'The corrosive effects are growing stronger with each passing moment. Even my Heavenly Golden Body is unable to protect me from it. My current options are becoming increasingly limited. These Domains are quite troublesome to deal with in a direct confrontation. From what I've seen so far in regards to the main upper eight Domains, their powers easily exceeds that of S-ranked skills. I wonder what kind of Domain that person has...'

Izroth wondered how powerful the Domain of someone like Kayn or Zushuatri could be. If individuals like Sage and Roudin were able to obtain Domains, then it was highly unlikely that someone like Kayn or Zushuatri was incapable of doing so. However, it was just a simple passing thought of Izroth's. Right now, he had to find a way to get closer to deal with the corrosive effect of the Maelstrom Domain since it was directly affecting his attack, defense, and movement.

​​

Izroth exhaled a breath of cold air as his sword stance transformed into one that was relaxed and without a true form. But, although his current sword stance lacked a form, it was not to be underestimated. There was this hidden power that remained deep and dormant. This power appeared ready to awaken at any time, so long as Izroth willed it!

With his Flickering Steps and Second State: Heavenly Cloak's Full Mantle still active, Izroth could travel at unimaginable speeds that could not be compared to his top speeds from before. The most frightening thing about this was the fact that the sound of his movements did not ring out until he had already reached his intended destination! Unfortunately, this was not something Izroth could use freely and it came with a heavy price for its continuous utilization.

Skill Name: Call of the Thunder God

Skill Level: 2/5

Skill Rank: S

Requirements: None

«First State: Heavenly Descent»:

...

«Second State: Heavenly Cloak»:

Mana Cost: 575

Active: The user's attack is increased by 25% for 10 seconds. Additionally, 15% of all the user's damage dealt is converted into lightning damage that ignores all defenses for 10 seconds. The user gains the ability to use «Full Mantle» during this period of time. This skill shares a separate cooldown from «Full Mantle» and can still be used while «Full Mantle» is on cooldown.

Cooldown: 13 minutes

«Full Mantle» - The user becomes momentarily invulnerable to all damage and crowd control for 0.25 seconds as they are cloaked in a full mantle made from pure lightning element. The attack increase provided by «Second State: Heavenly Cloak» is doubled to 50% for as long as «Full Mantle» remains active. Additionally, instead of 15%, 30% of all the user's damage dealt is converted into lightning damage that ignores all defenses for as long as «Full Mantle» remains active. The user gains the ability to use «Compressed Lightning Movement» during this period of time. The user loses 7% of their maximum HP per second while this skill is active. Every additional 10 seconds, the user losses an additional 7% of their maximum HP. Once the user deactivates «Full Mantle», they will face a backlash from it that will vary depending on how long «Full Mantle» was active and how often «Compressed Lightning Movement» was used.

0-10 seconds - 7% HP per second loss

11-20 seconds - 14% HP per second loss

21-30 seconds - 21% HP per second loss

...

Cooldown: 24 hours

«Compressed Lightning Movement» - The user gains a temporary massive burst of movement speed that puts a great strain on the body and varies depending on the user's current level. These bursts of movements can only be used up to (Current MAX Burst: 5 times) with the user's present physique. This burst of speed allows the user to travel (Current Distance Per Burst: 70 meters per 0.10 seconds) or (Current MAX Burst Distance: 350 meters per 0.50 seconds). The user can use all burst at once. The further and at greater speeds the user travels, the greater the strain on the user's body and the faster the user's HP is drained. This skill can cause sudden death to its user if overused. This skill cannot be used without «Full Mantle» active.

Special Note: This skill cannot be leveled up using skill points and the user must experience many battles to further advance. Activating another state while one is already active multiplies the mana cost by 1+(The Number of states currently active). The rank of this skill is upgraded as the user unlocks more states. This skill once belonged to a certain individual who fought single-handedly against a powerful empire and prevailed!

At the moment, Sage was no longer in control of her own actions. She had been completely and utterly consumed by the uncontrollable power of the Maelstrom Domain. This was both good and bad for Izroth. The good part was that Sage did not have the opportunity to advance her understanding of the Domain throughout their battle. However, the bad news was that with the Domain being in full control, there was nothing to restrict its terrifying energy.

Since the Maelstrom Domain was also destroying Sage and affecting her with its corrosive ability, this meant that any limiters that would normally prevent such raw power from leaking out had been removed. This was an extremely dangerous situation where one wrong move could very well cost Izroth his life! Though he was confident with his current speed, the same could not be said once his movement skills ended and entered into cooldown.

After skillfully evading some intense and sharp winds of the Maelstrom Domain, Izroth managed to gather enough stacks on his Sword of The Storm to activate Tempest Strikes. He poured a few points of Essence into it in order to maximize its range, changing it from 10 meters to 15 meters! Although it only lasts for 10 seconds, by the time it was over, his movement speed skills would have already ended and he would lack the capabilities to sustain his Full Mantle.

What this meant was that within the next 10 seconds, Izroth was left with two choices. To either be victorious or end up dead in defeat!

Woosh! Woosh!

