Ourami inwardly scoffed when he heard Izroth and Hakros’ brief exchange.
Fight until their heart’s content? What sheer and utter absurdity!
Could it be that they finally lost themselves to their fears and started their slow descent into madness?
“A hopeless endeavor,” Ourami uttered to himself as he turned his attention away from Izroth and Hakros.
Ourami gazed into the distance where Yia had been dragged away by Astratis.
“After I save his life, he will be in my debt,” Ourami said before he kicked off the ground and soared more than fifty meters into the air!
The pillar was not using a flight-type ability. It was due to his physical strength reaching new heights, as well as the ability of his Epithet of Force.
In simple terms, the Epithet of Force allowed Ourami to “pull” and “push” whatever he desired. This is why Hakros was unable to overpower the pillar despite the massive physical boost he received from his ancient behemoth bloodline.
It was also why Ourami could seemingly blow Hakros away with little to no effort.
In his original form, this ability only work on things that came into contact with his left hand. However, in Ourami’s present state, he was not bound by such limitations and was capable of influencing anything within his line of sight!
At the same time, Izroth and Hakros were bombarded by Ourami’s tail fragments.
The speed and unpredictable nature of the tail fragments made them difficult to evade; however, the two were able to hold their ground.
Hakros used a more direct approach and smacked the surface of the tail fragments with his fists.
Although his actions could be viewed as reckless, even with his impressive physique, Hakros was not attacking mindlessly.
The behemoth’s timing and use of the right amount of force were perfect.
However, despite his best efforts, Hakros could not completely avoid receiving damage.
Since Hakros focused on only dealing with the attacks aimed at his vital areas, it did not take long for his body to be covered in heavy bruises.
“They’re like little flies that won’t stop buzzin’!” Hakros growled as he knocked away yet another tail fragment.
Meanwhile, when Izroth saw that Ourami leaped into the air, he immediately dashed towards Hakros.
‘We have to keep him here as long as possible.’
“Hakros, give me a boost!” Izroth called out as he pointed at the sky and ran forward without stopping.
Without hesitating, Hakros interlocked his fingers and lowered his hands, providing Izroth a makeshift platform.
As Izroth approached Hakros, he kicked off his right foot and landed with his left foot in Hakros’ hands.
“Next time…” Hakros’ muscles expanded as he lifted his arms upward with incredible momentum.
“We’re swapping roles!” Hakros shouted.
The next moment, Izroth shot into the sky like an arrow being released from its string!
10 meters…
25 meters…
40 meters!
When Izroth reached the forty-meter mark, his speed of ascent began to slow.
‘To think he could get me this high up. It’s at least twice the distance I anticipated. That guy… What absurd strength.’
Due to his Earthly Golden Bones, Izroth’s total mass was five times heavier than it was supposed to be. Yet, Hakros could still toss him up to a height roughly comparable to a twelve-story building.
When he reached around the 45-meter mark, all of Izroth’s momentum disappeared as he started to lose height. However, the instant this occurred, Izroth stepped on the air as if it were solid and continued his ascent.
〈Battle Alert: You have activated the skill «Sky Steps»!〉
Thanks to Sky Steps, Izroth was able to mimic the effects of the S-ranked skill, Flight. However, it was more similar to walking on air than actually flying.
There was also a limitation that Sky Steps possessed, which restricted Izroth to a height of forty meters. But, with the way the skill worked, it did not start counting the forty meters until Izroth activated it. This meant that it was not forty meters from the ground, but rather forty meters from Izroth’s starting point.
In this case, Izroth’s starting point was 45 meters in the air. This essentially placed the height limit for his Sky Steps at 85 meters!
As Izroth ascended higher into the sky, Ourami felt a strange shift in the movement of his tail fragments.
“I did not recall them. Can it be that one of them perished?” Ourami said as he frowned inwardly.
For some reason, half of the tail fragments he left behind to deal with those two annoyances were currently making their way to him. However, the bizarre part was that there were only two circumstances in which his tail fragments would return to him.
The first was that they finished their task. But, since Ourami’s intention was to suppress the two until he finished dealing with the Yia situation, this could not be the case.
As for the second, it would be that the target had already perished.
“How unfortunate. I wanted to capture both of them alive, but… So be it. As long as one of them remains alive, I suppose this outcome is acceptable- hm?”
Out of nowhere, Ourami felt something unusual on his left hand.
When he looked down to see what it was, the pillar saw a small crystal slowly expanding on the back of his palm.
Then, in the blink of an eye, the expansion rate of the crystal exploded as it swiftly encompassed Ourami’s whole left arm!
“What is this substance?” Ourami glared from behind his visor as the crystal restricted his arm’s movement.
Not only that, but it also momentarily prevented him from using the Epithet of Force contained within his left hand to “push” the crystal away from his arm.
Not long after Ourami’s left arm was covered, his entire body was consumed as he became encased from head to toe in the crystal.
Though not even a half a breath passed before numerous fractures could be seen forming on the crystal’s surface.
Crrrack! Pow!
Ourami forcibly shattered the crystal, causing countless shards to scatter in every direction.
But, the instant Ourami shattered the crystal, he sensed that something was off.
“My Ethos… It’s growing restless.” Ourami said under his breath.
Because of his cursed body, Ourami’s Ethos functioned differently than others. He could fuse with his Ethos and transform the energy source itself to where it became a perfect part of him. This is why Izroth could not sense any Ethos coming from Ourami despite it still being there in clear abundance. Nonetheless, in his current state, his Ethos operated as a bodily function rather than an energy source.
Unbeknownst to Ourami, the origin of his troubles came from a colorless ring that expanded around him in mid-air.
At the same time, a sharp sword intent filled the air around the pillar, causing his already unstable form to tremble.
“Tenth Sword Form…”
“?!” Out of nowhere, Ourami heard a familiar voice enter his ears; however, at first, he did not think it was possible That’s because that person was supposed to be fifty meters beneath him on the ground right now!
Ourami’s gaze beneath his visor turned cold as he looked down and saw Izroth coming towards him from below!
“You remain a constant annoyance. It is no longer amusing.” Ourami stated as he held his left hand out towards Izroth.
Ourami planned to “push” Izroth back to the ground with his Epithet of Force; however, nothing happened.
“!? What is this?” Ourami uttered as his Epithet of Force was having trouble functioning properly!
“Life Closing Raze.” Izroth’s voice sounded as his sword intent swiftly expanded!
