Chapter 531: Fria Ascends (2)
This could be blamed on William's Beast Slayer Title, but Carl didn't know nor care what the reason was. He pulled back his summon before the lightning could burn it to a crisp, standing back while Tia jumped forward.
He took time to recover with several of Yuming's Pills as Tia jumped forward and used her fist to disperse the remaining power of the Seventh Lightning Bolt. At the same time, her stone-reinforced fist was pierced through by the Lightning and cracks spread down her forearm like a snake slithering through mud.
The Lightning Bolt's lingering effects continued to ravage Tia's body, scarring and blistering her entire fist and forearm until it was hardly usable. In a World without Cultivation, it would be hard to say whether it could still be amputated, but a green glow surrounded the damaged arm and started reversing the most life-threatening effects.
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From a safe distance away, Charlotte used Life Magic to heal the injuries of both Carl's summoned Beast and Tia. The latter recovered much faster than the Beast, but its condition was still stabilized until its random eventual death was no longer guaranteed.
"Gunther!" Tia yelled as she backed off from the Tribulation. She could only handle one Lightning Bolt at a time, so she needed some rest before she could get back at it again.
"On it!" an icicle the size of Blue Moon City formed behind Gunther, piercing through the sky and meeting the Eighth Lightning Bolt midway. He continued to focus his Mana on the Spell, remaining firm while stray crackles of lightning went around the icicle and shocked Gunther's body repeatedly.
The Eighth Tribulation Lightning Bolt was incomparable to the Seventh. First of all, its strength broke through the peak of the Tribulation Transcendence Realm and into the Ascension Realm, but that wasn't the only change.
When Ascension-level Spells and Techniques interacted with the Mortal Realms, many different scenarios could play out. The most common was the tearing of space, which is what happened when the Eighth Bolt descended.
When it collided with Gunther's massive icicle, space tore open in several locations and revealed a dim void that sent shivers down Gunther's spine. His instincts wanted nothing more than to avoid the pitch-black area, warning him that even the smallest moment of contact could lead to a gruesome death.
This was only the Eighth Lightning Bolt; there was still one more to go afterwards, and Gunther's Spell was already falling apart. Forget three or four Lightning Bolts, it would be a miracle for Gunther to deal with one at this stage!
He reached out and popped a Tier 10 Pill in his mouth, which had reportedly been refined several dozen years ago by a team of Alchemists in the Velos Continent. His arms and legs puffed up like balloons and the ambient Mana flowed through him as easily as tap water from a faucet, boosting the power of his Spells by almost fifty times. His speed rose along with everything else, granting Gunther the agility to dodge stray sparks that radiated off each Tribulation Lightning Bolt. This was Gunther's only Superior Pill of Combat, so he planned to make it count by giving everything he had to fighting off Fria's Tribulation.
Yuming wasn't idle during the fight either. While his combat power wasn't very high, he was the main individual controlling the defenses provided by the various treasures in the area.
They, along with some Pills that Yuming refined himself, were the only reason that a few Soul Formation Cultivators could compete with a peak Tribulation meant for those who wished to Ascend.
The spectators all watched the Tribulation with shock and awe on their faces. These five were all below the Tribulation Transcendence Realm, yet they were protecting a peak Cultivator from their own Tribulation! This was unheard of!
In the past, it wouldn't be possible at all given how the Heavens normally punished those who interfered, but since they were indirect with many of their attacks and William was the Host of the Tribulations, they assumed that an exception had been made.
Even so, each of them knew for a fact that they couldn't do the same thing that Carl, Tia, or Gunther had. It would take several hundred years of training to become as proficient in the Ice Element as Gunther, and one also needed quite a bit of luck to develop an Innate Talent that was similar to his.
Other than Yuming, who seemed like an above-average Alchemist, and Charlotte, the one assigned to a supporting role, everyone from the group was a literal monster regarding combat power. It was easy to understand why such a group had taken control of a vast majority of the old Revista Faction's territory.
