Angel Monarch-Chapter 535: The Power of Inevitability

While Sera flew around, suffering the attention of both powerful creatures, Faith moved everyone else to a few hundred meters away. They watched the Sera for a few seconds before beginning to decide upon a quick plan.

There weren't many resources they could use. None of the six people gathered atop the tree branch had purely offensive powers.

Cass, as a Stellar, was the most powerful, but her illusions were awful at offense. Astrid could buff and defend her friends, but she couldn't attack. David's ability was similar to Jörmungandr's, but a lot weaker, making him the most useless.

Melinda, Faith and Lilith could actually attack. However, physical attacks seem useless against the enormous snake. Only Lilith remained with the ability to damage the World Serpent.

But while the Dreamweaver could've sent even an Ethereal to sleep, she wouldn't survive a battle inside his mind. Also, the sleeping state would barely last a second, and it would consume her entire pool of Essence.

The chase continued as Sera kept evading all of Yggdrasil's attempts at capture, while the World Tree countered all of Jörmungandr's attacks.

It looked weird watching a fight between such powerful creatures. If Sera wasn't Yggdrasil's main target, David was certain she could've killed the World Serpent, even as a mindless Abomination.

He shook his head and glanced away from the Angel's struggle. Of the six people, he had the best strategic mind, so he needed to figure out a plan before Sera lost the battle!

A minute went by watching their fight, during which David silently thought through every viable solution. Luckily, he found something, a clue... It wasn't much, only a gamble, but they needed to act now...

"Lilith, stun the World Serpent when I give you the signal! Cass, try distracting him until then! Astrid, protect Faith when she attacks after Lilith's stun! Melinda, use every disease you know on the beast!"

Cass immediately sent multiple illusions. They took many different forms and looked authentic enough to fool even an Ethereal.

Jörmungandr's yellow serpentine eyes glowed as he stared at the illusions. They all exploded into crystal-like fragments as his attack destroyed them.

However, Cass didn't stop attacking. She sent more illusions to annoy the beast until he finally had enough and turned away from Sera and Yggdrasil.

"Faith, attack its eyes after Lilith's stun! He needs them to use his powers!"

The shadowy woman nodded and returned to the darkness. Astrid's body glowed with golden energy as she raised a powerful protective barrier around Faith.

As another wave of illusions got destroyed, David took a deep breath and glanced towards the robed woman standing beside him. 𝚏𝐫𝚎𝗲𝕨𝐞𝐛𝕟𝚘𝐯𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝗺

The World Serpent's eyes turned towards their branch. Annoyance ignited in their yellow depths as they began glowing. He prepared to attack as David shouted.

"Now!"

Lilith's swirling purple eyes closed and a moment later, the glow left the yellow eyes of the serpent. Its massive head bobbed down as he fell asleep.

Next came Melinda's attack. Her blue-green eyes came alight as she sent thousands of plagues at the giant creature. It ate all her Essence, since she sent each disease multiple times, increasing their potency.

Both women fell to their knees as their Essence ran out. They passed out near Vicky and Henry's unconscious bodies, leaving only six of the original ten awake.

Sera continued evading Yggdrasil, but she also tried staying close to Jörmungandr, in case they needed help with the attack.

The night's darkness deepened around the World Serpent's eyes as two gigantic spikes pierced his yellow eyes.

A loud, pained roar echoed from his mouth. The pressure and power within the roar sent the surrounding great trees flying. His tail and serpentine body moved around, sending tsunami-like waves in every direction.

The roar dismissed the shadows piercing his skin, but the golden shield around Faith saved the Shadow's life. She got knocked out though, but managed to teleport back to the branch where David, Astrid and Cass stood.

Before the roar, Astrid used a large portion of her Essence to defend their great tree. It continued standing while the surrounding forest fell over.

Cass also used too many powerful illusions, making her useless for the rest of the battle. However, that didn't matter to David. Only he, Sera and Bea were left to defeat an Ethereal and an Abomination. Their odds were horrible, but not impossible!

The dark, scale-like skinned man jumped off the branch and sprinted towards Jörmungandr. His wriggling, painful motion came to a halt as the yellow eyes regenerated.

"Let's hope this'll work..." he mumbled to himself, as the World Serpent's yellow eyes gazed down at his much smaller body.

