Tearing The Sky

Samael struck the Forest Master's head.

Gilgamesh was attempting to split his entire body down the middle.

However, despite the fact that the sword was coated in both the nature of the Old Power and Gilgamesh's inherent nature, the Forest Master's true energy managed to stave off the fatal wound.

Instead, his forehead received a large cut and he cried out as he made a hasty retreat

"AIEEE!!!"

Gilgamesh hovered in the air where the Forest Master had been, a slightly impressed look on his face.

"I was wholeheartedly trying to kill you there, but you survived. Your cultivation base must be extraordinarily high."

The Forest Master's aura was released in its entirety, and it immediately became impossible for anyone below the Embryonic Soul stage to remain unaffected.

All throughout the sect, disciples were falling to their knees or directly kowtowing to him.

Only Little Feather, who was staring at the back of her Big Brother, felt no such urge. In her eyes, all one could see was unconditional confidence in Gilgamesh.

"Beat him up, Big Brother!"

As for the other disciples, they were unable to stare directly at the Forest Master without becoming worshiful.

In their eyes, reverence was the only thing they could communicate.

To them, just judging by the Forest Master's unfathomable aura, he was absolutely at the peak of power in all the world.

This was power that, without a doubt, stood at the top! This was the power of the Forest Master!

Feeling this aura, Gilgamesh slowly adjusted to it.

'This aura has already surpassed what the Heavenly Master unleashed. It seems as though heavenly immortals are severely weakened if they're unable to use the nature of heaven.'

Gilgamesh realized that, if the Heavenly Master hadn't been restricted to fighting without his powerful true energy nature, his aura could have possibly matched the Forest Master's at this moment.

In response to the Forest Master, the entire sky covering the Forest Nation underwent a drastic change.

The moons and stars rippled like chaotic water, and the clouds scattered. The entire sky started to swirl like a hurricane, and a vortex of natural energy began to form.

The sky was reflected the Forest Master's battle-ready condition.

Gilgamesh watched it all happen with a placid expression. He was not impressed, nor was he the slightest bit uneasy.

He levitated in the air, not even realizing that he shouldn't be able to on his own.

The Forest Master noticed, and he immediately pointed it out.

"You are only at the Condensation stage. How is it that you are capable of flying?" The Forest Master asked.

Gilgamesh looked around him, only then realizing what he was doing. After all, he couldn't be aware of his subconscious thought.

Even so, that would not stop him from acting like it was all part of his plan.

"I'm flying because I want to, therefore, I can only become capable of flying.."

Once he was finished speaking, Gilgamesh's body blurred again.

He arrived behind the Forest Master this time, and chopped toward his waist with devastating power.

However, the Forest Master was no slouch. His cultivation base had long left the Embryonic Soul stage in the dust, and he had even surpassed the realm after that!

He was a top-tier expert, and his experience was profoundly rich. He had battled through the world, and even ventured to another world and faced the experts there.

Still, Gilgamesh's experience was far, far richer! In front of him, the Forest Master's experience could not give him an edge.

His only edge, was his cultivation.

The Forest Master evaded Gilgamesh's sword with an unorthodox method of teleportation, causing his body to explode into a mass of autumn leaves.

Gilgamesh's eyes scoured the area rapidly; his divine sense worked overtime to pick up the smallest hint of movement.

He quickly detected a minuscule change in his surroundings and he swung his sword behind him, looking as though he was attacking in a random direction.

Clang!

In a collision that instantly caused a tear in space, Samael struck a strange wooden staff before being pushed back with relative ease.

Gilgamesh's defense had almost instantly fell apart.

He almost lost his grip on the sword as he was forced to fly backward, and his eyes suddenly widened in surprise.

The Forest Master followed up that surprise attack with a ruthless move, teleporting over and thrusting his staff into Gilgamesh's stomach.

Gilgamesh, barely able to arrest his momentum, did his utmost to defend against this attack, but he was a second too late to stop it.

Luckily, he was able to change the staff's trajectory with his sword, and thus managed to narrowly evade the attack.

After that exchange, the Forest Master stopped pressing his advantage and hovered in place.

With a thought, the wind- no, space itself- was forced to keep Gilgamesh in place, and he came to an abrupt halt.