The battle continued for several minutes, Gunther and the others using everything at their disposal just to stop the Eighth Lightning Bolt. Afterwards, they used up the remainder of their treasures and suffered several injuries to block the Ninth Lightning Bolt, thus ending Fria's Tribulation.
A portal almost three quarters the size of William's appeared in the sky, its unique golden glow illuminating the area for several hundred kilometers around. Fria's body automatically lifted into the air, carried into the Ascension portal where she disappeared from their sight.
Carl and the rest laid down in exhaustion while several spectators rushed up and offered them various healing Pills. Yuming and Carl accepted the Pills graciously, while Gunther and Tia shook their heads and declined the offer. In the back, Charlotte also politely refused, but mostly because she had Pills of her own plus Mana.
On Reius, Fria had completed her Ascension several minutes prior, and her figure had disappeared through a medium-sized pale-yellow portal that otherwise looked just like the ones on Efretta.
She leaned to the left and right while traveling through the Ascension Portal, following prompts from her personal System that told her which Plane she was headed to. Fria didn't remember where or when she had acquired this Talent, but it was called Dimensional Compass and it had been useless up until now.
With the Dimensional Compass Talent, Fria could never get lost when Ascending, which she was relying on now to follow the same path as the portal from Efretta. Several hours passed while Fria aimlessly wandered through the portal, but she eventually came across a peculiar sight.
Further down the wormhole, as she would call it, Fria noticed a point where two different wormholes connected. When she came within appropriate distance, the Dimensional Compass Talent told her that said portal was coming from Efretta and headed towards some place called the Slightveil Plane.
With barely any effort at all, Fria managed to stumble across the very thing she was searching for, so she entered the other Ascension Portal from the crossroads and walked in the reverse direction.
Fria couldn't go to Efretta in this manner unless the Ascension Portal on Efretta was still open, but she could meet up with her other self, so that was exactly what she planned to do.
Despite traveling at full speed towards the entrance of the Efretta Ascension Portal, Fria took almost a day and a half to reach her destination. Seated cross-legged at the end was an ethereal blue girl with long hair that waved in all directions.
It looked exactly like Fria, but in some sort of ghostly form. She reached out to touch the second body, but a long series of System warnings made her reel back in shock.
-WARNING
-WARNING
-SECOND TRUE SELF IS TOO CLOSE TO MAIN BODY
-WARNING!
-WARNING!
-TWO 99% IDENTICAL SELVES CANNOT EXIST IN THE SAME PLANE. LEAVE THE AREA IMMEDIATELY!
Fria tried to do as the System told, but she realized it was fruitless when a ten second countdown started. Considering how long it took her to reach this area, Fria knew that she couldn't possibly escape.
If that was the case, Fria did what she had planned to from the start and activated her Soul Cultivation Technique, then walked directly into the second Fria and sat down in the same position. She completely ignored all warnings since they wouldn't do her any good, instead communicating with herself to accept one being as the true self.
-NINE
-EIGHT
-SEVEN
She didn't quite know what she was doing or why she was doing it, but to Fria it felt right. During the first few seconds of calm, Fria chose to make herself as compatible as possible with the other by perfectly lining up their seating position and movements.
-SIX
-FIVE
-FOUR
Fria slowed her breathing and listened closely to her other self, matching the inhales and exhales. Her mind started to feel a little fuzzy, but Fria chose to continue regardless.
-THREE
-TWO
-ONE
Black turned white and white turned black as Fria's vision and hearing dulled immensely. In her current state, Fria couldn't hear any better than a Foundation Establishment Cultivator, and the experience was getting worse and worse by the millisecond.
-ZERO
Fria could barely make out the word on the list of System Messages, but it didn't take a rocket scientist to deduce what came after one on a countdown. She took one last deep breath perfectly in sync with her other self, then tipped over and fell to the side while her vision faded to black.