Chapter 1163: Transcendent
...
Ashes noticed that her movement became faster.
She could have stopped the bone spear that had severely injured Margie had she swung the sword a little faster.
She could have stopped the Magic Slayer from attacking Elena had she moved a bit faster.
She could have blocked all the attacks from the Mad Demon had she been a little faster.
Her magic power currently running wild in her body strengthened every inch of her muscles and bones, creating a burning sensation on her skin. The pain somehow made her even more concentrated.
If only she could be a little faster!
Ashes had, once again, stepped into the same realm she had entered during her first encounter with the Magic Slayer. Indeed, she was even faster. Time seemed to move at a much slower pace. She could see every single detail of the battlefield, such as the tiny cracks on bone spears, the puddle underneath the demons, Margie's heaving chest, Zoe's trickling blood and so on. She could kill and rescue almost at the same time.
Ashes felt the surrounding magic power swarming into her and spreading all over her body. She reckoned this might be what Agatha referred to as an upgrade. Perhaps, it was about her time. The converging magic power not only strengthened her physically but also sharpened her senses, enabling her to fight two Senior Demons concurrently.
But she could not beat them.
"Clang!"
The giant sword clashed with the Magic Slayer's arm, sparks flying off the blade.
"What's the matter? Is this the fastest you could get?" Ursrook jeered as he streaked back before Ashes could give him another blow. "Your friends will die if this is all you can do. Perhaps, you're planning to abandon them?"
Ashes ignored his sarcastic comment and swung her sword at a spear zooming toward her.
"Don't listen to his nonsense. That freaking monster is trying to provoke you into madness!" Zoe advised, panting, as she loaded the gun with the rest of the few bullets. "If you fall for his trick, we'll lose."
"I understand," Ashes said, nodding calmly.
It was clear that the Magic Slayer attempted to break through her defense in collaboration with the scattered Mad Demons, who came up to her at a gallop against the gunfire. Their seamless cooperation forced Ashes to remain extremely focused throughout the whole battle.
The 100 Mad Demons at the Magic Slayer's command were perhaps the best soldiers in Taquila. They had yet to completely defeat the witches simply because the eight Taquila witches were also skillful and experienced combatants.
But the Magic Slayer was right about one thing.
This was the fastest she could reach.
Every inch of her skin was on fire at the moment, which was the exact sign of a power rebound. Ashes, who had been training herself on a regular basis, had never experienced such a backfire before. She could have escaped from the battlefield and recuperated until her body adjusted itself to the new power intensity. By that time, her skills would have definitely improved by leaps and bounds.
Yet time did not permit her to do so.
She could not save everyone but only herself.
She needed to do something more than this to pull them all out of the dilemma.
Perhaps, Alice, the Queen of Witches, would also feel lost if she were in her current position.
"You're an Extraordinary. You were born to have great potential. However, it requires a heart of steel to overcome and upgrade yourself." Phyllis' words suddenly came floating out of her memories. "As far as I know, all the Transcendents in the Union upgraded in battles, and those who couldn't successfully become Transcendents were all eventually killed by the demons. I hope you won't be one of them."
It wasn't until then that Ashes realized it was totally a different story to suit the action to the words.
She was now facing two options. One was to stay alive and reunite with Tilly, whereas the other was to upgrade herself and enter a new realm never achieved by human beings.
To enter this new realm, she had to burn herself.
"If we plan to use our magic power to achieve something, it would guide us in the direction we desire." Phyllis' voice was misty and distant as though coming from Heaven. It was like a long echo of murmur, a muted thunder rolling over the sky.
"What are you aiming to achieve exactly?"
"Look here. Fire!"
BOOM!
The silent battlefield suddenly erupted into another roar, followed by a shrill scream of the demons.
Ashes looked around and found Lightning just join the battle!
The grenade caught the Mad Demons offguard and sent them flying straight through the air. The two closer demons were instantly penetrated by the flying shells and lost their fighting capacity.
"Awh — " A gigantic Devilbeast emerged from the woods and bit the demons that charged at Lightning whilst pushing through the dense trees.
Under the joint effort of Lightning and Maggie, the number of the Mad Demons was soon reduced to five or six.
"Hold on. We are coming to help you, awh!"
"Annoying buzzing flies," the Magic Slayer mumbled, frowning, who turned away from Ashes to Lightning and Maggie.
The other Senior Demon thus took its superior's place, holding a large tree.
