Overpowered Wizard-Chapter B4 Ch20: Without Para

“Devouring Darkness.” 𝙛𝓻𝒆𝒆𝒘𝙚𝓫𝙣𝙤𝒗𝙚𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

The moment those words left Para’s mouth, Zarian knew this fight wasn’t ending in one swift move. There was no time to feel shocked, either. His free evil mind was quick on the uptake. Para’s newly freed existence came with all the benefits of being Zarian’s creation, meaning she had her own version of his main bloodline power.

She can use my spells as if her body is a grimoire. Everything I’ve done, she can replicate while fusing it with her own magic. And she was able to take down Cal, another Ultra God. She’s strong!

And now she had her own version of his darkness. Zarian couldn’t help but find that a little funny. He kept creating his own problems like he was in a dark sitcom.

It was too late to pull back. He was committed.

He pushed his Overwhelming Darkness against Para’s Devouring Darkness, and the clash could be felt across the entire Mega World. It reverberated throughout the entire Infinita Star System for those who were sensitive enough to feel it regardless of which realm they were in.

Para’s darkness expanded like a lamprey mouth with tentacles instead of teeth. Zarian sent his darkness as one giant fuck-all beam into hers, and for the first few seconds, she engorged upon his power. It almost seemed like she could devour his darkness and come out stronger.

That was until Para’s Devouring Darkness buckled like any structure under too much pressure. Para let out a growl and tried to devour more, but her neophyte bloodline power was too young. Her bloodline was far beneath the level and maturity of Zarian’s bloodline, and it did come from him, after all. He was her originator, her sire.

Zarian pushed Lion Prince into the big edgy power duel and bent reality to his will, crushing Para’s darkness. At the last moment, he redirected the excess into the sky, but he couldn’t bend all of it.

Splintered beams broke free and whipped across the Mega World, reaching the other side of the entire planet. Continental thrones fell victim. Massive oceans surged as new ravines dug so deep into the crust that the sea level lowered in many parts. Heavenly staircases rained down from all over like apocalyptic meteorites.

The dark clouds cleared and revealed the wider Infinita Star System with its many stars. Then that was soon replaced with rising smoke and debris from the sheer destruction that scoured half the planet. And it could’ve been worse if Zarian hadn’t muscled the main bulk of the power into space. Somewhere out there, a random star might get annihilated by the passing beam until it finally fizzled out. If it fizzled out.

Billowing smoke covered the massive destruction left in the wake of the clash. Zarian ignored the notifications of the many slain. Achievements rained in. Then there was his Level 200 milestone. He could go up to the Champion Ranks now. He probably had a huge leg up in levels once he ranked up.

Zarian checked his mini-map and found there were at least ten contestants somewhere around him. Despite all the destruction and carnage, he doubted all one hundred thousand of the contestants would die that fast.

Still, he used up a lot of aura. And the rest he had was busy holding back his darkness.

He took a moment to sit on a piece of rubble. He reached into his pocket and realized his clothing was made of darkness. Para was the one who’d held all of their stuff. Would she still have a pocket dimension ability? Most likely, yes.

“I could use a treat from Foodie,” Zarian muttered, flicking at the brim of his bombastic hat.

Since he was waiting for the next major turn of events, he went through his colossal list of achievements and opened each one up. He’d gained a few new traits that affected his Willpower, Wonder, and Mysticism. Then there was the deluge of stats that followed that pumped his main three stats up. There were a few additions to his Agility, which he appreciated.

Without Para, he was going to need to monitor his speed and sharpness. As strong as he was in magic, he was more physically vulnerable now.

Overall, a multitude of skill levels went up. With Parasite Phantom gone, he could put Super Speed Force among his alpha skills. But there were a few notifications among many that held his interest the most.

<If you wish to advance a skill, please select a skill of lesser quality and levels to advance for a larger difference. You can even select Level 0 skills.>

<If you wish to combine multiple skills, please select skills of lesser quality and levels to advance for a better gain. You don’t have to combine many skills for a quality gain. You can even select Level 0 skills.>

He had nothing lesser in mind. Instead, it was time to focus on the major skills.

“Boys, I suppose it’s finally time, huh?” Zarian said, his grimoires phasing out of his body. Black rattled. Gator growled. Morphs hissed. And Void orbited with a metallic hum. They were all maxed out. There wasn’t much else he could do with them.

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Zarian smiled at them before casting a humorous gaze toward the billowing smoke that covered the scene of massive destruction in front of him. There was so much smoke and debris in the air, it was pouring down as a deluge.

He was pretty sure the world would get covered in the fallout and suffer a magical ice age or something. Granted, Zarian was pointedly ignoring the notifications warning that an entire Mega World was on the brink of becoming a Dying World.

“Para,” Zarian crooned. “I’ll let you hunt down the other tournament contestants if you need to get stronger. But keep it to just that, okay?”

The monstrous parasite woman stalked out of the smoke and debris clouds. The left side of her torso and face was obliterated. She’d lost two out of three tails. Her left hip and upper left leg were chewed apart. ꭆáNƟ₿Ë𝐬

She was struggling to patch herself up, too. She’d lost a lot of material from that exchange, so Zarian didn’t fault her for looking out of sorts.

She stumbled toward Zarian before coming to a shuffling stop near him.

