Chapter 78: If You’re Heavy, Accept it.

The chains aimed for Aden’s didn’t follow a predictable trajectory like last time, instead they took a more haphazard motion similar to the movements of the Vassals.

But that made no difference to Aden. His Void perception had already connected the dots to the seemingly haphazard movements and had predicted their determined paths.

But knowing and acting on information were two vastly different things.

Despite the ability to Glitch as many times as he wanted to, Aden decided not to abuse the ability, at least not in this fight. What would be the point of running away from a battle that was meant to improve his combat abilities and locomotion?

So he let them them inch closer, the varying flight paths continually readjusting themselves in his mind in an effort to bypass his defenses.

Lorelei had deviated from the straight path she’d followed alongside the Vassals and took to the jagged rocks to provide her support. Skidding through each layer of rock with practiced ease, her eyes never left Aden’s crouched form.

Two glowing short swords made purely of her energy manifested in her hands as she closed in with a deadly cold expression that accompanied her whenever there were foes to decapitate.

The chains closed in, whistling through the air with the sound of a thousand angry hornets. Because of their haphazard motion, they weren’t just attacking they were naturally weaving themselves to create a chaotic lattice of iron that blocked every possible exit.

Aden’s Void Perception saw the trap for what it was. A cage meant to pin him long enough for Lorelei’s twin blades to find the weaknesses in his Adaptive Skin.

And yet, he didn’t move until the first chain was an inch from his left temple.

Clang.

His head tilted just enough to let the chain graze his ear. The Passive Adaptation flared, not across his whole head, but in a localized, coin-sized patch exactly where the iron touched.

The chain sparked and skipped off his temple, but before it could retreat, Aden’s left hand which was the one filled with the most Void-density snapped out and grabbed it.

His Void absorbed the kinetic energy it possessed with frightening speed, before sending the loose chain towards the six others which were half an inch against his neck.

Like snakes in a frenzy, the chains entangled themselves in a chaotic fashion and were blown off–course mere milliseconds before they could make contact with his neck.

But he had used his concentration on the chain.

Lorelei capitalized.

She launched off a jagged rock pillar, her violet blades blurring into a cross-slash aimed at the base of Aden’s throat. She moved so fast that the air behind her cracked.

Aden’s eyes tracked her, but his body was still occupied with the chain.

’The 0.8 seconds is too long,’ Aden growled internally.

He manually forced a burst of Adaptive Resonance into his neck, bypasssing the auto-timer. But the effort was like trying to pull a heavy anchor out of thick mud.

Lorelei’s blades hit his throat a split second before the skin could fully harden.

Screeeech.

The sound was like a knife on a chalkboard. The violet energy blades carved a shallow, burning V into his skin. It wasn’t deep enough to hit the windpipe, but the heat of her energy sizzled against his flesh, the smell of ozone and burnt skin filling the air.

But Aden’s eyes remained calm. He immediately used the momentum of her strike to his advantage.

As Lorelei passed over him, he didn’t attempt to punch her, since that would take far too long, instead, he used his right shoulder which weighed a thousand pounds of obsidian, and shrugged upward.

It was a minimal movement, barely three inches of travel. But with his density, it was like being hit by tens of charging beasts.

Lorelei’s ribs audibly groaned as the shrug caught her mid-air. She was sent tumbling upward, her violet blades flickering as she struggled to maintain her manifestation.

But she didn’t let the minor setback throw her off her momentum. Her eyes still focused on Aden’s silver hair, she blinked, and a small burst of ethereal violet energy floated from the corner of her eyes.

The chains which had gained a far darker and ominous hue were already on another collision course to him.

The linking chains didn’t just aim for Aden’s head or chest this time, instead they retained their haphazard formation while simultaneously slithering towards each of his limbs. Two charged towards his neck and one prepared to wrap themselves around his torso.

The game had been won. Lorelei had successfully casted her mind manipulation on Aden, potentially forcing him in a fixed position, and the chains which had increased their speed and versatility by absorbing more Void from Aden were already on an improved formation to bind him.

But her expression didn’t show any flicker of joy. If anything it only turned grim.

And rightfully so.

Because before she could even begin her descent, Aden’s voice echoed louder than the cave allowed, each word sending a small ripple of emptiness throughout the cave.

“I understand it now.”

As the violet mist from Lorelei’s eyes tried to invade Aden’s mind, it hit a wall of absolute, freezing nothingness.

The previous attacks she’d launched against the Entity previously had raised his defenses against them to greater heights. To Aden, the mental attack felt like a single drop of ink trying to color a pitch-black ocean.

“The weight isn’t the problem,” Aden thought, his internal voice echoing with the Entity’s dark resonance. “The problem is that I’m trying to move the weight with my muscles. I should be moving it with my intent.”

The chains were less than a centimeter from his limbs, their dark iron links humming with the Void they had stolen from him.

The thought of using Glitch was less than a ghost of a thought in his mind before it was discarded immediately. He had to test the theory he’d formulated mere minutes after making contact with the Void chains.

Aden didn’t know how exactly he did it, but he willed the Void in his bones to expand its gravitational pull.

THUM-BUM.

His heart beat once, a heavy, metallic thud that resonated through the floor. Suddenly, the chains that were slithering toward him were jerked toward his body as if he had become a massive magnet.

The Eight Vassals holding the chains were yanked forward, their feet skidding across the stone as they lost their footing. They had intended to bind him, instead, Aden had turned himself into the center of their orbit.

“Lorelei,” Aden said, his eyes now two bottomless pits of swirling obsidian. “Your mistake was thinking I was trapped with these chains. The chains are just extensions of me now.”

With a roar that tore through the silence of the cave, Aden spun.

He didn’t use the strength of his fair, delicate-looking arms. He used the centrifugal force of his obsidian skeleton. Because he was so dense, once he started rotating, he became a human hurricane.

The chains, still connected to the Vassals, were whipped around his body and were launched into the air like ragdolls caught in a tornado.

Lorelei, still mid-descent, tried to manifest a shield of violet energy, but the sheer wind-pressure of Aden’s rotation was stripping the atmosphere away. She felt her lungs burn as the vacuum he created began to choke her.

CRASH. SMASH. BOOM.

One by one, the Eight Vassals were slammed into the cavern walls, the floor, and the ceiling as Aden swung the chains with the power of a god-king. The stone of the mountain itself groaned under the impact of their bodies.

Then, Aden stopped instantly.

The sudden cessation of momentum should have shattered a normal man’s spine, but his obsidian frame absorbed the shock like it was nothing. He stood in the center of a newly formed crater, the chains falling limp and lifeless at his feet.

He looked up at Lorelei, who was surprisingly standing, her breaths coming in cold, erratic exhales.

Lorelei and Aden’s eyes locked for two beats, a battle frenzied smile, then she spoke with a voice edged with provocation and excitement.

“You’re cheating.”

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