Vol 2 Ch 20 Abandoned Mansion Pt 2_OmniGuardian's

The air within the dungeon shifted unnaturally. It wasn’t just the eerie stillness of death—it was alive, an entity that observed, waiting for its moment to strike.

 In the center of this ever-changing battlefield, the clashing of blades rang out, echoing across the shifting walls. Sparks exploded as steel met steel in a relentless flurry.

 Paradox moved with effortless precision, weaving through the onslaught of attacks with his usual cocky grin. Dodging. Parrying. Evading. It was a dance of near misses and close calls—until, finally, the Ghostly Knight found its opening.

 The moment its sword arced toward his neck—

 Time stopped.

 A heartbeat passed.

 When it resumed—

 CRASH!

 The knight’s body was sent flying, embedding deep into the stone walls, leaving behind a crater.

 Paradox lazily spun his [Chrono Sword] on his finger, tapping it against his shoulder.

 “You might be strong and fast, ghosty,” he taunted, smirking. “But you’re not faster than time. And if you’re not faster than time… you can’t beat me.”

 The Ghost Knight didn’t respond—because it never did.

 Instead—

 Thousands of swords materialized in the air, each one glowing with ethereal energy. They hovered in place for a fraction of a second before raining down upon him.

 Paradox''s smirk didn’t falter.

 “So that’s how you keep pulling blades out of nowhere, huh?” He deflected strike after strike, parrying the swords with swift, calculated motions. But even as he moved, a thought gnawed at him.

 He could keep up now—but for how long?

 Without his full power, his human stamina was a liability. And against an opponent that didn’t tire?

 The battle could only end one way.

 “Tch.” He exhaled sharply. “Guess I should switch things up, huh?”

 With a swift motion, he slammed his free hand against the ground—

 BOOM!

 The stone floor ruptured, forming a massive barrier of jagged rock between him and the incoming barrage. The swords embedded into the wall, their momentum halted.

 Paradox smirked.

 “Too easy.”

 CRACK!

 A metal gauntlet smashed into his face.

 His vision blurred as his body was sent flying across the room, slamming into the ground.

 Before he could recover—

 Another hit.

 Then another.

 And another.

 The Knight didn’t let up.

 Paradox barely had time to block before he was sent hurtling again, the relentless onslaught giving him no time to breathe.

 “Shit—!”

 But in the next instant—

 Time stopped once more.

 Gasping, Paradox warped himself across the dungeon, reappearing on the opposite side of the room.

 He wiped the blood from his mouth, shaking his head.

 “Damn. That guy hits like a train.” He rolled his shoulders. “Alright. Gotta admit, this is fun.”

 And yet—

 The moment time resumed—

 The knight was already upon him.

 Paradox''s instincts screamed.

 “You gotta be kidding—”

 He barely managed to pull out his [Paradox Dagger] in time, launching a miniature black hole directly at the knight’s chest.

 The void ripped through its form—

 Forcing it to retreat.

 But before Paradox could celebrate—

 The wound began to heal.

 “…Hah.” He let out a breathless chuckle. “You’ve got healing too? You’re really just the gift that keeps on giving, aren’t you?”

 His grip on his dagger tightened.

 This wasn’t a fight he could drag out.

 If he wanted to win—

 He had to end it in one move.

 Paradox slowed time, his body moving faster than ever before as he unleashed a relentless barrage of black holes, aiming to erase the knight completely.

 But—

 None of it worked.

 The knight moved as if it already knew what he would do.

 Paradox’s smirk faded.

 “Okay.” His voice lowered.

 “Time for plan B.”

 With one final effort, he gripped his dagger tightly—

 And summoned a massive black hole.

 The sheer force tore through the dungeon, sucking in everything—

 The walls. The air. The very fabric of reality itself.

 And as he fired it toward the knight—

 His vision faded.Love what you''re reading? Discover and support the author on the platform they originally published on.

 His body collapsed.

 And the world turned to black.

 <hr>

 In the Dream Realm—

 Norika faced the monstrosity before her.

 Its grotesque form loomed, shifting unnaturally, its blackened flesh writhing as if barely holding itself together.

 Norika’s grip on her obsidian blade tightened.

 Her sword ignited, crimson flames licking across its surface.

 “Let’s see if that body of yours can handle Hell’s flames.”

 She lunged.

 Blazing crescent slashes tore through the air, colliding with the monster—

 But instead of burning, it spun its body like a cyclone, cutting through the fire.

