SSS Talent: From Trash to Tyrant

Chapter 412: Chapter 412: The Fall of the Thal’zar [XXVI]

The chamber was still fractured from the previous exchange, moonlight pouring through the torn ceiling and casting long shadows across the corpses below. The ten swords of [Absolute Sword Dominion] remained suspended above Valttair, no longer simply orbiting but aligned with quiet intent, their edges angled forward as if awaiting the smallest impulse.

Icarus studied the aftermath of the massive cut that had erased thousands of Void Creatures in a single motion. The scale of it had removed any illusion of gradual escalation. His lilac eyes narrowed slightly as he came to a conclusion.

”I suppose I cannot prolong this either,” he said evenly. ”There are still matters I wish to discuss with my dear guest.”

His core flared as he activated [Apex Contagion]. A deeper violet light pulsed from within his chest, and the air around him began to vibrate with a denser frequency. Every active infection in the chamber intensified at once. The invisible rot thickened. The pressure of corruption doubled. His presence grew heavier, more imposing, as if the atmosphere itself acknowledged the shift.

Valttair did not react.

Two of the floating swords adjusted their trajectory and devoted themselves entirely to the rifts. Every Void Creature that stepped through into his dimension was cut down before its form fully stabilized. Bodies fell in continuous succession, piling into grotesque mounds that grew with mechanical regularity.

The remaining eight blades divided with precision. Four formed a loose orbit around Icarus, their tips tracking the smallest shift in his posture. The other four angled toward the intelligent Void Creature, hemming it in with overlapping lines of threat.

The creature advanced anyway, deflecting incoming blades with reinforced claws and using its own body to absorb glancing cuts as it closed the distance. It lunged forward with a direct strike, aiming to test Valttair’s reaction.

Valttair raised the sword in his right hand and blocked without stepping back. Steel met claw with a sharp resonance that carried through the chamber.

From above, one of the floating swords plunged downward, seeking to impale the creature through the spine. It twisted aside on instinct, barely clearing the descending blade as it gouged deep into stone instead.

Valttair vanished with [Morgain’s Riftstep], his form blurring into distortion before reappearing within striking distance. The pressure did not pause between movements. The moment he materialized, the assault resumed, precise and relentless, forcing the creature to respond rather than advance.

Valttair did not allow the pressure to dissipate. As he reappeared within striking range, his grip tightened and the mana in the chamber shifted again. He drew power inward and activated [Morgain’s Last Dusk], channeling condensed force into the blade until the air around it vibrated with a sharp, metallic hum.

The space between him and the Void Creature grew taut, as if pulled thin by invisible tension, and then the ascending diagonal cut tore upward, splitting through the layered air and carving a clean path through the fractured interior.

Icarus did not remain idle.

He responded instantly with repeated casts of [Miasma Collapse], forming multiple compressed spheres of distorted air that imploded inward before erupting outward in dense grey waves. One after another, the spheres launched toward Valttair, their surfaces trembling under internal pressure.

The floating swords reacted without delay. They intercepted the incoming spheres mid-flight, cutting through them before they could fully expand. Each sphere split apart under the impact, but the ruptured plagues detonated regardless. The compressed explosions did not bloom outward like fire; instead they collapsed and burst in layered shockwaves that rattled the entire structure.

The chamber convulsed.

Stone fractured along existing stress lines as the chained detonations shook the foundations. Sections of the ceiling collapsed under cumulative force, and the castle split open above them in a violent rupture. Heavy slabs of reinforced stone fell through dust and grey vapor as a jagged breach formed overhead.

Rain poured through it immediately.

Cold water streamed into the chamber in slanted sheets, mixing with falling debris and the lingering haze of plague. The sky beyond was still choked with dark clouds, thunder rolling faintly in the distance. No moonlight touched them yet. Only stormlight and rain filtered down through the torn structure, washing over Icarus, Valttair, and the swarming Void Creatures below.

The detonations did not discriminate. The expanding waves of corruption struck the creatures emerging from the rifts, ripping through their ranks and triggering unintended slaughter. Limbs and torsos were torn apart mid-formation as the infection bursts consumed both intended targets and their own forces alike. Bodies accumulated even faster beneath the breach.

Valttair sensed the thinning pressure without looking. One of the two swords assigned to rift-clearing altered its path mid-arc and redirected toward the intelligent Void Creature. Now five floating blades, along with the sword in his hand, centered fully on it.

