The layer had gone through a huge battle in a short amount of time, making it nothing but a shadow of its former self. There was a huge hole in the southern region from the explosion of Event Horizon. The ocean had also been ravaged, while the central land was filled with cracks, and huge canyons had formed.
And now... In front of Eric and the group stood a huge black dragon, the height of 2200 feet, looking down at them like prey.
The air itself seemed to be heavier on their bodies now.
The taste of iron that had settled down in Eric's mouth seemed to completely disappear now under this pressure.
Eric and Adrian looked to their left as a golden light appeared, before shaping into the Angel Spirit. However, Eric felt no hope even with this Hypernova Level Angel Spirit by his side.
The pressure almost made Eric take out the Imperator's cross and get the Supernova level Angel Spirit to come out, but he knew that this was what the will wanted. The dragon hadn't attacked them. There was no way to know of its actual strength.
Probing was necessary before taking any major decision.
"Why does this dragon seem so familiar?" Adrian whispered lightly to himself, and he started to think
Before the realization hit him.
"I-isn't this... The dragon that is in the symbol of the Apocalypse Pathway?!" He said as he pointed at the dragon, taking a step away as his body trembled.
Eric nodded, "The will had definitely taken inspiration from the symbol of the Apocalypse Pathway.
It also seems to have the power of misfortune..." Eric's brows furrowed the more he analysed the dragon.
The real dragon that was in the symbol was Draco, the immortal beast of the Apocalypse Pathway,
but the similarity between them couldn't be ignored. It was made through a long process. Its power won't be low at all.
Before they could talk further or discuss. Black blades appeared above them; the will had attacked them, making them unable to catch a break.
Yet, it didn't show itself. Hiding somewhere in the dark essence with the pseudo-Hypernova beasts and most of the Void Shadow Beasts.
His intentions to probe them were evident.
Eric and the group set out to fly high in the sky, away from the dragon.
Roar!!
The black dragon roared as its scaled muscles bulged, and black veins popped out like roots of a tree.
Blood dripped down Adrian's ears as the roar cracked the air around them, making him scream in pain as he closed his ears with his hands, but there was little effect.
Eric asked the gravitation around him to stop the sound from reaching Adrian, finally making the bleeding stop.
"Keep flying," Eric said to the Angel Spirit and Adrian calmly.
Eric stopped flying as he looked down at the dragon, matching his gaze with one of his own. Eric's vision had turned red long ago; his eyes slowly closed as he blinked. The black-scaled dragon suddenly appeared in the air in front of him, kilometers away from him.
Eric's heart palpitated at this immense speed of the dragon.
"So speed is one of its strengths..." Eric thought, feeling quite troublesome, he was not someone who excels in speed, countering the attacks of the dragon would be difficult, especially if it decided to attack suddenly or stealthily.
Eric was like an ant in front of an elephant, small, weak, and insignificant, but he didn't fear or lament. He stood still in the air, his gaze never leaving the Misfortune dragon's.
Eric could see through his Abyssal Eyes that the dragon's soul was completely black with a white worm in the middle that was beating rapidly.
"So that is its heart."
The dragon kept Eric's gaze, not backing down. It suddenly raised its huge, sharp claws and clawed at the air, causing huge currents to appear, which soon disappeared.
Eric, Adrian, and the Angel Spirit were completely unharmed; not a single scratch appeared on their bodies, but just then, their hearts seemed to have stopped as they felt an intense premonition.
The Angel Spirit was the one who felt this premonition most intensely.
It immediately looked down at Adrian, who was flying under his right two wings. He activated several charms in his Domain of Emotions, which activated a certain technique, allowing it to observe the luck of others, except itself.
Immediately, its vision was filled with a huge pillar of violet color, and its eyes widened as it looked at the luck of Adrian.
"Such a magnificent luck." Such a huge luck for a Nova was almost unheard of; even in its hundreds of years of existence, it had never seen such luck.
It squinted its eyes as he looked up. Within the violet pillar, a dark purple city could be seen, and above that city sat an old man who was meditating with his legs crossed and eyes closed. The Angel Spirit's eyes bled with golden blood the more he observed.
