The Primal Hunter

The aura of the Malefic Viper grew to new heights as he assumed his full dragon form. Yip took a few steps back, assessing the situation as the Viper finished his transformation from a small regular-sized humanoid into a nearly hundred-meter-long dragon. The injuries he’d suffered during the fight prior were mostly healed upon transformation as Vilastromoz’s vibe changed entirely.

Spreading his wings, space shook, and Yip raised his blade, ready to defend. Just in time, too, as magic gathered, filling the sky with orbs of malefic energy, which were promptly sent flying toward Yip of Yore.

He dodged and blocked most, using his concept to nullify whatever damage he did take. With his seeming immunity to poisons, the Viper changed things up and focused solely on doing damage using more regular means... regular means in his book, that is.

The malefic affinity wasn’t solely one of poison. It was one of corruption. While Yip could certainly raise his resistance to poison, he couldn’t resist corruption, for corruption didn’t have one unifying concept.

To the Malefic Viper, corruption was merely another word for transmutation, albeit an a bit more extreme variant. To corrupt something was to change it somehow, often for the worse, at least from the perspective of the changed entity. It was change without care about stability, forced upon the entity it was used on.

The most common form of corruption the Viper used was in the form of poisons. Poisons were energy that systematically wanted to cause harm, as that was what it was programmed to do. In many ways, corruption and poison were one and the same in many instances, but corruption had a far wider scope.

Another form of common corruption was desolation. Perhaps, to some, this was the ultimate expression of something being corrupted. To be emptied entirely of energy, making it hollow and unable to house anything ever again if made desolate for too long.

The malefic affinity was a fusion of all these concepts and more. It was a pinnacle-tier affinity primarily due to its extreme level of complexity, but that complexity also gave it many use cases. It could be applied in more places and more situations... and Yip was far from fully comprehending its true scope.

However, rather than nullify the third blow, he was struck head-on, his eyes opening wide in genuine surprise. Even more so when a massive fang of pure magic descended from above, slamming into him and pinning him to the Great Planet below as a crater on an astronomical scale formed.

Not letting up, the Viper attacked again, but Yip managed to dodge as he teleported away, still leaving him with a giant hole straight through his chest that was quickly healing. It didn’t heal as fast as the god probably expected, though.

He glanced at the Viper with confusion, but all he got as an answer was another barrage of attacks that didn’t act how Yip expected them to, putting him on the back foot. Not losing his momentum at all, the Viper upped the pressure, truly unleashing every shred of power available to him.

By now, they’d well and truly surpassed a level even the Boundless Hydra could keep up with. It was a battle where Godkings would find themselves instantly killed, and the damage to their surroundings reached a new high.

If they hadn’t been battling on a Great Planet, there wouldn’t be anything left anywhere around them in a vast radius. Galaxies would have crumbled, planets would be nothing but invisible cosmic dust, and all the stars would have been blown out like candles in a hurricane.

What’s more, due to the Viper being part of the fight, this damage would have left the entire area dead and barren for eras to come, if not permanently. If Yip of Yore hadn’t used a Void Sphere at the pinnacle tier, it wouldn’t have been able to hold up either, and the temporary dimension would have shattered, sending them both back to the real world.

Luckily, none of that happened, even as the Viper launched attack after attack toward the struggling Yip of Yore, who was trying to constantly adapt in vain. His confusion soon began to turn to realization after he’d taken significant damage.

“You’re... poisoning my energy? No... concept? More than that...?” he said, perplexed as his skill failed to activate once more, leading to his arm being sent flying. He tried to heal it, but the arm didn’t reappear instantly like it normally would.

“Laws... you’re corrupting laws?” Yip continued speaking out loud, doing so very purposefully. He wasn’t asking the Viper, but the world itself and his own abilities. He was searching for confirmation through speaking theories into the world, looking for signs of truth from the theories he spouted.noveldrama

Vilastromoz saw no need to confirm or deny anything as he pushed Yip into a corner while working his magic to unleash even larger attacks. Throughout, he’d also been charging a special little something Yip was sure to appreciate.

As their battle continued, they had long moved from where they originally fought, no longer caring about losing ground to the other party. They passed over deserts spanning the width of several galaxies, and a single claw swipe infused with energy tore up a jungle capable of housing even god-tier creatures.

Yip retaliated where he could, his sword blows creating now long fissures whenever they hit the ground below, redirecting rivers that moved more water every second than Earth even had several thousand times over, or creating canyons so deep a human before the system could fall into one and die of old age before reaching the bottom.

Pushing toward the northern end of the planet, Yip finally seemed to reach an adequate level of understanding of what the Malefic Viper was doing, once more proving he truly was worthy of the title of supreme genius.

“You corrupt the very laws that govern logic,” Yip said in a genuinely astonished voice. “You realized you couldn’t poison me directly, so you poisoned the world around me. Damaged the laws my concepts relied on, making my skills unstable. Even simple laws, such as how fast one can regenerate, were subtly affected... I didn’t even know that was possible without entering the realm of Transcendent Skills.”

