Ch105: False Domain

With much of the material dug up, the soil and rocks were no longer compact and thus remnant substance dropped down onto the Halls' disciples. That light layer was naturally of no threat to them.

Bienze gestured with his hand, signalling to begin bombarding the dug-up hole that contained the halls' people.

His hand finished its motion. The outer realm advancers belonging to the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains launched their aurae projections. Axes, swords, spears, shields and various weapon forms, all formed from compressed aurae, were sent forth. Many explosive pills, too, were launched into the hole.

At the same time, the stone pillars and gemstones forming the many formations positioned around the hole lit up, generating magical projectiles of various elements, adding to the bombardment.

The Halls were similarly ready. Rein himself had already consumed the pill that would give him the ability to temporarily connect to the 'Spear of Heaven' in his hand. He had received the knowledge to wield this weapon from Master Yirn. Others who had received the training also launched their unique spears into the air.

Huhrz's hundred aurae javelins with glimmering opal hues shot high into the sky, while he remained unseen. The other four Supremes naturally launched aurae projectiles.

The aurae projections of two sides clashed midair, sending vivid trails of colors arcing through the air in various directions.

As the Great Sects of the Evergreen Mountains have more numbers, a swathe of aurae projections leaked through, striking down upon the dark dome centered around that ancient relic chest. The formation shook with strain, but successfully blocked and dissipated these remnant attacks. This was the briefest advantage for the Great Sects.

The next moment, Rein's eyes were drawn to a familiar strange phenomenon-- something akin to glittering dust blinking enchantingly before slowly melding into the air. It was the same phenomenon as when Huhrz had slain the Convergence Sect elder, Jekcen, who was pursuing Rein after his escape from the Molten Stone Clan's ancient dwarven ruins!

Strangely, it had no effect on him despite some of this aurae dust landing on his body. Rein returned his focus to controlling the flight of his 'Spear of Heaven'. He directed it towards a clump of advancers carrying large cauldrons for weapons.

The segments and layers of the spear rotated against one another as aurae flowed through its internal channels. A layer of the spear broke into a thousand bits, and those bits were sent into this clump of advancer, before exploding in a combination of elemental bombs!

Through his connection with the spear, Rein briefly assessed the effect, and was shocked to discover that many of these cauldron-wielding advancers remained alive and healthy. Many had heavily dented cauldrons, which protected their body. They remained largely unharmed!

Other 'Spear of Heaven' wielders who had targeted the Pill Ignition Sect's advancers faced similar results-- their large cauldrons acted as sturdy shields!

The wielders who targeted the other Great Sect's disciples had much better results. As such, Rein redirected the flight of his spear towards the other sect's disciples. His spear still carries a few layers of attacks to release, and kills meant better rewards for raising his strength.

Bienze hovered high in the air, assessing the whole battlefield. In the Great Sects, he is the only advancer in the telekinetic realm that is not a current sect master or a retired ancestor in the shadows.

The current situation appeared equal-- the Great Sects' numbers led to pressure upon the Halls formation through their advantage in aurae projections. Unfortunately, the Halls' unique spears are testing the defenses of the Great Sects. The secrets of manufacturing those 'Spear of Heaven' remain out of reach for the lesser heavens.

Through the chaos, Bienze noticed the glittering prismatic dust released from a number of aurae javelins. He sensed the phenomenon to be off, immediately wrapped himself in an aurae shell, arranging it to boost his speed. His body flashed, then reappeared a thousand feet from the shower of glittering aurae 'dust'. His heart palpitated in fear.

"Leave!" He ordered, using his divine sense to contact his allies, opting to communicate directly with the soul.

Though he had reacted quick enough, his allies simply were not as sharp as him, and his words arrived a heartbeat too late.

Supreme Huhrz, his regal purple robe lined with jet black lines exuding an ominous aura, appeared out of thin air with a spin as four gleaming silvery javelins were hurled from the sleeves of his robes at the four closest Great Sect outer realm advancers.

