Book 3: Chapter 24 – The Return of Fire Fist Ace

Shelia and her followers all stared intently at Ace. Though it was rare, this wasn't the first time they had used a Divine Boon to take control of someone. Normally after being hit by the Divine Boon, the target would be marked with the Sovereign's insignia as their bodies gradually floated back towards the ground.

But not only was there no insignia forming on Ace's body, but the boy was still floating in mid-air, indifferently staring directly into Shelia's eyes.

No one understood what was happening, but it gave them a sense of foreboding. Especially as they watched the black aura being emitted from inside Ace's body slowly fade.

How could they know that Ace's soul was being protected by a barrier and that as the barrier and Sovereign's energy clashed, both seemingly indomitable powers would begin to weaken?

As soon as Ace's soul opened its eyes, the eyes of Shelia and the rest of her subordinates widened in disbelief.

"What's going on?!" Shelia asked in shock as she sensed the essence of nature, or more specifically, the fire essence in the surrounding area, surge into the boy still floating in the centre of the room.

They were so shocked by the sudden turn of events that they didn't even realise Ace had lost consciousness.

Inside Ace's soul space, the divine energy that was attempting to gain control over his soul was being rapidly consumed. On one side, it was still clashing against the remaining power of the barrier, and on the other side, the crimson motes of light that had entered his body from the outside world began to burn the dark energy in an attempt to enter Ace's soul.

After almost 60 seconds, the dark, divine sovereign's power was finally dissolved, and the black light emitted from Ace's body disappeared, but his soul had no intention of letting things end just like that.

The barrier tried to envelop Ace's soul once more, but it was nowhere near as strong as it had been previously. Sensing that weakness, Ace's ethereal, spiritual body raised its transparent hand, and as it did, the devouring force that worked to absorb the fire essence multiplied in power.

And just like that, the barrier keeping Ace from sensing the natural laws had been absorbed, and Ace's spirit body became completely corporeal in nature, but that wasn't the end of Ace's transformation.

With Ace's soul now saturated, it closed its eyes, and as it did, the fire essence entering his soul turned and flooded to a small, almost non-existent vassal positioned just beneath his naval, flooding it and forcing it to grow in size.

If Ace were conscious, he would've realised that not only had his soul directly doubled in size and power, he had officially become a mage of the first rank, but that was just the beginning.

All the high-ranking members of the Cult could only watch with their mouths agape as Ace, who was surprisingly not a mage at all, broke through the first rank, then the second, and then the third, with things only settling down as he reached the peak of the third-rank.

But it was at that moment that the eyes of both Ace and his soul sprang open, and for the second time since he arrived in this world, his [Conqueror's Haki] surged forth, directly knocking almost everyone present unconscious.

In the end, the only person who was able to stay awake was Shelia. As the strongest person present, that wasn't too surprising, but even she was forced down to her knees as her breathing quickened.

'This is… Impossible!' She thought to herself as she watched Ace drop to his feet.

The surge of power Ace emitted at that moment was oddly similar to the power of the Sovereign she previously called upon. Something that should be impossible!

As soon as Ace regained consciousness, he could immediately sense the changes to his body and could vaguely guess what had happened, but instead of focusing on that, he turned his head to face one of the unconscious men on the ground.

After being hit by Ace's [Conqueror's Haki], despite having no injuries to speak of, the Dark Empress found that her body refused to listen to her. She could only watch helplessly as Ace, the boy she thought she had right where she wanted, disappeared, only to reappear over the unconscious body of the same Bishop responsible for his capture in the first place.

Ace could sense the eyes of Shelia on him, but he didn't seem to care about her in the slightest. Instead, he calmly removed the golden ring on Garoa's middle finger before sliding it on his right index finger.

'What's he doing?' Shelia wondered.

She knew Ace was no idiot. Although an interspatial ring was incredibly desirable, that should be the last thing on his mind at a time like this, but when she saw what he did next, her eyes widened in disbelief for what felt like the hundredth time today.

"[Fire Fist]!" Ace roared as he thrust his fist in Garoa's direction, creating a large fist-shaped flame.

