Michael checked his signal on the crystal watch, but quickly realized that he was still unable to message anyone. It was a hassle.
‘Someone should arrive soon, right?’ He wondered, his eyes drifting through the surrounding area to pinpoint some powerhouses. Oddly enough all he could find were Guards and other Awakened at the 4th Tier or lower.
The ancient city might be the capital of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs, but that was namesake. It was the oldest city of the two war-loving races, thus becoming their capital. The retired Elders of the Berserkers and Warlock Centaurs lived in the ancient city, but most of them had been forced into retirement after suffering severe injuries in battle. They were not strong enough to deal with the three human Lords even if they were to try to aid Alice.
Of course, that didn’t mean the ancient city’s protection was insignificant. The capital’s defenses were extremely strong. The only issue was that the defensive mechanisms were highly destructive. Violet, Beast, and the other Lord were already in the center of the city. Therefore, other Awakened would have to deal with them since the capital’s defensive mechanisms would destroy far more structures and injure more innocent citizens than attacking the perpetrators.
‘Where are the powerhouses when you need them?’ Michael cursed under his breath, wondering where the other human powerhouses were and what was going on with the Chieftain and War Priestess. Did they disappear into the Origin Expanse? They wouldn’t leave the capital unprotected…right?
It was a little bit frustrating, but Michael guessed that he couldn’t rely on the protection or aid of other Awakened. He unleashed the Dome of Extraction to annex the highly compressed, purified energy in the surroundings. The energy flooded his body, only to be channeled through his veins before he used Insert to provide Alice as much energy as possible.
Now that several layers of Enhancement had been applied onto Alice, she felt much stronger than ever. The broken armor around her body regenerated and expanded. Her entire body, except her face, was covered in a highly compressed frozen armor, protecting her from harm. But that was not all. The frozen armor was a Legacy Technique derived from the Zenovia family’s Inheritance technique. It possessed several unique traits that aided Alice in battle.
For one, the frozen armor blocked environmental effects. It regulated her body temperature near-perfectly, insulating her from the changes in the temperature outside. This allowed her to swim in lava and traverse through Eternal Ice. Second, and most important, the frozen armor blocked various effects that would affect Alice under normal circumstances. Curses and malleable effects of Soultraits were weakened. The effects wouldn’t be nullified but they wouldn’t influence Alice too severely.
Michael added a few layers of Enhancement onto the frozen armor. Right after that, he used Insert combined with Extraction and Reinforced Sword Qi onto Alice’s longsword, further strengthening it.
Alice noticed the changes in her frozen armor and longsword, and she glanced at Michael for a second, the corner of her lip curling upward.
“Your Soultraits are too amazing. Maybe, I should kidnap you?” She said in a teasing voice.
Michael scoffed and patted her back, “Yes, yes. Kidnap me all you want after you beat up these idiots.”
Alice’s focus returned to the three Lords who had been looking for Michael. They found him next to Alice shortly after, but quickly realized that the pressure around Alice had intensified.
The Lord with the Energy Seal frowned deeply, “I think Michael drained the purified energy in the proximity. The golden crystal is still not full. I’ll need one more minute. Let’s catch him and then leave!”
His earlier confidence was now replaced with a tinge of worry as he understood the dangers of their mission and felt that the pressure weighing down on him increased with every passing second. After all, spending more time in the center of the capital increased the chances of the failure of their mission. It was only a matter of time before the powerhouses hiding in the ancient capital would arrive and hunt them down.
Taking a deep breath, the old Lord tapped into his lifeforce and executed the strongest form of his Inheritance technique, Reverser Energy Seal. His Soultrait sealed the energy within the targets under normal circumstances. However, by reversing Energy Seal one could turn the seal into a Support-type Soultrait. The Lord used Reverse Energy Seal onto Violet, Beast, and himself right before retrieving several hundred Inferior Energy Stones.
He crushed the Inferior Energy Stones and let loose the effects of Reverse Energy Seal, sucking every ounce of energy within the Inferior Energy Stones from the air. The three Lords didn’t have to pay attention to the energy in the proximity as Reverser Energy Seal sucked everything into their bodies. The Reverse Energy Seal annexed the energy, allowing the three Lords to use the energy that had entered their bodies at once.
