Thea, Almin, and all the spectators of the fight were frozen. That round figure was like a dark incarnation of war, moving with a deadly precision that seemed transcendental. Despite being visibly weakened and clearly at a disadvantage, he fought with astonishing skill, as if he could read the enemies’ moves before they were even executed.
His spear became an extension of his body, spinning with dizzying speed to pierce, crush, and cut at every opportunity that arose. The beasts, once seemingly unbeatable, were now reduced to mere shadows of their former ferocity; their attacks were simple and instinctive, while the whale demonstrated the dexterity and experience of thousands of years amidst blood and desperate battles.
The beasts flew in the skies and tried to corner him with double strikes, surrounding him from all sides. He had nowhere to run but gracefully dodged most attacks and retaliated with calculated ferocity. Wounds accumulated on his body, and he healed himself with the power of faith while counterattacking. His strikes were imbued with dark Yin energy, causing devastating internal damage.
The fight stretched on for endless minutes. The beasts’ blood was black due to the contamination of Yin in their bodies. Their energies were being drained by the Yin, but at the same time, everyone felt the whale getting closer and closer to collapse, without strength.
In no time, the power of faith ran out... the Yin had enough for a single move... yet his eyes and aura remained calm like the waters of a river.
The beasts began to destabilize mentally; even in advantage, they could no longer move their muscles, and their bodies were covered in black lines. Then all their bloodline began to be burned as a last desperate resort. They attacked the whale simultaneously, and he didn’t dodge this time.
When the blows hit him, he made a sudden move. Suddenly, a black explosion echoed through the forest.
BOOM! BOOM! KBOOM!!!
The two colossal creatures crashed to the forest floor with brutal force. However, at the same time, the whale was hit head-on by both of them. His body was flung, rolling across the ground, leaving behind a trail of destruction that would make anyone believe there would be nothing left of him.
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The entire forest fell silent...
Then, the sound of the earth moving made the spectators hold their breath. The two beasts slowly got up.
Their bodies were tainted, full of wounds, and their energies drained... but... an aura akin to the laws of the wind surrounded them, lifting them up. Their bloodlines were pure and had been refined with the help of many herbs. Even without energies, they could rely on this temporarily.
Their bloodline was connected to the wind, known for its speed. Almin and Thea hoped for an opportunity to help all along, but it never arose. If they tried to approach, the beasts would attack them, and they would be doomed; the two weren’t adversaries for these beasts at all.
From the outside, it seemed like the enemies were almost dead, but with their bloodline being burned, their offensive power was two-thirds of what it was when perfect. Obviously, this was temporary, but with their speeds, it was safe to say they could easily kill the two.
Amidst the terror of seeing those two beasts rise, they felt a distant round figure stand up amidst the devastated earth created in that forest.
Their hearts pounded like drums. But... there was almost no aura or power in him; that was the end, and he rose only with his unyielding will.
’Well, I tried... no Qi, no power from my weapons, and no bloodline... it was kind of fun,’ Alm and Bruno murmured indifferently mentally. Soon, the whale’s eyes gleamed, and the divine soul ignited, and his power flowed through his body.
They always used their divine soul for tracking, or simple and smooth things. Using it as a substitute for Qi to attack directly was a taboo they avoided doing all the time. It was impossible to attack lightly with their soul level, and a mortal body couldn’t withstand that power. The result of this action was only one: the total destruction of that body.
Space shattered around the whale. In one second, all forms of life near the battle trembled. In the next second, the entire continent felt the same. The whale snorted, and the whole planet felt his presence as if a deity had opened the heavens and was watching over them.
Almin, Thea, and everyone else lost control of their bodies; nothing could compete with that. Meanwhile, the whale floated in the skies gently, all the light and power of the world seemed to be part of his sovereignty. The power of the divine soul was above the suppression of this formation. They sighed nostalgically, feeling back to their golden days; now there were no more limitations for them.
Crack!
The whale’s body began to crack rapidly... Alm and Bruno smiled slightly, knowing it would only take ten seconds for the end. They felt the entire planet and all forms of life on it with a thought. Then... their eyes jumped as they felt something.
They turned to a nearby point. Then, they saw something inside the cave entrance that disturbed them. It was the woman they had come to save. She was completely paralyzed, but on her forehead, a mark and her fluctuation were very familiar.
’That... is different... but it’s very similar to the hero’s rune,’ Alm and Bruno affirmed categorically.
The golden power coming from there was completely suppressed, but they still managed to feel its residue. The shape of the rune, its fluctuations, and traces of Qi... everything was very similar, but it was rudimentary and simple.
Nine seconds left.
’It’s a primitive version of the hero’s rune. Yes, so this is the power that allowed this race to use Qi, even though it’s very weak.’
The two analyzed and concluded, stunned. They thought that the bloodline of this unknown race, along with some technique, could have a chance of creating this miracle. Perhaps they were something connected to the queen and were left in this place to protect the seal. It was a logical hypothesis, but now, seeing this, they felt it could be something very different.
Seven seconds remained.
’This optional mission is something important for the Heaven’s Will. He wanted to save them, and he wants us to conquer his race.’
The whale in the air looked directly at the woman and, with a thought, appeared in front of her. That intrigued them deeply; they brought Almin, who had the hero’s rune activated in him. In the times when Almin and Thea trained separately, he confirmed that he couldn’t use the heroic power in any way, even trying hard.
