Chapter 290 - 284 : Invincible Might

'It's over.'

*Phew*

With a whistling sound, the 1.7 metres crescent sword light struck the 4-clawed Crustan and formed a wide gash that gushed out large amounts of red blood. 

[Critical Hit]

-178 (???/??? ???) 

"Shrrrk!"

The remnant force from the attack sent the monster shrieking in pain as it flew backward, extending the gap between it and Sato. 

Since the crescent sword attacked horizontally, there was still remnant energy from the attack. It should be known that the width of the 4-clawed Crustan's body was about 60 centimetres(0.66 yards or 1.97 feet). There was no way the entirety of the slash would be tanked by the monster. The leftovers that broke off from the main body flew off to the side and struck the other five 4-clawed Crustan, injuring them while forcing the others to a stop. Even though the attack held back the others momentary, that slight pause was more than enough for Sato to widen the gap even further considering that he was running at full speed.

Sato kept running without turning back and just less than 2 seconds later, he made it.

*Step*

Sato landed on a white step that lead to the top of the altar. Even though he had reached his goal, he wanted to climb up to the top, just in case his instincts were wrong. Fighting from the top would be much easier as he would have the advantage. This was because the stairs were a risky place to battle as only 2 people could walk side by side on them. 

However, just as he took the first step, Sato felt a weird undulation in space that kept him frozen. An invisible vibrating ripple spread from the altar passed through Sato's body without harming a hair on him. But as it did so, Sato felt a pressuring force from it that could annihilate him instantly. At that moment, he felt like an ant in the presence of a divine dragon.

The 4-clawed Crustans that pursued after him, including the leader who recovered from the strike, all paused once they saw Sato atop the stair. It seemed like they could sense the incoming vibration as they all screeched and began to retreat. The leader was much stronger than the rest and it sensed the ripple earlier, so it easily overtook the rest in escaping. However, the invisible energy ripple wasn't something to be underestimated.

Originally, the ripple was moving at a slow pace after it exited the altar but it became faster with time. Just a second later and it was already faster than Sato at his top speed. Another second later and it easily surpassed 3 times the leading 4-clawed Crustan's speed.

"Shrrk"

The slower 4-clawed Crustans shrieked in fear as the invisible ripple closed in on them. The very one at the back had even begun to sweat as it tried to burn its potential and escape. Sadly, its hope was crushed as the ripple made contact with it. 

The very second the leading ripple from the wave made contact with the slower 4-clawed Crustan, the monster began to disintegrate from the point of contact. As the ripple went by it, the disintegration rate increased in speed till the 4-clawed Crustan was no more. After that, the ripple sped up even more and devoured the other 4-clawed Crustans. Even the leading one was no match for its speed as it got caught by the oscillating ripple and turned to dust.

Sato witnessed all this with fear in his eyes. It was unimaginable that such a devastating power had gone through him without leaving behind a scar.

'There should be some kind of law that protects whoever is on the altar from harm.' Sato came up with an explanation.

After this event, the 4-clawed Crustans were no more and Sato could finally take a break.

After witnessing that unimaginable power that vanquished the 4-clawed Crustans without any resistance, Sato had a bit of apprehension towards the altar. It should be recalled that death here meant failure. There was no revival token or anything similar like in the 2nd challenge so Sato had to advance cautiously.

'I should take a break and be at my best form before going.'

Guessing that what laid ahead of him would be the final trial, Sato decided to take a break and recuperate a bit. He had been running for more than 7 minutes and at the very last minute, he lost a lot more stamina as he was being pursued and had to occasionally fight back. Also, a few of his skills were on cool-down so he had to wait for them to go off, to be in his peak form before taking on the challenge. 

As he was taking a break, Sato began to analyse his strength as well as his chances of victory.

'Sadly, [Astral Blade] is all used up. [Gratitude of Races] is in cool-down and would be unavailable for the last challenge. I've also used up a majority of the arrays Xue Yan lent me with only one of them left. However, it's just a support type.' Sato frowned.

He suspected that the last challenge would be a battle-type one, after all, the others were challenges with different intentions; the fights that occurred in them were never directly related to the main theme of the challenge. Even in the second challenge, facing off against the sector guardians was just a shortcut devised to make the challenge easier; it was never originally intended for the challenge neither was it directly related to the main theme which was testing one's luck. Because of this, it was understandable that the final challenge would be a battle, after all, there was no way the successor to the Caventry wouldn't be a strong warrior or at least have the potential to be one.

If his suspicion was right, then the opponent would be a difficult one. One should remember that just the guardian of the second sector had killed him in one move and there was still the third sector's guardian. 

Sato no longer had his ultimate skill and he was out of attack type arrays that would be very helpful. Even the astral points(energy of the stars) stored in his sword were used up so he couldn't use the [Astral Blade] anymore. No matter how one looked at it, Sato was a lot weaker than when he started the Main Trials. 

"Oh well, I've made it this far and that's still good. I could still challenge the trials again when I get stronger. However," Sato's tone took a strange tone as he glanced at the top of the altar with a smirk. "it's still too early to give up." 

"I will give it my best and win. No, I have to win otherwise, how can I hope to face my family?"