“?!” Ourami sensed an air of familiarity around the trail of lightning as it passed right by him.
Without a doubt, this lightning belonged to the Son of Thunder!
But, instead of seeming troubled by their appearance, a smirk soon found its way onto Ourami’s face.
Ourami did not know how Astratis was able to infiltrate this far when his influence was spread all throughout the Fourth Heart of the World. However, he could not have chosen a more perfect time to reveal himself.
“The Protogenos are on my side,” Ourami said to himself as his gaze locked onto Izroth.
Now that Yia was out of the picture, he could deal with Izroth himself and claim that mysterious power as his own. Once that happened, he would be the only one among the pillars to reach new heights and surpass the limitation that had burdened them for countless cycles!
When Izroth noticed the change in Ourami’s expression, he could see right through his train of thoughts.
‘They may be working together to some extent, but the relationship between the pillars is just as bad as the celestials mentioned.’
There was a brief moment of shock about Astratis’ presence, but Ourami quickly recovered and immediately shifted his focus to what he wanted to obtain. Even though the best move in this situation would be for the Pillar of the West to team up with Yia, it was obvious how his priorities were set.
“I will give you one last chance. Submit, or be forced to submit.” Ourami stated as the chains next to him began to rattle.
“I will have to go with the third option—” Izroth replied calmly as the space around him started to warp.
When Ourami observed the subtle shift in space surrounding Izroth, the chains at his side shot forward with unbelievable momentum!
The speed of these chains was so fast that even if Izroth tried to use his Flickering Steps alone to avoid them, it would not be possible. In addition, even with his enhanced senses, Izroth could barely follow the shadow of the chains despite them being so numerous.
If not for Izroth’s high perception stat, Soul Sense and Energy Vision Sense working in conjunction with one another, he would have been caught completely off guard by Ourami’s attack just now!
‘To think he would result to a sneak attack despite the natural gap that exists between us… My last attack must have woken him up a bit. Now, with Astratis’ arrival, he must want to end things quickly here.’
Before Izroth even started replying to Ourami, the pillar was already planning to attack regardless of his answer!
Typically, such an act would be considered disgraceful of someone who had stepped into the late stage of the legendary realm; however, Ourami held no such shame.
Bang! Crrrrck!
Ourami’s chains shot right through Izroth and collided with the ground, creating several deep scars in the earth. However, there was no feedback from the end of the chains.
“He avoided it?” Ourami internalized as he was momentarily taken aback.
The number of individuals who could evade the first strike of his chains in this world could be counted on one’s fingers alone.
Suddenly, Izroth appeared next to Ourami as he slashed down with his Sword of The Storm at a frightening speed, causing the attack itself to be silent.
Izroth’s sword strike contained an overbearing destructive force as he aimed right for Ourami’s head!
Then, out of nowhere, Izroth heard the sound of rattling chains next to his ears.
After missing their initial attack, the chains wasted no time acting again and had swiftly caught up to Izroth in an instant!
As Izroth’s Soul Sense sounded, he knew that even if he successfully landed his attack, as long as Ourami did not fall from the strike, then his life would under immediate danger.
However, Izroth did not panic as the aura about him remained calm and controlled.
Surprisingly, instead of withdrawing his attack and looking for another opportunity to strike, Izroth did not halt his blade.
When Ourami realized that Izroth had no plans on falling back, he could not help but inwardly smirk at his naivety. In his mind, it did not matter whether or not Izroth landed that hit. That’s because regardless of the outcome, they were finished!
After all, Ourami was not given the title of Heaven’s Strength merely for show. In terms of physique, there were none among the pillars nor celestials who were his equal!
As Izroth’s blade was mere centimeters away from Ourami and the chains were about to strike his body, a raging burst of flames erupted from his body!
However, these were no ordinary flames. They were blue in color and contained multiple layers of profundity.
The flames appeared to fuse with Izroth’s lightning mantle and form a protective aura around him.
Swoosh! BANG!
Izroth’s Sword of The Storm connected to Ourami. But, at the same time, Ourami’s chains crashed into his body which had been enveloped in blue flames.