Yip had indeed hit the nail on the head, and as he spoke this truth into reality, his entire presence seemed to solidify all around him. He smiled gleefully at his realization, his power growing slightly in the process.

“Amazing... truly amazing,” he said with praise. “However, the energy consumption must be immense. Far more than if you only had to target my body.”

Once more, he’d hit the nail on the head, and the Viper wasn’t just going this hard on the offensive because he had the momentum but because he had to. He would run out of energy faster than Yip unless he could continually do substantial damage, and while he had certainly done a lot... it wasn’t enough.

Upon realizing what the Viper did, Yip began to counter it. He only had to accomplish a feat once, and passively, he would be able to do it far more easily in the future due to his innate abilities, and he made liberal use of his fact as the tables turned once more.

Despite having been injured significantly, Yip attacked with newfound fervor, the Viper being pushed back once again. With both of them having seemingly reached their limits of power, neither held anything back as each unleashed dozens of skills upon one another, as they continued to travel around the utterly massive Great Planet.

Through the Forest of Titans, leaving trees the size of solar systems piled like timber, down into the ground where entire sections of the Great Planet’s mantle collapsed as earthquakes began to rock the continents and even into space where there was nothing but wayward asteroids which were swiftly reduced to dust before they even had a chance to get close.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

The Viper was constantly on the back foot, yes, but he refused to give up as he kept up the fight, leaving plenty of wounds on his opponent. At this point in the fight, Yip had several black spots all over his body where his newfound poison “immunity” proved to not quite make him immune anyway, and while he did avoid taking any soul injuries, his body remained a mess as the Viper continued to hamper the universal law of regeneration all around Yip.

Admittedly, the Viper was far worse off. Both of his wings had been severed at this point, alongside his tail and one hind leg that simply wasn’t worth wasting the energy to regenerate. Both of them had spent untold amounts of energy, and the Great Planet was left a mess worth recording in the history books of the multiverse. The damage was great enough to destabilize huge sections of it as the Planetary Core tried to address the pandemonium that unfolded, failing at every turn as even the atmosphere was shattered at times.

Both gods knew the fight was approaching its zenith, and Yip was fully aware the Viper was the one who had to make a large move if he wanted to try and grasp victory from the jaws of defeat. As they clashed several more times, the Viper was looking for this opening, with Yip trying not to give any, but in a move that showed the Viper’s superior experience in combat, he managed to finally get this chance.

More than two hours earlier, when they passed by the exact same section of the Great Planet, the Viper had left a trap, and as they flew past, Yip was taken by surprise as half a dozen complex magic circles activated in the sky, creating a seal all around him.

Below him, the Viper was ready, knowing he had less than a second to make his move. For hours, he had been charging and preparing an attack that was known to surpass grades. One that used a concept Yip of Yore had not made prior preperations against facing whatsoever.

Opening his maw, the Viper breathed in and, without further warning, unleashed all the saved-up energy in an instant. The Dragon’s Breath of a god erupted from his maw, sending out a shockwave that sundered half a content on the Great Planet simply by being near the Malefic Viper.

Yip saw the Breath as he roared, a glimpse of genuine fear marring his face. His entire body erupted with power as he broke free of the seal by releasing whatever power he still kept hidden and swung his sword to meet the Breath that took the form of a massive dark green beam.

Energy washed over him as the Viper kept going, the Breath continuing for nearly ten full seconds while fully enveloping Yip of Yore. As the beam slowly faded, all that was left where it had passed was pure nothingness. It wasn’t even void energy anymore... it was a far more fundamental extinction of existence.

The universe struggled to repair itself as a line of nothingness had been drawn across the cosmos, sucking in energy from all around as the natural laws tried – and failed – to fill the gap and make the world whole once more.

Vilastromoz stared up at the sky, slowly closing his maw as his body felt empty of energy. He had overextended himself significantly with an attack that would usually be able to kill a being several tiers above himself, one that even Valdemar had failed to block once upon a time, resulting in one of the times the Viper had won a duel against the Primordial.

Several moments passed, and there was no sign of Yip of Yore anywhere. Yet there was no notification either. Glancing about and sending out a wave of energy to feel for his opponent, the Viper searched for the other god for several seconds until, finally, he saw it.

A small blip appeared far away, walking toward him through space. His stride was slow but measured, and as the Viper saw the gleam from the sword, he knew... his final attack had failed.

Yip came closer, and as he did, the Viper also felt the aura he gave off, and he couldn’t help but sigh.

“You still had another Step before you reached your peak...” the Primordial said.

“If I didn’t, that one would have killed me,” Yip said, his body finally coming into sight, revealing that the entire left side was gray and black, devoid of energy, and his limbs hung uselessly down as his face slumped. Half of his Soulshape had even been destroyed, and the damage would likely never heal unless he got some outside help... and even so, it would take thousands of years at a minimum using any semi-regular means. “Nearly still did... but a hero doesn’t fall that easily, now does he?”

Trying to buy some time, the Viper spoke again. “That won’t heal quickly, that’s for sure.”