A thin gray strand of string of fate connected this old man and the city as this strand then coils around the entire pillar of luck.
Adrian's luck was grand and raging, but just then, three huge claw marks appeared that dented the pillar of luck and started to spread corruption around it, dissolving the string of fate.
Eric looked back as he also understood what the dragon had done; he had long known its ability was connected to misfortune the moment he saw the five teeth in each of its jaws.
"Not good!" The Angel Spirit saw the dragon clench its other jaw and slash the empty air around it again. A golden light came out of its body and shot itself towards the dragon, but the will appeared from a space rift as it blocked the attack with a wave of corruption before escaping and entering the space rift again.
The Angel Spirit looked at Eric and observed his luck. His luck was a pink pillar of luck; it was much smaller and grander than Adrian's, but it was much more appealing and concentrated, having a peculiar shine to it. Just above Eric, who was in the middle of the pillar, was a purple sun that was radiating its shine continuously on Eric, making him always calm. There was a silver cross's imprint above the purple sun.
However, before he could observe more, five claw marks appeared as they started to corrupt his luck too.
"Hmm...?" Just then, the Angel Spirit's gaze was attracted beneath Eric, where there was a deep black and pink fog; within it, the vague figure of a man could be seen. The Angel Spirit's eyes suddenly popped as blood splattered around, blinding him temporarily.
Eric immediately understood that there was no time for probing. He looked back at the dragon, and the dragon took a deep breath, clearly tired. It roared and charged forward with immense speed.
Eric also didn't back down.
Repulsion Charge!
Repulsion Charge!
Repulsion Charge!
Infinite Repulsion!
Infinite Repulsion!
Infinite Repulsion!
The ant and the dragon collided in less than a breath.
Just before impact, their eyes locked — Eric's blood-red gaze burning with unyielding will against the dragon's cold, abyssal stare. For a fraction of a second, time seemed to freeze between them.
Then they crashed.
The collision was cataclysmic. The winds around them detonated outward in an explosion, sending shockwaves that tore fresh cracks across the entire layer. The impact shook the sky itself.
Eric roared as he drove his fingers into the dragon's thick, scaled chest, piercing through muscle and bone. With a savage surge of power, he dragged the massive creature across the ground, carving a trench for millions of square kilometers. Mountains crumbled, and forests were obliterated in their path.
"So your defense and offense aren't as strong as they look!" Eric screamed.
He coated his right arm in Aura and unleashed a barrage of punches directly into the dragon's chest, each strike fueled by every ounce of his remaining strength and willpower. Pain exploded through his arms as bones shattered with every impact. He gritted his teeth and kept punching, refusing to waste even the smallest chance to damage the beast.
They were hurtling toward the ravaged ocean when the dragon suddenly vanished from his grip using its overwhelming speed. It reappeared an instant later and delivered a crushing charge that sent Eric flying like a broken doll.
He vomited a thick mouthful of blood mid-air. The edges of his already red vision began turning blue.
"The central land is no good anymore," Eric realized. He looked up at the massive, cracked black moon hanging in the sky. "Luckily…"
Before he could finish the thought, dark blades shot toward him from a spatial rift. The Angel Spirit appeared in a flash of golden light, blocking the attack for him.
Golden strings of holy Aura shot out from the Angel Spirit, piercing into the closing space rift and forcing it open. It began searching for the hidden Will, drawing out the Pseudo-Hypernova Beast and the remaining Void Shadow Beasts into a fierce new battle.
Another brutal fight erupted right in front of Eric.
Eric seized the moment and charged upward.
The dragon vanished instantly, leaving only an afterimage on the ground as it pursued him with terrifying speed.
Eric pushed with everything he had, but he couldn't maneuver easily. The dragon's speed was overwhelming. It reappeared behind him like a silent shadow and slammed its massive head into his back.
The impact launched him like a cannonball.
Eric crashed into the moon's surface with bone-shattering force. A sickening crunch echoed through his body as several vertebrae snapped. For a brief, terrifying moment, his mind went completely blank — unable to form a single thought. Only pure instinct allowed him to activate Gravitational Reconstruction before he blacked out.
