Chapter 626: Perfect timing
Michael’s attack was in perfect timing.
He swung his Unity Saber towards Potbol, launching the reality-shredding crescent strike towards him.
But at that same moment, Potbol closed his eyes and summoned the Diva above his head.
The projection of a Millenium tree, one with massive roots and thick trunks, gave Potbol the serenity that he needed.
Suddenly, Potbol’s skin started to glow golden, much like a buddha. With his Aubility activated, his entire body was now completely invulnerable to any attacks!
Even though Potbol was unable to see Michael in time, he was able to guess, purely from pure instinct and battle IQ, that he was going to get attacked from behind.
So as a precaution, he immediately activated his Aubility to nullify any attack that Michael could conjure.
Just then, the reality-shredding crescent strike finally hit him back, with the Millenium Tree above him projecting its ethereal glow to resist the attack.
Potbol, confident of his own defense, quickly raised his Battle Axe and readied a counter attack.
But it was in that moment that he felt a sharp pain from behind him.
Blood poured down his back.
He looked behind him, and saw the crescent strike shredding the very reality around Millenium Tree’s protection.
It slashed through his ’impermeable’ defense and cleaved a deep injury spanning from his right shoulder down to his left waist.
Potbol looked down. A horrified look descended upon his face as he saw his own blood dripping down into the ground.
Somehow, he got injured.
Even when he was using his 9th stage Aubility that allowed him to literally be impervious to any attack, he still incurred a large gash on his back.
The pain he was feeling was nothing compared to the damage to his pride and his own self-esteem.
He couldn’t understand how his own Aubility had failed to stand up against an attack from a 4th stage Maugnetic!
No one could.
Aerith, Bobby, and all the other players competing in the game stopped stared at Michael. Even they weren’t confident that they would have been able to injure Potbol normally, especially if he had his Aubility activated.
But somehow, Michael did.
Even the crowd watching from above went entirely speechless.
They stood up and wiped their eyes, wondering if what they saw was correct.
"No... no way. How can Potbol get injured... he activated his Aubilitiy!"
"What are Michael’s powers?! First, he has speeds that can surpass 9th stage Maugnetics, and second, he has a power that can even injure someone invincible?!"
Meanwhile, the Mermen, who weren’t usually impressed by things of human nature, couldn’t help but applaud Michael’s talents.
"This kid might be the first decent talent I’ve seen in the overworld," one the Mermen commented.
"So young too. If he weren’t a human, then I would have wanted to recruit him to our family."
"What do you think, Mistress?"
They all turned towards the woman in the highest seat, with hair as curly as seaweeds and as orange as the setting sun.
"How interesting," she muttered.
Her voice indicated her youth, probably only a few years older than Michael.
"He’s able to use that while being so low in cultivation? I didn’t even know that was possible," she muttered.
One of the mermen couldn’t help but speak up. "What do you mean, mistress?"
Unlike her, most of the Mermen here were completely clueless about human cultivation.
The woman opened her mouth, about to explain, when her attention was suddenly pulled towards the Pocket Dimension.
She noticed something on the corner of her eyes.
A very fast blur was rushing towards the center, aiming for the platform containing the drops of Soo.
"Looks like we’ll see it soon," she said, with an intrigued smile on her face.
...
While Potbol was still shocked at seeing his own blood drip down to the ground, Michael took this chance and ran towards the next drop of Soo.
He stretched out his hands and grasped at the vial on top of the pillar.
Immediately, another beam of light shone down from the skies and officially signaled his ownership of the drop of Soo.
Two drops down.
This is my chance!
With Potbol out for the moment, there was no one else left to stop him from using the rest of his 300% battery energy to ’Quantum Step’ towards ten other drops of Soo.
His hands started to bend reality, warping the fabric of space, when all of a sudden, he felt the air turn heavy around him.
[Kukukuku... finally, a worthy opponent.]
He could feel Harbinger stir at the moment that he felt the change in atmosphere, as if his blood boiled with excitement.
Just then, a sudden explosion caused him to turn his head.
He saw two players get launched away due to the shockwave, with their bodies teleporting in mid-air, meaning that with just that explosion alone, they were knocked out and eliminated from the game.
A fast object blurred from the point of explosion and dashed towards the next group of players, eliminating them from the game with just one eruption as well.
One by one, players kept dropping like flies.
Aerith and Bobby both stopped in their tracks and looked at this blur, with their eyes showing shock and surprise.
"Damn it. He’s done it," Aerith said, clicking her tongue.
"He’s left us in the dust again," Bobby muttered.
It was at that point when the blur dashed towards them.
Aerith raised her giant needle, using it as a sword to block the attack. Bobby held his hammer upside down, using it for pure defense.
As the blur crashed towards them, an explosion burst outwards and created a shockwave that disturbed the soil and silt on the ground.
It was only when the dust settled a few seconds later did everyone finally catch a glimpse of this blurry creature.
Aerith and Bobby were still standing, with their arms and bodies shaking as they felt an immense amount of force pushing them down. Even their 9th stage cultivation didn’t seem enough to stand their ground.
In front of them was someone everyone was familiar with.
It was the famous Alaric Goldstone, said to be the strongest Maugnetic in all of Metropolis.
But his strength shouldn’t be more powerful than two 9th stage Maugnetics holding him down.
Yet, he was still able to push Aerith and Bobby down to their knees.
"There’s something... There’s something different about him."
"What is he wearing?"
"I know that! That’s—that’s!"
Alaric’s entire body was clad in black armor, which was seemingly made out of obsidian.
His head was covered in a helmet, with large bulbous visors around his eyes that had millions of little specks around its surface.
Above his forehead were two black antennae, subtly moving as it scanned around the area.
And perhaps the most distinct and most eye-catching feature on his new attire were the pair of black and white wings on his back.
His wings were larger than his own arms, making the eye-like design on it become that much more intimidating to anyone who gazed at him.
Meanwhile, atop the auction, the so-called mistress smiled as she gazed at Alaric’s new form. "Now that, my dear brothers, is the next realm of the Diva Cultivation that humans have. It is called the Nascent Spirit realm."