Chapter 230: Wisdom Hunt VII

The frost energy gathering around Baraka grew denser with every passing second.

His enormous body began changing as well.

The muscles beneath his grey skin expanded, making his already massive frame even bulkier. His shoulders grew wider, his arms became thicker, and the blue frost veins running across his body began glowing brighter.

Crack!

The remaining pieces of his ice armour broke apart and were absorbed into his body. In their place, a new layer of frost energy formed around his muscles, resembling a thick layer of natural armour.

Kaiser watched the transformation carefully.

’So he has another phase.’

Baraka let out a deep roar.

The sound shook the entire chamber, causing several smaller ice pillars to collapse.

"Hahahaha! Now this is more like it!"

"The god of War is blessing me!!"

He tightened his grip around his battle axe. The weapon, which had already been covered in frost energy, began growing larger as more energy gathered around its blade.

Baraka took a step forward.

BOOM!

The frozen ground beneath his feet cracked.

His aura had increased considerably, and the pressure coming from his body was much stronger than before.

"Come! Let me see whether you can withstand my true strength!"

Before Kaiser could respond, Baraka disappeared from his position.

’Fast!’

Kaiser immediately moved to the side.

WHOOSH!

The enormous battle axe passed through the space where he had been standing. The force of the swing created a powerful wind pressure that sent several ice fragments flying.

Baraka didn’t stop after missing his target.

He turned around and swung again.

This time, the blade was covered in several layers of frost energy, and a crescent-shaped attack shot towards Kaiser.

"Frostland Battle Art: Mountain Cleaving Strike!"

Kaiser raised his hand.

A powerful vibration spread through the air, forming a shockwave in front of him.

BOOM!

The two attacks collided.

However, unlike before, the shockwave was pushed backwards almost immediately.

Kaiser’s expression changed slightly.

’His strength has increased quite a bit.’

He quickly shifted the vibrations within the incoming frost attack, weakening its structure. At the same time, he moved backwards to reduce the pressure.

The crescent-shaped attack finally broke apart before reaching him.

But Baraka was already approaching.

"Don’t lose focus!"

His enormous axe came down from above.

Kaiser crossed his arms in front of him and released another shockwave.

BOOOOOOM!

The collision sent him sliding several metres across the frozen ground.

His arms felt slightly numb from the impact.

’What tremendous physical strength!’

Baraka laughed as he raised his axe again.

"HAHAHA! Is that all you’ve got?"

Kaiser didn’t answer.

Instead, he glanced at Ripple.

"Ripple, attack him from behind!"

"Got it, Father!"

Ripple raised both hands.

Golden light gathered around him as dozens of spears appeared in the air.

"Fate King’s Arsenal!"

The spears immediately shot towards Baraka from behind.

However, the Orc Warlord didn’t even turn around.

He stomped his foot against the ground.

BOOM!

A massive wave of frost energy spread outwards, forming several thick ice walls behind him.

The golden spears crashed into the walls.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Most of them shattered, while the remaining spears managed to penetrate the ice but lost much of their momentum.

Baraka turned his head and looked at Ripple.

"Your golden weapons are troublesome, little one!"

Ripple puffed out his cheeks.

"I told you not to call me little!"

He waved his hand, and the remaining golden spears changed direction, circling around the ice walls before attacking from above.

Baraka raised his axe.

"Frostland Battle Art: Frozen Sword Wave!"

He swung his weapon horizontally.

Several overlapping blades of frost energy spread throughout the chamber, cutting through the incoming spears and forcing Ripple to move away.

Kaiser used that moment to approach.

He gathered vibrations around his right fist and compressed them into a small sphere.

Rather than releasing it immediately, he continued increasing its frequency and intensity.

The sphere trembled violently.

’Let’s see how much destructive power I can produce by compressing the vibrations further.’

Kaiser moved closer.

Baraka noticed him and immediately turned around.

"You’re getting too close!"

The Orc Warlord swung his axe down.

Kaiser tilted his body and narrowly avoided the blade.

At the same time, he thrust his right hand forward.

The vibrating sphere struck Baraka’s abdomen.

BOOOOOOM!

A powerful explosion erupted.

Baraka’s massive body was pushed backwards, and several cracks appeared across the frost armour covering his stomach.

However, he managed to remain standing.

He looked down at the damaged armour before raising his head.

"Interesting!"

He suddenly grabbed the damaged area of his abdomen.

The frost energy surrounding his body surged, and the cracks began closing.

Kaiser frowned slightly.

’His recovery has improved as well.’

Baraka didn’t give him time to think.

He raised his battle axe and slammed it into the ground.

"Frostland Battle Art: Frozen Grave!"

The ground beneath Kaiser suddenly erupted.

Numerous ice spikes emerged from below, attempting to pierce his body.

Kaiser immediately accelerated the vibrations of the surrounding ground.

The ice spikes began trembling violently.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Before they could reach him, they broke apart into countless fragments.

Kaiser raised his hand and controlled the fragments, sending them towards Baraka.

The Orc Warlord swung his axe and destroyed most of them.

However, several pieces struck his shoulders and legs.

