Chapter 53
Chapter 53
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Translator: Vine
Chapter: 14
Chapter Title: Flame #7
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Ingong didn't know exactly what kind of skill Absolute Domain was. But he understood it instinctively. Perhaps Green Wind, residing within White Eagle, had unconsciously perceived it and shared that awareness with him as her master.
Absolute Domain.
The green light emanating from White Eagle formed a translucent barrier. Ingong, holding Caitlin in one arm, raised White Eagle. Absolute Domain was a defensive technique.
Despite facing the terrifying pillar of light that had destroyed Amita's barrier, Caitlin was not afraid. She closed her eyes, leaning against Ingong's chest.
And finally, the pillar of blue light reached White Eagle.
It didn't strike; it simply arrived.
There was no other way to describe it.
There was no roar. Nor was there any impact from the collision between White Eagle and the blue pillar of light.
The tip of the blue pillar, upon touching the green barrier—the Absolute Domain—literally vanished.
With no sound or impact, those nearby didn't even notice the exchange between Ingong and the blue Guardian Spirit.
Had there been scattering light, it might have been different, but since it literally vanished, there was nothing to see.
The Guardian Spirit was greatly flustered. It poured its remaining energy into making the blue pillar larger and stronger, but it was useless.
Absolute Domain.
Did it signify absolute defense?
No. It wasn't something so simple.
Ingong thought, and it happened. The tip of the blue pillar, which had been vanishing upon contact with the Absolute Domain, split into dozens of streams. They slid along the domain and shot up into the air. Then, they changed direction and flew toward the Guardian Spirit. It was like watching a rain of fire, split into dozens of streams, rushing down.
The Guardian Spirit hastily retracted the blue pillar and took a defensive stance. Some of the dozens of splintered light beams struck the Guardian Spirit and the ground repeatedly.
Absolute Domain.
What it signified was absolute dominion. A place, albeit a minuscule space the size of White Eagle's surface, where everything could be controlled according to Ingong's will.
It was a technique truly worthy of being an ultimate skill embedded in an Elder Dragon's armament.
However, it also had one fatal weakness.
"Kuh..."
Ingong unknowingly let out a ragged breath and bent over. The drain on his stamina, not just his aura, was immense. Even without the daily use limit that seemed to be a standard feature of ultimate skills, his current stamina and aura would only allow him to use it a few times a day. Three uses would surely leave him completely drained.
But that couldn't happen now. Ingong sent White Eagle, which suddenly felt heavy, flying into the air and hastily pulled out a stamina recovery potion with his left hand, putting it to his lips. Simultaneously, he activated his Quad Core to hasten his aura recovery.
Caitlin grabbed his hand. While gently pushing away the arm Ingong had wrapped around her waist, she used the connection between her Moonlight Core and his Starlight Core to do something Ingong hadn't expected.
An aura transfer.
Caitlin's dark blue aura flowed into Ingong. It wasn't an exchange of aura, but a one-sided gift. His depleted aura recovered rapidly.
"Shutora."
Caitlin said only his name, but it was enough. Ingong understood her intent and nodded. He hugged her tightly once more before letting her go.
The barrage of blue light, which had split into dozens of streams, was now almost over. Ingong kicked off the ground and charged forward. The Guardian Spirit, defending its front with both arms, watched his movements closely.
White Eagle circled around Ingong. The Guardian Spirit couldn't act rashly, and the distance between them closed in an instant.
In that moment, White Eagle flew in front of Ingong. It blocked the Guardian Spirit's view and emitted a brilliant green light, and something surprising happened. The startled Guardian Spirit flinched and hastily tried to evade.
The Guardian Spirit didn't know exactly what Absolute Domain was. It was also incapable of distinguishing between when Absolute Domain was active and when it was not.
It was just a simple green light. A light that Green Wind had casually emitted.
But not to the blue Guardian Spirit. To it, it looked like something else entirely.
That gap. The decisive opening it created!
'Master!'
Green Wind shouted. Ingong had no intention of missing the opening she had created. He activated Wind God and caught up to the Guardian Spirit as it dodged to the side.
The explosive power unique to Beast God Fist and the tranquility of Wind God.
When those two were combined, Sura God Fist's Wind God displayed an effect akin to magic. To the untrained eye, it might have looked like Blink, a short-range teleportation spell.
The Guardian Spirit flailed in surprise at Ingong's sudden appearance before it. Once bitten, twice shy, it diverted part of its attention to the glowing green White Eagle.
The Guardian Spirit was undoubtedly a formidable foe. In terms of pure martial skill, Ingong was arguably a step below Caitlin.
If this had been a normal fight, Ingong would have been forced into a purely defensive battle, just as Caitlin had been.
But the situation had been created for him. The human emotions of confusion and fear, acquired from merging with the beings emitting a violet miasma, had disrupted the Guardian Spirit's movements, if only for a moment.
*I won't miss this chance.*
*I'll land the strongest blow possible.*
*So, what will it be?*
The answer was already decided.
Ingong clenched his fist. Beneath Earthquaker's jet-black scales, a red and yellow light flashed.
Ruination.
The ultimate skill embedded in Earthquaker.
A technique so powerful that, in addition to its daily use limit, it came with the simple yet critical restriction of only being usable when both feet were on the ground.
The principle was the same as with Absolute Domain. The moment he focused his will, the ultimate skill control activated. Earthquaker unleashed a red and yellow light, releasing its hidden power with a furious roar!
He threw a punch. The Guardian Spirit, feeling a fear even greater than when it faced Absolute Domain, desperately tried to move, but the distance was too short. Moreover, just before unleashing Ruination, Ingong used an attack the Guardian Spirit never expected.