Even though Mages were famed for their destructive might, Garoa was still a warrior of the ninth rank. Even without actively blocking, his body would still be capable of taking the flames of a mage of the third rank suffering little to no damage, but Ace's flames weren't ordinairy.

Ace's fist-shaped spell not only incinerated the bishop's head, it also melted a hole in the walls behind him.

"Impossible!" Shelia blurted out in utter disbelief. "How could you have already comprehended part of the profound mysteries of the laws of fire?!"

As a saint, Shelia was more than capable of sensing that Ace's fire elemental mage force was strengthened by the laws of fire; what she didn't understand was how Ace had accomplished something most spent their lives unable to, despite clearly having only just become a mage.

Unfortunately, Ace had no intention of communicating. With a flick of his wrist, the glaive he had taken from him by Garoa reappeared in his palm.

Without saying a word to her, Ace's body moved like a flash, appearing in front of Shelia. As she was still incapable of moving, Ace was able to grab her by the neck and lift her above his head so her feet were dangling just above the ground.

Even though she was shocked beyond measure over the power of Ace's last attack, as a peak saint-level warrior and mage, Shelia knew that even if she couldn't control her body yet, there was nothing Ace could do to her. As such, she calmly met Ace's icy gaze. "I admit, you're even more impressive than I already believed, but there's no escape for you now.

With your impressive spiritual essence, you should be able to sense what's going on outside. My husband is slowly getting the upper hand in his fight against that saint-level lion, and my subordinates are slowly suppressing the beast tide called in to save you. There's no…"

Before she could finish her speel, Ace indifferently dragged her to the hole he had previously created in the wall.

From there, he could see Leonel's father valiantly fighting against Gediah despite all the wounds he'd accumulated thus far fighting against someone of a higher rank.

On the floor beneath them, Amira and Leonel were fighting side by side against the mortals of the Cult of Darkness with Julius behind them, insta-casting spell after spell with genuine intent to kill.

"ENOUGH!" Ace roared, giving voice to the pain in his heart from all the wounds his loved ones had suffered in an attempt to save him.

When everyone looked up, there wasn't a soul unsurprised by the sight of a youth holding the leader of one of the most powerful forces on the continent by the neck with the blackened blade of his glaive pressed against her neck.

"SHHEELIIAAA!" Gediah shouted, worried about his wife's safety.

Unfortunately, that momentary lapse in concentration was exactly what Carter needed. As soon as the man turned his head, the lion's paw, coated in a blazing crimson flame, crashed into his side, sending him flying into the side of the castle.

The commander of the Demoniacs hurriedly flew out to chase after the boy who somehow had managed to take his wife hostage, but by then, Ace was already on Carter's back with Shelia still in his hands.

"I know I'm still too weak to hurt you," Ace said calmly as he glanced down at the woman whose neck his hand was wrapped around. "But he isn't."

As Ace jumped on his back, Carter had half a mind to swat him away, but when he thought back to how much this youth meant to his son, he resisted his urge, but when he heard Ace's words, a hearty laugh escaped his mouth. "Hahahaha, that's right. Hand her to me, brat. I wonder how much stronger I'd get after eating someone as powerful as the Dark Empress."

"Don't you da-"

"Did I give you permission to speak?" Ace asked as he coldly cut Gediah off. "If the next words out of your mouth aren't calling your forces back, then you better believe I'd happily let your wife be eaten in front of you."

Gediah glared at the boy wanting nothing more than the chance to tear him limb from limb for daring to speak to him like that, but he didn't dare act rashly.

"Fall back!" Shelia commanded directly.

Though they were shocked by the sudden development, all of the cultists encircling Amira and her group obediently did as they were told, allowing the trio to cautiously get back on Carter's back.

"Leo," Ace said mentally when all three of them were safely on Carter's back. "Tell your father to fly us out of here as soon as I drop this old wench."

"Now, it's your turn," Gediah said begrudgingly whilst Leonel began to communicate with his father. "Let my wife go!"

"My pleasure," Ace said as he threw her up in the air, his now empty hand coated in [Armament Haki] as it made a beautiful arc in the air, perfectly connecting with her face, sending her flying in the opposite direction from the one Carter flew off in.

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Book 5 - Chapter 2