Dominic stood up sluggishly and stretched lazily. He acted like a man without a care in the world. Yet his aura was repressive. The power of a 3rd stage Heaven Realmer filled the hearts of Abe and Mane with dread. That was the peak of the early Heaven Realm! It was no joke. Unlike the realms before, each rank of the Heaven Realm was hugely significant. A genius who capable of battling a peak stage Earth Realmer whilst possessing the power of a middle or late stage Earth Realmer, wouldn't be capable of fighting against a peak stage Heaven Realmer with his/her strength only in the middle or late stages of the Heaven Realm. The difference was that huge. Each stage of the Heaven Realm was akin to crossing over from the profound realm to the Earth Realm! It was no easy feat. The amount of energy that had to be gathered and the person's understanding of wielding were crucial factors to breaking through the ranks of the Heaven Realm. Unlike the Possessed which had only touched on the 1st stage of the Heaven Realm and had only recently consolidated its power, Dominic was a servant of the Dark God; and his strength was genuinely in the 3rd stage of the Heaven Realm.
Mane had great battle prowess. He was able to deal with peak stage Earth Realmers with his inner energy only being at the 1st stage of the Earth Realm. However, his identity as a Spiritualist and his use of leases to boost his fighting abilities largely contributed to his success. Not only did he have the advantage of being a mid-level Spiritualist, he also had high grade techniques he had been training in since he was 6. So he was strong. But taking on a genuine Heaven Realmer was a challenge. Every Heaven Realmer was a talent capable of surpassing a few ranks in battle – usually 1 or 2 – during their younger days. And so they weren't easy to deal with.
For instance, the Possessed was a tough enemy. The first time Mane had fought it was almost 2 weeks ago. At the time, if not for its ability to heal continuously and without failure, it would have died at his hands. It was weak because its energy hadn't truly crossed the barrier of the Earth Realm into the Heaven Realm. Its inner energy was unstable. However, when they fought today, it had become so much stronger. This was because it had truly stepped into the Heaven Realm; and even with only two weeks of consolidating its energy, Mane struggled against it. If he wasn't lucky enough to get the energy merge right; and if he didn't have the twins and Abe assisting him, they would have failed. Mane was doubtful he could have held the Possessed back for even two minutes if his energy merge didn't work. Even if he used Takeover, he would have still failed.
But now here they were, facing off against a stronger Heaven Realmer. Not a 2nd stage Heaven Realmer, but a 3rd stage! How were they going to survive?
"You know, things aren't as bad as you think" 6th suddenly spoke. Just like the rest of the masters, he saw Mane's predicament.
"How so?" Mane wondered. He was facing a 3rd stage Heaven Realmer. How could things possibly be any worse?
"Although he is a genuine 3rd stage Heaven Realmer, he has no true experience. He inherited his strength through sheer dumb luck and is only a pawn for the Dark God. I doubt he has truly fought with anyone since he got his power upgrade. He wouldn't be as strong as any regular 3rd stage Heaven Realmer" 6th explained in a bid to calm Mane down.
"But he's still stronger than a peak 2nd stage" 6th quickly added just when Mane felt his tense nerves relax. Mane really wanted to rush into the mindscape and slap his master. He knew it was wrong to think so, but he really wanted to do it. Why would you say that if it didn't mean anything?
"So he's a weaker 3rd stage. That is great!" Mane's lips twitched as he spoke sarcastically.
"You know it wouldn't hurt you to keep quiet" 2nd suddenly chimed in. "Hehe" 6th laughed sheepishly and remained mute.
"Thank you 6th" Mane sighed. He knew his master was just trying to help. He was anxious, but his anxiety didn't hold a candle to what his masters were currently feeling. It was true that he was the one in trouble, but his masters were gods and ascenders with great power. Yet with all this power, they couldn't help him. It was like having all the wealth in the world, yet having no way to save your son who was dying of a strange illness. They felt helpless and useless.
"What are you waiting for?" Dominic mocked the Silver Wolves. Mane's conversation with his masters was only a few seconds long. So Mane was confused.
"Just give up already so that your deaths would be swift and painless" Dominic continued and cleared Mane's confusion. The fool wanted them to give themselves up without a fight! Why on Zandor would they do that?
Mane tried merging inner and outer energy again. He tried several times, and failed several times.
"I guess my luck has run out" Without wasting much time, Mane dashed towards Dominic. He got to the man in only a few seconds and activated Takeover. His leases were still active and chaos heeded his call. Mane knew that to win this, he couldn't waste any more time.
"Splintering Fist!" Against an opponent like Dominic who was vastly superior in strength and had a larger pool of inner energy, Mane wouldn't dream of using Extreme Burst. There was no way the first few moves would be effective against Dominic whose protective inner energy cloak was so dense that it looked like an overall for his clothes. Instead, Mane opted for the more explosive Splintering Fist. He didn't use any element either. No element would be able to penetrate an energy coat that thick. So he opted for brute strength.
*Boom*
"You're slow" Dominic nonchalantly remarked and Mane's face grew pale. Dominic had slightly turned his head to avoid the blow, but that shouldn't have been enough to shoulder Splintering Fist's turbulent energy. The grass behind Dominic had been destroyed and a tree right behind him had a huge hole in its trunk. There was clearly nothing wrong with the technique, so how was he so fine.
