I'm sorry for the late update, forgot to set the publish timer.
My update consistency is a bit of pride for me, this won't happen again. ^^
Happy reading~
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The rampaging force brought by the powerful aura seeping out of Edward and his spirit's bodies makes the air thicker and dense, everyone without an exception felt that it was hard to breathe the air normally.
More strength is required to pull the air into their nostrils, and thus their chests become heavy.
Sentine the Fire Sentinel takes a form of a muscular humanoid figure that is way twice bigger as Edward with black skin that is lighter on its inner torso area, whisps of dark fire travel from the ground beneath its feet to the dark fiery eyes before doing the same process all over again.
Its hand held a V-shaped black shield entirely made and burned with dark fire.
Any spirit in the surroundings got suppressed by the sheer presence of Sentine alone.
Even the Awakened guards can feel utilizing their spirit has become harder upon the emergence of Sentine, it almost feels like that their spirits are reluctant to come out and meet head-on with Sentine.
Only spirits in the High Spirit realm can use their power properly in front of Sentine.
Zero, the Awakened flying in the sky with radiating light overflowing his body frowns upon seeing Edward's spirit. If he's in the same realm as Edward, his spirit might also be suppressed by him.
'He definitely just reach the seventh-rank realm, but this amount of mana and pressure...'
From the looks of the glowing dark fiery orb that is glowing in the middle of Edward's chest, Zero knows that he was just had a breakthrough since it's still delicate and doesn't have any sign of harmony with Sentine yet.
But the pressure Edward is giving off is at least comparable to mid or even peak seventh-rank.
Not even the most talented Awakened in the whole of Ratmawati City and beyond have this kind of talent, the gap between small realms in the seventh-rank realm is too much for a person to leap. It shouldn't be possible.
Yet Edward shows the unbelievable power that surpassed even the logic of the mind.
Boom!
Small shockwaves burned the ground around his feet in a three meters radius and started pulsating rapidly, they were responding to Edward's intent to make the last stand using everything he got. At first, the small shockwaves sounded like heartbeats.
Aside from the surprised Zero, the Awakened guards in the surroundings were also surprised.
Out of the remaining ones, three women clad in grey robe looks at Edward with their grey eyes enlarged to the absolute limit. From the looks of it, they seem to wear a different outfit compared to the other Awakened guards.
"D-Didn't lady Lauren said that he's still in the sixth-rank realm...?", one of the three asks.
Another shakes her head in disbelief, "Reaching seventh-rank realm with enough hard work is plausible, but how did he have such a tremendous aura that is comparable to us, mid-seventh-rank realm Awakened...? It shouldn't be possible"
~
Sometime before,
"Edward, there are three Awakened that admit that they were sent here by Lady Lauren. What do you want me to do regarding them?", Tandu walks inside the mansion and finds Edward sitting on the sofa while reading something on his phone.
Upon hearing this, Edward gives a confused gaze and mutters, "Lady Lauren?"
Since Edward is not expecting any meeting with any member of the Hester Family, he decided to stand up from the sofa before heading outside intending to check out these Awakened from the Hester Family.
The three Awakened are standing in the middle of the front yard under the Awakened guards' eyes.
Edward approached the three of them before stopping a couple of steps away, "Hester's Family doesn't have any business to attend to at this time with the Silverstar Family, what do I owe the pleasure of receiving this surprise visit?"
Although he said that with a calm tone, Edward is very alert about them.
With the entire mansion on full alert regarding the matters he had with Mrs. Greene, anyone that might pose a threat would be needed to be taken very seriously. Out of everything, Edward wouldn't forgive himself if anything were to happen to anyone here.
One of the three Awakened, a woman with sharp features and a short-black hair steps forward.
"My apology for visiting the Silverstar Family's mansion at this inappropriate time, but we are sent here by Lady Giana as a kind gesture in helping to protect the mansion, especially with the absence of Rex", the woman said with a monotone voice.
Not even a twitch in her face can be seen, she looks like a walking robot.
Upon hearing this Edward crosses his arms in front of him while sizing the three Awakened with his eyes, he squinted his eyes before he asks, "How do you know Rex is absent? I don't remember Rex declaring anything"
"Rex and Lady Lauren has a deal, and Lady Lauren is sure that he's fulfilling his part"
Although a bit skeptical, Edward decided to let them in but they can't be anywhere near the mansion's floor. Tandu and the other Disaster Squad are also watching them carefully under Edward's careful command.
~
Back to the present,
The woman with short black hair gasps a cold air upon seeing Edward's state right now.
During their initial encounter, she can't really gauge Edward's strength fully but the report stated that he's in the sixth-rank realm. In reality, Edward has already stepped into the seventh-rank realm but that's not what's most surprising.
What surprised her so much was the power coming out of him that feels like an endless tide.
At first, she thought that she was the strongest here, and doesn't feel intimidated by any Awakened guard with her being a Mind Elementalist. But it seems she was wrong, Edward is no doubt the leader here.
Boom!!
"I'm going to say this once, back away while you still can", Edward said threateningly.
Upon hearing this, Zero gritted his teeth in anger seeing that a seventh-rank realm Awakened is looking down on him that already reaches the Spirit Unification state. Blasting an even stronger ray of light, he whispered with a trembling tone hiding his anger, "Are you threatening me...?"
Krrkk!!
"Mere seventh-rank realm Awakened dares to threaten me?! Know your place!!"
While gritting his finding Edward's offensive words to be blasphemous toward an eighth-rank realm Awakened like him, Zero dashes with all of his might turning into a jet of light that heading very quickly towards Edward.
Edward went into his battle stance quickly, "Pneuma Spell! Spirit Art Modification!"
SWOOSH!