A heavy black rock slammed into the ground beside his face. Eric slowly opened his eyes, vision swimming in darkness. A massive black shadow was already rushing toward him. The corruption spread further, turning his right eye half-blind as burning pain tore through his nerves.
"The gravity is stronger here…"
A small spark of hope ignited within him. Stronger gravity meant his attacks would hit harder, too.
Gritting his teeth, Eric forced his trembling body to move. He looked to his right and unleashed Repulsion Charge, launching himself out of the crater just as the dragon descended like a meteor, carving a deep fissure across the entire moon.
Eric slowly rose to his feet, his body broken far beyond what any normal person could endure. Blood dripped from his mouth and eyes, yet his gaze never lost its fierce shine as he took a determined step forward.
...
The Angel Spirit was flying around as it waved its wings, trying to avoid the pincer attack of the will and the pseudo-Hypernova Beast.
It had realized that being with Adrian had also started to corrupt its own luck, too. His techniques started to have more failures, as many of them failed, giving him massive backlash and having to endure attacks from all sides. He was using all his might to make sure that Adrian was safe, but some thoughts were inevitable to come to his mind.
"Should I let this boy go?" It shook its head; it wasn't an option. Maybe before he would have done it, but now that he had witnessed his luck, he was sure that this boy wasn't as simple as he looked.
A beam of black light suddenly erupted from beneath him as it dodged and charged down, but the beam scattered down in multiple random directions and hit a Void Shadow Beast, making it explode and hit the Angel Spirit.
This wasn't the first time that such an unlucky encounter had happened. In fact, it was just the start.
The more the corruption on their luck spreads, the more misfortune they will experience, and the more disadvantageous their situation will become.
It would be like sinking into a pot of quicksand.
However, the situation was completely unexpected. No one could have told that the will had such a technique with it. The Angel Spirit had charms related to the Luck sub-pathway, but they could barely be used for investigation; there was nothing he could do.
"I hope the Church connects soon." It was not an exaggeration to say that the church was their only hope left.
It used its investigation technique, and many failures occurred as its body started to have internal bleeding and get hit by the beasts around it before finally being able to activate the technique successfully as Eric appeared in its vision.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Intense explosions took place as the surface of the black moon was being ravaged by the flickering figures of the misfortune dragon and Eric.
Both were disappearing after every second before reappearing somewhere else. Eric charged through the entire place, but wherever he went, the dragon followed.
Eric studied the patterns of the dragon and anticipated its next position.
He took out a few quirks which he had prepared and placed them there secretly, before moving on a way so that it would step on these quirks and get damaged.
The plan worked as intended.
The misfortune dragon was definitely a terrifying beast, almost on the level of the pseudo-Hypernova Beast, but in the end, it was just a beast, its main power being misfortune and speed, both of which can't directly damage Eric.
However, Eric can't be careless; there was also the Will, who could attack at any time.
Blood constantly dripped down from his seven orifices as he fought; his body was being held together by only Gravitational Reconstruction, making it function past its limit. Making Eric always be on his guard.
It noticed that Eric was taking out the destroyed charms and throwing these fragments down on the ground every time he moved.
"Is he..." A thought appeared in the Angel Spirit's mind, but he simply couldn't divide his concentration to think about it as he got pincered by an ever-shifting crocodile Shadow Beast.
The Angel Spirit saw the desperate situation it and Eric were in, and the church could barely connect. They will die before the church is very able to connect at this rate!
"I can only do this now." The Angel Spirit saw the situation worsening. It gritted its teeth to the point of almost breaking, then as it started to activate a technique, every single second of its process consumed his lifespan as the golden light around it dimmed. Its lifespan was being consumed rapidly as it grew weaker and weaker. Adrian looked up at the Angel spirit's weakening condition, and his heartbeat started to quicken.
It looked warmly at Adrian, saying with a gentle smile. "Do not be afraid."
Adrian bit the left end of his lips, causing blood to flow down.
...
