I Reincarnated As A Stick

Chapter 175: Imperium Orbis

“Ignis Zephyr Anima Form…”

“1st Divine Art…”

“[Fiery Tempest Naginata]!”

Whoosh!

Akin to a shooting star darting across the night sky, a naginata covered in golden flames and green winds darted towards the barrier in a matter of an instant, making a streak of golden and green light as it collided with the barrier.

Bang!

At the moment it hit the barrier, unlike Herellia’s attempt from before, the barrier instantly warped under the sheer force behind the naginata, as if the power of the naginata was more than enough to break through the barrier. Noticing this, Herellia could not help but radiate an aura of anticipation, muttering to herself, “An attack like this…I hope it breaks the barrier.”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Golden flames continued to spurt out the blunt end of the pole, making the naginata push at the barrier as it warped more and more, its appearance akin to a reverse water drop. While this was happening, ripples of white light started to radiate throughout the barrier, with the point of contact between the barrier and the naginata’s blade as the origin.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

On the other side of the barrier, Chonk, who was almost finished with his preparations for the second phase of Code Omega, could not help but sense an aggressive aura coming from the alliance base, prompting him to turn around. At the very instant he turned around, he noticed what was happening to the barrier and could not help but feel intense trepidation as he watched.

“Is that…actually going to break through the barrier?” Chonk could not help but mutter to himself in doubt, vaguely seeing a weapon covered in flames try and pierce through the barrier, warping it to the maximum. To his eyes, it seemed as if the weapon only needed a little more force for it to finally pierce through the barrier and set the alliance free. Realizing this, he could not help but tell the members of his army, who had not finished charging up their spells, to hurry up so they could start the second phase.

While doing so, he could not help but look up at the skies and utter in a begging manner, “Heavens…if you truly want me to reach Rank 2, please tell me that this weapon wouldn’t break through the barrier.”

Fwoosh!

As if the heavens had answered his statement, the momentum of the weapon as it tried to pierce through the barrier had abruptly stopped. Not only that, but the ripple of white light radiating from the barrier had stopped as well. A few seconds later, the barrier had instantly reverted to its original shape as it flung the weapon back with a loud sound.

Boing!

“…” Seeing this, Chonk could not help but be at a loss for words. He could not help but look up at the skies for a bit, thinking to himself, ‘Did the heavens actually hear my prayers for once?’

He then blinked his eyes a few times, wondering if what he was seeing was an illusion. After finding out that it wasn’t an illusion thanks to him being pestered by Horell and Chungus regarding the second phase of Code Omega, Chonk could not help but start chuckling. First, it was a soft chuckle of disbelief. Then gradually, it transformed into a loud cackle of arrogance as an aura of smugness radiated from his eyes. Still cackling, he shouted, “To think that the heavens are on my side!”

After that, he turned around to look at the members of his army and said, “Their last-ditch effort has become useless in front of [Maledictum Claustra]! Once we start the second phase, victory is ours!”

“Victory for the army!” Not long after, almost every member of the army responded to Chonk’s words. On the other hand, Horell could not help but feel a bit of fear as he looked at what had happened to the barrier a while ago. At first, he was quite hopeful that this attack would break through the barrier, even though he did not know which member of the alliance did it. Nevertheless, with the result of the attack in plain sight, he decided to place his hopes on Aurus, not knowing that he was the one who actually attacked the barrier.

Utilizing the connection between the two of them, Horell sent a message to Aurus as Chonk started to command a few members of the army.

…

Bang!

Thanks to the move the barrier did, the naginata was flung towards one of the walls of the alliance’s main hall, becoming stuck as it still emanated a few golden flames and green winds. Hearing the loud bang, all of the alliance members, including Herellia, could not help but let out a sigh either inwardly or outwardly. As for Herellia, she let out a sigh inwardly as she muttered while looking at the naginata, “Even an attack like that…did not break the barrier?”

“If so…how much power would we actually need to break through?” At this moment, Herellia could not help but feel despair at the current situation. The aura radiated by the naginata a while ago had exceeded her previous aura by a lot, being tens of times more intense than hers. And even that could not break through the barrier? With that in mind, Herellia could not help but think that the Tempest Branch Alliance was actually going to be destroyed.

