Chapter 311
Chapter 311: Until We Meet Again, Ashur
Boom!
The tall armored man's face remained emotionless as the air around him rumbled once more.
Waves of yellow arcane energy began rippling from his body and condensed around him to form numerous golden, palm sized metal shields whilst the ground beneath his feet shattered, sending clouds of dust and gravel into the air.
Eventually, there were over a hundred of these golden metal shields floating around him, making him seem impervious.
"Ashur…"
Carter's body quivered as two nightmarish syllables rang out from his mouth.
"Invincible Human Shield Ashur?" Stingham cried out, his mouth hanging open in shock as he finally realized the gravity of the situation.
"It's really Teacher Ashur, who was part of the Holy Dawn Evil Six. Just what skill has Dias subjected him to, to turn him into an existence like this…" Ayrin's body began to tremble, not from fear, but from an unsubsiding anger. As he observed the man before him, his face began to twist, his eyes turning blood red.
"Even Teacher Ashur's corpse was… this fellow, he's truly unforgivable!"
Every particle in his body seemed to come alive as he silently roared in anger. A strength and power which had not been present before slowly began to course through him.
"His body has increased in strength once more… his progress was already shockingly fast during the national tournament. And now, under the stimulation of such extreme anger, he has managed to awaken some more of his potential, causing his strength to increase once more. Just what bloodline does this child have?"
At this moment, the calmest person present was the white robe wearing arcane master who had invoked the massive scythe of ice, Berryn. He could clearly sense the changes which had occurred to Ayrin as he became enraged and underwent some sort of awakening.
"Invincible Human Shield Ashur!"
"In the past, it was due to him and his valiant efforts - his inexhaustible defensive efforts - which caused our assassination attempt to fail, resulting in the death of my younger brother at your hands."
Dias grinned before continuing, "Now, it is time for you all to have a taste of your own."
Amidst Dias' cruel, yet cheery cackling, Ashur's feet thunderously stomped into the ground once more, sending shattered fragments of rock into the air around him alongside the hundred or so golden metal shields. But rather than continuing to move towards Ayrin's group, he moved backwards, landing in front of the four bones of the Evil Dragon.
Boom!
At the same time, the four towering dragon bones began to collapse like four melting columns of ice.
The countless black Evil Dragon particles abruptly condensed in the center of the massive ring of gray light in the air above Dias and the Shaman Bishop Ana, forming a gigantic black sphere boasting a diameter of over three meters.
The surface of the black sphere constantly undulated, but it released neither arcane energy nor the dark purple smoke.
Whoosh!
Bishop Ana abruptly raised both of his hands towards the sky.
A ring of pale white light emerged around his body.
"What is this? What is he trying to do?!" Stingham screamed in a nervous panic, nearly biting his own tongue in the process.
Ana's chest and abdomen abruptly ruptured as several of his ribs ripped out of his body and flew towards the ball of Evil Dragon blood particles above him, bringing several bloody spines with them.
Donna's dignified voice rang out in response, "It should be some kind of composite creation skill. He plans to use these Evil Dragon blood particles to generate powerful mutant creatures."
"Then we must strike now! We must stop him! Considering how powerful these Evil Dragon blood particles are, anything created from them will also be extremely powerful!" Ayrin thought to himself.
But in the next moment, Ayrin's eyes widened in shock as Ciaran, who had been standing before him and shielding him suddenly stepped forward.
"Teacher Ciaran!"
"Liszt!" Carter shouted at the same time.
Liszt silently appeared beside Ciaran. As for everyone else, they remained where they were.
Ciaran and Liszt walked towards the center of the altar, and Ashur who stood there before it like a steel fortress.
"A past lover. This reunion, it's really tugging at my heartstings," Dias cackled. There wasn't even the slightest bit of worry atop his face filled with delight.
"What is Teacher Ciaran about to do?"
"Dias, you bastard, I will definitely kill you!"
"Teacher Ciaran…"
Stingham, Ayrin, and Rinloran's faces all twisted in anger.
But at the same time, they felt worried.
Ayrin was especially so, as he knew just how many years Ciaran had missed Ashur. As he watched the red scarf fluttering in the wind before him, he wondered just how his Teacher Ciaran would face this transformed Ashur.
Ciaran's footsteps abruptly stopped. "I've finally been able to see you once more," she whispered as he raised her head and gazed at the emotionless Ashur before her.
