Chapter 182 - Turning the Tides (1/2)
Whoosh!
Without hesitation, Aurus transferred his control to his clone, who was still hidden between the trees not far away from the entrance of the alliance base. At the very instant the control was transferred to Aurus's clone, Argentum, he blinked for a few times to get used to the new main perspective he had before standing up to do some light stretching, adapting to the form of his clone's body.
”I should seriously evolve my original body to the Animate level as fast as possible,” Argentum muttered as he warmed up his body for what he was going to do, thinking about the multiple things he could do with two Animate bodies. ”Other than allowing me to easily adapt to the feel of this body, it would also allow me to have multiple identities. Well, the latter part is only helpful if I do something bad. I don't think I'd do crimes at the Animate level.”
He then took a deep breath before focusing his sense of vision towards the top-down perspective he obtained from the soul balls, remembering the words that Chonk uttered a while ago. He could not help but think that if one of the elements from a while ago were lacking in any way, a chance like this would not have popped up, leading the two of them to die under Chonk's paws and ultimately the alliance after them.
”If I remember Chonk's words correctly, the [Grand Restriction] spell is being controlled by another Animate on their side, which could only be Chungus, the being Horell used as a scapegoat for Operation Reversal to succeed,” Argentum went over Chonk's words while thinking out loud as he manipulated the soul balls to move towards a higher altitude before screening the whole area to find signs of a magic circle.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
”Chungus is only a Rank 0 Animate, which means I could kill him with the most basic spell I have without a problem,” Argentum continued to think out loud as he finished scanning the area near the alliance base with the soul balls. Finding no magic circle, he then moved the soul balls to scan over the area between the alliance base and the territory Chonk's army resided in before going all in.
”Then again, I can't help but be anxious after remembering what Chonk said. Since Chonk said that us at our Pseudo-Animate forms would die under Chungus's hands, then Chungus might have some life-saving trump cards that would allow him to easily escape my attack.” With this in mind, Argentum let out a sigh of despair, thinking about what spells he had at the moment that would allow him to not let Chungus get away from his attack. It was then that a spark of inspiration flashed in his mind.
”Unless…I use [Tempest's Envoy].”
Ding!
Commanding the system to bring up the skill description of [Tempest's Envoy] in front of his field of vision, Argentum made sure that the effects of the spell would allow him to easily kill Chungus without a problem.
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[Tempest's Envoy]
MP Cost: 5 MP
A Level 0 Spell inclined towards the Wind element. The more known variant of this spell is [Wind's Envoy], increasing the speed and damage of a single spell by 50% for a short amount of time. As for this variant, it takes this effect one notch higher, borrowing the power of nature to enhance the speed and damage of any spell cast in a certain span of time by 100 percent, allowing lower-leveled spells to unleash the power of a higher-leveled spell while using less mana in the process.
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Argentum could not help but lightly grin after reading the description of the skill one more time, closing the screen not long after as he moved the soul balls towards the territory Chonk's army resided in a while ago. While doing so, he muttered, ”The Nature's Wind variant of Level 0 Spells truly is more powerful than any of the Level 0 Spells my Inanimate body has access to. Then again, the power of a spell is also based on the stats of the user.”
”Ah. Found it.” Eventually, Argentum was able to find the magic circle that Chonk spoke of a while ago, situated about tens of meters away from where the army resided. Manipulating the soul balls to reduce their altitude so he could get a better view of the surroundings around the magic circle, Argentum then imprinted the view in his mind before tilting it to fit his main perspective. Not long after that, Argentum started to dash towards the area where the magic circle resided at his full speed, making sure to not alert Chonk of his presence.
”Operation Turning The Tides has officially started!”
”Wait. Shit. I shouldn't be shouting.”
…
While Argentum was heading towards the area where the magic circle, as well as Chungus, resided, a mosquito the size of a spider had made its way towards the area where three entities could be seen clearly with his spatial receptors, clearly feeling the aura that came from the three of them.
”Hm. Quite interesting.” Looking at the landscape of front of it, it could not help but focus on two entities who were fighting against each other, both of them radiating auras that fluctuated in intensity. At times, it would feel that the auras radiating from them were as weak as mere insects, while at other times, it would feel that the auras radiating from them were very close to the aura radiated by normal humans.
”Hmm…If I were to gauge their power using the Constitution stat I have, at their weakest, they would be at a 0.01, and at their strongest…around 0.6?” the mosquito muttered as it watched the two continue clashing skills, mesmerized by the aesthetic of their skills. Not long after, it then shifted its focus towards the other entity in the area, who was quite a distance away from the other two.
”The aura I'm sensing from this one…” the mosquito could not help but feel a bit anxious while examining this entity. Surprisingly, not long after, the anxiousness the mosquito felt had faded away in an instant as a thought flashed across its mind, replacing the anxiousness it felt with slight excitement.
If the strongest auras radiated by the two fighting entities were equivalent to the strength of a kid, then to the mosquito, the remaining entity had the strength of someone who was quite deep in the first realm of cultivation.
”Hmm…using the Constitution stat, this entity would be at around 2 or 3. If I were to estimate the purity of its bloodline though, probably around the same level as mine?” the mosquito said as it noticed that the aura emanating from this entity was gradually getting stronger, giving it a few goosebumps.
Nonetheless, it felt that the current situation it was looking at was quite boring, making it feel like that the travel it had done was not worth it at all. ”At this point, I seriously don't think this is the inheritance place of that secluded cultivator. Then again, the intensity of the Wind element here is quite high though.”
Whoosh!
Just as it was thinking of heading to another portion of Tempest Cliff to stave off its boredom, its senses picked up two auras that were only slightly weaker than the aura radiated by the previous entity, with the two auras gradually getting closer to one another.
Although most of its mind said that these two auras would also be in a boring situation like the three entities it was currently looking at, there was still a stray thought in its mind that made it feel like it would regret the fact of not checking out the situation of these two auras. Without hesitation, the mosquito decided to follow the stray thought it had, flapping its wings at its highest speed to check on the two auras.
…
Whoosh! Bang! Boom! Pew!
At the moment, Horell and Herellia were in a heated fight to the death…or at least, that's what they were trying to make it look like. At times, they would shout at each other with words related to death, demise, or despair while aiming their skills at one another. Of course, they focused on the flashiness of their skills rather than the power behind it, conjuring barriers from time to time to keep up the facade that both of them were struggling.
”Hoh? To think that you can withstand my attacks for this long!” Horell shouted as he sent a ball flying towards Herellia. In response, Herellia scoffed at Horell's words as she manifested a blood-red tendril on her right arm, manipulating it to send the ball Horell sent flying. ”You truly underestimate me, Horell.”
While this was happening, the two of them were having a separate discussion through a strand of energy, both of them letting out sighs as they felt that both of them looked like clowns if any other being was looking at what they were doing.
”I wonder if Aurus has already found where the magic circle is at,” Herellia could not help but say through the strand of energy. She then added, ”It's kind of embarrassing to keep up this kind of facade, to be honest.”