Jack was expecting the lesser demon and lesser angel to come forward and sacrifice themselves to block the twenty lightning balls, which wouldn't matter because the Lightning God Barrage dealt wide area damage. Surprisingly, though, they flew away.
The twenty lightning balls crashed into the target and created a large explosion.
Jack didn't bother to use his Soul Breath as well. Despite Master's unusually high HP, he was still a player. His HP couldn't be compared with a native. Jack was confident the Lightning God Barrage alone could devour Master's 19,000 HP. Even if Master cast a protective spell that reduced the damage, the combined damage should still be more than enough to end this battle.
However, when the lightning explosion receded, Master's falling body was not seen. Instead, an extremely large earth golem was there.
"Hahaha, you are not the only one who has upgraded the divine blessing to its second level," Jack heard Master's voice from inside the golem.
"That is the second skill of Earth God Blessing, Earth Titan," Peniel informed. "It created a protective earth suit around the user. He is practically unkillable while inside that suit."
"A suit? That is a f*cking mech! Crap, it can even still fly," Jack said. His Acceleration spell had just come off cooldown but it was no use to approach Master now if Master's whole body was protected.
"This suit is not only for protection," Master's voice was heard again from the Earth Titan. "You like close combat, don't you? How about I entertain you with one now?"
The Earth Titan suddenly shot forward. A wind explosion occurred behind the Earth Titan and propelled it forward.
'It's Wind Jet!' Jack recognized the spell. Master could still cast a spell while in that Earth Titan form.
The Earth Titan arrived and its hand swatted down. Jack was not going to stay around and let himself get hit, he had flown away before the hand came.
Master was casting a spell when he made his physical attack. While Jack flew away to dodge the swat, a giant earth hand appeared where he was flying to. Jack changed position again with his copy before the earth hand grabbed him. He could only change position one last time after this.
Master cast another spell and multiple magic homing arrows came at him. The lesser demon and lesser angel's homing attacks also chased him again, including the winged feral tiger.
"Damn it! I can't hit him while he is protected by that Earth Titan. How long is the duration?" Jack asked.
"Five minutes," Peniel answered.
"F*ck! That's too long. My dragon form would have ended then… Oh, shit!" Jack suddenly uttered.
"What is it?" Peniel asked.
"My dragon form is ending!" Jack said just as he reverted to his real body. He started falling after losing his flying ability.
"Hah! You don't even keep track of your own skill's duration," Master mocked. His large Earth Titan's hand came and attempted to catch Jack.
"Screw you!" Jack talked back while firing Mana Beam which was off cooldown.
'That staff…' Master uttered when he noticed Jack's staff which was casting the Mana Beam.
The thick beam came out from his unique-grade staff and hit the Earth Titan square on the face.
"My head is not there. You won't block my view even if you hit this titan's eyes," Master said. His titan's hand continued uninterrupted. But Jack vanished into a puff of smoke before he was grabbed. Master then looked down to the ground.
His third eye let him know Jack's location. Jack had sent one of his copies down to the ground as an escape option.
"Shit… I still can't beat him," Jack said disappointingly as he looked at Master high in the sky.
"Don't think that you can escape again!" Master exclaimed. All of a sudden, the huge body of the earth titan dropped down with great speed. It was as if Master had canceled his flying spell and the gravity was now exerting its full force on the titan's heaviness.
Jack was alarmed by how fast the titan dropped. It crashed into the ground close to him, causing tremors and a thick cloud of dust surged due to it. A flaming whip suddenly lashed out from the dust cloud.
Jack already sensed the attack. This was the combination spell between Fireball and Hell Whip that Master had used before. Jack's body shot away with Shooting Dash before the whip came.
At the end of his three dashes, he found a large symbolic rune on the ground underneath him. He immediately used Charge to increase his speed again. He ran past the symbol just as a lightning pillar came down and struck dead center at the symbol.
"That was Lightning Strike. Did he actually learn all the non-standard spells in existence?" Jack uttered. He continued to run away. He might not be able to defeat Master now, but with his speed, Master also couldn't hope to catch him.
