The Harvester

Chapter 415: Queen of War

The members of Throne of Glory witnessed a bizarre phenomenon that day. Inside their bubbles erected by Ganymede, everything around them was pitch black like outer space, flickers of purple flashing here and there like stars, and an obscene amount of energy and obsidian shards storming about.

Any poor soul caught in this would have been disintegrated, shredded, and literally transmuted into nothingness. Yet, the guild was situated in the middle of it as if it was normal.

"What the fuck…?" Varq tried to extend his hand out of the water bubble and expected it to get all but unscathed; he could regenerate it anyway. But instead, the mayhem avoided him. Or rather, it was as if the spell was alive and treated him like a precious protégé.

Even Ganymede and Atlas were unaffected, standing tall without anything protecting them.

"…I see," Ensis suddenly remarked.

After a short while, the Pearls of Slaughter's effects eventually faded away like a dream and the half-emptied ocean began to fill the void after a few seconds of stillness; as if nature itself needed a moment to realize that the water had been gone.

Rakna emerged unharmed, as expected, and he smiled brightly, his tails mirroring his expression as if extensions of himself. He looked at Lilia, who also hadn't suffered any damage. Strangely, the dragon below her also was intact, but the beast's eyes were shaking, indicating its frightened state of mind.

"So, you trusted me?" The werewolf spoke up with a chuckle and Lilia maintained a blank face. It was as he said, she hadn't put up anything to protect herself before the explosion. Instead, she had used one of her core skills on the dragon.

Rakna's eyes flashed with a golden cross. "Damage Redirection, huh?" He uttered and glanced to his left where there should have normally been the reverse World Boss wrapped by the avatar of the Mother of War. But instead, all that was left there were remnants of a spell fading away.

"That second Ultimate Skill of yours…" The werewolf mused. "It's capable of nullifying damage on a self-affiliated target and offload it onto another. That's definitely something I wouldn't want to fight against if you're at the helm of an army. You can just redirect any damage done to yourself as long as you have tamed beasts; you are practically invincible."

"…thank you," Lilia deadpanned and he snorted in amusement.

"Poor guy though," Rakna looked at where the other dragon used to be. "You kept healing him with that other skill of yours during the whole duration of my spell, enough so that he wouldn't die and lose the 'privilege' of being affected by your Damage Redirection."

Varq grimaced at that. "Yikes, that's grim."

"Funnily enough, I got rewards for killing it," the werewolf glanced at a System window. "I got the instant level-ups and everything. Your 'Rebirth' skill is an exploit all on its own."

Lilia squinted her eyes, uncaring of his chatter. "How?" She finally asked the question. She did not need to hear what she had done; what she wanted to know was how he had spared her from any harm. It was as if she hadn't existed relative to that explosion.

"Probability Control," Rakna smiled and one of his tails hissed. "Infinity Magic. Its fundamental use is the manipulation of numbers. How fast a projectile is; how high damage is; or how long a spell takes to cast."

"…" Lilia immediately realized what he was talking about; the speed of his statues' arrows, their piercing strength that punched through her dragon's scales, and his accelerated casting.

"And, of course, what are the chances of a spell hitting its target?" His smile widened. "Or what are the chances of a spell hurting someone?"

She shivered. The Rajas that had curved back on the reverse clone; the chances of it being hit had been inflated to 100%. And the chances of herself and her guildmates being affected by the eight pearls had been reduced to 0%.

This was something close to causality control. The only reason he had most likely been able to do it was that it involved his own magic both times. But even then, the amount of mana required for that kind of spell would be astronomical.

"Sure, it's a hefty cost," Rakna shrugged as if he knew what she was thinking. "But when it comes to mana… I'm loaded. I'm also efficient with it and if I don't have any…" He casually swung Sonata at the water and a flying slash cut the surface apart. Immediately, everyone could sense raw mana being exuded from it. "I can just transmute some."

"…hey, the newbie is spouting crazy shit again," Varq couldn't help but mutter.

"Well, he did demonstrate that supposed 'crazy shit'," Caer retorted humorously.

"So? What do we do?" Rakna casually whirled Sonata. "I don't need to hold back anymore. I'm not breaking any rules as long as my attacks can't even carry the concept of you being a target."

Lilia sighed and dismissed her staff, the item going back into her storage. Then, she floated away from her dragon and spread her arms lightly. "[Resurrection,]" she whispered and her body was swallowed by a thread of light.

A heavy pressure descended upon Atlantis and a rumble echoed as if a thousand lightning strikes had come down at the same time. When the light went away, Lilia came into view as a completely different person. 

Her hair and eyelashes had become longer and snowy white. Her cold eyes glowed silver and her previous mage robe seemed to have gained a life of its own; ribbons and sleeves flailing to a white aura surrounding her.

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❮ ◈ ❯

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You are standing before the Queen of War!

Ten-Tailed Nephilim is resisting the oppression!

Level difference partially negates the resistance!

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Your Attributes will be decreased by 9% for as long as the War Queen stands; all intimidation skills will be rendered null; your energy consumption will increase by 27%; and every entity affiliated with the War Queen will be aware of your exact location at all times.