The creature felt it.

Its frame tightened, claws digging into fractured stone as instinct screamed warning.

Valttair began channeling [Morgain’s Final Crescent]. Mana condensed along the blade in dense, black curvature, forming an inverted crescent that darkened the air before him. The energy did not flare outward; it compressed, thick and heavy, warping the rain as droplets bent and split around the gathering edge.

The Void Creature shuddered.

Along its back, flesh tore and reshaped as two structures forced their way outward. Not fully formed, but unmistakable—wings emerging under strain.

Valttair released the strike.

The black crescent tore forward, cleaving through rain and space alike. The creature twisted at the last instant, evading a direct execution, but the trailing edge of the arc severed its foot cleanly. Viscous blood spilled across shattered stone, steaming faintly where it struck.

The force of the attack did not stop there.

It continued upward through the breach, carving through the storm itself. The pressure split the cloud cover above the castle, scattering the densest masses and forcing the rain to falter. The downpour weakened into scattered drops as the sky above began to clear in widening rings.

Clouds tore apart.

The moon revealed itself gradually through drifting remnants, pale light spilling down through the shattered ceiling.

The castle now stood open beneath a sky no longer fully claimed by storm.

The Void Creature crashed against fractured stone, its severed limb already writhing as regeneration forced tissue to knit and reform in uneven layers. It did not retreat. It could not. Icarus moved before the moment settled, his hand lifting slightly as additional rifts tore open along the chamber’s perimeter.

The distortions widened with wet tearing sounds, and fresh Void Creatures began pouring through in greater density, forcing the pressure around Valttair to split once more.

Valttair’s gaze shifted toward the intelligent creature, rain sliding from strands of platinum hair as moonlight and stormlight mingled across his features.

”You are despicable, creature. Hiding behind your subordinates?” His voice carried without strain despite the chaos around them. ”Do not worry. I will reach you soon. You will pray you never crossed into this dimension.”

The creature trembled despite itself, wings half-formed and twitching as regeneration completed its ruined foot. It did not answer.

Icarus extended his hand downward.

[Plague Dominion].

The fractured floor darkened subtly. No obvious change marked it at first glance, yet a thin grey sheen spread outward like diluted ink beneath clear water. The ground absorbed light differently, swallowing the reflection of the moon. Each step taken within the affected zone left faint impressions that lingered longer than they should have, as if the stone itself fed on contact.

Valttair stepped forward through it.

For the first time, something invisible latched onto him.

The infection slid beneath the surface without spectacle. Mana flow shifted by fractions. The air around him thickened imperceptibly as [Plague Dominion] anchored into his presence.

Icarus did not hesitate.

[Sovereign Blight].

A dark sigil flashed across Valttair’s chest, intricate and angular, before sinking beneath his skin as though absorbed into marrow. A low violet pulse followed from within his body, once, then again, light bleeding faintly through cloth and flesh.

Valttair laughed, low and unimpressed.

”Do you truly believe such a cheap trick will work on me, Icarus?”

Icarus’ lips curved in restrained amusement. ”We will not know until we try.”

The mark detonated.

A violent internal rupture burst outward from Valttair’s center, purple force tearing through his torso in a compressed blast that split air and scattered debris in every direction. Shock rippled across the chamber floor as dust and vapor engulfed him entirely.

Fragments of stone rained down.

The smoke swelled outward in rolling layers.

Icarus watched without blinking.

The haze began to thin.

The haze thinned in slow spirals, dust and violet residue falling away from the center of the blast.

Valttair remained standing.

His posture had not shifted. His footing had not moved. The only evidence that an explosion had occurred at all was the faint disturbance in his platinum hair, stirred by the fading shockwave. No blood marked his clothes. No fracture showed along his skin. The sigil that had detonated within him left nothing behind.

The ten legendary swords continued to hover in silent orbit around him, their edges reflecting fractured moonlight through the torn ceiling.

The pressure in the chamber changed.

Icarus’ gaze narrowed slightly as he studied him, violet light dimming at the edges of his core.

”I believe you are the true monster here... not the Void Creature.”

Valttair did not answer.

The floating blades shifted formation, tightening their angles with deliberate alignment, their tips lowering as if scenting prey.

The air itself seemed to recoil.