Without thinking, David activated his power. He jumped in the air, his body bending backward, creating a perfect, dark circle... a Time Loop...

While he couldn't counter Jörmungandr's power directly, damaging his eyes once gave a chance to David. A chance to win!

He concentrated a large portion of his Essence, and sent the state of Jörmungandr's eyes back into the past, to the moment when Faith pierced them!

The massive snake began wriggling once again, as more pained roars echoed from its maw. However, David ignored all the noise, which reverberated through his skeleton. Instead, he continued running towards the World Serpent!

Sera also noticed the snake's strange behavior, and David's sprinting form. Behind her, Yggdrasil was getting closer to catching up, but for now, she held her few-meter lead.

Back on the ground, David needed to form a Time Loop three more times before he finally reached Jörmungandr's body. He summoned his spear and began climbing without thinking.

He used the wild movements of the snake to fling himself upward, to the beast's head. He soon reached the area below his left eye, just as his wriggling stopped once again.

The yellow serpentine eye opened wide. It focused right on David, malice burning within its depths.

"You're powerful, young one, and cunning... However, for your insolence, you deserved nothing but eternal suffering... Witness the Power of Inevitability!... Because Ouroboros decides the state of reality, by bringing everything into a full circle!"

Jörmungandr's voice echoed loudly as his enormous tail rose from the ocean, moving closer to its massive maw.

A horrible feeling grasped David's body. He couldn't use his powers anymore, since most of his Essence had already run out. There was nothing he could do, just watch as his demise approached... inevitably...

"Catch, you fool!" came the shout from above.

David glanced up just as a silvery curved sword nearly pierced his body. Reflexively, he let go of his spear with one hand, and caught the powerful sword. Golden flames danced along its edge, and a bright green glow fueled the sword with immense energy.

If Jörmungandr were against any other Transcended, he would've won with ease. His power was vast, and he barely used its extant against the group, which caused his downfall.

As a powerful Ethereal who had lived for millions of years, he grew complacent. He couldn't imagine a scenario where a few Transcended and a Stellar could defeat him, even if an Angel was at their side.

The most powerful weapon that could kill any creature was pride. Many gain this trait as they grow old and powerful. It can't be avoided or fought against, and could easily cause one's death.

Jörmungandr decided to play with his prey. He didn't use a full-powered attack to destroy the World Tree. Instead, he continued moving both Sera and Yggdrasil back into their original positions.

Deep down, he enjoyed watching the Angel's struggle for survival. Those creatures captured and locked him away long ago, so this was his petty revenge against the species.

The World Serpent even stopped paying attention to the rest of Sera's group. He neutralized the only genuine threats, then watched Sera's desperate escape with delight.

Irony filled the massive snake's heart as his yellow eyes watched the small creature wearing black snake-like armor jump towards him. The silver blade stabbed towards the middle of said eye.

His tail was still a few dozen meters from his maw, and he didn't have enough time to activate his weaker power. In that moment, a lighthearted chuckle echoed inside Jörmungandr's mind.

'Oh, the irony! Dying by the hand of another Ouroboros! One that's two Ranks below me!'

As death became inevitable, Jörmungandr sighed...

'Very well, young one... Use my powers better than I did... Defy Inevitability, like I failed to do... My Fate... The Fate of our species... The Fate of everything... Is now in your hand!'

The moonlight glinted on the tip of David's blade as he plunged it deep inside the yellow serpentine eye's pupil. Nothing happened for a moment, then a sudden wave of blades sprouted from the wound.

The power within the sword accumulated at its tip and sent forward a massive explosion. David flew back, blind and deaf from the enormous golden light, which consumed everything in its path.

The World Serpent's massive head fell to the ground dead. It had a wide, bloody hole where once his brain was.

Everything became silent as the enormous creature died. The tsunami-like waves continued battering the shoreline, but eventually they became silent too.

David barely held onto consciousness as he fell beside Jörmungandr's head. All his armor disappeared as the last of his Essence disappeared to heal his broken body.

His vision swam with colors, and everything looked blurry. Blood dripped from his nose, eyes, ears, and mouth. The hearing didn't return since he didn't have enough Essence to heal his destroyed eardrums.

A mind-splitting headache moved across his mind as he tried climbing to his feet. However, he could only watch the battle in the sky... He could only watch as the Angel died...