Spinning around Helen barely avoided another volley of needles from the pseudo archer who now produced several daggers and rushed toward her But what she saw behind her gave her pause The Swordswoman was still standing there now wreathed in molten copper As Helen watched a conical helmet formed leaving a small slit for vision
The slit began to glow red
But Helen couldnÆt puzzle over this for long Strikes rained down toward her from every direction forcing her to dance to the side Several long scrapes on her arms marked how elusive she really was but Helen felt her mood dip
These people are too strong to play like this for long
Helen did not hold back and slipped along the lines of attacks and slashed at several lightly armored individuals with her scaling knife The wounds might not be deep but they would bleed heavily
As they attempted to surround Helen her attacks became increasingly violent Every other attack was a Decimate which consumed a lot of her Stamina but rapidly led to the other side pausing before they stepped into her range
It was possible to withstand her normal attacks but the Decimates continued to keep them on their toes
The battle should have begun to shift toward Helen as she made use of the energy she had gathered with her Domain but actually the opposite began to happen Most troublesome of all all those who Helen had wounded soon were standing covered in that same liquid copper armor Copper weapons flowed out of their hands and they moved with renewed vigor to cut her down The copper covered warriors seemed to attack in the same patterns but the moved more quickly than they had previously
Was this a shared Skill they all had because
HelenÆs harpoon smashed into the shoulder of one of the armored copper zealots Unfortunately the tip left a deep scratch but didnÆt pierce through Slowly the flaw in the armor healed Within ten seconds it was like she had done nothing at all More and more strikes rained down around her and Helen stretched her Domain to the limit to avoid the worst of it
If it continued like this
Like a hand passing through a cobweb HelenÆs Domain was blown away A strange wind howled shaking the air Everyone froze and turned their gaze upward It was demanded Instinct took over
Towering over them all was a tree that stretched upward through the sky Its branches wound up rough the clouds holding them aloft Beyond that was space where the twisting tendrils extended infinitely so far beyond the edge of an individualÆs vision that it seemed endless
The deep brown of the bark was so old that HelenÆs mouth dried as she looked upward at it The weight of timeÆs passage lay heavy over the air For those without a high level of Strength even breathing was difficult before this tree The emerald leaves rustled the noise clearly carrying to her ear even though the foliage appeared to be kilometers away It was like hearing the breath of a different world
As the tree slowly grew more vivid and defined the surrounding world dimmed The universe groaned as it was forced to revolve around the tree Sun and moon spun slowly obediently orbiting it Warm fire red light on its one hand cool blue silver on the other Between it the tree acted as the fulcrum for the warping of space
And across the whole of the tree small spinning lines of gold covered every inch of it From a distance it simply appeared that the tree had been liberally dosed with golden glitter But as one examined the tree with more focus suddenly it was clear that the strange geass of the tree seemed to flow through these letterings
What truths those letters conveyed were then born out into reality Such was the treeÆs power
So it is written so it shall be
If itÆs come to this Randidly said easily raising his hand and looking at his fingers His voice was that breath of a distant world seeming to boom with force while simultaneously being whispered to all who witnessed this phenomenon Then letÆs no longer hold back
Around her the powerful Squads began to stir as they fought off the passive influence of the tree But RandidlyÆs gaze shifted down toward the body of Eli who continued to bleed onto the cold stone ground Randidly grinned Interesting that Skill improves the more damage youÆve taken doesnÆt it A support Skill to provide copper armor to your allies But is that flimsy barrier really enough
Above the tree there was suddenly a Crown It was simple and austere a woven thing of bone and metal and darkness The air shifted and the writing across the tree shifted and rewrote itself The tree demanded fealty
This time when the leaves rustled it sounded like a dull roar And all who witnessed that Crown began to tremble and suffer
Chapter 927
Copper Lifeblood was a unique Skill for several reasons When she had heard about it Mrs Hamilton spent several hours pouring over the details of the Skill It could not be used on the user but only those who served the user In addition to the buffs it provided it also served as a very functional set of armor
It was a buff to Strength and Agility that increased based on the amount of Health that the user was missing Perhaps most strange was that the boost when EliÆs Health was very low was such that often the affected individuals couldnÆt control their own power They didnÆt have enough Perception and Reaction to manage their new capabilities
As such Eli Iron had worked hard to form a Squad that purposefully kept their stats in line to take advantage of the Skill As such they werenÆt able to stay at the top of DonnytonÆs Squads very long If Eli was ignored at the start of the fight the rest of his Squad could be eliminated
It was only when Eli was wounded early that they could demonstrate their peculiar power
Was this worth it Mrs Hamilton asked with a heavy voice
Stan just shrugged You asked for a chance This is the beginning With this we might be able to learn something about his capabilities Without more information
You canÆt be ignorant to what this means Mrs Hamilton said quietly The grinding agony of that strange crown that hovered above the World Tree continued to dig a screw into Mrs HamiltonÆs temple
And if she felt this much even with Alana who was blazing with fighting spirit the audience
I guess we will found out Stan said The numbness kept his face completely blank He seemed almost disinterested in the storm that he had caused The sky was dark Agony was spreading like a plague across the arena And Stan simply looked bored
Her gaze even Mrs Hamilton turned back to the arena and saw the vicious hunger in RandidlyÆs emerald eyes One problem at a time
This is a man I need to kill for Donnyton
As Randidly slowly picked apart Stan’s motivations and the benefits he could have expected to receive through this series of events that violent thought cut through everything It was fueled by fury and RandidlyÆs protective inclinations toward Donnyton So compelling was the thought that Randidly briefly lost control of himself
Yggdrasil rose tall over the arena judging the condemned
Unbidden the Crown of Upheaval and Gloom had manifested in a cloud of cold energy As its bearer the World Tree seemed to grow more luminous and holy Allowing the emotions to flow free Randidly didn’t bother to control the explosion of Cruel Indignation of Yggdrasil The air hummed with his fury With waves of power RandidlyÆs displeasure was made known to all
And yet his pale Crown still trilled demanding more
He was a monarch It was time to punish the children for playing at being adults
Randidly felt himself raising his hand to point at Stan The crowds were seething the distance dispersing the power somewhat but they still tortured by the singing Skill of righteous fury that Randidly radiated outward Narrowing his eyes Randidly brought his will to bear All of that power concentrated to a point and the air around the VIP section began to warp as Randidly’s will pressed down against it
But he stopped himself The singing ceased All that vicious energy that was torturing the surrounding people was sucked back within Yggdrasil as if it had never existed Only the sounds of the panting audience members remained Above the emerald leaves rustled softly