Chapter 817: A Well Timed Gift, A Given Opportunity
Izroth tightened his grip on his sword as the shockwave approached!
'Sending me such a well-timed gift... I should thank him properly.'
Izroth poured a portion of his essence into the Sword of the Storm as the sword intent around the blade intensified.
Then, just as the destructive shockwave arrived before him, with one clean motion, Izroth outward horizontally.
At first, it looked as though Izroth was going to lose his ground. However, in that split moment, an arm of lightning mimicked Izroth's actions. Followed by a second arm and then the remaining seven!
Although Izroth's arms of lightning did not copy a skill's effect, it did reinforce them. And, that's exactly what Izroth needed for this skill. The Second Sword Form: Returning Wave—Sword Return.
'It's still not enough.'
Izroth could feel himself slowly giving way to the shockwave. If not for the arms of lightning reinforcing him, he would have already been blown away by it!
'If this isn't enough, then...'
All of a sudden, Izroth was filled with a new surge of strength. Veins could be seen protruding from the flesh on his hands and neck as the force behind the shockwave was immediately diminished.
〈Battle Alert: You have activated «Ring of the Ancient Colossus»'s effect «Strength of the Ancient Colossus!»〉
〈Battle Alert: The effects of Might have been temporarily amplified by 100% for the next 1 minute.»〉
〈Battle Alert: You are now immune to all rank C or lower offensive magic.〉
〈Battle Alert: You are now immune to all physical attacks that would deal less than 10% of your maximum HP.〉
〈Battle Alert: All non-weapon based physical attacks deal 200% of your attack power as bonus physical damage.〉
〈Battle Alert: All weapon-based attacks deal 40% bonus physical damage.〉
〈Battle Alert: Your physical strength has increased by 600%.〉
〈Battle Alert: You will now recover 100% faster from all negative status effects and physical irregularities.〉
After activating the effect of his Ring of the Ancient Colossus, Izroth stood his ground firmly as the shockwave reversed its direction. Simultaneously, its previous lost momentum and diminished power returned in an even greater force as it erupted back out towards the direction it came!
In the distance, Tigryli had fully exhaled and returned to his normal beastly state. A sly grin appeared on his face as he looked over that high level of destruction caused by his hands.
Even though his goal was not to kill Izroth right away, Tigryli had momentarily lost his temper after being constantly humiliated in front of two pillars. Therefore, he had to do something to restore his pride.
"Hopefully, the master doesn't hold it against me. I should hurry up and retrieve the ring and sword to present it-"
BOOOOOOM! RMMMMMMBLE!
Tigryli abruptly halted his words as the earth trembled. But, this time, it was even more intense than when he released the shockwave just now!
"What is this...?!" Tigryli released a low growl.
Soon after, Tigryli's eyes widened as a look of disbelief formed on his face followed by one of bewilderment. That's because something was coming towards him at a rapid pace—it was the same shockwave he used, except its power and range had been more than doubled! But, how was this possible?!
Hundreds of ancient races, who originally believed there had backed away to a safe enough distance, soon found themselves caught up in the shockwave. Most of them were caught completely off guard and had not prepared any type of defense skills. As a result, the casualties spiked well into the hundreds as the earth around them was flattened by the pressure!
Tigryli knew that he would not be able to outrun this shockwave. And, even if his defense was a little higher than average, this specific type of attack focused more on causing internal damage than external. If he took such a strike head-on, without a doubt, the injury would not be small!
Tigryli unleashed a mighty roar as he crossed his arms and braced for impact!
Swoosh!
Out of nowhere, a figure appeared in front of the Third Gate.
This person was the strongest among Ourami's followers, Keeper of the First Gate, Protas.
"Tigryli, you have embarrassed our master enough for a lifetime—in front of his guest, no less. When this is over, you will be punished accordingly." Protas said indifferently.
Tigryli could not even retort or defend himself—only hold his head low in shame as he wallowed in his humiliation.
