Emeric mobilized all his inner reserves. With his remaining drops of stamina, he applied all his experience and skill in manipulating energies. Every cell in his body and every twist and turn, just so he wouldn't die on the spot.
A typhoon of white streams of energy exploded in a huge mushroom that scattered any hints of the remaining terrain from their battle. Uselessness swirled right where the Emperor had stood before. If one squinted through all this riot of demonic power, a more dense figure could be seen. Only there was no longer a demon there.
There was no longer a Belial Dichauser.
There was only Uselessness.
In the history of the entire demonic race, there was one strongest representative, who was able to master his generic gift so masterfully that he created a new technique that left a mark in the hearts of all other representatives of the supernatural. No one had ever been able to replicate it again. Many knew it was possible, but repeat it? Not even close...
And that demon's name is Aldis Lucifer. The strongest demon in history.
And the legendary technique, the quintessence of all skill and power, was called True Form.
Aldis clutches all her immense demonic power in her soul and is completely transformed into a force of destruction. In the place of the most beautiful girl, a humanoid demonic force appears. Hideous and unnatural, so aggressive and powerful that the demons below the top class will simply be vaporized on the spot. The rest will put all their strength just to get their feet away. In the current Hell, you could count on the fingers of your hand all the demons who had seen such a thing live, and Emeric was not on that list.
But now he knew roughly what it looked like. Only roughly, because Aldis had to be ten times stronger than Dichauser.
«A-A-A! - Emeric screamed as he felt the power of destruction failing. The all-consuming stream of uselessness simply tore down any obstacles. It didn't care how much he 'twisted' his power. There was too great a difference in the amount and density of energies.
The sight of a rampaging lump of uselessness was wrong. More precisely, it was unnatural. Demonic energy in such quantity and quality made everything around it cry hysterically. Space twisted into knots with disgust, and sounds simply disappeared when the uselessness cut off the air. The very sight of this disgusting obscenity made him instinctively hold back gagging. Something like this shouldn't exist in nature...
It was Deehaeuser's True Form. Turns out he was the second demon to figure out the trick. Well, let's be honest, he cheated big time.
The Royal Figure increased the strength of its user by dozens of times. But that path was closed to the upper class, otherwise, as Azazel said, they would simply burst. And Dichauser had long since crossed that very threshold.
That's exactly what he saw. The death and final requiem of the Emperor. The Royal Figure increased its already considerable strength in an instant, causing a chain reaction. Now it wasn't Dichauser using Uselessness, but the other way around. Uselessness used Dichauser to destroy everything around him.
Aldis is the only user of this form due to extremely strict requirements. First, demonic power, surpassing ninety-nine percent of all 'living' demons in history. Dichauser bypassed this requirement. Second, a will capable of overpowering any demonic instincts. When you turn into True Form, you give your body over to demonic energy. And it takes a lot of effort to keep your sanity. Only Aldis could do that. And the Emperor.
Wisdom told me that he was probably beyond saving. He was nowhere near in control of his True Form.
But that's enough for him to make ends meet.
If you let his control slip for a second, he'll be reduced to dust. The body's cells will forget how to function properly. The mind will forget how to link thoughts together. The power of destruction will forget how he restrains it. Every function of his body and mind will become "useless".
There's no way Emeric can weather this storm. There's a lot of demonic energy out there. It was being expended at a breakneck speed, but Emeric had been on the verge of exhaustion for a long time. He noted that the True Form had already begun to crumble the barrier over the city, numerous cracks to be sure, but that was only a distant consequence. Unforeseen damage that he wouldn't have time to use anyway. He would die much sooner...
Blink.
And he's looking at himself from the outside.
«What?" Emeric sent his question into the void.
Emeric could see himself. The expression on his face frozen in a savage grin, but there was no hiding the determination from his eyes. An emaciated figure covered in numerous wounds. An almost completely destroyed uniform and many bloody smudges on it. The Emperor had done his best. The power of destruction that bristled before him in the form of a shield, but depleting with each passing second. Even from the outside, it was obvious that he would not be able to withstand such an onslaught of uselessness. He would die...
But...
If that were the case, Emeric wouldn't be here, would he? He looked around.