One would think that these outer realm advancers would easily avoid Huhrz's attack. Instead , all four seemed to have lost their faculties, limbs flailing as all four silvery javelins stabbed into four hearts! One managed to form an aurae shell in time for defense, but these silvery javelins, too, are augmented by inscriptions that increased their penetrating power. That aurae shell was nothing but a thin piece of paper.

Their bodies turned deathly grey in the blink of an eye as inscriptions on those silver javelins lit up-- it was clear that their bodily vitality was all but lost. The tides of the battle immediately shifted in the Halls' favor!

Having heard Bienze's order, the others attempted to leave, only to discover their control over their limbs to be chaotic. It was already too late.

Bienze was naturally filled with unease as Hurhz waved an arm, wrapped his body in a black cape and disappeared into the thin air again

It is said that the Halls collect and take advantage of the rags of society, those desperate enough to join the Halls and be sent out on high risk missions. Yet those who survive and climb become monsters beyond understanding.

Bienze no longer had confidence that their forces were enough. As a telekinetic advancer, he has the ability to communicate with the soul. And so he called for reinforcements-- the Sect Masters of the Evergreen Mountains' Great Sects!

"Remain within the formation," Supreme Guihnes ordered, then manipulated his formation disc again. Staying within the formation did not affect Rein's temporary ranged control over his 'Spear of Heaven'.

The dark dome protecting them began to spin, creating a tornado effect. The whirling force caused the surrounding soil, buried stone and jade lumps to rotate before being flung outwards.

Initially, Rein thought that Supreme Guihnes was using this method to fling material at their enemy, but he soon realized that Supreme Guihnes was simply transforming the battlefield.

They were originally stuck inside a mostly cylindrical hole. Now, they might still be at a slightly lower elevation, but the surroundings had transformed into a gentle upward slope. This provided them with significantly improved visibility of the battlefield. The entryway into their escape tunnel to the portal was naturally revealed as well. Not at all concerning unless the Great Sects successfully breach their defenses.

Rein's 'Spear of Heaven' pursued a number of retreating pairs of man and demon beast, who were falling back towards a set of inscribed pillars. He felt his connection to the spear weapon being severed, and thus immediately triggered the self-destruction function.

The spear flew a few more feet into the enemy's formation before shattering into a thousand elemental firework explosions. A few closer shell advancers fell to the ground with their body lacerated, but much of the explosive material was repelled by the inscribed pillars.

Rein took note of all the surrounding pillars. To remain effective, he needed to control his remaining two 'Spear of Heaven' from flying too close to those defensive formations.

As he prepared his second flying spear, Rein had the chance to once again observe Supreme Huhrz in action.

Rein already knew that tempering the body is considered a sidepath, costly and of limited use at the higher realm. Yet, he had never truly seen what that meant. Today, he saw with his own eyes as to why that is. 

As this was his second time seeing Supreme Huhrz in action, he already knew of the odd phenomenon that is Huhrz's glittering dust from his shattered aurae javelins. Naturally, he quickly noticed that similar to what had happened to Jekcen, all these outer realm advancers belonging to the Great Sects seem to have lost their control over their bodies.

More and more opal-like aurae javelins shattered midair at an increasingly greater distance from the Halls' dark defensive dome, spreading the glittering aurae dust.

As such, whenever Huhrz appeared, his thrown silver javelins were almost guaranteed to pierce his enemy's hearts! Those silver javelins were also engraved with some inscription that lit up to increase penetration. Another set of inscriptions would light up to 'drain' those pitiful outer realm advancers' bodies, rapidly turning their skin grey unto their death! Another three outer advancers lost their lives, unable to even resist.

An advancer who dedicates too much of his life to tempering the body would never be able to achieve this degree of devastating effect on the battlefield. Rein naturally understood he should not rely on his physical body in the future.

Again, Huhrz wrapped himself in a black cloak as he disappeared. A moment later, he appeared near another three outer realm advancers who seemed rooted and immobile, limbs flailing without control.