Alm and Bruno already imagined this and even tried to put the three powers and activate his hero’s rune to the maximum, just like they did with Ruri. Nothing changed; that rune refused to absorb it, being completely suppressed by the formation. But now, this similar power in this woman could make it possible.
Five seconds remained.
’I don’t want to harm you, a man who seems to be your companion sent me. I don’t have time; I’m going to read your memories, please don’t resist.’
The whale spoke directly into the woman’s soul. It was a direct message and so fast that she didn’t have time to process it. They immediately invaded her soul and body. If she tried to resist, they could ignore it, but it would hurt her soul.
One second remained.
Denil’s body began to emanate a death Yin much denser than Rehvka’s. It was in that second that everyone on the planet felt extreme relief, as if a mountain had been lifted off their backs; everything was gone as suddenly as it had come.
Alm and Bruno removed all the soul power being used; the whale’s body was almost collapsing. Luckily, they didn’t attack, or even if they had removed everything, the body would have turned into a bloody mist immediately afterward. Now it was still alive, but not for long.
’Almin, it’s all up to you. Thea, attack with everything you’ve got.’ The message in the array sounded from the whale.
Immediately, from the array, a dense amount of information reached Almin’s mind. The technique was simple, it didn’t involve Qi, and it didn’t involve the three extreme powers. Its activation source was the most basic thing possible. Something above common will, a power that every cultivator hears about at some point, but nobody really knows how to cultivate: the Dao Heart.
The Dao Heart represents perseverance in the pursuit of knowledge and truth, as well as the strength of will to face and overcome any challenge. It is the fundamental mental aspect of the path of cultivation. With an unwavering Dao Heart, even if a cultivator has modest talents or practices common techniques, it’s still possible to reach the peak someday.
Some linked this to mental power, but it’s something completely different; it’s not an energy, and so the two had never heard of anything like techniques using it. But in a vast universe and countless existing universes, at some point, it was created.
Alm and Bruno were now clearer about things. The queen immediately tried to dominate Ruri and Almin in the past, after events that changed them internally. There was a connection between the events that they hadn’t realized. Both demonstrated an unwavering will.
Ruri always had this with her, since her previous incarnations. But it was when Alm and Bruno trained her and showed her the correct path of cultivation that it blossomed completely when she was still a child. (Chapter 123).
Almin, on the other hand, went through the abyss when he had to control a power far beyond him. But he did the impossible and completely mastered the divine fire rune. He seemed to have connected the whale to his brother from the past, and his anger and will mixed. But internally, he felt that the past only happened because of his own weakness; then, his unwavering will to change everything was born. (Chapters 265/266).
The queen didn’t try to recruit them because of something as simple as talent. There should exist infinite talents in multiple universes. But yes, because they created within themselves something akin to a seed with an invincible and unstoppable will.
The hero’s runes in the mental sea of everyone in the queen’s universe are almost identical to the characteristics of this other primitive technique. Everything indicates that the queen used this primitive technique as a basis and managed to create the technique that gave life to her heroes. The Dao Heart is the basic power of the primitive technique, whereas in the Queen’s technique, she uses her mastery and power mixed with the Dao Heart to enslave.
When the two solidified their Dao Heart, the hero’s rune reacted. Certainly, even in all universes, there aren’t many with an awakened Dao Heart; that’s why the queen acted immediately. This characteristic should increase the power level several times compared to common heroes.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The sounds of gunfire echoed like a thunderstorm. Thea ignored everything around her as her body transformed completely. Her arms and legs morphed into rifles, while eight spider-like appendages sprouted from her back, each armed to the teeth. Holes opened all over her body, revealing barrels and weapon mechanisms. She launched herself into the attack wildly and uncontrollably.
However, her resources or her body seemed to have a limited capacity. In less than three minutes, everything would be exhausted, and despite all her power, without Qi, she wouldn’t be able to annihilate the two beasts. However, the wounds she inflicted required them to defend themselves, providing Almin with precious time.
1 minute... 2 minutes... 3 minutes...
As the last shot echoed, Thea collapsed to the ground. The earth around her turned black, and a column of hot steam rose towards the sky. Her robotic body was overheated to the limit, and she lay motionless, unable to move.
At that moment, the entire forest lit up as if it were day. It wasn’t sunlight; it was a luminous, golden energy that enveloped everything.
Above, Almin floated with his eyes closed, and two runes seemed to shine on his forehead, one overlapping the other.
Suddenly, he shuddered and coughed up blood. Alm and Bruno witnessed this and sighed; this technique was extremely wild and almost suicidal. It wasn’t something to be used in an ordinary fight; members of that race only resorted to it when they were completely cornered, with imminent chances of dying from their own technique.
Almin opened his eyes, and an indomitable will shone in them. He simply waved in the direction of the two beasts, which instantly felt the space around them contract.
All the hidden spectators nearby were already in a catatonic state. The battle had changed direction several times, and the power involved in each change was incomprehensible. But now, upon realizing the rune on the human’s forehead, they recognized a bit of its nature.
Whoosh!
Two red suns suddenly emerged from the ground. The beasts were reduced to ashes within seconds.
Next, Almin, being able to fly, picked up Thea and quickly entered the cave. He passed by the whale and advanced to the back in search of Rehvka. When he returned with the two, the whale immediately opened a spatial portal. The whole group entered it without looking back.