Levi’s roar resounded in everyone’s ears, making them instinctively look up... Immediately, their pupils widened at the sight of the massive white clouds that usually draped the sky getting absolutely shredded from the inside out by a blinding, emerald light!
Then, it emerged... a hand. But to call it a hand was a disservice; it was a structure of divine aetheric architecture!
A gigantic aetheric palm, easily a kilometer wide from thumb to pinky, burst through the cloud ceiling... The pure scale of it dwarfed the very sky and the mountain beneath it!
Following Levi’s order, it descended with a terrifying, crushing momentum, casting a gigantic greenish shadow on everyone beneath it!
"How... how can one create an aetheric palm so massive while still in Baron rank?"
Brahmin was the first to voice his disbelief... He knew that their technique was amazing enough that it fueled anyone with spiritual energy to rival that of Tier 8 powerhouses.
However, the comparison stopped at the amount of fuel... In his mind, even if Levi was a generational talent at using aetheric energy, he shouldn’t be able to create such a massive structure almost instantly.
Soon, Brahmin seemed to find the answer after realizing that the chains, latches, and any other aetheric structures were never tied to Levi.
It was like...
"Impossible... He, he has access to the Aether Realm?!" Brahmin’s expression rarely lost composure... but this realization was enough to leave him gazing at Levi’s back in awe.
Levi didn’t seem to care in the least about anyone’s reaction... The nosebleed had coated his chin and chest, but he didn’t mind either.
Every vein in his neck and arms was now a bulging, glowing emerald line beneath his skin... His aura was now a chaotic, fluctuating detonation of green aetheric radiation, so potent that Brahmin felt like his skin was being stabbed by a million needles.
Yet, he didn’t complain either and kept channeling everyone’s spiritual energy into Levi while looking at the collapsing mountain, which was chained up.
After Levi stopped it from falling over, some of the Runehoof Kin swiftly rescued anyone still stuck on the mountain and brought them to safety.
It even gave some time for the citizens to evacuate the residential mountain... Just when they thought that Levi had already done more than enough, he summoned this heavenly hand.
The moment it reached the mountain, Levi locked his own right hand, palm open, and then began to close his fingers.
The motion was mirrored perfectly by the celestial hand... The mountain, which had been tilted, was suddenly swallowed!
When Levi’s fist finally clenched into a crushing grasp, the titanic aetheric hand closed around the entire collapsing mountain!
The mountain instantly groaned with a high-pitched, terrifying shriek of rock... millions of tons of ancient stone being compressed and ground!
Dust and debris were blown away in a shockwave that smothered a forest on a neighboring peak.
But the aetheric hand remained strong... Once Levi was confident in his grip, he got rid of the chains and other aetheric constructs, which were devouring his spiritual energy.
He knew that it wouldn’t be counted as more than a couple of drops compared to the immense fuel that was pumped into his subconscious barrier, and yet he removed them.
For he knew that every drop of spiritual energy was needed for what he had in mind.
"URRGH!"
A primal roar escaped Levi’s throat as he threw his right arm up, attempting to lift the Mountain!
With a grinding shriek that sounded like the foundations of the world shattering under the strain, the titanic emerald fist began to defy gravity!!
The immense weight was still there... Even with an entire civilization’s fuel, it was a burden that only a monstrous will could manage!
Levi’s will and pride ruled over him at this very instant... The sole thought that coursed through his mind as he felt the infinite spiritual energy channeled into him was: I Will Lift It!
Rumble! Rumble!!
The thousands of tons of compressed rock, the market stalls, the broken trees, the ancient foundation... all of it was lifted straight into the air under the stunned eyes of the Runehoof Kin.
"..."
"..."
"..."
An absolute silence fell over the entire territory... Every citizen, from the children to the oldest elder, stood frozen.
They just stared in utter stupefaction as their estate mountain was held five hundred meters above the highest peaks.
Not in their wildest dreams did they expect to see such a ludicrous scene.
The sight was terrifying, but simultaneously miraculous... A thousand Runehoof Kin, many with tears streaming down their fur, had just realized what it meant to have a protector.
Brahmin simply watched, his mind blank, his hand still placed on Levi’s trembling back, pumping energy into him.
He knew at once... Meeting Levi wasn’t a coincidence; it was destiny. For he was the only one who had brought out their technique’s potential to the limit!
Meanwhile, Levi turned slowly in the direction of the desolate territory of the neighboring mountain range... toward the borders.
"Sil... as... Tar... gon..."
Levi rasped, the words mixed with the blood that coated his mouth... No hesitation, he drew both of his arms back, and the massive aetheric grip mimicked the action, bringing the million-ton weapon into a wind-up position!