Telekinesis.
A tiny power, barely enough to move a small teacup or a kettle.
But it was enough to interfere with its movement for a split second. An attack that strikes a weak point at an unexpected moment is bound to be fatal, whether it's a sharp dagger or a small needle.
Earthquaker made contact with the right side of the Guardian Spirit's chest. He had originally aimed for the center, but the spirit's desperate movements had created a slight gap.
There was no impact at the moment of contact. The tense Guardian Spirit was about to show both relief and scorn, but it was too soon.
Ruination.
A name perfectly suited for the great Enkidu, who presided over destruction.
A rotation began, centered on Earthquaker. It started silently but grew immense in an instant. It devoured and destroyed everything at once!
The Guardian Spirit screamed. Half of its body was literally annihilated. And it didn't end there. The rotation of Ruination didn't stop, extending behind the Guardian Spirit, repeating its red and yellow destruction.
The ground was torn apart, and the undergrowth vanished. With a tremendous roar, the ground split open, the aftershock spreading further. It was as if a small earthquake with a twenty-meter radius had occurred.
The surrounding terrain changed. The earth-shattering roar from the ground splitting and collapsing drew the attention of everyone on the battlefield.
The scene looked as if a giant dragon had torn up the earth with its claws.
The power was immense. At the same time, the drain on his stamina and aura was equally tremendous.
The blue Guardian Spirit, half of its body gone, collapsed to the ground. In the silence created by the roar and shocking display of power, it screamed alone.
It wasn't just a cry of pain. It was a call. The gray Guardian Spirit that Silvan was fighting began to run toward the blue one, while Silvan stared at Ingong, dumbfounded.
Someone shouted, and the silence broke. Silvan threw himself forward to intercept the gray Guardian Spirit.
Ingong let his right arm, equipped with Earthquaker, hang limp. He struggled to steady his breathing and activated his Quad Core again. Forcibly squeezing out Caitlin's aura through the still-open connection between their Moonlight and Starlight Cores, he looked at the blue Guardian Spirit.
With half its body gone, he could tell. Amidst the blue light imbued with the power of death, he could clearly feel the flow of a spirit's power—the power of life.
He naturally extended his left palm. The technique he unleashed was both familiar and strange. The secret art of Beast God Fist, reborn as Sura God Fist through his communion with Caitlin.
Arang.
"----------------!"
Struck by the palm, the Guardian Spirit let out a monstrous shriek. It was a desperate howl that could no longer be called a scream.
The flow of its aura wasn't just disrupted; it was destroyed. The blue energy and the power that formed the Guardian Spirit's foundation began to flow out uncontrollably through the cross-section created by its annihilated half.
Silvan caught the gray Guardian Spirit. Ingong looked down at the blue one, which was still letting out agonized shrieks. He felt intense emotions from the aura of death.
An emotion similar to Famine's, yet different.
A bitter, toxic love-hate.
It wasn't as intense as Famine's. It was incredibly cold. If Famine's emotion was a fiery wrath, Death's was a cold fury.
And amidst it all, he felt a strange affection. A sliver of emotion that created the confusion of love-hate, rather than pure hatred.
Ingong gathered the power of Conquest in his left hand. With pure white Conquest, he suppressed the blue Death. He then crushed it, annihilating the aura of death along with the Guardian Spirit.
The gray Guardian Spirit screamed. Silvan pressed it even more fiercely. Perhaps due to the annihilation of the blue Guardian Spirit, the gray one could no longer fight properly.
It was just like when he had defeated Mustafa or Vakarova. Once the blue Guardian Spirit, the center of the death aura, was gone, the monsters lost their violet miasma. Most of them lost their will to fight and either collapsed or began to flee.
With Silvan and a dozen of his crewmates present, Ingong's part in the fight was as good as over.
[You have leveled up.]
It was a level-up completely different in process and time from when he had barely reached level 25, but it was an incredibly welcome one. Though he was hearing it again after only a few minutes, the clear woman's voice was a joyous sound.
A pure white light poured down from above like a blessing, instantly restoring his stamina. But as always, his aura remained depleted. The mental toll had been too great; he had no strength left to endure.
Ingong collapsed where he stood and looked back. In the distance, he saw Caitlin, who, like him, was sitting on the ground. Her already fair face was now completely pale, likely from having her aura squeezed out to its limit for him.
*Shutora, you're so mean.*
The distance was too great and her voice was fading, so he couldn't hear her, but he was certain.
Even as she mouthed resentful words, Caitlin smiled brightly, and Ingong smiled back. He barely moved his lips to form the word "sorry," and Caitlin responded with a slight movement of her own. He couldn't hear or see it clearly, but this time too, Ingong knew.
*Shutora is amazing, as always.*
The two looked at each other and smiled again. Then, as if on cue, they both passed out.
'Master!'
"Shutora! Caitlin!"
"Prince!"
"Your Highness the Princess!"
The rest of the group was just as in sync as Ingong and Caitlin. After all, they shouted simultaneously as they rushed toward the pair.
Amita didn't run with the group. After hopping down from Daphne's arms, they stood there, watching Ingong, then raised their cute little hands and wiped their face.
The Final Flame whispered to Amita.
Amita nodded and, before turning away, looked at Ingong one last time. A smile unknowingly formed on their lips.
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"This might be a bit out of the blue, but let me reintroduce myself. My name is Silvan Doomblade. As you can see, I'm a prince of the skies."
"It's truly embarrassing, but... as you all know, he's my twin brother."