WorldCrafter - Building My Underground Kingdom-Chapter 276: Power of Chaos

Ben’s eyes narrowed.

The golden blast shot toward him like a beam.

BOOM!!!

The impact shoved him back across the rooftop.

Stone shattered under his boots. His wings flared, catching his balance.

Golden energy crawled along his arms like tar, trying to dig into his skin.

Ben’s Primordial Flame surged.

The rainbow fire inside him flared once, then burned it away with a hiss.

Ben looked up.

Bodies rose from the streets. Dead Nephirid.

Even broken chunks of flesh and bone.

They floated toward the Ash King.

As they drew close, they broke apart into particles of dark light.

A laugh rolled out from the Ash King’s throat.

"Fufufufu... hahaha..."

He spread his arms.

"Do you think I stayed silent this whole time?"

His eyes were no longer gold.

They were black, with red cracks running through them.

"Since you threw me away...

I will take this power."

Dark energy exploded from his chest.

The flame blade in his hand cracked, then melted into black smoke.

Ben felt the air change.

The Ash King’s voice turned hoarse.

"Once this power sealed me. Now it will become mine."

In the sky, Eve’s lips curled.

"Now this is interesting. I never expected him to learn this power."

Her eyes followed the Ash King’s transformation.

Baal’s gaze narrowed.

Dark energy spread around him, cracking the chains on his body even further.

"You twisted the power of a Primordial element."

Eve’s voice stayed calm.

"The Primordial elements are creation.

They make rules. They build worlds."

She lifted one finger.

A thin thread of power appeared, dark and twisted.

"It is amazing, but not enough.

This power is something I found. I named it the law of chaos."

It is nothing, yet it can contain everything."

Baal’s jaw clenched.

"You want to transform the Primordial elements."

Eve nodded once.

"It is necessary.

There is no point if I cannot make all of them truly mine."

On the streets below, the Nephirid survivors began to move.

They walked toward the Ash King with blank faces.

Elvira’s breath caught.

"They are being called," she said.

Draeven’s fists shook.

"That bastard is eating them."

The Nephirid who got close began to melt.

Their bodies collapsed into dark slurry.

The mess surged upward and wrapped around the Ash King like a cocoon.

Each time someone reached him, the cocoon swelled.

Ben’s flame surged.

The rainbow fire inside him lit up again.

He realized it.

The blast was a ploy, for the ashking to buy time.

"Nephirid, stay down!"

A wave of authority spread outward.

The Nephirid with the Primordial Flame blessing froze mid-step. Their bodies trembled. Some fell to their knees.

Ben’s eyes narrowed.

He could feel resistance. The Ash King’s calling was still pushing.

His chaos was trying to overwrite Ben’s order.

Ben raised the pickaxe. His wings spread wider.

"Gather," Ben ordered.

"All Nephirid, move to Apophis. Now."

The ones who could still move turned and stumbled away.

Elvira exhaled. Relief and fear mixed on her face.

Seeing them remind her on the war on her last regression.

Draeven looked at Ben, feeling complicated.

He could feel the calling too, deep in his soul.

Ben did not look away from the cocoon.

"Seems I am too late."

The cocoon cracked.

A black line split down the middle.

A pressure rolled out and pushed dust into the air.

"GROOARRRR...!"

The cocoon burst.

BOOOOM!!!

A massive figure stepped out, but the form no longer looked like the Ash King.

Dark plates pushed out from his body like bone.

His chest armor sank into his flesh.

The seams fused shut until armor and body became one.

A horn broke out from his forehead, then another.

They curved backward as they grew, scraping the air and leaving thin distortions behind them.

His helm cracked and fell away in pieces, showing a face drowned in darkness.

His shoulders swelled, then split.

Spikes burst out along his back, then stretched wider until they looked like broken wings.

His hands twisted into claws.

Dark aura poured off each claw until the edges vanished from sight.

The Ash King lifted his head and stared at Ben.

His eyes were black with red irises, like a beast.

Ben’s throat tightened.

’This presence... it feels like a daemon, but it is not the same.’

Elvira’s voice cut in, sharp and urgent.

"Ben! Be careful. His law is distorting every other law.

Even your Primordial Flame will be affected."

The Ash King moved.

BOOM!

He lunged toward Ben like a crashing beast.

His claw rose high and slashed down.

The claw did not reach Ben.

But the slash still landed.

Ben’s chest ripped open.

Blood sprayed.

Ben’s eyes widened.

He did not feel space bend. He did not feel a warning.

It was like the attack appeared out of nowhere.

Ben forced his wings to snap open and jumped back.

His flesh crawled and stitched together, but the wound fought him.

A thin line of dark light stayed inside the cut, chewing at his regeneration.

Ben raised the pickaxe.

His jaw clenched.

The Ash King smiled.

"Good," he said, "This power is better than that punny flame."

Ben stepped forward He swung the pickaxe straight at the Ash King’s head.

BOOOOM!!!

The pickaxe hit.

But the impact felt wrong.

The Ash King’s head did not move.

It was as if the force was swallowed before it could spread.

Ben’s arms numbed from the rebound.

The Ash King’s claw flicked.

A second slash landed without distance.

Ben’s shoulder exploded into meat.

He gritted his teeth and twisted away at the last moment, letting it tear his wing membrane instead of his neck.

Elvira’s circles snapped into place behind him.

"Hold him for one breath!" she shouted.

Draeven roared and charged from the side.

His shovel came down like an execution blade.

CLANG!!!

This time the Ash King blocked with his arm.

Dark plates and purple flame collided.

Draeven was thrown back like he hit a wall.

He skidded across the stone, boots carving two deep lines.