Noah went on the offensive with his extendable spear and struck from a distance. The ant tried to close the distance but was met with Inazuma that prevented it from getting closer. The ant continued to block Noah's attacks, but some of the hits were getting in. The ant was starting to have difficulty in blocking all attacks from three different directions. However, despite the ant taking hits, it would appear that none of it managed to pierce through its thick exoskeleton. It was pointless for us as the ant was taking no damage at the very end.
The ant leapt back as Noah stabbed hard with his spear and miraculously made a small dent on its exoskeleton. Fully expecting the ant to shrug it off with a brush of its shoulder, it somehow started shrieking loudly, puzzling all of us that such a small dent would actually make it this mad.
It was the ant's turn to be offensive, completely disregarding its own safety. We had to swap our roles as Noah was forced to be defensive to block all of the ant's attacks while I went in for the attack. With Concentration active, I continuously struck it as quickly as I could, despite knowing for a fact that my blade was not getting through its thick exoskeleton. Noah was starting to have difficulties in blocking all of the ant's aggressive attacks and was beginning to suffer injuries despite being heavily armoured. In spite of its aggression, the ant was still sensible enough to avoid all of Violet's needles aiming for its eyes, even though I tried to block its view as much as I could.
The ant was gaining an advantage as Noah began to grow fatigued from the constant barrages of attacks. I continued striking the ant as fast as I could, waiting for Inazuma's effect to occur. Why the hell is it taking so long? Does this ant have no electrical pulses at all?
The ant gained the upper hand and parried Noah's spear upwards, causing him to lose his balance. It took advantage and moved in for the kill. I immediately stopped attacking the ant and rushed in to protect Noah, only for the ant to kick me aside with such force that caused me to lose my balance despite blocking its kick. It rushed in to strike Noah with its sharp claws but miraculously stopped just short of touching his armour. The ant stopped moving completely and seems to be struggling to move. Finally, the static shock passive from Inazuma had finally taken place! I quickly pulled myself up and rushed in to pull Noah away by his cape and moved in to strike the ant between its exoskeleton.
With a roar of defiance, I struck the ant with Inazuma, feeling the blade slowly seeping into the crevices of the exoskeleton. Green blood began to flow from the wound and onto my blade before the ant took a swipe with its claws at me, pushing me away in an attempt to stop Inazuma from going in deeper. Gaining back its movements, it grabbed Inazuma's hilt and hastily pulled it out, causing more blood to flow from its wound. It shrieked loudly before throwing Inazuma at me, attempting to use my own weapon against me.
Before Inazuma even reached me, I snapped my right fingers and it vanished into thin air, only to reappear on my right hand. I smirked at the ant and it did not take it lightly. It shrieked loudly again and began to hunch forward. Two lumps started to protrude from its back, contorting the exoskeleton to an unnatural shape. The back exoskeleton burst open, revealing what appears to be a set of wings. Expecting it to spread its wet wings to dry them, it immediately lifted itself above the ground and moved its abdomen to the front, revealing an extremely sharp stinger at the end of it.
Hang on a minute, was I mistaken in thinking that it was an ant when it was actually a wasp? How careless of me to make such a mistake. But it had no wings or stinger earlier! How would I know without any of those features?!
"AHHH!! You'll pay for that Hawthorn!" it roared loudly.
I knew things were getting more serious as its intense aura had risen after it sprouted wings and revealed the stinger. Guess I'll need to be serious too. At the very least, it has its attention on me instead of my future parents-in-law. Might probably give them a better impression if I managed to beat this insect.
I took a deep breath and closed my eyes, calming my mind into a deep state of peace. Upon exhaling my breath, I lifted my eyelids, revealing muddy eyes that appeared to be unfocused. This misleading state tricks people into thinking that you're in an unfocused state, not understanding what's happening around you, but it is in fact the exact opposite. I have full awareness of my surroundings, which is why my eyes were muddied. There was not a need for me to depend on my eyes alone when all my other senses had been heightened.
I took a glance at my future parents-in-law, who appeared to be in disbelief. They had no idea that I could use Higher State of Mind? Wait till I start using the other one.
The wasp flew towards me, stopping short as it began to hover above me, weaving forward and backwards with its strange movements. I kept calm as it was out of range for me to attack it.
"I am Varata, you do well to remember that name," hissed the wasp as it expanded its wings.
"Maybe I will, maybe I won't. Who knows whether I'll remember you in a day or two," I shrugged.
