Petra took another step forward, and—BOOM!
The Azurefell Family's Patriarch raised his hand, then slammed it down!
Directly above the head of the little green-haired girl, a massive palm formed from condensed spiritual energy formed above her head, its fingers flexing as it slammed down like a collapsing mountain. Bang! The air roared beneath its weight as it carried a monumental momentum, crushing the ground and sending stone and dust flying everywhere!
Before it hit, Petra had already moved!
A slight step, that was all it took! Her body flashed, and the small figure that had been slowly approaching flickered with light and reappeared directly on the edge of the attack.
Like an illusion repositioning, she didn't even stop walking.
She didn't even seem to see the attack.
Despite the incredible speed of the palm, Petra was unnaturally nimble. She had slipped out from beneath its shadow before it even descended, her figure gliding through the air and walking through the shrapnel as if she had already known where it would land,
Boom!
The hand struck nothing, only taring up the earth!
"…Hump!" The man's eyes narrowed.
Seeing his hand miss, he felt a twinge of irritation at the ease with which she had dodged.
He waved his hand.
Swoosh!
The nine chains that were drifting around him snapped, then tore through the air!
Each chain moved like a living serpent, the long, narrow blades linked to their ends flashing beneath the moonlight as they curved towards Petra from every direction, attacking from multiple angles. They didn't simply strike, no, they predicted her next move, cutting off every path, and seemingly sealing off space with a series of precise strikes.
For a mere swing of the arm, this attack was devastating!
Boom! Boom-boom-boom! BOOM! Boom-boom!
Petra moved, her eyes flashing with light!
The first blade passed her shoulder, the second skimmed past her waist, and the third struck from a lower angle, which caused Petra to lift her foot, letting it sweep beneath like it never existed, before slamming her foot down and interrupting its rhythm with a bang!
As the blades came again and again, Petra could almost feel the rhythm of the chains, like a musical play manifested through battle.
Even she had to admit that it was quite an amazing technique!
The chains twisted, adjusted, and closed in!
They pierced forward, retracted, swept, and entangled, all the while dancing around the environment.
Petra leaned back, her body bending at a ridiculous angle as two blades crossed just a few inches away from her small face. She spun lightly on the spot, letting another graze past her sleeve before stepping through the narrowing gap without hesitation.
As the cage closed, Petra was forced to become more and more active.
Again, and again, and again, Petra was attacked.
She dodged, but the chains came faster and faster, shrinking her range of movement.
Despite all this, Petra never lost her cold and indifferent expression.
As time continued to pass, not only did they become more complex, but they also seemed to become sharper, more ruthless, and for a moment, Petra felt as if she could feel the frustration bleeding over from the Azurefell Families Patriarch.
Regardless of her actions, her expression showed no sign of fatigue.
Petra stepped, slid, turned, and twisted, each movement was minimal, and each adjustment precise. Her feet barely touched the ground as she floated through the storm of chains, her small figure continuously slipping between attacks that should have left no room to escape.
She didn't counter, nor did she strike.
She simply walked where she could, slowly closing the distance.
Soon, the smallest of smiles could be seen on her face…
-
As the Patriarch continued to move from one place to another, he slowly realized the problem!
The man's arms trembled, and he looked down with dark eyes.
"…!"
His fighting style, especially against such a nimble enemy, had a harsh requirement on the environment. In addition to the deteriorating surroundings, he discovered his body had begun to show signs of another problem. A faint numbness had started to spread through his fingers, and the precision he had shown at the beginning of the battle had started to wane.
Not much time had passed, but he already understood!
His grip tightened, realizing that it wasn't a simple matter of stalling for time. If he wanted to 'hold' these two back, he would have to pay a monumental price, perhaps even his life!
Because Petra's poison, it had already reached him…
His muscles had stiffened for a fraction of a second, the chains faltering just slightly, but he forced himself through it. Spiritual energy surged through his body, reinforcing the control of his muscles and fighting off the invading substance as the chains snapped back into motion, even faster and more aggressive than before!
"You think this is enough to stop me?! Damn brat!" He roared, his eyes flickering with a red light.
The chains raged with him, speeding up!
Petra was attacked again as nine blades converged all at once, sealing every direction as they tore toward her throat, her chest, her legs, and all of her surroundings at the same time!
She stepped forward, and a narrow gap opened as if it had been waiting...
Swoosh!
She passed through it, only to be attacked again as all nine blades recoiled backwards.
A chain whipped up from the ground, another fell from above, and two curved in from behind—
She turned, her body twisting as she slipped between them, her sleeve brushing against one blade as it missed her by less than a finger's width.
Swoosh!
Next, the chains erupted mid-air, releasing bursts of sharpened spiritual energy that tore through the ground and shattered the surrounding greenery with an explosion!
Boom!
A moment later, Petra emerged from the dust, completely unaffected.
A green ripple ran through her body, then disappeared.
Seeing that he was unable to catch Petra, the bombardment intensified.
Serpentine chains, spiritual energy, and wave after wave of explosions, all of it layered together in a relentless assault meant to overwhelm her through sheer pressure alone! He tried artifacts, curses, traps, and countless unorthodox methods, weaving them all between his attacks. It was overwhelming, but Petra seemed unaffected, as if one or one thousand meant the same to her.
And indeed, Petras' mental capabilities had already ascended to a level that far exceeded the norm.
Then—
BOOM!
