Ascension of the Nephilim

It was too late for the Dark head and Eugene to stop their attacks. They forced all the darkness and sealed it in the room.

The darkness that was now controlling the Dark Head of Eugene had to forcibly pull the darkness back as the light of Kyros attacked it. And the Dark head combined his powers with Eugene.

But this union and fusion of the two came at a price. The union made the dark head assume a limitation of locality! He was also in chains! And because Eugene forced evolved, the dark head he controled was also wasting massive amounts of death energy! They could only maintain that form for a time.

They were deceived and lured as they sensed Kyros assume a form that far surpassed his actual level.

The power that Kyros released also consumed a lot of energy and the group assumed that just like their form, Kyros was also fighting in borrowed time.

But no, Kyros was relaxing just outside.

Kyros was patiently waiting outside and began to call out books from his Inventory. Obviously, he had already read through the latest chapters of One Piece thanks to the fact that Calaminus is a fan.

So instead of manga, Kyros was reading through things that the Fortress received with the upgrade of the library.

"I soooo missed inventory." Kyros smiled as he read the books about blacksmithing.

"Many of these books already start to talk about advanced knowledge. You never really got into blacksmithing, right? You focused on alchemy and energy formation circles and only knew blacksmithing that can aid up to Commander level." Kyros sighed as he started to read.

Calaminus was still in the process of fighting the heat and was too busy screaming. Kyros ignored him and kept reading.

Deep in the dark room, the dark head and Eugene panicked.

"Help me launch a breath attack!" The Dark head ordered.

"Right!" The Okto-Khefali agreed. He was shocked and afraid of Kyros and knew that his death would be certain if he falls into Kyros's hands. Together, they harnessed the powerful darkness and imbued Entropy and wind in it.

Dark, green energy gathered at all eight heads that had been awakened and controlled by the darkness.

"Oh? An elemental merging attack? As expected of a Crown. That attack should be as strong as Histerion's attack when I fought him. Then there's only one thing to do." Kyros sighed.

"See if you can defend against this, you lying- wait! Where are you going?! Come back!" The dark head sensed Kyros running back up the stairs.

Kyros harnessed all of his Dexterity stat and even used Haste on himself to move faster up.

"I'm not an idiot. Why waste energy and defend that? I can just escape."

"You...! Cheater! Be a man! Fight me!"

"Be a man? I'm swifter than a coursing river, has the force of a great typhoon, I have the strength of raging fire thanks to Brimstone, and I am literally Mystery itself. I'm even more mysterious than the dark side of the moon. I am more than a man, I am the Nephilim."

"GET BACK HERE!" Eugene cursed.

"ROAR!" The darkness roared.

"Free the Okto-Khefali. That's your only way. Don't you want that to happen, Eugene? You would be free." Kyros laughed as he raced up.

Eugene was startled as he heard this.

"He knows... that I'm imprisoned?" Eugene wondered.

Kyros stopped running as he believed he reached a place where the attack won't hurt him that much. He waited to see the results of his words.

"Now... let's see what the dark being that chained Eugene will do. Will he release the chains that bind Eugene to fight me? But even if he does win, and I die, he will set the Okto-Khefali free. And his mission to deliver this to Heralcus will change... Hmmm.... This means Middle will change once that happens..." Kyros began to ponder what the dark being will do and went back to reading.

Inside the room, the dark being was going through the exact dilemma.

"Release my chains! If you don't we will lose!"

"..." The Dark head didn't answer and began to weigh the consequences of their actions.

"You can't fool us, Nephilim! Your power surged by an entire realm! You must be doing a powerful sacrifice technique! You are bluffing!" The Dark Head shouted.

"No, I'm not." Kyros calmly answered as he perused through the book.

"Yes, you are!"

"I'm really not."

"You liar! Sacrifice magic offers one's soul! I know Sacrifice magic! The power you hold, the celestial might is born of the light! That means you sacrificed your soul!"

