The Path of Ascension Chapter 371

Chapter 371

The Rage Within sect and Dancing Flames sect leaders floated in the middle of the valley a dozen feet from each other. There was a familiarity between the two but a tension that refused to leave, even when they were the only high-Tier allies each other had left. If Matt didn’t miss his guess, the two had been long-term rivals, which explained the familiarity and the distrust even now, with a greater enemy knocking at their doors.

Cui Ming was the sect master of the Rage Within sect and was nearly as much of a bear as his tattoos would imply. Despite not having a bloodline, he was 6’7 and still managed to look short thanks to just how wide and muscular he was. His body also pulsed with fire mana in rhythmic sets of three, five, seven, and nine before resetting, and Matt noted that down for when the fight kicked off.

Lang Ru, sect master of the Dancing Flames sect, was tall and slender with fiery praying mantis arm blades protruding from her back and over her shoulders, yet the overall impression she gave off was one of elegance rather than simple deadliness. An impressive feat considering Matt could tell that the scythes of flame would be capable of cutting through at-Tier steel.

Cui Ming growled out a response to their challenge. “You mewling whelps think you can control this? Control us? You merely court death.”

“You’re making me blush,” Liz cut in. “I’ve never been called death before.”

Matt made a noise of disagreement and Liz corrected herself. “Or, I suppose, I have. Whatever. Let’s cut to the core of this. I know you know that you’re part of the Empire now. There’s no getting out of that. It will come with certain restrictions, and your lives won’t be the same again. If you have issues with that, take it up with Emperor Emannuel. However, we are willing to grant you functional autonomy on-world, allowing you to keep most of your power and influence, if you can beat us in a fight. Right here, right now, as fair as can be. The two of us against the two of you.”

Lang Ru allowed a predatory grin to creep into existence. “It is refreshing to see civilized people within the Empire. I accept.”

Cui Ming folded his arms. “Soon you will see who your betters are. I accept.”

It sounded one-sided, because it technically was. There had been nothing that Matt and Liz had demanded for when they won, but that wouldn’t be needed. He knew Sect culture. They respected strength. Offering them this, the potential for near-freedom, would be the only way to get them to truly commit to a full-on fight. It would give them a chance to truly show their mettle, and therefore would be the perfect time to put them in their place.

Because Matt knew that he and Liz would win. These two may have been impressive-looking and strong enough to maintain control over such a desired world, but they were far from the likes of Yun Me, Sien, or even Maven. Sure, they had three Tiers on them, a home field advantage, and synergy with ambient mana on their side, but why would that be enough to win?

The only potential wrinkle was that they needed to not only win, but win so decisively that the thought of rebelling or causing problems would never even occur to them at any time in the future. The Sects respected strength, and with a good enough showing, it wouldn’t matter what the sect masters did or didn’t do. Their sects were watching, and they wouldn’t be willing to follow any kind of rebellion against the superior fighter.

But while winning a three Tier jump was certainly doable, making it look easy was harder. He’d have to refrain from losing too many limbs this fight.

Matt turned to look up and to the right, where a contingent of their personal guards were waiting.

“Captain Kestrel, have your people form a protective shield around the valley.”

“Aye, my lord.”

With a gesture, the fifty guards moved into a pattern around the valley, interspersing themselves between the disciples of both sects. Space hardened, encapsulating them and their upcoming battle. Their guards were Tier 35 on average, with their leader, Captain Kestrel, a long retired Tier 40 general and a former retainer of Georgios, now a trusted aide of Manny.

Matt would have preferred to have this fight in space for simplicity’s sake, but part of winning here was to prove in front of everyone that they were the biggest fists on this world. Besides, a number of the disciples weren’t Tier 15, making it more effort than it was worth to bring them into space to witness the fight.

Or that was how Cato had explained it. Matt had pointed out that those mortal disciples wouldn’t even be able to watch the fight in real time, so they really didn’t matter, but his argument was countered by the fact that tradition rarely followed logic and he had no rebuttal for that.

The instant things were secure, the fight started.

In unison and instead of attacking immediately, Matt and Liz both locked down space securely enough that retrieving anything out of a storage ring would be impossible. That was standard immortal tactics, but it was something they had talked about before the fight as part of their overall plan.

