Aron stood unmoving as his shield effortlessly tanked the barrage of attacks—fireballs, wind slashes, earth spears, magic missiles, and lightning bolts—all basic but potent spells. Despite the shield's ease in absorbing the hits, the surrounding landscape bore the brunt of the onslaught, with the damage inflicted on his surroundings telling a very different story.The fireballs, each the size of a bowling ball, detonated against the shield, leaving behind craters several meters wide, some with glassy reflections at their centers from the intense heat. And that was just the beginning—other attacks gouged the ground, leaving deep fissures and scorched earth, revealing the true power behind the seemingly basic spells."Each of them should be at the level of the strongest known awakeners," Aron mused, assessing the power of their attacks as the first barrage subsided. He hadn't just tanked the attacks for the sake of it; he was using this initial round to gauge how much mana each strike
As thousands of humanoids fell, Aron remained in place and continued his assault. Without pausing, he swung his sword again, targeting those at varying distances from him. No matter where they were, each swing resulted in the humanoids being sliced in half. Within thirty seconds, all the humanoids had been severed and were plummeting to the ground. Although they weren't dead yet, they lay on the ground, struggling to regenerate.Only then did Aron lower his hands, small beads of sweat trickling down his forehead. The exertion of his effort had clearly taken a slight toll on him.He achieved this by applying a shield rune to his sword and adjusting it to be as thin as possible while extending its length. This transformation turned the shield into a long, versatile blade that he could control with precision.Aron's deep understanding of runes, gained from his basic and intermediate runes bought from the system, allowed him to modify and adapt them to his needs. Thanks to the practice d
While the humanoid was waiting for Aron to sink deeper into despair, Rina was also facing her own set of challenges.After leaving Aron, Rina had headed to the opposite side of the planet. Now, she hovered a few kilometers above the surface, receiving constant updates from Nova about the situation from the information being summarized by her, but gathered from every sensor on and outside the planet.She was on high alert, prepared for anything. Her clothes had already transformed into armor, opting for defense instead of a weapon like Aron, as she didn’t possess his level of durability.{You have an approaching guest,} Nova warned as soon as she detected a humanoid closing in on Rina's position.Rina didn’t flinch as the humanoid approached, hostility evident in its movements. Her stillness wasn't born of arrogance or ignorance of what Aron was facing; it was rooted in confidence in the situation.Seeing her lack of reaction, the humanoid dropped its hostility momentarily and said, “I
The humanoid continued its relentless efforts for over two minutes, pushing against the shield's limits in a desperate bid to exhaust its durability before mana could replenish it. Eventually, it stopped, sitting down in resignation, mirroring Aron’s earlier decision.Rina, having defeated her opponent in just a minute, felt a mix of pride and caution. She had managed to showcase her prowess, a result of her dedicated focus on mastering magic, something she had selected as her official duty as the emperor's spouse.“How many minutes have passed since we left the palace?” Rina asked, her gaze fixed on the defeated humanoid.Despite her apparent victory, Rina remained wary. She knew this was only a fraction of what their enemies might be capable of. The information from the three tree folks on their side had made her acutely aware of the potential threats, so she stayed on high alert, awaiting confirmation from Aron that the situation was fully under control.{Nine minutes} Nova respo
This phase of the plan demanded minimal interference at the outset, as any significant disruption could jeopardize their objectives. The uncertainty surrounding how the remaining tree folks might respond to their actions added another layer of complexity. Anticipating potential obstacles, they had already devised strategies to deal with these powerful beings if necessary.And how do you handle three individuals who, if they interfere, could dismantle your entire plan? You create a dilemma for them, forcing them into a situation where they must choose between confronting you and jeopardizing their own interests or dealing with an immediate threat and allowing your plan to proceed, knowing full well they will pay the price later. It's a classic rock and a hard place scenario.And they had billions of lives to use as distractions to divert attention from their true intentions.…………….{Sir, the giants and dark elves have started attacking everyone else. What are your orders?} Nova reporte
As soon as the shield was completed, the two tree folks began absorbing mana from both the ocean and the atmosphere now that they didin’t have to worry about interference from anyone. Initially, the process was subtle, but it was quickly detected by those with advanced mana sensitivity, and they immediately came up with a hypothesis behind this action.“Looks like your magic system is designed for efficiency,” the humanoid remarked, still engaged in burning through Aron's shield. Despite their efforts, which had been ongoing for over seven minutes—a duration long enough to deplete the approximated amount of mana in the shields—Aron's shield remained intact. The humanoid could only conclude that the system’s efficiency was the reason for this anomaly. They hadn't considered that Aron might have a mana tank within him, enabling him to use magic even in areas devoid of ambient mana. This was thanks to his previous encounters and rapid attacks that had only utilized the surrounding mana
“Did you feel what I felt?” Oak asked, his voice tinged with unease. As the tremors and explosions shook the planet, some of his core roots had disintegrated under the intense heat and pressure, beyond what they could withstand despite their strength. For the first time in his existence, Oak felt a profound sense of danger—a sensation so foreign to him that he struggled to categorize it.“Although I’m not certain it’s exactly the same, I felt something too,” Mangrove responded, sharing in the unsettling sensation. Like Oak, some of his roots had also disintegrated, but the feeling they both experienced wasn’t merely a reaction to the damage. It was something deeper, something far more disconcerting, and it left Mangrove with a growing sense of unease.“But we’ve experienced earthquakes before—what’s different about this one?” Oak asked, trying to make sense of the unfamiliar feeling. “Other than the loss of some of our core roots, which isn’t too significant considering the end goal.”
Hovering above the massive cylindrical shield, Aron glanced at the timer Nova had projected for him. Only seventy-three seconds remained."Let's do it one more time," Aron muttered to himself. With determined precision, he moved the shield to a location near the previous one, preparing to unleash another massive nuke within the shield, intending to shake the entire planet once more.Just as Aron was about to begin feeding mana into the fire rune for another massive attack, thousands of magic cycles materialized around him. Each one was targeting him with a different type of attack, showcasing the full extent of the tree folks' power when focused on a single target.“That too can act as one,” Aron responded calmly, his demeanor unshaken as the myriad of magic cycles closed in on him, unleashing every conceivable type of attack from the magic system taught to the Proximians.“Let’s make it a worthy final act,” Aron said, resolutely choosing not to rely on his overgeared shield. Instead,