Chapter 560: Finished [Bonus]
The moment the nine pillars took shape, Sylas felt like something was pressing down on him. He was still high in the skies, surrounded by a shattered rain of splintered vines, wood, and wooden roses, but all of a sudden he felt as though <Chilling Rise> lost all of its effects. At the same time, the Ice-Poison Aether that was quickly spreading from Mancer's Blossom suddenly slowed considerably.
It was a great risk to take Mancer's Blossom out in the first place. Sylas had no idea how good the defenses of the Aether Treasure were, and if the Violet Rose Heart was smart, it would almost certainly go all out to target it first.
But the Violet Rose Heart was an unintelligent existence that acted on nothing more than instinct. This much Sylas had already confirmed, which was why he dared to take such a risk. Diverting its attention away from the crystalline tree while he bombarded it from other directions was more than easy enough.
What wasn't good would be taking such a risk for no return, and these nine pillars seemed to be inching him closer to such a reality.
King Beasts... King Threats...
They were existences that forced entire cities to fight them, powerhouses that shook fear into the hearts of even the greatest experts, world-ending threats so shocking that the system granted merits for killing beasts even with the slightest potential of becoming one...
There was simply no way that Sylas could kill one just by destroying a few vines. And it would seem like his task had only gotten harder because Nosphaleen was now trapped outside of the nine pillars.
Sylas' gaze flashed as a hand slapped out at him from below. The clumsy Violet Rose Heart's palm surged up, extending like it had been launched out of a rocket and appearing before Sylas in an instant.
Sylas himself was already falling from the skies due to the influence of the nine pillars, and now he was being accelerated toward the palm.
The wind stung against his cheeks, and his scale-covered body almost felt as though some would peel off beneath the high pressure.
Even with his Constitution having received such a large upgrade, Sylas felt that the last thing he wanted was to face this palm head-on.
His Constitution was almost 1200. His Aether skin gave him an Effective Constitution of 2200. Layered on top of that, both received a 20% boost from <Madness Control>, which now influenced every aspect of his body, and none of that included the mysterious enrichment of the Scorpion Warlord illusory armor.
And yet, Sylas wanted absolutely nothing to do with this palm.
Realizing that Nosphaleen wasn't going to be able to make it through in these conditions, and also understanding that the longer this battle dragged out, the more familiar the Violet Rose Heart would become at controlling its body, Sylas shed all distracting thoughts.
It was impossible to account for every variable, every change, every little tweak and sudden bump...
All that mattered was to be strong.
So that was what he would be.
His gaze flared, and he struck out with a <Focus Palm>.
Suddenly, his hand was wrapped by a green and violet energy. Aetherflow activated, and he received a 60% boost from his hidden Comprehension infused into his Gene Talent.
The energy that wrapped his hand expanded violently, and in a blink, it was no less large than the palm of the Violet Rose Heart.
A twin pair of palms met in the skies, Sylas' own illusory green-violet palm from above and the humanoid plant's from below.
A shockwave spread out from their collision.
BOOM!
Sylas used the rebounding force to send him back into the air, countering the suppression of the nine pillars for a moment.
His visualization reached out, only to realize that the range of the pillars was so wide that he was only within 100 meters of a single one of them, but that was enough.
He saw through the Runes that formed the pillar in an instant but didn't have the time to analyze them just yet as a second palm streaked toward him.
Sylas struck out again, using the very same arm. His other was still affected by the <Psychedelic Punch> he sent earlier, but he didn't let it slow his combat pace in the slightest.
BOOM!
The shockwave was even fiercer this time, and Sylas' Aetherflow palm collapsed in on itself. 'It can only use some of its Strength properly because its control is too poor, limiting its Effectiveness. But it's learning fast. Too fast.'
Sylas spun through the air, landing perfectly on the pillar he had observed earlier just as he predicted.
This pillar was definitely formed by a skill, but the Skill itself manifested in Runes as all things did. There probably wasn't anything in this world that didn't function on Runes.
It was why Sylas could bolster the strength of his skills with his Rune Mastery, and it would also be why he could do this.
'47 Foundations, but the Aether used to form it is powerful. Unfortunately...'
Sylas' Will pierced down and shattered the Rune.
His current Sparking Will was the bane of Runes, and he had already deduced why the Violet Rose Heart feared it so much.
The answer was in the name of the creature.
It wasn't the vines, nor was it made up of vines. Instead, it was controlling the vines, using them as a medium.
Everything this creature was happened to rely on Runes and the control of them... even its existence itself.
Meaning, if Sylas could find a way to target its main body, he would have a way to kill it.
However, that was far easier said than done.
One thing was for sure... this pillar was finished.
Sylas punched out, tearing through what should have been a nigh indestructible construct as
though it was formed of wet tissue paper.
His arm ripped all the way through the pillar, crumbling it to ash.