Dancing on the golden ashes

I could feel the aura of something unexplainable surge through me. My soul power was transforming, and I felt like I was getting closer to the next realm. It felt like a single step would take me there, but in reality, it was still far away. I had to deal with the raging energy ahead of me, and it wasn't letting up anytime soon. The heavenly lightning only seemed to grow stronger, crackling in the air, and the figure in the chariot wrapped itself in armor made of pure white lightning.

Why do I feel like the energy this entity possesses just tripled? This was not looking good for me. But I couldn't lose heart now. I couldn't afford to let fear creep in, not when I was so close.

I gritted my teeth, knowing the odds were against me, but I wasn't going to back down. I knew that the heavens were testing me, but I wouldn't fail. I would keep pushing forward. This was just another hurdle, and I was ready to face it head-on.

I rushed ahead, mimicking the entity's movements, wrapping myself in crimson armor. My scythe fully formed from the crimson lightning, now brimming with the power of the very laws I had stolen from the heavens. The energy pulsed through me, sharper and more intense than ever. With a roar, I slashed at the figure in the chariot, and it met my strike with its own. Two mighty attacks collided, sending shockwaves through the air, creating gusts of wind so powerful they uprooted trees in the distance. The sheer force of the clash rattled my bones, but I didn't flinch.

This is it, I thought, as the battle raged on. I was right at the edge, just before I had to clash with the enormous entity in the chariot. My lightning devoured its opponent with every clash, and I could feel myself growing stronger with each exchange. It was as if the very energy of the heavens fed me, fueled me, and I thrived on it.

But the chariot wasn't some simple thing formed of lightning. It was alive, pulsing with an energy that had a consciousness to it, and its fighting style reflected that. It was refined, seasoned—like a warrior who had been through countless battles in a past life. It moved with an elegance I couldn't deny, its strikes heavy and precise. I could feel the experience in its movements, and for a moment, I was overwhelmed by it. I lacked that level of mastery, that fluidity in my combat, but I made up for it with speed.

Despite that, I let my guard slip for a moment, and the lightning spear of the chariot stabbed into my waist. The pain hit me like a thunderclap. It wasn't deep, but it felt like my very insides were being torn apart. My body trembled as the world spun around me. The wound threatened to swallow me whole, a burning, searing pain like nothing I had ever felt before. It was as if the heavens themselves were clawing at me, trying to destroy me from the inside. But my lightning, my crimson power, retaliated almost instinctively, forcing the invader out of my body, pushing it away.

But still, I couldn't heal.

This is bad, I realized with a sinking feeling. The bleeding wouldn't stop. The laws of the heavens were blocking my regeneration, and I couldn't comprehend them yet. If I wanted to heal myself, I had to act fast. I had to devour this being, consume its energy before it consumed me.

If I don't, I'll die here, the thought echoed in my mind, louder than anything else. There was no time left for hesitation. It was now or never.

I pushed my soul energy to the absolute limit, forcing every ounce of crimson lightning I could summon into a frenzy. It was as if I was tapping into something far beyond my usual capacity, surpassing my own limitations. With every surge, I created a massive storm of lightning, a vortex that spiraled around the chariot and the entity, trapping them in a prison of pure destructive energy. The storm devoured them like a beast consuming its prey, shredding through their form with relentless power.
Your next read awaits at My Virtual Library Empire

I could feel it—my strength growing exponentially as I fed on the chaos around me. The more I consumed, the more the energy of the heavens and the lightning laws flowed into me, refining my very being. My senses sharpened, my understanding deepened, and it was as if my very soul was transforming into something new, something more powerful. For the first time, I truly understood this entity and the nature of the heavens, at least on a fundamental level.

This was no ordinary creature—it was the soul of a warrior from an ancient time, an old warrior who had fought for eons. And it did have a soul. But the reason I couldn't shackle it was clear now. The heavenly laws themselves were protecting it, acting as a shield, a wall that prevented me from binding its essence. I gritted my teeth, refusing to let that stop me.

I forced my crimson lightning forward, pushing it even further into the entity, determined to devour it entirely. The response was immediate—a blood-curdling scream erupted from the entity, shaking the very air around us. The scream reverberated deep within me, sending a chill down my spine, but I didn't flinch. I was too close now, too driven by the need to consume, to win.

But then—

BOOM!

The world exploded in a burst of force so powerful, so intense, that it sent me flying backward. My body was torn apart in an instant, half of it simply disappearing into the shockwave. The pain was overwhelming—burning, searing, but I couldn't scream. It felt like my very soul was being ripped apart. Yet, despite the agony, my eyes locked onto the aftermath. I could see it—pure, refined energy left in the wake of the explosion, the remnants of the entity's essence.

I didn't have time to think. The hunger in my soul flared, the crimson lightning calling to me. It was as if the energy itself invited me, an offering for me to consume. I pushed myself to move, ignoring the pain, ignoring the burning sensation that gripped my body. I staggered toward the energy, every step a struggle, but my lightning was ravenous.

With a final push, I threw myself into the energy, feeling it surge into me like a flood.