As Ourami held his right hand forward, causing the tsunami-like attack that rushed towards the pillar to come to a grinding halt. It was as if all its momentum had abruptly waned into nothingness.
Woosh!
Out of nowhere, the space behind Ourami bent as a sharp sword intent emerged behind the pillar!
Swoosh! Ding!
A streak of silver shot out from Ourami’s lower back, tearing a hole through his attire before it collided with a sharp edge mid-air.
“Those attacks will not work on me,” Ourami said coldly without adverting his gaze.
Without much delay, an arm of lightning descended upon Ourami as a barrage of constant strikes rained down on the pillar.
However, every time one of the arms of lightning approached Ourami, the silver streak would move and intercept the blow, completely negating the damage in the process.
By the time the last arm of lightning struck, not a single attack had managed to get through the silver streak.
‘Oh? I haven’t been away for that long yet he’s already changed this much. Did he go this far because of the loss of his chains?’
The person who just appeared at Ourami’s back and attacked just now was, of course, Izroth.
After recovering his HP, Izroth immediately made his way to where Hakros and Ourami were battling.
Due to the destructive and physical nature of their fight, the original location shifted as they moved closer to the outskirts of the Fourth Heart of the World. This also put them further away from Astratis and Yia, as well as the main battlefield.
All of a sudden, the silver streak shot towards Izroth at an extreme speed!
In order to reduce the overall stress on his body and conserve the last few bursts of Compressed Lightning Movement that remained, Izroth activated his Enhanced Instantaneous Movement without hesitation.
At the same time, Ourami slightly raised his right hand.
〈Battle Alert: The skill «Primed Instantaneous Movement»’s activation has been forcibly canceled by an unknown force!〉
Immediately after noticing that his skill failed, Izroth instantly changed his approach and decided to employ Primed Ability: Space Defying Tread in place of Enhanced Instantaneous Movement.
〈Battle Alert: The skill «Primed Instantaneous Movement»’s activation has been forcibly canceled by an unknown force!〉
‘What is this..?’
When Izroth received the alert from the system, although he was a little taken aback, it was not too surprising.
Earlier, the space around him had been sealed off, which prevented Izroth from using his Enhanced Instantaneous Movement.
Izroth linked effect was due to the chains Ourami used. However, if the situation was the same as it was at that time, then his Space Defying Tread should have worked without issue. Yet, it was also forcibly canceled just now. This meant that whatever ability Ourami was using just now differed from the method he previously employed.
However, the strange thing was that Izroth could not detect anything unusual with his Energy Vision Sense. In addition, his Soul Sense also failed to respond and warn him of the impending danger.
Fortunately, Izroth had already learned his lesson in the past about relying too much on his Soul Sense and was prepared.
Just as the silver streak was about to pierce through Izroth’s head, Izroth swiftly adjusted his sword as he activated the Eighth Sword Form: Formless Sway.
Bang!
Izroth’s sword clashed against the silver streak as he successfully parried with blow. And, thanks to the eighth sword form, the damage he would have received was fully negated.
Nevertheless, parrying that blow just now caused his whole right arm to almost fall completely numb!
‘What absurd strength.’
Despite the increase in his mass and overall strength from the upgrade to his Heavenly Golden Body, as well as having the Strength of the Ancient Colossus active, Izroth was still sent several meters back from the impact of the blow.
Although Izroth did not lose total control of his movements and was able to maintain himself upright this time around, the force of that attack was not something he could afford to frequently take head-on.
‘In the end, our base strength is too far apart. If I face him as I would a typical opponent, it will only end in my defeat.’
Izroth was not ignorant of the natural gap of power that existed between himself and Ourami. Even though on the surface it seemed like a fairly even match-up, Izroth had not been able to gain any real ground against the pillar.
There was also the fact that Izroth was on a time limit with the duration of his skills, while Ourami’s power was more inherent and constant.
‘I planned on saving it for the upcoming raid on the Night Lord’s Crypt, but… Should I use it here?’
As Izroth pondered his next course of actions, his gaze landed on the silver streak as its movements finally came to a halt, revealing a silver metallic-like tail.
The tail was roughly two meters in length and matched the same pattern of metal-like scales that formed on the back of Ourami’s forearms.
“Oh? You are still able to move after receiving that attack? It would seem that I underestimated your resilience. It will not happen a second time.” Ourami said with an air of absolute certainty about him.
He then continued, “Since both of you have chosen to walk down a path of adversity, I shall oblige your hopeless endeavor.”
The sky above Ourami darkened as a large shadow formed over him.
Hakros had leaped high into the air and was currently crashing down from above where Ourami stood!
“Ya talk too much with your mouth! Just let your fists speak for ya!” Hakros roared as he slammed his fists down with a monstrous strength!
“As I’ve said—it’s useless,” Ourami said calmly as he held forward his right hand.
The moment Ourami performed this action, all the momentum Hakros built disappeared as he approached the pillar. Then, as Ourami placed his right hand down, he punched upward with his left hand, meeting Hakros’ fists.
BANG!
Unlike the previous times they’d clashed, this time around, Hakros was blown away one-sidedly!
When Izroth observed this exchange, he inwardly frowned.
Even if Ourami had gotten physically stronger, he should not have been able to overpower someone like Hakros so effortlessly. But, more importantly, the Hakros that Izroth knew would not unleash such a weak attack that lacked any strength behind it.
That’s why he found it bizarre that Hakros’ most recent strike was like a playful punch rather than a serious blow. However, Izroth could still not detect anything out of the ordinary with his Energy Vision Sense.
Though Izroth did discover something peculiar regarding Ourami’s actions and that was the movement of his hands.
Izroth was only able to catch a glimpse of it earlier; however, he saw the slight movement of Ourami’s right hand just as he was about to execute his Instantaneous Movement skill.
Also, when stopping Hakros’ earlier attack and the strike just now, Ourami moved his right hand. But, when he struck Hakros, the pillar withdrew his right hand and switched to his left.
If it happened just once, it could be considered a coincidence. However, to occur multiple times within such a short span of time, there had to be something more going on.
‘Somehow his right hand was able to prevent the activation of my Instantaneous Movement but did not stop the burst of my Compressed Lightning Movement. If it was merely sealing the surrounding space or locking certain skills, then it would make sense; however, to stop a large AOE attack in its tracks and weaken Hakros’ attack… Just what ability is he using? And, how does it relate to that right hand of his?’
Right now, Izroth could only speculate from what he had observed thus far and did not have an immediate solution. But, since he was now well aware of the oddity surrounding Ourami’s right hand, Izroth could start working on a way to counter its abilities—whatever those abilities may be.
That being said, they did not have much time. If they did not find a way to deal with whatever was obstructing their movements and attacks, it would not take long for Ourami to completely overpower them and turn it into a one-sided battle.
Suddenly, Izroth felt the previous restriction around him that prevented him from teleporting become lifted as the mysterious force vanished altogether
Then, without hesitation, Izroth slid his left foot back and, in the blink of an eye, arrived right next to Ourami with a large burst of movement speed as he immediately swung his blade outward.
Izroth used the Sword Arts: Four Steps of Death to close the distance and launched an instant empowered sword strike!
Simultaneously, Hakros, who had regained his stability, charged in from the pillar’s left side!
Despite being knocked away, the attack only seemed to further ignite the blood of the ancient behemoth that flowed through his veins and increased his overall strength by another level!
