Without neither hesitation nor fancy style, Aakash vanished appeared at Else's side and using his right hand as a knife, chopped at her neck. Else didn't evade, allowing the blow to approach unimpeded. But as it reached her neck, a bright golden aura erupted from her armor, stopping Aakash's hand an inch away from it.
His eyes widened in disbelief. Although this was but a casual strike, even in the Celestial Realm, beneath Divine Ascension, not many could so leisurely receive it. But he wasn't given time to ponder any further that Else was backhanding him across the cheek.
Bending his waist and spinning on the left, Aakash let the blow graze his cheek while sending a golden flame coated kick straight into Else's breastplate.
*Boom*
Again, the golden armor and aura absorbed the blow, leaving no damage on Else's body. But using the impact, Aakash propelled himself backward, vanishing to reappear where he previously stood.
His face contorted into a frown.
"Oh? After all this talk, is this all a God-Son is capable of? How disappointing."
Else, snarked with bare ridicule. Hearing this, Aakash's frown deepened. However, he was forced to admit he'd underestimated the opponent.
No.
He underestimated that armor. Clearly, it was neither a Divine nor a God-Artifact, and yet, it didn't lose out to the average God-Artifact. Worse, it clearly concealed formidable offensive power. Never did he bear witness to such a strange cloak.
Nehal, who stood several steps away from him, stared at the same armor that covered Verena's hourglass figure, and interest shone within her eyes. This was a formidable tool. If they could seize it for themselves, their battle-power would soar. Anyone would be interested.
Only Dasra, the silver-eyed baldie never spared the armor more than a glance. And within, no desire rippled.
"No need to hold back. Fight at full-strength, capture those women, and snatch their armors. Perhaps we've just discovered a just as valuable treasure as the Tower."
Nehal stated, then stretched out her hands, causing a vast shroud of magenta fog to erupt from her body and spread throughout the atmosphere while her eyes shimmered in the same color and her glowing white hairs fluttered at her back.
"Ancestral Glory: Citadel of Dreams!"
She exclaimed, and from within the magenta fog rose three gargantuan citadels from which a soothing, enchanting melody rippled. It was as if the choir of a celestial host descended from heaven's vault to enlighten the mortal world.
White and magenta clouds bloated the sky, and the area soon turned into a realm controlled by Nehal's will.
"The fake can never match the true, the low, can not outpace the lofty. Even if your bloodline mirrors mine, without the noble blood of our Primogen flowing within your veins, you cannot showcase…our Ancestral Glory!"
Nehal scoffed, then vanished, becoming one with the ancestral glory. The Citadel's gates opened, releasing a celestial army that shot toward Verena.
Her lips curled into a smile.
And she too stretched out her hands.
"Ancestral Glory: Citadel of Dreams!"
Verena exclaimed, and again, the same scene occurred. Magenta fog erupted from her, conquering the atmosphere while three chanting citadels rose and opened their doors to release vast celestial armies that clashed with Nehal's!
And as the two Ancestral Glories clashed, astonishment filled the three devas. And indeed, this time, even the silent Dasra was no exception. Be it lineage weapons or ancestral glories, they both were the properties of the Primogen and passed down through their blood. Only demons and devas able to retrace their lineage to a Primogen could wield lineage weapons and Ancestral Glories.
In the case of a contract or blessing, the recipient could receive a weaker version of his master's lineage weapon or ancestral glory. However, unless born from one of the primogen's descendants, their children would not inherit the lineage right.
For that reason, regardless of bloodline level, within the higher realms, the simple fact of wielding a lineage weapon or ancestral glory was a proof of nobility.
Even if the absurd assumption that those mortals found a way to reproduce higher realm bloodlines were true, how could they also summon the lineage rights?
"I never expected that we would come for two precise targets, and before laying hands on them, have so many more appear. Good. Then let's not waste any more time!
Ancestral Glory: Nine Heavenly Stars!"
Aakash, roared, causing nine bright golden suns to appear in the sky and illuminate the world! With their appearance, a part of the atmosphere was forcefully snatched to become his domain, the realm where his will would become law.
He too vanished, becoming one with his domain. And as the pressure of Aakash's domain was added to Nehal's Else and Verena found themselves suppressed.
"My turn."
Else began while raising her right hand.
"Awaken and release the sea of reincarnation:
Ankh of Myriad Eternity!"
In a massive eruption of demonic energies, a dark-yellow ankh appeared before Else, hovering above her palm and releasing a boundless yellow sea that freed Else of Aakash's suppression and threatened to collapse his absolute control of the area.
Meanwhile, Astarte's eyes had never left Dasra whose eyes remained closed throughout the startling clash.
"You're not going to make a move?"
She asked, feeling that the nearby battle was nearing a crescendo.
"You are not my match, and I believe your lineage is not intolerable to Heaven's Will. Therefore, there is no need to end your life. The same goes for them."
Dasra stated. And his words caused Astarte's eyes to widen in a stupor. When even his peers were finding it so challenging to eliminate Else and Verena, he dared utter such words? Where was his confidence hailing from?
*BOOOM* *BOOOM* *BOOOM*
At that time, empowered by the seemingly endless force of their Five-Winged Valkyrie Armors, the combination between Else and Verena's attacks collided with Aakash and Nehal's ancestral glories, releasing an earthshaking explosion of celestial and infernal forces that would have laid the Holy Continent to waste where it not for the protective formations activated to suppress the battle's effects.
*Crack* *Crack* *Crack*
Both Nehal and Aakash were forced out of their ancestral glories and returned to the Jade Capital's sky with frustration dressing their faces.
"How shameful. To think that I, a grandson of the Sun God, would one day struggle against a foe by three ranks my inferior. If this matter were to spread, where would my face go?"
Aakash sighed, and though she didn't speak the words, Nehal thought the same.
"Was it not for those damnable armors, how could they withstand our blows? Since they wish to bully us with arms, there is no need to be courteous."
Nehal replied, and stretched out her hand, summoning a sea-blue shuttle which rippled with endless God-Force. Seeing this, Aakash grinned and summoned his Golden Chakram which also released vast God-Force.
But even though they now faced God-Artifacts, Verena and Else didn't lose their composure.
They weren't here to win. They just didn't have to lose. And as far as not losing was concerned, they overflowed with confidence.
