Chapter 535

Chapter 535

A heavy halberd slashed towards Vari, seemingly intent on tearing apart the world around it. Though she had her barriers, she wasnt confident in blocking such an attack. She might try against one of the lesser cultivators for comparison, but for the moment she had to avoid it. Even as she stepped back, it seemed to pull her in along with the surroundings, tearing apart the stone structure of the hallways. Only through great effort was she able to tear herself away from the attack, leaping to the side of the hallway. The attack seemed quite worthy of the sects name, the Black Hole Blades.

Spikes had a different response to the second Integration cultivator with a halberd. The man thrust his halberd so that the elongated spear point moved towards her, twisting the world around it, but instead of pulling back Spikes leaned into the attack. Yet instead of running into the spear point, the weapon pulled away from her to the side as the ground shifted. Spikes advancement to an Integration equivalent had improved her mastery over the ground to be second nature. It was more difficult to control stone or dirt embedded with formations, but not impossible. Here, the most powerful formations were sealing the great doors and statues beyond.

The lesser cultivators were not yet able to come to bear, being both further back and slower. The halberds they carried didnt truly fit in the hallways, though if their leaders were any example it would be the hallways that gave out before their attacks. It would be important not to get buried in rubble, not because a few tons of stone could kill anyone at their level but because it would simply be enough of a hindrance to sway the battle in one sides favor.

All of the sword cultivators, their weapons similarly oversized though not as ridiculously lengthy as the halberds, had taken to attacking Chikere down the right corridor. That included two Integration cultivators and at least a dozen lesser enemies- though some were in Essence Collection and could be little more than distractions, that could be sufficient to provide an opening for someone more powerful.

If one were to consider quantity of blades, however, Chikere was winning by several factors all on her own. Swords danced around, slashing and stabbing. The cultivators were saved not by their nimbleness or skill, but by the way their weapons drew in her attacks, blocking her regardless of what they did. Yet she never let her weapons be entrapped and broken, nor could they strike her. Despite the great size of the weapons they were swung with speed and drew her towards them, but Chikere dodged the weapons by the same razor thin margin she always did. Whether it was because it was more efficient or because she was staying one step ahead of death was difficult to tell. Perhaps it was simply both.

Vari was quite pleased with the narrowness of the corridors. Even as she saw several Black Hole Blades slice through the walls and ceiling with their halberds, chopping towards her, she could tell they were slightly restricted by them. More importantly, the cultivators were directly interfering with each other. Just because they could chop through some fortified stone didnt mean they could do as they pleased- if they could cut through each others weapons, they would prefer not to.

As the blades pulled her towards them, promising a combination of crushing and being severed in two, she ended up using barriers not to block attacks but to stop her unintended movements. Even as she did so, she drew upon the devotion of the Harmonious Citadel. Her step into Integration drew upon their belief in the saints oath to protect those beneath them- regardless of whether that was actually implemented. As such, she was able to access some of the power meant for the saints herself on a planet that had a sizable population of the Harmonious Citadel. There was some risk of discovery, but she needed the power.

Spikes found it difficult to resist the pull of the blades, but rearranging the corridors around herself and her opponents was proving fruitful. She had to take several strikes from lesser cultivators, resulting in broken bones and gashes on her body. The weapons were sizable enough that the wounds werent small enough to be ignored, though the attacks didnt extend beyond the blades themselves. At least Spikes had a hide tough enough to prevent them from cutting deep into her.

Either way, the sudden trembling of the corridor put her main opponent a quarter step off, enough for Vari to pull a similar move. The only thing was she was always unarmed, so catching the halberd just under the head was done with two hands. Vari was smashed knee deep into the stone floor, but the blade didnt touch her and the full force of the attack was mitigated by the poor leverage of the wielder. It made some sense to have the massive reach of the weapons, but even the widest spread of hands from its user could only control the back quarter of the weapon.

Massive strength let the hefty woman maneuver the weapon regardless, and the Black Hole Blades gravity manipulation handled the rest but after Vari got her hold she anchored herself in position with a few angled barriers. The halberd twisted horizontally, intending to sweep her into the walls, but it stayed taut. And then Vari let it go. She had no arrogance to believe she could fully disarm or wield such a massive weapon, but she didnt mind letting her opponent chop through the handful of his allies on one side- barely avoiding the other Integration cultivator.

Spikes took the opportunity of a step forward by him to chomp towards his head, the haft of his weapon slamming into her neck. Her muscles and spine strained, but her jaws closed tight. Then the heavy weapon dropped to the side without a wielder. Her claws took out the lesser cultivators around her.

Then her walls were broken through, the final opponents freed. Two more Integration cultivators and dozens of others. Vari hadnt finished off her Integration cultivator yet, and with the rest of them fatigued it appeared it would be a difficult fight. Spikes charged towards Vari to help her finish that one off.

Two Integration cultivators fell. The halberd wielding woman and the final sword cultivator who had just entered the battle. Chikere had had enough it seemed. The closer she was pushed to her limits, the more vicious she got- and it seemed shed gained what knowledge she wanted from her previous fight. Ultimately, the man was too slow and his gravity technique not powerful enough to stop her. After that, Chikere started on the remaining weaker cultivators- those with swords and halberds alike.

Spikes and Vari found it relatively simple to finish off a single Integration cultivator even in their states, and finally the battle ended. There were sounds of heavy breathing from two humans and a great stone wolf. Then all of the corridors collapsed.

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Half an hour later, after digging themselves and all of the enemy cultivators who might have decent loot on them out, the three found their way over to the only sturdy section of the area, by the statues. Above the door was a label previously uninspected, which Vari read out loud. Only those of purity and saintly demeanor may enter. She sighed, What does that even mean? she complained to the statues, both of the same woman- Silvija. The reason they had come in the first place.

She grumbled and plopped herself down with her back against the door. She leaned on it for support, thinking through the Harmonious Citadels teachings. Then she fell backwards as the doors creaked open, the same moment she realized that the woman who was now on her right was not actually Silvija. Instead, it was a face shed seen only in distant memory and a lost painting.N0v3lTr0ve served as the original host for this chapter's release on N0v3l--B1n.