“I’m not satisfied yet,” Para grunted. “I need another chance against you.” She clenched her three remaining fists. “It’s not just anger, Dad. It’s … this fervor that drives me to overcome you. The more you grow, the more you attract chaos and death and challenge. And that’s what I am. A parasite must feast on death and challenge. I … want to beat you!”

“You can be whatever you want, Para,” Zarian said calmly. “You’re as much a Darkrun as me and my sister at this point. You practically have it all. But you might need more time to understand yourself as your own entity. Hells, I’m barely keeping Thirty Percent Darkness under wraps.”

He smiled calmly.

Para shivered. She could see deep. Of course, she could. Inside of Zarian was a much, much greater monster. She hadn’t fallen far from the tree, really, but she was still much younger in this game than him when including his prior existences.

Which makes her win over Cal incredible. Either Cal was a weak Ultra God.

Or the Darkrun line was stupidly strong enough among Ultra Gods. Was Lucy herself in between? Stronger than most, but lesser than Zarian and Ariana? Or was Lucy her own monster? Zarian supposed there would be some interesting reevaluations for everybody evolved in power tiers.

“Go on ahead, Para Darkrun,” Zarian said. “An Ultra Goddess should flex a little and figure out her limits. Just be mindful of the little people, okay? And if you need help, you can always holla at me. Other than that, you can challenge me whenever you want. Love ya, kiddo.”

“Thank you … Dad.” She teetered as she turned away. “Yes, thank you. And yes, I still love you. Maybe more than I hate you. I shall persevere. I’ll come back and beat you. And maybe I won’t eat you. Or maybe I will. We shall see.”

She stepped through the void and disappeared, her flesh lighting up with spellcraft runes. Yeah, all of his spells were a part of her body. She was a living grimoire, a sorceress, and a great parasitic monstress who lived up to the name Darkrun.

And he unleashed her onto an unprepared universe. Hopefully she’d calm down from being berserk. Everyone would prefer a much mellow and happier Para, but that might take time. Maybe lots of time.

Zarian checked his mini-map and saw that the closest red dot disappeared. Yeah, that cleared any doubt. He wasn’t sure at first, but it looked like Para was part of the tournament now.

Had Infinita sneaked that in? Or was it too much trouble to let her rampage around without being part of the rules? If she became one of the eight contestants for the Final Round, that was going to be a doozy.

“That also means the other systems might want to go after her.” Zarian sighed, scratching under his hat, his tail swiping lazily behind him. “Man, we have another ultra running around. Would Foodie become ultra? Or does she have a ways to go? She’s got a divine trait, but that doesn’t equate to having an ultra bloodline.”

He should probably focus more on himself. He could initiate his Third Class Advancement and then flip into the Champion Ranks. But doing so would leave him vulnerable. He doubted Para would strike him down while he was vulnerable. That girl wanted a fight. But he couldn’t say the same of the remaining contestants. Especially after that display.

“Man! I’m finally Level 200! And I can’t advance and rank up!” Zarian hopped into the air and applied some gravity magic to make him float up like an astronaut. “It’s weird. Para would’ve normally said something.”

Para was gone.

When was the last time he’d been on his own truly?

Zarian felt a sudden wave of regret. Then he breathed deep. In and out. Letting the wave of regret, desperation, and fear of loneliness pass him by. Maybe this was good for him. And Para had helped him plenty enough already. It was time to rely on his own power and control.

“Let me check on Racella first.” Zarian moved through the void, his grimoires following him. He landed in a smoky ravine where a fragment from his overwhelming clash had struck down a village. Zarian grimaced before hopping into the ravine and flying with a mix of air and gravity magic.

He found Racella at a cave entrance carved into the ravine wall. She was even more pale in the face than any elf could be. She immediately fell to her knees and pressed her head to the ground, and Zarian could tell she was too afraid to do otherwise but present the most respect.

Could he fault her?

Zarian was covered in whipping strands of monstrous darkness. Some of it dripped off of him like thick oil. Some of his darkness rose upward like smoke. The power of his darkness defied reason and common physics. It was metaphysically beyond clear parameters that kept the elements in check. His darkness was a breaker of checks and balances and didn’t care to follow anyone’s perceptions of what should be.

“I’m going to … go solo for a little while. Just keep your head down, Racella. Also, you are free to do as you please.”

“I’m sorry, milord. I’m sorry. It’s just…” Racella trailed off. Tears fell from her eyes. She was deeply, deeply afraid of him.

Zarian sighed while trying to keep the hurt from entering his voice. “I’m dreadful, aren’t I?”

She whimpered. Her tears flowed thicker. She couldn’t even bring herself to speak to him further despite being one level away from 300. And behind her, the villagers she’d saved were even more afraid.

Children, women, and old folks cried. The men couldn’t bring themselves to even act as a fighting force. They were all pressed into submission by his mere presence.

Zarian took another deep breath and shrugged. He’d always feared being ostracized. Being dreaded, tossed away, or looked at as different. He’d suffered this since childhood. But now he had to come to terms with it.

He had to believe he would be okay.

“Farewell. And thanks for trying.” Zarian zipped out through the void. He ended up high in the Mega World’s atmosphere. The smoke, debris, and raw destruction were mushrooming everywhere faster, mixing with the natural dark clouds that hovered at the top of massive celestial staircases and continental thrones that remained on the other side of the world. There were storm clouds forming because of what he and Para had done.

“Damn, man. This is overkill.”