Book 19, Metamorphosis – Chapter 34, A Battle of Attrition?

The green-haired maiden and the cyan-robed youth weren’t able to dodge in time. Their first reaction was to use their Sovereign artifacts to block. The two massive fists slammed over, pressing down like two small mountains.

“BOOM!” “BOOM!”

Two weighty smacking sounds. The green-haired maiden and the cyan-robed youth were both smashed underground, but immediately afterwards, the two flew out from underground, hovering in midair close to their four companions.

“We were wrong.” Ranessa somberly sent mentally to the other five. “This big fellow is a World Tyrant, not a human! If he was in human form, then his head would indeed be his weak point, where his soul would be. But he is currently in World Tyrant form, and his weak point is his ‘core’! The soul is within his core, and his divine spark is within it as well!”

It was just like the Flame Tyrant which Linley had originally encountered in the Necropolis of the Gods in the past. Even though the Flame Tyrant’s entire body had been shattered, he still didn’t die. The Flame Tyrant’s weak spot was that translucent stone; that was the core!

This sort of metal or rock-based lifeform all had an important ‘core’ component.

The soul was contained within it, and after becoming a Deity, their divine spark would be added to it as well! As long as the core was destroyed, they could be killed!

“Haha, so that’s the case.” The cyan-robed youth began to laugh loudly. “Since we know where his weakness is, killing him will be easy now.”

“I’ll use my innate divine ability one more time. The rest will be up to you.” Ranessa sent mentally to the other five. Actually, even if Ranessa didn’t use her innate divine ability, the six would still be able to kill Reihom; after all, Reihom only had two fists, and wouldn’t be able to block six people at once. Those six were entirely capable of smashing a giant hole into his chest, then charging in and destroying the core!

However, using the innate divine ability to bind Reihom, then kill him would be much easier.

“That comrade of yours is quite powerful. A World Tyrant. For this sort of monstrous lifeform to reach such a level in profound mysteries is quite rare.” Montelo clearly was quite amused. He was completely confident that his side would be able to easily kill Reihom; they just miscalculated earlier, that was all.

“Not good!” Reisgem felt that the situation was bad as well.

Last time, they had smashed apart Reihom’s head; the next time, the six would definitely attack Reihom’s core.

“GRAAAAAAAWR!” Reisgem couldn’t help but release an enraged roar, and behind him, the illusion of an enormous amethyst beast suddenly appeared behind him.

Innate divine ability – Amethyst Rampart!

Rays of amethyst light filed with black Sovereign power spread out, forming a black cocoon. However, this giant black cocoon wrapped itself around Montelo. Actually, the shape of the Amethyst Rampart, as well as the target it wrapped around, was completely up to Reisgem. Just like that, for a moment, Montelo became trapped within the Amethyst Rampart and unable to break out.

Reisgem regained his freedom!

“Reihom, quick, flee!” Reisgem sent through divine sense.

At the same time, Reisgem shot out like an arrow, and as he did so, that amethyst longspear once again appeared in his hands. His right arm swung out in an arc, throwing the longspear forward. The amethyst light flashed forward at an astonishing, terrifying speed, striking towards that silver-robed woman, ‘Ranessa’.

Ranessa had no choice but to swing back with her two arms.

“Clang!” The violet light smashed against Ranessa’s arms, and Ranessa was knocked flying into the air.

Ranessa dared to block like this, because she had something to rely on; she had a single Sovereign artifact, a defensive Sovereign artifact.

Although Ranessa wasn’t killed, since she was knocked aside, her innate divine ability was disrupted midway through.

“Reihom, quick, let’s go!” Reisgem said frantically.

“Out of the way!” A keening howl. The green-robed maiden’s body flashed forward, and she appeared before Reisgem. She seized the opportunity to attack Reisgem, while Reisgem’s Sovereign weapon was still flying back towards him. He could only let out a low growl as he stretched his hand out, viciously smashing forward...

Reisgem’s crystalline palm was covered with black light. It looked like a casual blow, but it swept forward towards that tender little fist like a tornado.

“BANG!” A low, echoing sound. Reisgem was knocked backwards, while at the same time, with a ‘crunch’ sound, bones snapping could be heard.

