Natasha and the others tried to understand just what benefit the trio could gain from staying outside but try as they might, they simply could not comprehend what benefit there was to doing such actions.
"Of course, if anyone wants to trade places with us we wouldn't mind. But make your decision quickly, we only have 90 seconds at most." Will's eyes narrowed in glee as he spoke. He didn't even bother hiding the mockery in his tone. He knew full well what they were all thinking. But he didn't care. His mission was not to capture treasures but to get stronger. He had no intentions of explaining himself and allowed their thoughts to run wild.
Lyra and Achilles were seated cross-legged and absorbing as much World Energy as they could, their auras gradually climbing with each second. It was clear that they were indeed benefitting from this environment.
The eyes of the others revealed reluctance, but high-ranking cultivators were not hesitant. They were quick to react.
"Solitary has made his stance clear. He and his two companions will stay behind and deal with the banshees. Anyone else willing to join them can go ahead."
No one responded to Natasha's declaration. The stance of the others was clear. They were definitely entering the main dungeon.
"Solitary, how many banshees can you detect? How long do you think you can hold them back?" asked Gianluigi?
"I'm not sure how many total banshees there are, but I can sense at least 100 Mourning banshees. And a handful of auras stronger than a Mourning Banshees."
Natasha and the others gasped. Solitary's words were a revelation.
'This explains everything.'
Natasha looked above and stared and her sisters high above. She now understood just why they claimed that the people below were walking corpses. Over 100 Sector Bosses! And a handful of creatures stronger than Sector Bosses. This was not a group that Natasha could handle unless she went full out.
Natasha was strong, but she had no intention of using all her abilities in such a public place. She had many lifesaving treasures and class skills capable of giving her advantages, especially in such a suitable environment for her physique and elemental attributes. But even she found it hard to believe that she could overwhelm such numbers by herself.
'Only Ulysses, Mercedes, Gianluigi, Peerless and I could deal with such numbers as savants. Now these three are claiming that they can handle this by themselves?'
Natasha found this absurd, but a few more screams escaped the poisonous fog and reached everyone's ears. These screams made the World Energy destabilize a bit. The others realized that this was no laughing matter. Natasha looked at Gianluigi and the latter nodded.
"Alright, everyone, let's head inside. Solitary, we will leave this place to you." Gianluigi and the others were becoming more and more uncomfortable by the second and clearly wanted to leave. The mystery of how Solitary was going to deal with these numbers was not enough to warrant their presence in such a dangerous environment.
Natasha and the others quickly gathered and entered the mouth of the large intimidating skeleton while Will and the others remained. As soon as they stepped into the jaws of the beast, their bodies disappeared as if they had passed through an invisible portable.
The Frozen Asgard Maidens above were stunned by what they were seeing. They could not believe what their eyes and ears were telling them.
"Do those three really think they can handle the swarm that's about to happen? This isn't an ordinary swarm! These are creatures aligned closely to death!" Alison could not believe the nonchalance Will and co displayed down below. At least Achilles and Lyra displayed serious behaviour befitting fighters and they conditioned themselves. But Will only stood there yawning as if he was doing something mundane.
"This is the epitome of arrogance. These fools might have yin-type physiques, butt that is useless against a swarm of C-rated Sector Bosses." Added Sophia. Her resentment grew by the second and Will's nonchalance made her mood even worse.
Giselle and Lisa kept quiet. Unlike Alison and Sophia, their attention was on the slit Will had created with his attack. Giselle looked to her partner, "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
Lisa frowned in response, "They kept calling him Solitary, and he uses unorthodox swordsmanship. He is also able to permanently clear Fafnir's propagating poison."
Giselle rubbed her chin, "There are no coincidences in this world.'
"Indeed, this could be the power of solitude."
Sophia looked a bit confused because she could not understand the exchange between the two ladies. Alison took a moment, but she eventually understood what they were saying and asked, "Could he be a Solitary Sword Sovereign?"
Alison's question was like a bombshell to Sophia. The latter was well aware of the power of Solitude. It was a rare ability that caused many powerful cultivators a headache. Not only that, but Solitary Sword Sovereigns were usually prodigies of the highest calibre.
"Wait, are you saying that fool could be a Natural Born Sovereign?"
It was common knowledge that the SSS manual was difficult to cultivate. Only Natural Born Sovereigns could unveil its mysteries.
Giselle and the others continued to look at the slit in the sky, trying to confirm their hypothesis.
"That's not the issue. Most people focus on Solitary Sword Sovereigns for their unorthodox skills, their swordsmanship and their nature as Sovereigns. But the real focus of the manual is mastery of Life and Death. In other words, if there is one type of warrior who does not fear death-type monsters or creatures, it's a Solitary Sword Sovereign."
The ramifications of Lisa's words brought new light to Sophia's understanding of the situation.
The Wailing Banshees were feared not just because they were intangible, but because they carried a deathly aura that could infect other beings. Soul and ghost-type creatures all carried such an effect. The living did not want to see the dead and the dead despised the living. This was the natural law.
But certain cultivators such as Necromancers and Nether-type mages such as Giselle defied this common sense and welcomed death, learning its secrets and using its mysteries to their advantage. Solitary Sword Sovereigns stood at the peak of Death-type cultivators. This was knowledge easy to access but few actually knew, because Solitary Sword Sovereigns were few in number and had other redeeming attributes.
Before the girls could do anything else, the trio below took action.
"Lyra, you know what to do." Said Will in a commanding tone. Lyra rose in response and took a deep breath.
As Lyra stood tall, his hand shimmering with a small ball of metal element mana, he could feel the raw mana surging through his spiritual pathways. The rich water and water element mana within the environment made him feel extremely comfortable while the ever-increasing yin-type energy further heightened his affinity to magic.
'Call of the Forest becomes stronger the more affinity I have with my environment. The spell is getting stronger every second. And as it gets stronger, so do I.'
Call of the Forest was a spell that changed its nature. Not only could it act as a support spell to harmonize with the environment, under the right conditions, it could even act as a buff to the caster. Right now, Lyra could feel his mana capacity and mana quality rising, and the increase was exponential. It reached a point where his aura even caught the attention of the ladies above.
"Shit, we forgot that he has Call of the Forest!"
Giselle's shout alerted the other ladies to the issue at hand. Lyra ignored their presence and fashioned a large sphere of grey mana. The ball of mana grew by the second, pulsating and effervescent like an intangible heart of energy.
"What an incredibly dense concentration of metal-type mana. What spell is this?'
As the maiden with the greatest metal element affinity, Lisa was extremely sensitive to what Lyra was doing and could not help but be drawn by his actions.
With a determined expression on his face, Lyra slammed the ball into the ground with a resounding thud. Instantly, a brilliant wave of mana rippled outward, encompassing everyone within its reach.