Gerald jumped up to avoid a dozen blades at once, however, to the surprise of his attackers, he never came down. Instead, what came over them was ten times gravity! Everybody within a radius of three meters from Gerald was smashed to the ground under their own weight.
Granted, some of them were strong enough to resist, but now when there was such a sudden change.
The three RVC's were filling him with near-infinite Mana, and he had to get rid of it. What better way than using super energy-intensive gravity?!
As he floated in place just below the ceiling, Greater Fireballs started forming around him.
"Justice!" he began his shout. "Shall rain from-! Hmm, nah…. I got something better!"
He flicked his finger, and the balls of white flames descended at lightning speed.
"HERE COMES THE THUNDER!"
BOO-BOO-BOO-BOOM!
The magic balls of flames exploded on the ground, turning it into a momentary inferno. However, to his dismay, the ice mages quickly cooled it down and froze the ground over. Party poopers!
Then the floating papers exploded.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
All ice barriers broke as the explosion spell scrolls went off, showering the escaping nobles with thick shards of ice and tongues of fire. But Gerald was still not done!
He gathered an immense concentration of Mana between his palms, and released it towards the line of mages that were just about to recover from the sudden explosions!
"Wind Blades!"
Woosh!
Dozens of arm-length invisible blades sliced through the air, leaving trails of blood as they went through people indiscriminately. Men or women, both young and old, magic spells didn't care. They just went and did what they were created to do.
"ENOUGH!"
Gerald was suddenly hit with a headache that threatened to blow up his head. However, now that he was stronger, he realized the source of the pain. It was coming from his Soul!
Through gritted teeth, he turned his head and locked his eyes with the fuming Emperor.
"Get down!" The man ordered.
Gerald instantly felt compelled to obey his order. Every second he didn't do it, the headache increased.
"Fucking… Nascent… Soul…" Gerald hissed. It seemed that Cultivation was good for something after all. But like hell, he would obey! Perhaps it was time to take out Dug's gift after all!
A blue crystal dodecahedron appeared in his hands and became alive with but a thought.
"I order you, Gerald of Myrtana! Get on the ground and kneel, right now!" the Emperor repeated his order, focusing his Soul attack at full power.
"Screw… you!" As if he was going to obey some wannabe ruler. Instead, he redoubled his efforts to awaken the weapon fully. The crystal in his hand started affecting the world around them, dropping the temperature in the room while forming a white mist.
Gerald's fingers already started gathering frost, and if it wasn't for the insane circulation of Mana through his body, heating him up, they would probably have been frozen solid already.
"Is that… my Ice Age Lance?!" The Emperor exclaimed while simultaneously losing focus of his Soul attack. "Why is one of my Ice Age Lances in his hands?!"
However, nobody was there to explain as the ones responsible for the Royal Weaponry were not among those attending the trial.
The white mist around the Ice Age Lance condensed and formed a long and thin spike out of solid ice. It was nearly three meters long and 20 centimeters wide while giving off an incredible chill. Many smaller spikes formed around it in a circle as Gerald aimed the spell toward the Emperor.
"Damn it! Protect me!" the man shouted, his order empowered by the power of his Soul. There was no point in running away. That thing was not made to be avoided by powerful beasts, much less a human!
Whatever soldiers or guards that were left unaffected by Gerald's gravity domain, quickly ran towards their ruler and formed a shield around him. Earth and ice barriers were formed, layer after layer, soon creating a thick permafrost wall.
"Oh, boy…" Gerald grinned through gritted teeth with frost gathering on his eyelashes already. "Such power! Let's see what it can do!" The Ice Age Lance was supposedly a one-use artifact, and it indeed started breaking from the strain of magic.
However, Gerald didn't let it completely fall apart as he manually slowed down its activation for a few seconds, giving the weapon a chance to work for a second time. However now he had to see what it could do at full power and if it was even worth saving.
"Go!" He thrust the cracked crystal dodecahedron forward and similarly, the Lance began slowly moving along its path...
BOOM!
… And immediately reached its target. There wasn't even any noticeable movement. One moment it was floating still in the air before Gerald, the next instant it had already pierced through the three-meter-thick wall of ice and stone, breaking it apart like glass.
As the barrier shattered into a thousand pieces, Gerald could see the soldiers and guards that were supposed to protect the Emperor get completely annihilated, and frozen chunks of them lay strewn across the judge's raised platform.
Their sacrifice was completely meaningless, as the man they were supposed to protect, was pinned to the stone wall behind him through his lower stomach. Frost already started spreading all around the Lance, yet that still wasn't over.
"Oh, fuck…" Gerald didn't even have the time to celebrate as he realized the energy was still active in the Lance, and it was showing some dangerous movements.
He rapidly created a hole in the ground with a thought, and jumped in, before covering the entrance with layer upon layer of rock.
He was at least three meters underground when he heard it.
KA-BOOOOM!
An explosion of apocalyptic proportions shook him to the core. The rock around him cracked like a spider web and moved as if it was alive. If it wasn't for the Elemental Avatar being constantly active, there was no doubt in his mind he would get squashed like a bug by the sudden ground shift.
Just when he thought it was over, came a rumbling sound not so dissimilar from that of thunder, as the entire court came crashing down on top of his little hiding place.
"Hnnng!" Straining his arms, he pushed the soil aside and then willed the earth to move. It was extremely difficult, even for his magic. There were hundreds of tons of stone and broken rock on top of him, making it extremely…
"Oh… my… god…" Gerald slapped his forehead and reversed the insane gravity filed around him. Immediately the debris were pulled up effortlessly and floated away on their own. As his path was cleared, he climbed up from his hiding place to look at the devastation.
Not a single wall was left standing. He marveled at the sheer destruction that a single Ice Age Lance brought. And, did the Emperor say it was just one of his Lances?! Gerald shuddered at the thought because he was 1000% sure he couldn't survive such a spell. No way in hell!
He took out the crystal dodecahedron and stroked its cracked surface. It was ready to perhaps do one more attack, even if it wasn't originally meant to do so.
The problem was that despite taking the entire building down in a matter of minutes as well as the entire military force stationed inside, the thousands of soldiers coming from all directions were probably too much for him to handle. He was already starting to feel the strain all that magic was doing on his body and mind, and he didn't plan on damaging his Soul for the umpteenth time. It was time to go visit his friends.
That's right, friends. Gerald had many friends, here in the capital.