That brief pause was enough to let their enemies act undeterred.

Cui Ming’s opening move was to roar.

Fire engulfed him as an aura spell of some sort flared to life that resonated and amplified his body’s natural pulses of fire mana into an inferno of flame. He launched himself forward, a trail of flame following after him and expanding, blocking both sight and spiritual perception.

Matt threw himself forward to meet the attack while Liz threw her spear into the trailing flames.

Lang Ru, who had been hiding in the fire’s wake, trying to get close enough to ambush Matt, was forced to dodge into the open, but she didn’t stop her attack. He felt the woman’s Domain crash into him, a wave of domineering pressure telling him to just lie down and die, that he was facing his betters and ought to know his place. When he refused, having experienced far stronger at the hands of countless other Sect fighters, it turned into a more direct killing intent as she began to hunt him.

The sect leaders’ tactics were simple and effective. Remove one of them and wear down the second in a much safer manner.

As if it would be that easy. They had encountered such simplistic strategies a million and one times in the war, and their reaction was simple.

Matt didn’t stop his forward rush, meeting Cui Ming’s attack with his growth sword. Fingers curled into claws were reinforced with both solidified flame and metal claw gloves that glowed with enchantments. The collision sent sparks into the air and Matt twisted, dissipating a lot of the Tier 29’s charge.

He checked a knee that threatened to rupture his organs with a kick. [Cracked Phantom Armor] blocked the blow, but thanks to the Tier difference, his leg bones cracked. [Regeneration] knitted him together immediately, but the exchange made it obvious just how far outclassed Matt was in raw physical cultivation.

It was so rare for that to happen with a human opponent that Matt couldn’t help but grin.

Pulling his sword free from Cui Ming’s grip, Matt lashed out past him and to the side, letting loose a [Mana Slash] that nearly cut Liz in half. While it almost hit his wife, it did hit Lang Ru and cut a deep furrow in her flame scythe that caused the limb to dim, weakening the attack she had been channeling through it. The limb healed as flames surged into it, but neither he nor Liz tried to prevent the spell.

Spending mana was fine with them.

Keeping up the pressure, Liz threw three copies of herself at the retreating sect leader, but Matt had to deal with being out of position with Cui Ming on top of him.

The Rage Within sect leader slashed out at his wrist with one hand while reaching for his arm with the second.

He clearly intended to disarm Matt either by making him drop his sword or ripping his arm out of his socket. Instead of retreating or blocking, Matt charged his sword with a massive [Tribulation Strike] and aimed for Cui Ming’s head, willing to let the other attacks through in exchange.

Cui Ming made the correct choice and he stopped his attack to cross both arms over his head, blocking the attack with spell and flame.

The lightning contained in [Tribulation Strike] caused the world to go white as it was unleashed.

Cui Ming’s block stopped most of the damage, but not all of it. The exposed portions of his forearms were charred, and even though the flames of his aura started to heal him, the damage was obvious for all who were watching. Which was the point.

They had scored first blood.

Cui Ming retaliated with a bone-shattering two-foot kick, and Matt made a snap decision. Normally, he would dodge. It was the more effective option by nearly every metric. But right now, he didn’t need efficiency, he needed style. In the instant before the kick landed, Matt triggered his Intent, freezing himself within the Realm.

A shockwave blasted out around him, and his Willpower took a substantial hit, but it was all worth it to see the cultivator recover in what was clearly an undignified manner. He then used Matt’s face as a springboard to join the fight between Liz and Lang Ru, which was less than flattering for Matt, but he had to admit, it was quick thinking on Cui Ming’s side.

Liz was in five bodies, all human, and was dancing around the sect master. Every time the other woman was about to land a blow on Matt’s wife, she flashed golden and allowed the attack to pass through her harmlessly, then reformed and counterattacked. Cui Ming nearly disrupted that back and forth, going for the Liz in the lead position with an attack of blue flames.