Beast unleashed his Inheritance technique once again. His body expanded further and he charged at Alice. Simultaneously, Violet released close to 1,000 Bladed Strings toward the collapsed building, turning the structure into a mountain of tiny dice.
Michael could only frown as he readied to dash to the side and disappear from the center of the battlefield, but he was too slow. Violet’s bladed strings were everywhere. There was no opening for Michael. He was confined in the encirclement of bladed strings. He was fortunate that Alice was by his side.
After Michael healed her using Heavenly Realm, and strengthened her body, frozen armor, and longsword, Alice’s power skyrocketed. She released her Soultrait, amplified with her Inheritance Technique.
The Duchess’ Frozen Kingdom had been unleashed.
The temperature in the entire capital dropped rapidly, and a towering castle made of ice manifested out of thin air. A throne of ice conjured behind Alice. She took a step back and sat down, her frozen armor connecting to the throne of her Frozen Kingdom. Alice pierced her longsword in the ground next to her, allowing the power that resided within the sword to connect to the remaining parts of the Castle of Eternal Ice.
The effects inserted into her sword traversed through the Castle of Eternal Ice as well. The white hues of Enhancement, the silver threads of Reinforced Sword Qi, and the golden shimmer of Extraction swept through the Castle of Eternal Ice, further enhancing its power.
Violet and the other Lords frowned deeply but they didn’t stop their attacks. Beast barged into the throne hall of the Castle of Eternal Ice and he accelerated using his movement technique the moment he found Alice sitting on the throne. Her blue eyes stared coldly at Beast, enraging the Lord even further. He tapped deep into his pool of power and erupted. He kicked the ground and turned his body into a cannonball to crush Alice’s body with a single attack.
However, long before Beast could reach Alice, thick pillars of Eternal ice formed in front of Beast. Beast had already started running at full speed and the pillars of Eternal Ice were too close to avoid. Therefore, Beast decided in a fraction of a second. He decided to barge through the pillar of ice. The Legacy technique of the Sacred Beast’s Inheritance Technique reinforced the endurance of his body while also granting him more destructive power. It ought to be enough to destroy mere ice pillars!
Alice raised an eyebrow as she observed Beast’s actions with mild interest. Beast crashed into the pillar of eternal ice. The impact created a shockwave that reverberated throughout the entire castle, and cracks formed all around the pillar of eternal ice. 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝑚
Michael realized quickly that Beast was strong enough to crush the pillar of eternal ice. It shouldn’t be much of a problem for the Lord to destroy the pillar. Unfortunately, there was not only one pillar at this point. Alice manifested dozens of pillars around the first pillar of Eternal Ice, but that was not all. Alice sealed the cracks all over the first pillar of Eternal Ice the moment they appeared. She didn’t even give Beast a fraction of a second to believe that he had the upper hand. If anything, Alice utilized her Frozen Kingdom to control the surroundings as if it was her domain – which was the case, to a certain extent.
Alice’s Frozen Kingdom was far from simple. It was partially a Domain-type Soultrait that allowed her to control everything in her Frozen Kingdom’s range. Therefore she could slow down Beast with tens of pillars of Eternal Ice. Alice made Beast believe that he could manage to break through the first pillar of Eternal Ice and let him willingly walk into her trap before quickly creating dozens of pillars around the first. She then sealed the destruction caused by Beast by trapping him in the Eternal Ice.
Beast might not be dead, and he could escape the confinement of Eternal Ice, but Alice was confident that her power and technique were strong enough to keep Beast in check for a while. His transformation Soultrait was not strong enough to overcome the tremendous power of Alice’s Frozen Kingdom.
Michael witnessed Alice and her powers intently. It was the first time he saw her unleash this kind of power. In fact, it was the first time he saw powerhouses go all-out against each other. He had always been certain that his power was grand and that it was only a matter of time before he could defeat the powerhouses of the human race. However, he was utterly mistaken.
Alice was only in possession of one 6-Star Soultrait, yet her proficiency and techniques were extraordinary. She was on a whole different level than the other Lords. It was terrifying and beautiful at the same time.
Michael doubted that he could inflict any harm on Alice even if he were to give his all to beat her.
In fact, even if he were to unleash the hidden power of Extraction, he wouldn’t be strong enough to reach Alice. Not yet, at least.
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