"Oh, you'll definitely remember. Once I leave my mark on you, you'll remember me for the rest of your life!" shouted the wasp as it rushed towards me with its claws.
I blocked its claws in the nick of time despite having Focused Meditation active, but I ended up being pushed back due to the strength of the wasp. Now this is its true power. My fighting experience with Horrus is going to be invaluable here. I'm sure it was just getting started by showing me its power.
Adjusting itself as though it was not used to it's new form, it flew towards me once again with both of its claws and I quickly summoned Tengu-kaze to block both claws from sinking into my skin. It then moved its stinger forward towards me which I thought of resorting to use my leg to block but to my surprise, it quickly flew backwards before it reaches me as throwing needles suddenly flew pass my vision. Moments later, Noah and Violet came to my side as they got themselves ready.
"I never knew you've figured out how to use Dhyāna. Even for us, there are not many of us that have managed to unlock its secret despite having centuries of training. Yet, here you are, using it at such a young age. We should be begging you to marry our daughter at this point," chuckled Noah.
"Did you forget I had told you about your daughter being the strongest among the four of us? She whooped my arse the last time. That being said, I still have a few tricks up my sleeve. Are you two planning to get serious yet? Cause now is a good time for sure," I told them.
"Relax, we have you, don't we? Just kidding. We can only use Ekāgratā though, hope you weren't keeping your hopes up," said Violet as she and Noah activated Concentration.
"I'll take any help I can get. Just— stay alive, both of you. Hate to explain to your only daughter about what happened to her parents," I told them.
I won't lie, I'm not so deluded into thinking that I can take on this wasp alone, but I'm also aware that Noah and Violet are not as powerful as Rose and Lily. I will need to take point and face the full brunt of this wasp. Here's hoping that my experience in fighting Horrus had prepared me somehow; otherwise, I'm at a big disadvantage here.
***
The boulder in question is just over the edge of that building. I made a quick detour to check on the condition of our city, only to find that the damage was being kept to a minimum. Strangely, I don't see the Viking Lord or Kuchisabishii-sama anywhere. They couldn't have perished since there were absolutely no insects left within the city. Perhaps they had lured all the insects elsewhere. Either way, I have an objective of my own. One that I do not know whether I can actually succeed.
Ah, there it is. The boulder in question, and the hilt of the legendary sword, Vengeful Flame. I had attempted to pull it out before, but to no avail. No one was worthy enough to pull the sword out despite centuries of attempts by many different individuals. Why did I even suggest this in the first place? Was there nothing else that I could think of? It just appeared at the top of my head when Zen said he needed a way to cut the Cosmic Tree. What am I going to do if I still can't pull the sword out?
Sigh, it still hurts my conscience on the sins that I'm about to commit, but it must be done. That massive insect is going to cause nothing but trouble for the entire realm. Here's hoping that Vengeful Flame is powerful enough to kill that massive insect so that I don't have to touch the Cosmic Tree.
I leapt from my mount and proceeded to the boulder before taking a deep breath. It felt like déjà vu once again when I had seen this boulder more times than I care to count any longer. The process is rather simple; just pull the hilt until the blade is removed from the boulder. In doing so, you will be the rightful owner of the sword as it had chosen you as being worthy enough to wield it. The problem is pulling out the blade. If you're not worthy, there was absolutely no way for you to remove the sword and claim it as your own. Apparently, there are some enchantments by the previous wielder to ensure only the right person is allowed to use it.
I stared upwards at the boulder and proceeded to climb it with ease, using the footholds that were built by the elves to ease the process. Upon reaching the top, I sighed as I realised that here I am once again trying to pull this damn sword. Seriously, why did I suggested this?
I placed my hands on the hilt and exhaled before trying to pull on the hilt. Even with all my strength, there was not even a budge in the slightest. The sword will not allow itself to be pulled out. What am I going to do now? Return empty-handed? I can't do that. The entire fate of the realm is counting on me to get this damn sword out.
I took a deep breath and exhaled once again. Perhaps what I need is more than just strength to remove this. It is against the rule to use any sort of State of Mind when pulling the sword, but I would consider this an emergency right now. What would this compare to the other major sins that I might be committing? Enough dilly-dallying; time is of the essence.
I closed my eyes and activated Ekāgratā. With unwavering determination, I held the hilt of the sword, expecting to pull it with all of my might once more, but my consciousness was instantly sent elsewhere, sending me into a world completely foreign to me.