At that moment, the image of the person responsible for his misfortune came to mind. Of course, that person was Izroth.
"Unforgivable! How dare he embarrass me in front of the master! I'll kill him! I'll kill him!" Tigryli internalized as he could not control his killing intent.
Protas peered into the distance as the shockwave finally reached him.
"This has gone on long enough," Protas stated as he casually waved his hand forward.
Instantly upon doing so, the shockwave that carried with it a great momentum was dispersed as a long dark purple scar at least twenty meters long formed diagonally across the air. From this scar, a terrifying energy spread out and seemed to devour any remnants of Ethos from the dispersed shockwave as it hovered above.
Meanwhile, Izroth sensed an intense gaze locked onto him in the distance.
'Oh? He's making his move already?'
Among the Keepers and Mandates, Protas was the only one Izroth placed at the late stage of the legendary realm.
Izroth was not thoughtless. He knew that with his current strength, defeating Protas single-handedly, let alone the pillars, was a mindless fantasy—that is if they were by themselves.
'They should be making their move soon. In that case, I should not delay things on my end any longer.'
Behind Izroth was a brilliant display of arms of purple lightning.
Thanks to the shockwave just now, before Protas moved in to stop it, Izroth was able to reach his maximum Arm of Lightning stacks.
The number of arms had grown from a mere nine to one hundred!
With so many arms of lightning gathered, it looked as if Izroth had a pair of lightning wings at his back.
Izroth quickly accessed his inventory and removed a Medium-Grade Mana Potion, restoring his mana to its peak state as his Flickering Steps had long since come to an end.
'With Strength of the Ancient Colossus active, I should be able to reduce the backlash. By how much, I'm not sure, but... You're watching this right now, aren't you? I'll give you an opportunity. Whether you take it or not is up to you.'
When Izroth finished consuming the mana potion, lightning began to encompass his body as a loose and deeply saturated purple flowing mantle startled to form.
The mantle was created by the lightning element and had a tattered appearance; however, it covered Izroth from head to toe.
A hood materialized that fully covered Izroth's face, leaving behind only a violet aura visible where his eyes were located.
'Second State: Heavenly Cloak. Fully Mantle.'
After activating his Full Mantle, Izroth gained another source of attack boost.
Along with achieving the maximum stacks from his arms of lightning and his recently improved Sword of the Storm, in total, Izroth's attack stat rose to a frightening degree, just barely peaking past the 30,000 mark—this did not even account for the passive benefits of his increased Might stat!
This kind of attack stat was completely unheard of for players and was easily on par with some high-leveled boss monsters!
Suddenly, Izroth's figure began to warp and bend to a degree of extremity as a purple light flashed and his figure vanished.
"Hm? This person..." Protas narrowed his eyes as he lost track of Izroth; however, it did not take long for the First Gate to regain sight of him.
"?!"
The space before Protas fluctuated as Izroth appeared before him without warning and in eerie silence. But, just as Izroth reached his destination, the sound of his movement finally caught up to him.
Crrrckle! BOOOOOM!
The place where Izroth stood not even half a second ago shook violently as an implosive thunderclap rung throughout the battlefield and further shattered the already broken earth around the area.
Protas reacted instantly, slashing out with his hand to where Izroth positioned as the Ethos around him exploded!
Woosh!
Protas hand slashed right through Izroth as the space continued to fluctuate before Izroth's figure dissipated.
"This is the speed of a lower celestial? Absurd." Protas thought to himself as his attack struck nothing but air.
Izroth gave off the Ethos of a lower celestial, but after the recent events that transpired, Protas found that notion to be somewhat ridiculous.
"What is he trying to do?" Protas internalized as he quickly followed after the brief trial of Ethos Izroth left in his wake.
Izroth had completely ignored him and continued on his way even though he had a perfect opportunity to strike. Protas was curious as to what his sights were set on.