Roel had once envisioned how strong he would be once he reached Origin Level 1, and the results were quite optimistic.
With his Crown’s Stones and the aid of the ancient gods, he was certain he could easily overpower enemies of the same Origin Level as him. That had always been the case for him from a young age.
Granted that there could be a huge gap among Origin Level 1 transcendents, he didn’t think that he would fall into a disadvantageous position.
Today, he was proven wrong. Or rather, he encountered an opponent he had never expected to meet.
The suffocating and irresistible pressure crushing on him turned his expression grave, as the feeling of invincibility he felt after advancing to Origin Level 1 vanished.
On the other hand, Carolyn’s expression remained impassive, but her heart wasn’t calm either.
His rate of growth is absurd.
While he wasn’t exactly on par with her yet, he possessed the power to oppose her now. This piqued her wariness.
The Kingmaker Clan had always grown faster than the other races due to its unique traits, but they had to shoulder great danger in return. The descendants of the Kingmaker Clan had a high chance of losing their lives in the dangerous Witness State.
Even so, there was not a single person from the main family who had grown faster than the man before her. It had only been a few days ago that she last met him, and he was unable to put any pressure on her then, but he was a different man now.
Of course, this was largely due to the power of the Crown’s Stones, but the Second Epoch’s Ardes had talents who could absorb the Crown’s Stones too, and none of them had grown as ridiculously as he did.
It isn’t just about the Crown’s Stones. There must be a deeper reason to it…
Carolyn eyed Roel, and she quickly noticed that the Mother Goddess’ aura around him had grown even stronger. That made her narrow her eyes, and she quickly decided on her strategy.
I have to end it fast.
She had come to this decision after evaluating the current situation.
While she had suppressed Alicia Ascart’s powers, she could tell from the latter’s gaze that she was determined to fight, and her strength was also not to be made light of. This was going to be a two-against-one battle, and she was bound to be disadvantaged in a prolonged fight.
Thus, she decided to make the first move to control the momentum of the battle.
Carolyn raised her hand, and the twinkling light in the distant sky above quietly released a deluge of golden light toward Roel and Alicia. It was a much wider-range attack this time around, covering an entire half of Roel’s vision.
“Artasia.”
Roel summoned the Witch Queen once more, and the latter conjured a barrier of water around Roel and Alicia to protect them from the venom.
“Is there a point resorting to the same tactics twice?” Artasia asked with a smile as she prepared to take on the deluge of golden light.
But right before the golden light came into contact with the water, Carolyn’s Divine Domain suddenly contracted. The amplification of the pressure made Roel frown, but what happened afterward shocked him more.
Just as the deluge of golden light was augmented by Carolyn’s Divine Domain, it suddenly transformed into a blazing inferno that culminated in an explosion upon coming into contact with the purification water, causing the latter to swiftly evaporate.
“A Divine Domain with the power to change the traits of the ancient gods? How annoying,” Artasia murmured in irritation.
She quickly conjured another stream of light-blue water to neutralize the inferno, and it temporarily freed them from the danger they were in. However, the situation wasn’t optimistic.
Carolyn continued to unleash attacks on Roel and the others from the sky. These attacks were so fast that Artasia, having her powers suppressed, had her hands full with reacting quickly enough to neutralize them.
Roel frowned, but he didn’t make a move. Instead, he stared at Carolyn with eaglelike eyes.
As precarious as the situation looked, Roel was confident that they would be fine as long as Artasia was around. This was how much she trusted the Witch Queen. What he had to focus his attention on was buying time for the woman behind him.
Carolyn’s greatest advantage over Roel and Alicia was her Divine Domain, which suppressed their powers and allowed her to control the tempo of the battle. What they urgently needed to do now was to dispel it.
Hidden behind Artasia and Roel’s defense was Alicia, whose body glowed with ethereal lights as she channeled her mana to unleash her Divine Domain. The moment she succeeded, Roel would be freed from his restraints, allowing him to launch a decisive counterattack.
The only problem was that Carolyn knew that as well.
She had witnessed Alicia’s Divine Domain. That was how the two of them gave her the slip in the first place. She didn’t want history to repeat itself, so she knew whom she should prioritize.
And as Roel had expected, the intense bombardment was just a feint.