In the meantime, two bone spears cleaved the air, one aiming at staggering Zoe and the other Andrea on the ground.
It happened again.
If she ignored the Magic Slayer, Lightning would be in danger. If she went after him, then she would not be able to save the others.
Since a fast speed could no longer solve the problem, she had to resort to power that transcended the speed.
At that moment, Ashes made her decision.
Perhaps, she had already made her decision on the numerous nights she had spent at Neverwinter with the other witches, on the very evening she had conversed with Phyllis, and when Tilly had said "compared to the avenger you, I prefer the current you".
"Sorry, Tilly."
Ashes muttered as she stepped forward.
"What are you aiming to achieve exactly?"
"I want to protect them."
In an instant, she "saw" a roaming sea of magic power beyond any languages. Thousands of eyes were watching, murmuring, through the rushing currents.
Ashes lifted her limit and accepted all of them.
...
Ursrook was suddenly alarmed halfway.
He whipped around and saw Ashes point her sword at the sky, its blade basking in a haze of golden light.
The moment that golden light hit his eyes, Ursrook felt his move suddenly become incredibly slow as if a swamp underneath were dragging him down.
He was not the only person who became slower.
The air seemed to grow thick and heavy as well.
Ursrook had had similar experiences before, but he did not expect it to happen at this moment.
How could that be possible?
This was not the power of a Magic Stone but of the witch herself!
He strained to stare up, half hoping that he was wrong, but the dazzling golden light above him clearly showed that this strike was going to be even more powerful than the one from that red-haired witch.
There was no chance for him to dodge it.
If the sword struck him, he would die.
Realizing what was going to happen, Ursrook mustered all his strength and generated the anti-magic area.
Precisely at that moment, Ashes' sword thrashed down.
A jet of blinding flash cracked through the air and lit up the entire continent.
...
Lan's eyes snapped open.
She rose to her feet, passed the people in complete stillness and walked slowly to the window.
This world she was living in had not awakened yet. Everything had lapsed into a trance, including the outpouring rain outside the window and the champagne ready to fill the glass. They were all suspending in the air, forming a part of the background behind her.
There should not have been any sounds in this world when even time was frozen.
However, in this impenetrable, velvety blackness, she heard thunders roar in the distance.
Lan pushed open the window and gazed upon the distant sky in silence.
...
By the time Lightning's eyes acclimatized, she discovered, to her dismay, that the trees around the clearing had been burned to the ground. Wisps of smoke spiraled up horribly, and the air was heavy with a pungent smell.
"What just happened?"
All she could remember was that a Mad Demon lurking behind a tree had lunged at her when her focus had been solely on the Magic Slayer. She had thus no choice but to throw the propeller at it, in an attempt to stop the demon. The next moment, she was enveloped by a beautiful haze of golden rays.
But now, all the Mad Demons were gone, leaving the two Senior Demons alone on the battlefield.
The one transformed from the Lord of Hell slumped in a heap on the ground, its thick skin burned and cracked, almost dying.
The Magic Slayer was no better than his fellow companion, half of his body completely gone, black lights etching into his wounds. He was rooted to the ground, but for some reason, Lightning was utterly petrified by what she saw.
"Right... Ashes!"
She quickly looked around and breathed out a sigh of relief.
Ashes was still standing there, her sword in her hand, guarding the other witches.
"Are you OK — " Lightning asked as she flew to Ashes but the latter immediately cut across her.
"Get everybody out of here. Stay as far away from here as possible!"
"Huh?"
"Do it! Leave them to me, before I lose control!"
Ashes' voice cut through the air with a hint of starchiness, forcing Lightning to swallow down what she was about to say. It thus suddenly occurred to Lightning that Ashes simply did not want anybody to interfere with the battle between her and the demons. As Lightning gazed into Ashes' golden eyes, she somehow understood what heavenly thunder stood for.
Lightning thus asked Maggie to transform back into the Devilbeast and helped everyone onto Maggie's back. Although it was now impossible for Maggie to fly in the sky, she could still run at a fairly decent speed on the ground.
A moment later, both Lightning and Maggie disappeared into the forest.
After running about 100 meters, Maggie asked, "How did Ashes receive divine revelation? She's not having a Sigil of God's Will with her."
"I don't know either, but I'm sure about one thing," Lightning broke off, her hands clenching into fists in excitement. "She's now a Transcendent!"