Catgirls And Dungeons (Yuri)-Chapter 156: Sword of the end
"Heh," Alter grins, an evil, wicked grin curling across her lips. Her eyes lock onto the Sentinels swarming above, sharp and focused. Meanwhile, Sheol pulses violently in her hand, like a living heart ready to burst.
"Let's see how strong this fourth awakening really is," she says, voice low and dangerous.
And then—
WOOSH.
With a flick of her wrist, a casual swing, Sheol cleaves the air.
A pitch-black crescent arcs upward, a blade of darkness faster than the eye can follow. The Sentinels, frozen midair, barely have time to react before it reaches them!
And then—
The moment the dark crescent touches them…
Holy shit!
They are deleted.
Erased from existence!
Their bodies do not explode into bursts of light like before. Instead, they are pulled inward, sucked into the black crescent as if devoured by a void. Gone. Without a trace.
And that is not all.
As the crescent travels, it tears open a rift in the very air itself. A jagged wound of darkness hangs in the sky for a few seconds, swirling hungrily.
More Sentinels nearby are dragged into it.
One after another, pulled screaming into the abyss, their forms dissolving before they can even fight back.
"Heck yeah," Alter mutters, satisfied, her tone dripping with feral triumph.
Meanwhile, I'm still in complete awe, unable to believe what I just witnessed.
"Alter…" I call out, voice trembling with disbelief. "If just the fourth eye is already this powerful… then what the hell happens when all six are open?"
She chuckles, low and grim. "Ha. That, I don't know either."
Her gaze flickers to Sheol, now throbbing in her hand like a heart of pure darkness. The fourth eye glares wide open, gleaming with unearthly hunger.
"All I know is," she continues, "Sheol is no ordinary weapon. It once belonged to a Primordial God. Not just any god, but the God of Death. And not the poetic kind of death. Not rest, not silence…"
She lifts the blade slightly, its edge humming.
"I'm talking about deletion, the end of existence, the death that erases everything…
"And because it's power is too absurd, everyone who wants to use Sheol has to pay some fee."
Right…
I remember…
Eris paid for the first three awakenings by sacrificing three years' worth of dark mana cores she had painstakingly gathered.
And me and Alter…
We paid with our own soul energy, with our very existence chipped away sucked into that pitch-black sun, just to barely unlock the fourth.
But then, Alter's voice drops even lower, turning almost reverent.
"There's an ancient saying," she murmurs.
Her words echo inside me like the tolling of a distant bell.
"First death… the end of flesh and blood.
"Second death… the end of mana.
"Third death… the end of spirit and soul.
"Fourth death… the end of immortals.
"Fifth death… the end of gods.
And sixth death… the end of the world."
"The end… of the world?" I murmur.
"Yeah," Alter nods grimly. "It's only speculation. But if Sheol's six eyes ever fully open… it might have enough power to erase the entire world itself."
"T-then… have you ever opened the fifth eye before?" I ask.
"Nah, I didn't use Sheol, but my teacher did." she replies.
"Your… teacher?"
"Azraphael."
Wait a minute—
Another realization just strikes.
"That's the name! That's the name you mentioned to Eris, isn't it?"
Alter nods.
"Mm. That's right."
Damn…
No wonder she looked so stunned when Eris first summoned Sheol. The pieces are starting to connect now.
But that only leaves more questions hanging.
Eris and Azraphael…
Just what is their connection?
I want to ask, badly. I want to dig deeper, to get to the truth—but this isn't the time.
We're still in the middle of a warzone.
BOOM!
Alter launches upward in an explosion of speed and force, catapulting us into the sky. She meets the descending Sentinels head-on, fearless, her body a streak of black steel and raw mana.
She spins. She slashes.
VZZT!
A dark arc splits the sky.
The crescent wave carves through dozens of enemies in one single, devastating blow. The moment it touches them, they're not just destroyed—they're erased, deleted from existence!
A rift opens again in the air, wide and hungry, dragging more Sentinels into its maw. One after another, they vanish into the darkness.
And of course, just like Alter said, this fourth awakening state really is a counter to Lumen Mortis. After being swallowed by the darkness of the end, no sentinel is able to be reborn back.
With this, for the first time, their numbers truly begin to thin.
But the next thing that happens makes me gasp again.
We're still airborne.
And yet… we're not falling. freёnovelkiss.com
Woosh!
Woosh, woosh~!
The sound of wings reaches my ears— powerful, steady flapping.
And as Alter turns, I see them—
"Eh? EHHHHHH???"