Carolyn’s body began to glow amidst all the rattling and shaking. There was a sudden flash of lightning, and a short and stout silhouette appeared on the battlefield.
As the lightning faded, the details of the silhouette started to show. It was a dwarven warrior dressed in heavy armor. His face was buried under his helmet, but his beard flowed beyond his chest.
Roel narrowed his eyes.
He knew that a dwarf’s beard symbolized their strength. A normal dwarf’s beard would stop growing once it reached their neck. Only powerful experts who had lived for many years would have beards that reached their chests.
And the dwarven warrior before him had a beard that reached his waist.
The voice echoing in Roel’s ear reinforced his suspicion.
“That’s Dwarf Sovereign Obezo! Quick, you need to defend!” Peytra exclaimed.
“!”
Roel quickly channeled all of his mana in response.
On the other hand, the Dwarf Sovereign looked at Roel and Alicia with a reluctant expression, but nevertheless, he raised his gigantic hammer as he murmured, “A child? My apologies, but please don’t blame me for this.”
Dwarf Sovereign Obezo swung his hammer, and a lightning bolt enveloped Roel’s line of sight.
It might have been more accurate to call it a lightning pillar, for it spanned a diameter exceeding a hundred meters. Even an Origin Level 1 transcendent would have felt helpless to have such a powerful attack directed at them.
However, it was a pity that this didn’t include Roel.
Roel channeled his mana, and the landscape around him began to move. Before the massive lightning pillar could strike him, a mountain had already risen to protect him.
Boom!
A resounding explosion ensued. The quakes following the clash were so intense that Roel couldn’t keep his balance.
The destructive prowess of the lightning pillar was so great that cracks immediately appeared on the mountain blocking its path, but these cracks were swiftly repaired by new layers of earth. Ultimately, the lightning pillar was unable to breach the continuously regenerating mountain.
In the end, Roel escaped unscathed from the ordeal.
After the ruckus died down, the golden serpent, whose humongous body wound across the prairie, looked at the foe before her and said, “I never thought that we’d meet again, Obezo.”
“!” Dwarf Sovereign Obezo widened his eyes, and his voice grew respectful. “Lord Peytra.”
“It’s been a long time. I’d have a nice chat with you, but I don’t think we’re in a good position to reminisce.”
“…Indeed,” Dwarf Sovereign Obezo replied with a conflicted expression. He glanced at Carolyn and Roel before remarking, “It can’t be helped since our loyalties differ.”
“Obezo?” Carolyn asked.
“Carolyn, I’ll handle the situation here.”
“An acquaintance? All right.”
Meanwhile, Roel looked at the lofty World Serpent and heaved a sigh of relief.
Dwarves were masters of smithing. Their desire for ores granted them a strong affinity for earth. Given so, Peytra, as the Primordial Earth Goddess, should have a decisive advantage against the Dwarf Sovereign.
Roel and Carolyn, as fellow members of the Kingmaker Clan, fought carefully.
In particular, Roel was hesitant to go all in because he didn’t know how many ancient gods Carolyn had contracted with. If Peytra could quickly defeat Obezo, it would greatly tilt the scales of this battle in his favor.
This gave Roel a huge morale boost.
However, the Primordial Earth Goddess sensed his expectations and broke his bubble with a sigh, saying, “You shouldn’t pin your hopes on me in this battle.”
“Why is that so?”
“That fellow over there is Dwarf Sovereign Obezo, one of Sia’s first followers in the ancient era. He existed in the same era as me. He… possesses other authorities.”
Roel was taken aback by those words.
Meanwhile, Carolyn had gathered a huge amount of mana in her Divine Domain, and she channeled all of it toward Obezo.
“Grarrrrr!” a hoarse roar echoed.
A humongous lighting pillar zapped into the sky, forcing Artasia to back off.
The blinding lightning instantaneously illuminated everyone’s faces, including a mountain-like silhouette standing at its middle. It was Obezo.
His appearance was still the same as before—an old dwarf dressed in heavy armor—but his body had been transformed into lightning. As if to reflect his immense power, his physique grew much larger as well. The explosive power he harnessed in his body was fearsome.
His hammer had grown to the size of a house, and it furiously cackled with lightning.
Peytra grimly finished her explanation: “Dwarf Sovereign Obezo was also known as the Lightning God in the ancient era.”