"You... want... so... bad... here... TAKE IT!"
With one final, earth-shaking roar that eclipsed all previous noise, Levi used every last drop of his personal and the shared spiritual energy to make a massive throwing motion!
The result left Brahmin and the citizens dumbfounded as their eyes traced the gigantic mountain hurtling through the sky, akin to a spear of rocks!
It reached terminal velocity in seconds, transforming into a meteor of pulverized stone that pierced through the clouds nonstop in the direction of House Targon’s borders!
As the mountain streaked through the sky, the hired strike force gazed at this image with widened eyes and hearts beating out of their chests.
They had watched everything since the moment Levi had shown up... his futile attempt to stop the collapsing mountain, which they had laughed at him for.
But their laughter stiffened the instant they saw a mesmerizing constellation of stars emerge behind him, helping him stop the mountain’s fall.
Just this alone had left them shocked, knowing that no one below Tier 6 should be able to stop it.
Yet, right when they assumed that Levi was bound to let the mountain collide with the neighboring peaks after evacuating the citizens, the celestial aetheric hand descended from the heavens.
Before they could even react, their eyes captured the ludicrous and terrifying sight of a million-ton mountain heading in their direction, going against all natural order!
"We are in the blast zone! RUN!!"
The strike force’s leader ordered while already on the run, his eyes emitting nothing more than pure fear... His teammates’ reaction was the same.
They weren’t scared of the descending mountain as much as they were of Levi himself!
"Broke and weak my ass! Bastards!"
The leader cursed House Targon with every step he took, bitterness festering deeper in his chest. He felt utterly deceived. When they had accepted the contract, the client painted House Zen as helpless prey... mere goats awaiting slaughter.
Instead, they had walked straight into the jaws of a monster!
No money, no troops, no powerful protector as claimed... Yet, he had watched with his own eyes how a single entity lifted an entire mountain and threw it away like a mere pebble.
The strength necessary to pull this off was beyond his understanding.
Now, he was constantly looking behind him in dread, tracing the mountain until... RUMBLE!!!
The hurled mountain slammed into the first peak of the desolate mountainous chain with enough force that it thundered throughout House Targon’s territory!!
The impact detonated the mountain at once and created a shockwave that flattened every tree in the vicinity!
Yet, the destruction was only at its beginning... The imploded mountain’s gigantic fragments were launched everywhere, resembling falling magma rocks born from a volcanic eruption!
"Watch out!"
The strike force leader shouted a warning the instant he saw the sky covered in a dusty storm of giant rocks and trees mixed in... Despite their speed, the shockwave still engulfed every one of them.
With no hesitation, they channeled whatever defensive measures were at their disposal: abilities, totems, artifacts... whatever was necessary to survive the storm of destruction!
Thankfully, they were already too close to the borders... After a few minutes within the storm, getting bombarded by everything, everywhere, the strike force lunged out of the dust cloud into the river-like expanse of greenish grassfield... the natural border.
It wasn’t that the storm had let go of them, but that it couldn’t continue beyond the natural border... An invisible, translucent wall kept the storm trapped on the other side, refusing to allow anything to cross the borders without House Targon’s approval.
A subscription perk only a genuine Noble had access to purchase from Nocturn’s Administration to keep the borders protected by the system.
Unfortunately, House Zen couldn’t access such a perk, which was one of the main reasons why they were so vulnerable to invasions.
Though even if they had one, it was doubtful if they could maintain it in their current financial situation, considering its lavish price of a million credits a year... and this price was based on the territory’s size.
Securing an entire nation’s borders wasn’t cheap in the slightest.
"Did everyone make it out?"
The strike force leader checked on his people the moment he regained control of his emotions... His teammates started showing up one by one, their clothes covered in dust and some blood, while their expressions were a mixture of dread and relief.
After grouping up, they glanced at each other in silence and turned to face the gigantic, contained storm, which was still rumbling nonstop, akin to a live thunderstorm.
Goosebumps coursed through their skin, knowing that if they had been caught amidst it for another second, they would have never come out alive... even when they were at Solarbound rank!
The wrath of nature was something to always dread, regardless of one’s rank... only this time, it was man-made, which fazed them even more.
"What the hell is going on down there! Answer me, Alpha! Answer me, god damn it!"
The strike force’s leader, Alpha, had a change of expression the moment he heard Simon’s voice... Rage, pure rage.
"Dear client... You know the price of giving us false information that threatens our lives?" Alpha uttered coldly, "It’s in the god damn contract!"