***
"Well, well, an elf that finally broke a rule. How many millennia had I waited for someone ballsy enough to break even one of them? Guess you deserved some commendation," spoke a voice that rumbled the entire darkly lit world that I was in.
I scanned my surroundings and couldn't see anything. There was barely any source of light, and I had to exclusively depend on my ears to understand where I was. I kept my mouth shut as I did not know who I was talking to, but judging from the rumble, something huge must be close to my proximity. I placed my hand on the ground and felt the slight movements of the being who spoke, and I was right; something incredibly massive is nearby.
"What's the matter, kette got your tongue? Don't you have anything to say at my mere presence?" spoke the voice.
"I can barely even see my own hands. I do not know who or what am I speaking to right now. Perhaps a little light might shed some— light?" I told the being.
"Ah, that's right, it's been so many years since I was stuck in this boulder that my visions had been adapted to the darkness. Allow me to provide some light for you," the sound of the being moving could be heard, followed by some sparks of purple-looking lightning. Not long after, some violet-coloured flames appeared on the palm of the being.
I traced my vision from the palm where the flame was created to whatever had created it. To my surprise, the being that I'm staring at looked like some sort of dragon. Why am I speaking to a dragon? Zen had told us that he spoke to a yellow dragon before that was under the influence of the Demon King. Do I need to fight this dragon too? However, I sense no hostility from this dragon for the time being. All that aside, where the hell am I anyway?
"Never had I imagined that I'll be having a conversation with a dragon in my lifetime. Not to mention, one that doesn't show any signs of hostility. Nice to meet you, I suppose," I bowed lightly to the dragon.
"Not just any dragon, mind you. I am known as the Primordial Flame Lightning Dragon. Guess you can call me Priflalid, as the other Primordial Dragon called himself. I am the closest thing to a Cosmic Being that you'll be able to feast your eyes upon," spoke Priflalid as he raised his chest.
"I'm— honoured? Thank you for showing yourself to me. Incidentally, why am I here? I was in the middle of removing the Vengeful Flame from the boulder. I would appreciate it if you released me as I have an urgent task to resolve," I informed him.
"Have no fear, time moves relatively slower here as compared to the real world. By the time we are done talking, your sweat would have barely even touched the ground," he explained.
"A— Alright, so I have time for a little chat. But— why though? Why am I even here in the first place? Why summoned me here, wherever this may be?" I squinted and asked Priflalid.
"Ever heard of Celestial Beings residing in legendary items? I'm sure you've heard of such stories from that Zen of yours. I— am the being residing in Vengeful Flame, or some might call it Onibi. Ah, it's been a while since I've not heard someone calling me that," Priflalid closed his eyes and raised his head.
"So, it's because I'm holding the sword and using State of Mind that you're able to communicate with me? That simple? Are you allowing me to take the sword then?" I asked curiously.
"Hmm— no. This and that are two different things. I'm just here to commend you for willing to break the rules. You elves are strangely obedient in following every single thing that's been placed down for you," he rubbed his chin.
"I can't afford to waste time here. I— need this sword. Our realm is under attack," I explained to him.
"Our? No, just this realm. Your kind doesn't belong here. There is no reason for you to protect this realm when yours are so much superior to ours. Tell me, what is the real reason you want this sword?" he sneered.
"I've told you, the Cosmic Tree is under attack, and I need this sword to kill the massive insect that is sucking its life essence. Worst case, I'll need to bring down the Cosmic Tree itself. That's why I need this sword. If I don't stop that damn insect, who knows how powerful it'll end up becoming," I raised my voice.
"Bring down the Cosmic Tree? Well well, colour me intrigued. I've always been tempted to bring down that damn tree that you all worshipped. But— know this. You can't lie to me, as I can read your thoughts and intentions. I'll give you one last chance. What is the real reason you want this sword?" he moved his face closer to me.
"I—" I quickly stopped myself from saying anything further. What's my real reason to pull out the sword? To save the realm, the elves, and the Cosmic Tree, of course! Why does this Primordial Dragon insist that it's not true?! I really want to stop that massive bug from harming the Cosmic Tree any further. What else do I want the sword for? Why did I even think of using it in the first place? I was just following what Zen wanted and nothing else. There's no other explanation for me to take the sword. There's none, there's no other—
"I— want to be stronger. I want a legendary weapon to call my own. I hate the idea of being the called the weakest Guildmaster despite being the oldest. Is that something too much to ask?" I uttered those words unknowingly.
"Now you're being honest," spoke the Primordial Dragon before the whole darkened world began to fade in my vision.