Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 137: A slash

Vale slashed. 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝕨𝕖𝗯𝚗𝚘𝕧𝕖𝗹.𝗰𝗼𝕞

A blinding red flash followed, and the sword arc that emerged jumped and cleaved the air, a twisting snake of pure energy that sucked in all the air in the room like a dry heave. It crossed the distance so fast it seemed to blink.

But Frexon was ready, and a twelve-meter-tall portal was already in front of him. Even then, he took several steps back.

The sword arc slammed into the portal, and it shuddered and rippled as if it would collapse. The edges cracked and trembled, but it still managed to suck in the attack.

Frexon laughed out loud. "Aha! Crazy bastard, I see why you are the new rank 1 now! I can’t even use your attack because you’ve damaged the portal. But you won’t be able to touch me...!!"

Vale slashed again. The attack was less powerful than the previous one that had taken half of his core, but it was still strong. It blazed forward with a cracking sound.

Frexon tilted his brows, his face relaxed as he saw the diminished power of the attack.

But the moment the attack touched the surface, the portal that had been previously damaged collapsed in a splinter. Frexon was left directly facing the sword arc.

This was exactly what Vale had been aiming for!

But Frexon wouldn’t have been a Captain if he wasn’t worth it; his reaction speed was incredibly fast. A portal manifested to his left, and he combined it into something narrow that looked vaguely like a sword.

He slashed at the sword arc with his portal sword, and it looked as if he was dragging splintering space with him as the two clashed.

Boom!

An explosion of fire sent him backward, almost ramming him into the wall, but he disappeared and reappeared through a portal. His eyes immediately went to the sword he was holding and to his hand, which was bleeding and burned with fire, though it was already healing as he watched.

His mouth curled. "You are strong, and I shudder to see what you will become if you advance to Errant Rank. A shame that you made the Scuffed Bones angry."

Vale was breathing too hard to reply. He was holding his side and breathing through his mouth to take in as much air as he could. With the fight against the Yeti and now this, Vale was spent.

’Shit... maybe I should have toned it down... but now I can’t even run...’

Frexon shook his head. "Well, time to go. Don’t worry, I’ll plead for you to be given a painless death. You deserve it. You made me bleed, after all."

Just then, the room darkened, and an essence that reeked of tranquility and solemnity swept over the area like a low tide. It was a familiar essence to Vale.

Frexon blinked and slowed, frowning as his eyes drooped as if he would fall asleep. The spatial sword he was holding shrank in his hand.

At the same time, darkness pooled and gathered in the corner near Vale. Shadow Step!

Slya emerged from the darkness, her face tightened and focused as if she was holding something tightly with her mind.

Vale was surprised to see her, and he knew that Tiber must have been doing his best to put Frexon to sleep. He felt a wave of irritation but then sighed. ’I should have known they wouldn’t leave as I told them.’

’But all this won’t help.’

Frexon snapped out of the forced sleep that had been imposed on him. His eyes sharpened and went directly to where Slya was trying to get Vale to move with her. His expression suddenly warped with anger. "Tricks... a worthy Knight who is proud of their Order wouldn’t ever do such!"

His sword lengthened, and he raised it, but he didn’t get the chance to use it. The ceiling collapsed under the crushing weight of a punch made from forged darkness.

The punch, twenty meters wide, smashed into Frexon, sending him crashing through the stone floor to the room below.

Beside Vale, Slya grunted and held him by the shoulder. "Come, let’s go before he recovers!"

"When who recovers?" a voice said from the side. Frexon was standing on the edge of a portal midair. His clothes were dusty, and his spatial sword was gone.

Around them, small portals bloomed. Vale’s eyes widened as he realized what was coming. "Shield!"

Darkness surged and formed around them as Slya forged a dome.

Attacks rained down on the shield, smashing into it and cracking through. More followed, and the shield crumbled, melting into darkness.

But there was no Vale and Slya.

Where they should have been was a hole leading to the room below.

Frexon stared at the hole with a sigh. He rubbed his face, smearing the dust further, and scowled. "I hate pests. They’ve actually made me use the sword technique, which is Errant Rank, and now another one?"

He muttered, his words dripping like strings that pulled and joined power together.

Outside the building, portals no larger than a palm began to appear almost randomly. From each portal, a red eye formed, watching the scenery.

Suddenly, all the portals with the eyes turned in one direction. They saw three people running, their forms partially covered by darkness.

In the room, Frexon smiled and snapped his fingers. "Got you!"

The little portals shot forward like small birds, streaking red as they chased after the running figures. When they got above them, they swooped down like a falling tide.

Vale saw them coming and stopped running. Tiber and Slya didn’t expect him to stop so suddenly and ran past him. By the time they turned, the portals had already formed around Vale and vanished.

The two of them froze, stared at each other, and then began to run back to Team 1’s building. They tore through the door and up the stairs to the topmost room.

But they found no Vale. Nor did they see Errant Knight Frexon. They were both gone.