Apocalypse Baby-Chapter 269: Hands of Doom
Terra Phase, which allowed him to phase through the earth, and [Wordbreaker], which shattered terrain like glass.
[Would you like to use Fusion?]
"Yes."
[Select the skills]
"Terra Phase and Wordbreaker."
He fused them, and the result shook the very floor beneath him.
[Fusion Successful]
New Skill Acquired: [Gravemarch]
GravemarchThe user becomes a living extension of the Earth's wrath. With each stomp, the land quakes like thunder beneath a god's fury. They vanish into stone, reemerging wherever needed, bringing tectonic ruin in their wake. Earth itself bends to their will—collapsing terrain, splitting mountains, and turning solid ground into a battlefield of chaos.
Effects:
Shatterfall (Active):
The user slams into the ground, unleashing a shockwave that fractures terrain within a 150-meter radius.
Ground ruptures violently, creating craters, jagged spikes, and collapsing crevices.
Aerial enemies are slammed by shockwaves, losing balance and falling.
Damaged terrain becomes hazardous—unstable footing, sliding rocks, falling debris.
Terra Dive:
The user can phase into the ground and travel underground at high speed within a 75-meter radius.
Can re-emerge instantly at any visible earth surface within range.While submerged:
Sense vibrations and movements with near-perfect precision.
Immune to surface attacks.Limitation: Can pass through stone, dirt, and sand—but not metal or magic-bound terrain.
Seismic Shift (Utility Sub-skill):
The user can generate localized earthquakes—collapsing buildings, opening trenches, or creating stone barriers.Condition: Requires physical contact with the Earth to use. ƒree𝑤ebnσvel.com
Alex muttered the skill's effects in his mind.
Shockwaves.Tectonic rifts.Spikes of stone erupting from nothing.Phase-diving through the ground at will and emerging wherever he wanted.Creating earthquakes.Collapsing buildings.Creating stone barriers.
He exhaled.
"Yeah… I could bring down a city with this."
He didn't even need to name this one.
It was already perfect.
And now came his masterpiece of destruction—a fusion of two of his most dangerous skills.
Black Flame, which summons eternal, inextinguishable flames that consume anything they touch, and Exploding Touch, which marks an area for a delayed, controllable explosion that can be paused, transferred, and amplified for massive, multi-target devastation.
[Would you like to use Fusion?]
"Yes."
[Select the skills]
"Black Flame and Exploding Touch."
Alex's heartbeat raced in anticipation.
And then...
Ding!
[Fusion Successful]
New Skill Acquired: [Abyssflare Brand]
Abyssflare BrandYour touch becomes damnation incarnate. Upon contact, you brand a target with an unholy sigil of Black Flame Detonation—a curse that burns eternally and explodes with terrifying might. You control the when, the where, and the how hard. Whether spreading like a plague or detonating like a dying star, this power is pure annihilation shaped by will.
Core Effects:
Abyssflame Mark (Primary Touch):
Touching a surface or target brands it with Black Flame—a cursed fire that burns endlessly and cannot be extinguished by normal or magical means.
After 5 seconds, the brand detonates, causing a massive black explosion that melts through most defenses and scorches the soul.
💥 Explosion Features (Inherited & Enhanced from Exploding Touch):
[Amp+++]
Pour more mana to amplify the explosion's radius and intensity—up to 10x.
A maxed-out explosion can level fortresses or vaporize elite enemies.
[Pause+++]
You can pause/resume the countdown at will—hold the explosion mid-trigger indefinitely.
Allows for psychological warfare or perfect trap setups.
[Dismiss+++]
Instantly transfer the Mark to another target or object within 30 meters (extended from the original 20).
Cannot be blocked or avoided once locked on.
[Mass Brand]
Apply up to 5 Marks at once. Detonate them all together or chain in sequence for area-wide mayhem.
[Gravitational Collapse]
At full charge, turn a Mark into a void implosion—pulls in all matter in a 15-meter radius, then explodes outward with a shockwave + black flame surge, destroying terrain, armor, and bodies alike.
Bonus Trait – Brand of Eternal Fire:
Branded targets continue burning even after surviving the explosion.
Black flames reduce healing received by 80% and weaken resistances over time.
Fire spreads through physical contact or proximity, turning one target into a walking inferno hazard.
Alex was elated by the destruction he now commanded.
His hands carried doom.
With a single touch, he could brand anything with unquenchable black flame—flame that exploded after a short countdown.
He could amplify it. Pause it. Transfer it to another target.
Apply multiple Marks at once and detonate them in sequence.
And if he really wanted to ruin someone's day?
He'd trigger Gravitational Collapse—a black hole of cursed flame that sucked everything nearby into a vortex before detonating in a soul-scorching burst.
Enemies would burn, terrain would vanish, healing would be reduced by 80%, and the flames could spread by touch.
He'd have to be careful with the spreading, though. He didn't want allies getting caught in the inferno.
Still, the ability was incredibly powerful. And deadly.
With all four fused skills complete, Alex felt stronger than ever.
But curiosity tugged at him.
Could he push this further?
He scanned his skill list.
Most weren't compatible. Not yet, anyway.
He still had opportunities to acquire multiple new skills through leveling up.
And his clones, still inside the tutorial, had likely killed dozens of monsters and earned new skills that could rival or complement his own.
Alex pulled up the notification informing him that he had reached Level 80 and could now choose between three new skills.
Maybe one would pair well with his current loadouts.
But before he could decide, noise outside caught his attention.
Voices. Cheers.
Then—sharp, disbelieving gasps.
Using Godeyes, Alex zoomed in toward the arena. What he saw piqued his curiosity.
He stood, postponing his skill selection, and walked toward the crowd of contestants gathered around the arena's viewing screens.
Two names hovered in bold, glowing text:
KIRA (ANIMA) vs VESS (TRANAGIAN)
His eyes narrowed. Kira?
He was rooting for the Anima. Not because she was stronger—but because Alex found her visually appealing.
But…
She was getting wrecked.
Alex winced as a vine slammed into her ribs, sending her tumbling.
She crumbled to the ground but rose again.
Her aura flickered erratically as she staggered back.
Earlier, she had transformed into her beast form—a transformation that boosted her power—but Vess had beaten the form right out of her.
Another attack from the Tranagian.
Kira barely ducked, dodging a brutal overhead cleave, and retaliated.
But…
Every strike she launched was countered, absorbed, or simply ignored.
Her movements were desperate. Erratic.
She looked like she might drop dead at any second.
This wasn't a fight.
It was a dismantling.
