"Charge!"
"We charge!"
"Onward!"
Calls for confrontation spread through the army as Lucas' command was passed down. The several million-strong army immediately split into several parts that operated autonomously but kept in contact with each other.
RUMBLE!
Even more than it did when the heavenly material first surfaced, the ground rumbled under the combined footsteps of Heaven's Army.
On the other side, Sir Theon harrumphed loudly. "Hmph! Look at those hypocrites go. If they win here, how can we ever show our faces in the future? Charge! Charge and kill everything!"
As both sides made their move, the vine finally stopped growing. Several thousand kilometers in the sky, the dual flowers at the very tip of the vine slowly bloomed.
One gold and one silver, one hot and one cold, the two flowers created untold harmony with their existence.
But more than them…
In the center of those flowers, one could faintly make out a certain structure holding a large amount of liquid.
'That's the true heavenly material.' Lucas and Sir Theon realized together.
The entire vine was polluted with treasures galore, but the only one that truly mattered was the liquid at the top. Only that was worthy of being called a heavenly material!
Two armies clashed in the valley below.
Experts clashed in the sky above, fighting for those flowers that bloomed on the vine's stem.
And finally, on par with the clouds were two experts eyeing the same treasure.
Now that they'd come face to face, it was time for them to settle old and new debts.
Only one of them would be walking out of here alive.
***
Haa…
One breath.
Haa…
Two breaths.
Haa…
Alexandra's eyes remained focused. Her perception of time was anchored to the speed of her breathing, and the way she confronted her enemies seemed to portray her in a completely different light than before she'd entered the golden palace.
At that time, she'd been instantly turned into a spirit and rid of most of her fighting capacity. Back then, she was nothing more than a pig on the chopping block.
Now, however, her body had been reconstructed by Damien, who allowed her to possess far more potential than she originally had, and then strengthened a second time by the woman from the Ancient God Clan.
Without even realizing it, Alexandra received a comprehensive increase in power that was only showing itself on this occasion.
'Earthly Hellstorm!'
She slammed her foot down on the ground, causing the earth to ripple and change properties. The ground below acted like a wave of water, sweeping through the enemies in front of Alexandra and clearing a path for her to get to the flower ahead.
"Haa!"
Boom!
Just as she snatched the flower, a powerful shot of flaming mana narrowly missed her head. She turned around with bloodlust in her eyes, only to find an unexpected visitor.
"Clyde." She muttered through gritted teeth.
"Alex, you recognized me! How sweet!" The man named Clyde exclaimed with a perverse smile.
"What is your intention? You are actually attacking your comrades at this juncture?!" Alexandra yelled back.
Clyde's grin fell slightly.
"Aha, so you're unaware! Well…"
Xiu!
Alexandra's senses jumped, forcing her to rapidly move her body at an impossible angle.
She found herself looking up at where her head once was. There, a burning black hellflame was flickering without any intention of going out.
In the next second, Clyde's face took up her vision.
"There's no such thing as eternal allies or eternal enemies, my dear Alex." He proclaimed with a smile.
"The only thing that matters in this world…"
Clyde raised his arm, his hand sharpening and transmuting into a blade.
"…is benefits."
Clyde swung down, aiming to decapitate Alexandra in one strike.
However, she was no longer the same person he knew.
Yellowish-brown mana coated the surface of her skin.
Boom!
Clyde's arm blade cut through Alexandra's body, but Clyde didn't show any satisfaction.
That strike…
Crumble!
Before he could even ponder it, Alexandra's body crumpled into hundreds of rock shards that fell powerlessly to the ground.
"You have betrayed your homeland." Alexandra's voice came from further away.
"You are an Elder of Mystic Wind Pavillion. You are supposed to be a leader of Heaven's Army, a person that all troops can look up to. You've betrayed the Angel Race, betrayed your sect, and betrayed the universe itself…"
A wave of power spread. A yellowish-brown hue coated the air for several kilometers, entrapping Clyde.
"…your blood shall be a reminder for those of future generations! Our Grand Heavens Boundary is inviolable!"
'Spirit of Earth, Voice of the Wild, answer my call.'
Alexandra chanted in her head while galvanizing her mana. While it felt like eternities in her mind, it took less than an instant for her call to be answered.
Guuuoooohhh!
An ancient groan rang out.
BOOM!
The earth exploded. A titanic arm shot out from within and slammed down into the ground below, crushing Clyde in the process.
"Khhh…!" Clyde exhaled through gritted teeth as he tried to keep his blood in his mouth. He pushed against the massive hand with all his strength, but found that he could barely evenly match it.
"What is this?!" He roared. "Who are you?! You are not Alex!"
Hearing the screams from her delusional ex-stalker, Alexandra smirked.
"That's right, I am not the Alex that you can pressure anymore. Starting today…"
BANG!
"…I am reborn."
She slammed her hand down. The massive earthly hand followed her movement, slamming down and leaving no space between the ground and it.
Clyde was flattened into meatpaste and then flattened further into fine particulates that couldn't be seen with the naked eye.
After his destroyed body transformed into ink and she destroyed him a second time, she paid no him no more mind.
'That flower must have some special properties if it's attached to the heavenly material's stem. I must get to it before that man appears and starts ruining everything.'
Unlike everyone else, who merely raced against each other, Alexandra also had to race against time!
Even though she'd just achieved a piece of revenge that she'd been desiring for a very long time, she could even celebrate or revel in it.
She moved instantly and with efficiency, even completely avoiding many opponents for the sake of speed.
She was well aware. At some point, this place would be showered in blood without mercy. The Nox, and maybe even a part of Heaven's Army, would likely face calamity.
'Dammit! That man truly moves without any consideration for others!'
Alexandra complained inwardly while slicing through another enemy. She approached closer and closer until she finally landed on the massive flower.
There were 19 others on the flower with her. As soon as she stepped onto its surface…
The petals closed.
The 20 people in the flower were isolated from the rest of the world, and at the same time, a portion of the flower opened up and revealed a beautiful golden honey-like substance there.
It was evident what they were to do.
The last one standing would win the treasure, while the rest would become nutrients for this plant.
Fighting began immediately.
But rather than joining them, Alexandra stood back and observed.
There was something strange going on here, and before she found out what it was, even the gods themselves wouldn't be able to move her.
