The Glorious Evolution

”BEGIN!”

The Borrower moved before Gamble’s voice finished echoing through the prison cell... dark green electricity flashed under his feet as he crossed the distance between them, his right hand reaching for Levi’s throat while his tail swept toward Levi’s ankles.

He came in hot!

Realizing that he wanted to fight up close, Levi lowered his center of gravity while summoning Judgement’s Chainstaff, using it to block the incoming claws.

Cling! Cling!

However, the moment the Borrower’s fingertips brushed the weapon, a tiny black point appeared on its surface... Levi tried turning the staff to knock his arm aside, but soon realized that the black point wasn’t for decorative purposes, as he couldn’t move the weapon an inch.

It was like the Borrower had frozen it in space!

’Damn his unknown abilities!’

Levi’s expression turned slightly twisted as he manifested an aetheric fist that struck the Borrower’s hand, forcing it aside... but the Borrower didn’t care much about it.

It was a distraction, after all.

Whoosh!

He swung his long serpentine tail at Levi’s back, its tip already giving off a foul smell... Poison!

Levi might be immune to poison thanks to his Abyssal Filtrum Mutation, but still... he refused to let the Borrower’s tail pierce him so easily when his Harmonic Spine already captured everything going on around him in all directions.

Without hesitation, he swung on the top of the frozen weapon with both hands and used it as leverage to land a powerful round kick on the Borrower’s tail!

He kicked it away and, in turn, caused the Borrower to lose his balance... taking advantage, Levi transformed his weapon into a sniper rifle while it was still frozen, breaking it free of the freezing spell through a higher authority for a split second before it got frozen again in a sniper form.

Then, with him crouching on top of the gun and the barrel a mere three meters from the Borrower’s face, he pulled the trigger thrice with the tip of his shoe!

Boom! Boom! Boom!

One concentrated spiritual aetheric bullet.

One Singularity bullet.

One burning hot Sunflame bullet.

The three bullets flew at different speeds, causing them to converge in a triangle-like formation, matching the exact appearance of Levi’s mask.

The only difference was...

KABOOOM!!

The instant the bullets met near the Borrower’s face, the explosion was pure multicolored chaos as each of the three bullets refused to give way to its sisters!

Arthur and the girls cheered loudly at the sight, their energy matched by Levi’s avid followers... but alas, their excitement was short-lived.

Whoosh!

The Borrower pushed through the explosion’s aftermath like it was nothing but prop smoke!

His four eyes shone in similar colors to Levi’s powers while his body was covered in a chaotic dark green aura, with shades matching each type of energy he had been hit with!

It was like his body had naturally adapted to the energies, creating high resistance to them.

”Hahaha!! This is the good stuff! Void, Sun! Aether! Ahh, how selfish of you to hoard all of these powers for yourself!”

The Borrower cried out with a crazy, envious gaze as he rushed toward Levi while concentrating these energies into his serpentine tail.

A split second later, the Borrower’s tail smashed into the floor, releasing a thunderous dark green explosion with a mixture of shades... each representing a copied energy!

”Ah! More! Give me more!! I want them all!! CELESTIAL!”

Seeing Levi use Sun Jets to escape from the explosion zone, the Borrower’s eyes flashed once and then... his limbs emitted similar jets powered by dark green pressure!

They might not emit heat, but they sure as hell sent him chasing after Levi... due to the tight space inside the prison, even though Levi was faster, it didn’t matter... The Borrower still caught up and cornered him near one of the prison’s upper corners.

”Borrowed Glory Arts: Spatial Slice!”

The Borrower whipped his tail toward Levi’s torso... only this time, the dark green energy seemed to possess spatial properties with the power to slice through spacetime!

Sensing the immense danger, Levi twisted his body unnaturally; the dormant Star-forged Skeleton made him as flexible as a rubber band.

Slice!

The tail cut through the air like a knife through butter, leaving a visible spatial wound that left Arthur and the girls utterly horrified... it had passed a mere few inches from Levi’s clothes, slicing through space like it was nothing!

’Spatial powers... how troublesome.’

Levi frowned, not daring to remain in close quarters with the Borrower... he unleashed Radiance Pulse1 from his stomach, releasing explosive heat waves while at the same time propelling himself downward without needing to regain his balance.

The Borrower shielded his eyes from the blinding light, but it took a mere split second for them to readjust to it... in fact, they did more than that.

