Laurent cast his wide AOE spell, Area Bless. Every ally in the vicinity received a boost, including Duke Alfredo.
Garland was annoyed by it. His opponent had suddenly healed completely and was stronger than before, now there was another meddlesome priest that added another boost. He pointed at Laurent in the distance. A thick lightning arrow was fired at Laurent.
Laurent saw the incoming spell. He quickly erected an illusory magic shield. The lightning arrow hit the shield and shattered it. Lightning sparks resulting from the impact still hit Laurent and caused him damage.
"Garland!" Claudius, who was fighting Arlcard and Bailey shouted.
Garland seemed to understand Caludius' call. He threw a lightning snake at Claudius, who then accepted the lightning using his spear. Instead of causing damage, Claudius' spear was coated with lightning energy.
Claudius swung his spear. Countless spear images shrouded with lightning shot out all around him. Hitting everyone in the vicinity as well as paralyzing them.
As he was about to follow up his attack, Claudius found the ground below him lighted up. Thick and powerful crimson chains emerged from the ground. It was duke Alfredo's Myriad Ensnaring Chains. Claudius couldn't use his flying tool to escape because of the duke's no-fly-zone spell. Claudius' spear turned into blurring images as it struck all the chains that were coming at him. This had spared Arlcard and Bailey who were still paralyzed.
The duke instead suffered from Garland. Garland had summoned a lightning orb and threw it at duke Alfredo. The lightning orb released a constant discharge of lightning strikes, hitting all hostiles in its surrounding.
As the duke suffered continuous damage, golden plates appeared and attached themselves to the duke, protecting him from the lightning.
"You again!" Garland shouted. His arm clawed to the sky. A thick lightning pillar came down from the sky and struck the place where Laurent was standing.
Laurent had cast a Barrier spell for protection, but it still broke after one hit. He hurriedly cast Heal and Regeneration on himself.
"Let's see how you people deal with continuous lightning strikes!" Garland's two arms were in the air. Two lightning strikes soon came down, one striking the duke while the other was again hitting Laurent.
Jack was amazed. Despite being at the same level and grade, Garland still proved to be more powerful than the duke even after the duke received a boost from the Grace of Tranquility potion. Garland was indeed a special native. It wasn't so surprising considering that Garland was among the few natives who could manipulate mana, even though his skill in this regard was not as advanced as the mythical grade natives.
However, Garland was not without wounds. After a long scuffle with the duke, his HP was almost half.
Garland threw a few more lightning orbs at the duke and Laurent.
While Garland was assaulting the two, he sensed something creeping up behind him. He also felt his body become slow. There was a strong cold aura enveloping him.
Garland made a gripping motion to his back just as Jack's Ice Demon Fiend was about to strike. Numerous lightning strands gripped the demon's different body parts. The demon was now held in the air. The lightning strands continued to bombard the Ice Demon Fiend. The demon's inner part started to shine a bright glow.
Jack recognized the spell as the one Garland had used to finish off the High Lich in the past. Jack felt bad for the Ice Demon Fiend, but since it didn't matter if it died, it was a perfect candidate for distracting Garland.
Therras came using Tyrannical Charge. Even when Garland had his attention on the Ice Demon Fiend, he was not careless. With one hand still aiming at the Ice Demon Fiend, his other hand shot at the charging Therras. An electric bubble formed on Therras' charging path. When Therras hit this electric bubble, its charging speed was stopped almost instantly. It was as if Therras had hit an immovable wall. Therras was held on the spot while receiving continuous lightning damage.
Jack used the Ultimate Beast skill at this time.
Garland felt Therras' aura suddenly rise, but it was not enough to overcome his electric bubble lock. Yet, Therras' aura continued to escalate. The beast even underwent a transformation right before his eyes.
Therras' frame grew. Not only that, but its posture also changed. From a quadruped beast into a bipedal one. Layers of stone-like plates grew over its skin that was not covered by armor. Additional horns grew on its head, creating the illusion of a horned crown. More horns also grew on its back and its arms. A pair of especially long horns grew on each of its arms, making it look as if it was holding long blades on its arms.
