Rising Action With A Three-Stage Difference
"Hmph!" Elizabeth's weakness completely evaporated as her Soul Force quaked along with the local space.
By utilizing her Understanding of the Metal Profound Truth of Richness, she had saturated her Core Qi such that the barrage of incoming soul attacks could be perceived as they contrasted ever so slightly with the now-energy-hyperdense environment.
"There you are," she glared as the soul attacks being directed at her were brushed off like drops of rain.
As Elizabeth's Core Sense locked on to the enemy, Chaosbright materialized in her left hand, already aimed and ready to fire. In the blink of an eye, terrifyingly potent Gun Qi enveloped and covered the pistol's transformation as Elizabeth pulled the trigger.
[Status
Name: Jupiter Blood Armament
Spirit Grade: A
Intelligence: +1,750,000
Description: After evolving for the third time, Chaosbright's fourth incarnation, Jupiter, takes on the form of a high-caliber sniper rifle. Only capable of firing 50 Caliber BMG bullets and powered by a Tier 1 Enhancement of Volume, Jupiter prioritizes power over everything else.
Primary Effect: Space-type enchantments on Spirit Grade bullets have their effects improved by 100%.
Secondary Effect: Grants Base Chaosbright a barrel modification to shoot high caliber bullets.
Tertiary Effect: Transforms Chaosbright into Magnolia. Magnolia uses shotgun slugs, capable of major penetration, instead of pistol ammunition.
Quaternary Effect: Transforms Chaosbright into Vadis. Vadis is only capable of using shotgun shells, able to shoot several pellets per shell along with even greater penetrative slugs.
Quinary Effect: Transforms Chaosbright into Jupiter. Jupiter is only capable of using 50 Caliber BMG sniper rounds. Bound by its bolt action single-shot design, Jupiter's power, penetration, and accuracy more than make up for the lag in between shots.
Tier 1 Enhancement of Volume: Exponentially increases the amount of Space Qi the Blood Armament is capable of withstanding the larger the barrel of the gun. Base Chaosbright can hold 10% more Space Qi, Magnolia can hold 25% more Space Qi, Vadis can hold 125% more Space Qi, and Jupiter can hold 700% more Space Qi.
Special Effect: Can evolve or devolve between States through its Master's will.
Name: Consummate Spirit Steel Bullet
Grade: A-Ranked Core Bullet
Description: Forged with skills at upper Saint levels of proficiency, this piece of ammunition is virtually perfect for its Grade. Additionally, this bullet has been endowed with Tier 1 Enhancement of Spatial Strength.
Effects: Damages entities up to Level 55. Typically fatal to beings Level 50 and below.
Tier 1 Enhancement of Spatial Strength: Charged with volatile Space Qi, this bullet's power increases by 50%.]
Louder than thunder and followed by a blinding light comparable to a solar flare, the Spirit Steel Bullet fired from Elizabeth's Jupiter Blood Armament left a perfectly straight trajectory that was visible to the naked eye as a thin steak of unstable space was consequently displaced, persisting for several seconds before returning to normal.
Unfortunately, the bullet missed as Elizabeth only had a rough idea of where the enemy stood after pushing her sense to the max with the Profound Truth of Richness and Flow added to all the others she had previously been displaying. But, at the very least, she managed to draw the enemy out of the corner in space where they were previously hiding.
"So that's what you look like," Elizabeth smirked as the complex array of her Spirit Homing Art from the Bullet Hell Codex manifested alongside her Gun Qi on the body of her now visible and angered enemy. With Elizabeth's Understanding of the Profound Truth of Volume, the range she could cast Spirit Homing easily extended several hundred kilometers.
It turned out that the enemy was a woman with long and curly red hair and black eyes. She wore medieval-looking knights armor with chainmail, juxtaposed fiercely with the pair of yellow-tinted glasses, headphones, and extravagant earrings on her head.
Elizabeth couldn't stop herself from saying, "Not going to lie, you look ridiculous…"
Ignoring Elizabeth's insult, the woman said, "Looks like you're not ranked eleventh without a reason. Actually being able to draw me out as a mere Core Formation Stage Cultivator and with so many polished techniques… Could your Goldfinger be an auxiliary treasure or technique?"
"Again with the Goldfinger talk," Elizabeth sighed, "Why do you even care? It's not like you'll even be able to take it after I kill you."
Conflicted both about having to battle such a powerful and unpredictable adversary, while also having to worry about the city below, Elizabeth very much wanted to end the battle as soon as possible. However, logic screamed at her to reveal her cards slowly as the battle called for them.
Alas, reality was unforgiving and devastating destruction befell the city around them almost immediately after a real battle began.
Boom!
[Skills:
Name: Bullet Hell Codex: Spirit Bullet
Level 61
Experience: 13,250,000/13,575,348
Spirit Grade: A
Energy Cost: 0.01 Core Qi minimum for a Core-Grade Bullet
Primary Effect: Manifests a bullet of the user's choice out of any type of energy they can freely manipulate. The more energy goes into making a bullet, the more damage potential it will hold.
Secondary Effect: As potency of the user's energy increases, Spirit Bullets conjured become increasingly solid. Core Qi at the user's level form semi-solid bullets able to exist for several seconds before disintegrating.]
Chaosbright, having been reverted to its primary form as a pistol, shot a single Spirit Bullet only for the red-haired woman to casually flick it away. However, the shockwave resulting from the collision alone shattered all the windows in a ten-kilometer radius, while the stray fragments of the Spirit Bullets caused massive tidal waves in the nearby Atlantic Ocean after Liam warped them away before they could hit any buildings.