Roel had once envisioned how strong he would be once he reached Origin Level 1, and the results were quite optimistic.
With his Crown’s Stones and the aid of the ancient gods, he was certain he could easily overpower enemies of the same Origin Level as him. That had always been the case for him from a young age.
Granted that there could be a huge gap among Origin Level 1 transcendents, he didn’t think that he would fall into a disadvantageous position.
Today, he was proven wrong. Or rather, he encountered an opponent he had never expected to meet.
The suffocating and irresistible pressure crushing on him turned his expression grave, as the feeling of invincibility he felt after advancing to Origin Level 1 vanished.
On the other hand, Carolyn’s expression remained impassive, but her heart wasn’t calm either.
His rate of growth is absurd.
While he wasn’t exactly on par with her yet, he possessed the power to oppose her now. This piqued her wariness.
The Kingmaker Clan had always grown faster than the other races due to its unique traits, but they had to shoulder great danger in return. The descendants of the Kingmaker Clan had a high chance of losing their lives in the dangerous Witness State.
Even so, there was not a single person from the main family who had grown faster than the man before her. It had only been a few days ago that she last met him, and he was unable to put any pressure on her then, but he was a different man now.
Of course, this was largely due to the power of the Crown’s Stones, but the Second Epoch’s Ardes had talents who could absorb the Crown’s Stones too, and none of them had grown as ridiculously as he did.
It isn’t just about the Crown’s Stones. There must be a deeper reason to it…
Carolyn eyed Roel, and she quickly noticed that the Mother Goddess’ aura around him had grown even stronger. That made her narrow her eyes, and she quickly decided on her strategy.
I have to end it fast.
She had come to this decision after evaluating the current situation.
While she had suppressed Alicia Ascart’s powers, she could tell from the latter’s gaze that she was determined to fight, and her strength was also not to be made light of. This was going to be a two-against-one battle, and she was bound to be disadvantaged in a prolonged fight.
Thus, she decided to make the first move to control the momentum of the battle.
Carolyn raised her hand, and the twinkling light in the distant sky above quietly released a deluge of golden light toward Roel and Alicia. It was a much wider-range attack this time around, covering an entire half of Roel’s vision.
“Artasia.”
Roel summoned the Witch Queen once more, and the latter conjured a barrier of water around Roel and Alicia to protect them from the venom.
“Is there a point resorting to the same tactics twice?” Artasia asked with a smile as she prepared to take on the deluge of golden light.
But right before the golden light came into contact with the water, Carolyn’s Divine Domain suddenly contracted. The amplification of the pressure made Roel frown, but what happened afterward shocked him more.
Just as the deluge of golden light was augmented by Carolyn’s Divine Domain, it suddenly transformed into a blazing inferno that culminated in an explosion upon coming into contact with the purification water, causing the latter to swiftly evaporate.
“A Divine Domain with the power to change the traits of the ancient gods? How annoying,” Artasia murmured in irritation.
She quickly conjured another stream of light-blue water to neutralize the inferno, and it temporarily freed them from the danger they were in. However, the situation wasn’t optimistic.
Carolyn continued to unleash attacks on Roel and the others from the sky. These attacks were so fast that Artasia, having her powers suppressed, had her hands full with reacting quickly enough to neutralize them.
Roel frowned, but he didn’t make a move. Instead, he stared at Carolyn with eaglelike eyes.
As precarious as the situation looked, Roel was confident that they would be fine as long as Artasia was around. This was how much she trusted the Witch Queen. What he had to focus his attention on was buying time for the woman behind him.
Carolyn’s greatest advantage over Roel and Alicia was her Divine Domain, which suppressed their powers and allowed her to control the tempo of the battle. What they urgently needed to do now was to dispel it.
Hidden behind Artasia and Roel’s defense was Alicia, whose body glowed with ethereal lights as she channeled her mana to unleash her Divine Domain. The moment she succeeded, Roel would be freed from his restraints, allowing him to launch a decisive counterattack.
The only problem was that Carolyn knew that as well.
She had witnessed Alicia’s Divine Domain. That was how the two of them gave her the slip in the first place. She didn’t want history to repeat itself, so she knew whom she should prioritize.
And as Roel had expected, the intense bombardment was just a feint.
