A swarm of Drones shot out through the portal above the heads of the soldiers as well, though Zac could still see that Kenzie hadnt passed through the portal. They didnt follow the charging army but rather ford what looked like a protective array. Layers of barriers appeared the next mont, protecting the spatial tunnel from any errant attacks.
It allowed Zac to focus on the task at hand, and he shot forward, aiming straight for the most energy-dense spot according to [Cosmic Gaze] since the previous attacks had turned any visibility to zero. A squad of lizardn soldiers suddenly appeared to his left, but they didnt even have the chance to react before they were bisected by a fractal edge that ripped through them like they were made from dry wood.
It wasnt Zac himself, but rather the special edge he could summon with [Chop]. As for himself, his back was already lit up with a lustrous halo as he took another step with [Loamwalker], appearing right in front of his target. Or so he thought.
Zac expected to appear in front of the bishop, but he instead found himself face-to-face with a three-ter tall Asura with six arms. One arm held a cudgel, another a spear. Two held burning censers and the last two were empty-handed. It radiated an oppressive aura as four burning halos behind its back lit up the surroundings. Dense scriptures were visible inside the flas, and Zac found himself drifting off after trying to discern their aning.
He quickly snapped back to reality, just in ti to avoid a lance of flas that shot out from one of the Asuras hands. An extrely forceful attack with the cudgel quickly followed, but Zac had already adapted by this point and t fire with fire as he swung [Veruns Bite] at an upward angle. A scorching wind slamd into his face when the weapons clashed, and he felt a stab of pain in his arm when a foreign Dao tried to burrow its way into his body.
The wave of heat was extrely painful as well, forcing him to close his eyes for a mont as to not get blinded. The power of the divine avatar was pretty impressive, but he was obviously no slouch himself. His upward swing had forced the Asura off its feet and thrown it a few ters back. It was already working on its next attack though, as two plus of golden smoke spread out around him from the censers.
Zac had no idea where this oppressive creature had co from, but he could only assu it was so sort of transformation of the bishop. In fact, after having clashed once with the divine being he realized it was expending lifeforce at a crazy pace, far more than the Anointed ever did. He guessed that this transformation was an ultimate suicide attack that only the elites of the church could use.
Not only that, but the Asura was also clearly imbued by a War Array since Zac could see streams of energy enter his body from the still-shining sun above. He wanted to attack the support squad, but he couldnt actually figure out who was powering the sun. He had heard of War Arrays with masking abilities before, but this was the first ti Zac encountered one.
Killing the soldiers who empowered their leader with a War Array was such an obvious tactic, so a lot of people had worked on solutions to the issue. One such thod was to obfuscate the source of the boost, just like now. It helped keep the supporting soldiers safe, but it had clear disadvantages as well. First of all, it only worked in large-scale battles where the Array Masters could blend in with other soldiers. Secondly, the range was generally limited.
Zac thought of ignoring the Asura and instead target the normal soldiers, but he eventually gave up on the idea. The bishop was radiating impressive power, and he would be able to cause a lot of destruction of his own if Zac wasnt there to stop him. The bishop was probably more than willing to adopt a scorched-earth-tactic, but Zac was a lot less willing to sacrifice his people.
The censers in the Asuras hands had already been activated, and more and more of the golden dust spewed out in the surroundings. Zac knew he couldn't let the bishop continue unchecked, so he disappeared from his position as he activated his movent skill. Zac appeared behind the Asura almost instantaneously, and a powerful swing empowered by [Conformation of Supremacy] shot straight toward the halos that kept burning life-force.
A pained wail shocked suddenly his mind, forcing Zac to quickly cancel his attack. It was Verun that was actually hard by the fierce heat. Sothing empowered by that much lifeforce could even harm his Spirit Tool it would seem, so Zac could only find another thod to deal with his enemy. The Asura turned into a blur before he had the chance to launch a second attack though.
The golden diety pivoted with almost impossible speed, and the unencumbered hands made so unknown seals. Zac felt so danger the next mont, and he barely had ti to jump back before one of the halos released a massive conflagration that swallowed the Asura and the ten ters surrounding it. It was the golden dust in the air that had ignited in spectacular fashion.
