Chapter 54

Elaine spat out a mouthful of blood and chunks of flesh, her vision blurry and mind shaken. She struggled to process what had just happened during Markus’s skill. Why were her connections gone or weak? Where were her companions and friends, the bonds she developed over her long life?

It was then she recalled something Markus had said. Five hundred years had passed. Five hundred long years. While sealed, her friends continued living, thriving and experiencing, changing and growing. They likely created many wonderful memories without her. Maybe they even mourned her supposed death once a year. That realization left Elaine profoundly exhausted.

Nobody knew Elain’s thoughts as she slowly struggled to her feet while blood continuously gushed out of her wound until she stood hunched over, her arms hanging limp without any strength.

Taking this chance to recover, Markus forced down a few potions as Catara growled impatiently, “What’s the plan?”

Yara’s gaze flickered with hesitation, unsure what Elaine was planning, standing there motionless. A few tense moments later, blue light abruptly manifested on Elaine’s chest when she cast Mana Stitching, a Celestial grade skill. Two needles quickly stitched her gaping wound together and removed her bleeding status.

“Attack!” Yara commanded upon seeing this. “She has 60% Health left, don’t underestimate her!”

“Hhraaa!” Major General Gregory rushed forward and punched Elaine in the gut, causing her body to wrap around his fist. The effect of Gregory’s skill Cannon Fist activated and sent Elaine flying at the speed of sound. Before she hit the ground, Colonel Carper, a tall, lankly fellow, teleported in Elaine’s path and kicked her to the sky.

Major General Alyssia twirled her staff and pointed the tip at Elaine as she followed up with another attack. Like the Skyship’s V9 Mana Bolt Gattling Gun, Alyssia summoned one Mana Bolt after another, thanks to her innate gift, Spell Echo. An unending barrage of Mana Bolts collided with Elaine’s body, forcing her higher and higher into the air.

Suddenly, Major General Gregory appeared above Elaine with both fists clasped above his head as he swung down in a brutal overhead smash. A sonic boom followed in Elaine’s wake as Gregory’s attack sent her deep underground.

Colonel Carper teleported to the edge of the newly formed crater, a frown on his face. “Strange.”

Gregory landed nearby and grunted in agreement. “Why isn’t she defending herself?”

Markus wanted to speak up, but he knew everyone was loyal to Yara. Voicing his doubts about killing Elaine would only cause discord within their party.

Just as he thought this, a hand grabbed Carper’s ankle from below and dragged him under. In the next moment, Elaine emerged from underground. While climbing to her feet, Gregory pounced forward and drove his fist into her skull.

However, this time, Elaine remained in place, her head barely moving an inch. Gregory’s eyes widened as he pulled back out of caution and looked at his hand in disbelief. How could Elaine take on his full-strength punch without using Dragon Regalia? Was the gap in stats between them that great?

Yara glared at her main body. “What are you doing? Have you given up or not?”

Elaine lifted her head and stared back at her clone. There was a moment of silence before she said, “Knowing that you’d happily live on left me unwilling.”

“That’s it? You want to kill me before passing on to satisfy your ego? How petty you’ve become,” Yara sighed.

Elaine was expressionless as she spoke with an emotionless tone, “Pettiness? I don’t know. Call it whatever you want. I don’t really care.”

Yara narrowed her eyes, surprised to see Elaine’s current state. Why was she behaving so differently compared to how Yara was?

After speaking, Elaine tried summoning Dragon Regalia, but it unexpectedly failed. Her mental state was too chaotic to complete such a complicated operation. Elaine chuckled despite herself before focusing on Markus, who struggled to regulate his breathing after using his previous combination of skills.

Yara immediately grasped Elaine’s intention and screamed, “Don’t you dare!”

Charging forward, Yara slammed her Judgement’s palm down on Elaine like she was a bug. The ground sunk ten feet in the outline of a hand, yet Elaine remained standing, using just a single arm to hold back Yara’s attack.

Elaine promptly grabbed onto one of the fingers of the hand pressing down on her and began spinning. Using brute force, she dragged Yara’s Judgement around in circles and let go once she built up enough momentum.

WOOOSH!

Everyone watched in disbelief as Yara’s several hundred-foot-tall Judgement flew through the air at an unbelievable speed. She crossed over a thousand feet before gravity took effect.

A bloodied Carper suddenly appeared from underneath Elaine and slid his dagger up her spine as he jumped out of the ground. Unfortunately, Elaine’s natural defense was so high his surprise attack only drew a thin line of blood.

“Gah!” Carper hastily crossed his arms to block a roundhouse kick from Elaine. The collision knocked him backward as he plowed through the ground, building up a small dirt hill behind him.

Catara, Alyssia, Gregory, and the others tried their best to pin down Elaine, but her stats allowed her to endure whatever attacks they sent her way. Even without using skills or spells, Elaine’s brutish fighting style proved deadly to her level 500 opponents.

Eventually, she arrived before a fatigued Markus, cuts, bruises, and burns marring her flesh. Catara, Alyssia, Gregory, and the rest lay on the ground behind her. While Yara tried her best to return to the battlefield, Elaine lifted Markus by the neck and said with a level tone. “I will take you from her just like the System took everything from me.”

“I’m sorry,” Markus sighed as he looked at Elaine’s expressionless visage.

Elaine froze when she saw the pity in Markus’s gaze. And then she felt anger. “Do not mistake me for your mother!”

Markus’s vision momentarily flashed white when he suddenly found himself flying through the air and into the hull of one of the skyships. The ship cracked in two as the installed arrays misfired, followed by chain explosions.

Elaine watched the falling wreckage for a moment before turning to face Yara, who stood some thirty feet away. However, to her confusion, Yara wore a sly grin. Elaine couldn’t help but ask, “What’s with that look? Was caring for your son an act?”

“No,” Yara covered her mouth with a chuckle. “I have to thank you. Of the several routes I foresaw, this one was the least likely to happen and the one I desired the most.”

Elaine furrowed her brows and was about to respond when a subtle pulse caught her attention. Turning around, she saw a magnificent sight that only she and Yara could see: the gathering of providence.

A golden light approached from the direction of the Innate Nation, lighting up the battlefield with its splendor. Elaine watched with mute awe as millions upon millions of karmic threads burrowed into a body within the flaming wreckage of the fallen skyship.

Yara smiled and said, “That silly boy has such a preposterous Innate Gift, yet his sense of duty prevents him from using certain aspects of it. I’m glad you knocked some sense into him.”

Elaine couldn’t believe what she was seeing. Those golden threads represented fate, destiny, and good fortune. They were extremely difficult to sense, much less manipulate. From what Elaine observed, that young man called Markus could gather other people’s destinies onto himself. And from the looks of it, it wasn’t simply the destiny of a handful of people, but an entire nation.