Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 79: What did you do

Vale watched Erok breathing a little faster than before. "Alright. That was intense. She’s better than the first one, for sure. Maybe that Vale guy won’t be that bad after all," Erok muttered.

He walked over the girl’s blood, kicking her body for good measure as he made his way up another set of stairs and into a hallway. Suddenly, he paused and tilted his head up, a frown on his face.

He was watching the ceiling when it collapsed inward with a blast of fire! Vale used Shadow Step to appear further away, his sword raised in front of him.

Finally, Erok saw Vale. He was a man still in or recently past his coming of age. His hair was like wild darkness behind him, and his eyes were sharp green. His hands and feet glowed like molten stone.

"What did you do?" Vale asked in a voice like whispering flames.

Erok twitched as a wave of bloodlust slammed into him. He gasped, took a step back, and nearly broke down there. But he was an assassin who’d killed many, and he returned the bloodlust in equal measure. "I killed those two! I’ve returned the humiliation you brought on us!"

"So, you were sent by the Scuffed Bones," Vale said in a wooden voice.

Erok smiled a nasty smile. "It’s your fault they died. You should not have embarrassed us; you should have joined us! You think you’re some hot shit?"

Vale didn’t answer. His face was hidden by shadows, as if his very anger was darkening the space. He didn’t speak. He only took a single step forward, and suddenly he was in front of Erok, a fist wrapped in fire already fired.

Everything slowed for Erok. He felt as if he was falling into a pit of fire. The weight field around him failed to stop the punch’s movement! He did the only thing he could: Shadow Step backward!

He was breathing hard when he popped out of the shadow. He looked at Vale. "What the... No wonder the team leader of 34 fell to you! He must have underestimated you. Hehehe, I won’t make the same mistake."

Vale didn’t say anything. He only watched.

Erok straightened, put the wooden box down, and returned the sword, all the while not taking his eyes off Vale. "Maybe it’s time I finally get serious as well."

A purple energy of darkness gathered in Erok’s hand, and then he touched the wall of the hallway. "Die!"

The wall ripped. The energy he gathered soaked into the wall like fresh blood on soil. Then, around Vale, spikes of purple and black suddenly jutted out of the wall and ceiling. Sharp and long, like spears, they clamped down like a beast’s maw.

There was a pause, and then suddenly Vale exploded. Red fire blasted out of his body like living torches. His clothes burned away into ashes, and the spiked attack melted away in the inferno that suddenly appeared around him.

All the while, Vale didn’t look away from his opponent. But Erok did. He made the mistake of squeezing his eyes shut to shield against the inferno, even with the shield he put around him. When he looked again, he didn’t see Vale where he once was!

"Huh? Where’s...!!"

Erok heard a whoosh. He felt intense heat, and then he saw a flaming palm suddenly appear in front of him. He only had time to think, ’Shit!’

The hand slapped him in the face so hard he blacked out for an instant. He rammed into a wall, straight into a room. He heard the crack of a bone breaking, but he was in too much pain to bother.

Above all, he was feeling too much fear for his life. He clumsily stood up, crouching down and surrounding himself with a ball of dark shield.

Seconds later, he felt heat and knew Vale was back. Vale’s mouth worked, and then words of power fell from his lips like hot coals.

The darkness shield around Erok cracked, but he’d already Shadow Stepped to the other side of the room. Vale only destroyed the shield! Erok finished casting his spell, and silence lingered.

Vale frowned. He felt something stir around him, but he wasn’t about to point it out. His face tightened, and he said, "It ends now. Dominion!"

A reddish glow began to form around Vale, like a painting of dawn. But then it suddenly froze, warped, and trembled. His eyes widened as his power turned against him. The red-gold curved around and latched onto him. His immunity to fire shook under the strain.

The floor and walls began to melt like wax. Vale took a step forward and staggered, his hand outstretched, when suddenly he felt his own fire consume him from the inside out. Within minutes, he fell as charred meat.

Erok stood there in his corner, looking at Vale’s fallen body. His breath came in short gasps, and his heart was beating fast. "That was extremely dangerous. No wonder he was able to defeat them! He’s strong for sure, but nothing compares to me."

He stood up on shaky feet. "I should loot the place. Senk must have some good stuff still left behind."

He walked down the hallway, skirting around Vale and the melted part of the floor. His mouth curled at the smell of burning flesh.

He was walking when he suddenly paused. He froze. The hair at the back of his neck tingled, and for an instant, he felt as if he was at the mouth of a beast. "Wha...what?" 𝙛𝒓𝓮𝒆𝔀𝒆𝙗𝓷𝒐𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝓶

He turned and recoiled at what he saw. His legs trembled, and his eyes widened. "You’re dead!"

Standing in front of him was the big man Vale had first killed. He carried his crushed head in his hand, and the mangled lips spoke. "Am I now?"

The big man’s hands reached out and drew up the woman Erok killed. She turned her eyes on him. "Am I dead too?"

Erok wasn’t scared of ghosts. No Knight worth their mark was, but there was something fundamentally different about seeing the people he had just killed standing up to question him!

His legs were frozen when suddenly he felt heat behind him, and he didn’t have to turn to know who it was.