The flas were extrely intense, to the point that Zac couldnt see anything inside. He knew that even he would get badly burnt by those flas, so he could only stand guard outside the fla pillar, waiting to see what happened with the Asura. After all, he hadnt gained any Cosmic Energy, not that Zac believed the bishop would blow himself up the first thing he did.
As expected, the bladed head of a spear shot out from the conflagration with enough force to disperse the flas. Zac angled his head to avoid the stab, but he still felt a burning sensation on his throat as the spear radiated a terrifying heat. This much wasnt enough to stop Zac in his tracks though, and he took a step forward while taking advantage of the outstretched spear.
[Veruns Bite] keened as he ferociously swung at the Asuras chest just below the outstretched left arm holding the spear. The cultist tried to intercept the strike with its cudgel, but Zac caught the bishop's arm in a vise-like grip with his free hand as he continued the swing. Just as he was about to create a massive wound another arm turned to a blur, and one of the two censers appeared to block his edge.
The ceremonial tool was destroyed in an instant, and the whole hand holding it was cut-off at the elbow. Zac was, unfortunately, unable to keep his montum going, as the censer exploded after being destroyed, releasing a huge cloud of that extrely combustible golden dust.
As expected, a halo lit up the next mont, and Zac stepped back to avoid a second inferno. However, his eyes widened when he realized that one of the free hands had grabbed his robes by the lapels, lifting him just as he was about to activate [Loamwalker]. The whole world turned white as a searing pain threatened to swallow him whole, but Zac forcibly suppressed the agony as he swung his axe in a ruthless downward arc.
He felt molten tal beneath his feet a mont later, and he desperately rushed out of the conflagration. The flas dissipated only a few seconds later, exposing an Asura that now was missing two hands standing knee-deep in molten morysteel. The bishop seed utterly undeterred though as he rushed forward to engage in another lee.
The screams and clamor of battle echoed all around him, aning that the battle had turned into a frantic lee just like his own situation. Visibility was still very limited as the Asura had actually managed to set the morysteel around him on fire, but he could see blazing suns slamming into the Anointeds sigils, causing massive shockwaves. The ground beneath them was thankfully pretty thick, but Zac still couldnt help but worry that their war would destroy the whole section of the mountain, sending them into the abyss.
The quicker he finished the battle the better. But Zac didnt use any of his aces even when knowing that. He had already managed to confirm that the true leader of the Church of Everlasting Dao was missing. This man was pretty powerful, but he was ultimately just slightly stronger than the other bishops they had fought.
The leader he had encountered in the Dead Zone wasnt there, and Zac guessed that part of the cultists had already set off toward the Dinsional Seed. There was also the True Sky Faction, The Lunar Tribe, Void Beasts, and god knows what else to worry about. He couldnt burn through all his ultimates the mont he set foot on the mountain.
Thankfully it didnt seem like it would co to that anyway. Zac and the Asura kept fighting in a brutal lee, where the Asura tried to ensnare and incinerate Zac while Zac kept whittling the cultist down with ruthless efficiency.
A thump echoed out as the arm holding the large spear was fell onto the ground, and the Asura was covered in wounds and golden blood by this point. Zac was working quickly and thodically to dismantle him, but he was once more forced back as the Asura started swinging his censer like a lasso before unleashing a massive wave of flas.
Zac sighed in annoyance as he backed away again, his eyes scanning for a weakness in the sea of flas. He hadnt managed to unleash a killing blow, but not for a lack of trying. It felt like the Asuras Danger Sense could rival his own, as every ti he was about to launch a lethal strike one of the four halos erupted, forcing Zac to back away.
The bishop was on his last legs though. One of the halos had already extinguished after just one minute of heated exchanges, and the remaining three were a lot dimr compared to before. Each wave of flas was powerful enough to harm Zac, so they were definitely powered by a pretty significant amount of the bishops remaining life-force. A couple of waves more and he might not even be able to keep standing.
