The Boundless Wilderness The garden of the Patron of Blooms exploded All the plant matter swelled and bristled ripping through its previous forms to become something vast and primal That overwhelming tide of natural growth swelled until it completely surrounded Elhume Thick tree trunks crashed down on him Building sized roses unleashed thorns as large as a normal human He raised his fists in response but the Patron of Blades and the Patron of the Sun werenÆt about to let him counterattack easily
The Golden Eyes Indignation
Sudden Stagger
A dusky crescent whipped forward from the Patron of Blades and hit the Elhume almost lightly Yet when he received that attack he stiffened That moment allowed the huge golden beam edged with black stars to smash directly into his chest
Edraine raised her hand to shield her eyes from the light yet suddenly the Patron of Blades and Blooms were there on either side of her The Patron of Blades was sweating all his cool confidence gone We must leave Reus
Here The Patron of the Sun panted even while the golden black beam pinned Elhume down He too looked bedraggled and exhausted The conflict with Elhume had only lasted for about fifteen seconds but it was clear that they were completely spent The Patron of the Sun shook his head Even without his body he is still so
The First Fist Dominance
But the Patron of the Sun shook his head emphatically No Theoretically Elhume shouldnÆt know the location but since the Patron of Feathers is like this can we risk it Our powers will be suppressed there if he shows up we will be slaughtered
Well where else can we hide from the eyes of the Nexus The Patron of Blossoms snapped The System is present everywhere
Edraine licked her lips Then she opened her mouth I might know of a person who can help us
Lady Iellaya bowed her head She was alone in Commandant WickÆs office with the Commandant but she didnÆt dare show even the slightest bit of disrespect after the week that she had She was afraid for the first time that she could remember filled with a strange sense of weakness
The past few days had been rough First she had followed the Grand Marshal Devick around as the woman gleefully slaughtered the opposing factions within Military High Command as soon as she found them There were even some innocent people that ended up as collateral damage because they were speaking with the Grand MarshallÆs targets
Perhaps ten thousand lives from safety patrols to assistant Commandants had been ripped to shreds by this sociopathÆs chained hooks It was to the point that the opposition didnÆt dare let any of their soldiers outside of the base and the average civilian seemed to have vanished Either they were accompanied by a Speculum tier combatant or they would be killed
Needless to say the abandoned corpses and DevickÆs gleeful laugh hadnÆt helped the increasingly ominous mood in the Nexus Her show of violence had even scared the Engraving Guild into setting aside their differences and reaching a pact Now the NLC seemed to be reorganizing itself to speak out against these atrocities
Hypocrites Lady Iellaya thought
The second reason she was afraid was
for whatever reason Lady IellayaÆs image was rapidly weakening A few of her feathers had been falling out each day She was not a suspicious woman but definitely it felt like something ominous was happening around her
So How bad is it Commandant Wick tapped the desk From his tone he knew exactly how bad it was
Lady Iellaya cleared her throat from accompanying Grand Marshall Devick these past few days I think itÆs clear she intends to hunt down the opposition until they are either eradicated or she gets to fight another Speculum Her dedication to her crusade has not slackened in the least
No thatÆs not what I mean Commandant Wick steepled his fingers Obviously she will pursue justice with zeal That is why she is a Grand Marshal No what IÆm asking is how her mood is
Lady Iellaya blinked She pictured the womanÆs gleeful expression Honestly she appears quite cheerful
Good Then itÆs time I ask her for a favor
Chapter 1818
Randidly crouched on one of the stone pillars a storm of natural energy rushing around him He waited preparing for his next opportunity His eyes were sharp as he examined the flows of the Grand Pattern The sun beat down on his every move bombarding him with heat and dangerous force spikes There were occasional wind blades but those almost seemed more like afterthoughts than actual attacks
Congratulations Your Skill Cutting Tide of Amenonuhoko has grown to Level 557
Although perhaps the reason I donÆt notice the wind blades is that the natural energy maelstrom is almost too good at what it does Randidly reflected
Congratulations Your Skill Dodge has grown to Level 390
Randidly swayed to the side remaining on top of the stone pillar while avoiding the exterior force of a spike His ears twitched as the force spikes ripped through the surrounding space There was no visible or sensory way to predict the force spikes but they couldnÆt come from nothing Right before they erupted there was the smallest noise as the air compressed into a tight coil It gave him the smallest bit of warning His ears twitched again
Congratulations Your Skill Philosophy of the Boundless Deluge has grown to Level 485
Force spikes ripped giant holes in RandidlyÆs storm weakening his presence However all those energies that originated from his body and dominated the surrounding space were not fragile Natural force and Nether gushed together in a wave forming a wind that was so much more than a simple breeze The storm was RandidlyÆs significance transformed into a blade cutting a path forward His eyes glittered as his observed the flow of the Grand Pattern in front of him and decided how he wanted to slice
The pattern may be called grand but there is no particular order to how it unfolds That made the initial attempts to move forward in this Step difficult but if itÆs not about a predetermined pattern but more about reacting and understanding organic arrangements cascade without some maestro manipulating them
Randidly planted his foot decisively He launched himself through the air crossing from one pillar to another As anticipated the consciousness above unleashed a barely perceptible attack The force spike manifested but one of the three sharp fangs that stirred the surrounding storm shot forward and blocked it The glittering fang glowed with a red light
Neutralize
Congratulations Your Skill (Domain) Resonant Fangs of Extinction has grown to Level 378
Congratulations Your Skill (Domain) Resonant Fangs of Extinction has grown to Level 379
Pressurized natural force erupted and was met with a bloody light that slaughtered it in a blink Unlike an image this natural energy weapon had no follow up So Randidly continued to glide through the air until he landed with the soft patter of bare feet on stones
The inputs are always chaotic Randidly thought as he sidestepped on the restricted platform to avoid a horizontal force spike Below him the mist churned endlessly around the bases of the stone pillars The Pattern is only GrandÆ because it manages to incorporate all of them without losing its own flavor
ItÆs like a juggler who lets the audience toss more objects into the mix That sort of adaptability is certainly intimidating
However he had his own weapons Randidly pressed his hand to his chest as he viewed the gushing natural force and Nether running freely together to create a stable storm around him despite the best efforts of the force spikes Every time an attack removed a chunk the fangs would cut through that area and turn everything into a chaotic mess of raw energy The flexibility to turn that chaos into the anticipated movements of energy was nothing for his Fidelity of the Ascendant Moirae
Gradually he was learning Missing chunks didnÆt slow him down nearly as much as they used to However his current position was a bit frustrating
Randidly glanced to his left where the passage to the Fifth step waited across a gap of only five meters He had gone halfway around the edge of pillars in a semi circle until he reached the other side Yet his face twisted into a scowl Not yet huh