MIGHT AS WELL BE OP

Chapter 955: Frozen World

”Shall we continue, I’m sure the readers and the spectators are tired of listening to us talk,” Lucian spoke as his mana started to rise and swirl around him like a living tide, thick and heavy, coiling and uncoiling like a sentient ocean that obeyed only his will.

’The readers?’ Aura Nova thought to herself, confused for a moment before her book-loving side snapped into place, making her understand, ’so he thinks we are kind of in a novel and he is playing around with the fourth wall,’ she mused to herself and discarded the thought as it was literally impossible that they were in a book or anything of the sort, the idea too absurd and irrational even for someone accustomed to warped realities and twisted dimensions.

With that thought, her mind snapped into absolute focus, her mana pulsing into the sky like an oceanic tide of an unending stream, vast and boundless, its pressure spreading outward in invisible ripples that distorted the air and caused the space around her to hum with quiet, restrained violence.

”Another word of advice, why not enter that special state you used against Kingsley and let us skip all these exchanges of attacks,” Lucian’s voice came, calm yet taunting, his mana roaring into the air as though a dragon had awakened, the atmospheric pressure becoming heavier and heavier as the buildings around him shook and groaned, their foundations trembling under the weight of his mere presence.

Aura Nova stood silent for a moment before she replied, ”Has anyone told you that you have quite the knack for courting death?” her question genuine and almost conversational, though beneath that calm surface a sharp edge lingered, because if she were quick to anger, she would definitely be boiling with fury at this very moment.

”Well... I’ve been told that recently,” Lucian replied with a smile, casual and almost boyish, as his system had indeed told him that recently, the memory flashing through his mind like a quiet joke only he could hear.

Aura Nova didn’t reply anymore, she simply shook her head as she immediately activated her Omniedit ability, her expression flattening into cold indifference as though the world before her had already become nothing more than a draft waiting to be revised.

Omniedit: Command: Logic Hijack: Sun Creation

Her mana exploded from her core with maddened fury, her hair dancing wildly to the beat and rhythm of the wind as reality warped to her choice and bent to her decree like fragile glass being reshaped by invisible hands.

The next moment, the temperature within the separate plane rose to an insane degree that seemed unquantifiable, buildings, cars, and the asphalt around them melting and turning to lava as everything began to liquefy into a glowing crimson hellscape.

The air cracked, then shattered the next moment as within millions of kilometres literal suns filled the sky, their numbers easily surpassing a thousand, each of them blazing with equal madness and radiance, miniature stars radiating destructive heat and divine brilliance. With a thought from Aura Nova, they tore toward Lucian’s position like divine meteors, their trails burning through space itself.

Lucian felt the gravity from an attack of this scale slam into his body, the crushing force capable of flattening mountains, but he didn’t react. To him, the attack wasn’t to the extent where it would affect him; it was simply too weak, too insignificant, like standing beneath a warm summer breeze.

[Ice Magic: Mana Zone: Frozen World]

The moment those words left his lips, his mana responded to the spell as the temperature that had risen to an unquantifiable spike immediately plummeted, as another type of cold made itself known, deeper and more absolute. Heat and cold waves slammed into each other in fury as though the mana from Aura Nova and Lucian were battling one another directly, two tyrants clashing for dominance over the same domain.

The entirety of the suns that Aura Nova had created immediately froze over under the effect of Lucian’s spell, their blazing surfaces crystallizing into silent spheres of white frost, while the liquefied buildings that had turned to lava froze over in totality as everywhere became chilling, encased in endless ice as though time itself had stopped breathing.

Lucian smirked evilly as he immediately copied a spell Anthony had used against him. Although not through his Absolute Copy innate ability, his innate and ridiculous talent still allowed him to pull it off with unnatural precision, as though the technique had always belonged to him.

[Forbidden Magic: Void Eater]

Lucian’s mana rumbled through the sky and clouds as though the heavens themselves were about to collapse, the firmament trembling violently as space shook with maddening intensity, then it shattered with a deafening burst, the void opening wide and whole as a huge, gigantic maw appeared within the darkness.

The maw snapped open and immediately the gravitational pull tore Aura Nova forward with immense speed and force, like prey being dragged helplessly into the throat of an ancient beast.

Aura Nova’s reaction was swift, her mana roaring around her body as she calmly activated her ability without the slightest trace of panic, her eyes sharp and calculating.

Omniedit: Command: Source Edit: Shattered Reality.

The next moment, the immense gravitational pull ceased instantly as though it had never existed, then following it was the shattering of Lucian’s spell itself, the void collapsing immediately, the gigantic maw vanishing with it, and instantly everything returned to normal, the torn space stitching itself back together like a wound forced shut by unseen hands.

The next moment, Aura Nova’s head snapped to the side, and there she saw Lucian closing in on her with a sword aiming for her neck as she had just finished erasing his last attack from reality entirely. But she didn’t delay, instinct and reflex snapping into place as she immediately bent backward to dodge, the sword carving through the air and the space where her neck had just been, leaving a sharp whistle behind.

But at that exact moment, the Lucian she had just dodged vanished entirely as though he had never existed, and another one appeared right beside her with a katana already swinging down. Aura Nova didn’t need to be told; she already knew she had been fooled by Lucian, the first attack she had seen and dodged nothing but an illusion, and she had fallen for it like a fool.

As Lucian’s katana closed in for her neck, she immediately bent space to her will and teleported, but it was already too late, Lucian’s sword carved through her shoulder like a knife through flesh, amputating her full arm without a shred of mercy. The sound of meat tearing and blood splattering filled the air between them as her severed arm plummeted to the ground below with a heavy, sickening thud.

The moment Aura Nova appeared at another location, Lucian’s words echoed.

Dimensional Lock

The ability immediately locked Aura Nova in place, and he appeared there yet again as though he had read Aura Nova like an open book, like she was nothing more than a child before him.

His katana flashed forward once more and with a sharp zip, Aura Nova’s second hand flew into the air, but yet again she had dodged and escaped the Dimensional Lock ability, avoiding decapitation two times in a row through sheer instinct and spatial manipulation alone.

Her figure appeared midair, and the moment she appeared, she had already regenerated as though she hadn’t just lost two limbs. She floated there silently as she stared at Lucian, who stood on the ground with a calm smile and his katana sheathed, looking almost relaxed, as though the brutal exchange they had just undergone was nothing more than a casual warm-up.