It's a familiar pattern. After the second vision of Cleria, at some point he found himself in a dark hall where someone was sitting. The columns that went off into infinity had not disappeared.
Now he knew what this place was. Wisdom has given an unequivocal answer.
Solomon's Temple.
He wasn't even surprised. There was too much of Solomon in his life to be jarred by such "revelations".
And the name of his gift. Wisdom!
And Solomon's title?
The Wisest of the Wise!
It's fucking original! Only a complete idiot wouldn't put two and two together! Now we just have to assume that Solomon is somehow involved in his life. The king of Israel, who threw away his skates before Jesus Christ was born....
Hmm, weird...
"Jesus Christ!... God!... Submit to God, and the devil will flee from you!"
Holy crap, he's immune to holy stuff now! Even direct demon exorcism doesn't work! At least he's immune to references! It's a grand piano after grand piano, only it doesn't solve his main problem! His main body is frozen in front of a fucking dangerous True Form, out of control...
"I'm sorry, President, I let you down..."
«Ichika? - Emeric looked around in a daze. He had not expected to hear such a statement. He didn't know what to expect, but not Ichika!
"I'm sorry, President, I let you down..."
«Ichika, where are you?
Emeric began walking urgently through the halls. A haze of incomprehensible visions sometimes appeared between the columns, but as soon as he focused on them, they disappeared again. Ichika's dead voice was still perfectly audible to his mind. He listened to his inner sensations and walked straight to it.
"I'm sorry, President, I let you down..."
«There you are, my lovely... - He mumbled thoughtfully as he saw a familiar sight between the columns.
A battlefield whose outlines were blurred at the edges. Almost no details, but in the center...
Standing there was Ichika with a frozen look of fear on her face. Two meters away from her stood Zenovia, who was just raising her sword. And heading straight towards Ichika was Fried Selzen, who was making full use of Excalibur of Speed. It was at this very moment that he should have wounded his pawn.... Stop!
There's no way he could have missed! Fried Selzen had already swung with clear intent to cut Ichika in half! And there was no one around Ichika to save her from the blow!
What the hell?! Ichika's luck was really good after all! Unless?
He couldn't have been the one who saved her, could he?!
Emeric didn't have time to just stand there and wait. What if the picture stopped being frozen in the next moment? Needing to save Ichika in the past...
He stretched his hand into the haze, but every centimeter to the shoulder of his pawn was given with difficulty. And when he could touch it, he couldn't move his pawn's body. He tried everything but magic, but it just refused to be summoned. Ichika did not want to move from the trajectory of the blow!.....
«Your problem is... - A man's voice came from behind him. - That you're only pulling it in space. You want to move it, but you're throwing away the most important aspect of an intervention of this kind.....
Emeric didn't turn around or flinch at the new presence. Memories of the figure on the throne that had told him, "Not yet," came to mind, but he was focused on something else. Saving his pawn from certain death.
«What am I supposed to do...?
«And yourself? Did the Emperor's blows beat the brains out of you?
«Don't make me angry," Emeric clenched his jaw. - I can beat up old men of thousands of years.....
«Hmm," a mocking snort was his only response.
Emeric began to think hard. If he wants to save Ichika from a few days ago, then..... A few days! He wants to shift her in space, but he doesn't account for time travel. There's likely two aspects to this, the first is that she can't just teleport in place. Emeric shifts her in a frozen pattern, but doesn't account for the limits of his unknown gift. The second is that he's not just pushing her. He wants to move Ichika a few days earlier, meaning it's like magic here. It takes will.
He listened to his inner sensations and tried to visualize a canvas of time and space in his head. To tune in to Ichika's voice that was apologizing to him. Now... Start time!
And at the same time pull his pawn's shoulder with all his might!
«Ichika! - Irina shouted the name of her friend who had gotten a cut on her belly.
But Emeric accomplished his task! He saved Ichika from being split in two! Somehow he was able to influence the past!
«Shit!" Emeric gritted his teeth as he felt an unprecedented weakness. He had to crouch down on all fours, it was so disgusting. The picture in which he had just emerged from the teleportation circle was also gone.
All that was left was an exhausted him and.....
Emeric sat up somewhat and was able to make out a proudly standing figure.
«Solomon...
***
patreon.com/posts/124888009