novelraw Chapter 355 - 356: A Critical Situation
Chapter 355 - 356: A Critical Situation
Aster Grant’s consciousness manifestation struggled to coalesce in this fragmented, gray world.
Beneath his feet lay the withered and shattered earth, the sky was riddled with cracks, and the air was filled with chaotic breaths.
Every breath seemed to bring a heavy sense of oppression.
As soon as his consciousness stabilized, Aster Grant’s gaze locked onto the Life Ancient Tree in the distance.
At its roots, a figure was curled up, emitting a faint green glow.
"Vera!"
He transformed his thoughts into a wave of spiritual power, attempting to awaken that figure.
However.
It was like a stone sinking into the sea!
The curled-up figure remained motionless, as if her consciousness had completely sunk.
Seeing this, Aster Grant’s heart sank.
The Swarm King’s Will’s erosion was more terrifying than expected, not only polluting Vera’s power.
But also completely sealing and isolating her self-awareness.
It was at this moment...
As if aware of an intruder, the surrounding world began to collapse faster.
BOOM—!
A tremendous noise of unbearable weight resounded across the sky, the cracks spread further, fragments crumbled and turned to nothingness.
The ground shook violently beneath his feet, and pieces crumbled away.
At the center of the world, the Ancient Tree that symbolized the source of life, withered and decayed at a speed visible to the eye, its bark peeling, its branches and leaves turning to ashes.
And the dim light that Vera’s body emitted became even more faint.
This meant that the erosion of the Swarm King’s Will was nearing completion.
Once Vera’s essential consciousness was completely polluted and devoured, that familiar Vera...
Would disappear forever!
And never return!
"I must hurry up!"
Since calling to Vera from a distance was ineffective.
Then he would try approaching!
Aster Grant hesitated no longer, stepped forward, and headed straight under the ancient tree.
However, just as he moved, a sudden change occurred!
"Hiss—!"
The dark red energy that permeated around him boiled like startled venomous snakes.
Converging into several energy tentacles with sharp screeches, they fiercely whipped and coiled towards Aster’s consciousness!
At the same time, some of the dark purple Swarm King tendrils clinging to the ancient tree also disintegrated...
They shot out like arrows, with a nauseating stickiness and icy spiritual pollution, directly at Aster!
These attacks not only contained a powerful energy impact...
But the most lethal was the intense spiritual erosion that accompanied them!
Frantically attempting to penetrate Aster’s consciousness, polluting and disintegrating his existence.
Aster’s heart tightened, and he immediately concentrated all his spiritual power to construct a defense.
But in this Psychescape belonging to Vera, the power his consciousness could unleash was severely limited.
The hastily formed spiritual shield flickered violently under these attacks, teetering on the edge of collapse.
A cold, chaotic impulse, like an ice awl, continued to impact his consciousness, bringing waves of dizziness and nausea.
Aster’s heart kept sinking!
Trouble!
If this continued...
Forget awakening Vera, even I might be trapped here!
As a spiritual body, many of Aster’s means were completely unusable.
Moreover, Beast Tamers were not inherently skilled in single combat.
Yet, at this critical juncture, a sudden inspiration flashed.
He remembered a method.
That was the Emperor’s Domain!
This domain had a special function.
It could intimidate all creatures.
Previously, Scarlett was able to obtain the Ghost Race’s Divine Pattern, and the Emperor’s Domain played an incredibly important role.
And now...
Would the Emperor’s Might still be effective against the Swarm King’s Will?
Aster steeled his heart; now he could only gamble.
"Emperor’s Might!"
Aster focused his intent on the domain.
In an instant, an indescribable invisible fluctuation quietly spread out from him as the center.
This wave wasn’t intense, yet it carried an undeniable majesty.
Like dawn dispelling the mist, or the sun shining upon snow, containing an aura of utmost righteousness.
A miracle happened!
When the wave imbued with the "Emperor’s Might" essence touched those dark red energy tentacles and Swarm King tendrils, they seemed to have encountered their natural nemesis.
Their attack movements instantly became sluggish and distorted, and a slight hissing sound emitted from their surfaces, with thin black smoke rising, as if being purified!
The cold impulse trying to erode Aster’s consciousness withdrew sharply as if scalded!
It’s effective!
The Emperor’s Might indeed has extraordinary effectiveness against such spiritual pollution and foreign wills!
Aster’s spirits lifted.
He immediately maintained this "Emperor’s Might" state and stepped forward toward the Life Ancient Tree.
Wherever he passed, the dark red energy and Swarm King tendrils, though still restless, hissing threateningly.
No longer dared to pounce on him recklessly, only forming a dangerous vacuum zone around him.
Finally, Aster bypassed numerous obstacles and reached beneath the massive Life Ancient Tree, standing before the curled-up figure.
At this close distance, he could feel more acutely how dire Vera’s state was at this moment.
Her essential consciousness was extremely dim.
Her form was blurred, tightly bound by countless dark red chains.
The chains were even like roots, penetrating her spiritual body, continuously extracting nutrients and injecting polluting impulses.
"Vera, I’m here."
Aster called gently, simultaneously surrounding Vera with spiritual power imbued with the essence of Emperor’s Might, like a warm glow.
Under the Emperor’s Might, the dark red chains tightly binding Vera seemed somewhat suppressed, slightly loosening.
The curled-up Vera, her body almost imperceptibly, lightly trembled.
There is a reaction!
Hope rose in Aster’s heart, and he continued calling out:
"Vera, can you hear me? Look at me, I’m Aster."
However, nothing more happened.
Vera did not wake as expected, only tremored slightly more visibly.
As if in a never-ending nightmare, she heard a call, yet was powerless to break free from its grip.
...
On the other side.
The situation outside had become extremely dangerous!
In the sky above Kratosium, Lazuli’s condition deteriorated to the extreme.
After exhausting all her strength to create an opportunity for Aster’s approach, her power was almost completely depleted.
Although Vera appeared to stall briefly from Aster’s sudden proximity and embrace.
This pause did not bring improvement...
Instead, it was like a drop of cold water in a boiling oil pan, causing a more violent explosion!
"Ah—!"
Vera abruptly let out a piercingly sharp howl, completely unlike her original voice.
The dark red energy around her erupted and went rampantly out of control like a tsunami!
With greater intensity and coarseness, dark red vines with sharp barbs like a witch’s braids whipped madly at Lazuli!
Simultaneously, more Void cracks appeared irregularly, swallowing everything around!
"Poof!"
Already at her limit, Lazuli could no longer fully fend off this intensified, frenzied attack.
A Void crack sliced past her shoulder, trailing a streak of blood, while several vines fiercely struck her Guardian Light Shield.
The tremendous force sweetened her throat with a metallic taste, and she couldn’t hold back a spurt of fresh blood.
Her body flew backward like a kite with its string cut, the Sword of Destruction in her hand flickering uncertainly.
...
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