Again, silver javelins were hurled from the darkness within his sleeves, and another three greying bodies that seemingly had their life force sucked out dropped to the cold ground.

Rein suddenly felt a sharp hateful gaze burning his soul, and he swiveled his head, eyes locking onto a woman carrying a lute, her black hair tied to one side, curled around her neck. Her robes carried the sigil of Convergence Sect. Rein gulped, for that woman was floating in the air, meaning she should be at least an outer realm advancer, likely a mother of some Convergence Sect member he had slain under the Halls' watcher's behest.

Luckily, that woman's gaze soon turned to the four Supremes who had yet to take any action. Then her eyes squinted as she attempted to locate the hidden Huhrz. A pointless attempt.

She dared not attack Rein and expose herself to retaliation. Ten outer realm advancer had already been quickly slain by Huhrz. They never even had the chance to retaliate, having lost control of their bodies due to Huhrz's unfathomable glitter dust effect.

Bienze himself was torn, wishing to interfere yet fearing that which he could not fully understand or counter. His mind suspected that it was some creative application of an obscure unknown origin ability, containing some sort of absolute effect. He dared not put himself at risk. The Sect Master should be rushing here full speed! He had already warned the others to maintain distance.

Of the outer realm advancers that came, only five remained, with Bienze the sole telekinetic advancer. Three cowered within a set of formation pillars, having chosen to hide under their protection since the start of battle. The black-haired woman who initially wished to attack Rein now positioned herself at a distance, such that she could escape at any time. As for the fifth outer advancer…

"Advancer Bienze. Help!" Grand Alchemist Meehr yelped as Huhrz appeared before him, a silver javelin shooting forth. Bieze was simply too far to provide any assistance. Grand Alchemist Meehr knew of his own weakness, and thus had long mastered an automatic protective art amongst other measures.

Three large shining violet cauldrons suddenly appeared, revolving around his body without even needing his control or command. The silver javelin pierced through one side of a cauldron and came to a stop.

"Hmph," Huhrz sneered as he vanished into thin air once again with the flick of a black cape.

Grand Alchemist Meehr amazingly began to slowly regain control of his limbs, enough to shakily open a spatial pouch and use his mind to withdraw a bottle of pills. Aurae tendrils from his body, gathered the pills within and sent them past his lips. Meehr swallowed with no hesitation, and his originally brownish skin gained a dark luster.

Meanwhile, Huhrz's form appeared beside the Convergence Sect black-haired woman and ten aurae javelins darted towards her.

Her eyes widened. She strove to affect any close-ranged contact with these aurae javelins, and instead glided backwards while strumming her lute. A small spherical zone of vibrating air appeared before her and shattered one approaching aurae javelin. She glided towards another direction again, expertly manipulating the path of the aurae javelins through her own body's movement while creating vibrating air pockets to destroy the aurae javelins.

She constantly backed away, avoiding being showered by the glittering sparkles that followed the destruction of each aurae javelin. By the time all ten aurae javelins that chased after her were destroyed, she became no more than a single tiny black dot in Rein's eyes.

Huhrz's form vanished again, and the Convergence Sect woman strummed her lute creating many vibrating air pockets around her body, hoping to catch Hurhz's hidden form. 

Huhrz had long left the zone, for he reappeared beside Grand Alchemist Meehr. Five silver javelins from multiple directions jabbed towards Grand Alchemist Meehr. The three defensive cauldrons failed to defend against all five javelins, and two successfully jabbed their tips into his body.

Meehr gave an almighty roar and those two silver javelins bounced off his dark luster skin with a ringing noise that caused all those below the outer realm to clutch at their ears in pain.

"His advancer art messes with the balance within your body! As long as you can realign your bodily elements and attain balance with flesh, bone, muscle, tendons, organs and blood, you will be able to move again!" Meehr yelled.

Huhrz form reappeared above the Halls' dark defensive dome, and he nonchalantly shrugged, his regal purple robes flowing in the breeze.

