Rise Of The Infinite Sovereign-Chapter 458: Heart of Perdition

"Persistent little bastard," Ezra growls.

He glances at the unstable terrain, an idea forming instantly.

Ezra targets the larger crystal formations, striking them with energy-infused blows.

Intact crystals to heal and maneuver most efficiently, so Ezra had to whittle down its advantages as much as possible.

Each hit shatters the structures into smaller fragments, further destabilizing the chamber.

The ground beneath his feet trembles violently, but he presses on, ignoring the ever-present risk of being buried alive.

The snake reappears, its heads darting out from two different directions.

It attacks with renewed aggression, one head snapping at his legs while the other aimed for his torso.

Ezra spun his scythe in a tight arc, deflecting the first attack and narrowly evading the second.

He counters with a quick thrust, striking one of the heads squarely in its glowing eye.

The creature recoils, its screeching vibrations causing nearby crystals to crack and crumble.

Ezra doesn’t let up, pressing the advantage as he unleashes a flurry of strikes.

Each hit chipped away at its defenses, leaving the once-pristine scales marred with fractures and scorch marks.

But the chamber’s collapse was accelerating.

The exit was now partially blocked by falling debris, and the ground beneath Ezra’s feet was starting to give way.

He had minutes, maybe seconds, to finish this.

’Tch’ Ezra is visibly frustrated because he is forced to seek an exit even though he has the advantage because of the collapsing environment...

...!

Ezra makes a realization and without a second to waste, he throws himself towards the snake.

The moment his hand touches the snake’s skin, Ezra activates <Gatekeeper>, warping both of them into the sovereign universe.

—--------

Appearing in the expanse of floating, Ezra makes a wide grin.

On the other hand, the snake is utterly befuddled by the sudden change in environment.

What is this place? Why was it currently floating upside down?

Before it could process any of this, Ezra struck, a downward swing saw Skyfall make a deep gash into its body.

Going for the rebound strike to finish it off, the snake defies expectations and disassembles into energy particles, surprising Ezra.

’It can shift into this form without crystals?’

The snake reassembles into its physical form.

Here, Ezra notes that the deep injury he had inflicted had not healed, suggesting it had to travel within crystals to heal.

If Ezra was confident before, now he was certain he could kill the snake.

’But it’s not going to easy’

Yet, he has no choice but to acknowledge the difficulty of the task.

Even without travelling through crystal, the snake has a high healing factor, which is showcased with the deep gash subtly healing.

Ezra Ezra’s it’s complete healing within one minute at most.

Beyond that, you had the issue of endurance.

With how much they’ve fought, the snake didn’t seem to lose out to him in stamina.

Right now, Ezra estimates that it probably had more stamina than he did.

All in all, it would be better to fight this snake only after recovering to his peak state.

Especially more so because he is still in the middle of an expedition and this creature could very well be the weakest gatekeeper compared to the others he was briefed on.

It wouldn’t be a good choice to waste much time against it.

’Ouch’

Ezra chuckles, the realization stung his pride a bit.

But considering this secret realm had taken the lives of a thousand others at his power level and even higher, the difficulty scale only makes sense.

Moreover, with the trapped within the sovereign universe, Ezra now has ample time to deal with it whenever he feels convenient.

This catalogue of thoughts are processed and assimilated within half a minute.

Concluding his decision, familiar voices pop into his head.

[Ezra. I see you’ve been busy]

One of them being the familiar tone of Zydrax, and the other...

<Ezra. What is that creature?>

Is Viprus, the ever-forgettable universe core in charge of overseeing the arrangement of planets, balancing planetary ecosystems and just the overall secretary in charge of keeping the universe in great shape.

About to speak, Ezra swipes to the side, dodging a beam fired from the snake’s mouth.

Ezra’s annoyance peaks at this rude interruption, kick-starting his brain into remembering that he has an ability called <Universal concealment>

Vanishing, Ezra flies to sides building momentum before making a u turn to reach the snake from behind.

Gathering his energy, Ezra funnels it into Skyfall, encasing in a bright glow which he himself is encased in lightning to boost his speed.

Releasing his concealment right as Skyfall reaches the snake’s neck...

*Slash!*

Ezra proceeds to behead the snake with one strike.

"What?!"

....At least that is what he had hoped to achieve.

The snake is intelligent enough to recognize the skill after having seen it before.

With its instincts on edge, it had prepared and immediately initiated transformation to its energy state the moment Ezra revealed itself.

While this didn’t save it from having its neck cut through, as Ezra’s momentum was no joke, the transformation helped it narrowly escape death.