“Crackle....” Reihom’s body quickly shrank.

A blurry black light shot out from Reisgem’s body, forming an Amethyst Space that was a thousand meters across, and a powerful gravitational force was generated, causing the seven enemies to unconsciously tremble.

“Don’t let himi escape. Kill him!” Ranessa shouted mentally.

“Let’s hurry and leave.” Reisgem couldn’t be bothered with anything else, immediately fleeing with Reihom frantically.

“WHAP!” A long whip snaked out, striking onto Reihom’s body; the others were already in pursuit.

“Don’t even think of escaping!” By now, Montelo had broken out of the Amethyst Rampart, and countless white strands of light once more shot towards Reisgem.

“Grrr.....”

Reisgem turned his head and let out a furious roar. Instantly, a large amount of Destruction-type Sovereign power spread out, forming an enormous web. This was, once again, his innate divine ability, ‘Amethyst Rampart’. This enormous Amethyst Rampart spread out towards the seven pursuers, but unfortunately, the seven maintained some distance from each other, and so it couldn’t completely envelop them. It only surrounded four of them, while three fled, one of whom was Montelo.

“Swoosh!” “Swoosh!”

Reisgem and Reihom fled at high speed.

“Chase!” Montelo shouted.

Reisgem knew that the situation was bad, but he knew...“Linley and Bebe are underground and are being attacked by Oman. Although Oman is very powerful, Bebe’s defense is strong as well. He definitely won’t die.” As Reisgem fled, he also raised his head and howled loudly, “Linley! The two of you, hurry and flee for your lives! If we have the chance, we’ll meet again!”

That furious roar shook the heavens!

Underground, Linley and Bebe were fleeing in sorry shape as well. Oman clearly was an expert who trained in the Laws of the Earth, and his underground senses were quite accurate. Although by relying on the Blackstone Space, Linley and Bebe were able to maintain a distance of a few hundred meters, Oman was still able to easily locate where the two of them were.

Oman was fixed on Linley and Bebe, unwilling to let them go.

“Linley! The two of you, hurry and flee for your lives! If we have the chance, we’ll meet again!” This thunderous roar echoed even underground, and both Linley and Bebe heard it.

“Boss, it seems like Reisgem isn’t doing that well either.” Bebe sent mentally.

“There’s only a single person chasing after us. There are seven others after them! Perhaps the seven don’t dare kill Reisgem, but they’ll dare to kill Reihom. Let’s go. Let’s not just stay in this region.” Although Linley was currently fleeing, he was consistently running around in circles. He had been hoping to be able to escape alongside Reisgem and Reihom.

But now, it seemed, the situation was already terrible and that there was no choice but to have everyone split up.

Whoosh...

Linley and Bebe didn’t care which direction they had to flee towards; they selected one and accelerated, flying outwards in a straight line.

“Swoosh!” “Swoosh!” The two suddenly emerged from the ground.

“The two of you, don’t even think of escaping.” Oman surged out from underground at almost the same instance.

Linley and Bebe turned to look. Oman was actually following from just a few hundred meters behind. That distance could be traversed by commanders, given their speed, in just the blink of an eye. Linley and Bebe were unable to escape Oman’s field of vision; now that they were aboveground, Oman could track them with his eyes.

Underground, Oman was able to rely on his senses and attunement to the earth to locate where Linley and Bebe were.

Bebe bellowed, “Hey, Oman, aren’t you tired, chasing us like this?”

“I’m bored to death here in the Planar Battlefield anyhow. I’m in no rush. Even if I have to chase for two more days, I’ll catch up to you two.” Oman seemed to be quite relaxed, and snickered, “In terms of speed, you two are much slower than me! If it weren’t for the fact that you are able to rely on something similar to Reisgem’s Amethyst Space, how would you be able to shake me off?” As he spoke, Oman drew parallel to Linley and Bebe; only, the two maintained a distance of a few hundred meters.

Oman’s natural speed was indeed faster than Linley and Bebe’s.

But in the Blackstone Space, there was no way Oman was able to draw close to Linley.

“If you just chase like this, you’ll never be able to catch us.” Bebe said loudly.

