Advent of the Three Calamities

Lazarus more or less had a vague idea of Sylas’s intentions. Although he didn’t have much time to think because of the urgency of the situation, he wasn’t stupid enough not to know that Sylas was aware of his intentions the moment he took the mirror.

Sylas obviously knew that he was trying to collect the Goddess relic.

There was a very high chance he’d wait and bait him to get the mirror.

That was why he didn’t collect the eye himself, but had Pebble collect it directly, using [Lament of Lies] on the black cat instead of himself. This caught Sylas off guard and resulted in Lazarus obtaining the eye.

With that being said, he didn’t come completely unscathed as he felt several of his ribs broken from the impact of the attack.

But more than that…

Lazarus felt a cool sensation wash over him as he came in contact with the eye.

The sensation was hard to describe, but it was almost as though his mind cleared up and information started to flood his brain.

He understood almost immediately what needed to be done, and he didn’t waste time, stabbing his own eye and ripping it out.

Puchi!

The pain was intense, and his blood fused with the crimson waters, but Lazarus paid no mind to the pain.

He only had one goal at the moment.

…And that was to fully merge with the eye as he brought it directly towards his now empty socket and placed it inside.

“———!”

From the moment he channeled his mana, the eye started to stir, squirming in his socket as a Lazarus felt an ancient and terrifying energy filter through his head.

It made him freeze for a moment, alongside the world around him.

“Ahhhhhh!”

A scream eventually ripped out of his mouth, spreading past the water that surrounded him.

The pain had grown so intense that he found himself unable to restrain the scream. He was worried that his moment of vulnerability would give Sylas an opening to attack, but it was much to his surprise to see that Sylas was frozen in place.

Frozen?

Lazarus looked around and realized everything around him had frozen in place.

Although he didn’t truly understand why, this made him feel a lot more at ease as the pain in his eye intensified, causing every part of his body to convulse beneath the depths of the water.

Water sizzled as the eye started to grow hotter.

Sizzle~

The pain grew alongside the sizzle.

“Ukh!”

Lazarus lost count of time then.

It felt like days had passed, or even weeks, but he wasn’t sure.

Time seemed to have completely stopped in that moment.

By the time Lazarus regained himself, the world around him also started to recover, with time flowing back into its natural flow.

And eventually, his gaze fell on Sylas.

“You… What have you done?”

Sylas had a look of extreme apprehension as he stared at Lazarus.

Though Lazarus didn’t notice any obvious changes in his body, what he didn’t realize was that the relic’s lingering energy was quietly leaking from his eye, making him seem intensely oppressive to Sylas.

‘I’m not sure what’s going on, but this is a chance.’

His right eye still burned, and his body felt rather drained. Thankfully, Sylas didn’t know that, and Lazarus immediately went on the offensive as he pressed his foot against the seabed, causing a large black film to ripple out from his body, enveloping the surroundings as different colored orbs began to float suspended in the air.

“Wha…”

Before Sylas could even figure out what was happening, hands shot out from within the dark film, shooting for the orbs and grasping them, changing color in accordance with the color of the orb they touched.

This all happened incredibly quickly as Lazarus hid within the darkness, waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

At this very moment, he wanted to use the power of the relic.

He wanted to see just what it could do.

However, he had no choice but to restrain himself as information continued to pile up into his mind, slowly allowing him to better understand what the eye did.

It would take at least a couple of minutes for him to fully grasp everything, and in the meantime, he planned on either settling things with Sylas or waiting long enough to be able to use the eye.

BANG!

Several dozen red hands shot in the direction of Sylas, striking him from all sides as he dodged and blocked all of the attacks without too much trouble.

The attacks appeared to have no effect on him, and understandably so.

He was a Tier 8 user.

How could something like this hurt him?

The only reason why he had yet to fully retaliate was that he was worried about the eye. He didn’t know what he did, and recalling the previous pressure, he grew even more cautious.

None of this escaped Lazarus’s eyes as his mind churned with all sorts of thoughts as he tried to think of a way to handle him while sending more and more hands in his direction.

His first thought was emotive magic.

Lazarus wanted to use his emotive magic to take care of Sylas. It seemed to be the most logical and best solution, but Lazarus quickly pushed the thought away.

‘…He isn’t a regular human as far as I know. There’s a very high chance that he might not be affected by my Emotive Magic.’

In fact, he probably wanted to experience his emotive magic.

It would not only give away his location, but it could also help with the voices inside his mind.