Carolyn’s body began to glow amidst all the rattling and shaking. There was a sudden flash of lightning, and a short and stout silhouette appeared on the battlefield.
As the lightning faded, the details of the silhouette started to show. It was a dwarven warrior dressed in heavy armor. His face was buried under his helmet, but his beard flowed beyond his chest.
Roel narrowed his eyes.
He knew that a dwarf’s beard symbolized their strength. A normal dwarf’s beard would stop growing once it reached their neck. Only powerful experts who had lived for many years would have beards that reached their chests.
And the dwarven warrior before him had a beard that reached his waist.
The voice echoing in Roel’s ear reinforced his suspicion.
“That’s Dwarf Sovereign Obezo! Quick, you need to defend!” Peytra exclaimed.
“!”
Roel quickly channeled all of his mana in response.
On the other hand, the Dwarf Sovereign looked at Roel and Alicia with a reluctant expression, but nevertheless, he raised his gigantic hammer as he murmured, “A child? My apologies, but please don’t blame me for this.”
Dwarf Sovereign Obezo swung his hammer, and a lightning bolt enveloped Roel’s line of sight.
It might have been more accurate to call it a lightning pillar, for it spanned a diameter exceeding a hundred meters. Even an Origin Level 1 transcendent would have felt helpless to have such a powerful attack directed at them.
However, it was a pity that this didn’t include Roel.
Roel channeled his mana, and the landscape around him began to move. Before the massive lightning pillar could strike him, a mountain had already risen to protect him.
Boom!
A resounding explosion ensued. The quakes following the clash were so intense that Roel couldn’t keep his balance.
The destructive prowess of the lightning pillar was so great that cracks immediately appeared on the mountain blocking its path, but these cracks were swiftly repaired by new layers of earth. Ultimately, the lightning pillar was unable to breach the continuously regenerating mountain.
In the end, Roel escaped unscathed from the ordeal.
After the ruckus died down, the golden serpent, whose humongous body wound across the prairie, looked at the foe before her and said, “I never thought that we’d meet again, Obezo.”
“!” Dwarf Sovereign Obezo widened his eyes, and his voice grew respectful. “Lord Peytra.”
“It’s been a long time. I’d have a nice chat with you, but I don’t think we’re in a good position to reminisce.”
“…Indeed,” Dwarf Sovereign Obezo replied with a conflicted expression. He glanced at Carolyn and Roel before remarking, “It can’t be helped since our loyalties differ.”
“Obezo?” Carolyn asked.
“Carolyn, I’ll handle the situation here.”
“An acquaintance? All right.”
Meanwhile, Roel looked at the lofty World Serpent and heaved a sigh of relief.
Dwarves were masters of smithing. Their desire for ores granted them a strong affinity for earth. Given so, Peytra, as the Primordial Earth Goddess, should have a decisive advantage against the Dwarf Sovereign.
Roel and Carolyn, as fellow members of the Kingmaker Clan, fought carefully.
In particular, Roel was hesitant to go all in because he didn’t know how many ancient gods Carolyn had contracted with. If Peytra could quickly defeat Obezo, it would greatly tilt the scales of this battle in his favor.
This gave Roel a huge morale boost.
However, the Primordial Earth Goddess sensed his expectations and broke his bubble with a sigh, saying, “You shouldn’t pin your hopes on me in this battle.”
“Why is that so?”
“That fellow over there is Dwarf Sovereign Obezo, one of Sia’s first followers in the ancient era. He existed in the same era as me. He… possesses other authorities.”
Roel was taken aback by those words.
Meanwhile, Carolyn had gathered a huge amount of mana in her Divine Domain, and she channeled all of it toward Obezo.
“Grarrrrr!” a hoarse roar echoed.
A humongous lighting pillar zapped into the sky, forcing Artasia to back off.
The blinding lightning instantaneously illuminated everyone’s faces, including a mountain-like silhouette standing at its middle. It was Obezo.
His appearance was still the same as before—an old dwarf dressed in heavy armor—but his body had been transformed into lightning. As if to reflect his immense power, his physique grew much larger as well. The explosive power he harnessed in his body was fearsome.
His hammer had grown to the size of a house, and it furiously cackled with lightning.
Peytra grimly finished her explanation: “Dwarf Sovereign Obezo was also known as the Lightning God in the ancient era.”
