Chapter 544.1: The Moment of Sacrifice (1)
Chapter 544.1: The Moment of Sacrifice (1)
Strictly speaking, the Ascart Fiefdom did have an Origin Level 1 transcendent too, just one that wasn’t deemed to be part of its military force—Ancient Treant Kayde.
Ancient Treant Kayde was the oldest member of the Twilight Sages Assembly, being thousands of years old. It was only normal for its strength to have already reached the highest level, though its old age also meant that its strength had been declining due to senescence.
Nevertheless, its condition was not as severe as that of the other Fallens thanks to its naturally long lifespan as a treant. Furthermore, with the help of the Primordial Earth Goddess, it was able to temporarily return to its peak.
Kayde planted its roots into the ground and greedily absorbed nourishment from the earth veins. Its dull and aged trunk was swiftly charged with youthful vitality, and golden slivers of light flowed within its body. All of its attributes had been greatly enhanced.
Its entrance at this critical time brought hope to Roel’s side.
Countless tree vines shot out from the ancient treant to hold down the Three-legged Dracocrow charging at Roel. At the same time, it sank thousands of roots into the ground, which allowed it to exert unbelievable might to pull down the gargantuan monster.
The Three-legged Dracocrow hadn’t expected a meddler to pop out of nowhere. It tried to force its attack through, not wanting to give up this precious chance to take down Roel, but it was simply too tightly bound by the ancient treant.
Furthermore, the ancient treant was still swiftly growing; its lush branches were spreading out wide into a huge crown that covered the sky. The force of its pull only strengthened with each passing second.
It was disadvantageous for Roel and Kayde to go against aerial enemies as landbound creatures. Roel could at least move around at a fast speed and even achieve temporary flight thanks to his abilities, but the bulky ancient treant couldn’t do all of those.
The only way out was for them to drag their enemies down and force them into a ground fight. Having realized that, Roel quickly moved to assist Kayde. Dark yellow mana flowed from his body as he channeled a spell.
An immense weight suddenly crushed the Three-legged Dracocrow. Under the effects of Peytra’s Gravity Spell, the gargantuan monster found itself slipping from the sky helplessly. Horrified, it let loose a deafening roar that shook the surroundings and frantically flapped its wings, raising a cloud of dust into the sky.
At this critical moment, the Three-legged Dracocrow suddenly opened its huge mouth and began charging up for a destructive Dragon’s Breath, an ability it had inherited from its Dragon Bloodline. It was seeking to inflict fatal damage on the ancient treant.
Kayde was stunned. It hadn’t thought that a creature that had simply inherited a couple of bloodlines would actually be capable of Dragon’s Breath.
However, Roel, who was aware of the Three-legged Dracocrow’s background, wasn’t surprised in the least. He even had a countermeasure against this.
The Crown Origin Attribute trembled, and a flood of frost aura gushed toward the gargantuan monster in the sky. The overwhelming prowess of the Glacier Creator easily snuffed out the charging Dragon’s Breath, and the thrashing Three-legged Dracocrow found its body slowly stiffening up.
Glacial Touch was indeed a formidable ability, but this was the limit of what Roel could do on the spur of the moment. While he was busy helping Kayde control the Three-legged Dracocrow, the knocked-back Wingman Sovereign had regained its momentum to launch a fresh wave of attack.
This time around, its attack wasn’t as straightforward as the previous one.
The Wingman Sovereign extended its wings out wide and drew in the darkness looming in the sky around it. It was bound to have a unique ability of its own, being a powerful existence comparable to the gods, and the darkness enveloping the sky was none other than its bloodline ability.
The Wingman Clan used to be the rulers of the sky. A manifestation of that glory, the Wingman Sovereign’s bloodline had the power to control the sky, though what they controlled back in the ancient era was the clear sky.
However, as their bloodline slowly got tainted under the Savior’s influence, any skies they tried to exert their dominance over would turn ominously dark, as if to reflect their corruption. Nevertheless, their ability still remained shockingly powerful.
Roel felt as if the entire sky had gained sentience and was starting to bare its fangs at him.
Treacherous wind blades silently formed in the tempest, and blood-colored lightning bolts flashed across the sky like venomous serpents. The surrounding mana rushed toward the Wingman Sovereign and gathered around it, as if submitting to its control.
Roel’s expression turned heavy.
While he hadn’t harbored much hope in his being able to defeat an Origin Level 1 transcendent like the Wingman Sovereign, that didn’t mean that he was completely helpless here. After all, he did have many aces up his sleeves.
However, he felt like the tides had changed.
Just the earlier clash with the Wingman Sovereign had already depleted a huge portion of his mana. To continue the fight, he had to absorb mana from the surroundings, but that source had been sealed away from him. He had never thought that he could be curbed in such a manner.
It didn’t matter how many aces he had up his sleeves if he couldn’t utilize them.
Through its absolute dominion of the sky, the Wingman Sovereign deprived its enemies of their resources and slowly choked them to death. It was a simple yet highly effective tactic, and there was no way to counter it.
Roel frowned.
Without any warning, he turned tail and bolted off.
In response, the devastating attack that had been charging in the sky all this while was released in a single breath.
Boom!
It took only a split instant for countless lightning bolts and wind blades to ravage the ground. The Wingman Sovereign was hardly surprised by Roel’s escape at all. It tirelessly unleashed attacks as if it was going to flip the ground over.
All Roel could really do in response was to protect himself with a layer of frost aura.
He knew that he mustn’t fight in the Wingman Sovereign’s domain, or else his circumstances would only worsen with time. That was the reason he chose to flee. As he got further away from the Wingman Sovereign, the mana concentration around him started to recover.
Roel immediately absorbed all of the mana he could get from his surroundings to recover from his depletion, but to his shock, this seeming return to normalcy only lasted for a single second.
“…It’s futile, human.”
“!”
An aged voice suddenly echoed directly above Roel, causing his eyes to widen in shock.
In that moment, Roel’s mind went completely blank. Even though his thoughts struggled to catch up, his body had already begun moving from sheer instinct. His mana gushed out, manifesting a humongous silhouette that immediately hurled a punch toward the sky.
Boom!
Grandar’s fist was so powerful that it produced a sonic boom. The Wingman Sovereign was forced to retreat in a fluster. For the first time, emotions showed on its sunken face.
“Giants… Scum of the world.”
The Wingman Sovereign gnashed its teeth in animosity, but Roel was in no mood to delve deeper into the cause. He had noticed something else that caused his body to stiffen up.
In just a few short seconds, the surrounding mana had vanished without a trace once again.
…