Chapter 1037: Titan World Canvas!
Chapter 1037: Titan World Canvas!
...!!!
A furious mass of thunderclouds replaced the figure of the Penetrator, easily engulfing the semi-living water creature Warding Pride had unleashed, Warding Pride herself and the Mad Bishop!
It swept through a much larger range past the three, easily encompassing a fifteen kilometre range with its black hue and uneven design.
Bolts of Levin as thick as a normal human being was wide raced madly within the thickets, jutting in and out of the clouds as though supercharging the behemoth.
The [Titan World Canvas] was fully formed, and around it, spaced out rather... spaciously, were the star nodes for [Brilliant King's Adoring Stars], constantly funnelling rejuvenating Null Life Essence into the Penetrator's form!
Formally, it had been the [Vivid Firmament Canvas], but after Replicus evolved, the skill was transformed into a better, bigger version of itself.
(A/N: Refer to Ch.562)
'He suddenly changed his shape?' Warding Pride thought as she swam within the almost tangible mass of clouds.
Her figure was highlighted by never-ending Levin that circled around it, its vibrant, pure form that barely resembled lightning at all inspiring great caution!
The Bishop was similar stunned.
She couldn't understand what this was. Or rather, she was starting to judge every move Replicus made with the new information she had seen about him.
Of course the blasted deceiver could simply turn himself into a cloud!
He wasn't human!
...!!!
Right then, a massive surge of mana echoed through the rifts and bloats of the clouds! Warding Pride's eyes ballooned.
Her surroundings suddenly became glaringly bright, making her squint. Then, an outpour of deafening noise as impactful as the bold jet of Levin that stormed her way fell on her with haste!
Its power and size was great, but what was even greater was its piercing power which the Faction Leader sensed was the most lethal thing about it!
Before she had time to gather her thoughts, Warding Pride was already conjuring an golden green, egg-shaped barrier around herself.
Right when it fully formed, Warding Pride felt a shattering boom, and was sent shooting down the mass of black, illuminated cloud!
She streaked with great speed!
Such might!
That jet of Levin packed a punch!
Fortunately for her, her barrier didn't break, but...
...!!!
Four more crushing impacts bashed against her barrier, and she heard a subtle cracking noise that made her scowl.
'Where the hell is all this power coming from?!' she thought as she sweat.
She wouldn't have known, but...
[Titan World Storm (Special) | Lv.2]
The user becomes a great storm cloud brimming with super condensed Levin, one of the forms a Titan World Storm Veil Penetrator can take. In this form, the user's skills obtain a 410% increase in power and range, while the user themselves becomes completely immune to physical attacks. The user's awareness is also bolstered by an immense degree, making them conscious of everything within double the range of their attacks.
Mana Requirements: 9750 (I) Mana Points, 1200 (I) every day skill remains active.
Duration: ---
Cooldown: 3 days
Naturally, it wasn't exclusively this skill's characteristics that gave the sudden boosts to Replicus' abilities.
[Epiphany] played a part.
[Brilliant King's Adoring Stars] also played its part.
Yet still, Warding Pride's barrier remained firm. For the most part.
That was why...
...!!!
Warding Pride felt something hurtling towards her.
As she could freely manipulate the egg-shaped barrier around her, she managed to see past it.
A humanoid figure seemingly made out of the same Levin attempting to pierce her barrier
zoomed through the thickets blocking its way, heading right for her.
Warding Pride didn't need any guesses to know... this was Bright Storm.
The bastard could simultaneously exist as the cloud and as a form of Levin that could interact with matter!
Given the 410% increase in range of all skills, this version of the Penetrator was also nearly impossible to escape!
A moment before Replicus reached the Faction Leader, the Hollow Dusk Prison covered his white, Levin figure.
Warding Pride brought her hands together to summon a seal when...
The Penetrator pointed at her with his starry forefinger... and an orange light engulfed his
hand!
...!!!
'THAT AGAIN?!' Warding Pride thought.
That strange ability to erase techniques?!
If he used it, her barrier would vanish, wouldn't it?!
The Faction Leader briskly changed her plan.
Instead of summoning seals, she instantly made a gesture with her hands.
She needed to use her Majestic Territory to end this!
Yes. That would put this mess to an end!
However...
When she saw the orange light dim from Replicus' hand right when he reached the outside the egg-shaped barrier, Levin pouring harmlessly through him... she froze.
Because she had been mislead.
The Penetrator's middle finger joined his index at pointing at Warding Pride's barrier.
