That said, the combination of Elizabeth's Gale Inversion and Freon's Cleansing Snow had the effect of concentrating and amplifying the flames to a ridiculous degree. It had comparable power to a Low Condensed Drop spell! The only drawback was the interference wrought by the two spells. If Gale Inversion and Cleansing Snow were one point each, then their combination was something less than two. They could not perfectly combine their strength. The whole was less than the sum of its parts, which was regretful. Not to mention, the interference strength in this cavern would continue to rise. Their spells would continue to lose effectiveness until they became harmless. Arcanists had a time limit on this battle. And it was considered wise to use their strongest spells right from the beginning, since the longer they waited, the weaker they would become. Thinking so, Freon no longer hesitated.
"Shirley, cover me!" he shouted.
She gritted her teeth and grabbed her halberd. "Leave it to me!"
He nodded and took a deep breath before dropping his Cleansing Snow. The white flames instantly dimmed and faded away, plunging the cavern into blackness again. Normally, it would have created regular fires, unrelated to his spell, that would persist after his spell had ended, but this was the inside of a cavern. Nothing was combustible here. With the loss of light, the Grand Knights and Arcane Knights were distraught. Lady Kalasena had her sword in hand, except she was painfully aware this battle was outside her ability. If she carelessly stepped in, she would get killed! Everyone felt the same seeing Elizabeth and Freon's spells. Yuna prayed that Elizabeth and Freon would kill the monster and save them! When Elizabeth saw that Freon's spell ended, she was stunned. She knew that he had ample Magic Energy to spare. It was not his style to stop halfway. As for something unexpected happening, she felt that was unlikely because Shirley was there. The most likely conclusion was that Freon was preparing that!
She smirked. "Good! I'll work with you!"
Her spell, Gale Inversion, entered its second phase. All of its energy concentrated at the center before being released in a humongous explosion! The massive shockwave obliterated everything in the vicinity and slammed into everyone like a brick wall! Everyone was blown back more than ten steps, as their organs and bones churned from the impact. Their ears rung, their breaths stolen, and their blood was in disarray. Dust and rocks fell from the cavern roof, while the shockwave travelled further beyond. Elizabeth tensed. Surely, this would not cause a cave-in, right? Fortunately, the cave was more resilient than she thought. Aside from some dust, nothing else happened. As for the monster, it was caught at the center of the explosion. There was no way it escaped unharmed! She waited for Freon's signal.
Freon began to use his Bloodline Ability: Thousand Core Resonance. Out of the Bloodline Abilities known, including Benedict's Rain Weaver Arc, Shirley's Echo Image, or the other Engelsheft Families, his Bloodline Ability was the most extreme. It provided a comprehensive boost to any spell's power, speed, range, and efficiency, pushing them to new heights. A Peak Gaseous Fog spell could exhibit potential similar to a Low Condensed Drop spell, crossing an entire Core Level! In exchange, for the duration of his Bloodline Ability, he would be locked from casting any other spell. If he chose the wrong time to use it, he would be crippling himself. It was a Bloodline Ability that could easily kill him. To combat this weakness, he developed a 'partial' Thousand Core Resonance in the Xingyuu Empire. This was what he mainly used in the war. However, he was using his full Bloodline Ability now!
An intoxicating sense of power filled his body. He was amazed. So, this was the true Thousand Core Resonance! Previously, he did not have the qualifications to manipulate a Bloodline Ability as a Gaseous Fog Arcanist. He needed to concentrate heavily, and there was accompanying pain. It was very taxing both physically and mentally. But now that he was a Low Condensed Drop Arcanist, everything changed. His control over Magic Energy took a qualitative leap forward, and his foundation was improved comprehensively! He could finally activate his Bloodline Ability as freely as breathing! Of course, the drawbacks remained the same. He could not cast other spells until his body returned to normal. He quickly decided to strengthen his strongest offensive spell, Cleansing Snow! With Elizabeth's help, it should be enough to kill the monster! The process took a few seconds.
Shirley flinched. "Look out!"
She moved faster than her mouth, her Martial Energy spilling out. Although her muscles and legs nearly buckled under the strain, she pushed through the pain, used Energy Acceleration, and grabbed Freon. With a swift jump, they leapt into the air. The sudden change disturbed the activation of Freon's Bloodline Ability, which gave him mild discomfort. He did not question Shirley's decision though. There must have been a reason he could not see! Whoosh! Two strong gusts of wind crisscrossed where he previously stood. The wind was so sharp that Freon felt a chill to his bones. Under his dumbfounded eyes, he saw the monster's vague shape in the darkness. She was almost in front of his face! That gust of wind were those mandibles trying to reap his life! But how did she do that? He did not notice anything! It was not like he was distracted or complacent. He knew how dangerous their foe was, so he stayed alert. Even with Shirley's protection, he did not lower his guard. And yet… he sensed nothing! For this colossal monster to move this stealthily, it was impossible!
"It's Martial Energy!" Shirley shouted. "That thing can use martial techniques!"
"What?" Freon paled. "Are you sure?"
"There's no mistaking it. It used a technique to conceal its presence and sneak attack us! If I didn't notice at the last second, it would have succeeded!"
"In that case, we need to warn the others. This changes everything!"
Before they could share their findings, the monster released an ear-piercing high-pitched screech! It was so unbelievably loud that it produced a giant shockwave, blasting everything away with extreme force. The air and ground rumbled like an earthquake. Everyone covered their ears in pain, but it was nearly useless. Their eardrums were on the verge of exploding! Their hearts seemed to spiral out of control, as their blood flow went chaotic. Veins squirmed under their skin, as blood poured out of their seven orifices. It was horrifying! Benedict and Shirley fared better than the others, even Elizabeth and Freon. That was when they realized this was a martial technique! They cursed. Such a wide-range indiscriminate martial technique… There was not much they could do to stop it! So, this was the power of a Rank 2 Beast Lord? They had greatly underestimated their opponent! Fortunately, the attack soon ended.
Everyone lost their sense of balance, fell to a knee, and vomited. Although they looked miserable, covered in sweat and blood, nobody went down. Their hearing was gradually coming back too. Elizabeth's head spun. She vomited a second time, and only then, she did feel slightly better. Wiping the blood from her face, her expression was dark. Where was the monster? And what happened to Freon? What about his spell? This damned darkness made things more complicated than they should be! If they were outside when it was bright out, they would not be in this miserable mess! She swore inside. What a joke! No… She breathed in and calmed down. The darkness was one thing, but the biggest problem was they lacked information. Information about these caves, about that beast, about these mountains, about everything. That was their undoing. Elder Unvo was right to say they should leave. These mountains were not that simple! But forget about that for now. Her priority was to find a way out! She coughed as she shakily grabbed her bow to cast Luminous Sky again.
A horrible scream entered everyone's damaged ears. It was clearly someone's death throes! Was it that monster? Or were there other enemies lurking? Just what was going on? A second scream followed, and soon a third and a fourth… Nobody sensed anything and nobody knew if they were next. In this pitch black darkness, their deepest fears were dragged out. It was like all their worst nightmares came to life! For most of them, their willpower was strong enough, but… Yuna was not one of them. She clutched her head in agony, breathing uncontrollably, almost on the verge of breaking down. The immense fear paralyzed her. Lady Kalasena was shaken too. While she might be a Perception Realm, her battle experience was shallow. It was her first time dancing with death so intimately. Everyone was lost for what to do next.