Chapter 406: Battle of Wills (1)
The two staff wielders and archers were shaken, thinking that the arrow was headed for them. Their hair stood on end. It was simply moving too fast, and the fog of the earlier blizzard hadn't quite dissipated.
But, the arrow simply landed on the barrier, causing it to shake violently. Though it held up, they nearly lost their footing on the top of it, further delaying them.
By this point, Sylas had already turned his back to them. Not only that… but his tail and scales vanished, returning him to his base form.
They had spent this entire time trying to force him back, and now he seemed to be forcing that distance himself.
Aerwyna's gaze flickered, then she held up a hand.
Sylas didn't look back, rushing toward the edge of the catacombs. It was only when he felt that they weren't rushing after him that he slowed.
A few arrows came from the distance, but nothing dangerous enough to harm him. Even without his fusion, the distance was too great and he had too much time to dodge. By this point, there was already over 200 hundred meters between Sylas and the ice wall.
The winds around them continued to howl, getting stronger and stronger. However, in a bold move, Sylas actually sat right by one of the holes of the catacombs despite the fact it was one of the locations where the wind was at its harshest.
Aerwyna watched this with confusion written all over her face. The only reason Sylas would do this would be if…
'No, it can't be…'
The rules of the team battle always followed the rules of the challenge that preceded it. Much like the last team battle that followed a Will challenge, points would be decided by how long you lasted. Team members would be transferred out when they reached their limits and points would be allocated based on how long you lasted.
Sylas' actions seemed to assume that he would outlast them all. But… There was a problem with this approach.
Sylas was alone. That meant that even if he did last the longest, after the point distribution was decided, he would still end up with fewer points than all of them.
The bad thing for Aerwyna was that if Sylas lasted the longest, then she wouldn't get the 80% split that she needed. If he managed to last a lot longer than her, then the damage could be as bad as 50/50. By then, she would end up losing to Brisa in points and that was unacceptable. But the thing was that she didn't believe that Sylas could outlast them, let alone outlast her by such a large margin.
Had he made a miscalculation…?
Or was she miscalculating?
Her gaze shifted and she looked at the hole Sylas sat before. That location was the worst spot to be in. Technically speaking, right now, his Will was being ground down far more than any one of theirs was.
Why would he choose that spot? As a deterrent to them? Or maybe it was a concession? A dare? Was he silently accepting his fate or reaching out an olive branch?
Aerwyna was starting to get a bit frustrated. If he meant all of those things, shouldn't he just say it out loud? She knew that he wasn't mute.
Her gaze couldn't help but become a rare hint cold, something that was an oddity for her… however, her teammates knew well what it meant.
Aerwyna made a hand signal and everyone retreated. The ice wall collapsed and they formed up into a tight circle. Soon, their auras flared and they began to fight back against the winds together.
Normally, this wouldn't be possible in a team battle. But since Sylas insisted on not fighting at all, they could use some of the same strategies they had during the stair challenges.
What they didn't know was that Sylas had stopped paying attention to them entirely. He already knew that she would make this decision, that was because it was the smartest decision she could make given the circumstances.
Unfortunately, she had no idea what Sylas had gone through to make it to this point.
Sylas' might ignored the world and entered an internal visualization, leaving only one of his minds to keep Rune Soul and <Maddened Enlightenment> active. In fact, because he wasn't moving at all, <Maddened Enlightenment> was several times stronger than he was on the move.
That was to say that not only was this challenge far weaker than the one he had already faced, but he likewise had even more powerful tools to deal with it.
His Aether was being replenished at a frightening pace, and he couldn't use Rune Soul fast enough to make a dent in his Wisdom because <Maddened Enlightenment> covered his bases too quickly.
And unfortunately for Aerwyna, because he was sitting right in front of a howling wind tunnel to the outside, it was impossible for her to sense any of this from so far away.
Sylas had already decided. Since he couldn't defeat them with strength, he would just have to choose another method.
As for what he was focused on, it was the barrier he had seen when he first entered this Dungeon. Back then, he had been the first to clear the stair challenge and had the opportunity to wait around for everyone else.
In the barrier he was stuck in, he found something interesting he believed would increase the strength of <Arctic Howl Mutant> by another 50%. If he was correct, it would be able to block up to 1500 Damage, and freeze an attack of up to 2000 for a brief instant.
Unfortunately, he hadn't had the time to finish his deductions…
Until now.
'Geometry… I should have considered this earlier. It's not as simple as some shapes being stronger than others, but rather that some Runes prefer specific three-dimensional geometries over another…'
Sylas' gaze flickered beneath his eyelids, his deductions coming faster and faster beneath his sharper Wisdom.
Hours later, his eyes flashed open with a sharp glint.