'I expected as much,' Elizabeth thought. As she filled the chamber of Chaosbright with dense Space Core Qi after it transformed into its second form, Magnolia, to create an even more potent Spirit Bullet, she continued, 'Will only enchanted bullets have a chance of dealing any damage?'
As another bullet was fired, Jane and Liam had already begun their efforts to protect the city below.
With a thought, Jane erected a Peak Mortal Grade Defensive Array through the use of her Core Sense, which while not good enough to defend against even the most casual of either Elizabeth or the red-haired woman's attacks, it would certainly shield the city's fragile architecture from shockwaves.
Every second that passed, the quality of the Defensive Array rose as Jane developed it as quickly as possible. Like Elizabeth, Miami was Jane's hometown and she would rather it not end up as a wasteland.
Liam, on the other hand, had his reaction speed tested as both Elizabeth and the red-haired woman began trading probing attacks. His job was to make use of his defensive spatial abilities and direct any remnants of the fighters' attacks away from anywhere near the civilian population.
Meanwhile, Sun stood back as Yrre held a hand to his shoulder.
"You've stocked up on berserker-type pills, yes?" Yrre sent through a sound transmission.
Less than a thousandth of a second later, before Sun could even respond, Yrre hastily added, "Don't specify the type if you do! The enemy is a Cultivator of Sound in the Nascent Stages. It's entirely possible for her to be listening in on any sound transmission conversations around her."
With an eyebrow raised at the thought of such a convenient ability, Sun simply responded, "Yes, I have several that are… up to your standard for my level of cultivation."
"Good." Yrre became even more serious than she was previously as she said, "Last time I checked, the closest person on Earth to the Nascent Stages was Master's father, Kurt, and even he still had a full Stage to complete before beginning Nascent Cultivation. For this woman to randomly come out of nowhere boasting such strength, targeting Master without discretion…
"She's probably either a Chosen of the Cataclysm that Master is involved in or at the very least related to it in some fashion as an outsider of this Dimension." Yrre concluded, "So, since you can't indirectly help protect the city like the others, please stay back and respond accordingly if you find Master in a pinch."
With a tempered nod, Sun and Yrre concluded their conversation as the sky lit up with Core Qi and Nascent Qi attacks.
"Tsk," Elizabeth grumbled, "You're pretty resilient for someone who's only attacked with Soul Force after all this time."
"Yeah?" The red-haired woman eyed Elizabeth menacingly as she said, "Well, for a Core Formation Stage Cultivator, you're ridiculously overpowered. At first, it was only your soul's strength that surprised me after actually being able to contend with a somewhat serious attack.
"But now…" The red-haired woman felt a twitch on the vein on her forehead as she dejectedly said, "Your speed, strength, and even the potency of your Core Qi are well beyond that of the average of Cultivators a Stage higher than you."
Warping a full hundred meters away from Elizabeth, a curved guardless sword, reminiscent of a Japanese Odachi albeit a bit thinner, appeared gripped by her hands as she said, "It seems you won't go down unless I truly get serious."
Elizabeth, though, couldn't fathom her enemy's reasoning until it was almost too late. After being assaulted by such potent and dangerous soul attacks, it seemed that was where her specialty lied. She 'seemed' to be a pushover when it came to a physical battle until she attacked with speed that dwarfed the play-fighting the two had been engaged in a moment earlier.
Shing!
Elizabeth used False Teleportation to escape from a nearly untraceable attack. The red-haired woman was now moving at speeds befitting a Nascent Cultivator!
Shing! Shing! Shing!
Feeling like she had returned to the Time Substation Trial at the Sky Seizing Castle from all the close-call dodging she had to orchestrate to not die, Elizabeth's focus was at an unprecedented all-time high.
'If this were in the Trial, it'd probably be past the twentieth… maybe twenty-fifth level,' Elizabeth thought as she instinctively dodged, assisted by the Seamless Water Steps, Spacetime Shift Mystic Art, her Precognitive Divination, Time Arts of Acceleration and Deceleration and various other passive boosts from her Understanding of various Profound Truths.
[Skills:
Name: Spirit Mystic Art: Spacetime Shift
Level 62
Experience: 14,350,000/14,368,348
Spirit Grade: A
Description: Having evolved from the Mortal Mystic Art, Spatial-Temporal Change, after reaching the threshold for maximum proficiency, Level 100, Spacetime Shift applies the same primary benefit of the Skill to Spirit Realm Cultivators while increasing the number of Subskills.
Primary Effect: At the Core Stages all physical Stats increase by 553.84%, and 553.84% less Spacetime Core Qi is consumed for performing Martial, Mystic, or Spacetime Arts. (Total Applied: 553.84%; Total Achieved: 1,753.84%)
Name: Spatial Shift
Stage 3
Current Effect: Allows the user to intuitively bends the local space within the user's Core Sense. The closer the space being manipulated is to the user's Absolute Domain, the greater the magnitude of manipulation.
Name: Temporal Shift
Stage 3
Description: The user's ability to change the time around them becomes increasingly easier. Influenced by various factors including the potency of the Energy used, Understanding and Affinity of Time, and other Skills, localized distortion of time is possible within the user's Absolute Domain of Space.
Current Effect: The highest ratio of time distortion within the user's Absolute Domain is 3:1 or its inverse depending on the desired outcome; acceleration or deceleration. Note that entities with an Understanding of Time or Spacetime near the user can negate this effect as well as entities with a substantially higher Understanding of any other Energy.]