The Annihilator: Killer Of Gods

"Human," Nedin's fury erupted, sending a shockwave that threw Karsha 700 meters back. His recent attack had perfectly adapted to Nedin's moves, indicating that Karsha had finally copied her swordplay style. But painfully, due to the curse, Karsha couldn't use one of his trump cards to finish her off.

This meant Nedin would finally get the chance to start using her technique, forcing Karsha back into a defensive position while he tried to understand it. Nedin had already used the first form of this mysterious technique, which Karsha managed to defend against relatively easily.

Karsha didn't know how many times he'd have to fend off this technique before he could truly grasp it, so he braced himself for the worst.

If the first form was this powerful, how formidable would the other levels be? Unfortunately for Karsha, the attack he had just defended was far from the first form of the technique—it was more like the F-level mastery. The real challenge was yet to come, and Karsha was about to face the worst of it.

"You're a good human, but this is where you'll see the difference between us," Nedin said, raising her two swords and spinning before slashing them. Instantly, a 5-meter-tall vortex appeared, just like the first time. However, this one was different; the pace at which it was spinning had increased dramatically.

Within moments, the vortex expanded to 10 meters and kept spinning faster and faster. Nedin smiled at Karsha, then swung her sword forward. The ground trembled as the vortex surged toward Karsha, its speed several times faster than before.

Karsha stood there, calmly watching Nedin from the moment she began her attack until she struck, then shifted his focus to the spinning vortex. The distance between them was about 700 meters, but within two seconds, the vortex had already covered 400 meters, closing in on Karsha.

'This technique is impressive, and I want it,' Karsha thought to himself as he swung his swords, sending out two 30-meter-long, razor-sharp fire arcs toward the now 40-meter-tall vortex. Casually, he sliced through it, cutting the vortex in half and bringing the whole area to a sudden calm.

"You'll have to do better than that," Karsha said, sensing that Nedin hadn't used the true form of her technique yet. He didn't fully understand how he knew, but something told him that the real challenge was still to come. He goaded Nedin, and as expected, she fell for it. In less than a second, she spun and slashed her swords, creating a 40-meter-tall vortex that began sucking everything in.

From 700 meters away, Karsha felt a faint pull as the vortex spun. Within less than 2 seconds, it expanded to 50 meters. Still furious, Nedin slashed her sword, directing the vortex straight at Karsha.

"Again," Karsha said, cutting the vortex in two once more. He could tell that the skill was still missing something—something crucial that could help him understand its basics and make a breakthrough. Both attacks lacked that essential element, appearing somewhat shallow. It seemed that only the true form of the technique would provide Karsha with the insight he needed to master it.

"Sader's Ice Strike, First Form: Swirling Ice Vortex!" Nedin roared, spinning faster than before. She slashed her sword three times, each slash creating a vortex, and screamed the name of the technique. Read latest stories on empire

Karsha smiled when he heard that. In an instant, three 30-meter-tall vortices appeared, spinning furiously. Within 5 seconds, each vortex grew to 50 meters, then, to Karsha's surprise, they merged into a single 90-meter-tall vortex.

The ground started shaking, and the space around the swirling vortex seemed to distort as it continued to grow bigger and taller. Nedin looked at Karsha with a mocking gaze before striking her sword forward.

Boom! The ground started cracking as large fissures appeared. Karsha watched the looming vortex heading toward him with slightly shocked eyes. He had expected the technique to be strong, but not this strong. He tried to move back to create some distance between himself and the attack but found his body restricted as if something was blocking him from moving his legs.

'This better work or I'll be shredded to pieces,' he thought. The sword in his right hand vibrated as he channeled fire essence into it. He glanced at the sword, knowing that using more than 10% of his fire essence would break it.

'Hold on, please,' he said inwardly as he swung at the approaching vortex. The fire arc, coated with both Sword Qi and Golden Aura, shot out and slammed into the now over 120-meter-tall and 40-meter-wide ice vortex. For a moment, Karsha's heart sank as the vortex kept spinning even after being struck. Then, with a huge explosion, the ice vortex shattered into countless pieces.

"That's not possible," Nedin shouted. Meanwhile, Karsha was thrown back 600 meters by the shock wave, spitting out a mouthful of blood, his face slightly pale.

'That was dangerous, but I need to experience it one more time,' Karsha thought with a slight frown. He had expected the system to register the technique by now, but to his surprise, even the system didn't have a complete take on how to activate the skill. He could sense the understanding was there, but getting it into his muscles was proving to be a challenge.