On the other hand, a soft voice could be heard from the naginata.

“Ah, fuck.” This voice came from the pole portion of the naginata, who was none other than Aurus. At the moment, him, Fenrir, and Charisa were stuck on the wall due to their current form. Hearing their master curse out, Charisa, who was the golden flames emanating from the end of the pole, could not help but say in an apologetic tone, “We’re sorry for being too incompetent, Master!”

Hearing that, Aurus could not help but reply, “Charisa, it’s not your fault.” Just as he was about to continue consoling Charisa, he then remembered about Fenrir and said, “Fenrir, it’s not your fault either.”

Rather than feel guilty about them not being able to break through the barrier, Fenrir, who was the blade stuck on the wall, could not help but think about why they could not break through the barrier from another perspective. After pondering for a bit, he then asked Aurus, “Master, what if we use the other skills of the Ignis Zephyr Anima Form?”

“I’d suggest not, Fenrir,” Aurus replied to Fenrir’s suggestion. “Although the 5th to 7th Divine Art would probably have enough power to break through the barrier, there’s still a great emphasis on the word ‘probably’.”

While telling Fenrir the reason why he was disinclined to do the other skills of the Ignis Zephyr Anima Form, Aurus could not help but think to himself, ‘Ah, I’m fucking stupid. Why didn’t I summon more Allies until I reached the limit? If I had 5 Allies with me instead of 2, then I would’ve surely broken through that barrier without a problem!’

Aurus knew very well that the strength of fusion attacks not only depended on the strength of the beings fusing as one, but it also depended on the number of beings fusing as one. The difference between the fusion of 3 beings and 4 beings in terms of power dictated whether that attack could kill a Pseudo-Animate or an Animate.

Even though he was filled with slight regret over not summoning more Allies, Aurus did not dwell on the matter too much as he let out a sigh, willing the energy that was shared between them to split apart, letting them return to their original forms.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

It did not take long for the three to land at the center of the alliance’s main hall, with Fenrir and Charisa positioning themselves behind Aurus like his bodyguards. As for Aurus, he did not mind this as he looked at Herellia and sighed before saying, “Well, as you can see, we failed.”

“You gave your all,” Herellia replied to Aurus’s words before letting out a sigh. “That alone is enough.”

As she said this, she could not help but look at the barrier and say with a slightly melancholic tone, “Haah…to think there would be a day where the whole alliance would be wiped out.” She then looked back at Aurus and said with a slightly melancholic chuckle, “As the strongest alliance in Tempest Cliff, it’s quite ironic, isn’t it?”

“Well…” Aurus ignored Herellia’s words of melancholy as he pondered over the other methods he had to break through the barrier. Surprisingly, it only took a few seconds for him to formulate a plan. Looking at Herellia with an aura of slight excitement surrounding him, Aurus could not help but say, “Herellia, I haven’t told you this before, but…”

“Hm?” Herellia could not help but radiate an aura of curiosity as she listened to Aurus’s words. After listening to the full explanation, she could not help but radiate an aura of intense shock as she softly shouted, “That’s killing two birds with one stone! Chonk and his army would have their psychological barrier crumble while we’re prepared to retaliate.”

“I’d still need the help of the alliance though,” Aurus said, knowing very well that Herellia had accepted his plan. “Do we have any proficient illusionists that could cast a facade on the other side of the barrier, making it look like we’re still here?”

“Hmm…” Herellia closed her sense of vision for a bit as she pondered. Not long after, she opened them as she replied, “I’ve called the top 5 illusionists in the alliance. Will they be enough for this plan?”

“More than enough,” Aurus replied with the aura of excitement surrounding him intensifying. Just as he was about to tell the illusionists what they were going to do as they had just arrived, a familiar voice resounded throughout Aurus’ mind. Hearing what the voice told him, Aurus could not help but chuckle as he imagined the shock on the body of the voice’s origin.

