Chapter 285: Changing the Land’s Presence (1/2)
7400 kilometres southeast to Marble City was a massive continent. Further southeast, at the tip of the continent, a tiny Frenzy Beast was flying. It was smaller than a human but seething from it was tremendous power.
It flew into a territory that was burning in fire, quickly shielding itself with a psychic arm. it unleashed its domain, sensing the presence of the figure it was searching in the land of fire. Seated on a large rock, the remains of a mountain—the tallest peak on the continent—was a humanoid figure.
Seeing its arrival, the humanoid figure turned around, looking amicable as it spoke with a gentle tone, ”What is the matter, Crash?”
Tier 6 Frenzy Beast—Crash Bandicoot!
It was termed Psychic Ancestor Crash. It was one of the oldest Ancestors, having reached Tier 6 even before Rhachis Ancestor Dawn. It was one of the four Frenzy Beasts that guarded Rhachis Ancestor Parasite.
Psychic Ancestor Crash dared not descend on the ground, feeling fear from the flames that burned. It hovered 600 metres above ground, positioning itself a level below the line of sight of the other party, displaying its position in the hierarchy.
It responded with a humble bow, ”Sheep managed to make a recovery. It was really hard, but I was barely able to extract all the aura of Light and Marble from its body. Sheep will be able to use its Unranked Skill now.”
The humanoid figure waved its hands, beckoning for Psychic Ancestor Crash to come closer. As it obeyed, the humanoid figure pointed at the ground, ”What do you think of it?”
Psychic Ancestor Crash gazed at the intense flames burning on the ground, shuddering in fear. It subconsciously tightened the psychic energy barrier around it, even going to the extent overlaying it with another psychic arm.
It then controlled its trembling, unleashing its domain to probe into it. After a while, its body trembled even more, speaking in a hurry, ”Even after eight months, this land still burns. Shockingly, this effect is brought about by his aura alone.”
The flames raged forth, reaching a height of 20 metres. Flame tongues wriggled, sometimes reaching as high as 30 metres, swirling into a spiral upon reaching their peak as they fell back. Psychic Ancestor Crash observed it, trying to find a countermeasure.
It unleashed its aura, overlaying its aura personification atop. Instantaneously, the height of the flames reduced by two centimetres while the flame tongues curled into spheres that exploded like bubbles and dissipated into heat.
It continued its actions, finding that no matter what it did, the height of the flames no longer decreased. Seeing its struggles, the humanoid figure sighed, ”As expected of the idiot four, useless as always.”
It then motioned for Psychic Ancestor Crash to look at the hill it sat upon. Psychic Ancestor Crash obeyed, sending a psychic arm through the hill. But, the moment it touched the surface, it felt tremendous resistance preventing its psychic arm from seeping even a millimetre deep.
Seeing the situation, Psychic Ancestor Crash realised something as it looked at the foot of the hill. Flames still burned intensely but the higher they climbed the hill, the weaker they got. Eventually, they fully dissipated halfway up the 600 metres tall hill.
But, the heat was still transmitted through the hill, all the way to the peak. Just by probing with its psychic arm around the spot the humanoid figure was seated on, it screamed in fright, ”It's hot! My body would melt within seconds if I come into contact with it.”
The humanoid figure waved its hand, motioning for it to shut up. It then gently retracted its aura, starting from its farthest reach. Psychic Ancestor Crash noticed the flames around the perimeter grow higher, their intensity of heat emission even rose by a notch.
Slowly, starting from the perimeter, the flames rose like a column, following the receding of the humanoid figure's aura. Soon, its aura had reached the foot of the hill.
Psychic Ancestor Crash disappeared from its spot, hovering a kilometre above the ground in fear as it watched the flames reach as high as 400 metres. It was a literal sea of flames.
As for the hill the humanoid figure sat on, except for 20 metres around it, everything was on fire. It looked at Psychic Ancestor Crash, its toothless, tongueless mouth curling down, ”I have been suppressing its effect for the past eight months while learning about it. But all I could manage till now is to suppress it a little. The intensity of the flames hasn't decreased even a fraction from back then. In fact, it seemed to have increased in size and intensity.”
The humanoid figure punched the air once, directing it towards the sea of flames. Powerful winds were stirred up as a result, surpassing the speed of sound. The shockwave was like a stream of water as it passed through the sea of flames, parting way, eradicating everything in its path.
Though, a second later, flames converged upon the gap, filling it up, destroying all traces of its attack. The humanoid figure said in a placid tone, ”Dawn somehow managed to infuse his aura into this land, changing its very presence. Now, this land has the same presence as Dawn and will continue to generate flames.”