Chapter 178: Absolutely Decree
"Judge here."
The moment Azrael’s cold voice echoed, announcing his presence as the Judge, his class skill—Absolute Decree activated.
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---) Absolute Decree (Class Skill): Announce your presence as Judge to call forth the power of the World to judge your target. Under the effect of Absolute Decree, the target’s stats will be reduced by 50% for two minutes. This skill is ineffective against anyone who is two ranks higher than you. Usable once every seven days.
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A strange wave of power spread throughout the hideout of the Transcendent Organization, and Boris felt as if a supreme existence had descended into the world, gazing at him with emotionless detachment.
Goosebumps instantly crawled over Boris’s skin, and under that incomprehensible gaze, his strength was suddenly and brutally halved.
"What?!" He shouted in horror, realizing his power had been reduced by a full fifty percent in an instant.
It wasn’t just his physical stats—strength, agility, stamina, defense, and the rest that were reduced. Every single aspect of him had been cut in half, including the power of his skills and even the effectiveness of the equipment he wore, everything lost 50% of their effectiveness.
The moment he used the skill, Azrael also sensed the presence of an unfathomable entity lingering above him, as though watching over him. However, this presence did not feel like it had its own consciousness; instead, it waited silently for his command.
If Azrael had been in his normal state, he would have undoubtedly tried to understand what this so-called "power of the world" truly was, and why he could summon it through his skill. But in this moment, there was only one thought in his mind: ripping Boris apart.
As soon as his skill activated, he noticed the auras of the four golems charging toward him had been degraded by half, their strength crippled due to Boris’s diminished power. Without hesitation, he took a single step forward.
The wings of wind on his back fluttered lightly—
Boom!
A thunderous shockwave rang out as the sound barrier was shattered. Azrael’s figure turned into a streak of green light, shooting forward like a laser beam.
When he had first obtained Absolute Decree, Azrael assumed that summoning the power of the world would simply reduce a target’s stats by fifty percent, and that would be the end of it. He thought it wouldn’t have any other effect.
Because of the skill’s seven-day cooldown, he had never dared to test it, fearing that if he wasted his strongest trump card and something critical happened within that period, he would be left powerless.
But now that he had used it, he realized he had been completely wrong.
It was true that the skill reduced his target’s stats by half, but that was only one aspect of summoning the power of the world.
At this very moment, he could feel the world’s power lingering within the hideout of the Transcendent Organization, waiting for his command.
In an instant, Azrael arrived before one of the golems. Originally, after being buffed by Boris’s class skill, the golem possessed the strength of a level 45 Epic Rank warrior. But with its power halved, its aura now resembled that of a level 31 or 32 Epic Rank warrior.
Normally, with his current strength and without relying on Fallen Star, Azrael would have found it extremely difficult to inflict damage on a level 31 earth golem clad in solid earth armor.
But as he reached the golem with the aid of his wind-forged wings, he attempted to channel the power of the world that surrounded him into his body. In that moment, an overwhelming surge of energy flooded into his body.
Azrael clenched his fist, and the very air around it twisted under the sheer force. Then, he punched forward.
BooooooooooM!
A deafening explosion as if a nuclear bomb had detonated inside the chamber resounded. The four-meter-tall earth golem exploded instantly, reduced to nothing more than a cloud of dust.
But the force of Azrael’s world-empowered punch did not stop there. It surged through and struck another golem standing behind the first, obliterating it into fine dust as well.
The chamber walls collapsed under the impact, and the entire tower-like building began to fall apart.
At the same time, the moment the power of the world entered Azrael’s body, the violent winds that had already engulfed the Rolivia Forest due to Azrael’s unstable emotions grew even fiercer. The hurricanes intensified, spreading across the entire forest.
Pure chaos ensued as heavy rain poured down and violent tornadoes descended from the dark, swirling sky, causing destruction everywhere as though the wind element itself had been provoked into madness.
When Boris saw two of his golems obliterated in an instant, his face turned deathly pale and a chill ran down his spine.
Without hesitation, he ordered the remaining two golems to block Azrael while he himself bolted toward the elevator at the side of the chamber.
Azrael’s eyes narrowed coldly at the fleeing Boris, but he did not immediately pursue.
"Take her away," He ordered in a low voice.
In response, the power of the world moved and powerful gusts of wind surged forth, wrapping around the tube containing No. 4 and carrying it away.
The wires and pipes that had been injecting the crimson liquid into her body had already been severed by Azrael’s winds. Yet, he didn’t pull her out of the tube directly—because her lifeforce was dangerously weak, and the green liquid inside was the only thing sustaining her life.
Azrael’s gaze followed the tube until it disappeared from sight beyond the collapsing building. Only then did he shift his attention back to the two remaining golems.
The golems were attacking him madly, but the barrier-like wind currents swirling around him kept them at bay.
He was about to destroy them as well, but a sharp, piercing pain suddenly wracked him—both physically and spiritually.
In that instant, he realized that wielding the power of the world was far more demanding than he had assumed and his current body was simply too weak to fully handle it.
But to Azrael, such pain was nothing. With a simple, forceful motion, he punched again, shattering the last two golems into rubble.
With the crimson aura still radiating boundless bloodlust, Azrael turned toward the elevator that had already descended.
His wings of wind unfurled, and with a single flap, he dove downward.
As he moved down, the rattling of chains in his mind grew louder, echoing violently as though it was finally approaching the very thing it had long been waiting for.
Soon, the halted elevator frame appeared in his vision. With a single motion, Azrael tore through its roof and leapt inside, exiting through the door into the underground depths.
The moment he stepped into the underground chamber, a wave of ancient energy washed over him and even in his unstable state, Azrael couldn’t help but pause.
He looked ahead him and in the middle of the underground chamber, he saw a massive rift—three meters wide and two meters tall, deep crimson in color, its surface rippling like the wound of a world torn open.