Because it was so sudden, his body jerked and a trickle of blood ran down from his mouth.

They stared at each other for a few seconds, with nothing but their auras to denote that the battle was not yet over.

All watched on in complete and total silence.

Little Feather smiled as she watched Gilgamesh's battle, and fervent admiration sparkled in them.

"So cool! My Big Brother is so cool!"

The Guardians atop the Tower were taken aback.

They knew that if they were to receive such an attack from their Master, they would have instantly lost the fight.

"This kid... No, Gilgamesh... He is a different kind of monster." Flower Guardian breathed, and the others nodded their heads.

Suddenly, a large, pot-bellied Guardian stepped forward from amongst the others, sucking obnoxiously on the bone of a turkey leg.

The large Fatty Guardian suddenly took the bone out of his mouth and said, "His cultivation alone is exquisite, but that isn't enough to make up for the gap. Even with an exceptionally powerful true energy nature, he shouldn't be this insanely overpowered."

The sage-like Guardian nodded. "It must be his inherent nature. It is incredible, as is his soul."

Dragon Guardian was drooling, and her knees knocked together as she almost buckled and fell. There was a wet spot on her undergarments, and she had to continuously pulled her skin-tight dress down to hide it.

"I sense it too," she said as her eyes glittered, her human pupils morphing into inhuman slits.

"When that aura was released, I could see small soul fluctuations coming from within his body. Therefore, it must be his inherent nature."

"His power... It is not something that can be accurately judged by us mortals." The sage-like Guardian sighed.

They all continued watching, no longer daring to underestimate Gilgamesh.

With his actions thus far, he had proven that he was far stronger than they were.

"Your inherent nature- I'm guessing- is obscenely broken. I'm jealous." The Forest Master frowned, looking envious.

Gilgamesh looked at his sword hand and saw that his skin had ruptured from the impact, and his frown deepened.

"However, it doesn't seem capable of throughly suppressing this kind of power. Thus, it cannot efficiently bridge the cultivation gap."

"If your opponent engages you with even more raw power than I just did, what will you do?" The Forest Master posed this question probingly, as though his decisions were hinging on whatever Gilgamesh had to say.

Gilgamesh suddenly exhaled and his frown flipped into a smirk. As he wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, he laughed.

"What will I do? Hmph! That's simple."

Gilgamesh vanished once again, seemingly about to employ a similar method of attack.

"Foolish," the sage-like Guardian shook his head.

"He should know that even with his power, he can't defeat my handsome Master," Flower Guardian folded his arms, staring at the Forest Master with adoration.

They were waiting to see him defeat Gilgamesh, but Dragon Guardian was still wearing an ecstatic expression.

Perhaps Little Feather and Dragon Guardian were the only ones who were rooting for Gilgamesh right now.

As for Wyg and Law, who knew where they were at this time?

The Forest Master patiently waited to receive Gilgamesh attack with his staff, but his eyes widened all of a sudden.

Behind him, Gilgamesh had already gathered a large amount of power, then forcibly fused it with his sword.

The seeds of the Old Power, the Obscure Spark, Truth's Mind and the Endless Cycle within him were all acting together, directed by the power of Gilgamesh's inherent nature.

All of that power gathered along Samael's blade, and a sound like the breaking of a shackle echoed outward, coming from the sword itself.

Ignoring it, Gilgamesh roared and swung his blade. As he did so, the crimson color of his eyes darkened as its glow was slightly diminished.

"What I'll do, is kill them!"

A stream of energies emerged from his sword, creating an arc of light that eradicated space and time, reaching the Forest Master before Gilgamesh had even completely moved.

This attack had actually broken the barrier of time, and travelled a few seconds into the past!

The Forest Master barely had time to ready his staff, and he unleased a roar in return.

Even though the attack was impossibly fast, he was still able to attempt a counter.

"Way of the Forest, 1,000,000,000 Trees!"

Their clash created a tear in space that exposed the sky to the gaping maw of the void.

In that instant, blood splashed and scattered in the air!

The Guardians all sucked in a breath, involuntary leaning forward to get their first glimpse at who had come out on top in that clash.