While Billy learned the technique, his control wasn't perfect and his lack of experience while staying in that state made him gather energy very slowly. It was a pity, but Billy couldn't speed up the process by using Blood Manipulation. He probably could use Acceleration Manipulation, but that made the technique imperfect.
Chi helped Billy recover health and stamina faster, and Blood Manipulation increased his reaction speed without relying on a shit ton of mana, and Rage increased pretty much all of his physical parameters alongside Body Enhancement.
"As expected, I trained a lot more with my magic, so doing this is kind of hard," Billy said when he broke his focus. "Or perhaps the innate skills made our bodies more magically oriented."
"That doesn't explain why the others didn't learn magic as fast as you," The death spirit said. "Regardless, to think that now you can improve your body while using the energy of the environment… you surpassed the old Uvish when it comes to techniques and potential, but…"
"He has the upper hand in all other aspects, I know," Billy said. "But not for long."
Billy wanted to master that technique using only his will instead of relying on anything else. Still, he was short on time, and he had watched too many people fight and die… with that in mind, he used Acceleration Manipulation.
At the frontlines, the soldiers and adventurers fighting the zombies were having quite a hard time. Most of them were zombies of the demi-humans, so they were naturally stronger than them. Against them, Icarus, Lucyna, and Meryl were doing their best and not holding back. Still, after fighting against so many champions, they were a bit low on fuel.
—--- —---
"Man, I thought that we had become invincible thanks to the dungeon cores, and we only lost because Uvish was a beast, but I was dead wrong," Icarus said after he punched the heads of several zombies down to a pulp to kill them and then used his knees to rest for a while.
"I hate to admit it, but I also thought the same… unfortunately, the universe is too big, and there are many people with powers even bigger than ours," Lucyna said.
"Don't lower your guard. Those guys might attack at any moment," Meryl said.
By those guys, Meryl was talking about the rulers. They had lost pretty much all of the champions when they were alive, and after, they became zombies. Still, they weren't showing much care about that. In any case, now and then, they attacked using some weird technique like firing yellow dust clouds that could dissolve the flesh of those touched by it. Naturally, they died as well.
Another enemy could even take physical hits like it was nothing and absorb the energy of the impact to make himself stronger… It made them recall their abilities a little. It was clear that Uvish had been fighting the invaders and copying their techniques while using humans to improve them. Humans that he brought from Earth. It was really annoying…
All of a sudden, three of the rulers began to move. The mage of the yellow dust cloud was in the middle, and the other two were covering for him. Their armies stepped back while he began to summon a massive yellow cloud… That probably would damage the barrier a lot and make it shrink…
Icarus, Lucyna, and Meryl knew they had to do something, but those things created a shield using the dust cloud. They would have to pass through the barrier to attack them, and they will be lucky to survive that. Even Icarus speed won't be of much use. Even with their armors and cores, the chances that they would die were high.
While they were hesitating, those three approached alongside the yellow cloud. They had to do something… But before that could happen. They suddenly felt Billy's approach. His presence changed again… But he stopped as soon as he crossed the barrier. The weird thing was that his red Aura was a lot more contained than before.
All of a sudden, Billy swung his glaive, and then that created a powerful blast of wind that sent the yellow cloud to the distance and also made the nearby enemies be thrown into the distance. Those that were unlucky, died instantly.
While Icarus, Lucyna, and Meryl noticed that Billy's presence weakened after the blast, they also felt the presence of the rulers disappearing… That wasn't supposed to be possible… It was a long ranged physical attack, and they died instantly as well.
"What the hell…" Icarus said. "I knew that he was up to something, but I didn't think it would result in something like that."
"He used Rage to increase his parameters to the limits and some other techniques," Meryl said while running her chin thoughtfully. "That is easy when you can use Emotional Control, but it is probably tiring…"
"Look, the enemies are retreating again," Lucyna said.
The other two realized that as well.. even the rulers got spooked by that surprise attack. In the meantime, Billy returned to his home.
"Shall we ask how he did that?" Icarus asked.
"Even if he tells us, it will take a while to learn, possibly years, since we don't have his techniques," Meryl said. "I hate to admit this, but he did the right thing in traveling the world and learning several fighting styles…"
"Well, we have better foundations now than before, so it is definitely possible," Lucyna said. "Still, I wonder if Billy should spread that knowledge… While he is safe in the barrier, if Uvish captures someone with that knowledge outside…"
The enemy already knew too much; Uvish certainly didn't need to learn more about their skills in order to find the perfect corners for those. Still, he needed new skills that didn't belong to the system…
Uvish had already evolved too much for the past four thousand years… It was time to stop him without taking any chances.