"What the heck?! Since when did we get wings?!"
Because on my back, there's two large black wings now, each one longer than two meters!
Holy shit! We look just like an angel of death now!
"Oh, them?" Alter says, grinning. "They are just Azazel's Guard."
"O-ohhhhhh!"
Awe floods me. I had no idea Azazel's Guard could do this!
Sure it can make me additional sound-proof shadow helmet, I didn't know that it can create wings too!
Damn, this is so cool!
"Yeah," Alter says, adjusting her grip on Sheol. "I dissolved the full-body armor and reformed it into wings instead. We need more speed after all!"
"Nn!" I nod. "Great thinking!"
It makes total sense. With the Sentinels being airborne, staying on the ground and flinging sword arcs upward is a very inefficient way to fight!
As long as just one Sentinel gets out of our range, we would never be able to kill it. Therefore, being able to fly will make this much easier, even though it do cost us our sturdy defense!
Still…
However….
There's currently something about these wings that feel a little bit strange.
It's like…
"Wait, Azazel's Guard is stronger too?"
"Ha, you'll see. Hold on tight, Felicia. This next part's going to be a bit dizzy!"
BOOM!
A sonic crack tears through the air as we break the sound barrier.
We're flying now.
We are flying faster than sound!
The world becomes wind and blur and momentum, and still, we accelerate.
And ahead of us…
Hundreds of Sentinels remain.
—————-
Vvvvzztt!
With just one swing of Sheol, the sky splits open. We are tear through it like a storm.
Wind howls past our ears, ripped apart by our speed. Behind us, black feathers scatter like sparks across a battlefield of light and darkness.
Ahead of us are still many Sentinels.
Too many to count.
Those wraiths of light, shriek as they converge, trying to cage us in with blades of divine energy and radiant spears.
But they're too slow.
Far too slow.
Alter's speed explode once more. In a blink, we has appeared right behind of a big group.
"Let's dance!" Alter growls, eyes narrowing.
And then—
SLASH!
Sheol howls.
A single horizontal swing splits the air in front of us.
A wave of pure darkness explodes outward.
The arc tears through the Sentinels like paper. This whole group vanish, bodies unraveling midair, sucked into another rift that closes with a thunderclap.
We then spin through the chaos, wings slicing as sharply as any blade. As we rotate our body, twisting mid air, one wing cleaves through a Sentinel with a flash of black light, its body folding in on itself and disappearing, the other not only blocking an incoming attack, but ending another sentinel as well.
Turns out, these wings are no longer just Azazel's Guard.
They are now infused with a fraction of Sheol's power!
Thanks to Alter's masterful control over mana and energy, she was able to channel the sword's overflowing force directly into the armor, evolving it into something far more deadly—wings that can slice through Sentinels as easily as the blade itself.
And with this… like a reaper, no, an angel of death, with badass wings and a big black great sword—
We zoom
We kill
We delete!
We end!
VZZT!
VZZT!
Within minutes, Eighty percent of the Sentinels are gone!
Alter only has one minute left on her clock though.
Still at this rate, we'll make it. We can wipe out the last of them before her control runs out!
Or so I think—
Until the Sentinels change tactics.
Suddenly, the remaining twenty percent, around three hundred or so, halt their movements. Then, in a brilliant flash, they converge into one point like stars collapsing into a singularity.
A blinding surge of light erupts across the sky. It's so intense it scorches our vision. We're forced to land, wings flaring out to shield our eyes.
And when the light fades—
"What the hell was THAT?!" I exclaim.
Because the swarm is gone. Hundreds of Sentinels, now are all replaced by one.
A single, towering figure now looms above the battlefield.
A giant!
Its body is colossal and radiant. Still humanoid in shape, but now with four massive wings unfurled behind its back, and four enormous arms—each one wielding a gleaming greatsword of pure light. Its form is wrapped in divine armor, its face hidden beneath a blazing helm, and its entire presence crackles with godlike pressure.
Damn…
Are we really facing a final boss now?
However, as intimidating as that towering figure is, Alter doesn't even blink.
She just grins, her heartbeat racing with anticipation and excitement.
"Well. That'll save us some time."
Sheol pulses in her grip, its eyes flaring like a glowing comet.
She shifts her stance, weight low, blade raised, black wings flaring wide behind her like a scythe ready to reap the heavens.
"Ready, Felicia?"
"Nn!" I reply, just as thrilled.
Once again, we charge forward, unleashing Alter's signature sword skill.
Chaos Destruction: Rampage!