What came in Coordinated Disruption's stead was...
"Aggrante."
CRAAAACK!
After an unstoppable highlight bled from the Penetrator's armour like a shooting star,
Warding Pride's barrier finally gave in.
The stream of super condensed mana and Null Life Essence, after conquering the egg-shaped barrier, went on to clash against Warding Pride's Nitros.
Unfortunately, against raw Null Life Essence, Nitros was just about as useless in stopping it as
a Territory.
Warding Pride growled in agony as her side and left arm were fried and then eroded as though
touched acid.
Replicus felt an immense amount of satisfaction at the sight. He almost drowned in the
feeling.
Warding Pride's piercing eye glared at him with never-ending hate.
'Yes. Taste that, will you?' Replicus chanted within his mind.
This was his last chance to fight Warding Pride as a Faction Leader.
He didn't let up.
...But cold frost threatened the moment.
A surge of bluish white ice practically materialised within his mass of clouds and began
freezing it as though it were tangible matter!
'Dammit!' Replicus cursed.
What a bitter time for a foe to jump in!
Horribly enough, Warding Pride used the chance to flee before Replicus could deliver more
definitive damage!
'Brilliant! Just brilliant!' the Penetrator thought before his Hollow Dusk Prison vanished from
him, his white form dissipating.
....
The Penetrator appeared on top of his massive body of clouds.
To his shock, the rate at which his [Titan World Canvas] form was freezing solid was
atrocious!
Had he been too focused on getting rid of Warding Pride to notice?
'I lost my chance. That stunt was meant to at least fatally wound that blue-skinned wench.
I'm down to 30% of my second mana core's reserves. I can't afford to waste anymore Null Life Essence on Aggrante either.'
The Hollow Dusk Prison worked just like the Unlimited's Granted Armament. It had a setting for Aggrante as well, which used his reserves of Null Life Essence. Unfortunately for Replicus, while he could luxuriously create numerous lumps of mana to add to his mana cores - after killing opponents - he couldn't do the same with Null Life Essence.
For as long as he could remember, the only way to increase his capacity for Null Life Essence, was to kill living creatures and absorb it from them.
He could manipulate the boundless Null Life Essence around him right now, but he couldn't
use it for refills.
The last Aggrante he had just used had guzzled 20,000 units, leaving him at 52,000 Null Life
Essence units.
The Penetrator couldn't use more. He needed every last bit left.
He needed it for when the Harmonic Ember was in his hands!
'If I had a Null Life Essence core like Araeyn, I could probably manipulate the Essence here
better. It also doesn't help that [Greatest Null Weaver] is a simple normal skill...' Indeed. Having a core like Araeyn might help. Maybe then, Replicus could even tweak his stats
as much as he wanted with Null Life Essence and not have to rely solely on killing for a refill even in situation like this!
Replicus dived into the clouds. Since his latest attack had failed, he was going to have to figure out a less draining means of attack.
If he had dealt with Warding Pride just now, things may have been a little easier. He
considered the blue-skinned Faction Leader as the lighter of his two main enemies. He wouldn't have dreamed of attacking the Bishop first.
After all... he had also distributed a lot of firepower her way at the same time he attacked
Warding Pride.
The elderly Priestess... had tanked it all with her Nitros alone. She had even protected her nine
holy-wannabes!
The Bishop was truly monstrous.
Replicus watched her from afar.
She was raving something about him being a coward while zooming through the Titan World
Canvas.
Worse yet, she had an illusory cathedral around her.
'This is the same ability that grants her some kind of immortality. It's probably a variation of
the real cathedral I just destroyed...' Replicus thought.
He cursed.
Coordinated Disruption worked in two forms.
It was possible to aim it at the source of the technique, which would neutralise said technique, and leave the wielder unable to use it. It could also be used on the technique itself,
which only led to it being disrupted temporarily.
Sadly, both options had the same resource cost, with the only exception being when the user
of Disruption merely hindered the effects of techniques from reaching them. And despite this seeming like a worthwhile application, it only worked on techniques that
didn't pack a punch. Defending oneself from a song was simple enough.
'Too many enemies...'
Replicus felt Warding Pride's presence east of the Canvas. She was probably recovering.
The odd water monster was still freezing his body and the Bishop was scouring it to find him.
"Flesh it!" Replicus yelled and the large body started to move.
The Canvas surged, zooming at considerable speed towards a certain direction.
The Penetrator truly hoped he would arrive in one piece.