 “Your flames mean nothing to me.” Its voice was a distorted growl.

 “This body is accursed—no fire can harm me.”

 Norika laughed.

 “No flame can hurt you?” She tilted her head mockingly. “That’s cute. Almost as cute as my Father running away from our last fight.”

 The air around them shifted.

 With a single tap to her blade, a rune ignited.

 The first seal unlocked.

 The temperature skyrocketed.

 The very air became suffocating.

 Furniture melted. The ground boiled. The walls charred.

 Norika grinned.

 “Time for you to learn what true flames feel like.”

 She moved.

 Faster than before.

 Faster than even the monster could react.

 Strike. After strike. After strike.

 The beast blocked—barely.

 But then—

 Norika started counting.

 “Five.”

 She struck again.

 “Four.”

 The monster growled.

 “Three.”

 It swung wildly. Missed.

 “Two.”

 It felt something strange.

 And then—

 “One.”

 The swords embedded in its body burst into flames Just as her sword broke apart the hilt and guard falling to the ground.

 The monster screeched.

 “W-WHAT DID YOU DO?!”

 Norika smirked.

 “Oh, nothing much,” she shrugged. “Just planted Hellfire inside you.”

 With a final swing, she cleaved the beast in two.

 Its body burned.

 Its screams echoed.

 And as the flames devoured it whole, Norika chuckled.

 “Enjoy eternity in Hell.”

 <hr>

 When Norika’s eyes fluttered open, Eve’s face was the first thing she saw.

 “Yo,” she greeted lazily. “What’s with the long face? You really thought I’d die in some lame dream battle?”

 She sat up, stretching despite her injuries, completely unfazed.

 Eve sighed. “Of course you’d act like this was nothing.”

 The two regrouped—

 Only to find Paradox collapsed on the floor, completely drained.

 Norika grinned.

 “My, my. Father’s all beaten up.”

 Paradox cracked an eye open.

 “Shut up.”

 Their eyes locked—

 And for a moment, it seemed like they’d fight each other instead.

 Then—

 They both burst into laughter.

 Eve sighed.

 “Focus. We still have one enemy left.”

 Norika’s smirk returned.

 “The ‘Mother.’”

 <hr>

 After taking a brief moment to recover their strength, the trio pressed forward, navigating through the decaying corridors of the mansion. Every step echoed eerily, the air thick with a suffocating sense of dread.

 Eventually, they stepped into the backyard.

 Or at least… it should have been the backyard.

 Instead of grass and open air, an unsettling sight greeted them.

 A door.

 Floating in the middle of nothingness.

 No walls. No frame. Just a single, ominous door, suspended in the void.

 As they approached, the door creaked open—as if inviting them in.

 Paradox frowned, sensing something off—but ultimately shrugged it off.

 “Eh, what’s the worst that could happen?”

 With that, the three stepped through.

 <hr>

 On the other side—

 A pure white space.

 Pristine. Empty.

 But the most disturbing part?

 The fountains.

 They were everywhere, scattered across the room like decorations—except instead of water, they spewed a thick, crimson liquid.

 A pungent, metallic scent filled the air.

 Blood.

 That was the thought that crossed all of their minds—

 Before the attack came.

 BOOM!

 Three massive dragons, formed entirely from blood, erupted from the fountains.

 They struck with unrelenting force, sending all three of them crashing backward.

 “Okay.” Paradox groaned, flipping to his feet. “Now THAT is what I call an entrance.”

 Another torrent of blood surged toward him.

 He barely dodged, twisting mid-air before retaliating with a wide swing of his [Omni Scythe], slicing through one of the dragons.

 The creature collapsed into a puddle—but another immediately took its place.

 “Tch. That’s annoying.”

 Beside him, Norika grinned, her blood boiling with excitement.

 “Big bad boss time?” She asked, activating her Second Rune.

 Her broken blade flared from red to blue, the heat intensifying instantly.

 The sudden burst of temperature forced both Paradox and Eve to brace themselves, sweat forming on their skin.

 Eve, meanwhile, had already pulled out a few of her Red Rods, gripping them tightly.

 “Let’s just get this over with,” she muttered.

 Paradox smirked.

 “Right! Let’s beat some ghost ass so I can go back to sleep!”

 With a swing of his [Omni Scythe], he tore through space and time, his attacks striking their true target—

 ‘Mother.’

 The ghostly woman stood at the center of the space, her form twisting unnaturally.

