Apocalypse Baby-Chapter 285: Malik Reborn

Blood streamed down Grugrim's face, dripping past his cracked lips and onto the stone below.

His left arm was gone, and his chest burned with every breath.

Pain throbbed in waves across his whole body, but none of that mattered now.

Because this... this was the moment.

As Malik's inferno screamed down from above, Grugrim made his move.

The flames neared—a spiraling column of destruction, ready to erase him from the world.

But then—

FWHOOOM!

A pulse of magic blasted out from Grugrim's body, and light burst in front of him, forming a massive, glowing sigil in the air—a circular pattern of runes, shimmering and spinning like a wheel made of raw energy.

The heat warped around it. Grugrim clenched his jaw, spat blood, and thrust his remaining hand toward the sky.

His voice cracked through the chaos, rough and powerful.

And he yelled:

"Full Counter!"

Malik's flame collided with the barrier—

KRA-KOOOOOOOOOM!!

A shockwave tore through the stadium like a hurricane.

The sound, like a thunderclap wrapped in a landslide.

The impact rocked the entire arena.

Stone tiles split.

Cracks spiderwebbed outward toward the edge.

The ground trembled.

For a split second, all anyone could see was light.

And it looked like Grugrim had been vaporized.

But then—

The light died down.

And everyone saw the impossible.

The flames had hit the barrier... but—

…they didn't go through.

The entire hellstorm recoiled—snapping backward, the colossal fire pillar twisting midair, spiraling in reverse with wild, uncontrollable rage.

And now?

The inferno was heading straight back at the one who had cast it.

Malik.

The crowd gasped in shock, hands flying to mouths.Some even forgot to breathe.

Up in the VIP zone, Alex's eyes went wide,his lips parting,his voice barely a whisper:

"That...?"

He knew what it was.The secret behind Grugrim's move.

Aegis Arcane.

The upgraded version had a trait that didn't just block attacks—it reflected them.

Grugrim had figured out how it worked—when Alex had let him study it—and had replicated its effect inside his own barrier spell.

Insane.

Below, Malik saw the—But it was too late.

BOOOOOM!!!

The reversed firestorm slammed into him head-on, and an explosion tore through the center of the arena, multiple times more violent than the first.

KA-BWOOOOOOOOOM!

A blinding flash of red and gold swallowed Malik whole, and the shockwave blasted outward, hurling stone and steel into the air.

Debris flew like shrapnel, and the very ground quaked beneath the force.

Fire, lightning, and raw magic—all spinning in a vortex like a collapsing star.

Then—Silence.

No cheers. No screams.

Just wind.

Just smoke.

The stadium held its breath.

And slowly...

The dust began to settle.

The battlefield was wrecked.Stone—shattered.Flames—dancing over broken ground.Smoke curled into the sky in twisting, black columns.

Nothing moved.

No sign of Malik.

Only ruin.

In the center of it all, through the smoke, through the scorched earth and swirling ash—stood Grugrim.

Barely upright.

Blood dripping.

Surrounded by ruin.

And far ahead of him, near the very edge of the arena…

Two feet.

Just two charred, half-melted feet.

With no body attached.

That was all that remained of Malik.

Everything else had been vaporized—erased from existence by his own godlike flame.

For a second, the arena was frozen in shock and awe at what they had just witnessed.

And then, the crowd exploded with noise.

Cheers tore through the air.People jumped from their seats.The entire stadium shook under the roar of applause.

A tidal wave of voices, rising and falling in disbelief, awe, and raw excitement.

He had done it.He had turned an unbeatable attack back on its caster.He had achieved the impossible.

He had won.

But—

Not everyone celebrated.

Alex didn't move or smile,nor did Sylen or Vess.

Because they knew.

This wasn't over. Not yet.

Grugrim knew it too.

His chest rose and fell in ragged, uneven breaths.His body trembled from blood loss and pain.His clothes were in tatters.

But he didn't raise his fist.Didn't soak in the praise.

He just gritted his teeth—and started running.

Slow. Heavy. Unsteady.

One foot, then the next.Dragging his broken body forward.

Toward the smoking spot where Malik once stood.

His grip tightened around the handle of his axe—so tight his knuckles turned white.

His vision blurred.Every breath burned in his lungs.

But he didn't stop.

He couldn't.

He couldn't let Malik regenerate.Not even for a second.If he did… he'd be done for.

"Just a little further…" Grugrim rasped, his voice shredded by pain.

He clenched his jaw and pushed forward, summoning strength from pure will.

Lightning crackled around him, wrapping his body in sparks, as if the storm itself had fused to his bones, and his speed increased.

Then, with a roar, he leaped.

Axe raised high.Eyes locked on the two feet left standing.

He brought the weapon down, ready to erase what little remained of Malik.

But then—A spark.

A flicker of glowing red light, hovering above the scorched ground.No body. No shape.

Just that spark—flickering… alive.

Then—

BOOOOOOM!!

The spark exploded.A shockwave of pure, untamed chaos blasted outward in all directions.

Grugrim was hit mid-air—flung backward like a ragdoll, his limbs spinning, his body crashing across the stone.

He hit the ground hard.Rolled.Skidded.

Every bump ripped open wounds, blood spraying in dark arcs.

He groaned, then let out a sharp, furious yell:

"DAMMIT!"

The smoke curled and parted, and from it… something surged out.

Malik.

But he wasn't the same.

No longer calm.No longer regal.No longer composed.

What came forward was different.

Savage.

Furious.

Eyes glowing with madness.Aura boiling with hatred.

Midair, Malik's body began to rebuild.

First, the bones—forming out of thin air, glowing red-hot, laced with arcane veins that pulsed like living circuits.

Then flesh wrapping around the bones in jerking motions.Every layer twitching, as if something monstrous was forcing its way into the world, piece by piece.The rebuild all in an instant.

When the transformation ended, Malik was no longer the same demon.

He was taller now.Lean, but twisted and powerful—like a predator carved from pure malice.

Two horns spiraled from his forehead, black and jagged—like ancient weapons fused to his skull.

His eyes, once golden, now burned like bloody embers, glowing with hatred too deep for words.

His hands were claws—obsidian black, wickedly curved, sharp enough to tear steel.

His skin shimmered with a deep crimson glow, as though his entire body had been forged in a furnace.

At his back, flames danced, rising and folding like wings made of fire and wrath.

He hovered above the ruined battlefield, body perfectly still, but the air around him twisted.

Even the stone beneath him fractured just from his presence.

Then he locked eyes with Grugrim.

There was no taunt.

No smirk.

No speech.

Just raw, seething fury.

And in the next instant—He moved.

FWOOOOOSH!

A blazing crimson comet.Claws out.Eyes blazing.Racing through the air like vengeance made real.

He was coming for Grugrim with every intent to rip him apart.

No more games. freewebnøvel.com