Just from the light chant coming from his mouth, his body undergoes multiple changes, and one of them is located in his veins that expanded and become black, enhancing the affinity with the dark fire element.
Two fire titan figures appeared on Edward and Sentine's backs simultaneously.
Even though he was mostly tending to the mansion in Rex's absence, Edward has never stopped training and Sentine is always motivating him to keep on becoming stronger. Sentine even tells him the way to fasten his progress.
In that small timeframe, he managed to reach the seventh-rank realm and align a Pneuma Spell.
Spirit Art Modification is a second circle Pneuma Spell that Sentine and Edward developed with the Fire Titan Art as its base, this Pneuma Spell will change and alter the Fire Titan Art into a spiritual art that also involves spirit energy instead of just mana.
Upon using this Pneuma Spell, the Fire Titan Art will become way stronger and more efficient.
Edward hasn't even tried using it once since the Pneuma Spell just finished being developed, he intends to spar with Rex later using only Awakened power. But now is not the time to restrain the Pneuma Spell he developed.
"Dark Titan Sentinel Art! Weight of the Titan!"
Crack!
Edward and Sentine stomped the ground strongly making the pulsing shockwaves even stronger.
The ground even trembles a bit from their stomps which becomes stronger due to their heavier weight caused by the art. After that, they then chanted in a union with a fierce glint in their eyes looking at the descending Zero.
"Dark Titan Sentinel Art! Unbreakable Body!"
"RAARGHH!"
BOOM!
Sentine stepped forward and puts the dark fire shield in front, protecting everything on its back.
On the other hand, Edward tighten his stance before putting both of his hands on Sentine's back to help sustain the incoming attack from a raging eighth-rank realm Awakened that would usually obliterate any lower-ranked Awakened.
Clashes between the two energies spark like lighting to the surroundings.
Every impact created by this rampant collision destroys everything that it touches, and even the Awakened guards used their element to protect themselves and the mansion from the collateral energy.
Despite with pouring every mana and spirit energy, Edward and Sentine are having a difficult time.
Both of them are slowly being pushed into the ground under the tremendous energy from Zero, the power of an eighth-rank realm Awakened is no joke even without the Gladiator Form activated.
Edward glances over his shoulder in the midst of the extreme moment.
Upon finding the looks from Edward, the Awakened guards on the back instantly turn around intending to help Mrs. Greene and the others to run away while he kept Zero busy. But it seems Zero realizes this as he points his fingers at them.
"Nobody is going to escape! Not while I'm around!", Zero roared with a maniacal look.
Swoosh!
Two beams of light flew from his pointing index fingers before traveling through the distance in a blink of an eye, and before the Awakened guards can react their hearts got destroyed by the beam that went through their bodies easily.
None of them survived that attack, Zero has a complete realm advantage here.
Snapping out of their dazes, the three women from the Hester Family activated their aura knowing that the situation requires their help. Edward is doing his best to defend himself from Zero's attack, and they need to help him.
With the circulating grey mana around them, they started to make their move.
Each one of them summoned their own Spirit Shadow showing their seventh-rank realm powers, their spirits are shaped like humanoid little girls with black magician hats and grey strings protruding out of their fingertips.
Finish activating their spirits, the three women instantly cast the same spell.
"Ultimate Mental Spell, Strings of Boosting Puppeteer!"
Swoosh!
Sixty grey strings shot straight from their fingertips toward Edward and Sentine before linking to every part of their bodies. Each of them is wrapped by thirty strings that link them to the three women and their Spirit Shadows.
It surprises Edward that is slowly overwhelmed.
But in the next second, Edward's eyes widened feeling the boost in power. It's he got additional storage of power that is now fueling his body, he now can push Zero back with the help of the strings that seem to be amplifying both his and Sentine's physical prowess to the utmost limit.
Mental Elementalists have different varieties, and these women are surely puppeteers.
With the additional strength from the three women that poured everything they got into amplifying Edward's physical strength, Zero frowns feeling that his momentum is being pushed back evidently.
'How are four mere seventh-rank realms Awakened be this capable?!', Zero exclaimed inwardly.
Raising his gaze up towards Zero that is wearing a shocked expression on his face, Edward and Sentine gathered every ounce of power into one last push before creating a devastating explosion.
"RAARGHH!!"
BOOM!!!
From that explosion, Zero got flunged back into the sky once more still surprised.
Looking down at the Awakened that somehow can be on par with him, he saw Edward wiping the blood on the corner of his mouth and Sentine showing an excited smile on its face that seems to be glad for meeting such a powerful opponent.
But this daze was exploited perfectly by Edward and Sentine.
Boom!
Sentine created small explosions beneath its feet to jump into the sky, higher than Zero which follows Sentine's movement that is now above him. When Sentine was about to attack, Zero beats it with a faster reaction.
"Great Pure Light Spell! Beam of Eminence!"
Bam!
Without even being able to get near, Sentine flung away from being hit by a light beam.
Having no control over where he will land, Sentine hits the edge of the mansion before crashing outside of the mansion ground on the back. Zero wanted to follow up with another attack but he senses something from below, he looks down before finding Edward already a couple of feet away from him with a dark fire burning his right fist.
Cloaking with dark fire, the energy on his fist take shape of an arrowhead as he drives it forward.
"Dark Titan Sentinel Art! Colossal Tear!!"
Bam!!
Edward's fist landed directly on Zero's chin propelling him upwards from the heavy punch, his jaw got rattled from that punch, and the skin that got hit directly by Edward's sharp knuckles broke and started to bleed profusely.
Upon realizing this while following the momentum knocking him up, Zero's eyes turn bloodshot.
'T-This damn annoying Awakened... forget capturing him, I'm going to kill him!!'
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