NOVGO.NET Chapter 991
“Run all you want! The longer we wait, the harder it will be to break through the sealing of the zones. My life’s work will soon be complete.”
The Demon’s words sound in our minds like he’s right behind us, no matter where I teleport to in this domain.
Maria strategically uses less and less pure ether from her pools to block, as it’s clear the arrays do nothing to slow down the dagger, but it is actually still useful to practice wielding new glyphs at this level of power.
As our shared memories combine, I get the same benefit of greater comprehension after each exchange. Instead of only using shadow step, I produce a few million additional glyphs each time too to increase the benefits.
These include arrays beneath our feet to make our movements more accurate, or even structural glyphs around my arms, wrists, and shoulders to allow for a sturdier and more accurate casting of other glyphs.
I even start layering them on the outsides of my fingers to create extremely accurate funnels for the escaping energy.
This goes on for quite a while. We manage to link with over three hundred Primordial Trees scattered about. Outside, in the outer settlements, the spreading links actually move much faster. Thousands of trees automatically submit, and tens of thousands of ancient races do the same.
I can feel that some are just following orders, doing as their domain lords command. The first few waves are of weaker-level ogres, griffins, and mammoths. But the next wave comes from a serpent clan, and right after, an enormous herd of three-eyed bulls, a race I’ve never seen before in the Lower Realm.
A chain reaction begins to go off, as many of these domains have allies spread across opposite areas of the outer settlements, and word travels fast once they all have instant communication and understanding through the worldwide connectivity system.
When I look inward, I see that my linked worlds have risen to just over 92 billion.
While their contribution is noticeable, ranging in the millions per outer domain, that counts all of the Primordial Trees in the area too. That amount can be claimed from a single tree here in the central domain. It’s clear that this needs to be my primary focus.
Just as we get in an efficient groove, our speed of casting glyphs improves quite drastically.
After absorbing so much raw ether from the ritual domains, and storing it all in our newly formed high-quality ether pool, it hasn’t had the chance to fully integrate with our minds and souls.
Every few seconds it gets easier and easier. We have to use less of our mental power to control each stream of ether to pool into certain glyphs. It becomes more second nature. Instead of individually summoning many symbols and forcing them to work together, we begin forming them all at once, already inside a working system.
It becomes less of a mechanical movement with many intricate parts, and more of a visualization of the end result, and our instincts take over to summon the correct glyphs to fill in the gaps.
With this, all of our external movements become much more efficient. However, the activation of my shadow step skill does not change. Once it’s in motion, there is always a small lag that I cannot control. This is still limited by the system’s present mechanisms. It doesn’t matter much, as we’re linking to two or more trees with every shadow step, and our Primordial Aura grows slightly after every one, making my range of potential teleport points gradually increase.
However, our rhythm is broken by more words echoing through my mind in a mocking tone.
“Not bad for mortals of this era. At this rate, you’ll catch up to my glyph casting efficiency in a few thousand years.”
In the edge of my vision, I watch the invisible demon twirl its body around mid-stride. It’s been pacing back and forth and enjoying the cat-and-mouse chase this whole time, but its movements finally change in a drastic way.
One of its arms moves in our direction, and a second dagger flies toward us at a completely different angle.
It looks just as elegant as the first one, and when it begins hitting the wall of red and blue arrays summoned in front of it, it’s clear it’s just as deadly.
I teleport us away just before impact, but there aren’t many places to hide.
We don’t have any time to practice any unnecessary glyphs this time around, as the dagger that wasn’t close enough to use before is now within range.
After linking to four more trees in the general area, we blip away in a rush.
We’re met by the same dilemma when we reappear, not even getting a moment to think. I have to calculate our next route away the instant we appear because these blades can now attack from two sides.
There is no longer any voice in our head during these next few exchanges, but the Demon just hums as he paces about. When we’re close enough to the trunk to see his outline, I can see he’s letting his last dagger float above his hand, spinning about, and every once in a while it’s pointed our way.
He still seems to just be toying with us, as every time we have an extremely close call with one of the two blades that chase us around the forest, he lets out a laugh that echoes through our minds.
Maria and I fall into a state of extreme focus.
We only use ether to reinforce our joints for faster movement, and around our eyes for better perception.
The only thing we need to do is find untouched trees, and avoid the floating daggers that slip through the forest.
It feels like they’re speeding up with us, traveling on invisible pathways of Primordial Aura. Every time we get an edge, and it seems like we may have a moment of rest or time to calculate a better route, the daggers appear from a strange angle.
The Primordial Aura that surrounds them becomes more and more vibrant as well. I can start to see so many more colors and patterns of glyphs engraved in the blades. They’re all layered, like they have unique glyph imprints of their own. Yet, each glyph is infused with Primordial Aura as its base energy source, not high-quality ether.
Still, there is a protective barrier around them that makes it impossible to fully inspect.
My linked worlds slowly tick up to 93 billion, but I can feel mental fatigue already starting to kick in.
This is nothing like activating normal mana-based system commands. Every single time we teleport through the forest, my entire Primordial Aura trembles. My High Royal Vibrations are squeezed with tension, and it puts an extreme amount of pressure on my mind.
I can see all of the trees I need to get to, but a voice rings in my head that makes me question how it will be possible in the time I have left.
“You were interesting at first, but it looks like you cannot improve any further. Oh well, another disappointing challenger.”
In the back of my mind, the Demon lets go of his last remaining dagger, and all of the mental pathways I thought were safe to travel to moments ago are all cut off. This method of teleportation is not fast enough, nor is the range far enough for what we’re facing now.
I grit my teeth and send Maria a telepathy message.
Instead of disappearing together, we create a collection of arrays in between us, and they explode in a violent burst of fire and ice.
She borrows one of my newest upgraded Primordial-grade skills I gained from the First Bloods, and in a series of bright flashes, many body doubles of a red demon and blue angel appear all throughout the forest.