Chapter 132: The Usurper

The trees in the field were unmoving, every blade of grass, even the insects were silent. Only the echoing thunder resounded in the air as the red-haired man, the Usurper, slowly stood up and looked at Viel directly in the eye.

"Thank you for waiting for me…

...father"

The Usurper's face carried a smile, but his eyes only contained one thing.

Rage.

As if reflecting the redness of his hair, his eyes glimmered with fire as he looked Viel directly in the eye.

And Viel…

Viel's eyes trembled as it met the Usurper's eyes. And with a heavy breath, he said…

"...what?"

"V...viel, who is that? Why did he call you father!?"

Sofia hollered as she tried her best to control her mana that was going wild from the presence of the red-haired man in front of them. But still, she retained in casting the several layered shields of her own mana around them, adding protection to them and to the portal.

"Viel, why did he call you father!?", once again, Sofia repeated.

"Viel…"

But the one who answered her was not Viel, it was the ominous looking red-haired man.

"That's a funny name", the Usurper said as he slowly walked near the golden dome of light, "So, you ran away from our universe… just to play house in this one?"

The Usurper then slowly planted his palm on the golden dome, just in front of Viel's face. Sparks instantly appeared and danced their way as soon as his hand made contact with the light. His hands trembled, but that was it.

No sign of blood, or even a scratch could be seen on his hand.

"Answer me, father!", he screamed while slamming his hand on the golden dome, causing a wave of air to ripple and push all the grass away from the field. It also caused Viel's face to be distorted from his view as the dome trembled.

Viel could not help but furrow his eyebrows as he looked at the Usurper's raging eyes. Viel then looked at Sofia.

And slowly placed his finger near his ears… and circled it around it. "This man is a lunatic", Viel whispered.

"I am right in front of you!", the Usurper once again slammed his hand on the golden dome, his voice obviously strained.

"Child, we don't even look alike", Viel said as he looked at the Usurper straight in the eye, "And I have not touched anyone in the butt for me to have a chi-"

"Viel!", Sofia shouted at Viel, signaling for him to take this seriously.

"Who are you?", Viel instantly said as he heard Sofia's scream, a serious expression now filling his eyes.

Once again, silence filled the air, with only the sound of the Usurper's long red hair waving in the air.

Hearing Viel's question, the Usurper narrowed his eyes as he looked Viel straight in the eye.

"You… don't know who I am?", he said in a very low tone.

"No, of course I do", Viel answered almost instantly, "You... killed a friend of mine"

"Killed a friend?", the Usurper narrowed his eyes even further, wrinkling his nose in the process. He then slowly backed away as he picked up his spear that was sitting on the ground, "You mean the insect from the other plan-"

"You should not have killed my friend!"

The Usurper could not even finish his words when he felt his vision change. His head was slammed on the ground repeatedly as he flew almost a kilometer in just a single second. He then felt himself being lifted up in the air, and then once again, slammed to the ground with an even greater force.

The impact of the Usurper's head being slammed on the ground reached Sofia, who felt the earth tremble beneath her.

"What… is going on?", was the only thing that came out of her mouth.

A red-haired man suddenly falling from the sky, Viel being called a father… and now they are fighting? This is more random than mysterious, she thought.

Once again, she felt the earth beneath her tremble. Looking back at the direction of the fight, she could not really see clearly because of how far they were, but due to her still being able to detect the disgusting mana of the red-haired man, she knew that Viel's attack did not even do any damage.

Sofia then saw a silhouette fly at a very high speed into the air, squinting her eyes, she saw a golden gleam sparkle on the flying silhouette.

"Viel!"

"Khh", Viel's cheeks were red from being kicked by the Usurper. But before he could recover, the Usurper was prepared to meet him above the skies. And he did.

He slammed the blunt side of his spear towards Viel's back, it was as if time had stopped when the spear struck Viel's back as the clouds and skies themselves split, revealing the stars that shone endlessly outside their atmosphere.

And then, it was as if Sofia could see the space itself being sucked inside a vortex, everything was silent, and soon…

*BANG*

The thunderous explosion reached Sofia. The golden dome that Viel had casted slowly disappeared, leaving no choice for Sofia but to exert herself even further to protect the portal.

