Chapter 247: Book 7: Chapter 16 – Cornered
As discovered by Silas, Ace and his group had easily passed the test of the fourth floor, allowing them to enter the fifth.
Ace ventured alone onto the fifth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, a realm of exquisite beauty that contrasted sharply with the danger lurking beneath its enchanting facade.
The moment Ace stepped onto the lush terrain, a breathtaking jungle stretched before him. The foliage was an iridescent green, and the atmosphere hummed with life. Glistening streams flowed serenely through the landscape, and exotic flora bathed the surroundings in a vibrant tapestry of colours. The symphony of nature's song filled the air, and it was easy to lose oneself in the jungle's enchanting allure.
Yet beneath the breathtaking beauty lay an undercurrent of danger. The fifth floor was not simply a paradise of flora; it was a realm of trials and tests, where the lush landscape concealed perils of unimaginable proportions, a fact that was made clear by the oppressive killing intent that hung in the air like a shroud, a harbinger of the challenges ahead.
Ace barely managed to travel three steps when his sharp instincts, honed by countless battles, warned him of the lurking danger. A branch of a towering tree seemed to come alive. One of them, thick as a dragon's tail, suddenly lashed out towards him. The enormous wooden appendage was an extension of a colossal tree, its power resonating at the middle stages of the saint realm.
Ace's reaction was swift, his instincts guiding him like a shadow. With the grace of a seasoned warrior, he deftly sidestepped the massive branch. It whooshed past him, leaving only a faint breeze in its wake as it sliced straight through Ace's afterimage.
A few meters to the left, Ace's body appeared, his gaze steady as he assessed his surroundings. His eyes narrowing slightly as he scanned the various trees surrounding him.
Though the density of the elemental essence here on the second layer of the Necropolis had more than doubled, so too had the stability of the space. Although he was able to spread his [Observation] a little over 100 meters on the first three floors when uncompressed, here on the second layer, he could barely spread it over 30 meters.
As such, although he could sense the dangerous air that loomed over him, he wasn't able to tell that the trees were alive.
Still, as an expert who specialised in the laws of fire, if there was one thing he didn't fear, it was plant-type lifeforms.
As the thick branch snaked towards Ace's neck with terrifying momentum, Ace didn't even draw for the glaive stuck to his back. Instead, he casually threw a palm wrapped in a layer of fire out to meet it.
The branch had the girth of two adult males and stretched for over 50 meters, whilst Ace's palm was barely a fraction of the size. But as the two attacks collided, a deafening explosion resounded through the air as the branch was incinerated, but that was just the beginning.
Ace calmly raised his hand, slowly pointing at the tree that dared to attack him. A thin crimson beam of highly compressed flames created a sonic boom as it tore through the air, aiming straight for the centre of the sky penetrating tree that towered over him.
BOOM!
Another explosion – several times louder and more devastating than the last one – enveloped the entire body of the tree.
"Looks like this fifth floor was designed just for me," Ace grinned as he looked at the now desolate crater where the giant tree was once positioned.
Although his words were a bit of a stretch, he wasn't completely wrong – Ace really was the worst possible opponent for plant-type lifeforms.
Still, he had never been the murderous type. As long as he wasn't provoked, Ace was too lazy to deal with them, especially as the majority of opponents on this level were merely at the middle stages of the saint rank and were too weak to provide him with the challenges he sought. But as I said, that was contingent on them not provoking him. Unfortunately, the natives of the fifth floor didn't receive that particular memo…
Within seconds of Ace incinerating his would-be attacker, the sorrowful cries and wails of mourning creatures rang in his ears as all the trees that surrounded him seemed to come to life.
"Looks like we'll be doing this the hard way then," Ace sighed lightly as he watched the dozen or so branches slicing towards him from just about every angle to prevent him from fleeing – not that he had any intention of fleeing.
"[Blazing Pulse]!" Ace said as the burning skin-tight armour that coated his body like a second layer of skin pulsed like a beating heart.