Liz triggered their teleportation ring then dissipated the body, and Matt was back in the fight, meeting blue flames with a full array of five blades thanks to [Sword Twin] cutting the magic to pieces at full strength. Then, Matt pulsed nearly all of his mana into [Archmage’s Presence], boosting his strength astronomically as he met Cui Ming’s attack, deflecting the man further into the sky.

Then, because they could, Liz formed a phoenix on Matt’s arm, and Matt charged the bird with a [Tribulation Strike]. It wasn’t the most viable tactic, but Liz’s ichor-based biology could survive the lightning long enough that she could fly into Lang Ru’s face and explode, pushing the woman back as her fellow returned with a vengeance, trailing flames in his wake as he came down like a meteor.

Matt deflected him with a bit of [Air Manipulation] mixed with [Telekinesis], pulling the sect leader away from his wife and forcing him to punch the air a dozen times in rapid succession, each one of which unleashing what appeared like a simple fire [Fist Blast].

Sect techniques being what they were, the spells weren’t so simple, and instead of just flying straight ahead, the projectiles homed in on Matt. With his array of [Sword Twin]s still active, Matt deflected two and cast a [Bulwark] behind him to protect Liz. That, in turn, gave him just enough time to use his Intent to concentrate his mana, turning [Cracked Phantom Armor] pitch-black with a red iridescence before the blasts slammed into him and detonated several massive explosions right in his face.

The first one left jagged red cracks across the front of his armor, and the next three spread those cracks further and further until the entire skill was covered in glowing magma lines, at which point they stopped doing anything and Matt was able to drop his Intent.

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Matt felt out what auxiliary effect the barrage had given him, with his favorite skill absorbing and specializing for the attack even beyond its existing fire-attunement. In this instance, he got the impression it was some kind of punch-based explosion, something not terribly useful for him.

Liz changed one of her bodies into phoenix form and perched on his shoulder, leaving her with three human bodies who attached themselves to his [Bulwark]. With a nod, he stopped his active maintenance of the spell, leaving only a mostly-static wall of mana crystal, and instead shoved it with [Telekinesis], accelerating both it and Liz to a truly dangerous speed.

As the spell flew forward, he and Liz rushed at Lang Ru, who was ready for them. She had already started spinning and twirling in retreat, leaving behind lines of fire mana thin as a thread, but sharp enough to cut through a battleship’s armor.

Matt noted the move down in appreciation. It was a good ploy. Either they would have to stop their charge, letting her create distance, or push through and take extra damage while Cui Ming hit them from the rear.

If they were any other duo, it might have worked.

Instead, they ran right through the trap.

Liz’s bodies just became ichor as the threads cut through them, passing with barely a fizzle. Matt, on the other hand, just barreled right through them, with [Dispelling Edge] making quick work of the spell and [Cracked Phantom Armor] trivially taking care of the rest of the damage. Though, it took enough damage that it shifted away from being specialized against those [Fist Blast]s and reverted back to the more basic fire affinity.

There was a noticeable flash of surprise across Lang Ru’s face as they practically ignored her attack, but as a combatant who had clawed her way to her current Tier, she reacted quickly. Both her arms and scythes swirled, creating fire tornadoes that had spiritual blocking powers similar to Cui Ming.

The spells packed immense amounts of power that, instead of spreading out, clung to the glowing blades of death like glue. The contained power was visibly growing stronger the longer they were under the effects, building to something that Cui Ming was clearly assisting with as he pulled in ambient fire mana to their location like a vacuum.

The three remaining Lizzes merged into one which flew to Matt’s side, where he started dumping mana into the air. The bubble of mana pushed the harmful flames away for a moment, but his mana started to be sucked up into the tornadoes.

The technique was usurping control and converting the mana at the same time.

Feeling nostalgic, and a bit cheeky, Matt let it happen, deliberately feeding it even more mana that he barely controlled until the tornadoes tore themselves apart as a spontaneous aspect-cascade disrupted the working. Alas, it was a self-contained effect rather than being actively maintained, so it didn’t knock anyone out like it had when Zack had caused a similar outcome in their duel.

Still, it stopped the skill dead in its tracks, freeing himself and Liz from the bubble he had created.

Cui Ming launched himself at them the moment his path was clear, his fists gathering more fire mana from both the failed spells and ambient mana.