Chapter 225: 10th Floor, Luna Winterbell
Chapter 225: 10th Floor, Luna Winterbell
10th Floor, the ultimate challenge for Paragon-rank powerhouses.
To pass this floor and reach the peak of Arena Tower, a Paragon-rank powerhouse must fight against a Chaotic Beast of Unbound-rank in the 3rd stage.
Facing Aleron in this challenge was a Four-armed Hammer Ape, an early-stage Unbound- rank chaotic beast.
Pure statistic-wise, this monster was stronger than Aleron. It would take truly powerful skills to consume at least 500 Chakra energy to even breach the natural defense of this Unbound- rank Hammer Ape. It was twenty meters tall and its four arms were metallic giant-like hammers and its body was also metallic silver with gray and black patterns, with four fangs out of its mouth and four eyes, giving it a savage appearance.
But Unbound-rank chaotic beasts had a fatal weakness that could allow Paragon-rank powerhouses to kill them.
Their Lifeform catalyst, called Unbound core.
After ascending to Unbound-rank where all three paths converge into singular progress, the main core that acts as a medium to run all of one's powers is called the Unbound core.
If an Unbound core is destroyed or cracked, it will cause the Chakra core in one's body to go haywire while they would become incapacitated with their vitality leaking. It would be impossible to flow Chakra in their body, hence disabling their skills.
In a battle of Unbound-rank powerhouses and above, their Lifeform Core is given the high priority to keep safe.
Lifeform cores evolve each time one's lifeform ranks up, but their location is still physically present in one's body, and protecting it becomes a top priority in any battle.
There are multiple and tricky ways people produce to keep their lifeform core safe, but it wasn't the case with Chaotic Beasts.
Chaotic Beasts instead acquire robust outer defense, but due to their intelligence being low, they can't hide and protect their lifeform core as good as intelligent powerhouses.
Aleron saw the Four-armed Hammer Ape attacking him right off the bat after it appeared without any pause with bloodshot eyes, its speed lightning fast, and the beast's four arms glowing destructively with silver-red particles.
*Swoosh!*
Aleron dodged the attack before he waved his hand, using Mystic Skill: Temporal Rift Blades, releasing several glowing silver-white arc-slash projectiles with intricate patterns and sparks in the slash.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om
He released five slashes, with each one consuming 100 Chakra energy, but all they did was just slash the skin of the ape without even reaching its bone.
'That's one tough defense,' Aleron raised his eyes.
Aleron's skills were top-tier. Even if Aleron and some other random Paragon rank have the same stats, his 100 Chakra energy offensive skills could be even stronger than someone else's 300 chakra energy skill!
Without hesitation, Aleron once escaped and drifted through space to dodge, but the Ape opened its mouth right where Aleron appeared after the teleport and released a compact dark silver orb with a red glow inside.
Aleron's danger bells rang loudly as he used his best defensive skill, but it immediately started cracking even before a second passed, causing Aleron to quickly teleport again while he wiped his sweat.
[Astral: Master, we shouldn't get hit. I feel like we'll lose the moment we are hit.]
[Gachapi: Yes. This Chaotic Beast has some tricky chaotic traits related to defense-break that make defending against its attacks extremely hard. We are likely to have our defense broken against each of its attacks.]
'Then better not to defend,' Aleron vanished and appeared behind the Ape before chopping vertically.
Mystic Still: Earth Splitting Chop. This was a new skill he created from a newly manifested trait in his Mystic Path.
Trait: Split-Blitz
Effect: Increase probability of splitting anything being struck by a skill having this trait. *BOOM!*
The chop was a two-meter-long razer with a sharp aura blade with a fiery red and black design, aiming to split the Ape into two from the middle.
This trait was born out of space-time attributes, meaning the split it talked about was splitting a complete space-time area into two. Of course, it was only a probability, but this probability could increase depending on the finesse and design of skills that focused on cutting and splitting and putting work into those effects.
*Crrr...*
The slash tore through the skull, but only two inches in.
The Four-armed Hammer Ape roared and exploded with a powerful aura as Aleron was shot tens of meters away.
'I have to recover my Chakra energy,' Aleron's eyes glinted, and he isolated himself before creating several mirage clones to keep the Four-armed Hammer Ape distracted.
Aleron was in a large grassy field with nowhere to hide as the 10th Floor's challenge was in a separate small dimension prepared for the battle. But he could still hide in plain sight while keeping the Ape distracted.
