People were unaware that it was their own very God who had caused this to happen to them, despite the fact that he himself was not yet aware of it.
Only James had the power to barely stand up, but he didnât do so as he was still reminiscing about the memory of turning into dust by this lord.
The terrifying pressure he felt from the distanceâJames thought it must be Godâs doing. He called this his own world; none could run amok here other than he himself.
He knew his master well.
At a distance of hundreds of meters away from themâ
A place far away, chosen by his calculation. From then on, none of the people would have a direct effect on them once he used his transcendent rank technique.
The transcendent rank Rajin was on. Lightning mana surged inside him in a distinct pathway masterfully, as if the ball had been trailing down a marked path.
Bolts of golden lightning danced inside his body, tracing his limbs like living tattoos. His muscles tensed with unnatural precision, humming with energy that made the air ripple around him.
Smooth and seamless.
A mark of a golden lightning bolt in between his templesâthe proof formed.
That wasnât all. His transcendental rank, Mana Body Enhancement, was also working together with Rajinâs Descent.
Every single inch of skin, muscles, bones, tendons, blood, and even cells had been enhanced by his purified manaâmana that was refined to a degree none could even imagine, even in the middle domain.
It was truly an achievement.
He was brimming with endless power.
Air trembled just by his presence alone; the grass beneath his feet had already been obliterated.
Yet Leon felt different than how he normally did in this state.
Because the holy energy gathered over his body, which he had yet to learn to control, was making him feel stronger than before.
He realized how powerful this Element of God was going to be.
The holy energy curled through his veins like molten lightâunstable, pure, and almost sentient. His muscles responded eagerly, but a faint pressure pressed behind his eyes, reminding him that power without mastery was still a danger.
Enhancing his power even in his stronger formâthe effect was only about 5% now when he had no speck of control over the element.
But a smile couldnât help but appear on his face, knowing that when he learned to naturally control his uncontrolled holy power, the limit of his enhancement wouldnât just stop at 5%.
He couldnât imagine how strong he might be then.
The ground beneath him cracked as a streak of light followed in a netâblinding speed and vanished in less than a tenth of a millisecond.
Leon appeared even farther than beforeâ
A distance that could be said to be more than a kilometer away from where the rest of the people were.
As he was gone, the people still felt a terrifying presence in the distance, which was a cause of fear and concern.
But now it had no different effect on their bodies like before, which had made them slam down to their knees whether they liked it or not.
It was absolute commandânot a choice of will.
Gone, but its remnants of the tale remained etched into their memoryâ
Which would pale in comparison to what they were about to witness today.
Leon, with a calm expression on his face, brought one of his feet above the ground, which had no grass left for meters around him just by sheer presence.
James, who had mowed the grass by eating it for days, had already been defeated.
Letâs get this over with.
With one swift motion, he brought his foot down on the ground with full force.
BOOOOMMM!!!!
Land far and wide caved in like it was made of delicate rubber, which only needed a light touch to react.
Which couldnât be far from the truth, as it was a solid, hard ground, but it was moving like rubber being broken down, turned into dust, and being compressed by the sheer monstrosity of force he had generated by the stomp of his foot.
It made a deep, gaping crater that started to form in the solid ground, which stretched like the bounce of a rubberâ
The shockwave screamed outward, flattening ground in its wake. Dust and chunks of earth shot into the air before falling like ash. Distant solid ground ridge cracked, echoing the devastation.
This did not stop until it reached a length which could be said to be as far as he can see, with his naked eyes. The depthâit was just darkness when one looked down.
Even Leon felt this was something, as a 5% increase in peak form was not smallâmuch better than he had anticipated.
He wasnât using his wind affinity, even when, for a moment, he floated above the massive crater, as all this happened in just a few secondsâgravity couldnât even make his fall.
Suddenly, he felt somethingâ
Something that made his expression turn serious.
It was a signal from both of his slaves, Mia and Jamesâa call for help. Not by words, yet comprehended through their emotions.
And the sudden spike in the holy energy around him told him that something had made them pray even more.
He knew he was the very cause of their desperation.
And he would also be their salvation.
The rank of both his techniques fell to one level by his will, reaching Grandmaster level, yet the increase in boost of overall strength had now reached 10% from the holy powerâs sudden boost.
Lightning and windâboth of them bent to his will as his figure left a trail when he was moving to their location at full speed.
The sky tore open with a shriek of thunderous shockwave. It felt as if Leonâs form split through space itself. A spiraling trail of light marked his path.
He could have arrived there in a second with the current boost in his full strength, but at what cost? If the people would just burst and die from his sheer presence, what would even be the point of his trying to save them?
---
Inside the still prison where time had long lost meaning, her eyesâonce dim with eternal boredomânow sparked with hunger.
It had been years.
She couldnât remember how many millions of years it had been since the last time she had done this.
Stopping herself from doing this was a choice of her own.
Yet now her curiosity, which burned like literal fire, made her attempt this again.
It might come at a costâwhich she was prepared for, as with her strength, mastery, and vast knowledge, she believed she could bear the cost with a thousand-year retreat.
A price she could pay to see the future of one who was going to be her future master.
Noâshe couldnât just call him that.
It was something greater.
Greater than she had imagined.
Years of her focus and energy just trying to get a glimpse of his future.
This had never happened to her before.
Suddenly.
Her eyes widened in shock as she glimpsed somethingâ
Something that made even her, an ancient being, tremble.
One who had faced the Keeper of the Dimension and survived.
Not because of mercy, but because he couldnât kill her, and was left with no choice but to cage her in this prison.