Jack was amazed by the transformation, but he was even more amazed that Therras' armor magically adjusted itself with the transformation. The armor even provided holes for the extra horns that grew from its owner's body. He guessed this was the magic of gaming rules at work.
With an enlarged frame and now standing on two legs, Therras was way taller than Garland. The hulking beast now stared down at Garland. The electric bubble had been forcefully broken when Therras transformed.
Therras used its Autocratic Roar, which produced an even louder roar than before. The mighty roar traveled a longer distance than its normal version, damaging all enemies that heard it and inflicting multiple negative statuses.
Garland was not spared. Even though he had very high resistance, he was still afflicted by some of the negative statuses caused by the roar, Disoriented and Dizzy.
Jack used this chance to begin his assault. He used his Supreme Dragon transformation and Gold Scale Armor. He couldn't fly, so he used his dragon form's inherent Wind Jet to shoot himself close to Garland. He then summoned his Spirit Weapon and activated Asura. Four extra arms sprouted from his body, two above his original arms, and another pair below.
With six arms, he activated Phantom Blade and executed Penta Slash. Only his two main arms were using the Penta Slash, but his other extra arms were not idle. He had continuously trained earlier today to get used to these six arms. His other arms continued to slash using Formless Flowing Sword style without disrupting the main arms.
On the other side, his spirit weapon was also slashing with the same martial arts using its two blades. Therras didn't stay still. It used the large horn on its arm and stab Garland. Its attack was slower than both Jack and his spirit weapon but carried stronger force.
When Garland was freed of the Dizzy effect, he had been slashed and stabbed multiple times, suffering from high damage.
"You ants!!" He screamed. A powerful discharge of electrical energy blasted everyone. Jack's spirit weapon was blown away. Jack stayed his ground because of his Gold Scale Armor, but he lost one-third of his HP. Therras also resisted the knockback.
"Since you have come, then stay!" Garland uttered. He made a motion and a lightning fence encircled their surroundings.
This was the same lightning prison spell that Garland had used when he fought against the High Lich to save Heavenly Citadel in the past. However, the circumference of this lightning prison was much smaller than the one he cast at that time. Garland had intentionally imprisoned a smaller area to trap only Jack and his minions. The duke and the others were outside this lightning prison.
The duke had just destroyed the lightning orbs assailing him. He was just about to come to Jack's aid when the lightning prison appeared. He cast his spell to destroy the lightning fence, but the fence resisted his assaults.
Therras was fighting Garland with brute force but with each hit, it was counterattacked by very strong lightning.
Garland clenched his fist. lightning converged around this fist and formed a larger fist made of electricity. He then punched forward. This electric fist connected with Therras lower body. It resulted in an explosive impact that threw Therras' huge body away. Therras hit the fence and was electrocuted, before falling to the ground.
Jack never stopped his assaults. Suddenly he found his body as if inside a gel. It was very difficult to move. He then realized there was electrical energy around him, holding him down. He was inside the electric bubble that had locked Therras before.
"You have always been a nuisance. Let me send you off properly!" Garland uttered. Spell formation of seven runes was formed.
Garland's hand made a grabbing motion at the Ice Demon Fiend who had its body fully covered in lightning now. The demon uttered a death cry before it disintegrated into particles of lightning. The lightning particles gathered before Garland's hand and formed a lightning core. Multiple lightning strikes also came down from the sky and were absorbed into this core.
Jack recognized this spell. It was the Perpetual Lightning Judgement. 'Does he intend to use this AOE spell solely on me?' Jack thought. That thought was both flattering and frightening.
The last time Garland used this spell, it also absorbed the lightning fence. Jack looked at the fence. It distorted a little but otherwise remained standing. Garland had controlled the spell to leave the fence alone, so no one could interfere with him in carrying out Jack's execution.
