The Exalt [Cultivation Fantasy]

She caught the attention of every person in the laboratory. Raising her hands, Avril unleashed the powers of the forest, every person running away in futile efforts. They scampered away, shouting and crying, going as fast as their legs and flight could take them. All of it was futile before her forest. The strong roots and trunks held all of them down, filled with slight hints of Eirin. From a clench of her hands, the forests constricted tighter, and their muffled shouts under the thick of the roots increased.

"Where is my husband?" Avril went over to one of the captured New Dawn members and exposed his head to talk. The man stuttered under her icy gaze, unable to say a word. At first, she assumed the man was afraid, but she was wrong. The man suddenly melted from the face, the rest of his body following suit and liquifying into a mess.

The others within her forest prison also started to melt away, goo oozing out of her coiling vines. She clenched her teeth before shouting in distress, grabbing her head as if in pain. She needed to see Oscar. His strength instilled confidence, but his tendency to overdo it in general, especially for her, was worrying. Memories of when they encountered Okeanes flooded back into her mind, and she couldn't let it happen again. She clutched her heart, in pain partly from using Reis and the rest from worrying for Oscar, and undid the forest with a wave of her other hand.

"Are all of you alright? She feels sorry for all of you, unable to console you in any other way." She grimaced at many people tied to the tables. Some mumbled incoherently with unfocused eyes, clearly drugged to inhibit their thoughts. Others were completely out of it, unconscious and unresponsive. Luckily, a few still had their wits about them, sounds of rattling chains coming from their struggle.

"My Lady, please free us from these bonds. The keys should be somewhere. We've been here for a long time." A woman cried out.

The rest of the awake prisoners clamored, shouting and begging for release. They all said they could help her escape this horrible place and free the other prisoners. Hearing their pleas, Avril knew she had to help them, unfortunate souls who had suffered immensely for heaven knows how long. She searched through the puddles of melted New Dawn members and gagged, disgusted to nearly vomiting, as her hands swept around the liquid flesh. Inside one puddle, Avril found a space pocket and searched its contents. Her face lit up at the chain of keys in her hands, and she freed all the prisoners on the tables.

"Some of us will carry the unconscious ones, others will take the keys and free the ones downstairs, and the rest will follow you in battle." The prisoners naturally fell into their roles, the stronger ones deciding to fight alongside Avril and the weaker ones doing the other tasks. Their bodies were sickly and thin from the horrible conditions, but their bloodlust spilled from their gazes, eager for revenge.

"Then, follow me. We'll get everyone out of here and escape this prison!" Avril pumped her fist into the air and gave a rousing cry, the other prisoners shouting in fervent fury. She led her combatants to the other exit and encountered several New Dawn members. Her forces ravaged like a swarm of locusts, tearing apart the enemy without mercy, and she held nothing back, all to return to her beloved.

"Wait for me. She's fighting with all she has to make sure you're alright."

Meanwhile, Oscar slammed his foot forward, enveloped in Guise, and sent forth a Shattering Wave through his golden drill. Metallic screeching pierced through his ears, followed by the chirping of lightning, and sparks of hot embers spewed like a waterfall. His golden drill met the spinning trident, their spiraling tips not giving in. The room shuddered, and the air tore apart, their Shattering Waves obliterating each other into nothing. Oscar pulled back and spun, using the Reis from the impact of their attacks, but Wolem copied his movements, clearly well-trained in Reis.

The diamond shield bashed against the swinging trident, the force of Flowing Mountain equating each other out. Their gazes locked onto each other, understanding the others' capabilities much more. Their clash continued as the flames of the battle between Arinn and Erden surrounded them, riddling the floor in cracks from the wake of their devastating Eirin. However, it was Wolem who ended up on the back foot, fighting defensively with a lowered stance and hands tightly moving a mere foot around him.

Cracks riddled the floor, the screeching of metal and thunder never stopping. Oscar dodged the powerful strikes. Wolem sped up, lightning flowing into his feet, and swung his trident with more power. Pillars of lightning converged on Oscar, all formed by powerful Eirin, and bathed him in the destructive flow. With a roar, Wolem flicked his hand and lashed out with a whip of lightning, wrapping around Oscar's gold-covered body. A never-ending stream of bolts and thunder coursed into Oscar. This never-ending onslaught wasn't over yet, not by a long shot, as he saw Wolem dash in and bring his trident down.

His golden armor burst apart, and he raised his shield. Wolem's trident carried great weight, sped by the rushing thunder in its path, but not over the limit of what Oscar could handle. Suddenly, a trident blade extended out from the side of the shaft like a forking branch, a deadly spiral that neared his eye. Oscar couldn't retreat quickly due to the lightning whip coiled around him. He bent and sidestepped the ambushing trident. But a fearsome Shattering Wave infused with lightning released from the blow, about to engulf Oscar when Erden charged in and blocked it with his antlers.

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The flames flickered like candles in the wind, and cracks formed along Erden's metallic body. Those weren't the only flames in this fight. Arinn sent out his salamander anima, a dense and bright heat swelling in its chest, and waved his hands to use another spell, flames forming into hungering dragon heads.