”Envious Pulse!”

The Borrower aimed his palms in Levi’s direction and unleashed an imitation of Radiance Pulse!

Boom! Boom! BOOM!

Each pulse grew in force until the last one smashed the ground into pieces after Levi used Sun Jets to push himself out of its path!

WHOOOAH!!!

Most of the viewers had no clue what the fuck was going on or how Celestial was being dominated so badly... and yet, they screamed regardless, their voices engulfing the skies at how explosive and chaotic the battle appeared.

”The Celestial isn’t faring too well!!”

Gamemaster Gamble commented excitedly as he followed the Borrower’s never-ending assault, which left Levi not a second to breathe.

Usually, Levi had quite a large area to move in, giving him time to think and analyze before making his move... but the tight prison battlefield and the Borrower’s constant harassment made it nearly impossible.

All he could do was fight defensively while studying the Borrower’s powers, knowing that unless he figured out most of his unknown arsenal, his chances of getting blindsided would increase tenfold.

Boom!! Boom!!...

”Stop running and face me! CELESTIAL! Show me your ultimates! Let me borrow more; I promise I will return them!”

The Borrower laughed maniacally as he stole the design of Levi’s rifle and fired explosive bullets at him nonstop, forcing him to use Judgement’s Chainstaff to smash through them... each explosion releasing a burst of dark green energy in the background.

Levi didn’t fall for the taunts... he kept a cool head as he constructed whatever defensive measures he could to block the assault without giving the Borrower any new ammo.

BOOM!

Still, the impacts kept shoving him backward, and before he could recover, the Borrower suddenly teleported behind him with a sinister grin, swinging his copied Chainstaff toward Levi’s head.

Not expecting an instant teleportation, Levi gritted his teeth and intercepted the strike, only to sense an enormous aetheric fist approaching from behind... he immediately ducked, allowing its fingers to smash against the prison bars above him!

The Borrower was adamant about not giving him a moment of peace... Whenever Levi created distance, projectiles chased him, and whenever he stopped to block them, the Borrower closed in.

It was like the Borrower had done his own studies on Levi and recognized that he was at his most dangerous when given time to think!

While his attempts were vexing enough, they also helped Levi understand his Aspect.

’He isn’t obtaining my Aspects... he’s recreating their effects.’

Levi had noticed that every borrowed ability held the same spiritual signature beneath its appearance... Whether the Borrower released lightning, manipulated space, or reinforced his body, the power behind it remained Envy.

This was the foundation of his Borrowed Glory Arts... using his envy of someone else’s advantages to recreate them through his own solar/spiritual energy.

However, witnessing an ability wasn’t enough... The Borrower had to genuinely desire it, and the stronger that desire became, the better his imitation would be.

Levi had already seen it happen whenever those four golden eyes lingered on his transformations or weapons... the copies became denser and more stable shortly afterward as he truly envied Levi from the bottom of his heart.

How couldn’t he? The Celestial possessed two Ancestral Aspects and many other powerful ones while still at Baron rank... he had this much without needing to envy others.

In the Borrower’s eyes, it was so unfair for the universe to allow such an abomination to exist while he was limited to mere imitations.

”Where is the justice?! Where is the balance?! Doesn’t his existence break all fundamental laws of our universe?”

The Borrower shouted to the high heavens, his eyes shining so bright with envy, the pupils no longer showing.

”Celestial! I envy you so much... so, so much. You have it all and refuse to share your gifts with the less fortunate!”

BOOM!

Levi deflected another strike before releasing a sound blast between them, forcing the Borrower back while he retreated along the prison’s edge.

And yet... the Borrower only got more relentless and stronger, his envious desire fueling him nonstop.

”That would be... ME!”

Before his maniac voice could echo in the prison cell, Levi found himself kicked square in the stomach, sent flying to the other edge... the aetheric barrier breaking instantly at first contact!

He tumbled over and over again before finally coming to a halt... his mouth bleeding slightly, but his gaze never leaving the Borrower, who stood on the other side, his entire form curled backward like a psycho who had escaped from an asylum... his tongue flickered, licking the side of his mouth, making his grin even more crazed.

He didn’t look like he was here to fight, but to devour Levi whole and, more precisely... his powers!

Rookie Unlocked Ability... Radiance Pulse: Create a sunflame pulse that can stack with each use.