CH610 All-Weapon Intent II
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Sword birthed Sword Intent.
Blade birthed Blade Intent.
Bow birthed Bow Intent...
Each weapon possessed its own Intentâ a mystical force born from a wielderâs dedication to their weapon.
A force that strengthened their mastery in ways that defied conventional understanding.
There was no singular path to awakening a Weapon Intent, each individual arrived at it through their own unique journey.
Yet those who succeeded were, without exception, extraordinaryâ for it was a recognition of their prowess.
Typically, one could only awaken a single Weapon Intent.
Though rare, some individuals âespecially those who had transcended mortality, Legends and aboveâ could possess multiple.
However, there existed one Intent that stood far beyond mere rarity.
To call it rare... would be an understatement.
All-Weapon Intent!
An all-encompassing manifestation of weapon mastery.
If the wielder held a swordâ it became Sword Intent.
A bladeâ blade Intent.
An axeâ axe Intent.
No matter the weapon, their Will would adapt, and their Intent would align.
A supreme force that allowed its user to impose their mastery upon any weapon they wielded.
And more importantly, the defining hallmark of a true Weapon Master.
Alexâs followers exchanged wry smiles.
Previously, they had been celebrating their own breakthroughsâ awakening their respective Intents through the Heaven-Earth Concordance trial.
They believed they had taken a step closer to their leader.
Yet now, that very same leader had returned, and overwhelmed them completely.
And as if that wasnât enoughâ
â...Heâs a mage!â
Their thoughts echoed in silent despair.
It wasnât that mages couldnât awaken Weapon Intent. After all, even a mage could wield a weapon.
But it was exceedingly rare.
Weapon Intent required dedication, time and an intimate understanding of the weapon itself.
Mages, by nature, devoted themselves to magic.
They studied, refined spells and practiced cast.
At most, they used weapons out of necessityâ to conserve mana or as a last resort.
To truly dedicate oneself to a weapon âto the point of achieving enlightenmentâ was something most mages would never consider.
And yet, here stood Alex.
A mage, who wielded multiple weapon types fluidly and naturally that he had reached a level of comprehension others could only describe as myth.
True Weapon Masters were already rare, even within Pangea.
But according to the legends surrounding themâ
âThe birth of a true Weapon Master... is heralded by a thousand weapons.â
The Pangeans looked at one another in awe.
A statement once dismissed as mere myth was unfolding before their very eyes.
Alex had made it real.
The weapons struggled to pay homage to the birth of a true Weapon Master.
Below, Alex seemed to have fallen into a trance.
His mind was emptyâ save for a single thought.
âHow to kill... as efficiently as possible.â
His movements grew tighter, sharper and more refined.
At the same time, the mana surrounding his weapons expanded âflowing seamlesslyâ perfectly mimicking the characteristics of each weapon archetype as his draconic baton shifted forms.
More and more corpses paved his path, leaving behind a trail of death.
His overwhelming presence quickly drew attention, from the truly dangerous berserk humansâ the unique Fourth Order berserk humans.
Nearly twenty of these uniquely evolved creatures turned toward him.
They abandoned their feeding, turning instead toward the walking mass of high-quality energy that was Alex.
The corpses of their kin littering the ground around him did not deter them. If anything, it only sharpened their hunger.
Seeing this, Alexâs wives and followers immediately realised they could no longer remain spectators.
And so they moved.
"Stay here. Be ready to retreat if necessary," Udara ordered.
The group surged down the mountainâ
Aiming to intercept the Fourth Order berserk humans before they could converge on Alex.
But, they werenât the fastest to act.
Neighâ!
A towering, obsidian-black warhorse burst through the horde, charging forward with unstoppable momentum, scattering berserk humans in its path.
Behind it, a direwolf surged through the opening it created.
While above it, a massive eagle swept across the battlefield, releasing razor-sharp energy beams that cleaved through the stronger berserk humans.
Alexâs three beast companions had arrived.
Together, they carved a path straight toward him.
[Flame Wave]!
Sensing Dreadâs presence, Alex unleashed a sweeping wave of fire âincinerating the nearest enemies and forcing the rest backward.
Without hesitation, he sprinted forward.
Using a berserk humanâs head as a stepping point, he launched himself high into the air.
Vaulting over the horde, before landing cleanly onto the saddle atop Dreadâs back.
"Letâs go," he commanded.
The nightmare steed surged forward.
Alexâs draconic baton extended, transforming into a lance, reinforced with condensed mana.
He lowered it, aligning the spearhead just ahead of Dreadâs chargeâ like a knight preparing to joust.
[Flare Brand]!