A massive collision erupted as multiple attacks struck at the same time, engulfing Petra's position in a violent explosion of dust and debris that far exceeded everything so far. The valley trembled as a towering cloud of dust swallowed the battlefield, momentarily obscuring everything from view.
For a moment—
There was only silence and drifting dust...
Then—
Step!
Step!
Step!
A soft sound, both light yet hard, echoed from within the cloud.
After what felt like an eternity, Petra walked out…
The distance between them had shortened…
-
The man, seeing that everything up till now couldn't even scratch this little golden core brat, pressed down his foot, and in the next instant, his body launched into the air.
Swoosh!
He hovered beneath the pale moonlight, his blue-patterned white robes drifting in the wind as he looked down at Petra with cold, distant eyes. As a Nascent Soul cultivator, standing in the air was no different than standing on solid ground. From above, he almost seemed to be removed from everything below, like a cruel judge observing something that had already been decided.
"…Enough!" He spat!
He wanted to end this quickly! He would no longer play a passive role, because a while ago, a deep unease had started to bloom in the back of his mind.
His hand lifted into the air.
The world responded with a quake, stirring up the surrounding spiritual energy.
A ripple spread outwards, subtle yet fleeting, then—
HOOOOOOOOOOOOONG! An ethereal domain descended, spreading out with the man in the center!
Although it couldn't be seen, it vaguely felt like a spherical space formed from spiritual energy was expanding through the unseen world, covering the valley!
The air sank instantly, turning heavy and rigid. The surrounding elemental energy was violently pushed away, scattered like mist before a storm, while a dense layer of some 'hardened force' filled the space, sealing it under his control, and making others struggle to manipulate it! The valley groaned beneath the pressure, trees stilled, and even the drifting fog seemed to freeze in place as he took control of the surrounding world with his incomplete domain!
Below, Petra paused in place.
For the first time in a while, 'something' pressed against her mind, like a faint resistance.
This was not a physical reaction; instead, it seemed to somehow 'impede' her ability to control the surrounding spiritual energy.
It was difficult to describe…
"…Oh?" She let out a curious hum.
Above, the man's lips faintly curled.
"Struggle! Know your place!" His fingers tightened as he roared!
A massive palm of spiritual energy formed instantly and slammed downwards! The ground shattered beneath the impact, and the stone exploded outwards, but Petra had already moved.
Swoosh!
Her figure flickered, slipping sideways before the attack landed, her body glided through the oppression like something that did not belong within it! Feeling it in full, Petra discovered that it was distinctly different from Otan's ability to replace the surroundings with earth-element elemental energy, but Petra couldn't pinpoint how. All she knew was that it felt like a much higher-level ability.
Her mind turned, then concluded that Otan was beginning to create a domain, but it was even more incomplete than the Azurefell Families Patriarchs!
A spiraling current of spiritual energy tore across the ground towards her, shredding everything in its path! She stepped forward and passed through a small opening before it could close, her movement small and precise, practically stepping over it like a foothold.
Petra flashed back, her hair fluttering in the wind.
Her gaze flickered from place to place, focusing her attention on the small currents that swam around her and queued up to attack. She discovered that within this 'incomplete domain, even the smallest ripple of will could be magnified into a massive attack!
Dozens of sharpened constructs formed mid-air and rained down in unison.
Petra's figure blurred, vanishing from where she stood and reappearing beyond the attack as if the space itself had failed to hold her down.
And indeed, 'hold her down' was exactly what it was trying to do!
It was also what it was failing to do!
Boom!
Another palm descended, far heavier than before, reinforced by the weight of the domain. Petra twisted mid-step, her body bending unnaturally as she slipped between its fingers and landed lightly on a piece of fractured stone that was mid-flight, her balance never breaking. She almost looked to be studying him, because after each attack, a curious expression would flicker past her cold and cute face.
This continued for some time, but the attacks didn't stop!
They stacked, overlapped, accelerated, and formed a continuous storm meant to overwhelm Petra through the sheer pressure alone! A vortex surged upwards, swallowing the space around her. Petra vanished for a moment, then reappeared behind, already moving forward again.
As this continued, dust and fog were scattered, creating small pockets of haze and clarity.
From time to time, Petra even lost her sense of direction, even forgetting what direction up was…
Fortunately, none of this seemed to affect her in the slightest.
Swoosh!
Explosions chained together, erupting one after another in a collapsing wave. She stepped through them, untouched, her small figure slipping between the gaps as if guided by something unseen.
Hoong!
The air hardened again, compressing inwards, and attempting to crush her where she stood!
Boom!
Petra exhaled sharply, then moved, and the pressure wrapping around her was pierced like an arrow!
Her eyes turned up, glinting with a dark light…
-
At the same time, far above, the man's breathing faltered.
He jerked, twitching forward and coughing violently into his hand. After a moment to breathe, he looked down, finding his palm painted red.
His face darkened.
"What is this? How can she do so much damage without even approaching me!?"
"Why does it feel like she's playing with me!"
"Impossible! Isn't she worried about Lilly! Ridiculous!"
The more he thought, the more he realised something was wrong, very wrong!
A strange heaviness had already crept into his thoughts, dulling his focus and dragging at his awareness. His vision blurred near the edges, and his eyelids felt heavier with each passing second.
His pupils shrank as he bit down hard on his tongue, using pain to tear through the haze as he forced himself awake! Spiritual energy surged violently through his body, reinforcing the domain, and stabilizing the slipping control of his body.
"Damn it!"
BOOOOM! "Don't… look down on me!!"
-