〈Battle Alert: You have activated the item effect «Veil of the Seventh Origin Flames» of the «Seventh Origin Flames Necklace».〉
〈Battle Alert: A protective aura has been formed and will absorb up to [1,000,000] damage. [Time Remaining: 9 minute(s) 59 second(s)]〉
[-184,000]
‘A protective aura?’
After his Third Baneful Sword: Annihilation ended, Izroth’s attack shot up from just over 30,000 all the way to 235,000!
At the moment, besides those in the legendary realm, it would be virtually impossible to find anyone who could take his attack head-on and survive!
Nevertheless, even with his First Baneful Sword: Destruction, Izroth only managed to inflict less than 190,000 damage to the pillar.
However, it was completely negated due to the protective aura around Ourami.
Meanwhile, a portion of Izroth’s own protective aura was also shaved off by Ourami’s chains.
[-208,955]
With one attack, Ourami used up more than 20% of Izroth’s Veil of the Seventh Origin Flames protective aura.
But, despite the attack being successfully absorbed, the impact still remained.
BOOM!
The impact with the chains generated a powerful shockwave that sent Izroth flying several meters away from Ourami!
“Go,” Ourami ordered as the chains quickly trailed after Izroth.
‘So, this is the strength of someone who has reached the late stage of the legendary realm. I expected there to be a gap, but to think it would still be this big. How troublesome. But-‘
Izroth activated the skill Phantom Strike as his body swiftly stabilized mid-air.
Izroth used the rotating motion of Phantom Strike to help balance out his momentum and regain his footing as his feet once again touched the ground.
Though he did not have a single moment to breathe as the chains had already caught up and lashed out at him from all sides!
‘I guess that was the wake-up strike I needed.’
As the chains closed in on Izroth’s position, he received an alert from the system.
Simultaneously, a faint golden glow encompassed Izroth as he felt his body undergo drastic internal changes.
〈System Alert: Your efficiency with the skill «Heavenly Golden Body» has increased by 1.〉
In order to evolve, Izroth’s Heavenly Golden Body required him to experience many battles. However, the difficulty of the battle and the attacks he received also affected the skill’s growth rate.
Against mediocre opponents, it was challenging to find opportunities to progress with his Heavenly Golden Body. After his battle against Tal’Nis during the crusade, Izroth felt infinitely close to taking that final step.
Unfortunately, he came up just short at the time.
But, after receiving a direct strike from Ourami, someone at the late stage of the legendary realm, he finally took that last step.
Although Izroth avoided taking direct damage, the impact was still effective enough to grant him just what he needed to break through the threshold!
Skill Name: Heavenly Golden Body
Skill Creator: Izroth
Skill Level: 4/10 -> 5/10
Skill Rank: SS -> Unique-SS*
Passive: The more the user of this skill battles the stronger their body becomes, permanently raising all of their stats. Enhances all user senses by 150% -> 200%.
HP: 10,000 -> 15,000
ATK: 240 -> 400
DEF: 240 -> 400
AGI: 240 -> 400
Energy Capacity Increase III(Passive) – +100 -> +200 Maximum Energy
Physical Resistance III(Passive) – +10% -> +15% Physical Resistance
Magical Resistance III(Passive) – +10% -> +15% Magical Resistance
Poison Resistance III(Passive) – The user of this skill is resistant to various -> 1,000 forms of poisons.
Battle Regeneration III(Passive) – Regenerates 100 -> 200+(1% → 1.5% of the user’s maximum HP) of the user’s HP every 5 seconds while in battle.
Greater Physique(Passive) – The user of this skill does not take any damage and is completely unaffected by crowd control effect(s) from skills at or less than C-rank -> B-rank. This damage includes basic attacks that are less than 10% -> 15% of the user’s total HP before any defense reduction(MIN Damage: 4,437). The minimum basic attack damage is decreased to 5% -> 10%(MIN Damage: 2,958) for attacks that include daggers.
*->Earthly Golden Bones(Passive) – The bones in the user’s body have been reforged, increasing their body mass to [5] times that of their normal mass. The user’s damage and physical strength increase based on their body mass. The higher their body mass, the greater the effects. These reforged bones are not easily damaged and greatly reduce the amount of stress placed on the user’s body under extreme conditions.
Description: A skill created by Izroth, the more the user battles the stronger they become over time.
Special Effect: This skill cannot be leveled up using skill points, the user must experience many battles to further advance.
