Chapter 260 Stupor Of Power

The chaos that embedded itself through the isolated valley didn't disturb just the recruits surviving within it, but the creatures inhabiting it as well: the ground rumbled all around Joseph as he witnessed forest inhabitants fleeing, all running away directly in the direction he stood.

"--Hey, hey, hey!" Joseph realized he was right in the stampede's way.

The variety in creatures was overwhelming in itself; tiny critters scampered and behemoths trampled everything in their path, yet all ran in fear of the darkness that cleaved through the valley all the same.

The youthful recruit raised his spear, preparing to combat the armor-hided beasts that trampled through the foliage towards him, but to his surprise, they charged right past him, simply prioritizing their own lives.

Great beasts of stone skin, fire-breathing bears, and even ice-coated lions; all ran in the same direction, away from a united enemy.

After realizing the monstrous beasts inhabiting the land wanted nothing to do with him, likely not even registering the existence of the short-in-stature recruit, Joseph was left stunned at the sight coming from the distance.

The darkness swallowed the land; trees keeled over, fields split, and it all rumbled.

It was a sight horrifying, yet beautiful in its otherworldly scale; an existence that dwarfed those who witnessed it, sweeping through as a natural disaster that breathed cataclysm into the land.

"...What the hell is going on here?" Joseph muttered.

At first, the recruit speculated it might've been some sort of "ending test" thrown into the already grueling trial, though the scale of the destruction was something on too high of a threshold to be such. Still, he wasn't aware of what he was witnessing, having no clear idea of its origins or what was responsible for the indifferent desolation.

Though as he stood there, gawking at the waves of darkness that felled trees and hills alike, he found it growing closer, like a sweeping tide of death itself flowing across the soil.

I've got to move…! Joseph realized.

Turning the other way, he went off in a dash, running alongside the creatures dwelling in the valley as he could feel the ominous vibrations of the enigmatic darkness nipping at his heels. As he glanced back, he found his stomach sink as he witnessed what the pitch-black force did to living creatures as it swept over a gray-furred squirrel, decaying its flesh in an instant and leaving only bones.

If that touches me…I'm a goner! He realized.

Joseph wasn't particularly talented in either magic or physical combat, scoring average-among-average for recruits, in fact, it was a miracle he had even survived the trial thus far. The only thing he was above the curve on were his survival skills–both in his ability to hunt and gather, but his natural instincts for avoiding conflict out of his scope.

So, a threat of this scale was something immeasurably overwhelming for him.

A massive tremor caused him to momentarily stop and look back, witnessing a beam of darkness tear through the forest from afar, forcing him to duck as it sailed right over his head, cleaving through trees like nothing. The oak of the bisected cedar turned rotten from the contact with the unknown shadows, decaying in an instant as the skin of the trees peeled like a fruit.

This is crazy! Seriously, crazy! Just what kind of trial is this, anyway?! Why am I getting caught up in this?! Joseph questioned.

–

Dread began to move past the blood-spewing mage, setting his sights on the others that were still battling the remnants of the astral warriors. Just as the embodiment of violence raised its hand, beginning to whip up an attack of large-scale destruction–

FWOOSH

"--Mm?!" Dread reacted.

A burst of azure flames slammed against the being's back, exploding into a violent array of fire and sparks, causing the being to stumble forward before looking back.

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To Dread, it was as though a corpse had just risen from its grave: Emilio returned to his feet, not bothering to wipe his chin as it was soaked in blood, simply keeping his eyes on his opponent.

"How're you alive…?" Dread mumbled, "It matters not."

As Dread raised his hand again to invoke another deadly attack, Emilio had already conjured a spell, whipping up a spiral of wind that quickly formed into a condensed tornado that roared, spinning around Dread.

Just as the wind was born, the Dragonheart imbued it with his draconic flames, creating a bright-blue natural disaster that imprisoned Dread in its burning fury.

"Enough."

With a pulse of primordial malice, Dread spoke sternly as he negated the magecraft with his own will, holding his arms spread out as burns were left on his arms and hands.

