Chapter 654: Even Ascended Mana Isn’t Enough ( Bonus )

Thronebreaker Sequence was a three-stage skill that gradually opened the opponent’s defense with a shoulder strike, an elbow strike, and a final punch.

And now, Roderick had strengthened all these movements with Ascended Mana.

For a moment, Lian realized that he no longer had enough time to completely redirect the punch, so he lowered his left arm.

The collision happened.

BOOOOM!

The force of the strike passed through his forearm and pushed him several meters backward, the stone beneath his feet cracked, but Roderick gave him no time.

With [Tyrant’s Advance], he closed the distance again and threw another punch.

This time, Lian moved out of its path, but Roderick’s Ascended Mana had increased the speed of his attacks, and the next punch struck the young Vorhelm’s shoulder.

Then another strike came from the right.

Lian blocked both of them, but he noticed that Roderick was now much faster than he had been a few minutes earlier.

Well, things have finally become a little serious.

He decided to examine the paths of the attacks for a moment.

[True Sequence]

The mana flows became clearer.

He noticed that his enemy was consuming a considerable amount of mana to maintain the pressure field and strengthen his attacks.

And more importantly, when performing Thronebreaker Sequence, most of the energy moved from his right shoulder to his elbow and then to his fist.

’So if I interrupt the second movement, the third won’t have its full power.’

Roderick approached again, and their shoulders collided, but this time, Lian did not retreat.

Instead, he took half a step to the left and allowed the pressure to pass beside his body.

The young Ashen’s elbow rose, but before it could reach him, Lian grabbed his wrist, and at that same moment, the gravity beneath his opponent’s feet changed.

Roderick’s body became heavier for a fraction of a second.

The young Vorhelm used that opportunity, and in a fraction of a second, a huge ice claw covered his fist.

[Glacial Reaper Claw]

And his right fist struck Roderick’s stomach.

BAAANG!

He bent backward, but before he could fully regain his balance, another strike from Lian hit his face, and this time, Roderick could not completely block it.

His body was thrown several meters backward and rolled across the stones, and for several seconds, only the sound of his heavy breathing could be heard.

Then he placed his hand on the ground and slowly stood up, blood was running down from the corner of his mouth.

But what bothered him even more than the pain was Lian’s gaze.

Vorhelm was not even breathing heavily, as if this entire battle had only been an opportunity to test a few new skills.

Why?

Roderick clenched his teeth.

I’ve completed my Second Evolution.

I have Ascended Mana.

I have an evolved Four-Star Class.

Then why can’t I defeat him?

He thought about Lian’s level for a moment.

Thirty-one.

Only Level 31.

Once, this difference had been enough to make him feel that even fighting Lian was an insult to his position.

But now?

He had been forced to use Ascended Mana and his main skills, and he still had not achieved anything.

"Roderick, a piece of advice." Lian looked at him.

The young Ashen raised his head.

"What?"

"You’d better pay some attention to the condition of the ground before you use up all your mana."

Roderick frowned for a moment and then noticed the shaking beneath his feet, the cracks created by their previous strikes were slowly spreading.

But before either of them could move, the sound of breaking stone came from the depths.

CRAAAACK!

A large part of the western platform broke away, and the ground between them split open, while a huge column of hot steam rose into the air.

Lian immediately opened his wings, and at the same time, Two jumped from the northern platform and carried Rindo away from the collapsing area.

Roderick also used Ascended Mana to jump across the crack, but this time, instead of landing on the same platform as before, he landed on a more distant part of the southern path.

For a few moments, all three of them looked at each other from a great distance.

Then another shaking began.

This time, it was stronger, and the ancient pillars broke one after another, while part of the road fell into the cliff.

"I think our fight is over for now." Lian looked at Roderick.

"It’s not over yet, Vorhelm!" Roderick answered in a rough voice.

"Then I hope you don’t get buried under the rocks before next time." The young Vorhelm shrugged.

Then he moved his wings and flew toward Rindo’s platform.

Roderick watched his path for a moment, his fists were still clenched, but he could not cross the huge crack that was growing wider every moment, especially after consuming a considerable amount of mana.

He finally lowered his gaze, the blood on his knuckles had dried, and for several seconds, an image of their old battle appeared in his mind.

Lian at Level 23.

Himself at Level 39.

And a result he had never been able to forget.

Now he was Level 40, and he had also completed his Second Evolution.

But the result? Once again, that same feeling of humiliation.

He slowly breathed out, and then a faint sound came from the depths of the crack.

He turned his head, for a moment, his gaze remained fixed on the darkness below, and without even realizing it, he took a step toward the edge.

It was as if something down there was calling him.

But just before taking a second step, he shook his head.

"What am I doing?" He whispered in disbelief.

He looked at the crack for several seconds, then frowned and moved away from it.

Deep underground, something remained silent.

When Lian reached the northern platform, Rindo had already climbed down from Two’s back.

He was looking at the new crack from a short distance away; a crack that had divided their previous path into two completely separate sections.

"Did you really have to fight each other right here?" Rindo asked as Lian approached.

"I just wanted to talk to him."

"And the result was the road splitting in half?"

"Well, the second part was the ground’s fault, anyway, Roderick isn’t exactly in his right mind."

Rindo looked at him for a moment and then sighed, but he had also realized that something was wrong with Roderick.

Even so, they were not in a position to do anything about it.

Lian looked toward the horizon for a moment.

The ground was still shaking farther away, and red steam was rising from the cracks.

The paths used by the Withered had also become more crowded compared to the previous day.

The closer they got to the center, the more mutated creatures they saw moving toward the same area from different directions.

"We need to gather as much information as possible before the next Judgment." He said quietly.

Rindo looked at him.

"You still want to get closer to the center?"

"Yeah. But through another route."

Vorhelm pointed toward the huge crack between them and their previous path.

"We don’t have a way back for now, so we’d better make use of the time we have left."

Rindo thought for several seconds and then nodded.

"Alright."

They continued traveling through the more stable paths for several hours and finally stopped on one of the higher platforms.

Two lay down near the edge of the platform, but even while resting, its ears continued moving toward the sounds around them.

Lian recovered part of the mana he had consumed, and Rindo also rested to reduce the strain on his hand.

Even so, neither of them slept deeply, every now and then, the sound of stones breaking could be heard from more distant areas.

And above all of them, the Hollow Sun continued to shine.

During the early hours of the fifth day, the condition of the land changed again, but this time, the changes were not limited to the expansion of a few cracks.

As Lian and Rindo traveled through a rocky area with Two, they noticed several groups of Withered moving toward a wide plain from different paths.

At first, there were only a few dozen creatures, but the farther they moved, the more groups appeared.

Some came out of the cracks, others crossed old and partly collapsed paths, and several dragged themselves across the stones with their damaged limbs.

Rindo looked at the plain for a moment.

"There are a lot more of them now."

"Yeah." Lian nodded.

He examined several information windows.

[Race: The Withered]

[Rank: Mutated]

[Level: 43]

The next creature was Level 47, and the third creature he examined was.

[Level: 52]

He narrowed his eyes.

’So stronger creatures are coming out from underground too.’

But what was more important was that they did not all behave the same way.

Most of the Withered continued moving toward the center without paying attention to their surroundings, even so, there were groups of aggressive creatures among them that attacked as soon as they saw any living being.

These groups sometimes even fought against their own kind.

Lian decided to change their route slightly so they would not have to pass through the largest gathering.