Chương 254: Book 7: Chapter 23 – One Year Later
Somewhat near the central region of the fifth floor, an earth-shaking battle was taking place. On one side were several hundred plant-type life forms of varying shapes and sizes, but the thing they all had in common was that, without fail, each and every one of them was at the middle stages of the saint realm.
Leading them was an enormous green female humanoid creature who stood over 10 meters tall. Her body was formed by countless intersecting vines and tendrils of grass, each of which seemed to have the thickness of a human arm. Her name was Lachapelle, and she was one of the prime saints who reigned supreme on the fifth floor.
And opposing this small army of plant-type monsters were Ace, Leona, and Amira. It had been almost a year since the trio had made it to the fifth floor of the Necropolis of the Gods, and as one would expect from talents of their level, their progress had been nothing short of astounding – as one could see from the fact that they were able to hold off such a large and powerful force on their own.
Leona was surrounded by these colossal creatures, with their thick, woody trunks and numerous writhing vines, but Leona was no longer the Divine Beast she once was. Her time spent on the fifth floor had transformed her, granting her strength beyond imagination. With a powerful, muscular body that matched the might of a Magical Beast at the Prime Saint rank, she faced the plant monsters with unmatched vigour.
Each swipe of her massive paws sent the monstrous flora crashing to the ground. Her claws tore through the woody defences of her enemies as though they were nothing but paper-mâché, and her ferocious roars echoed through the jungle. She was a force of nature herself, a true apex predator amidst the overgrown greenery.
Her flames danced and flickered, each controlled with a level of mastery that rivalled Ace's own after her insights into the Law of Fire's Profound Mystery of the Essence of Fire had finally reached completion, allowing her to manipulate the shape and size of her fiery arsenal with unprecedented precision.
Burning tendrils of flame reached out, searing through the plant monsters with calculated devastation. The jungle around her transformed into a fiery battleground as her flames wove through the air, creating a spectacle of radiant destruction.
The plant monsters, despite their size and numbers, were powerless before Leona's might. Their vines, once menacing, now seemed feeble and insignificant as they crumbled to ash and embers under her relentless assault.
On the opposite side was Amira, who, like Leona, was surrounded by towering plant-type monsters. Their massive, gnarled vines and thorny foliage reached out menacingly, ready to ensnare and devour anyone who dared to venture into their territory. But Amira was no ordinary intruder; she had transcended her previous limits and was now a force to be reckoned with.
Her cultivation level hadn't improved significantly in the past year, but her strength had taken a giant leap forward. Her insights into the Law of Light's Profound Mystery of Lightspeed had reached the level of a peak saint. With this newfound understanding, her movements became a blur, and her reaction time was nearly instantaneous.
However, her most impressive breakthrough came in her mastery of the Law of Wind's Profound Mystery of Velocity. It had surged to the level of a prime saint, allowing her to manipulate the very air around her to achieve unparalleled speed and agility. Amira's presence in the jungle was marked by graceful, swift movements that seemed to somewhat defy the laws of nature.
Yet, it was the evolution of her [Bright Sky Sword Art] that truly set her apart. Her [Bright Stance], which harnessed the concepts of the laws of light, had been refined and perfected. It made her swordsmanship pure, fast, and remarkably precise. But what brought Amira the most satisfaction was the creation of her [Sky Stance].
Drawing inspiration from the concepts of the laws of wind, her [Sky Stance] was a revelation in her swordsmanship. It made her movements not just fast but lightning-quick. Her strikes became sharper, each one slicing through the air with unparalleled grace and precision. She moved with the fluidity of the wind itself, and her attacks seemed to flow like a gentle breeze one moment and strike like a fierce gust the next. Her swordsmanship was now seemingly unfettered, unhindered by the constraints of traditional forms.
Even more impressive was her ability to seamlessly use both her [Bright Stance] and [Sky Stance] at the same time. One sword wielding the incredibly quick and pure light-based concepts and the other harnessing the swift and graceful principles of wind; it was as if two different swordsmen were working in perfect tandem. Her dual swordsmanship was a dance of duality, a masterful fusion of light and wind that left her enemies bewildered and unable to anticipate her next move.
Her blades danced and wove through the chaos of the jungle. Vines and foliage were effortlessly cut, leaving a path of destruction in her wake. The plant monsters, despite their size and numbers, were powerless against the blinding speed and deadly precision of her swordsmanship.
As for Ace, it was he who took on the task of facing the prime saint-level tyrannical creature that was Lachapelle.
"See," Ace smirked as he floated before the towering creature. "I told you it didn't matter how many helpers you found; they wouldn't be a match for my partners."
This wasn't the first time Ace and Lachapelle would be facing off against each other; in fact, it was the third.
Their first face-off was a few months ago, just after Ace's power finally reached the level of a prime saint.
At the time, Ace found that despite his recent improvements, he was still suppressed against this particular prime saint. Had it not been for the timely interference of Amira and Leona, things could have ended up a lot worse.
Thankfully, Lachapelle only had a couple dozen underlings under her at the time, making it easy for Amira and Leona to defeat them and rush to support Ace.
With the trio working together, they were able to barely suppress Lachapelle. Unfortunately, killing her was all but impossible because of her incredible ability to heal from virtually every injury, a feat that, despite making things ten times harder, made Ace over 100 times more excited and determined.
It had to be remembered that aside from simply improving his strength, Ace's other goal in the Necropolis of the Gods was to find the Pearl of Life to help heal his master's injuries.
He had long since learnt from Beirut that the Pearl of Life granted its user near instant regeneration, so as long as the user's soul was not damaged, it was near impossible for them to die. The only way for a user of a Pearl of Life to die is to have their body completely destroyed in a single attack before they can regenerate.
So, it was no mystery as to why Ace was so excited after seeing her healing abilities.
Still, as they were back then, killing Lachapelle was impossible. As such, they allowed Lachapelle to escape so they could go off and improve their strength.
In their second battle, although they had improved and were finally capable of steadily suppressing the tyrannical plant creature, killing her was still impossible, but now, Ace finally felt as though things were different. What none of them had foreseen, though, was that after their second battle, Lachapelle would go off and collect a small army of her own to help her resist and even kill Ace and his group.
She knew Amira and Leona's strength quite well by that point, so she was confident that her new subordinates would be able to slowly wear them down; unfortunately, the breakthroughs both Leona and Amira made them virtually unstoppable to creatures at that level – especially Leona after breaking through to the saint rank. Lachapelle felt that if not for her Pearl of Life, forget Ace, she didn't know if she would be able to defeat Leona.
Seeing her subordinates behind decimated en masse, Lachapelle could only grit her teeth furiously as she glared back at Ace, her heart pounding restlessly as an overwhelming feeling of fear enveloped her.
After getting her hands on the Pearl of Life, it had been a long time since Lachapelle had felt the threat of death, but to say she was feeling it today was the understatement of the century.
She knew that even if Ace hadn't improved since their last fight, like his companions, he was already no weaker than her. All he had to do was drag things out until his companions had finished their fights, at which point all she could do was pray that they were still incapable of destroying her body in one go and actually killing her.
Still, all of that was predicated on Ace having not grown any stronger, and seeing the confident smirk that hung on his lips…
'If today really is the day I die, I refuse to let this brat feel any better!' Lachapelle roared in her mind as she waved her giant hands in Ace's direction.
Her vines reached out like serpents, their tips sharpened to needle-like points, seeking to pierce his obsidian armoured skin. Her eyes glinted with frantic determination as she unleashed her plant-based powers.
As the vines neared him, Ace felt the air around him constrict, making it harder for him to move freely. Still, his smile never disappeared.
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