The Assassin's Seven Principles of Manipulation

Chapter 394: Chapter 389 — Fall

He reached it moments later and stretched out his hand, only for a massive chunk of rock to suddenly plummet through the dust and crash into the ground nearby. The impact sent another violent tremor through the cavern, causing the fissure to widen rapidly until it finally reached the edge of the waterfall.

Zephyrion cursed under his breath.

’Fuck.’

The ground suddenly gave way beneath him.

Wind rushed past his body, whipping his hair and clothes as he plunged into the abyss. Zephyrion quickly regained his bearings and looked down, immediately spotting the metal dome falling through the darkness below him.

Without hesitation, he kicked off a nearby chunk of falling rock, launching himself towards it.

’Finall—’

ROAR!

An overwhelming gravitational force suddenly slammed into him, throwing him off course and sending him crashing through the falling debris.

Zephyrion immediately turned towards the source, his cold gaze landing on the alpha as it charged towards him, its remaining eyes burning with stubborn determination.

A surge of anger welled up in his chest.

”What the hell is wrong with you?”

The alpha responded with a vicious grin before swiping its claws at him. Zephyrion twisted aside, narrowly avoiding the gravity claws.

’Compression.’

Metal gathered beneath his feet and compressed before exploding outward, propelling him straight towards the beast.

”Fine! You want to fight that badly? I’ll beat some sense into you!”

The rod instantly flowed over his arm, morphing into a massive gauntlet as he drove his fist into the alpha’s chin with a vicious uppercut.

Blood and shattered teeth sprayed from its mouth as the impact sent it hurtling upward.

Zephyrion immediately turned his attention back towards the falling dome, only to feel a powerful gravitational pull suddenly seize his body and yank him upward.

’Oh, for iron’s sake!’

The alpha was using his Titan Armor as an anchor!

’Magnetic Field!’

He immediately counteracted the pull, bringing his upward momentum to a halt. However, before he could resume his descent, he noticed the air around the alpha beginning to distort.

’Not aga—’

The alpha’s massive frame slammed into him with tremendous force, sending them both plummeting downward as they shot past the metal dome in a blur.

’Get off me!’

Zephyrion drove his fist into the alpha’s chin with another vicious uppercut, shattering more of its teeth and sending blood spraying from its mouth. However, the beast merely snarled and dug its foreclaw deeper into the shoulder of his Titan Armor, clinging to him as though its life depended on it.

And unfortunately, that wasn’t the only limb he had to worry about.

The alpha’s remaining arms immediately lashed out, their claws tearing towards him from below. The first ripped a deep gash through his Titan Armor, while the next carved a chuck of his flesh, sending a spike of pain through him.

The rod instantly shifted from a gauntlet into a blade, and Zephyrion’s arm blurred as he intercepted the incoming claws in a shower of sparks.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Each collision unleashed violent shockwaves that shattered the debris around them, while the surrounding gravity grew so unstable that the falling rocks seemed to drift aimlessly through space.

Zephyrion gritted his teeth.

’Enough of this. Titan Form: Convergence.’

His armor suddenly surged outward before rapidly compressing into his body, flooding him with an overwhelming amount of power. The resulting burst of force tore the alpha’s claws from his shoulders, sending the beast reeling backward.

It snarled furiously and immediately reached out to grab him again, only for its claws to close around empty air.

Zephyrion had already vanished.

He appeared directly before the alpha with terrifying speed, steam trailing in his wake, and drove his blade deep into its chest.

”You really brought this on yourself.”

The alpha’s remaining eyes trembled as it stared at him, a look of unwillingness flashing through them. However, Zephyrion’s expression remained cold as he yanked his blade free, sending another spray of purple blood into the air.

’No time.’

Without wasting another moment, he swept his gaze downward, searching for the dome until he finally spotted it falling through the darkness below.

’There.’

Zephyrion immediately compressed the metal beneath his feet and released it in a powerful burst, shooting towards the dome with his hand outstretched.

Just as he was about to reach it—

Claw!

Zephyrion’s eyes narrowed as he felt something latch onto his right leg. He glanced down, only to find the alpha clinging desperately to him, its claws buried deep into his armor.

The light in its remaining eyes had grown noticeably dim, yet the hatred burning within them was unmistakable. Even on the verge of death, the damn beast was still refusing to let him go.

Zephyrion finally lost his patience.

”You stupid, overgrown bastard! Just fucking die already!”

The rod instantly morphed into a massive club, which he brought crashing down on the alpha’s head again and again.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Bones cracked beneath the relentless blows, and purple blood splattered everywhere, yet the alpha stubbornly refused to loosen its grip. In fact, despite its shattered teeth and bloodied face, the corners of its mouth slowly began to curl into a grin.

’Shit!’

’Protégé! Forget the damn beast! We’re running out of air!’

Demorian’s urgent warning made Zephyrion snap his gaze downward, and his eyes widened in alarm.

The bottom of the abyss was rushing towards them.

’Fuck!’

Zephyrion immediately reached out with his magnetic control, attempting to pull the dome towards him, but the alpha’s gravitational field interfered with his influence.

’Damn beast!’

With no other choice, he abandoned his assault on the alpha and stretched his arm towards the dome. The beast’s gravitational pull was still fiercely resisting his movements, dragging him away from his target, but Zephyrion gritted his teeth and poured every ounce of strength he had into fighting against it.

The distance between his fingers and the dome rapidly narrowed. Ten inches. Five. Two.

’Come on...!’

His fingertips were just about to make contact when—

BOOOOM!

Everything went dark.