“Once you run out of Sovereign power, even if you have this gravitational space, it won’t be able to stop me.” Oman snickered.

Indeed. Without Sovereign power behind it, the power of the Blackstone Space would drop dramatically. Oman, by relying on his own Sovereign power, was completely capable of resisting the Blackstone Space to draw closer to Linley and Bebe.

“Haha...you want to use up our Sovereign power?” Linley couldn’t help but laugh loudly. “Mr. Oman, just keep chasing.”

Linley was in no rush either. He continued to flee in a straight line, moving farther and farther away from the original site.

Moments later...

Linley’s Sovereign power finally was used up, and the black aura emanating from Linley’s body vanished.

“Haha!” Oman laughed loudly, moving lightning-fast into the Blackstone Space’s zone. Indeed, the power of the gravity of the Blackstone Space was now much weaker, and although Oman was slowed down, he was still a good deal faster than Linley and Bebe. “Prepare to die.” Oman was currently in an excellent mood. He was finally going to kill these two hard-to-deal-with punks.

But right then...

“BANG!” Linley’s body once more radiated a black glow, and instantly, the power of the Blackstone Space increased yet again. Linley and Bebe both increased in speed as well.

“More Sovereign’s Might.” Oman was stunned, and his speed lessened.

“Oman, you want to compete with us in Sovereign power attrition?” Bebe snickered. “Go for it. We’re happy to oblige.”

At the same time, the scope of the Blackstone Space shrank, down from five hundred meters to one hundred meters. This scope was enough to guarantee their safety; although the size was less, the rate at which it used up Sovereign power was slower as well.

“It seems you have quite a bit of Sovereign’s Might.” Oman was rather hesitant now.

“Of course. My bro Reisgem is the son of the Redbud Sovereign.” Bebe snickered. “Come, I want to see how much Sovereign’s Might the Chief Sovereign of Light gave you.”

Oman was stunned.

He knew how much Sovereign’s Might Reisgem possessed. As Sovereigns saw it, if an Emissary died, they could find another one; they didn’t care at all, unless it was someone who was a Paragon or at Beirut’s level. Thus, they couldn’t possibly give their Emissary’s that much Sovereign’s Might. To give a few dozen drops at once was a sign of great favor already.

But for the Sovereign’s children?

Oman knew that the second and third generation members of the Augusta clan each had large amounts of Sovereign’s Might, and that was despite the fact that there were more than a thousand members in the second and third generation. As for Reisgem, there was just him; how much Sovereign’s Might did he have, then? As many commanders saw it, Reisgem was an absolute tycoon. They envied him! But Reisgem was no fool; aside from his friends and brothers, he would never hand out Sovereign’s Might to others.

“Can it be that Reisgem gave a large amount of his Sovereign’s Might to these two?” Oman wondered.

Prior to this, he hadn’t considered this possibility, because in his heart, he always viewed Sovereign’s Might as being precious. He had considered things from his own viewpoint; he wouldn’t be willing to give it to his friends. He had forgotten, however...that from Reisgem’s viewpoint, the situation was different.

“Continuing after these two is nothing more than a waste of Sovereign’s Might.” Oman frowned. “I’m not going to compete with them!” Oman didn’t say a single word; he very straightforwardly turned and left. In virtually the blink of an eye, he disappeared into the horizons of the battlefield.

Only now did Linley and Bebe come to a halt.

“He left?” Bebe began to laugh.

“He wasn’t willing to use up his Sovereign’s Might.” Linley sighed. It really was different, having so much Sovereign’s Might. In the past, he was extremely careful in how he used it; unless it was a life-or-death situation, he wouldn’t use it.

“We’ve used two or three drops, but the canteen is virtually unchanged.” Linley sighed to himself.

Two or three drops, to a canteen, was like a single hair on the skin of an ox.

“Boss, we’ve split up with Reisgem and Reihom.” Bebe said with a frown.

Linley stared at his surroundings; it was silent and desolate.

“It’s up to luck. We’ll see if we encounter them again.” Linley said with a frown. “Right now, we need to find a place to rest. I haven’t had a chance to carefully inspect that crown yet. Let’s go!”