CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!
Minutes unfolded rapidly, and soon an hour had passed. The whale threw punches, making the entire desert roar. However, the reflection retaliated at the same level, thunderously. Quickly, a black saber emerged, cutting through the desert, but the reflection countered with an earth-made saber, using the same technique.
BOOM!
They collided repeatedly, their defenses were endless, and the attacks, fierce. Both seemed to be at a total impasse, but every second the whale felt a mental energy invading their bodies, sealing their meridians. They used Ruri’s mental power through the array, but could only slow down the invasion. They were far from being as skilled as this reflection in using mental power.
’This is a robbery! We didn’t use it like this!’ Bruno said tensely, then they tried to use something the reflection couldn’t replicate.
Their tattoos lit up, focusing on the girl in the distance, but the reflection’s tattoos shone in the same way. Soon, they felt the Yin tattoo being balanced by the reflection’s Yang, and the opposite tattoo also undergoing the same. They couldn’t unite Yin and Yang; perhaps, if they fused their souls completely, they could do it, but Alm and Bruno had no idea how to accomplish such a feat.
’Son of a bitch! How does he manage to do this?’ Bruno roared, attacking agilely with his saber once again.
Alm shared something that had intrigued him for a long time, and only now had confirmation. ’The union of Yin and Yang isn’t something that should be possible. Obviously, the second level of the gathering technique wasn’t exactly intended to do that; we just performed the miracle. It seems that the reflection is the one truly using the second level, while we haven’t reached that stage yet.’
Soon, another hour passed. Even with the whale fighting with all its might, they weren’t losing Qi. The entire desert was their energy source, with the tattoo being utilized. They could keep fighting for days easily. The decision was tough; losing this now could be fatal later.
’It’s been two hours already, and we only have 11 left. Damn, I didn’t want to resort to this now, but we don’t have time to waste. Screw it!’
Bruno roared, and his eyes and body blackened. The reflection noticed this, and a tense expression took over him. He knew well what the demonic flames were, but he didn’t possess the power of faith to use and survive. His guidelines prevented him from employing something suicidal; therefore, he could use it but couldn’t endure it.
On the other hand, Alm and Bruno were aware that this was another advantage over the reflection. However, by employing these flames again, the power of faith they needed to burn to restore themselves was immense. The kind of internal burn these flames caused was on a completely different level. They had used them recently against the necromancer, and by using them again, they would be left with less than 10% of their total power of faith.
Desperate, the reflection tried to resort to the earth fusion technique to hide. However, he was too close to the whale, and they wouldn’t let him escape like that.
Whoosh!
Black flames enveloped the reflection, who, sensing imminent death, did something both Alm and Bruno would think of doing. All the power of his soul was concentrated in the Manifestation of Will, attempting to take the whale with him.
’Son of a bitch!’ Bruno roared, and the demonic flames became even more intense, rapidly consuming the reflection. Until...
Slash!
Before he could launch his final effort with the power of the soul, Ruri seemed to teleport in front of the reflection and cut off his head, ending the fight.
Alm and Bruno sighed as they saw the girl’s katana return to its sheath. The ’shadow space’ had multiplied Ruri’s ability to attack and kill several times. Bruno was about to use the flames to the maximum, even if it consumed all the remaining power of faith. However, now Ruri had acted on her own, offering valuable help.
"Good job." They petted her head, recalling with regret that they had temporarily forgotten about her. It was challenging to get used to fighting without being alone, and now Ruri was no longer someone they needed to protect all the time; she could contribute by fighting alongside them.
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While everyone watched the distant pair with bated breath, the world distorted, bringing them back to the mountain. The third test was complete. Alm and Bruno took a deep breath, then quickly ascended. Time was running short, and things were expected to get harder.
The whole group walked for ten minutes with relaxed expressions. The test seemed to be flowing smoothly; nothing appeared difficult for the divine and round being. Corin, on the other hand, walked clenching his fists tightly. Ruri was very useful, while he couldn’t be more than an observer.
’According to Corin, in the fourth test, he faced a version of himself using various techniques different from the ones he used. In the fifth test, three versions of him appeared, slightly inferior to himself, but the difficulty level obviously became much higher for him.’ Bruno commented, mentally reviewing everything. ’No technique surpasses what we have, and three inferior versions against us will be crushed quickly.’
Alm thought about saying it would be quick, but he stayed silent not to jinx it; he had learned the lesson several times before. Finally, they saw the world darken, opposite to the first test.
The robotic voice sounded, and soon the golden totem appeared. ’Yin rune manipulation technique... we used something extremely rudimentary before when we were a skeleton. Now we have the real technique, but I don’t see how this would be useful.’ Alm said coldly as he destroyed the totem.
Then, in the middle of that dark world, a figure began to take shape. In those few seconds of tension, Alm and Bruno’s eyes became tense. It wasn’t rounding up; it was getting thinner and more skeletal.
It didn’t take long for a trembling voice to sound. "Divine... skeleton..." Corin said in shock.
It was exactly the skeletal version from that time, and around its white bones, countless bloody runes pulsed with infinite power. Quickly, the intense smell of blood covered everything; the level of danger was no less than that of the whale in any way.
Ruri looked at that skeleton in astonishment; this was another form of her master that she was seeing for the first time. The intense bloodthirsty malice of that being made her feel a unique familiarity, leaving no doubt. Soon, the voice of the whale in her mind awakened her.
She then activated her heroic rune, immediately sealing all the Yin from the bloody runes in the bones. Fortunately, that skeleton only had Yin and the bloody runes to use with this body.
CRACK!
The whale immediately destroyed the bone reflection with a slash of its saber, and a cold sweat ran down its back.
’Before, we caused unbelievable havoc with these runes, but the reflection using this...’ Bruno spoke with a sigh.
Alm and Bruno quickly calmed down, still concerned. That power of the skeleton came from the refinement of lives, something in which they were supreme experts. The level of experience and methods they had using this kind of thing was several times greater than all the techniques they had now. If the skeleton replicated this too, the difficulty would be unbelievable.
"Let’s go," the whale said, and its words conveyed tension; everyone became frightened upon realizing this and followed, staying as close as possible.
Half an hour after climbing the mountain, the fifth level of the test finally revealed itself. Inside the totem, there was a technique that surprised Alm and Bruno in a bad way.
’Celestial runic explosion... this allows creating a controlled detonation and surviving.’ Alm commented, thinking coldly about how to fight against this. Now, it was certain that the skeleton would have this; everything became even more complicated.
The world distorted. In seconds, everyone found themselves in the midst of a black forest. It was completely dark, and there was no light source in the sky. It didn’t take long for everyone to feel an intense Yin covering them in a circular manner.
"Are we trapped in a formation?" Corin spoke, feeling a strange familiarity with that place.
The whale then looked around, and ancient memories surfaced in its mind. This was...
Clack, Clack, Clack, Clack.
Quickly, everyone saw an army of skeletons and other undead surrounding them. The whale sighed and looked to the horizon. It had completely thickened there, the skeletal figure covered in bloody runes.
’It’s exactly the same trap we used when we were the skeleton... wait... something’s missing.’
Bruno spoke mentally, trying to recall the forgotten details. Then, a dense wave of Yin hit everyone, and floating in the sky, they saw it. It was a necromancer, exactly the same one the skeleton turned into a puppet to fulfill its objectives. The whale nodded, remembering him, then...
ROAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR!
A wave of black power covered the skies, roaring fervently.
’Damn, it’s the dracolich. We used it too.’ Bruno said tensely, and the army moved in their direction. ’Both the necromancer and the dracolich are at a level close to the skeleton... now we have three powerful enemies and an army to defeat.’