“Oh, I don’t really know about that,” Yip smiled as he raised his sword again and began flying toward the Viper despite only being able to move half of his body. “I might just-“

Without giving Yip any chance, the Viper opened his mouth once more and unleashed a second Dragon’s Breath immediately, drawing on the very last fumes of energy he had left. It was far weaker than before, but Yip was still taken by surprise. Yet he responded far better as he yelled and pointed his sword forward as a maelstrom of energy formed and rather than retreat, he accelerated.

The maelstrom and the Breath met one another as the sky erupted, and for a moment, they looked evenly matched until Yip’s superior level of power won out. The Breath was split in half as Yip descended upon the Viper, and before the Primordial could react, he was stabbed through the chest as the two of them crashed down onto the Great Planet.

A massive crater formed, the impact powerful enough to make the entire planet move slightly downward and for hundreds of massive caves throughout the mantle to collapse as an indent formed on the sphere.

As the dust settled, the scene at the center of the crater was revealed, showing the Viper now back in his humanoid form, the sword stabbing him through the center of his chest, and Yip standing over him, still slumping and looking tired.

Yet, at this moment, they both knew that a victor had been decided.

“Before... you talked about why I killed Altius... but it seems like you didn’t know the full truth,” Yip said with a struggle as he smiled painfully while standing over the Viper, his sword pinning the Primordial down, emanating energy that made it impossible for Vilastromoz to move.

“So let me enlighten you... trust me, it’ll be relevant shortly. Our first real conflict started in Nevermore and only got worse after that... because he did better than me there,” Yip smiled, the Viper’s eyes opening in confusion.

“You were right. I was jealous. He topped the damn Leaderboards, and with every other event, he only got further and further ahead... he always took the best titles, the best rewards, the best items, the best everything! I was forever in second, never in first,” Yip said, the look in his eyes now almost fanatical.

“You... that isn’t what-“ the Viper tried to say as Yip pushed the sword down even harder.

“Seems even you have your flaws. Then again, you can only remember something you learned about in the first place,” Yip said with a sinister smile. “Envy is a powerful emotion, you know? So powerful it can make one do crazy things... and have crazy enlightenment.”

Yip made sure that the Viper saw him as he let go of his sword and raised his hand. On it, a ring was revealed. “Another little secret I don’t think you knew about. This ring is quite special. I got it during a system event I did together with Altius. The one he died in. The one I killed him in... and at the end, one could ask the system for a custom reward, and I asked for this, genuinely surprised when it was granted. The thing is, my method of killing Altius wasn’t simple, but indeed one born out of pure envy when I realized he would be number one in yet another event, and in that moment, I snapped... and my envy became power.”

The ring on his finger slowly slid off, and then it did; a new kind of aura flooded the area. One that made the Viper’s eyes open wide. “You...”

“Truly generous of the system to grant a ring hiding one’s identity as a Transcendent,” Yip said triumphantly. “Oh, but don’t think I hid it because I’m embarrassed by it; quite the opposite. It does have quite an annoying cost, but that won’t be any issue of yours, and compared to the gains, it’s more than worth it.”

Yip raised his hand as it began to glow with a Transcendent Light. “Considering my theory three, it has quite the poetic name... Usurper of Legends. It allows me to not merely mimic your Records but steal them entirely and take a part of your legend. You see, never once did I plan on only becoming the first Primordial Slayer... why do that when I can steal your title of Primordial for myself and be both!?”

With those words, Yip formed a clawed hand before he slammed it down into the Viper’s chest, shattering all the scales in the way as he grasped the heart of the Primordial. Transcendent power flooded the Viper’s body in an instant as Yip greedily began absorbing everything he could.

Struggling, the Malefic Viper tried to fight back, but it was in vain. He had nothing left, and as Yip gave a final push, everything came to an end. The Primordial’s struggle stopped, and a flood of Records began streaming into Yip of Yore as the notification came

*You have slain [The Malefic Viper…

An untold rush of power made Yip only briefly confirm the notification as he reveled in the feeling, and as he continued to grow, the levels coming in like a tide, Yip’s body also began to recover.

The injuries left by the Viper healed, his soul was restored, and as the Transcendent Skill was coming to an end, Yip felt himself nearly progress yet another level… take another Step as he ascended even further. He would be able to shortly, especially with the new title he was waiting to get.

However… to Yip’s bemusement, the title never came. He felt the flood of Records he’d absorbed, and he tried to condense them and form the title he desired from them, but no matter what he did, something was missing.

“Are you saying I can’t take that title?” Yip muttered as he looked down at the Viper’s corpse… finding it looking weird. His body had sagged in an odd fashion, and through the hole in his chest, there was no flesh or blood visible anywhere. In fact, he now just looked like an empty husk... no, worse than that, a Viper-shaped bag of skin and scales.

Almost like…

That… isn’t…

Yip froze, unable to move, and as the color of the world faded into a sheen of dark green, he fearfully glanced at the full kill notification.

[The Malefic Viper (Dragon Molt)]