To this, Ezra simply stares at it with a menacing glare while his chest heaves from the overexertion.

Infusing energy into both Skyfall and himself while under concealment almost tripled the energy cost, leaving Ezra drained.

Therefore, he couldn’t retry that attack even if he wanted to.

Tsk! Ezra clicks his tongue, still heaving.

’How frustrating’

The majority of his energy lay spent and he still hadn’t managed to take down his opponent.

Naturally, Ezra feels bitter.

But it seems the sprite had learned its lesson and actively ran in the opposite direction from Ezra, nevermind glaring at him.

Here, Zydrax casually interjects.

[What have you been doing? Where did you find a crystal sprite?]

Ezra takes a deep breath, his body burning with exhaustion as he watches the crystal sprite retreat.

Though it wasn’t like it could hide from him.

Without replying, Ezra reappears back in the crystal enclave, and is unsurprised, though annoyed to have his expectations met.

He found himself buried in the debris of broken crystals.

"Damn it" Ezra mutters, this is exactly what he had wanted to avoid.

Obviously, the cave had collapsed, and most probably, the exit now lay blocked.

’Whatever’ Ezra thought, ’I have to get out of here first’

With the cave already collapsed, sorting to brute force to plow through the crystals doesn’t seem to be a good idea, so Ezra resorts to manual labour.

As he begins shuffling the debris away, something comes to mind.

’Zydrax, you were saying something before?’

[You weren’t even listening huh. Anyways, this seems like a secret realm....] Zydrax pauses. [Something’s wrong]

Surprise flashes across Ezra’s gaze. ’Its begun to collapse’

[What? Who’s idea was it to enter a collapsing realm?]

At the moment in time, another voice resounds.

<A collapsing realm?>

’Viprus. You were here?’

<Yes>

Busy digging himself out of rubble, Ezra leaves Zydrax to bring Viprus up to speed.

Amplifying his physical abilities with energy, Ezra rises out of the debris two minutes later.

Looking around, Ezra sees a radiant light in the distance.

Unlike he expected, the entrance looked untouched and still open to access so long he could reach it.

Taking the rest of his body out of the debris and moving towards that direction, Ezra picks up faint whispers.

Concentrating, he leans in to hear better.

"...Release...us..."

"...Help...us..."

"....Set...us.....free..."

Ezra identifies it to be the pitch black crystal laced with crimson light from before.

But unlike before where he was tense and cautious, now he had the leeway to dine in curiosity.

Other than curiosity, Ezra felt his gut nag at him to do a double take on that crystal.

"Where is that thing anyway?" he mutters.

The voices were soft yet chilling, carrying a desperation that sent shivers down his spine.

"Release us... please..."

The voices grew clearer as Ezra edged closer to the source.

The radiant light at the far end of the chamber pulsed faintly, like a beacon calling to him.

It wasn’t the exit—that much he could tell.

The whispers weren’t emanating from the glowing entrance but from something buried deeper within the wreckage.

Curiosity and intrigue mix with irritation and unease within Ezra as he narrows down the crystal’s location.

With the cave collapsed, most of it is filled with crystal debris, so Ezra had to crawl over these stacks of crystals to move around.

Ezra’s steps slowed as he neared the source of the eerie whispers, his instincts screaming both caution and curiosity.

Clearing the debris, Ezra reveals the pitch black crystal displaced from its pedestal—which is nowhere to be seen.

The crystal crimson’s light pulses faintly, as though alive, each beat coinciding with the pleading voices.

"Set us free... please..."

The tone shifts to something almost plaintive, as if the voices were clawing at the edges of desperation and hope.

Ezra lies beside the crystal, brushing aside smaller shards of debris to uncover more of its surface.

The light within it flickering in measured paces.

"Is this thing alive?" Ezra muttered to himself, narrowing his eyes.

<Unlikely> Viprus chimes in, its voice steady as always.

<But it is possible this crystal is acting as a container or conduit for something... sentient.>

"A container?" Ezra’s brows furrowed. "Then what’s inside?"

[Souls. Most probably] Zydrax casually explained.

"Souls?!" Ezra is evidently startled. "Who do you think created such a thing?"

[Judging from the faded runes, a mage of some sort]

Ezra goes silent, his expression hardening. "There’s was no mage in the debrief"

He places his hand on the crystal’s surface, feeling the energy ripple through his fingertips.

The moment he makes contact, the whispers cease.

Instead, a single, chilling voice echoes in his mind.

"Who dares touch the Heart of Perdition?"