"His energy cloak wasn't even dented! How dense must it be to weather a powerful attack like Splintering Fist and remain unmoved?!" Mane wondered. He was slowly overcome with dread. Although Dominic didn't have a great understanding of any element due to his sudden strength boost, his inner energy was too thick to be penetrated. Not only that, he was also extremely fast as well. Mane didn't see how his fist was evaded. He was certain that it was only a few inches away from Dominic when the man's head shifted strangely and evaded the attack. He understood what Dominic meant from his taunt: If this is all you can do, you will undoubtedly die today. Dominic extended a palm to Mane's abdomen. The palm strike was so quick that Mane couldn't react to it.
*Bam*
Mane was knocked back by several meters until his path was stopped by a tree. He crushed into it and coughed a mouthful of blood. Even with his energy coat, he could feel that the simple palm strike had broken several of his bones and cracked many ribs. But even under such conditions, his vision was still clear. He saw Dominic disappear and reappear right in front of him. The man threw out another palm. But this time, his path was hindered.
*Tap*
*Tap*
Dominic casually swept aside the elemental arrows that were meant to hit his hand. Although he did it so easily, he was massively impressed by the accuracy and speed of those arrows.
"Not only did they see through my speed, but they were able to deduce when to shoot so that the attack will be just right" None of the arrows exploded this time and Dominic knew why. "They do not want to hurt their friend" Dominic's hand was too close to Mane's chest. The explosion wouldn't have harmed him in any way, but it would have hurt Mane.
"But because of their efforts I know where they are" Dominic opened his other hand to reveal several pebbles.
*Whish*
*Whish*
*Whish*
*Whish*
*Whish*
Several pebbles cut through the air. Mane's facial expression changed when he saw the pebbles and became ugly when they were thrown at seemingly random locations. He realized from the moment Dominic opened his palm that the man had planned for this all along. If not, why would he have been hiding pebbles in his hand? He must have picked them up when he was sitting on the ground before. They whistled through the air like bullets and found their targets. Even though Mane couldn't see the twins, he knew they were injured. That was because his senses were fully opened and he heard the sound of objects sinking into flesh. In this extreme situation, he had broken through as a scholar once more! Forcing himself to hear what couldn't be heard in this time of crisis had inadvertently given him a breakthrough.
"Not like it could help me though" Mane thought scornfully and mocked himself.
Abe took some time to respond to the sudden events, mainly because he was stunned that Mane was so easily done in. However he had only reached Dominic when the older man sent him flying with a back hand slap.
*Bam*
Mane watched red-eyed as Abe was also embedded in a tree.
"Relax. I only broke a few of his bones, just like you. Your other friends are also alive – hopefully. I still need information so I'm not going to kill you people so soon" Dominic mocked Mane. He flicked his fingers a few times towards Abe and the young prince screamed in agony.
"Argh!"
There were four new holes in Abe's body and these holes were occupied by spikes. His combat armor couldn't save him this time and his wyvern scales were of no help either. The spikes weren't made of earth or any other element, but pure inner energy. That was the difference between Heaven Realmers and those below them. With their abundant inner energy and superior control, they could afford to be generous with their use of inner energy against weaker opponents.
"Basileus" Mane activated his chaotic glow through his gritted teeth. He knew the spell he had to use.
"Ignis Draco" Fire elements danced around Mane and heeded his call. Chaos heard the cry of the Supreme and was oddly complaint. It fueled energy into the flames and made them far stronger than they were.
Dominic jumped back in caution as he felt the intensity of the flames. He watched in awe as a pillar of fire ascended into the clouds and took away the glory of the sun.
"What is this strange technique? And what was that language he spoke?" Dominic's lack of knowledge on Spiritualists showed just how little the Dark God thought of him. Feeling the strong power of the flames, Dominic was overcome with greed. He wanted to procure a skill like that for himself. Too bad for him though. He didn't meet the qualifications. But he didn't know it.
Dominic watched slack jawed as a magnificent fire dragon was produced right before his eyes. The dragon was so lifelike that its growl felt threatening. It roared in fury and crashed into Dominic – or at least it tried to. Dominic evaded the flames urgently. He didn't seem as breezy as he was before. But he quickly realized that something was wrong. He got away too easily. That meant –
"I wasn't the target!" he watched as the fire dragon rushed into the woods and mowed down everything in its path
*ROAR*
It gave a loud roar and merged into something. It was a bow! A bow made entirely of fire!
"I thought I got him" Dominic mumbled in surprise after seeing the identity of the one holding the bow. It was Jake. His face was covered in fury and tears. Several meters behind him was John.
"Oh I see. The other one took the hit for him" Dominic nodded his head in understanding. Yes, Dominic was right. Jake had been saved by John's shove. But he had been hit instead. It took Jake some time to carry his brother to a safe distance so that he could use the most destructive technique in his arsenal – Heaven's Armor.
Flames formed a powerful bow and a crimson arrow was nocked securely. Yet before he could fire, Mane felt his energy and sent the fire dragon his way. The dragon couldn't merge with his arrow because it was birthed from chaos, the most destructive force there was. So it cloaked itself around Jake's arrow with incredible accuracy. Jake didn't marvel at Mane's incredible control. He released the arrow with a furious heart.
Dominic decided to dodge even before Jake released his arrow. There was no way he was taking that monstrosity head on. Even his defense wouldn't be able to handle it. However, before he could move, a fireball smashed into his head and rendered him dizzy. Although it didn't penetrate his energy cloak or even dent it, the impact disoriented Dominic. The fireball came from his blind spot. It was Abe's fireball! Even when he was nailed to a tree, Abe did not give up.
"Go!" Jake screamed angrily and released the arrow.
*scree*
"Sh*t" Dominic swore as he felt the heat assault his senses. It was too late to get out of the way!