Chapter 400: Level Difference (II)
The Aspect of Charge at Level Two granted Ethan direct control over electromagnetism, allowing him to manipulate metallic materials within the range of his electromagnetic field.
And currently...the entire battlefield was inside that field.
The earth beneath the whole estate naturally contained iron-bearing material spread throughout its rocks and soil. Ethan had directly seized those contents through electromagnetism, concentrating and pulling them together while the surrounding earth was carried upward along with them.
As the unwanted rock broke apart, the extracted material that was left were hundreds of enormous metallic drills rotating throughout the sky.
Additionally, each of these drills generate purple lightning.
Some bolts jumped from one projectile to another, connecting entire clusters together until the skies above the battlefield became a vast network of spinning metal and violet electricity.
There were so many that they obscured the sky.
The sunlight reaching the battlefield gradually disappeared beneath their enormous numbers, replaced by an eerie purple illumination cast down from the lightning continuously flashing overhead.
Even while pursuing Isabella, Dark Nova noticed the change.
His eyes briefly moved across the ground as the surroundings became increasingly tinted in purple.
Then he glanced up briefly and saw the true scale of what Ethan had prepared; thousands of spinning metallic projectiles occupied the skies for as far as the immediate battlefield stretched, each wrapped in violent streaks of purple lightning.
Ethan hovered at the centre of it all, with his glowing purple eyes staring down upon Dark Nova.
Then...He released the attack.
The best way to describe it was as a rain of lightning-covered drills.
Hundreds to thousands of metallic projectiles fell from the skies one after another.
Dark Nova immediately abandoned his pursuit of Isabella and went into avoiding these attacks.
Rather than attempting to withstand the barrage directly, the Hero accelerated.
He became a streak of crimson light weaving across the battlefield as the projectiles continuously crashed down around him.
Everywhere he moved, another was already descending.
The barrage was relentless.
The entire landscape became consumed by a continuous chain of explosions as Ethan’s projectiles pursued Dark Nova across the battlefield, leaving almost no moment between one impact and the next.
But the Hero was still fast enough.
He continued weaving through them, changing directions at incomprehensible speeds as explosions followed every movement he made.
The Speed Of Zarses made it so that he would simply always be fast enough; evolving to deal with whatever situation was presented against him.
This was until Dark Nova descended too close to the ground.
For only an instant, his figure passed over the earth and cast a shadow beneath him.
That was when glowing eyes opened inside it.
Before Norman could even register the presence, an enormous arm of condensed darkness erupted directly from his own shadow and slammed into him from below.
Dark Nova’s body shot upwards.
The attack had caught him completely by surprise.
His attention had been focused entirely upon navigating Ethan’s relentless barrage, and that unexpected strike was enough to interrupt his momentum.
For a brief second he stopped moving, and Ethan’s entire attack immediately converged upon him.
It seemed as though the skies had collapsed upon that single location.
Hundreds of lightning-covered metallic drills descended one after another, converging upon the Hero as continuous explosions swallowed his position.
There was no longer any visible distinction between individual impacts.
Everything became one enormous eruption of purple lightning, fire, shattered earth and tremendous force.
The landscape disappeared beneath it.
The ground collapsed as the bombardment continued tearing deeper into the earth, with every subsequent projectile adding another explosion to the devastation already occurring below.
Then came the shockwave after-effect thag tore outward from the battlefield in every direction.
Trees were ripped from the ground and the sections of the Stark Estate trembled under the force.
But the shockwave didn’t stop there.
The battle had already carried them dangerously close to the outer reaches of the city, and the resulting wave travelled straight into Grayforte itself.
Cars rocked violently across the roads as the pressure swept through them.
Windows shattered across buildings nearest to the outskirts, raining glass onto the streets below.
People stumbled as the ground beneath their feet trembled.
Those farther into the city might not have seen the battle itself, but they certainly felt it.
For several seconds, an unmistakable quake travelled through that entire section of Grayforte.
And in the distance, beyond the city’s buildings, the enormous purple glow of the bombardment illuminated the horizon.
The bombardment eventually came to an end, and for several moments, nothing could be seen through the enormous clouds of smoke and dust that covered the remnants of the landscape.
Ethan remained suspended above the destruction, his glowing purple eyes fixed upon the slowly clearing fumes.
Then, two eyes glowing a red light appeared within the smoke.
Ethan’s eyes widened at the fact that even that hadn’t worked.
But the very instant that realization crossed his mind, the crimson lights disappeared. Dark Nova crossed the distance so quickly that Ethan barely registered the movement before the Hero was already directly before him.
Ethan reacted instinctively, throwing his left fist towards Dark Nova’s face.
But Norman caught his arm and clamped tightly around his wrist before, driving his foot directly into the Demon-Dragon’s abdomen.
The impact folded Ethan around the strike and launched him backwards with tremendous force.
However, Dark Nova never released his grip. Ethan’s body was already flying away while his arm remained firmly trapped within Norman’s hand.
His entire left arm had been ripped from his shoulder as he became a streak of purple light that disappeared towards the city, crashing through several buildings.
His body struck the road, bashed through several parked cars and bounced violently across the ground before crashing through another structure, continuing several blocks deeper into Grayforte before finally beginning to lose momentum.
-
Back above the ruined landscape, Dark Nova briefly glanced at the severed arm still held within his hand, before tossing it aside.
Darkbella had furiously reacted at this point. The shadow beneath Dark Nova suddenly expanded a she emerged from it in the form of a massive contorted wave of writhing darkness, lunging towards him.
Dark Nova turned in her direction. Rather than retreating from the approaching mass, he flew directly towards it.