Chapter 1216 (2/2)

“Yea, yea, I get it,” Lord Miln muttered, stepping forward and using about half of his remaining energy to simply mitigate the damage the Nether King’s scream. The ground beneath them cracked further, making their footing even more precarious. To avoid the problem entirely, Lady Iellaya once more shifted to her battered image avatar and sprung toward the weaker of the two Nether Heralds.

Gritting his teeth, Lord Miln stepped forward to stand directly in front of the Nether King. This was the part that was going to be rough. But standing there, being the last line of defense as Lady Iellaya continued to pursue its subordinates, really hit home how dangerous a foe it was.

Finally, looking the charging Nether King full in the wide, lantern-like eyes, Lord Miln felt the changes to the surrounding space and was horrified.

It was a gradual thing, but each time it screamed, Lord Miln had felt the damage the Nether King released decreasing. At first, Lord Miln thought this was a positive thing, but now it struck him how foolish a hope that thought really was; the truth was just that the Nether King’s noises were now affecting a larger area, so Lord Miln had to handle a smaller portion of it.

And the reason that the sphere of influence was growing was that the Nether King was warping the surrounding space to no longer remaining purely spatial in nature.

That grinding assault that occurred on an almost atomic level from the horrendous sounds was finally showing fruit. In fact, the facts had been present for a while, but it was only facing the Nether King directly that Lord Miln realized what had occurred. Because as the Nether King surged forward, it was larger than he had ever seen it before, and behind it was a series of phantom, folding geometric shapes. As it continued to press on the structure of Aether in the area, the more it warped space to unfurl itself.

The more it unfurled, the more it could utilize some of its own strength. And the more that Lord Miln felt like his images were traveling underwater in order to effect change in the world.

Maybe Iellaya isn’t weakening… Lord Miln thought solemnly as he stared at those strange shapes. Maybe this bastard is just continuing to grow accustomed to the fighting…

Behind him, Lord Miln sensed Lady Iellaya inflict a deep wound on one Nether Herald while taking a wound herself from the other in exchange. But then the Nether King was before Lord Miln, and he couldn’t afford to allow his attention to waver.

The only source of hope was the figure standing on the other half of the sundered floating island, and the growing orb of white lightning appearing above his head. Already it pulsed with potency, holding within it the capability to strike a real blow against this Nether King.

ONG.

Twisting sideways, Lord Miln did his best to present the smallest target possible and smashed his way directly through the sound attack. Then the Nether King’s two limbs rumbled outward, the visual distortions around them so intense that it was difficult to find the true blow within all of the distractions.

I can’t handle this normally… Gritting his teeth, Lord Miln did some rapid calculates in his head. Then he sighed.

Even though Lord Miln knew there would be consequences for this action later, he activated a partial array of his own invention within his body. There was no other choice. Just like he did for the conscripts that came to the frontlines, the array would isolate his image. But rather than forcefully separating said image form his body, this version of the array forcefully suppressed the other aspects of his personality so that the image would benefit from all of the mental resources at his body’s disposal.

A blade is the most reliable weapon for a reason, it’s best to be sharp. Lord Miln thought to himself as he felt himself changing. No longer was he the Supreme Commander of the frontlines trying to earn merit, but he was his strongest image: a magenta orchid with gleaming petals.

Rather than trying to resist the raw power of the Nether King, Lord Miln became a small and sharp image that forced its way forward. The orchid fluttered as though a terrible windstorm was blowing above, but its petals seemed to become increasingly luminous. Those petals became razors to sheer through the Nether and create an opening.

Spinning, Lord Miln slipped underneath the Nether King’s blow and arrived at its side. His fingers stretched outward and his body became a dazzling orchid. Bright magenta petals erupted outward in a flurry, cutting deeply into the geometric shapes of the Nether King. It erupted in another vengeful roar and Lord Miln wavered like a leaf in the middle of a rainstorm in front of its ire.

But as it tried to retaliate, Lord Miln had already forcefully suppressed his injuries and moved behind it. The flower did not stand up to the storm, it endured it. Once more the orchid bloomed in an unexpected location, and once more Lord Miln’s image cut into the Nether King in front of it.

Yet just as Lord Miln was about to strike again, aiming to eviscerate the Nether King, something changed.

For the second time in only a few minutes, two things happened almost at once.

The first was the more eye-catching of the two events. There was a huge noise like a bear being roused to wakefulness and the remaining bits of Aether sky trembled. All the energy in the surrounding area began to churn. Then there was an ominous rustling and a huge, gleaming tree appeared in the sky above them. More than that, the surrounding space was punctured and ripped as thousand of thin golden roots abruptly surged upward from the original landmass and stretched upward to the floating islands that were sinking into the Great Rift.

While the towering tree gleamed with a luminous golden script, it was the image of the golden roots that was suddenly the most pervasive. They pulsed with energy, stretching wider and wider, branching and stretching outward in a mesmerizing pattern. They pierced up through the island and anchored it back to the remaining bastion of Aether. They wiggled upward, several passing only a meter or so away from the blooming orchid.

Their appearance and aura of power was so shocking that even the Nether King was briefly bound by them. The strangest part was the way that they moved freely between Aether and Nether, apparently perfectly satisfied in existing in either.

The second after they appeared and launched themselves outward, these distant portions of the vast tree began to drink the surrounding energy. In enormous quantities. Those golden roots were like the veins of a primordial beast, pumping obvious power to that enormous trunk that towered over them.

The image… of Randidly Ghosthound? Lord Miln thought dumbly. But with everything but his core image cut off by the array, he couldn’t understand where it had come from. Or why it was no so much stronger than it had been in the past.

The second thing that happened was that there was suddenly a hand pressed against the small of Lord Miln’s back.

Turning around, he saw Lady Iellaya’s gaunt face. She had one hand against his back and another lightly touching one of the nearby golden veins. Lord Miln saw her take a breath, witnessed her divert the energy flowing within that root through her fingers and into her body.

Then she unleashed an attack, one with enough piercing power to rip both through his body and into the Nether King.