Chapter 134: The World of Noxara (3)
SHKKK!!!!!
The arrow of pure darkness punched into the outer edge of Jovian’s left shoulder, biting deep enough to draw a sharp line of blood that the hot wind of Noxara immediately began to dry.
He gritted his teeth against the sudden flare of pain, white hair whipping around his blindfolded face as he immediately drove forward to punish the spearman for the opening.
The archer’s lips curved into a cold smile, and in that moment, she activated two innate powers in tandem.
[Night’s Embrace (Origin)]
[Predator’s Darkness (Primordial)]
HUMMMMM!!!!!
Instantly, a wave of living shadows erupted from her position and raced across the open sky, hunting Jovian with predatory intent.
The darkness wrapped around his limbs like heavy chains, instantly dropping his total power output by a full tier to twenty-nine.
In the same breath, the archer melted completely into the surrounding darkness, her presence vanishing as though she had never existed.
THRUMMMM!!!!!
Through the power of Predator’s Darkness, every weak point in Jovian’s posture and guard lit up in her perception like beacons, and she released a new arrow aimed with lethal precision at the most vulnerable gap.
"Now!" the archer’s voice rang out from the darkness, sharp and triumphant. "End him while the shadows still hold!"
At the same moment the spearman laughed, short and sharp, eyes gleaming with cruel certainty as he drove his weapon forward with everything he had.
"You should have stayed in whatever backwater world you crawled out of, human!"
SHKKKKK!!!!!
The spear punched cleanly through Jovian’s midsection.
The hit knocked the wind out of him, and a harsh cough sent blood splattering into the dusty, reddish-yellow air.
COUGH!!!
Instantly, pain flared through his entire body as the shadows of Night’s Embrace still clung to his limbs like heavy chains, keeping his power suppressed at Tier 29.
The archer remained completely hidden, her presence erased, while the killing arrow she had just released screamed toward the exact gap the spear had forced open in his guard.
For the first time since the duel began, Jovian was truly cornered—impaled, suppressed, and targeted by an attack he could not see.
Blood streamed down his chin in thick rivulets, warm and unrelenting.
The scorching wind of Noxara tossed his long white hair wildly around his blindfolded face, the strands tangling and snapping in the heat.
Still, through it all, that crimson-stained smile crept back onto his lips.
He winked once toward the empty air where the archer had vanished, as if the entire situation were still nothing more than an amusing game.
Then in the next moment, he released the only stellar decree he had at the moment.
[Decree of Fate Adaptation (Defensive) (Stellar)]
"By my authority as the God of Severing Fate," he declared, voice steady despite the blood running from his lips, "all incoming attacks that would result in injury are severed."
HUMMMMM!!!!
The Stellar Decree settled over the battlefield like an absolute law.
And instantly, the arrow of pure darkness dispersed into harmless motes less than a hand’s breadth from his throat.
The grip of Night’s Embrace eased in that instant.
Spotting him issue a decree, the spearman yanked at his weapon to free it from Jovian’s body while triggering his own decree, but Jovian was quicker.
[Severing Dominion (Above Origin)]
[Karma Affinity]
HUMMMM!!!!
In a single fluid motion, he reached out with his innate power and permanently connected the spearman’s fate thread to that of the still-hidden archer.
Then he turned the full weight of the man’s own Karma against both of them—every vile act, every cruelty, every life they had taken over the eras—feeding it back in a single catastrophic backlash.
The living shroud of darkness that had wrapped itself around the archer suddenly tore apart, dissolving into nothing.
Both Dark Elves turned ghostly pale as the crushing weight of accumulated karma slammed into their very beings.
SHKKKKKK!!!!!
Then with a single, fluid motion, Jovian swung the Fate Breaker Sword in a smooth, horizontal arc, its flash cutting through the moment like lightning.
The spearman’s head left his shoulders in a spray of dark blood.
In the same instant, far across the open sky, the archer’s head separated from her body as well, the connected fate thread delivering the same end to both of them.
And just like that.... two headless corpses began their slow fall toward the refugee camp below while Jovian floated in the hot wind, blood still dripping from the wound in his midsection, the Fate Breaker Sword humming softly in his hand.
He remained still for a long moment, white hair drifting around his blindfolded face as the four suns of Noxara beat down without mercy.
Then he raised the Fate Breaker Sword and cleanly severed the fate threads still connected to the wounds in his shoulder and midsection.
The wounds started healing immediately, torn skin pulling together as the bleeding eased and finally stopped.
Within moments, the worst of the damage had reversed, leaving only faint residual aches that faded with each passing breath.
A low chuckle left his lips.
"Now... was that the third rival of mine? The Prince of Von’El?"
He canceled the Stellar Decree with a casual thought.
The absolute protection against incoming injury faded from the air around him.
Then, he turned the full focus of his Eyes of Heaven upon the refugee camp below, reading the countless fate threads that tangled through the chaotic settlement.
One particular thread stood out—strong, distinct, and still freshly connected to the lingering presence of the previous Titans.
Jovian’s smile widened slightly as he locked onto it.
Without another word, he followed the thread downward, curious to see exactly what the Prince of Von’El was doing in the middle of all this.
-----
Deep within a dense, forest-like stretch of the refugee camp—where twisted copper-leafed trees formed a natural canopy against the reddish-yellow sky—Krax moved between the trunks with steady, deliberate steps.
The ten remaining Titans stood in a loose cluster ahead of him, their massive frames half-hidden by shadow and the sparse cover of the strange trees.
Their voices carried low and heavy with the weight of everything they had already lost.
"The cages opening... that was no accident."
"Tsk... it doesn’t really matter. Our home clan is gone. The world we came from is gone. There is nothing left to return to."
"Right... We’re God Kings at best. Without backing, without a path off this world, the next time the Black Thorn decides to sweep this area we’ll simply be put back in chains... or worse."
Their future grew darker with each passing hour, and capture had shifted from a possibility to a certainty.
Then they heard footsteps drawing near, and all ten turned simultaneously.
The moment their eyes landed on Krax—another Titan, yet carrying an aura and presence that felt heavier, older, and far more certain than any of them—they instinctively stepped back.
Uncertainty crossed their faces.
’...What kind of Titan is this?’ one of them wondered as Krax halted a short distance away, watching them without a hint of hostility.
"I’ll keep this brief," he said, aware that he was neither much of a talker nor a motivator.
Still, given their situation and knowing how all Titans operated, he figured letting his aura flare openly was more than enough.
"I can offer you a haven," he continued, his voice calm yet firm. "In return, I ask for your loyalty to the Von’El Titan Clan."
The straightforward nature of the Titans as a race left little space for lingering uncertainty.
When they encountered another of their kind, they immediately recognized him and sensed the power he carried.
In a world that had already stripped them of everything else, the offer was clearer than any complicated future they could invent for themselves.
One by one, the ten Titans sank to their knees.
----
High above, still hidden among the hot winds of Noxara, Jovian watched the entire exchange with a growing smile.
Even with his Eyes of Heaven fully active, Krax’s fate threads remained strangely blurred—difficult to read and predict.
"Interesting," Jovian murmured to himself. "Just what are you planning, Prince of Von’El?"
He didn’t bother to step in....
Instead, he tilted his head, white hair swaying in the metallic breeze, a playful lilt creeping back into his voice.
"Well, I’ll cause a bit more chaos first... then I’ll call that guy."
The thought of Akasha—Lord Dream—flitted through his mind as he watched the kneeling Titans and the young prince who had just taken command of them.