Chapter 400: Testing the Formation

"Lord Ardent, three days ago I praised Fivefold Heaven for keeping its word. A promise worth more than gold." Cassian smiled. "Your conduct since then has been disappointing."

He had no intention of losing a war of words.

"I thought an upper Human Realm would have some shame. Apparently, I underestimated how greedy people can be."

A trace of killing intent flashed through Evander’s eyes.

The Covenant’s actions might be difficult to defend, but that did not give some Lord from a lower Realm the right to judge them. Not even Humanity’s Paragon.

Still, he knew he had little to gain from arguing the point.

"What’s done is done. If you had defended the Temple when we arrived, you might have caused us some trouble. Now..."

He gave a thin smile.

"You can see the capture progress, can’t you? Then you should understand that the Temple is already ours. Withdraw before you waste your troops’ lives."

"Now you’ve made me want to try," Cassian said. "Besides, the speed of your takeover is rather reassuring."

Reassuring?

Evander stared at him, then understood.

Cassian was mocking how slowly they were taking control.

Near the Temple’s energy orb, Ilyse could no longer contain herself.

"The Elemental Covenant is not yours to insult! You deserve to die for that!"

Her concentration faltered as she spoke. For an instant, the spell she was maintaining nearly broke.

Two days of work almost came to nothing.

Evander’s expression changed.

"Focus! Shut everything else out!"

Cassian watched closely.

So those five really were the key.

"Nine," he said quietly. "Time to work."

She had flown back into the sealed battlefield the previous day. With the enemy army already in flight, Cassian had given her a day off for protecting him.

At that moment, she was in her human form, wearing sunglasses and sunning herself on the Skyreaver’s deck.

His call brought her upright at once.

"Coming, my lord!"

She sprang into the air. Her crystal body expanded, flowing into the enormous Dragon form he knew so well. Then she flew beneath his feet and waited obediently.

"Nine’s alive!"

Cheers burst from Divine Nation’s Lords.

Evander raised an eyebrow. Then he sneered.

"Alive or dead, what difference does it make? Void Sanctuary is a fine skill. Against the Five Elements Cycle Array, it means very little."

Beside Darian, Maren’s expression changed at the name.

"Lord Cassian, that formation stands a full grade above the Five Elements Formation I used. It combines offense and defense, and its defenses activate automatically."

Cassian gave a slight nod.

Maren’s formation had held the Divines from Brahma for two hours during the Legion Contest, buying him the time he needed. A formation stronger than that would indeed be troublesome.

"Nine. Attack."

He wanted to see what it could do.

"Yes, my lord!"

Her wings moved lightly.

Ten thousand meters above the sea, black holes began opening around the Temple’s summit. They surrounded the space occupied by the energy orb.

And by the five Elemental Root Lords.

Kill those five, and the Covenant’s plan to seize the Temple would collapse with them.

Void Sanctuary took hold. The terrible pull distorted the space for ten kilometers around the summit.

Evander merely smiled.

The attack triggered the formation’s defenses.

Every ship flared with light. A thick, earth-yellow barrier appeared out of empty air, enclosing the entire fleet and the Temple within it.

One black hole brushed its surface.

Black and yellow power ground against each other. Space splintered around the point of contact.

Nearly a hundred black holes pressed and swept across the defense. All they produced were faint ripples. Within the barrier, nothing stirred. A mocking smile touched Ilyse’s lips.

"What a defense..."

Divine Nation’s Lords stared in dismay.

This was only the formation. Reports said the weakest troops in the Covenant’s army were Epic, and that it had several Mythics as well.

Even if they managed to recover the Temple, what would it cost them?

Eyes turned toward Cassian, waiting for his decision.

He was studying the barrier more closely than any of them.

"It adjusts the strength of each section to match the attack. No wonder this formation is famous in the upper Realms."

He could sense enormous reserves flowing from the ten thousand ships toward the top of the barrier, meeting the pressure of Nine’s black holes.

"And this probably isn’t close to its full output."

It reminded him of the Bloodmaw Court. More than a thousand Domains had joined their Barriers into one great defense there. The principle looked similar, though the Covenant’s formation was far more flexible.

Evander’s voice carried across the gap.

"So that’s all the famous Void Sanctuary can do? Disappointing. Now let’s see how you receive an attack."

Before he finished speaking, a blade of condensed Metal energy formed within the array.

It was a kilometer long.

The blade flashed across tens of kilometers and fell toward Nine’s head.

Offense and defense in one formation. Worse, the attack seemed able to track its target. Nine tried to evade several times, but the sword energy followed every movement.

Cassian had prepared for that.

Aurelia flashed between Nine and the descending blade. She had fought beside the Crystal Dragon too often to need another warning.

Folded Sky Ward spread around her.

The impact rang across the sky.

The Metal blade shattered. Aurelia’s ward flickered violently, then steadied at once.

She had not retreated so much as half a step.

Her defense had once stood at Lesser Perfection. Since then, she had followed Cassian’s direction, concentrating her training and the Epiphanies from Enlightenment Tea on it. Recently, she had reached Greater Perfection. A fresh leaf’s first infusion had carried the skill to Transcendence.

With Space Will at Mastery reinforcing it, Folded Sky Ward could withstand a Mythic strike.

Sharp gasps sounded across the opposing fleet.

This time, the shocked Lords belonged to the Covenant.

Evander’s eyes widened.

"That Angel’s greatest strength isn’t her attack. It’s her defense!"

The blade he had just released had enough power to cripple an ordinary Mythic troop, perhaps even kill one outright.

She had stopped it with ease.

He could scarcely believe it.

At full output, he was confident the formation’s Metal blade could still kill her. But committing that much power to an attack would leave weaknesses in the defensive barrier. Cassian might seize that opening and interrupt the takeover.

The formation could only channel so much power at once. Strengthen one part, and another had to give.

Cassian had been testing him. He had been testing Cassian too.

Killing the freshly restored Dragon with one strike would have devastated Divine Nation’s morale. It might even have won the confrontation without a battle.

Instead, the exchange had fallen well short of his hopes.

Even that one Angel Hero would be difficult to deal with.