Chapter 52

Twenty thousand some gazes locked onto Elaine from above, hoping that the bomb caused as much damage to her as it did to the surrounding earth. Reality showed otherwise. The only visible wound on Elaine’s body was a few scorch marks. She was almost entirely unharmed.

Whispers came from the soldiers.

“What a monster….”

“Did she avoid the bomb somehow?”

“It seems like it.’

Yara spoke up after performing divination to quell the army's doubts, “The bomb was a success. It completely destroyed her Transcendent grade robe, Fabric of Moonlight. After the fight with Sloth, her equipment is all but gone.”

That was all Yara needed to say to raise the army’s morale. They had all seen the report of Elaine’s skills and equipment. The item Fabric of Moonlight broke all standards that the natives of the Innate Dimension had long accepted. That item alone would’ve blocked or reduced 99% of any damage Yara, Frod, Markus, Ska’dur, or anyone else could’ve caused.

But now it was gone.

The fight with Sloth reduced its durability by a good 60%, and the bomb did the rest. Yara found it regrettable. She knew how valuable Transcendent grade items were, especially more important ones like a robe. It had taken the Grandsky Realm over two thousand years to accumulate around 40 pieces of Transcendent grade gear, highlighting just how rare they really were. Yara felt heartache over the loss of such a valuable treasure, but she knew that the Fabric of Moonlight needed to go to defeat her main body.

“Hahahaha!” Crazed laughter came from below. Elaine clutched her stomach as her eyes hinted at madness. “Has the System forsaken me? After losing everything, now my clone comes to take my life?! Hahaha! Is this some sick joke? Huh? Answer me!”

Elaine raised the item in her hand, a sparkling grey gem. The core of the Innate Dimension. The Conceptual, Sin, and Element Dimension had fought for two thousand years to seize each other’s cores, resulting in millions of lives lost. Now Elaine held the fourth core in her hand. If she combined it with the cores of the other three dimensions, she would become the ruler of the Grandsky Realm.

Knowing all that, Elaine threw the core aside, raised her head to the sky, and let out a grief-filled scream. “System, hear me! For two thousand years, I have taken parents from their children, turned wives into widows, and orchestrated wars that resulted in rivers of blood, all to satisfy your quest. Your cruel, barbaric quest to find a supreme ruler. I say, no more!”

Elaine locked onto her clone, madness painting her visage. “Now! After I send this traitor to its death, watch as I slaughter every living thing in the Grandsky Realm. I wonder how you will find a ruler then, hahaha!”

Everyone aboard the Skyships felt chills when Elaine looked up at them. There was only a sense of nihility in her gaze. It was clear she had lost something crucial—the will to live.

But she would not go quietly.

Before she drew her last breath, the System would regret taking everything from her.

Colossal amounts of Mana suddenly gushed out from Elaine as Judgement manifested around her. Amorphous blobs of Mana grew atop each other until it formed a towering construct with six heads and twenty-four arms.

This Judgement was several times larger than Yara’s version, reaching almost four hundred feet high. Elaine had used the skill for far longer, resulting in a skill level that was almost 1000. Next, Elaine cast Arsenal, a Celestial grade skill, summoning temporary Ancient grade swords, spears, clubs, scimitars, and wands to arm Judgement.

The synergy between Judgement and Arsenal resulted in a terrifying construct built for war. But that wasn’t all – Elaine had one final move. Dragon Regalia made its appearance once more, except it covered Judgement from top to bottom. Compared to the scales Keith could conjure, the ones covering Judgment were the size of a fingernail.

During the few seconds Elaine took to power up, the twenty-five Skyships opened fire as they spread out. Concentrated bolts of Mana shot out from the barrels of 500 V9 Mana Bolt Gattling Guns, unleashing a hail of destruction. Each V9 Mana Bolt Gattling Gun could shoot five bolts a second, meaning 2,500 Mana Bolts attacked Elaine every second. The 500 L2 Sunfire Lasers activated as well, releasing a continuous beam of fire-attributed Mana.

Such attacks would rip a level 500 tank to shreds in seconds, but when the Mana Bolts made contact with the monstrous Judgment, they simply bounced off. Only the L2 Sunfire Lasers seemed to deal some damage, though it was negligible to someone at Level 982.

Yara made a signal during the initial barrage, prompting Frod, Catara, Markus, herself, and twenty thousand soldiers to jump off the Skyships. Everyone divided themselves as gravity took hold, forming ten groups. As they fell, Yara, Markus, Frod, Catara, and six other individuals withdrew a War Array and promptly activated it. Everyone with a subsidiary War Array on their person felt their strength leave them as a portion of their stats funneled into the holders of the primary War Arrays.

These War Arrays were the only reason the Innate Nation had a chance at besting Elaine. Otherwise, no matter how strong each person was individually, the most damage they could deal to Elaine was less than 100. However, with War Arrays, the many could channel their stats into one.

Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible for a million people to channel their power into one person and smack Elaine to death. The efficiency of the transfer depended on the quality of the War Array and the number of people involved.

In any case, when Elaine’s Judgement fully manifested, twenty thousand people landed on the ground as Yara, Markus, Frod, Catara, and the six other War Array recipients charged forward.

The greatest weakness of War Arrays was the source of its power: the people it drained stats from. As a veteran of numerous battles, Elaine no doubt knew this, so when she saw her enemy activate ten War Arrays, she ignored her clone and went for the kill.

In response to her will, the wand-wielding hand of Judgement pointed up and cast Meteor Shower, a Celestial grade skill. The sky above the twenty-thousand weakened soldiers instantly grew dark. Five flaming rocks the size of hills trailed through the sky.

“Quick! Erect the barriers!” A commander shouted with a pale face. He couldn’t believe how fast the meteors had arrived. Usually, Small Meteor took a few seconds to activate, yet Elaine instantly cast the upgraded version of the skill. That was an ultimate skill, damn it.

Right before the meteors landed, an absurdly thick barrier of Mana covered the army just in time. Elaine sneered at the sight. How could a group of level 500 weaklings possibly defend against her level 930 skill? Sure enough, the barrier caved inward, threatening to break at the slightest touch.

But it didn’t.

While the barrier trembled ominously, a seemingly infinite amount of Mana poured into the arrays powering the barrier, allowing it to hold on. The five meteors collapsed into rubble from the impact, covering the dome in debris.

Elaine quickly found the reason for her failure. In the center of the army were three contraptions that appeared eerily similar to the bomb that destroyed her Fabric of Moonlight. She could sense how they absorbed ungodly amounts of Mana from the atmosphere. What were those things?

Before she could figure it out, Yara, Markus, Frod, Catara, and six other powerful individuals arrived before her, emanating auras far beyond their level. The clash between Elaine and the Innate Nation had finally begun.