Cosmic Ruler - Chapter 144

Chapter 144: Central Shrine

After emerging from the Icy shrine, Jake took a moment to count his gains. He now possessed six more artifacts—three from this shrine and three from the feedback loop with Ramis. Additionally, he had acquired two more parts of the Nine Heaven King’s legacy: the Flame Emperor and the Ice Emperor.

“Each of these legacies complements each other,” Jake mumbled as he sorted through the information and knowledge he had gained up until now. “The Mecha legacy, although weak alone, becomes powerful when combined with other parts. It can be empowered by Lava and Ice, and there are still more legacies to uncover,” he mused, a smile spreading across his face.

However, his smile faded as he remembered the infernals. “I still haven’t encountered them,” he sighed.

Conjuring an ice mirror, he looked at himself and smiled grimly. “This one had a Viscount-rank guardian.”

His clothes were torn in many places, with traces of blood around the tattered parts—clear signs of the wounds that had now healed thanks to his regeneration abilities.

“But, since there are Flesh Golems as guardians, I think necromancy might be part of the Nine Heaven King’s legacy,” Jake thought aloud. With this realization, he invoked his Pathfinder authority once again and moved towards the next shrine.

As he moved he decided to check the info. of the artifacts he obtained in the previous shrine and also from Ramis.

Cryomancer’s Amulet:

Description: A delicate amulet with a pendant made of pure ice crystal that never melts.

Abilities: Grants the wearer immunity to cold and enhances their ice magic. It allows the wearer to control and manipulate ice, creating structures, weapons, and shields. In addition, it can lower the ambient temperature of the surrounding area, causing frost and snow.

Iceheart Crown:

Description: A crown crafted from the antlers of an ancient frost stag, adorned with ice gems.

Abilities: Provides the wearer with dominion over winter creatures and the ability to summon ice elementals. It also grants the power to walk on water by freezing it underfoot and can unleash a powerful frost nova that freezes everything in a wide radius.

Glacial Staff:

Description: A tall, slender staff made from ancient, enchanted ice wood, topped with a glowing ice crystal.

Abilities: Amplifies ice magic spells, enabling the wielder to cast powerful frostbolts, create ice walls, and summon snowstorms. The staff can also freeze enemies solid and create ice bridges over bodies of water.

Inferno Orb:

Description: A perfectly spherical orb containing the essence of a volcanic eruption, swirling with molten lava and flame.

Abilities: Casts powerful fire spells, including fireballs, flamethrowers, and eruptions of lava. Creates a protective shield of fire around the user. Ignites the ground it touches, creating hazards for enemies.

Dragon’s Breath Gauntlets:

Description: A pair of gauntlets crafted from dragon scales, with rubies set into the knuckles.

Abilities: Allows the wearer to shoot jets of fire from their hands. Grants enhanced strength and resistance to fire. The gauntlets can also create a fiery aura around the wearer, damaging nearby enemies.

Emberstone Pendant:

Description: A pendant with a fiery gemstone at its center, hanging from a chain of charred metal.

Abilities: Increases the power of fire spells and grants the ability to control flames. The pendant can absorb fire-based attacks and convert them into energy for the wearer. Can create a ring of fire for protection or offense.

As Jake continued his journey, he suddenly felt a shift in gravity, the weight pressing down on him with increasing intensity. He stopped and looked ahead, considering the previous patterns he had observed.

“Fire element was Lava Legacy, Metal was Mecha Legacy, and Water became Ice Legacy,” Jake mumbled. “So, given this trend, Earth element is most likely now the Gravity Legacy.”

Determined, Jake raced towards the source of the gravity disturbance. Soon, he found himself standing before a shrine made of purple crystal, with cosmic colors dancing within the crystalline structure. The sight was mesmerizing, the swirling hues creating an almost hypnotic effect.

Jake approached the entrance of the shrine, feeling the intense gravitational pull. Each step felt heavier than the last, but his resolve pushed him forward. He placed his hand on the crystal door, feeling a surge of energy as it responded to his touch. The door opened slowly, revealing the interior of the shrine.

He enters inside and then the door behind him waa closed slowly.

And Torches began to lit up the interiors ,Jake looked at the torches ans saw they are big violet crystals emitting light.

” This is made of Gravion , a super rare metal in thia amount, Tsk tsk, this Nine Heaven King guy was surely rich” Jake mumbled as he observed the walls with hai Akashic eyes.