BOOM!
With the fusion of Ace's mysteries, "Essence of Fire" and "Explosion, reaching 50%, not only had the power of his attacks seen a drastic increase in power, but his skill in utilising his explosive flames had also skyrocketed.
The technique [Blazing Pulse] wasn't a technique he had previously come up with; it was merely one he came up with in the spur of the moment to counter the incoming attacks, and yet the effects were still terrifying, all the same.
The explosion spread for hundreds of meters, enveloping all forms of life in the surrounding area. Be they sentient or not, all plants, trees, and even the grass in the area had been reduced to ash, turning what was once a lush terrain of paradise into a desolate hellscape void of any signs of life.
As the dust cleared, Ace gave a satisfied nod as he assessed the results of his newly-created technique. "Not bad."
Ace wasn't the only one who had run into a bit of trouble upon climbing to the fifth floor. Both Amira and Leona had run into similar situations; only they weren't able to deal with it quite as easily. Still, with the progress they had made on the previous floors, it would take more than a group of trees and plants with the power of a mid-stage saint to halt their steps, especially Leona.
Whilst Amira simply chose to use her incredible speed to escape before she was surrounded, Leona, like her human partner, chose to slaughter her way towards Ace, burning anything that stood in her way.
.
.
.
Whilst Ace and his group were in the process of regrouping once more, hundreds of miles away from their current position, two groups were in the process of facing off against one another. On one side was a group of almost two dozen experts from the New Yulan Empire led by two of the Radiant Church's foremost experts, Commander Lehman and Lord Heidens, and the second disciple of the High Priest – Felicia Wonnerin.
And stood across from them were two young men and a black rodent which stood on its rear legs cautiously eyeing the group across from them.
The young men were Linley and Olivier, whilst the rodent standing on Linley's shoulder was, of course, Bebe.
Some time ago, Linley and Olivier came across a cottage in the middle of the jungle, which was surrounded by hundreds of sentient trees, each of which was at the middle stages of the saint realm.
After spending over six months in the Necropolis, they both understood that a cottage being guarded by so many creatures could only mean one thing – a treasure was located there. Unfortunately, even with their rapid improvements, neither was able to take on so many mid-stage saints at the same time; as such, they decided to form a temporary truce – at least until they managed to clear a path to the cottage.
If it had been before the opening of the Necropolis, even with Linley, Olivier, and Bebe working together, there would have been no chance they would've been able to clear a path, but as top-tier geniuses, these six months had allowed their progress to be nothing short of miraculous.
It took several hours of non-stop fighting, but with all three of them working together, they were finally able to achieve their goal. But before they could even enter the cottage and see what was inside, they were interrupted by the party from the New Yulan Empire.
The group from the Empire had long since located Linley's trio, but even though they weren't scared of them, they knew they would have to pay a price to take down Linley without harming Bebe, who would undoubtedly stop at nothing to protect his partner and they weren't willing to pay such a price if they didn't have to.
As such, they decided to wait and let Linley's group tire themselves out before they eventually made their move. Thankfully, with the stability of the space inside the ruins, Linley and his group weren't able to sense their auras, meaning as long as they stayed out of sight and smelling range of Bebe, the chances of them being found were almost non-existent.
As the group from the Yulan Empire revealed themselves, Linley's draconian eyes frosted over as he glared at them. More specifically, the two elderly-looking men standing near the centre.
"Heidens, Lehman," Linley growled as he willed his azure dragon scales to once again cover his body as he resummoned his twin swords from his storage rings.
"Linley," the former Holy Emperor – Heidens – sighed regretfully. "You are, without a doubt, one of the most gifted youngsters our Continent has ever produced. If only you had agreed to join us at the church, we could've been the ones to usher in a new era. Unfortunately, you have chosen to foolishly walk down this path of revenge. Now, the only outcome left for you is death."
As he said that, Heidens summoned the golden mage's staff that radiated the aura of a Divine Artifact.
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