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❮ ◈ ❯

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Rakna grimaced as a new layer of debuffs chained him down just by being in her presence. '…that's a real Soul Manifestation, huh?' He thought. The sense of danger was no joke. This one seemed to be a self-altering type, not unlike the Internal Releases of his own Manifestations.

Varq whistled. "I didn't expect to see Lilia's War Queen today."

"Just goes to show how far Rakna can push her. Although she is limited by the rules as well, she's still one of us. He's quite something," Tira remarked, impressed.

"[Find Worth In The Heavens,]" Lilia began to chant with a soft tone and a magic formation matrix of extreme complexity encased the World Boss. This was not one of her Manifestation's direct uses but her third Nirvana Skill. "[Ô Blood of The Forthcoming, Bloom – Edge of Liminality.]"

The magic matrix shrunk on the dragon, hiding the creature from sight and compressing further and further until bones snapping began to be heard. At the same time, Rakna huffed whilst sensing the increase in aura.

A whirlpool formed right below the encased World Boss, widening as it grew ever stronger with each passing second. When the matrix broke apart after its purpose was completed, the large beast had already become something entirely new.

It was a dragon in the shape of a man. Wings shaped by black scales, dark blue claws, several layers of shaded scales made as if to imitate muscle, an ax and a sword in each of its hands, and a draconic head crowned by two pairs of curved horns.

"Good material," Lilia spoke up with a smile, her voice as cold as it was proud. And then, her tamed beast roared, squashing down the ocean waves and forcefully placating the water's surface to the point no undulation could be seen.

"I can see that," Rakna's eyes flashed gold. 'Edge of Liminality… a Nirvana Skill that can forcefully evolve a subordinate creature's race to its most perfect potential…'

"Draggy," the Queen of War's eyes glowed. "Attack."

It was instantaneous. One instant, the humanoid Wilden was unmoving, and in the next, a clash of blades so loud it resembled thunder split the sea and clouds. The werewolf and dragon faced each other through their crossed weapons but the former quickly lost in a contest of strength.

Rakna's face twitched as Sonata was knocked to the side by the blue stone ax. 'Heavy!' He thought and could only raise his arm in defense when the opposite weapon continued its path. 

It tore through his forearm without resistance and cleaved into his shoulder, going past where his heart was located and nearly bisecting him as purple flames gushed out instead of blood.

The World Boss didn't stop there. It gripped its sword and ignited its edge with lava. Just as fast as the first strike had been, he swung it and conjured a massive ball of magma. It swallowed Rakna and carried him toward the water, where a steam explosion occurred soon after.

Ganymede blinked as his summoner was blasted away. But he didn't have time to care. He swiftly tossed his amphora to the side and the container shot out such a strong stream of water that it resembled a laser. The second that it came out, the evolved dragon appeared in front of Lux.

The Wilden's sword aiming for the guild member was barely deflected by the stream of water that easily had taken more than five thousand mana from Rakna's mana reserves. But even as complete as he was as a Star Entity, Ganymede didn't have the power to stop the dragon further than that.

That is why Atlas moved at exactly the same time. The titanic god threw a punch downward, fully intent on smashing the World Boss into a paste. A spherical aura formed around the giant's fist as if a spectral sun and dwarfed the heat of the dragon's magma.

In response, the evolved Wilden poured mana into his Aqerite ax and began to draw in the water around them. Hundreds of strings of water shot toward the weapon, infusing it, and expanding its size and weight exponentially.

The dragon roared and swung the ax at the incoming fist, halting it and causing a massive burst of unresolved momentum. The shockwave knocked Atlas back and the World Boss followed up with a Unity Craft. It waved both of its weapons and countless copies materialized in the air. All of them radiated heat combined with the density of Aqerite.

Lilia breathed out a white cloud and snapped her fingers. "[Aim – True,]" she whispered and when the weapons rocketed forward, they collectively hit the same spot; Atlas' heart. The puppet let out a loud growl right before the summoned weapons exploded, causing him to topple backward.

And right as Atlas' back hit the ocean, a spatial tear was opened right behind the dragon. A serpent-tailed werewolf appeared in the blink of an eye, the wound on his chest rapidly closing with star energy and soul flames. A translucent mane glowed over his shoulders and Sonata's scythe form was swung to decapitate the World Boss. 

But, with inhumane reaction speed, Rakna was parried, his arm rattling from the rebound of the ax's weight. This mineral that grew tougher the more water it sucked in was a much greater threat than he had expected initially.

"…so, that's what 'entities will be aware of your exact location' means, huh?" The werewolf said as he contemplated the reaction speed the dragon had displayed. The effects of Lilia's Manifestation essentially made it useless to conceal his presence or attack by surprise.

Rakna snorted and channeled his internal force through his body. "[Field of Rupture,]" he uttered and his Internal Art exploded out of his body, fracturing the very dimensions.

The dragon's slitted eyes contracted even more and it flapped its scale wings to retreat. But just a second later, the magma sword that was supposed to be in its hand dropped. The beast looked at its arm, only to find a mangled mess.

Rakna whirled his scythe and then promptly split it into twin katanas. He pointed one of them at the World Boss. "So, you can keep up with me now, huh?" His lips stretched into a smile. "Let's see for how long."