Karsha spat out more blood and spoke, "If you can make it even stronger than this, I will appreciate it. After all, you are my teacher, and you wouldn't want your student to fail to comprehend the technique, would you?"

While Nedin was fighting for freedom, Karsha was treating it as a lesson, which infuriated Nedin to the core. This pushed her to finally use the true form of the technique. Although the previous attempt contained the essence of the technique, it wasn't her limit. Techniques vary in power mainly based on how much energy and understanding is put into them.

The first attempt was strong, but now, she was ready to unleash a more powerful strike.

Nedin spun and then swung her sword four times. Instantly, four vortices appeared, but this time, there was a slight change. Each vortex had three razor-sharp dark ice rings around it, which also expanded and spun as the vortices spun.

"So that's what she's been hiding, thinking she can kill me with those mediocre skills," Karsha smiled, watching the four vortices merge into one massive vortex, 150 meters tall and 90 meters wide, with four gargantuan razor-sharp rings spinning around it.

Karsha couldn't quite put his finger on it, but the skill felt all too familiar. From the moment Nedin used it, he sensed a connection, something he'd been feeling ever since he stepped on the island. This familiarity wasn't just with the technique; he felt it with the Purple Tail Anacondas, the Dark Prince Hell Art, and the Mask of Malevolence.

It was all too weird and messy, but he knew he had to find answers. And Nedin, out of the three sources of these familiar feelings, seemed the most likely to provide them.

However, he still didn't know what kind of deal she had made with the mysterious person. She claimed she would die if Karsha managed to comprehend the technique before she killed him with it. The question was, would she die immediately upon his comprehension, or did he need to master it to a certain level? If it was the latter, then he would have the chance to get some answers.

But now that he had angered Nedin, it posed a significant problem. He needed to act, and quickly. The perfect answer came to his mind: he had to fake it, risking a huge blow landing on him. But before he could come up with a method, the system rang.

< By defending against the first form of Sader's Ice Strike, you will receive the technique, breaking the restriction placed on you. >

Karsha's eyes lit up. The system's message meant he didn't need to fully comprehend the technique on his own—defending against it was enough to break the restriction and gain the skill. He braced himself, ready to face the incoming attack head-on.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

The system's message didn't mention anything about Nedin dying, and Karsha realized he had the perfect opportunity. With the swirling vortex just 100 meters from him, he activated [Agni Infernal Dominion]. Instantly, a huge phoenix appeared, soaring into the sky.

The surrounding ice immediately melted a testament to the skill's immense power. The phoenix circled the vortex and, when it was 50 meters from Karsha, dived into the vortex, instantly turning it red.

Nedin, standing over 300 meters away, instantly retreated another 400 meters. Karsha, however, stood his ground, locked in place. The vortex kept spinning, but it stopped moving, and something strange started happening from within. Two of the rings began to turn golden as the vortex spun.

BOOM.

The vortex exploded, and the shockwave blasted Karsha 1 km away. A huge hole appeared where the explosion occurred. The vortex had grown to over 180 meters tall and 100 meters wide when the phoenix dived in, making the shockwave devastating. If this explosion had happened in the middle of a city, it would have leveled it to the ground.

Karsha lay on the ground, struggling to get up, his body aching from the blast. But he knew what had to be done once he mastered the skill. The reaction wasn't normal, and the sheer power of the combined techniques gave him a clear direction.

One kilometer away, Nedin stood up, her body battered and buried, looking as weak as one could get. At 1.4 kilometers away, she smiled despite the scared look on her face. Karsha saw this and smiled too.

"I guess I overestimated the last three Overlords," he thought. He had expected a deadly battle, and truthfully, he was getting one, but not something that could kill him easily.

He could have used his Fortress Defense to block the shockwave, but he decided to take it head-on. It was a gamble, and from the look of things, he might just be onto something. Nedin looked at him and smiled evilly.

Karsha expected her to dash at him and engage in close combat quickly, but to his horror, the Naga spun and slashed her sword five times, now forming five 50-meter-tall vortexes, with three razor-sharp rings even darker than the last ones spinning around the vortexes.

Karsha quickly sensed dread because, for the first time, the vortexes immediately shot forward. Maybe it was because there was a gap between them, but in a second, the five vortexes moved across 300 meters and sped toward him. When they got within the 600-meter range, they merged into a 300-meter-tall vortex.

The ground started shaking violently, and Karsha could feel he had finally found a worthy opponent. Just that this opponent was a freak and a maniac despite her good looks.

Karsha quickly knew what to do, but just when he was about to make a sudden move, the system rang again.