A dense concentration of solar mana gathered at the tip, sharpening its penetration to terrifying levels.
With the spell-enhanced lancehead and Dreadâs Class 3 speed, Man and mount became a living ballista bolt, tearing straight through the horde of berserk humans.
Behind and above them, Fen and Senu followed in perfect coordination, cutting down anything left in their wake.
Skreeâ!
Senuâs sharp cry rang out.
Alexâs wives and followers had managed to hold back several of the unique berserk humansâ
But not all.
Some were still advancing toward him.
Alexâs gaze shifted forward, locking onto a grotesque abomination.
A massively bloated berserk human trudged toward him.
Its form was swollen beyond recognition. Its skin stretched thin over a body teeming with unnatural vitality, showing traces of its likely evolution from a vitality-type berserk human.
As it moved, it casually grabbed weaker berserk humans, stuffing them into the single gaping orifice on its head and chewing them apart.
Each step it took left behind a trail of bubbling, acidic pus.
"Donât worry," Alex said calmly, as though responding to Senuâs warning. "I havenât forgotten about them."
He raised a finger, pointing to the sky.
High above, the massive spell formation of [Heavenâs Punishment], cast at the beginning of the battle, still surprisingly hovered...
Still gathering mana.
âThat should be enough.â
His eyes turned cold.
[Grade 8 Special Warfare Spell
Extinction Lightning Style â Heavenâs Fury]!
With a silent command to OmniRune, a colossal pillar of reddish-purple-black lightning descended from the heavens.
BOOM!!!
The strike obliterated everything in its path, kicking up a massive cloud of dust that swallowed the battlefield.
For a moment, nothing could be seen.
Then, the dust settled.
The weaker berserk humans were gone.
And even the grotesque vitality-type âwith all its regenerative prowessâ had been erased completely.
Not even a trace remained.
The overwhelming display of power sent a ripple of fear through the remaining unique berserk humans.
They hesitatedâ
Then turned to flee.
âNo... you donât.â
Drawing upon his vastly expanded mana reserves at the Elite rank âat least ten times greater than beforeâ Alex issued another command.
A second spell formation appearedâ
This time oriented vertically above him.
From it, beams of light shot out.
Each one precisely locking onto a retreating unique berserk human.
The beams struck true.
Yet, contrary to expectation, they caused no visible damage nor impact.
Instead, each beam condensed into a tiny, intricate glyph, imprinted silently onto its target, unnoticed by all.
Then, the spell formation hovering vertically above Alex flipped, turning horizontal as it rose to merge with the earlier formation still suspended in the sky.
The two formations fused into one.
At once, a massive surge of ambient mana was drawn into it.
[Grade 8 Great Warfare Spell â Heavenâs Judgement]!
The combined formation transformed, becoming a vast cloud brimming with multi-coloured lightning.
Moments laterâ
It descended.
Lightning after lightning struck down, mimicking the ferocity of Heavenly Tribulation itself.
No matter how far the unique berserk humans had fled, the bolts locked onto them, relentlessly and unerring, striking them down at blinding speed.
"Argh..." Alex clutched his chest.
A painful throb pulsed from his Mana Heart.
The rapid expenditure of mana had pushed it to its limits.
Yet, he did not regret it.
"The strikes wonât kill them!" he barked through the comms. "Finish them offânow!"
His command snapped the others into action.
His wives, his followers... all of them unleashed their strongest techniques, rushing to eliminate the surviving unique berserk humans.
Strangely, the lightning strikes had not been uniform.
Those who had fled the furthest were struck by the most powerful bolts and perished instantly.
Meanwhile, those closer to Alex and his party were struck by weaker variants.
Not enough to kill them, but more than enough to cripple.
This was no doubt a deliberate and calculated move on Alexâs part.
Zora, Udara, Fen, Senu, Havel, Mogal, Kavakan and Silverâ All moved swiftly, finishing off the incapacitated survivors.
Watching from above the mountain, the remaining Fortuna members âespecially the barbarians and orcsâ could no longer restrain themselves.
With roars of excitement, they charged down the mountain, joining the slaughter.
At this point, Alex did nothing further.
He remained seated atop Dread âenduring the lingering pain in his chestâ and watched as his party swept through the remaining berserk humans.
With Fen on the ground and Senu dominating the skies, there was no longer any need for him to act.
Nor could he, actually.
âI went too far and overdid it,â Alex admitted wryly.
Yet, as he glanced around, he saw the looks directed at him.
Awe, fear, reverence...
âIt was worth it.â He determined.
With that, the Fortuna party wiped out the berserk horde.
And in the process, eradicating a significant portion of the berserk human population roaming this region of the Wildlands.
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