Izroth swung twice in quick succession as two blades of wind soared through the air towards Sage! The first was aimed at the incoming chilly gale formed from the Maelstrom Domain that had been the main source of Izroth's troubles. The second was directed towards Sage herself.

The first blade of wind carried a strong aura that repelled everything it came into contact with. This was due to executing the Sword Counter portion of the skill Second Sword Form: Returning Wave. He made sure to fuse it with some of his own Essence, otherwise, it would be impossible for it to stand up to the attacks generated by the Maelstrom Domain.

Although it struggled for a brief moment and appeared to have almost been overcome, in the end, Izroth's Sword Counter was successful and the intense gale of wind was redirected at Sage.

As for the second blade of wind, it was actually much faster than that of the first blade of wind. It harbored a hint of the lightning element, however, it was separate from the wind element of the Tempest Strikes. This was Izroth's Third Sword Form: Collapsing Thunder. Izroth had learned how to control the Element Fusion so that it would not forcibly drain his HP every time it was used by searching for a usable energy source.

At the moment, it was impossible for Izroth to risk damaging his HP so severely and the results would surely end with his death. Therefore, he was careful to make sure that he did not mistakenly perform an Element Fusion. After all, what kind of face would he have left if he really went and killed himself?

- 6,935

+7,351

- 2,066

+2,189

Izroth's Third Sword Form: Collapsing Thunder crashed into Sage's body as Izroth's HP soared up thanks to his 106% lifesteal with his Life Reaping skill active. However, he was currently losing more than 1,800 HP per second due to the effects of his Full Mantle and the Maelstrom Domain. This was not including the strain generated by his Compressed Lightning Movement. Forget potions and in-battle HP regeneration, without any lifesteal, he would not even last 10 seconds under these conditions.

Unfortunately, he could not afford to deactivate his Full Mantle or else he would be immediately overwhelmed even with the few seconds remaining on his Flickering Steps.

The second blade of wind slammed into Sage and forced her back. Her head was hung low and her body hunched over, however, she soon stood up straight and in her eyes was a swirling and endless abyss of pure darkness. If one stared into them for too long, they would begin to feel themselves become drawn in and eventually become lost within the abyss itself.

The expression on Sage's face was neutral and lacked any kind of true emotion. This was the result of two main upper eight Domains being forcibly combined, especially Wind and Water. With the two vying for dominance of the host body, it created a raging maelstrom which led to the Maelstrom Domain coming into existence. However, such power was too great for someone like Sage to handle. In the end, she was slowly killing herself!

Izroth, however, found Sage's action illogical, irrational, and confusing, to say the least. Not only was she out to claim his life for no apparent reason, but she was even willing to use a power beyond her current means to do so. To invoke such a strong hatred and rage towards someone she had not even met before today... This was something Izroth could not understand. What could possibly have caused her to hold him in such extreme contempt and treat him with disdain?

She should not be so blind as to fail to notice his strength. He was far from being "trash" or a "weakling" and Sage should already know this by now. If that was her main issue with him and it was already proven false, was she just doing so to maintain her face? But, was self-destruction really a price worth paying? This entire situation caused Izroth to inwardly shake his head.

Despite her overbearing and arrogant behavior, he felt mostly pity for individuals like her who was willing to sacrifice so much for so little in return. One was not born with hatred and it was something that manifested over time. The world, people, one's environment... Any of these things were easily capable of breeding an endless hatred.

'Those who exist in this world have their own troubles and demons to deal with. This Sage has fought against her demons, but sadly...'

A quiet yet oppressive aura appeared around Izroth's Sword of The Storm as the color of the blade turned pitch black and it was not caused by the effects of the Maelstrom! In fact, it was such a pure darkness that even light was swallowed the instant it came into contact with the blade's surface.

'She has lost the internal battle. The moment this Maelstrom Domain was formed, she had already perished from this world leaving behind an empty shell of destruction. But, do not be concerned. In death, I do not blame you. Since that is the case, allow me to help you rest with ease.'

Izroth held his Sword of The Storm horizontally out in front of him with one hand. At the same time, the sound of a slow heartbeat could be heard, however, it was uncertain where the sound of this heartbeat was coming from. But, it started to speed up with each heartbeat and not before long, it got to a point where the beating heart beat so fast that it fell silent.

Ooooooooooooom!

There was a strange and unique humming sound that resonated throughout the atmosphere, however, this sound only lasted for a brief moment.

"Third Baneful Sword..." Izroth slowly closed his eyes and it was as though he had become one with the area around him.

All of a sudden, a devastating pressure descended upon the surrounding 50 meters branching out from Izroth's location! It was a vile aura filled with the stench of destruction and saturated killing intent. Within this 50 meters, all fell silent. It was as if even sound itself knew the meaning of fear in the presence of this terrifying intent.

In the eyes of those within 50 meters, the surrounding area had turned to black and white, forcing even the domineering Maelstrom Domain to make some concessions!

In that single instance, everything was silent. Everything was still. Everything was strangely... Peaceful.

"Annihilation..." It was at the exact moment this word left Izroth's mouth that the peaceful world... Was annihilated.