRrRAaAK!! BooOOM!!*
Countless bolts of lightning erupted from Daniel’s hand in midair, spreading outward in a wide cone like a folding fan.
Then the lightning split.
One bolt branched into two.
Those two split again, creating more branches, and those branches divided further until the entire sky seemed to be filled with a vast web of crackling lightning.
Klaus’s eyes widened. For the first time, panic flashed across his face. He had never seen a lightning technique like this before.
*RUMBLE!*
Layer after layer of stone walls erupted before Klaus, forming a desperate barrier between him and the incoming lightning. At the same time, countless rocks shot toward Daniel, attempting to kill him before he could land.
But it was useless.
The lightning spread across such a vast area that the incoming rocks shattered the instant they touched it.
*CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!*
Fragments of stone exploded in every direction as the lightning continued to surge forward, tearing through everything in its path.