 For a moment, Paradox thought he landed the hit.

 Then—

 She vanished.

 His smirk widened.

 “Oh-ho… faster than time itself? Can teleport across space? Created her own dimension? Can control blood and mess with minds?”

 His crimson eyes gleamed.

 “Now THAT is a Final Boss.”

 Norika grinned in agreement.

 “Fun.”

 Eve, however, sighed. “Just great. So it’s either we win, or we die and get absorbed by her. Fantastic.”

 Paradox shrugged.

 “Then just don’t die. It’s that simple.”

 Eve shot him a glare, and he immediately shut up.

 Then—

 Their enemy revealed herself.

 <hr>

 The ghostly woman floated silently, her presence oppressive.

 Her once white dress was stained with red, its fabric shifting unnaturally. Her hollowed eyes oozed blood, long crimson tears streaking her face.

 Her mouth was locked in an eternal, soundless scream.

 Then, with a single gesture—

 The entire battlefield shifted.

 <hr>

 The blood fountains exploded, unleashing countless tendrils of thick, writhing blood.

 They struck with monstrous power.

 Paradox barely managed to block one—but even just one sent him skidding backward, his shoes digging into the ground as the very space fractured around him.

 And that was just one tendril.

 “Alright… That’s new.”

 He sliced through it, erasing it from existence—only for another to slam into his chest, sending him soaring across the battlefield.

 Meanwhile, Norika charged headfirst.

 Blades flashing.

 Flames roaring.

 She cut through dozens of tendrils, burning them to ashes.

 Overconfident, she taunted ‘Mother’—

 And was punished immediately.

 The tendrils suddenly accelerated, moving faster than she could react.

 Before she could dodge—

 They coiled around her arms and legs, then slammed her into the ground.

 Hard.

 “Tch—!”

 Eve, on the other hand, was already moving.

 When the tendrils surged toward her, she heated up one of her Red Rods and threw it—

 BOOM!

 The rod exploded mid-air, obliterating the incoming tendrils.

 Without wasting time, Eve grabbed more rods and hurled them around the battlefield.

 A massive explosion erupted.

 The blood fountains shattered—

 And ‘Mother’ let out an ear-piercing shriek, writhing in agony.

 Eve''s eyes widened.

 “…I see. I got it.”

 “Got what?” Paradox and Norika asked simultaneously.

 “This space—this entire dimension—is her heart.”

 She gripped another rod, eyes sharp.

 “If we destroy key points within it, we can weaken her enough to kill her.”

 Paradox''s smirk returned.

 “Oh-ho… I like this plan.”

 Norika, despite her injuries, grinned.

 “So all we have to do is destroy this place enough to win? Sounds fun.”

 She lifted her broken sword, tightening her grip.

 “Time for an all-or-nothing trick.”

 Eve frowned. “What does she mean?”

 Paradox crossed his arms.

 “She’s going to release her third rune. But in her current state, she probably won’t be able to handle its full power for long.”

 Norika smirked.

 Then—

 She unlocked the Third Rune.

 The flames around her exploded, shifting from blue to pitch-black.

 All light was devoured.

 The heat became unbearable.

 The very fabric of the space began to burn away.

 But—

 Her arm began to peel and burn as well.

 Paradox frowned. “Nor, hurry it up. If you don’t finish this soon, you’re dead.”

 Norika gritted her teeth—

 And roared.

 With one final, devastating swing—

 The dimension was destroyed.

 <hr>

 As the heat subsided, Norika collapsed, face-first onto the mansion’s backyard grass.

 Paradox smirked.

 “So she still had enough power to keep up the illusion, huh?”

 Eve blinked. “Illusion?”

 Paradox sighed.

 “Before we entered, I noticed something was off. The forest was missing—only the mansion and this yard remained.”

 He grinned.

 “It was all just a trap.”

 Before Eve could respond—

 The handsome ghost from earlier attacked—

 And was immediately erased by a single [Time-Space Slash].

 Paradox scoffed. “Pathetic.”

 He turned—

 And saw ‘Mother’ flickering.

 Her form collapsing.

 “Sis, finish her.”

 Eve smirked.

 With a final throw, a Red Rod pierced through ‘Mother’s’ head—

 And she was no more.

 The mansion vanished.

 The sun rose.

 Paradox yawned.

 “I’m going to sleep.”

 And with that—

 They returned home.

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Vol 2 Ch 20 Abandoned Mansion Pt 2