Oscar willed his Eirin into his left arm and created his golden dragon maw to swallow the exploding anima and the dragon heads. Erden followed up with his antlers to slam the golden maw toward Wolem, letting it explode closer to the Volten. The explosion caved in parts of the room as the ceiling collapsed.

Wolem was still standing. His trident blade was now double its length. Oscar had seen it earlier and eyed the bottom of the trident, which no longer had its blade. Wolem's Meld powers were now becoming clear. It allowed him to extend his dual-headed trident to great lengths, and the blades could appear anywhere along its shaft or merge to become a longer blade on one side instantly. A constant shifting of defense and attack angles combined with deadly Reis made Wolem a fearsome opponent. But not enough for Oscar.

"Just to let you know. My Guise can last for thirty minutes." Oscar said, raising his shield. After the evolution in the Pools of Ascension and the advancement to Greater Knight Exalt, his powers had grown exponentially, far beyond his expectations. His Guise had improved significantly, boosting his defense and offense. His own toughness surprised him with the slew of attacks he endured during this battle.

"Thirty minutes? That's impossible. Even for the upper limits, we've only seen twenty-five." Wolem Volten wore a face of shock and worded his disbelief.

Flames burned around Oscar, engulfing his golden drill and golden maw, heating them bright to the core. Through the invisible Reis movements, he closed in on Wolem and overpowered him by force of flames and metal, Eirin boosting every blow with a Ripple Shroud here and a Shattering Wave there. He switched with Demon constantly to trick Wolem into the wrong movements, landing several blows.

"How do you possess two elements?!" Wolem struggled to defend, using his lightning speed to retreat. He extended his trident to maintain a distance from Oscar, ignoring the harsh injuries on his arms and shoulder, all scorched black. A Shattering Wave of lightning blasted outward, and Oscar responded in kind, clenched his burning fist, and released a Shattering Wave of fire.

Fire and lightning split the room in half; static, wriggling charges filled one side while flickering embers scorched through the other. Wolem was not strong enough. The greatest shame was to fight as a ranged when they were melee, and Wolem doubled that shame by being a Reis user. The broken pride could be seen in the fearsome veins along his face. Wolen shouted, and his body twisted, the skin crumpling like paper as it became dense red. His muscles became larger and tore through his clothes, resembling a berserker.

"Overdrawing the Reis Core? You are a fool, you Volten." Oscar easily handled Wolem's fearsome strikes, countering the shifting of the blades, and knocked away all the lightning spells like a fly in his face. He showered the room in flaming golden rods, forcing Wolem to halt and defend, a shield of lightning stopping them.

Oscar flashed ahead. Sixty percent of Flame Eirin Omnireus focused on his golden maw. It chomped down on the lightning shield, the flames crackling with static, and roared out the tremendous force. Wolem responded with a Lightning Eirin Omnireus of his own, his Guise disappearing into nothing, all of his strength poured out in one last stand.

The room finally fell apart as the ceiling completely collapsed, letting the light of the two suns expose the chamber. Oscar released hot flames to melt away the rubble. The same happened in another location where Erden was stomping on Arinn, having won his battle.

Before Oscar was the battered body of Wolem Volten, his entire skin was charred to a crisp. The bulking muscles had broken down, leaving only a skinny, bony body with arms as thin as branches. On his chest was a large, cracked orb, the Reis Core. It shattered apart into dust, and only the gaping hole in the chest remained as proof of its existence.

"Who…who are you?" Wolem could barely speak. His throat had been burned. "How can a Reis user like you exist? My Reis…should have…been better. The Reis Core…held great Reis…in it. Yet, I could not…even approach your level. You never lost control of your Reis or been hurt by it. Ah…a perfect body…and two elements…."

"What good is it to tell a dead man? You don't deserve to know anything." Oscar raised his foot over Wolem's head and slammed his sole onto him, caving in Wolem's face, and the entire body crumbled into ashes.

Oscar still had the Guise on and turned to the beaten Arinn on the floor. "You're the last one, Arinn Flint."

"Oscar Terr…I know your name…the boy who sacrificed himself for the Divine Essence, a hero of the Brilliant Drake Empire." Arinn struggled to move but gave up. Erden's hoof was too powerful for him to escape from. He glared at Oscar, bleeding from his eyes. "I never thought to meet someone famous like you here."

"A hero…is that what they call me? A hero? I can see someone's hand in that." Oscar stopped a few inches from Arinn's head and gave him a look of pity. "So, Arinn, what should I do? You are the enemy. But maybe we could have been good friends in another life."

"Haha…." Arinn wheezed out his chuckle. "Indeed. It was short, but I could see how much you love your wife, just like how I love both of mine. We had quite a good talk earlier. It's a shame. But do it." His gaze sharpened. "This is a war. I won't survive off the pity of an enemy. My only regret is not being able to do more for my home."

"Likewise." Oscar raised his fist and punched with a flaming Shattering Wave, turning the weakened Arinn into ashes. "Goodbye, Arinn Flint. May you find peace after death."

Oscar nodded to Erden and cleared away more rubble, exposing the tunnel to further depths. He smiled and voiced his desire, "Let's get Avril."

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