Jackal Among Snakes - Chapter 585

Argrave. Bastard of King Felipe III, King of Vasquer, de facto leader of the Blackgard Union, and now Grand Commandant of the Great Chu, come seeking the head of two ancient gods. Over two years ago, he had come before Erlebnis seeking a blessing.

If Erlebnis had known what that young man could become, all of this could have been avoided.

Argrave had been a mere blip in an eventful day—a curious deal, giving Erlebnis vengeance in return for power. The death of a vampire lord, the retrieval of an ancient artifact... both were things that Argrave had no right to know, but Erlebnis was too absorbed in the satisfaction of having a grudge settled to thoroughly examine this bearer of good news. Perhaps he should have seized him based on what knowledge he offered. Perhaps he should’ve known... but then, that was the problem.

How could Erlebnis have known what Argrave could become in the future?

Knowledge of the past was Erlebnis’ expertise. But his entire existence for millennia had been seeking ways to glimpse beyond the past and the present. He’d tried to capture Hause for that reason. Perhaps if he had broken the Smiling Raven’s orb prison sooner, he would not be dwelling inside this fortress, waiting for Law to come and do battle.

But then, Law was not the issue. It was Argrave—it had always been Argrave.

Argrave had rebuffed Erlebnis in the far north, refusing to ally with him. Argrave had come to him in the Bloodwoods, refusing him even as he used a heavier hand. Argrave tried to shatter all the carefully crafted alliances he’d made—and very nearly succeeded. And while Erlebnis licked his wounds, carefully tending to his household... Argrave had again come knocking, ruining a vault containing the effort of millennia.

Argrave used others as cudgels, but he alone stood at the root of it all. Even now, through his emissaries’ eyes, Erlebnis witnessed the King of Vasquer coming once again to take, to rob, as if it were his birthright. He approached the Palace of Heaven with all the allies he’d accrued, cautious confidence writ on his face even now. Erlebnis knew that Argrave would make it past the Stormfield—he had made it this far up the mountain, after all. His own emissaries, too, possessed expertise insufficient to hurt them. Anneliese alone was their match, with that A-rank ascension of hers. The walls of the Palace of Heaven, too—Erlebnis did not know how the king would breach them, but he put nothing past Argrave. If his vault could be breached, what was a mortal fortress?

Erlebnis felt clarity, felt inspiration, that he hadn’t since he was a mortal. He felt this inspiration permeate the whole of his form. He acted without thinking, without drawing upon the vast archives of knowledge stored within his realm and his person, without calculating every move. He had calculated thus far, and now his head rested beneath a guillotine, waiting, encased in stone built by mortal men while Kirel Qircassia watched on high.

Erlebnis grasped the life of each of his emissaries and cut their strings. All of them—tens of thousands scattered around the whole world, yet concentrated densely in the Great Chu, died all at once, their power dissipating and returning to him in moments. Erlebnis grasped at his divine realm, where the Lodestars roamed, and crushed it.

Knowledge, all the way to the dawn of recorded time, collapsed to nothingness in moments. What few artifacts, collections, things, that Argrave hadn’t plundered imploded into nothingness alongside that. The good work carried out since his awakening as Erlebnis all died. Nothing remained of it, barring his name. Stupid? Brutish? Reckless? Nothing else had worked. No machination resisted Argrave for long. Erlebnis could only cast it all away. Knowledge, after all, existed inside Erlebnis—he needed no record.

There was one thing remaining that Erlebnis could not destroy. Though consigned to the Annals of the Universe, locked within the vaults, it was part of him. The Keeper, he called it. The ‘he’ that used to be. The man that used to walk. That which led him to ascend beyond humanity, and take his place in the heavens.

Erlebnis’ limitless perception narrowed, condensed, until it focused on one man. It was an old man, with sharp golden eyes, graying hair, a long beard, and a taste for black clothes. It was himself—the ‘he’ that once was, the man whose relentless search for knowledge had led him to embody it as one of the divine.

“I am your opponent,” Law declared unilaterally.

His blade swung down ferociously. Erlebnis raised his hand, mixing his divine power with magic. A great claw of red liquid metal erupted out, seizing the falling sword and fixing it in place.

“Hell you are,” Erlebnis snarled.

Then, with his power so tightly condensed, Erlebnis completely overpowered Law. He forced his blend of magic and divinity to rage against the ancient’s might, and his attack threw the blade—and much of Law’s power—backward. In the resulting opening, Erlebnis shot forth a torrent of wind, and it struck the heart of Law’s being. The ancient deity was blasted back, and his Justiciars rushed to take their creator’s place.

Erlebnis raised his hand, casting one of the oldest S-rank spells in the world—[Smite]. One huge pillar of fire descended upon the Justiciars, and when they faded, there was nothing remaining but a clear path to Argrave. Erlebnis rushed forth as Law recovered, single-mindedly hunting the King of Vasquer. He gathered power in his hands, ready to bisect the king with one attack.

The Alchemist, the gullible Raven, burst free of a stone dangling from Argrave’s neck. When Erlebnis loosed his spell—a single blade of wind—thousands of hands appeared on Raven’s misshapen body. They cast wards, one and all, but each crumpled before Erlebnis’ power. The Alchemist braced and morphed his body defensively, yet the magic cut him in half all the same. His torso flew skyward, barely clinging to life, while his legs fell to the ground uselessly. Erlebnis ignored all, pressing toward his nemesis.

Argrave’s blood echoes harried Erlebnis using [Burst], but B-rank blood magic, even that enhanced by black blood, could not even faze the single-minded rush of an ancient god. Law stabbed his sword down upon Erlebnis, his golden form nearly fully materialized, but the god of knowledge thrust a huge amount of his own power upward to delay the blow and rushed underneath it.

Argrave backstepped, panic on his face. Orion stepped forth, thrusting a bident at Erlebnis. He swatted it aside and disarmed him, then called upon all of power to crush Argrave’s brother. He was looking forward to the look on Argrave’s face, but Orion teleported away. Erlebnis remembered that weapon, then—Admiral Tan Shu’s bident. Its wielder could teleport wherever it flew. Erlebnis barely dwelled on it, resuming his hunt for Argrave.

“Use [Echo Step]!” Erlebnis raved as he neared. “Leave Anneliese behind! Watch me crush her skull!”

Governor Zen, his stolen champion Onychinusa, and Anneliese all cast an S-rank spell, and a trio of elements roared against Erlebnis’ approach while countless of the best spellcasters in the world contributed with attacks from above. In response, Erlebnis used a spell he had managed to reverse-engineer. His emissaries couldn’t use it... but he could.

Erlebnis used [Requite], turning all of his enemy’s spells against them.

Those that had spirits locked inside their body resisted the effects of the shamanic magic, but Erlebnis had burnt away his own divinity to cast this magic. Its power was such that all spells seemed to freeze in the air, combatting for ownership. He used this window of opportunity to hurtle forth, tremendous power gathered at hand.

Erlebnis saw Argrave’s face, briefly reveled in its terror, and then swung all of his power with the intent to end this bastard.ReAd latest chapters at n0v(e)lbin.co/m Only