Irregularity in the wilderness (3)

As soon as he stopped his spell, Elizabeth spat out a mouthful of blood. Soul searching was an extremely deadly spell that had a high chance of fatality. After all, it dealt with the soul or consciousness of a living being! Tampering with it in any way was bound to be dangerous. Most importantly, Lord Wenmord really had no interest in ensuring her safety. That was why he believed she would die immediately! It happened to the 'previous' Lord Wenmord. But once he thought about it, it was not too surprising. The previous Lord Wenmord was as ordinary as any other person. Meanwhile, Elizabeth had some accomplishments in Core Levels. Her lifeforce had already been strengthened!

Still, she was not in a good condition. The pain coursing through her body was unbelievably potent! Her head felt like it was going to burst apart, and she was forcefully awakened. She wanted to claw at her head to relieve any bit of pressure, but it was no use. Lord Wenmord restrained her perfectly to prevent any movement whatsoever. Eventually, her bloodshot eyes swerved onto him and they radiated deep, immense hatred. This was the person responsible for sending the Second Hand after her and capturing all those children! If she were unleashed right now, she would really beat him to death! She was so angry that she ignored the overflowing monstrous aura exploding from him!

He returned a blank stare as he raised his hand. This time, three Magical Circles manifested in his palm. It looked unassuming as any other spell. However, tendrils of rainbow-colored liquid Magic Energy swarmed through the air like a miniature flood was forming! It was exactly the same scene that Elizabeth once displayed in the battle with the emperor, except a thousand times more concentrated. Anyone could tell that they packed explosive power! Every second, Elizabeth's sense of danger rose. Cold sweat broke out across her body. The spell elevated Lord Wenmord's aura to an absurd degree as Elizabeth's anger transformed into fear! She could distinctly feel… that this spell was not normal at all! And she was staring right at it. There was nothing scarier than facing death in the face!

Higher and higher… The energy contained seemed to climb without limit. Gradually, a beautiful ball of rainbow-colored light condensed in his palm when it absorbed all the liquid Magic Energy. The air trembled as the ambient World Energy began rampaging chaotically around him. Elizabeth immediately fell unconscious. The mere pulses of energy that Lord Wenmord released were enough to overwhelm her. This was a spell powerful enough to eradicate her body, mind, and soul! Naturally, once he was done with her, he was going to kill her! That was given!

Although his current power was limited to the peak of Rank 3 combat strength, his spells contained such unimaginable power. It was hard to imagine how strong higher ranks were… Indeed, as Lord Avin Arcellius once said, the ascent of power was not an ascent at all. Rather, it was an abyss without a bottom! And right now, Lord Wenmord was displaying the tip of the iceberg!

The spell activated, engulfing the room in bright white light. It flooded towards Elizabeth, melting away at her clothes with meticulous and thorough destruction. It was about to annihilate her entirely when a miraculous change happened. A strange-looking Magic Circle materialized itself between Elizabeth and Lord Wenmord's spell! Like a whirlpool, it seemed to absorb the spell easily, preventing it from harming Elizabeth any further! Lord Wenmord widened his eyes in surprise. This might be the first time in many years that he felt this. He lost control of the spell and it rebounded back to him! Everything happened too quickly, even for him. It could truly be called instantaneous!

Without him regulating its power, the spell rapidly lost its structure. The horrific amount of energy spilled out and detonated! Boom! Elizabeth, Lord Wenmord, and the entire stone room were instantly engulfed in a cataclysmic, world-shaking explosion! The defenses Lord Wenmord created were shredded to pieces and disappeared! That could not be helped. He never imagined that an attack would come from inside! The tremendous force continued to rip through earth and rock like paper until it reached the surface. It was too fast. The shockwave and explosion came from a spell carrying the force of peak Rank 3!

Back on the surface, Sword King Sin was stabilizing Benedict's wounds when his gaze grew unprecedently sharp. Once he achieved Instinct Realm, his perception took another qualitative leap forward. After Lord Wenmord's defenses were torn down, the Sword King could sense it. If the Sword King's aura felt like a lake before, now… He felt like an ocean was descending! And he was at the bottom of the deepest and darkest trench! The pressure was so suffocating that he felt as insignificant as an ant before this godly power. He could physically feel his bones creaking! Not even the combined might of thirty Perception Realms from the First Hand could make him serious. But now… For once in a long time, he felt the threat of death!

Sir Winstin, Sir Sebastian, and Lady Valentina as well. They just recovered from the shock of Sword King Sin's power when they felt a storm of energy invade their bodies! Although it did not go as far as sealing the air, they could feel their movements slowing down. They could exert less than half of their combat strength and the thought made them terrified! They had no idea what was happening. At most, they thought an aura could intimidate others, but never did they think it could suppress people like this! It felt far worse than the Sword King's aura. Like comparing a cub to a fully-grown tiger, this was on a completely different level!

Of course, they were not the only ones feeling it. Nearly all the soldiers, guards, and regular folk fainted from the tremendous surge of power. The trees creaked and groaned, while grass and flowers were pressed to the ground. Not even that, but the rocks and bricks cracked! The walls of the Lannisail manor began crumbling. Every window began shattering in sequence, creating a strange harmony of sound. Everyone, regardless of who they were, felt their bodies shaking from an invisible hand!

In Algard, people felt a rock on their chest, making it hard to breath. Many buckled and fainted while others directly died! The aura transmitted as far as Corasen, and… it did not stop at all! It continued to surrounding towns and cities. Animals as well, they whimpered and prostrated themselves to this majestic force. Every being, whether alive or not, could feel it. The effect was far from covering the entire province, but this was already a mind-boggling range! In an instant, a humongous area was affected.

Sword King Sin felt his hairs stand as he grabbed Benedict and started fleeing! He was no idiot. He was not about to sit around and wait for whatever was happening. Using Martial Energy, his speed exploded to an extreme degree. Channeling energy into his legs, he catapulted over the walls in a smooth step before leaving the Lannisail estate. The speed far exceeded the Twin Flicker technique! The Royal Guards did not delay either. They had no time to help the unconscious people, nor did they care about the captured Second Hand anymore! For a second, many figures were seen escaping the Lannisail Household. Alas, it was not enough. The explosion finally came!

The tremors were faint and gradually grew in intensity like an earthquake. Then, the earth cracked apart and huge trenches emerged. It looked as if something was bursting out from underground! Everything happened so fast that people had an instant to react. There was no time to think! Sword King Sin unsheathed his sword and he summoned the strongest defense he could. Cloud Sea Style! A defense as malleable as the clouds, as weathering as the sea! Further away, Sir Winstin, Sir Sebastian, and Lady Valentina arranged themselves in a formation with the other Perception Realms. They prepared an iron-clad defense, forged by the strongest knights in the kingdom!