"Well. I suppose tricks have their limits," he sighed. "Silver guards. Attack. Halls' disciples. Be ready to flood the shattered pillars with projectiles. All Supremes are to prevent the remaining outer and telekinetic realm advancers from interfering."

Two teams of silver guards marched up the transformed surrounding gentle slope, their mysterious aurae growing. Each team consisted of twelve silver guards. They each entered into formation, the inscriptions upon their silver armors lighting up as they unsheathed their silver swords.

Their formation shifted through various forms. From an arrow initially to a hexagon, then two opposite rotating six-sided stars. Rein could feel a dangerous rising aura from the two teams of twelve silver guards.

If Rein could sense it, then so too, could the Great Sects.

"Take the initiative!" Grand Alchemist Meehr hollered. He currently could not fully comprehend as to why Bienze had only observed and not taken any action.

The Great Sects' advancers hiding in the formations set up by One Formation Sect began lopping physical projectiles such as arrows, throwing daggers, explosive pills, at the approaching silver guards, but those projectiles were grinded into dust by the whirling aura generated by the silver guards' formation march.

"Demon Taming Sect!" Meehr chose to target the most disreputable sect of the alliance. "Lest you wish to be treated as traitors, take the initiative! Stop cowering underneath the protective formation!"

The disciples of the Demon Taming Sect were naturally cowed by Huhrz' display. Frankly, those of other sects also dared not step out of their protective formation. They had seen how those 'brave' outer advancers had died without control over their faculties.

The Demon Taming Sect semi-complied, sending their attached demon beasts forth. A number of demon beasts charged out of the One Formation Sect's pillars, and once they lost the protection of their pillars, they tumbled across the ground, limbs flailing. This was, of course, a result of Supreme Huhrz's advancer art. Though unseen, his 'glitter dust' still lingers over the whole zone.

Naturally, these flailing demon beasts' bodies were soon lacerated and filled with holes.

"We can only wait for the Sect Masters…" a downhearted Bienze softly whispered through his divine sense at Meehr. Meehr glared with venom at this absolutely useless telekinetic advancer, who is said to have even mastered shapeshifting, something which only gods could supposedly do. Supposedly, Bienze had even been described as incredibly 'gallant' while occupying a discovered dwarven ancient ruin.

"Don't look at me like that," Bienze barked, dissatisfied by Meehr's reaction. "In the advancer world, there are checks and balances. Take you for example! How many years did you spend studying the human body to understand its reaction to various pills and potions? The effect of combining various herbs? Do you think the rest of us could simply resolve the imbalance within our bodies created by this man's false domain?!"

Bienze himself is considered a physically aligned combatant. His transformation into the powerful six-armed deva and his transformation into the invisible eel to launch sneak lightning attacks. If he fell into the so-called false domain created by Huhrz's shattered aurae, he, too, would become vulnerable.

He would not necessarily become a pig for slaughter-- as a telekinetic advancer, he had gained some mastery over the soul. His six swords all carried a sliver of his soul within, allowing him to control their flight through the soul-- an unbreakable connection. Those six swords would remain unaffected by Huhrz's false domain. Unfortunately, his own body would greatly suffer.

As for why outer realm advancers are unable to resist? Outer realm advancers control their weapons through aurae tendrils, which function as extra limbs. Thus, these aurae tendrils become uncontrollable under Huhrz's glitter dust.

Anyhow, Bienze's words cleared Grand Alchemist Meehr's mind. Luckily, as an alchemist, he has much practice in calming his mind prior to crafting potions and pills, and thus when prompted, was able to cool his head.

He took a deep breath, his expression dark. Indeed, if the shell advancers under them ventured out of the protective formations, they would lose control of their bodies. Those formations protect against a number of effects, such as the intrusion of aurae from the outside-- that is why they are able to block aurae-formed projectiles. It must be this effect that blocked Huhrz's…'false doman', so Meehr assessed.

