NOVPUB"Mere amateurs in spirit, you will never be my match."
Gaiat smiled easily as a sinister light flashed from the mechanical staff in his hand.
The next moment, a gigantic black vortex appeared beneath Juliana’s feet, swallowing her like a demon’s gaping maw!
Juliana let out a piercing scream, feeling the power within her rapidly draining away.
Real and unreal—she could hardly tell which attacks were feints and which were genuine spell attacks. Sometimes, she could only gamble on luck.
That had been a real spell just now, a trigger-type seal laid by Gaiat, capable of absorbing an opponent’s mana!
Juliana knelt on the ground, her entire body shaking violently.
She exerted all her strength to stand up, but her limbs felt as heavy as if they were filled with lead.
Juliana howled at the sky, her voice thundering through the heavens.
She raised her longsword high, its silver light dazzling and illuminating the entire canyon. The veins on the back of her hand bulged, and brilliant golden lines appeared on her skin—the strongest combat form hidden within her body erupted in an instant. A majestic aura burst forth in the canyon, and the sword qi transformed into an immortal giant dragon, diving at Gaiat with a tyrannical force that swept across a hundred miles!
Gaiat’s gaze grew slightly more serious.
Such terrifying power erupted from the Immortal Sword Saint when cornered.
A chill flashed in Gaiat’s eyes, and he gently pointed the mechanical staff forward.
Eighth-order Sealing Skill "Thousand Layers and Ten Thousand Seals."
The next moment, countless chains abruptly appeared, tightly binding Juliana and the sword qi from all directions.
She almost berserkly raised her hand, and her longsword ferociously slashed down. The blade’s energy cut through thousands of dark shadows at once!
At the same time, her figure flickered, instantly closing the distance with Gaiat, her sword tip aiming straight for his throat!
"Hmph."
Gaiat let out a cold snort, not very fond of others getting close to him.
A mist swirled around him, suddenly spreading out in all directions, elusive as a shadow, and no matter how close Juliana’s sword tip got, she couldn’t touch Gaiat at all.
On the contrary, Gaiat was quick to act, with a single flick of his hand, a purple-black light burst from his palm, directly piercing into Juliana’s forehead!
Juliana screamed tragically, and like a kite with its string cut, fell straight to the ground.
Her internals felt as if they were being squeezed, making even breathing exceedingly difficult.
This was unmistakably Gaiat’s Eighth-order Illusion Technique "Refining Heart and Capturing Soul," which could only be cast at a certain distance. It significantly disrupted the opponent’s actions and tormented them, with a level of pain akin to being torn asunder!
At a distance, she would be kited and her range of action limited; up close, she’d be subjected to his more troublesome spiritual attacks.
Boom!
Rolling dust rose into the sky, eclipsing the sun and the moon.
When the dust settled, only a deep pit was visible where Juliana had fallen, seemingly splitting the entire canyon in two!
Juliana knelt on the ground like a broken doll.
And Gaiat floated in the air above, his face devoid of expression as he looked down upon her.
Although they might still trade a few more blows before deciding the victor,
the outcome was clear.
Even the Immortal Sword Saint would ultimately be crushed unilaterally.
Gaiat didn’t speak to Juliana again.
He merely gathered his magic power quietly, watching his soon-to-be-dead enemy.
The array between heaven and earth spun rapidly, convening into a giant black hole, from which scores of purple-black beams spewed forth like a plague sweeping the land, turning everything in their path to dust.
"..."
Juliana, looking up at the silver moon occasionally covered by dark clouds, felt she likely wouldn’t last until the reinforcements arrived.
Given the Royal Arolan Academy students’ pace, even reaching a place free of communication interference and contacting other Yarolan reinforcements now seemed impossible.
In her life, rising from a slum thief to a protective powerhouse of the nation, she’d been quite fortunate.
If there was any regret, it was not being able to walk the path together with that person. Indeed, someone of her lowly birth, not even the Goddess of Destiny would approve of her joining with the Great Priest.
At this point, even if she were to die here, she was determined to inflict the greatest possible blow on Gaiat, holding the Seat of Entwining Agate, the Third Army God.
Just as Juliana gripped the hilt of her sword, about to be devoured by Gaiat’s magic, a biting current of air violently cut through the sky, like an invisible heavy sword, forcefully striking Gaiat.
"Gaiat, go back to your Cerryti Empire!"
The voice, with anger behind it, echoed through the canyon—a thunderous decree.
In the midst of the whirlwind that rose high in the distance, divine generation runes densely covered midair. A figure enshrouded in a black robe appeared, his surrounding currents turning into pure charged light, causing arcs of electricity to resonate with loud booms. His raised finger pointed directly, the airstream’s heavy sword blowing Gaiat open.
Space exploded, and an ear-deafening roar accompanied by blinding light echoed through the canyon.
Gaiat’s figure, wrapped in shadows, was swept away like a leaf and smashed into a distant mountainside, kicking up clouds of dust.
Juliana looked to the sky, disbelieving.
The recent rumors suggested that merely calling out Loren’s name in one’s heart would summon his presence—he always appeared, as if on the jest of the Goddess of Destiny, in places where he shouldn’t be.
Even on her way back, she’d heard lore of Loren having possibly saved residents amidst the upheaval in Floral City Pariel.
