BANG!
The three shieldmen took a step forward at the same time, their shoulders bumping against one another not to jostle for position, but in an odd solidarity.
Sylas’ fist aura crashed against their shields the moment they solidified their footing. But…
The three grunted, their bodies quaking as they were forced to take a step back.
—
[Name: Sylas Grimblade]
[Species: Human (F)]
[Affiliation: Grimblade Lineage]
[Class: Arctic Royal (Fragmented)]
[Profession: Vipermancer (FFF+)]
[Level: 0]
[Coins: 1,387,372 (F)]
[Titles: A Tangible Will; System Breaker; Legendary Tamer; Surge of the Die; Baron of Guiz; Skill Savant (FFF+); Madness Conqueror (FF-); Common Arts Enthusiast (F-); A Patient Stalker (F-)]
—
[Physical: 448]
>[Strength: 562]
>[Constitution: 643]
>[Dexterity: 289]
>[Speed: 296]
[Mental: 708]
>[Intelligence: 629]
>[Wisdom: 942]
>[Charisma: 553]
[Will: 1522]
[Luck: 22]
—
[Skills: Madness Control (FF+); Basic Scouting (F-); Maddened Enlightenment (FF+); Astral Bind (F+); Momentum Shift (F+); Solidify (F+); Master Scouting (FFF-); Stunning Spike (FF-); Astral Will Fission (FF-); Mirror Step (FF-); Psychedelic Punch (FF-); Arctic King’s Domain (FFF-); Master Counter (FFF-); Arctic Howl Mutant (FF+); Chilling Scythe Mutant (FF+)]
[Comprehensions: Madness (FFF)]
—
[Gene State: Flexible]
[Fragmented Genes: Grimblade Lineage (F); Voice of a King (F)]
[Common Genes: …]
[Bronze Genes: Basic Aetherflow (F); Enchanted Scribe (F)]
—
Sylas took another step forward, and his pauldrons and shin guards appeared once again.
His tail slapped onto the ground once, and a surge of strength sent him charging forward.
Fear lit in the eyes of the three shieldmen. Sylas’ strength was simply too overwhelming. He attacked across the hundred meters that separated them in a near instant, and the strength of their defenses combined was actually almost compromised.
It couldn’t be helped. With the evolution of his Will, Sylas’ telekinesis could now exhibit strength on objects easily up to 150 pounds. Though that was still more than 50 pounds shy of his weight, and even further than that when he was fused with the Basilisk King, it was still a weight approaching that of a grown man.
His fist aura could no longer be shrugged off so casually anymore…
Especially when his telekinesis could now exhibit a Physical of nearly 1200 when Madness was factored in. When his 25% boost from Surge of the Die was added on top of that, it was even more exaggerated.
Aerwyna was the first to regain her bearings. Her hands moved in an odd pattern, and her team reacted in kind.
Another set of arrows came at Sylas, but this time they flooded forth in a rain. In exchange for speed and quantity, they gave up power. But it seemed like all they wanted to do was slow Sylas down as much as possible.
Two of the staff wielders raised their own into the air, a surging blizzard forming with them as the center and spreading it out in all directions.
Visibility hit near rock bottom the instant the arrows fell from the skies.
The combination was excellent. In the past, even with his visualization, Sylas didn’t have the Wisdom to take into account every nook and cranny of his range. Since then, his Wisdom might have gotten a huge bump, but his visualization had also just expanded from 30 meters to 50. This placed exponentially more pressure on his visualization, especially when the attacks he was facing were so fast.
Often, 50 meters of lag simply wasn’t enough for him to counter in time. It was difficult even for the current Sylas, let alone against another opponent. Even with strong defenses, this sort of attack would end up causing someone to suffer without a doubt.
There was something primal about Sylas’ roar this time. Guttural and visceral all at once, it penetrated the heart. It would have almost been enough to make one feel like they were facing off against a beast of true chaos.
Basic Aetherflow layered into the technique and Rune Soul activated.
All at once, under the blizzard-like dome, the dozens of arrows froze in place before they shattered to pieces.
Sylas dashed out, his body leaving trails of snowflakes and cracked ice in his wake as he burst out from the area of effect Skill only to find the three shieldmen having moved forward a great deal as though they had entirely separated from their group.
Their shoulders bumped against one another again, but this time their Aether circulated at full bore. Their shields began to glow with the etchings of blue Runes and suddenly expanded into tower shields that anchored themselves into the ground.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Suddenly, a massive ice wall formed, connecting the shields and expanding up and to the sides. In one moment, there was nothing blocking Sylas but three men. In the next, a wall 25 meters wide and tall appeared in his path, and was still only growing larger.
The already chilly air grew more frigid.
They had truly gone all out. This sort of defense looked as though it was better suited to facing off against an enormous beast rather than a single man like himself.
What Sylas didn’t know was that he was precisely correct. This defense was exactly what they would use against large beasts. But now, Aerwyna had deemed it necessary to go all out.
She had already seen through the fact that Sylas’ range was 50 meters and that he was relying on an advanced application of telekinesis. In that case, the barrier would act as a dense net of nature that would stop his telekinesis from penetrating through while they could attack him in peace.
Even if this didn’t stop Sylas, it would certainly slow him down, and that might just be enough because Aerwyna had also deduced something else: Sylas’ transformation most definitely had a time limit.
Everything was under her control as she looked forward with cool, blue eyes.
She raised a hand and formed another series of hand signals. Another two staff wielders slammed theirs into the ground and they suddenly vanished into the ground, appearing high upon the ice walls that were now over 30 meters.
With a wave of their staffs, the top of the wall cracked and a rain of ice boulders began to fall toward Sylas’ position, each one containing more than 1000 points of Damage.
