Chapter 175 - Imperium Orbis (1/2)
”Ignis Zephyr Anima Form…”
”1st Divine Art…”
”[Fiery Tempest Naginata]!”
Whoosh!
Akin to a shooting star darting across the night sky, a naginata covered in golden flames and green winds darted towards the barrier in a matter of an instant, making a streak of golden and green light as it collided with the barrier.
Bang!
At the moment it hit the barrier, unlike Herellia's attempt from before, the barrier instantly warped under the sheer force behind the naginata, as if the power of the naginata was more than enough to break through the barrier. Noticing this, Herellia could not help but radiate an aura of anticipation, muttering to herself, ”An attack like this…I hope it breaks the barrier.”
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Golden flames continued to spurt out the blunt end of the pole, making the naginata push at the barrier as it warped more and more, its appearance akin to a reverse water drop. While this was happening, ripples of white light started to radiate throughout the barrier, with the point of contact between the barrier and the naginata's blade as the origin.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
On the other side of the barrier, Chonk, who was almost finished with his preparations for the second phase of Code Omega, could not help but sense an aggressive aura coming from the alliance base, prompting him to turn around. At the very instant he turned around, he noticed what was happening to the barrier and could not help but feel intense trepidation as he watched.
”Is that…actually going to break through the barrier?” Chonk could not help but mutter to himself in doubt, vaguely seeing a weapon covered in flames try and pierce through the barrier, warping it to the maximum. To his eyes, it seemed as if the weapon only needed a little more force for it to finally pierce through the barrier and set the alliance free. Realizing this, he could not help but tell the members of his army, who had not finished charging up their spells, to hurry up so they could start the second phase.
While doing so, he could not help but look up at the skies and utter in a begging manner, ”Heavens…if you truly want me to reach Rank 2, please tell me that this weapon wouldn't break through the barrier.”
Fwoosh!
As if the heavens had answered his statement, the momentum of the weapon as it tried to pierce through the barrier had abruptly stopped. Not only that, but the ripple of white light radiating from the barrier had stopped as well. A few seconds later, the barrier had instantly reverted to its original shape as it flung the weapon back with a loud sound.
Boing!
”…” Seeing this, Chonk could not help but be at a loss for words. He could not help but look up at the skies for a bit, thinking to himself, 'Did the heavens actually hear my prayers for once?'
He then blinked his eyes a few times, wondering if what he was seeing was an illusion. After finding out that it wasn't an illusion thanks to him being pestered by Horell and Chungus regarding the second phase of Code Omega, Chonk could not help but start chuckling. First, it was a soft chuckle of disbelief. Then gradually, it transformed into a loud cackle of arrogance as an aura of smugness radiated from his eyes. Still cackling, he shouted, ”To think that the heavens are on my side!”
After that, he turned around to look at the members of his army and said, ”Their last-ditch effort has become useless in front of [Maledictum Claustra]! Once we start the second phase, victory is ours!”
”Victory for the army!” Not long after, almost every member of the army responded to Chonk's words. On the other hand, Horell could not help but feel a bit of fear as he looked at what had happened to the barrier a while ago. At first, he was quite hopeful that this attack would break through the barrier, even though he did not know which member of the alliance did it. Nevertheless, with the result of the attack in plain sight, he decided to place his hopes on Aurus, not knowing that he was the one who actually attacked the barrier.
Utilizing the connection between the two of them, Horell sent a message to Aurus as Chonk started to command a few members of the army.
…
Bang!
Thanks to the move the barrier did, the naginata was flung towards one of the walls of the alliance's main hall, becoming stuck as it still emanated a few golden flames and green winds. Hearing the loud bang, all of the alliance members, including Herellia, could not help but let out a sigh either inwardly or outwardly. As for Herellia, she let out a sigh inwardly as she muttered while looking at the naginata, ”Even an attack like that…did not break the barrier?”
”If so…how much power would we actually need to break through?” At this moment, Herellia could not help but feel despair at the current situation. The aura radiated by the naginata a while ago had exceeded her previous aura by a lot, being tens of times more intense than hers. And even that could not break through the barrier? With that in mind, Herellia could not help but think that the Tempest Branch Alliance was actually going to be destroyed.
On the other hand, a soft voice could be heard from the naginata.
”Ah, f.u.c.k.” This voice came from the pole portion of the naginata, who was none other than Aurus. At the moment, him, Fenrir, and Charisa were stuck on the wall due to their current form. Hearing their master curse out, Charisa, who was the golden flames emanating from the end of the pole, could not help but say in an apologetic tone, ”We're sorry for being too incompetent, Master!”
Hearing that, Aurus could not help but reply, ”Charisa, it's not your fault.” Just as he was about to continue consoling Charisa, he then remembered about Fenrir and said, ”Fenrir, it's not your fault either.”
Rather than feel guilty about them not being able to break through the barrier, Fenrir, who was the blade stuck on the wall, could not help but think about why they could not break through the barrier from another perspective. After pondering for a bit, he then asked Aurus, ”Master, what if we use the other skills of the Ignis Zephyr Anima Form?”
”I'd suggest not, Fenrir,” Aurus replied to Fenrir's suggestion. ”Although the 5th to 7th Divine Art would probably have enough power to break through the barrier, there's still a great emphasis on the word 'probably'.”
While telling Fenrir the reason why he was disinclined to do the other skills of the Ignis Zephyr Anima Form, Aurus could not help but think to himself, 'Ah, I'm f.u.c.k.i.n.g stupid. Why didn't I summon more Allies until I reached the limit? If I had 5 Allies with me instead of 2, then I would've surely broken through that barrier without a problem!'
Aurus knew very well that the strength of fusion attacks not only depended on the strength of the beings fusing as one, but it also depended on the number of beings fusing as one. The difference between the fusion of 3 beings and 4 beings in terms of power dictated whether that attack could kill a Pseudo-Animate or an Animate.
Even though he was filled with slight regret over not summoning more Allies, Aurus did not dwell on the matter too much as he let out a sigh, willing the energy that was shared between them to split apart, letting them return to their original forms.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
It did not take long for the three to land at the center of the alliance's main hall, with Fenrir and Charisa positioning themselves behind Aurus like his bodyguards. As for Aurus, he did not mind this as he looked at Herellia and sighed before saying, ”Well, as you can see, we failed.”