"You're a problem. I'll have to–"

As Dread spoke, the words were stifled from his throat as Emilio raised his hand, cutting away his ability to speak.

The ruthless, precise use of magic was utilized to remove the air from Dread's lungs, then rapidly filling it with air conjured by Emilio's own mana, using it to then pop holes into the malignant being's lungs.

Dread didn't register pain, though recognized the lethal assault as he felt the shift inside of him before looking up again, only able to speak hoarsely, "...You…"

The Zone was pushed to its maximum as Emilio reacted to the unrestrained malice of Dread, witnessing the being wielding the body of a dead man, shattering the soil at its feet as it lunged at him with killing intent.

To impede it, Emilio slammed his palm against the ground, using a lofty serving of mana to bend and manipulate the world at his feet, parting the soil and giving rise to colossal formations of rock from beneath the surface.

These thick, gigantic slabs of stone loomed over like the walls of a city, only serving as means to 'slow' Dread down as the figure slammed his knuckles against the sky-reaching, thick barriers of stone. One blow was enough to crack the walls, compromising their sturdiness as the next blow was more than enough to shatter it to countless pieces, leaving Dread jumping forward to the next.

"Everything is moving…!" Everett said, wobbling around to maintain balance as the ground shook violently.

"It's Emilio!" Melisande realized.

Yuna huffed, maintaining her footing as she slashed apart one of the astral warriors, "--I didn't know the kid had it in him. Well, I think anybody had this in them."

The scale of the clash rose as Emilio held no inhibitions in his usage of magecraft, terraforming the valley at his will, giving no thought but to the concept of victory as he began weaving weapons forged of water and flames around Dread as the entity continued slamming through mountainous walls.

Any trees left standing were toppled as their roots were dredged out by the Dragonheart's terraforming, relentlessly shaping the valley to his need as multiple layers of stone barriers rose in an instant, breaking apart the healthy soil. It was the sight of a cataclysm, woven by Emilio's will as he carved stone and metal from the soil below, stirring up the dirt as well into storms of sediment whilst allowing land to hover in the air, gathering it into large spheres to throw.

As the projectiles of reinforced water, made shapeless and bendable, able to seamlessly change form, and of fire, able to explode and burn away, crashed towards Dread, the being reached the end of his patience as he howled out.

Following the primordial yell of the conceptual monster, the multiple, mountain-sized shields of stone were cleaved through by cleaving darkness, unleashed by a single swipe of Dread's hand.

"...Let's see how you handle this," Emilio quietly said.

Just as Dread ripped apart the mountainous barriers, the meteors of rock, dirt, and material ingrained in Parmesus' soil rained down on the violent entity.

Nature, Wind, and Fire were combined; Nature manipulated the base material, wind brought it together in the air, and fire brought propulsion and destructive power to the objects, creating a spell forged by the Dragonheart's Zone:

'ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ No(ve) l Bi n',

["Skyfall Obliteration"]

A smile stretched across the foul being's lips as it happily raised its arms, moving them as if coordinating an orchestra as it countered the falling objects with blasts of unseen pressure, causing them to split into smaller, more plentiful chunks.

The result of this collision of power caused a violent, destructive hail to batter the valley below, leaving no fields untouched.

"Under me! Under me!" Everett called out.

Holding his shield above his head, the tall, burly bumpkin acted as a life-or-death umbrella for the other three as flaming rock fell from the sky, crashing down around them. Pieces of stone landed on the ground with fiery impacts, embedding the land in further destruction.

"...Emilio is doing all of this?" Melisande looked around, keeping her hands on her chest.

"Asher," Yuna looked over, "You seem familiar with Emilio's abilities. Do you know what this is?"

The Devilheart was still reeling from his earlier confrontation, catching his breath as he stood beneath the large shield, "...I have an idea of it."

"You do?" Melisande looked over at him.

Asher nodded, "I felt it when he first came to…That same sensation as when he took the form of a raging dragon."

"Then that means…?" Melisande began to say.

"He's utilizing it in his normal form. More than that…there's something different about him–it's like he's in a trance," Asher explained.