Chapter 1826

Chapter 1826

Whoooooooossh!

The Lizakh shade blinked several times as he watched the confrontation in front of him continue to develop. He could not remember his name or family, just that he studied the Grand Pattern and longed for nothing more than to climb to the summit. However, watching this black-haired human utilize his strike to defeat the guardian of the ninth platform, he felt the significance of the moment carved onto his soul.

He could barely breathe; he couldn’t stop trembling. And the fact that the human copied his strike-

His body is becoming a conduit to the Grand Pattern directly, The shade licked his lips, the sensation tingling and real. He couldn’t remember the last time he had such a sensation. The human twisted rapidly in front of him, bringing his attack spiraling to meet the guardian’s deflection palms. The air churned around the attack, applying increasing amounts of pressure in the surrounding space, even before the attack landed. Is he truly like that monstrous first guardian? He walked down the path of image physicalizations and improving the power of his body?

Whooooosh!Upstodatee from n(0)/ve/lbIn/.(co/m

After a long moment of the two methods of using the Grand Pattern grinding against one another, the guardian’s deflection finally pushed the drilling attack to the side. The palm attack hit the golden pillar and stopped without any suspense. However, the powerful winds curled around the outside and then spun back to join the challenger's body. His body twisted without needing to recover between strikes. His palm lashed out again as if manipulating the Grand Pattern and then unleashing it was simplicity itself.

Sweat was coursing down the long-haired shade’s face. Its aggrieved expression remained as its hands continued to trace wheels, but now there was a desperation that gave the Lizakh shade a deep and satisfying burst of catharsis. Hm, I expected you to struggle and fail to progress after enduring my Seven Strikes- err, Seven Deaths, One Strike, but watching you torture the other guardians isn’t a bad outcome.

More wind spiraled together, becoming a constant slipstream around the confrontation. The force the challenger wielded coiled around him like a serpent. Seeing him like this, steadily accumulating more power, made the Lizakh guardian shiver. He had assumed the storm the challenger summoned against him was some profound technique previously, but now he understood that it wasn’t such a fragile thing.

There was no core he could have struck. There was no weakness. The challenger’s greatest weapon was his powerful body. Right now he was just experimenting with new ways to use his physical prowess. The guardians of the Fifth Step became whet stones to improve himself.

Whoooosh! Whooooooosh!

With more power came more speed. Palm strike, deflection. Palm strike, deflection. The call and response was predictable, but as the challenger gathered more force the balance shifted. He applied so much pressure that the long-haired shade could only stumble backward to avoid being directly blasted away. This made the guardian even more desperate because if he was pushed too far, he would be out of range of a golden pillar.

But the challenger’s speed left him with no time to recover. The guardian scrambled backward and tried to reposition himself, but the palm strikes didn’t cease. With those familiar spinning motions that had long frustrated the Lizakh, the guardian pushed the strikes away from its body. However, it couldn’t avoid letting those attacks disperse themselves in the air. And when the golden pillars didn’t absorb their force-

Whooooooooooosh. WHOOOOOOSH. WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOSH!

Crack!

However, it was Vant’s image that cracked.

In the next moment, Charlotte Wick charged forward. The Primal Beast smashed its massive horns back and forth, pressuring Claudette. Her steps were light as she avoided the strike and then released a freezing field. Her lips tightened as Wick’s natural energy let her resist and strike again.

Claudette had no choice but to raise her blade. Cursed weapon met antlers once, twice, three times. Sparks were thrown in every direction and Claudette stumbled back, but Wick’s image began to dissipate.

Claudette still won.

After coughing for several seconds, Claudette gestured. “Next.”

Vant and Wick moved to the side and made way for Raymund Ballast. Claudette and Vulpine began a high-speed exchange in space, focused more on physical combat than just raw image power.

D’min’s eyes focused on Vant who drifted away. After firming his resolve, he flew over.

“Hm?” The ram demon noticed him immediately and tilted his head to the side. “D’min? Isn’t it your rest time? What are you doing up here?”

“I know, but I can’t just sit still, I want to improve. If I don’t put in more effort...”

I’ll be left behind, D’min thought to himself. And from the meaningful look that Vant gave him, he didn’t need to vocalize that feeling. His determined expression announced it clearly enough.

Vant shook his head and scratched his horns, but still straightened. “Alright, I don’t mind doing some extra sparring, but your image is still pretty weak. Until you decide how you want to improve, there is only so much you can gain from straight combat. Better to spend time working on your foundations.”

D’min clenched his fists. Then he produced his javelin and took a fighting stance. “I know. I know I’m still... far from being enough. But while I was resting, it came to me all at once. The way to combine my different strengths into one. This might not be the perfect image for me, but I cannot afford to wait any longer.”

“Let’s see it then.” Vant flexed his hands. His buzzing, multi-faceted image formed behind him.

D’min nodded slowly, a strange energy beginning to swirl around him. Following his instincts, he brought out fire and led it down those complicated paths. Something ancient and pure began to burn within him and D'min increased his energy output. As he did so, golden sparks became molten flows of shining fire that orbited his body. “Sun Storm.”