Chapter 368 Beatdown
"Impossible! Impossible!!" Etz Chaim cried out, not believing her eyes.
Luka was also surprised, and his expression became serious. "Dante, you were right. Lara is currently nothing like what we knew before. The old her would have never run from her enemy even if it would kill her."
"The madness in her has had too much time to fester and evolve," Dante commented with narrowed eyes.
Luka stretched out a hand and clawed at the void towards Lara. Lara, who was booking it desperately, suddenly screamed in agony as the floating balls of elements were stripped from her like the way one would rip off plaster.
The elements then converged into Luka's hands, spinning around his palm obediently.
"When I fought you as a mortal all those years ago, you used these very same authorities to beat down Cardea until she almost died. Then you even used them against me, but I still prevailed and came out on top."
Luka casually flicked the elements into Etz Chaim's true body, causing her avatar to yelp with surprise as her aura surged crazily.
"Now, without your authorities that you abused to slaughter and torture millions of beings you considered lower than yourself, I wonder how you will fare?" Luka remarked as he folded his arms, having no intention of fighting directly.
He had already beaten her once and completed his story. Now, she would be the perfect stepping stone for his new ally and friend to hone his power to the level needed for him to participate in bigger conflicts.
Dante waved a hand and created a portal beside him. From the portal came Beatrice in her usual conservative dressing that was quite refreshing.
"Hello, nice to meet you," Beatrice greeted Luka with a handshake.
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇt"Hello, the feeling is mutual," Luka casually greeted back.
Beatrice then approached Dante's side and smiled lovingly. "Do you need my help?"
Dante smiled. "Of course, I do, in anything and everything. I want to do it with you and only you."
Beatrice nodded and glared at Lara, who was flagging as she still tried to escape toward the Universe Battlefield that floated in the void.
Beatrice's eyes narrowed as she murmured. "What is she trying to do?"
Dante smiled. "Probably activate a failsafe she left behind when she created it in order to turn the tables."
"Hahaha! You foolish cretins! You have no idea the mistake you've made by going against me! Suffer and die!" Lara screamed crazily as she immediately stretched a hand out toward the bubble containing the Universe Battlefield within.
Immediately, the gigantic plane burst like a bubble, turning into energy that surged into Lara's body wantonly. She continued to laugh victoriously as the energy fed her power, causing her aura to skyrocket beyond its previous levels.
The entire plane that housed hundreds of life forms who either lived there or were fighting for the benefits of their home universe were extinguished immediately, becoming fodder for Lara to stand equal to her opposition.
"Haaaa... I may have lost those authorities, but I am still the strongest Eternal there is! A mere cretin like you cannot defeat me!" Lara stated as she basked in the power that surged through her.
"No, you were the strongest Eternal only because of those authorities. You never spent a day in your life cultivating your Eternal Talent as a forest fairy, so don't pretend," Luka shut her down casually.
Lara's expression became ugly, but she refused to look at or acknowledge Luka because she knew that there was no way for her to contend with him. Rather, she set her sights on Beatrice and Dante, what she considered two soft persimmons she could pinch to sate the hatred in her heart.
Beatrice grinned widely and knocked her fists together. "I have long wanted to beat some sense into your skull. Because of your stupid plans, my husband has had to spend so much time away from me dealing with your mess. I will make sure you pay for every second that he spent stressing over your troubles!"
Without giving Lara a chance to respond, Beatrice charged forth beyond light speed, her single step almost teleporting her beside Lara. With a soft grunt, she unleashed a powerful right hook infused with her potent Eternal Talent of Physical Power.
Lara simply sneered and caught Beatrice's fist easily, offsetting the damage as her palm glowed with a greenish light of her own Eternal Talent as a Forest Fairy. She pulled Beatrice closer and spoke cruelly.
"Is this all you have, wretched female dog? If so, this won't even be a warm-up!"
Lara pushed Beatrice back and waved a hand, instantly unleashing a wave of potent natural energy that knocked Beatrice backward. Beatrice blocked the attack and grinned slightly as her entire body glowed with the same green light, but even stronger.
"Hah, I'm not the one suped up on borrowed power from so-
called lower life forms! And yet, I will still beat your ass!" Beatrice declared as she pushed her palms forward, releasing the same attack that Lara did but almost twice as powerful.
"Huh?!" Lara was stunned by this reversal and reacted slightly late, releasing increased energy to offset the attack.
Just as she nullified it, Beatrice appeared before her and launched a charged punch right into Lara's abdomen. There was no air or atmosphere in this void, but the sheer force of the blow caused the entirety of space within the nearest hundred light years to quake furiously.
Lara yelped in agony as she hunched over, vomiting out the gastric juice that was in her stomach up until this point. She knelt in the void while clutching her abdomen, her eyes wide and bloodshot from the fear and pain she was experiencing.
Before she could gather herself, her hair was pulled up roughly as Beatrice brought her face to her level.
"You stupid cunt, you're just a jealous and crazy bitch in the end. Dante and Luka might not be willing to dirty their hands on you, but ohhh boy, I love dealing with people like you the most," Beatrice said with a cruel voice.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmImmediately, she socked Lara in the jaw using her eternal power, causing the woman to spit out blood and some teeth, but did not stop there. Clutching her hair like this, Beatrice continued to rhythmically punch Lara's face with all her force, causing blood and teeth to fly.
"Leth…Gho…Ouf… Mhe!!!" Lara shouted as she exploded with the energy she had left, knocking Beatrice backward and giving her enough respite to create distance.
Panting with a swollen and ruined face, Lara emitted a green light of natural healing to restore her face, but that only partially healed her since it clashed with the remnants of Beatrice's own Eternal energy.
Lara glared at Beatrice with anger, having never been humiliated like this, even by Luka.
"Awww, is the evil bitch angry? How scary!" Beatrice mocked with her arms akimbo.
"Hahaha, to think, this is just the effect of me beating your ass. If my husband joined in, wouldn't you crumble into dust?" Beatrice laughed uproariously, clearly enjoying herself thoroughly.
Lara paled and clenched her fists. "This shouldn't be happening. I am the strongest Eternal, the first being created! Not only that, but I absorbed the special energy I hid in that Universe Battlefield."
Lara's eyes became even redder. "I should be wiping the floor with you! I can't stand losing like this!"
A soft cough stole her attention as Dante floated over to stand beside Beatrice. "I can help clear your confusion. You see, as I have told you about a hundred times now, I predicted your escape. Following that, a quick discussion with Luka led to us deducing that you might have left some failsafes to bank on, and the Zero and First gates were the things you created after all."
"Once I acquired the authority, the first thing I did was methodically scour the two implements, but I found nothing. However, as Etz Chaim revealed, you possess a small amount of my current authority, about 1% of it, which was allowed you to even redeem the Universe Battlefield right now."
"So rather than look for what was there, I looked for what wasn't. That's when I found the core of the Universe Battlefield held a secret compartment of energy stolen directly from Origo. If you had absorbed that energy, none but Luka could have dealt with you, so… I simply swapped it out." Dante finished with a shrug.
Lara's expression fell drastically. "You did what?!"
"You heard him, he swapped it out. You didn't absorb energy from that Origo place, what you absorbed is Dante's own energy. The entire time, you've been using my husband's own energy to fight me," Beatrice answered with a smile.
"Hahaha, how does it feel to have Dante inside you? I can tell you from experience that it feels great, hahaha!" Beatrice couldn't stop laughing, her words piercing Lara like spears.
Lara gripped her hair and pulled some of it out as her entire body quivered, and her bloodshot eyes began to leak tears of blood.
"ARRRRGHHH!! I'LL KILL YOU ALL!"