Having that same female shade who helped him so much in the earlier Step act in such a familiar manner put RandidlyÆs heart at ease despite his surprise Yet her words gave him a bit of pause You havenÆt seen the summit ArenÆt you the highest guardian Why canÆt you go up
This is such a place Reaching the peak of the Fifth Step is different than reaching the summit If you can defeat me you can experience it for yourself Then you will understand
So we fight Randidly said
The woman grinned She looked just as decisive and confident as he remembered her from the previous Step And as she took a fighting pose suddenly all the energy lines on the entire platform stilled in an intimidating show of power I will fight You will lose Prepare yourself
Are you really the same person Or maybe this was the version that had climbed to the peak of the Fifth Step with an even more domineering attitude Randidly surmised Then he raised his gaze once more Does that mean is it possible that a version of you climbed all the way and accomplished your wish
The woman stopped her foot Immediately all the energy flows in the ten meters around her turned chaotic Which left Randidly without the spare focus to wonder All he could do is focus and struggle
Chapter 1830
The Lizakh shade felt his heart tighten as he watched the challenger and the final guardian blur and rush into conflict Both moved with impossible speed each wanting to decisively suppress the other The tension left the shade with his scaly face scrunched together On the one hand he didnÆt want the disciple he raised to fail here Yet on the other hand
When he looked at the guardian a blurry memory staggered out from the depths of his consciousness In it the woman kneeled on the ground holding a small bundle in her arms dripping blood She raised her head and roared at the sky tears flooding down her cheeks You told me that you would save her You promised
The sky remained silent in the fuzzy moment Whether due to shame or apathy it did not stir
In that stillness her grief crystalized into a vicious weapon
Challenger and shade woman clashed and skidded backward The concussive report sent most of the other shades stumbling The woman shade wore a cheery smile as she looked over toward the challenger Interesting You arenÆt using the Grand Pattern to enhance your movements like I am but you are faster than me even with 80% physical suppression Are you secretly a monster
IÆve been accused of that a lot The challenger admitted readily Then he took a fighting stance The air around him began to stir as he began to manipulate the Grand Pattern in the area around him
But unless you can influence more freely than that youÆll never beat me The final guardian announced She waved her hand and a portion of the floating pyramids rose so there were two layers of the floating pieces above the platform Then the guardian leapt up and began to kick from one pyramid to another approaching the challenger on an unpredictable path
Her feet always seemed to land perfectly perpendicular to the tumbling pyramids as though the whole of the platform were under her control
As she moved the Grand Pattern began to gather around her until even the cluster of shades could feel her rising momentum The challenger moved the patterns in a small area but the shade dominated She flicked her hand out and produced a tightly wound whip of wind that twisted at her opponent The challenger didnÆt flinch he exploded upward and met the attack of the guardian directly He flicked his wrist and produced his plant spear
As he impacted a pyramid and bent his leg to absorb the force he unleashed a basic thrust that ripped through the air His patterns spun outward empowering his attack In terms of piercing the Lizakh shade had never seen patterns more profound than that
Partway through the strike the whip blurred sideways and hit the challenger on the back of his knee His deadly patterns and thrust burned through the edge of the whip but it quickly reformed after the strike passed He swore and tumbled through the air while the whip encircled him Five glittering fangs shot out of his arm and churned up the air but the whip came alive and slid between them toward the challengerÆs body
Weak The guardian announced as she arched up directly about the challengerÆs struggle to escape her weapon With a twitch of the wrist her whip shifted again gracefully avoiding the buzzing resistance of the flying fangs Suddenly everything aligned The Lizakh shadeÆs disciple tumbled below with the guardian four meters above him Her whip formed a perfect spiraling drill pointed downward at his chest
The challenger barked out a bitter laugh The guardian stomped her foot
For several minutes Grand Marshall Ellios just focused on steadying his breathing and examining his injuries After fighting his way through the lowest level of the Path of the Pinnacle for a week his image was greatly depleted His body was riddled with wounds with image remnants embedded in his flesh so that the wounds lingered and continued to hamper him
ElliosÆs eyes turned bloodshot as he reflected on the experience Those damned Pinnacle Seekers How dare they conspire with a Nether King to create an ambush on the holiest of sites in the Nexus When I report this matter to Elhume
But that thought made even Ellios hesitate After all he had conspired with his subordinate Commandant Zettlequill and some other Commandants to join the rush for the Pinnacle despite express orders to the contrary He had assumed that other Grand Marshals would also attempt it as well as Lathis NÆGick but Ellios had been surprised to find that only relatively obscure members of the orthodox factions had dared make a dash for the Pinnacle other than himself His expression became sour reporting this to Elhume would just paint a target on his back
Still with my carefully crafted foundation if the Pinnacle Seekers and Nether Heralds hadnÆt worked together to suppress me Ellios gnashed his teeth and revealed a thousand wickedly sharp teeth His eyes burned with unwillingness After patiently improving himself for two thousand years this was supposed to be his chance to prove himself He wouldnÆt have said that he would surpass Elhume but with his foundation becoming the acknowledged second most powerful figure seemed like a sure thing Yet no matter how well made and detailed his image was under the besiegement of so many others he had been forced to retreat
He snorted out a breath and refocused Despite that the combat experience was valuable How often does one get to face so many Speculum and image fulfillment fighters It can be considered a tempering Shifting my image is difficult but there were a few areas that I understand more fully now After another ten years of training
Then ElliosÆs expression changed as he saw the dozen message that he had been blocked from receiving on the Path to the Pinnacle He began to breathe heavily That bitch Devick is back and she dared assume control of our faction and she was killing opposing Commandants
The more he read the reports the more shocked he became at the way things were developing the situation in the Nexus was rapidly destabilizing Terrorist organizations moved freely breeding and thriving in the chaos The Engraving Guild remained fractured due to the mysterious death of Lathis NÆGick Elhume remained conspicuously absent after the demonstration of power when so many rushed to the Path of the Pinnacle
Well it can be said that Devick made sure none dared underestimate Military High Command Ellios muttered to himself Then his eyes flashed Yet she snarls around like a mad dog with blood on her tongue bringing shame upon us As the most powerful Speculum in history it is up to me to correct her behavior
Ellios took half a day to meditate and eliminate most of the remnant images embedded in his body Then he rested a bit and allowed the mental strain to fade away When he had recovered to his peak state his eyes flashed opened and he entered into the Nexus Ways He arrived at Military High Command Headquarters and walked decisively forward