"V...viel…", Sofia's eyes could not help but tremble as she saw Viel burst into flames as he fell from the sky at almost lightning speed.

And once again, the earth shook. But this time, Sofia felt herself lose balance. If it was not for her strengthening the ground beneath her and the portal, then it would have definitely crumbled.

The earth in front of her waved like the ocean, and the barrier she made was like a protruding stone in the river, splitting the debris, dirt, and the chunks of earth that came her way.

"Gah!", Sofia screamed as she released the last amount of mana she could muster, a drop of blood was already falling on the floor as her nose started to bleed from mana exhaustion.

And finally, after a whole minute, the earth settled.

The barrier that Sofia made crumbled like glass as she groveled in pain on the ground. But there was only one thing that was coming out of her stuttering mouth, "V...viel"

She whispered as she tried to slide her head and crawl her body towards the direction where Viel fell.

"Viel…", she once again breathed out. She gritted her teeth as desperation grew inside of her. She wanted to rush towards Viel, but she couldn't.

Viel's mana… his presence…

...it was growing weaker.

"Khh", Viel's face was currently wincing in pain as he tried to struggle his way out of the claws that were tightly gripping on his neck.

The field that they were previously fighting on were gone. All that was left was a colossal crater. If it was not for the reinforced ground beneath Sofia and the portal, the crater would have been a perfect circle, ranging almost 50 kilometers wide.

"Father…", a certain disappointment could be heard from the Usurper's voice as he lifted Viel from the ground, "...You have grown weaker"

"Y-you"

"Y-y-y- you what?", the Usurper mocked as he mimicked Viel's stuttering words, "I feel sorry for you, fathe-"

[Walk of the Lightning God]

Before the Usurper could finish his words, a flicker of lightning appeared on Viel's body as he suddenly disappeared from the Usurper's clutches.

"For the last time, I am not your father!", Viel shouted as he appeared from a distance.

"...Have you really forgotten?", anger slowly built up on the Usurper's face, "What about mother?"

"Ha?", Viel grimaced in confusion as he wiped the blood that was coming out of his mouth.

"What about the face of my mother as you destroyed her world!?", the Usurper screamed, "Have you forgotten that as well!?"

"Wha-?"

Viel could not even express his confusion as the Usurper suddenly appeared from behind him, once again swinging the blunt side of the spear towards Viel's face.

But this time, Viel blocked it with his entire arm, covered in fur.

[Form of the Beast]

Still, the impact of the spear was evident, as Viel was pushed back a few hundred meters, his feet leaving lines on the ground.

"Another parlor trick, father? This..."

"This is… getting pathetic", the Usurper then dropped his spear on the ground. And slowly, his eyes started to flicker, smoke coming out of it.

"Perhaps this will remind you of who you are", he said as his eyes started to glow red, his cheeks trembling as he uttered his words with rage, "Remember the screams of my mother as I laser each and every flesh on your bone"

Seeing the Usurper's eyes glowing red, Viel's body returned back to normal as the fur on his arms receded.

And then, just like the Usurper, his eyes glowed red.

[Heat Vision]

"That's it, Rain", the Usurper laughed as he saw Viel's eyes lit up, "Reveal your true nature!"

The Usurper shouted as a huge red beam of light shot out like a stream from his eyes.

And Viel, met this red beam of light with his own.

A sharp ringing tone vibrated in the air as the two beams of light collided. The earth beneath them, as if water, started to boil.

"Hahahaha!", the Usurper laughed as he slowly started to walk forward.

Viel, however, started to sweat as he gritted his teeth to the point that it was bleeding.

"Getting older, father!", the Usurper shouted as the beam that was coming from his eyes doubled in width.

"Gah!", Viel screamed as he too, doubled the size of his own beam.

And soon, the whole crater was filled with a blinding light and a huge quake.

It was then followed by, surprisingly, a very weak explosion as the light abruptly disappeared.

For miles, nothing could be seen but smoke and vapor. It was as if the ground itself, and even the air, was dead.

"N...no…"

Sofia, who already gained the strength to kneel, could not help but cover her mouth as her eyes began to moist.

...Viel.

Viel's presence…

...She could no longer feel it.