Lazarus could still remember the voices he had heard back in the Temple of the Dying Light.

He was also able to more or less understand Sylas’s goal in trying to take him.

‘He wants my emotive magic in order to truly become human.’

Clenching his teeth, Sylas’s eyes sharpened as he hastily looked around.

“Where the hell are you? Come out and stop hiding like a rat!”

Runes started to form in the air as a terrifying pressure started to spread out from Sylas’s body, pushing the hands that were reaching for him away as the domain started to ripple under the intense pressure.

Just a little push, and Sylas was confident in breaking the domain apart.

“If you don’t come out then——!”

Before Sylas could get all of his words out, he felt a strange fluctuation coming from behind him, and his lips gently pulled up as the space rippled to display a familiar figure, his body taunt and ready to ambush him.

It was too bad his intentions were obvious, as Sylas caught the approaching attack without much effort, grasping the incoming fist and striking with his own.

BANG!

Sylas felt the impact of his fist and was certain he had hit Lazarus.

However, he remained alert. He had been fooled too many times to let his guard down like this as he looked towards the stumbling figure, as he carefully wiped his bleeding nose.

Slowly raising his head, Lazarus looked at Sylas.

‘As expected, there is something wrong with my movements. I can’t focus properly.’

He was still trying to get used to the newfound power. Although his vision was clear. Almost as clear as it was before, he was still not seeing things correctly. Things were… on the left more than they were before.

Lazarus was aware that this was merely momentary and that he needed to wait a little bit before he could see just like before, but he didn’t really have that luxury.

Swoosh!

Ripping past the many hands that were trying to entrap him, Sylas shot in the direction of Lazarus, his speed abnormally fast.

“…..!”

Lazarus tried to react, but Sylas was just too fast for him as he felt a terrifying blow to his stomach that sent him crashing back.

“Ha.”

Lazarus could hear Sylas’s chuckle as he scattered back.

However, he paid no mind to it, focusing his entire attention on his right eye. Slowly but surely, he was starting to get accustomed to the eye.

The world around him was starting to slow down, and Sylas’s movements were also starting to slow down right before his very eyes. Before, he struggled to keep up with his movements, but he no longer had the same trouble as his movements became progressively slower in his eyes.

It was an extremely euphoric feeling that Lazarus couldn’t get rid of, his eyes turning bloodshot as he stared at Sylas.

‘More, more…!’

But….

The moment he blinked his eyes, the world returned to the same speed as before, catching Lazarus completely off guard.

“——!”

He felt something strike his already wounded chest, and a jolt of pain surged through him as electricity coursed down his body.

For a moment, his mind blanked.

By the time he snapped out of it, his domain had already crumbled apart, and he found himself lying on the seabed, Sylas appearing not far from where he was.

‘Ah, shit…’

Lazarus tried getting up, but the injuries in his body were starting to catch up to him.

He kept his eyes open, watching as the world slowed down once more, slowing with each passing second that he kept his eyes open.

That was also how he understood the power more.

‘So long as I don’t blink, I can slow down the flow of time in my eyes.’

It sounded easy in principle, but the more he kept his right eye open, the more it burned. His eyelid grew heavier at the same time, almost as if trying to force itself shut. It took everything for Lazarus to keep his eye open. Even as it started to burn, he kept it open as the world before him slowed down even further.

Sylas’s movements became easier to read in the slowed-down world, and he finally retaliated, lowering his body slightly before thrusting upward with his fist.

As he did, he blinked and time resumed at its normal speed.

BANG!

Lazarus felt his attack land against something solid as Sylas’s eyes widened, and he was thrown back.

“Ukh…”

Lazarus wanted to give chase immediately, but he was completely drained. His muscles burned, and his injuries stung.

He could only remain standing on his spot as Sylas recovered in the distance, staring at him with wide eyes.

From his face, it was clear that he was still shocked by what had happened.

Lazarus felt a little proud while staring at the sight.

He had managed to go head-to-head against a Tier 8 user without the need of his emotive magic.

This was a first for him, and it felt great.

…But Lazarus also understood that he wouldn’t get so lucky the next time.

Thankfully, this wasn’t the only feature of the eye.

He had merely scratched the surface of all of its abilities.

Slowly, as his lips pulled into a grin, he extended his hand towards Sylas and motioned with his hand, almost mockingly.

“Come.”

This was just the start for him.

He wanted to test all his new abilities.

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