Eric's constant traps had slowly accumulated, causing black blood to ooze out of many of its body parts. Its left wing had been damaged by Eric, making its speed slower than before, but it had also cost Eric the functioning of his entire right arm and the vision of his right eye, making him half-blind.
Eric tried to take a step further, but he almost fell as his left leg buckled.
The dragon was standing on its spot, panting and bleeding, but Eric had also been going through intense fights all this time and was in a worse situation.
At this moment, a torrential charge of black liquid appeared, carrying the will on top of it.
A small smile appeared on Eric's face as he whispered, "You're too late."
The Will had already sensed what Eric was planning and tried to use the Abyssal Seal to stop him.
"Finally!" The Angel Spirit, who had been rapidly burning through its lifespan, smiled for the first time in a long while as a batch of new charms arrived from the Church.
"I wish we had time to replenish our own charms… but these will have to do."
It quickly activated a simple technique, turning into a streak of golden light that shot toward the Will. The Will was forced to redirect its attention, while the Pseudo-Hypernova Beast emerged to block another golden beam, sustaining heavy damage in the process.
Void Shadow Creatures poured out of spatial rifts, charging at Eric. Adrian, standing protected beneath the Angel Spirit's wings, pointed forward with fierce concentration. He poured everything he had into his right index finger and unleashed a barrage of Destruction Aura needles like a storm of spears.
The attack drained nearly all of his Aura. His vision blurred, but he didn't stop.
"You did a great job," the Angel Spirit praised warmly, genuinely pleased with Adrian's growth.
Most of the Nova-level Void Shadow Beasts were pierced and destroyed. Even the stronger ones were injured. The explosions from the needles created chaos, buying precious time.
Eric smiled at the sight. He didn't waste the opportunity.
The dragon tried to move, but the broken pieces of charms Eric had scattered across the battlefield suddenly glowed with pink, golden, and white light.
"This is… a formation?" Adrian muttered in awe.
The Will's abyssal eyes flickered with interest. "Able to use destroyed charms as components… So you are also a genius in the Formation Pathway."
The formation activated in a brilliant surge of light. The Misfortune Dragon was immobilized, thrashing wildly like a fish caught in a net. Eric poured every last ounce of his remaining Meditation Aura and willpower into maintaining it. A pool of blood formed beneath his feet.
His right hand trembled violently as he raised it.
Gravity Press!
He unleashed the strongest version he could manage, amplified by the formation. Immense pressure crushed down on the dragon's chest. Cracks spread across the black moon as massive chunks began floating in the sky.
With a final, desperate surge, Eric focused all the pressure onto the dragon's core — piercing straight through the white worm-like heart.
The dragon let out one last roar before its eyes lost their light. Its massive body crashed down, lifeless.
The black moon fractured into enormous floating pieces. Eric stood on the largest chunk, blood pouring from his body. He slowly turned to observe the other battle.
Adrian was improving with every second. His movements were sharper, his eyes no longer filled with fear but with growing resolve. He weaved between beasts, forcing them to crash into each other while constantly refining his Aura control.
Eric couldn't help but smile faintly.
But the moment he tried to take a step, his legs gave out. He collapsed onto the cold black surface of the moon, coughing up mouthfuls of blood.
It was clear — his life was most likely going to end here.
The Pseudo-Hypernova Beast recovered and charged toward him. The Angel Spirit desperately created a golden shield around Eric, but it cracked violently under the beast's relentless assault.
Eric weakly lifted his head. His eyes still burned with the same unyielding light. The beast's punches gradually slowed. Its body trembled as it stared at Eric, its fury replaced by hesitation.
The shield finally shattered under the combined attack of the Void Shadow Beasts.
Yet none of them moved forward to deliver the killing blow. They simply circled him, growling.
Eric stood tall despite being on the verge of death. Even when death seemed inevitable, even when all odds were against him, he took one more step forward.
If he was going to die, he would do so only after taking every last step he could.
Just then, the sky above exploded with brilliant light. The green Free Dimensional Space opened at the edge of the layer.
"The reinforcements are here!" the Angel Spirit cried out in joy.