Meanwhile, most of the people on all floors of the Arena Tower were watching from the screens, including Elder Ken and Branch Master Lilisa who arrived here after finding out about the uproar of a powerful challenger breaking records in Arena Tower, only to find that it was the person they just recruited.
"To have come this far, this kid is good," Lilisa grinned.
"Hahaha, I knew he was special the moment I saw him," Elder Ken said with a jolly smile. "Branch Master, I'm sure he will be one of the thirty-ones to pass and become a powerful asset to Prosper Path Alliance."
"I hope...you can help acquire those 'items'. My contribution should be enough," Elder Ken said with a flattery smile and a greedy glint in his eyes.
Branch Master Lilisa glanced at Elder Ken, her eyes showing disgust before she turned her face away, "Put a request to the alliance. They'll accept it this time."
'This bitch... she looks at me disgustingly as if she is a milk-washed saint,' Elder Ken internally snorted before replying fawningly, "Thank you, thank you very much, Branch
Master Lilisa."
"I've watched enough. It's only a matter of time before Aleron defeats that Ape," Lilisa indifferently said.
Elder Ken quickly spoke after hearing her, "Should I put a few eyes on him?"
"Just keep his general location in mind. No need to keep a close eye on it since he'll be able to detect it and escape the eyes easily due to his space-related skills."
"Understood."
...
Upper Cosmos 86th.
This cosmos was ruled by the Winterbell clan, a powerful force of individuals with
exceptional Bloodline potency.
People born in the Winterbell clan quickly progress to Ascension rank without much difficulty. Their bloodline has information and it gives them enough knowledge and powers since birth that they start understanding early and become strong quickly.
Well, this was the same for most of the established clans and organizations.
Winterbell Clan was in conflict with the second-ranked clan of this cosmos.
Unlike the lower cosmos realm, which had multiple universe bubbles connected to them, in the Upper Cosmos realm, each cosmos had a single vast plane of existence with no planets or stars. Instead, the upper cosmos is a vast geographical structure made up of elements and powers from its core, presenting a massive circular territory of floor-like sections as big as a
universe.
In terms of size, Upper cosmoses are smaller than lower cosmoses.
Each upper cosmos' circular spherical territory has three sections. Core section, Inner section,
and Outer section.
The core section is the smallest but most resourceful while the Outer section is the biggest
but least resourceful.
Wars of various clans and organizations to get a better position in the Upper Cosmos realm
were always ongoing.
Winterbell Clan was also in conflict with a clan from another cosmos who wanted to rule the
86th Cosmos due to its beautiful territory.
This was the reason why Winterbell Clan's head sent its offspring, Luna Winterbell, to a lower cosmos called Radrata Cosmos.
She was powerful and talented, Possessing the blood of Winterbell, she progressed fast.
But a tragedy struck the Radrata cosmos, and Cane hurriedly sent Luna and others as many as possible into the Chaosverse.
Luna and a few others were at the peak of Ascension rank and could break through anytime. They were about to Ascend to the Upper cosmos, but due to the untimely tragedy, they were
sent to the Chaosverse.
Luna and seven others among their group of thirty-eight people broke through to Paragon rank, but their luck ran out shortly after they started traveling.
They had no map or anything, so they had to move aimlessly, and unfortunately...they countered a group of Prosper Path Alliance.
Prosper Path Alliance made up of 9 most powerful forces in the world was up to a big scheme, and they weren't sparing anyone as long as they were useful.
They didn't do things out in the open yet, but whenever they did, nobody else would discover what they did because they left no witnesses alive or free.
In Luna's case, she and others were captured and forcefully enslaved by Prosper Path Alliance
to be used for the higher-ups or for other things like training if some of them were found to
be talented.
At the moment, the group was split into multiple with Luna and two others staying in an open pavilion in the secret base of Propsper Path Alliance...just two kilometers away from where
Aleron was staying.
"Luna, will they really free us if we win the competition after four days," a girl with twin maroon ponytails asked with a worried expression.
Luna appeared different than before. She looked slightly less spirited and somber, even
appearing a bit thin physically. But this wasn't a problem of not eating well since this didn't apply to such powerhouses. Instead, it was her mental state.
"Focus and meditate, Kira. I don't know if they will keep their promise, but we have to do
what we can and that's to prove ourselves by winning after four days," Luna said with clenched fists, her eyes showing dread and anger.
If she failed, she would be sold as a toy for some old man, being used as a plaything, but she would rather die than succumb to that fate.
Taking a deep breath, Luna closed her eyes, "Get strong. That's the only way."
...
On the other hand, Aleron finally arrived on the top floor of the Arena Tower after clearing all
challenges.