Chapter 898: Too Little Too Late? (2/2)

This…

She was at a loss? What was it? Could it be…

Yes. It, too, was faith. The faith of all the people!

When they saw Lan Jue and the others fighting, saw the Bloodiron Khans defending them, and heard the impassioned pleas of that Eastern announcer they were moved. People all throughout the galaxies began to pray. They prayed for the sword bearers and for all of mankind.

All of that faith united around them.

Lan Jue, Lan Qing, the Pharmacist, Zhou Qianlin. All the soldiers, the Paragons, the mechas and drones. They weren’t alone – they fought together on behalf of their species. They represented the determination of their people in seeing tomorrow. They were the instrument of every human’s desire to fight!

They had the strength and faith of everyone at their back.

The first wave of faith had come from Angel. Those hundreds of thousands saw their conviction manifest first. They wanted to see their representatives succeed from the bottom of their heart. They prayed loudly and earnestly for the Banishing Strategy to emerge.

This was the first time since the Banishing Blades appeared in the world of man that everyone wished to see its Strategy conquer the enemy. It seemed almost natural that it began to absorb the power of this faith, and not just around Qianlin but with all four of them.

Heavenly weapons were possessed of their own intelligence, and the Banishing Blades were the greatest heavenly weapons ever created. Of course it yearned to absorb the pure power of faith. More than any other energy, the faith of the masses could help to establish the Banishing Strategy – and maybe beyond.

Seeing their bearers earn the respect of all mankind, the swords were pleased. The esteem of these arrogant weapons soared. With these blessings the Strategy stabilized and began to grow again. It was nearing completion.

When he saw the light appear around them, the Violet Prince sensed things were spinning out of their control. At first it was insignificant but with time grew exponentially, feeding the swords and the chaos that they wielded. The first indicating Lan Jue and the others were consuming their own life force had been extinguished.

More frightening was the revelation that these four humans were getting stronger. All of a sudden their level of cultivation had surged to several times their original power. In a matter of seconds they were nearly ready to push through to the Infinite.

Each of them were surrounded by a halo of polychromatic light. It wasn’t coming from them, but from the Strategy itself. The flows of chaos also saw this mottled hue emerge within it, giving it a strangely beautiful appearance. Monarch, who was captured within it, was speechless and did not even attempt to escape.

How could this not cause the Violet Prince to be afraid? If Monarch perished he would be the last of his people. Caught amidst all of these humans he certainly would be unable to escape.

The Violet Prince made a prompt decision and acted on it without delay. A fiery purple light blazed from his chest and all of a sudden he was as strong as he ever had been. He knocked the Driver before him away with a single punch.

Even with the protection of Primordial Lightning the Driver’s bones cracked from the blow. He spat a mouthful of blood from the severe injury.

The Prince didn’t slow. In a flash he appeared once more before Lan Jue and threw a punch at the hateful human’s head.

No one expected the Prince to regain his power so suddenly. Among the five remaining Paragons the strongest were only Reflections of Heaven and Earth, hardly a match to a creature who commanded the powers of the Infinite. No one could match him for speed either, and by the time they reacted the alien’s attack was already reaching its target.

Finished!

The Wine Master despaired – all their effort, too little too late!

However, just as the Prince’s fist reached Lan Jue the halo around him flared. He didn’t move and his body became instantly translucent. Thrown off balance by his zealous assault the Violet Prince toppled through Lan Jue and into the chaotic flows of the Banishing Strategy.

It all happened so suddenly everyone stopped.

The Clockmaker was first to snap out of it. Loudly she cried. “Everyone, pray for them! Pray the Banishing Strategy will work. Our unity is our strength, that is how we win the day.”