"Ashur…"
Everyone could sense the longing within her words and were visibly moved.
Two crystal teardrops slowly slid down Ciaran's cheeks as her body abruptly stopped trembling. A combination of emotions so complex they could not be described washed over everyone as she said, "Goodbye, Ashur."
Everyone watched as she slowly held up an alcohol flask.
"Eh?" Dias' pupils slightly contracted as a feeling of danger abruptly washed over him.
"Wall of Evil Spirits!"
As if on a conditioned reflex, Dias immediately condensed arcane particles before him to quickly form a long wall of gray gas before him.
Fwhoooh!
Ciaran emptied the flask into her mouth. A moment later, a fiery blaze even more terrifying than dragon's breath spewed forth from her mouth.
"This is?!"
Ayrin, Stingham, and Rinloran were stunned as a storm of countless tiny flames swept forth across the altar towards Ashur and the Evil Dragon Followers.
As the flames collided with the wall of gray gas, they grew even fiercer, as if they were consuming the arcane energy within.
The wall slowly began to collapse, sending particles scattering in all directions. Only, these particles instantly ignited, adding even more fire to the flames.
Meanwhile, he hundred or so shields floating around Ashur began melting away and totally disappeared.
Facing the raging flames surging towards him, he raised his two arms before him.
It was a posture Liszt and the others were extremely familiar with.
For a moment, the scene atop the altar seemed to freeze.
Then, numerous holes began slowly emerging atop his body like a paper set aflame.
"Elemental corrosion… you can actually cause an elemental corrosion of this level!"
Dias' expression turned ugly to the extreme as flames began to surge towards him through the countless holes which had emerged in the wall of gray gas before him as well.
"Tch!"
Several small holes emerged atop Dias as some smoldering flames landed upon him.
"Flourish, Evil Blood!"
Black blood spewed forth from his wounds as they quickly closed.
Meanwhile, Ashur had completely disappeared.
"Until we meet again, Ashur," Ciaran silently whispered in her mind as she looked at Ashur one last time.
"Teacher Ciaran…" An intense anger and fighting intent continued to rise from Ayrin's body, but at the current moment, his eyes were full of his respect for his teacher.
"Good! … Very good!" Dias laughed angrily.
Dias had never imagined that his carefully crafted plan would be so easily resolved by Ciaran herself.
"Corrode: Descent of Death!"
Two beams of pale white light shot out from within his eyes.
Zap!
As the beams of light shot out of his eyes, a small cluster of particles emerged from the massive ball of Evil Dragon blood particles above him.
These particles began smoldering as they shot towards Ciaran, leaving behind a trail of pale white smoke from which countless particles scattered.
"Holy Array: Dissolve!"
A sharp light flashed through Liszt's eyes as a layer of pure light enveloped him and Ciaran.
"If you don't use Holy Gate of Life, you are nothing but trash in front me! How can your casting speed compare to mine when I am able to directly draw upon energy?!" Dias sneered.
Another cluster of particles emerged from the massive ball and shot towards Liszt and Ciaran.
"Liszt!"
The expressions of Carter, Minlur, and the others turned ugly to the extreme.
Of their entire group, only Liszt knew skills which could resist and purify Dias' corroding skill. But with so many Evil Dragon blood particles above Dias' head for him to use, it seemed impossible for Liszt to hold on.
But right at this moment, a figure surrounded with a pale white aura abruptly descended from within the flames and smoke above, arriving before Liszt and Ciaran.
"Who's this?"
Boom!
The second cluster of Evil Dragon blood particles collided with this figure.
"What?!"
Dias' body trembled.
The figure remained perfectly fine as they were struck by the cluster of Evil Dragon blood particles. Strange black light flickered over the figure's body as countless pale white particles emerged and began to interact and merge with the black blood particles. The person was fusing with the Evil Dragon blood particles!
And under this constant fusion, the energy emanating from the figure only grew stronger and stronger.
"Lotton!"
"It's Lotton!"
"He is taking advantage of the situation to absorb Evil Dragon blood particles!"
Ayrin, Rinloran, and Stingham realized at the same time.
Although Lotton had been given the opportunity to fuse quite a bit of the Evil Dragon's blood as Dias' most powerful weapon, he had not quite yet reached the limit of fusion like Dias himself and the Evil Dragon Bishops.
He was making the most of the situation and further strengthening his bloodline.
"So it's you…" Dias shouted as he finally saw Lotton's face.