Chapter 221: The Eldest Born and I are Basically Tied in a Standoff

But was I startling her too?

Had my casual displays of unbelievable power been making her heart race for reasons beyond pride?

That liar... she told me straight to my face that she had thousands of Elemental Stones when I managed to create the five I could back then.

She said it so casually, like it was no big deal.

But c’mon, I myself must be an idiot; how come there weren’t thousands of different elements in existence, but she claimed thousands of Elemental Stones? It never added up until now.

I’ll scold her properly when I get back.

Gently, of course, she deserves that much, but I need answers.

Anyway, it seems I can easily do stuff that even the strongest people in this world can’t even dream of attempting.

So maybe I should just shut up about it from now on.

I’ll keep my mouth closed and let people assume what they want.

Ren probably doesn’t blab his abilities around either—which would explain why Dynamis knows he did kill thousands of soldiers in mere minutes, but couldn’t tell at all exactly how he did it.

The fact that he did it was already amazing enough to spread like wildfire.

But if he explained the how—the mechanism, or the cheat code behind it—it might become a big deal in all the wrong ways.

People would dissect it, fear it, and try to replicate it or counter it. Better to let the legend stay vague, then.

And look at Isabelle’s cute attempt to shake off the doomsday news she just heard.

Her warm eyes were wide, cheeks flushed with a mix of lingering shock and determination, but she was clearly trying to rally herself.

[I thunk we sh-sh-should cammap with another plahn!] [Isa]

Her mental voice stuttered badly, the words tumbling over each other like she was forcing them out through a mental stutter.

[Hold up, Isabelle, are you alright?] [Rose]

Concern rippled through the link from Roselyn.

[Sh-shut up!] [Isa]

She snapped back, flustered, but there was no real bite to it; mostly just embarrassment and a desperate need to regain control.

But she truly seems to have another plan brewing, though, and judging by the way her posture straightened, it was something she’d been holding in reserve.

Ah, yeah, about my Elemental destructive ability that next to no one has ever had in recorded history? Mhm. It didn’t work on them titans the way I hoped.

Well, it did work sort of; they actually kinda died, bodies collapsing, golden glows flickering out like snuffed candles.

But the Eldest Born did something:

From her distant platform, a thick, crude oil-looking substance—black, viscous, and gleaming with an oily iridescence—flowed outward in an eerie spiraling manner.

It coiled through the air like grey smoke, spiraling down to the fallen six Borns and seeping into their dissolving forms.

The grey clay bubbled violently, pulling itself back together faster than before, limbs reforming with wet, grinding cracks.

And when they rose again, they were stronger; muscles more defined under the rippling skin, movements sharper, and their golden eyes burned with a weird, seething anger that hadn’t been there earlier.

Were they angry with me for hitting them?

The air around them felt heavier and more oppressive, like the parasitic essence had been concentrated and refined.

Their core might indeed be in the neck and chest; those were the spots that slowed regeneration the most.

But if we don’t kill the Eldest Born herself, it changes nothing.

She’s probably the source. She’s feeding them and resurrecting them, and upgrading them.

I think I’m the only one here who can even hope to fight her directly, but I won’t be able to hurt her if I do.

Anything I throw, whether magic, or fire, or even divine force, she’ll just devour it and grow stronger from.

So I’m idle for now, standing on the high vines with Isabelle.

I was watching but not engaging, because the fairies refuse to let me wade into the lesser titans swarm.

They’re still treating me like something fragile that needs protecting, even after everything?

And she’s not making a move herself either; so right now, the Eldest Born and I are basically tied in this weird standoff.

Though, if she advances, I’ll move to hold her back.

I pray she also can’t hurt me the way I can’t hurt her. Mutual immunity would at least keep things balanced.

Anyway, Isabelle was clearly planning something while Roselyn and the violet twins (Claire and Clay) began attacking the newly revived anomalous six again.

The battlefield had shifted into a grim rhythm: golden shockwaves from Roselyn, flashing blades from Claire, brutal club swings from Clay—all targeting necks and chests now, trying to exploit the weakness I’d pointed out.

But the revived Borns were faster and far more coordinated, their grey forms hardening defensively the instant a strike aimed too close to vital points.

"What is your plan now, Isabelle?" I asked her aloud, keeping my voice low amid the distant chaos.

"We can’t do much against the six Borns right now, since they’re too resilient, and the Eldest Born keeps reviving them stronger," she answered, her tone steadying as she forced herself back into commander mode. "But we could cleave off the rest of the small ones in the meantime. We could thin their numbers and buy time, and prevent more from spawning at the edges."

I looked toward the distant edges of the cliff, many distances away where the forest merged with the open plain, and realized she was right.

Fewer Children were emerging now.

The endless grey tide had slowed to a trickle; the spawning rate was dropping, perhaps because the Eldest Born was focusing her energy on resurrecting and empowering the six instead of aiding more fodder.

So what was the drill? What did she have in mind?

Isabelle answered before I could ask again, her voice gaining strength. "Apart from Clay and Claire, we also have another pair of siblings who have great power—even momentarily surpassing Clay’s in raw output when they synchronize."

"Ah, I know!" I smiled, thinking of the silver twins. "Tera and Tesa?"

"No, not them," Isabelle shrugged lightly, though her expression remained serious. "I’m referring to two young men."

Oh, men?

I haven’t seen... wait, I have seen some girls among the fairies who were biologically male, or something like that; subtle features, graceful builds, but seriously presenting as feminine.

Were these two more of those types?

I don’t think so, from the names Isabelle called. They sounded distinctly masculine.

[Zerubabel! Armageddon!]