Hr then approached the altar and readied himself for the first boss fight.

Soon as he touched the altar housing the key to next chamber, the floor opened amd from it a black ball hovered above, floating mid air it suddenly cracked and Jake looked at it and mumbled

” This is new”

The black ball is now a big monster, with the power to control gravity.

It has a striking and unique appearance that resembles a living, miniature planetoid. His body is spherical and made of dark, rugged rock, covered with craters and fissures that give him a rugged, otherworldly look. His face is embedded in the front of this rocky sphere, featuring glowing yellow eyes that stand out against his dark skin, and a wide, expressive mouth with jagged teeth.

He has powerful, muscular arms and legs made of the same rocky material, with large, rock-like hands and feet that he uses for combat and movement. Additionally, his body is marked by glowing yellow lines or cracks that run across his surface, resembling magnetic field lines and adding to his planetary appearance. This combination of a craggy, textured surface and glowing accents makes this guardian a visually impressive and intimidating figure.

It looked at Jake with his yellow eyes, and then..

Growl…

It looked at Jake with its yellow eyes and then growled menacingly. Jake saw the gravity monster attacking him and tried to jump, but the gravity suddenly increased, causing him to stumble. The next moment, a rocky punch hit him, sending him flying and crashing into a wall.

“A fucking Count rank,” Jake cursed heavily as he felt his ribs break and his lungs puncture. But then his regeneration kicked in, healing him instantly.

Standing up and wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, he looked at the gravity monster with a predatory gaze. “Well, the better you are, the better I’ll feel after I defeat you.”

The monster felt confused by Jake’s reaction. Despite being stronger, this human looked at it as if it were prey. An unknown anger erupted within the monster as its hands glowed with cosmic purple light. Lifting them, it caused nearby debris to levitate. Clenching its hand, it turned the debris into countless sharp, piercing rocks and hurled them at Jake at light speed.

Seeing the attack, Jake quickly entered his astral form, causing the rock shards to pass through his body harmlessly. The gravity monster roared in frustration and charged at Jake, its fists glowing with gravitational energy.

In his astral form, Jake sensed danger and hastily moved, but against a foe two major ranks above him, he fell short. The gravity monster’s attack grazed his legs.

“Arghhhhhhhh!” Jake’s scream reverberated in the desolate hall.

“Exit your astral form! It’s not only gravity but also a soul-type attack!” Nexus shouted anxiously. Jake, still screaming in pain, barely heard him but exited his astral form as he felt his soul screaming in danger.

The monster took advantage of Jake’s vulnerability and delivered another punch, caving Jake’s stomach inward and sending him flying. He crashed into the wall and was embedded in it.

The monster smirked, seeing Jake in such a state, and slowly walked towards him. Each step echoed through the hall, thud… thud…

Jake groaned, feeling the immense pain but his regenerative abilities working to heal his injuries. He knew he couldn’t rely on his astral form against this opponent. Gritting his teeth, he forced himself to stand, pulling himself out of the wall.

The gravity monster approached with a menacing grin, confident in its imminent victory. Jake, however, was not ready to give up. He took a deep breath, focusing his energy on the artifacts he had obtained.

“Let’s see how you handle this,” Jake muttered.

He entered Transcendence mode, and time around him slowed to an almost standstill. “Damn, due to my injuries, I only have 9 seconds,” Jake cursed, feeling the burden of this mode on his soul. Quickly, he moved aside and picked up a Gravion debris. Pouring his ruination energy into it, he caused the crystal to vibrate at a dangerously high rate.

After confirming it was fully charged, he limped near the monster and placed the crystal in its mouth. Then time resumed its normal pace.

Crash.

Jake was once again sent flying by the monster, but this time his groaning sound had a certain victorious tone. He counted in his mind and then hastily activated the True Void Dragon of Destruction Bloodline. His body cracked under the pressure the bloodline brought in his injured state, but gritting his teeth, he activated Dimensional Shift, an ability similar to Astral Phase but one that shifted both his soul and body to another plane.

Just as this happened, the monster started swelling and, with a loud bang, it burst apart. A black hole formed at the place where its body once stood, pulling everything inside before imploding with a final burst.

Jake reappeared from the dimensional plane, his body aching but his spirit undeterred. He watched as the aftermath of the black hole’s implosion settled, leaving nothing but silence and the remnants of the shrine.