"No, I didn't."

"Yes, you did!"

"I'm pretty sure, I didn't!"

"You cannot lie to me! Darkness cannot bring forth the power of light!"

"Didn't you see my stats? Oh... Right... Skotos Eis Phos was hidden from you. That's Mysterion for you." Kyros snickered.

"If you sacrificed other souls, I would have known! If you sacrificed bound souls that you have corrupted through whatever Fallen, I would have noticed!"

"I didn't bind corrupted souls and sacrificed them." Kyros denied.

"Impossible! If you were to make a sacrifice of the light, you must have done it by using those willing! That self-sacrifice of the highest power is the only thing that can help you harness this power."

"Now that you mention it... Martha did the same when she fought those Dracanae who forcibly evolved themselves. Those slaves gave their life willingly in their heroic decision to help us. And now, I'm using that same power. Sacrificing willing souls."

"WHAT?! Impossible!" The dark head roared angrily.

"Yeah! Believe it or not, I have tons of happy souls with me." Kyros laughed and glanced at the small soul core which contained the happiest souls thanks to the power of Brimstone and the joy it gives.

"Anyway, if you really want to fight me, free the chains of Eugene. Of course, the main issue is, how are you going to give him up to the coming being that has the power of Somatos Ous Thanatou? So, I understand why you are hesitating. After all, the battle for Middle had just started. Although, spoiler alert, I already killed that guy called Heralcus. So, my recommendation, release Eugene."

But the Dark head was stunned at Kyros's words. How did he know about those things?

"Who are you?!" The Dark head roared. Although he had read about Kyros being the Nephilim, he was still shocked that this being was somehow able to traverse the current time and arrived in Middle!

"Why ask? I was careless, and I'm sure you've read my stats. I am the Nephilim. The champion that is to ascend and fight End."

"Stop delaying!" Eugene shouted.

"Darkness! Release my chains! I will lose all my power soon! My cells cannot hold this form for so long!" Eugene roared angrily.

"Silence! Worm!" The Dark head shouted back.

"Idiot! If I lose my power, we won't have the chance to defend against him! I would still die! What is your mission? Didn't the Nephilim say it? You are to give me to this Heralcus? You don't have a choice now! If you don't release me, I will die! But if you release and bond yourself to me, you might have a chance in keeping me and attacking me later and offer whatever remains of me to your master!" Eugene pleaded.

"You actually died a pitiful death, Eugene. You were weakened and some of your cores had already died and became ordinary one which was devoid of your true powers. Only the Ice, the Water, and a few others remained. But now, I can see that the Dark Core is quite strong. Come out here and play. That Dark Core will help me make a Vampire Ancient." Kyros laughed.

Eugene was stunned.

"How do you know this?!"

"I already told you... I defeated Heralcus." Kyros laughed.

"Darkness! Release me!" Eugene pleaded again. He could somehow sense a strange foreboding. The claims were too bizarre but somehow, Eugene could sense the truth in them.

Kyros was secretly releasing the powers of some of the tamed cores of the Okto-Khefali.

At the peak of his battle with Lanthanou, Kyros was able to corrupt and seal the soul of the other world Eugene in him. Eugene had merged with the Celestial Code, and Kyros called it back and took Eugene's soul with it.

"If all things work out... I'll have an Okto-Khefali with us..." Kyros sneered.

Unaware of Kyros's thoughts, the two beings continued to bicker as Eugene was now actively rebelling and trying to wrestle control from the Dark Head.

"Release me!"

The Dark head struggled. He knew that if the Okto-Khefali did this, there would clearly be ways for him to break out. He knew the true nature of Serpents and were the offspring of the Fallen who lie in the first place!

But as things were, he had no choice. Fighting Eugene for control meant wasting energy. And he needed that to fight Kyros.

Reluctantly, the chains of darkness that bound the soul of Eugene were slowly released.

Kyros smiled as he sensed it.

"Perfect." Kyros sneered.