"False domain?" Meehr himself chose to back away as well, after realizing that Bienze was right in his judgment-- they could only wait for their Sect Masters' arrival.

"Yes…" Bienze sighed. "When one climbs above the telekinetic realm, they enter the deity realm. Above that is the avatar realm. It is in the avatar realm that one develops a domain-- a zone that manipulates the laws of the world in the advancer's favor. Completion of the domain demonstrates that one has reached the domain realm…"

"A false domain is what they call zones that tilt the scales in an advancers' favor, without manipulating the laws in the fabric of the world," Bienze explained. 

"A monster…" Meehr finally understood why Bienze had reflexively 'excused' himself. He discovered that he could not fault Bienze. In fact, Huhrz's demolition of ten outer realm advancers had happened in three blinks of an eye. 

"A monster that must be slain today," Bienze growled. "Else, our lesser heavens will be tortured for eternity should he rise any further!"

As he said this, the rotating formation of energy formed by twelve silver guards collided with one of the Great Sect's defensive zones. The energies from the two formations grinded against one another for ten heartbeats. The inscriptions on the defensive pillars flickered weakly, strenuously holding on.

"S…ss…support the pillars!" A disciple, eyes filled with fear stuttered as he rushed beside the pillar and began pouring his own aurae recklessly into the pillar, hoping to support the formation.

"Don't! You fool!" A disciple of One Formation Sect yelled. "You'll disrupt the balance of the--"

The pillar immediately cracked then shattered, exposing the Great Sect's advancers. What followed was a rain of projectiles, whether it be needles, javelins, spears, daggers, arrows, fired from the Halls' disciples within the dark dome. 

With that pillar destroyed, these Great Sect's shell advancers discovered that they could no longer control their bodies, and thus could only strengthen their aurae shell defenses. They were soon struck directly and repeatedly by multiple waves of projectiles, and without control over their bodies, rapidly lost their lives.

Rein himself had simply guided his second 'Spear of Heaven' through the immobile crowd, easily piercing through the hearts of each body due to the weapon's expert make. It was a slaughter. He honestly wondered if he would even be rewarded for his well… he almost felt as if it was 'unearned' kills. The credit belonged to Huhrz's false domain, which disrupted enemies but not allies.

"To watch as your disciples and allies are slaughtered…" Grand Alchemist Meehr's knuckles were white. "Those damn silver guards!"

Another 'tool' that the lesser heavens could not replicate. The silver guards are advancers who recognized the inability to rise in strength, opting to receive artificial augmentation and dedicate the rest of their lives to the Halls.

It was this artificial augmentation that aligned the nature of the aurae. It is because of this 'matching' aurae that the silver guards could cooperate in such unity and generate such a powerful in-sync human formation. That, combined with arduous training.

Unfortunately, the lesser heavens that used those exiles of the Minhr Nation to develop some influence through the Evergreen Mountains, simply never gathered enough of such self-sacrificing disciples in the weaker, middling realms.

The Halls' willingness to give the rags and unpromising figures of the mortal world a chance gave them access to the most devoted of minds. And of course, the Allfather's enticing aura. An aura that most lesser heavens see as a sort of mind-trick that they could never concretely prove to have enchanted any minds.

"Surely, you must be betting on something. Someone. A unique treasure?" Meehr probed, hopeful that the battle wasn't lost.

"I believe my Sect Master has the means to deal with this false domain. Compared to him… I am nothing." Bienze answered.

Meanwhile, Supreme Huhrz's eyes repeatedly roamed across the skies.

"Are they coming?" Jensure, in his shining armor and billowing half-cape asked.

"They must be," Huhrz answered. "The Uni Sect Master will no doubt be able to disrupt my false domain. From now on, the difficulty will increase."

"I would not have bothered coming otherwise," Jensure replied as he steadied his breathing, gradually sharpening his wits and senses.

"The Allfather expects us to go toe-to-toe against higher realmed advancers. Do not disappoint him. Only through success will we be awarded a place in his world."