They weren’t powerful enough to cause serious injuries, but they forced him to shift his stance.

Ripple took advantage of the opening.

"Father, look!"

The golden light around him became brighter.

This time, instead of summoning ordinary spears, Ripple gathered a large amount of energy into a single weapon.

A gigantic golden spear appeared above him.

It was considerably larger than the previous ones, and its surface was covered with complicated golden patterns.

Ripple pointed towards Baraka.

"Fate King’s Arsenal!"

The spear shot down.

Baraka immediately raised his axe to block it.

CLANG!

The collision produced a deafening sound.

The Orc Warlord’s feet sank into the frozen ground as he struggled to withstand the force.

Kaiser didn’t waste the opportunity.

He raised both hands and focused on the vibrations throughout Baraka’s body.

This time, he didn’t try to control the Orc Warlord directly. Instead, he targeted the frost energy forming his armour and the ground beneath his feet.

The vibrations within the armour increased rapidly.

At the same time, the vibrations of the frozen ground slowed down, causing a layer of Kaiser’s unusual ice to spread around Baraka’s legs.

The Orc Warlord’s movements became restricted.

His expression changed.

"Again?!"

Kaiser smiled.

"You’re not the only one who can use the environment to your advantage."

He moved his fingers.

The ice around Baraka’s legs expanded, while the frost armour covering his upper body began developing cracks.

Ripple pushed his golden spear forward.

BOOOOOOM!

The spear broke through the weakened armour and struck Baraka’s chest.

The Orc Warlord roared.

His enormous body staggered backwards, and the golden spear finally disappeared after releasing its remaining energy.

But Baraka didn’t fall.

Instead, he planted his battle axe into the ground and slowly straightened his body.

"Hahahaha! Excellent! This is the kind of battle I wanted!"

His body was now covered in wounds, and the frost energy surrounding him was becoming unstable.

Yet his fighting spirit hadn’t weakened.

He raised his head and looked directly at Kaiser.

"Now, witness the strongest battle art I have mastered!"

The frost energy throughout the chamber began gathering around his battle axe.

The remaining ice pillars cracked as their energy was pulled towards him. Even the frost covering the walls began disappearing.

Kaiser narrowed his eyes.

’He’s gathering all the energy in the battlefield into his weapon.’

Baraka raised his axe above his head.

A gigantic phantom began forming behind him, but this time it was different from the previous War God’s Judgement.

The phantom was much denser, and its enormous blade was surrounded by several layers of compressed frost energy.

"Frostland Battle Art: War God’s Judgement!"

The Orc Warlord roared as he brought his axe down.

The phantom followed his movement.

The entire chamber seemed to collapse beneath the pressure of the attack.

Kaiser immediately gathered vibrations around himself.

He created several vibrating spheres and positioned them in front of him. Each sphere contained a different frequency, and he continued adjusting them as the enormous phantom axe descended.

’First, disrupt its structure. Then, break through its energy.’

He raised both hands.

The spheres began releasing their vibrations simultaneously.

A massive shockwave spread through the chamber.

At the same time, Ripple summoned another formation of golden spears.

"Fate King’s Arsenal!"

The spears gathered together and formed a gigantic golden spear.

Kaiser glanced at Ripple.

"Now!"

Ripple immediately launched his attack.

The golden spear collided with the phantom axe.

BOOOOOOOOOOM!

A massive explosion shook the chamber.

The phantom axe slowed down, and several cracks appeared across its blade.

Kaiser increased the intensity of his vibrations.

The cracks spread rapidly.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

The enormous phantom finally shattered into countless fragments of frost energy.

However, the remaining force continued rushing towards them.

Kaiser immediately released another shockwave, while Ripple summoned several golden spears to intercept the fragments.

The combined attacks finally dispersed the remaining energy.

When the dust settled, Baraka was standing in the centre of the chamber.

His battle axe had developed several cracks, and the frost energy around his body was almost completely exhausted.

He looked down at his weapon.

For a moment, he remained silent.

Then he laughed.

"Hahaha... I see."

He raised his head and looked at Kaiser.

"You have defeated me."

Kaiser lowered his hands.

Ripple floated beside him with a proud expression.

"Father, we won!"

Kaiser smiled and nodded.

"Yes. You did well."

Baraka planted his damaged axe against the ground and slowly lowered himself onto one knee.

His enormous body was trembling from exhaustion.

"War God... I have fought until my strength was exhausted. I hope this battle was worthy of your name."

Kaiser watched him quietly.

He had gained quite a lot from this fight. Baraka’s battle arts, his use of environmental frost energy, and the way he combined physical strength with weapon mastery had given Kaiser several ideas.

More importantly, he had been able to test his own abilities against a powerful opponent without relying on his undead army.

He glanced at his hands.

’Minor Vibration Manipulation still has a lot of room for improvement.’

He had learned to create shockwaves, generate heat, lower temperatures, form unusual ice, and disrupt the structure of different materials. He had even managed to influence a living creature’s movements for a brief moment.

There were still many possibilities he hadn’t explored.

Kaiser looked back at Baraka.

"That was a good fight."