Zac shot forward again, and he caught a lucky break when the Asura stumbled forward due to exhaustion and blood loss. Zac imdiately pounced on the opening, but he realized sothing was wrong when he saw a ruthless gleam in the Asusa's golden eyes.
Glory to Heaven! the Asura roared with an otherworldly tone that sounded like a chorus rather than one singular voice, and his arms wrapped around Zac's body in a burst of speed.
Over a hundred screams echoed out from all over the battlefield the next mont, and the sun above their head turned almost blindingly radiant. The halos behind the bishop's back turned horizontal as they rapidly started expanding, and the sun above their head started falling apart as the halos gobbled up the chaotic energies. Zac imdiately tried to get out of the bearhug, his struggles only turning more violent as his Danger Sense kept growing in volu.
He was caught in an extrely tight embrace, but he was still able to move his right arm sowhat. It allowed him to unleash a furious barrage at the midriff of the asura, and he suddenly felt a surge of Cosmic Energy enter his body as the bishop was hacked in two. However, Zac's eyes widened in shock when the death of the cultist leader had no impact on the halos growing above their heads.
Retreat! Zac roared in case any of his soldiers were in the vicinity as he untangled himself from the corpse of the bishop.
However, he personally stayed behind as his Specialty Core activated. Transforming in the middle of a battlefield was a risky move, but he couldnt deal with the current situation in his human form. If the bishops final attack was allowed to go off, it might collapse the whole section of the mountain. It was instilled with all the remaining life-force of the asura, along with what Zac suspected the life-force of the hundred soldiers who just scread with pain.
So fractal leaves wouldnt cut it against sothing like that; he needed to bring out his big guns.
He was making a bet; that his transformation would be quicker than the final attack of the Bishop. The three remaining halos kept expanding, and Zac couldnt help but panic as he saw them expanding toward where battles still raged. But the transformation finally completed, and Zac instantly stomped down on the ground. The fortifications of [Profane Seal] sprung up the next mont, sealing the growing halos inside.
Fifteen spectral chains started slamming into the radiant flas, but the halos were just too full of power. The chains couldnt even get near them, let alone damage them. Still, Zac kept infusing more and more Miasma into the skill to keep the lashing going. He hoped that every slam would weaken the halos a bit, which would make it easier to contain the final eruption.
As for Zac himself, he saw no reason to stay inside the cage. The chains of [Loves Bond] wound themselves around a morysteel cliff next to the closest gate, and Zac threw himself out through a small opening in the door he created. The Miasmic gate closed behind him, just in ti before an apocalyptic explosion erupted inside.
Cracks spread across the gates and the towers of [Profane Seal], and the do in the sky fluctuated wildly from the pressure. It looked like he tried to contain a sun. Zac infused more and more Miasma into the skill, but he knew that it was just a matter of ti before it fell apart.
Just five seconds later the miasmic cage crumbled, and a sea of fire so dense that it had essentially turned into a liquid rolled toward him. Zac's skill had absorbed most of the kinetic force of the blast, but much of the raw energies remained. Zac could only grit his teeth and conjure [Immutable Bulwark] and expand it as much as he could.
The skill turned into an indomitable wall that towered twenty ters into the sky. But his Seed of Sanctuary had unfortunately been used to create the Fragnt of the Bodhi, aning that he was no longer able to turn it into a huge protective do-like before. A series of earthen walls suddenly appeared to the sides of his barrier though as one Anointed after another appeared.
A scorched and bloodied Billy also appeared before he slamd his club into the ground, which caused a series of jagged tal spikes to block off part of the heat. Finally, a towering wall of shadows rose behind Zac, making it harder for anyone to spot Zac's transformation. Their help was enough to create a long enough wall to contain the flas, and they raged just for half a minute before they finally ran out of steam.
The sounds of battle were growing more and more sparse as well, and Zac even heard the sound of hundreds of drones flying about, blasting the ground with their powerful lasers. If Kenzie had gone through the portal their people had mostly reached the mountain already, and with the bishop gone and the remaining cultists exhausted, things would be settled soon enough.
The question was what he should do next, and his eyes turned toward the huge tal sphere hanging in the sky.
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