He looked back and saw Master chase after him. The earth titan's running steps were wide, but Master's base movement speed was slow, so there was no way he could catch up to Jack.
Jack ran to the main temple with the giant statue depicting the God of Courage, where Mihos was supposed to take Paytowin. He saw many of the cultists were heading that way as well. The members of the Council of Virtus did their best to block their paths.
As Jack came near, he saw Mihos, Paytowin, and Arlcard were fighting against several high-level rare elite cultists near the temple's entrance. These cultists also wanted to gain access to the temple. Two council soldiers aided Mihos in repelling them.
The two opposing teams were hindering each other from going into the temple.
Paytowin, who was the weakest of the bunch, was supporting them from a distance with his gun. He had some sort of dark cloak clinging to him. The cloak appeared to be alive. It was a new spell called Shadow Veil that was cast by Arlcard to protect Paytowin. The veil had an HP bar, it absorbed all the damage that was directed at Paytowin, sort of like a Barrier that was cast on another person.
Jack analyzed the situation as he came near. He summoned Therras again and immediately used Combination Assault. He and Therras both shot forward like a meteor and slammed onto one of the cultists, disrupting the man. He then used Flame Strike, sending him away.
"This way!" Jack called Paytowin at the same time he cast Acceleration on himself, Paytowin, Arlcard, and Mihos. He had created a gap and with the added speed, he and Paytowin easily passed through.
Mihos didn't waste the chance that Jack had created. He used his Lion Roar, disorienting all the enemies while Paytowin rushed through. With the speed boost from Acceleration, he went on a rampage to keep the enemies distracted.
Jack and Paytowin arrived at the temple entrance. Arlcard followed them as well. Mihos made a super jump and arrived before them.
"Go! The holiness is waiting at the chancel. I will hold them!" He uttered.
Paytowin was confused about what was so important about getting him to the divine priest while all the rest of this place was falling apart, but he didn't have time to ponder about it. The two council soldiers couldn't block all the enemies. Many had come up the stairs towards where Mihos was standing.
"Let's go," Jack said.
Paytowin nodded. But before they turned around, one of the cultists stepped onto the landing of the temple entrance. As he did, a blinding light shot down and slammed into that cultist. That cultist's HP went down rapidly. When it was zeroed, his body melted under that scorching light.
An incredible strong pressure then came upon them all. The other cultists who were still climbing the stairs all stopped.
Mihos looked up and exclaimed, "ancestor!"
Jack looked up as well and saw an elderly ethereal with an ornate robe. The elder landed in front of Mihos. "No one else is allowed to step through," Odvah proclaimed.
Jack used Inspect on the ethereal.
*
Odvah (Eternal Ethereal, Divine Ancestor), level 90
HP: 4,700,000
*
While everyone was pressured into stasis by Odvah's aura. A large earth Titan ran forward, unaffected. This earth titan punched at Odvah, only to have its fist slammed into a wall of light. The wall then erupted and threw the titan far away.
Cracks spread on the titan before it crumbled, revealing Master.
"Heh, facing an eternal is still too much it seems," Master said.
"You are a very brazen outworlder. Let me punish you," Odvah said. Layers of aurora swept towards Master. But when it was still a few meters away from Master, a dark abyss appeared on the ground, sucking all the auroras. Then, a skeletal face person in a dark hooded robe rose from the abyss. He carried a black scythe in his hand.
Jack used his Inspect on this newcomer as well.
*
Vekja (Eternal Elf, Corrupted Ancestor), level 90
HP: 4,500,000
*
Odvah waved his hand. A dome of light encapsulated the entire temple. Vekja came forward and touched his scythe to the dome. It created a screeching sound as the dome resisted the scythe. The other cultists banged at the dome but their attacks were completely ineffective.
Without turning back, Odvah said to those behind him. "All of you go. Callan is waiting."
"Ancestor, I will fight together with you!" Mihos exclaimed.
"No. I said go. There is nothing that you can do here. Go!"
Odvah's voice was stern. Mihos didn't dare to disobey. He made a bow to the ancestor before turning around and saying to Paytowin, "Come!" He then led them into the temple.