“Hey Aurus, Chonk is going to start Phase 2 soon.” This voice said in Aurus’s mind. This voice came from none other than Horell, who was a double agent for the Tempest Branch Alliance. Not long after, he added, “Once Chonk shouts the phrase ‘Tenfold Power’, I’m pretty sure the alliance is going to lose. Make sure to break through the barrier before he shouts those words.”

“Hehehe.” In response, Aurus laughed at his words. He then said, “I’ll make sure the alliance breaks through before that happens. Not only that, but I’ll also be giving you a big surprise you’ll surely love.”

“Oh?” Horell could not help but say. “What kind of surprise?”

“You’ll have to wait and see~” After saying these words, Aurus then told Horell that he was going to break through the barrier, ending the conversation between the two of them. Not long after, he turned back to look at the 5 illusionists that had been called by Herellia to arrive at the center of the main hall.

“Alright, what I need you five to do is create a mirage on the barrier that would make it look like that we’re still in the alliance,” Aurus said to the five before asking them, “Can you five do that?”

In response, the 5 illusionists looked at each other for a bit, exchanging strands of energy with one another for a while. After a few seconds, one of the illusionists rolled forward and said to Aurus, “No problem!”

“Make sure to do it as fast as possible,” Aurus said to the five before they hastily rolled towards the barrier, creating a sheet of energy that draped over the barrier. A few seconds later, a carbon copy of the image that could be seen from the outside was on this sheet of energy, making Aurus radiate an aura of happiness as he muttered to himself, “Time for me to do my part.”

Whoosh!

Summoning all of the FP in the body, he transformed it into strands that extended out of his body before intertwining with one another as a black light started to radiate from the center of the mass of strands. Not long after, he detached these mass of strands from his body, manipulating it to settle on the ground at the center of the alliance hall.

Vwoosh!

In an instant, the black light in the center had expanded to a great amount, emanating an aura that the black light was connected to another part of the world. In actuality, that was indeed the case, with Aurus expending quite a decent amount of his FP to form another mass of strands outside the alliance base. Sensing that the connection between the two masses was successful, he then shouted, “[Lesser Portal Creation]!”

Swoosh!

In that instant, all of the remaining strands, which were not engulfed by the black light, had been engulfed as the aura that emanated from it had intensified, attracting the attention of all the alliance members that were panicking as to how they would escape the alliance base.

After making sure that the other side underwent the same phenomenon as well, Aurus then shouted without hesitation, “Everyone! Enter the portal and we’ll end up behind the alliance base! This will allow us to catch them off-guard!”

Noticing that some members were doubtful as to whether the black light in the center was a portal, Herellia continued where Aurus left off, saying, “The orders of the Vice Leader are my orders. Enter the portal and we shall initiate Code 1, Phase 1.”

“If they’re going to attack us with their full power, then let us attack with our full power as well!”

…

On the other side of the barrier, while being unaware of what was happening inside the alliance, Chonk looked at the members of his army with great confidence, sensing the great aura of power that emanated from each one of them.

He then turned around to look at what the alliance had done after that close escape, slightly surprised that the barrier was untouched after that. Seeing this, he could not help but feel that something bad was going to happen. Not long after, he suppressed this feeling and thought optimistically as he said, “They just gave up on breaking the barrier. I’m sure that’s what they did.”

After saying those words, he turned back to look at his army and took a deep breath. He then shouted, “Everyone, release your skills!”

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

In an instant, multiple rays of light that varied in sizes and colors started to shoot out of each member in the army, converging towards a certain spot above Chonk’s head. A few seconds later, two thicker beams of light shot out from Horell and Chungus, easily absorbing the power from the beams of the members as the two beams unified into a double-helix made out of light.

With this double-helix floating in mid-air, Chonk then jumped up and slashed out with his front paws, making the double-helix burst as the energy it contained covered a wide range, shrouding a large area with a faint white haze.

Soon after, Chonk summoned all of the mana in his body and channeled it through his paws as he slashed out yet again, allowing the white haze to absorb his mana as each member in the army felt themselves grow stronger.

With the aura of power radiating from the members growing twice as strong, Chonk could not help but look at them with a satisfied expression on his face as he shouted, “Code Omega…”

“Phase 2…”

“[Imperious Orbis: Onefold Power]!”