The Lord Is Too Overbearing

Ione could only look at Basil and Charles who were disappearing and reappearing nonstop silently. She couldn't find the chance to meddle since they were too fast for her eyes to even properly capture.

Basil had filled the entire Temple with [Checkpoints], which was the reason why his [Teleportation] speed allowed him to keep up with Charles. Ione understood this was the case, however she was still amazed regardless.

The amount of Mana one had to sacrifice to cast [Teleportation], no matter how close the distance that would be covered was, was not negligible. On top of that, one's Mana Sense had to be sensitive enough to locate all of the [Checkpoints].

Basil had not only a ridiculous amount of Mana even for a Sixth Circle Mage, but also an absolutely exceptional control over his Mana. Because of this, he was capable of pulling the stunt Ione was witnessing.

"Pacifer! Don't you think I don't understand what is going on!" Charles exclaimed while kept the eye of Blinking Eye blinking. "I know this place is riddled with your [Checkpoints], but don't you think you can do this forever!"

Despite knowing what was going on, Charles kept doing the same thing—utilizing Blinking Eye for short distance [Teleportations] to "dodge" Basil's attack. He was likely planning to exhaust Basil's Mana by doing it.

... At least, that was what it looked like from the outside.

Basil, who had a sensitive Mana Sense, and also knew how cunning Charles was, had already figured out what Charles was planning. He knew that Charles was going to blow the entire Temple up with the Spell he was casting.

Despite knowing it, like Charles, Basil still maintained the status quo. He didn't keep chasing after Charles because he was hoping he would be able to land a hit on him however; he was waiting for the chance to destroy Blinking Eye before Charles executed his Spell.

He was confident he would be able to survive whatever would blow the Temple up, however he was sure Charles would use the time when he was busy protecting himself to seek Iliana by utilizing Blinking Eye.

Due to Charles' agreement with Goap, Iliana was Charles' main target. He was sure Charles would definitely do that a second after he blew the Temple up.

He didn't want his effort to keep Iliana off the battlefield to be in vain. Therefore, he would destroy Blinking Eye, so Charles wouldn't be able to utilize it and take Iliana away with him.

"Yes... Keep chasing after me. Ku-ku-ku." Unaware of Basil's plan, Charles smirked in glee as he noticed basil kept following after him. "You will die in the next ten [Teleportations]."

Charles' Spell had been completely cast. He only needed the perfect time to execute it, which would come in less than 3 seconds.

Basil knew it, of course, and because of that, this time, instead of teleporting himself to the next spot where Charles would teleport himself to, he teleported himself to the spot where Charles would teleport himself after it.

Flash!

Basil was a step ahead of Charles. Charles was too busy to notice it however; he immediately teleported himself to the tenth spot, which he had decided as the spot where he would blow the Temple up.

Surprisingly, by the time Charles teleported himself to that spot, Basil was already there with Durendal half-swung at him. His eyes widened in shock as he knew what had happened.

Basil had predicted where he would teleport himself to, and he couldn't believe it. He prided himself on being unpredictable and unreadable, so it was baffling for him that Basil had read the pattern of his [Teleportation].

Baffled as he was, of course, he didn't forget to protect himself with a Mana Barrier. He knew Blinking Eye wouldn't be able to teleport himself away before the wind that Durendal swept towards him touched him.

Defending himself from the attack was wiser than trying futilely to teleport himself away. Durendal, after all, didn't need to make a contact with the thing that needed to be cut to cut it.

Slash!

"What?!"

Shatter!

It was much to Charles' bewilderment that Basil didn't destroy his Mana Barrier in vain. Just a few milliseconds before he teleported himself away to finally execute his Spell, he found Blinking Eye cut in two.

He had thought Basil was going to cut his neck due to how focused he had been on it. He had particularly strengthened the part protecting his neck because of that, which had weakened the other parts of the Barrier.

He knew it was risky, however considering how close Durendal had been to his neck at that time, he was confident Basil would cut his neck off. Much to his shock, Basil changed the course of his swing in the last millisecond.

Although the power of the swing was greatly reduced because of that, it was still powerful enough to shatter the Barrier and Blinking Eye.

"Pacifer!"

As Charles roared furiously, Basil teleported himself to Ione's side in a blink of an eye. Picking her up without saying anything—surprising her in the process—he took her out of the Temple.

Jumping to the air, he used Wind Magic to create a pair of wings behind his back. He rose high to the sky with Ione in his arms before stopping after reaching a certain height.

"Can you fly by your own?" Basil asked.

"... I can," Ione said after processing what had just happened.

Basil immediately let go of Ione right after she created her own pair of wings. He took out Durendal and Caliburn, which he had stored before, and immediately channeled his Qi into them.

He didn't rise to the sky so high for no reason; he was anticipating Charles' Spell that Charles hadn't executed yet. He knew Charles wouldn't be stupid enough to still blow the Temple up after knowing his original plan had failed.

Boom!

The air surrounding Basil exploded as soon as Durendal and Caliburn exuded their pressure. Ione even swayed due to how strong it was, which was saying something considering how much control she had over her wings.

"This is a perfect time to use it..."

Basil smiled as he sensed the gradually rising Mana pressure in the air. Charles had finally executed his Spell, which he had initially intended for destroying the Temple.

"Let me see if my Technique is befitting of the name I have given it." Smiling lightly, Basil crossed Durendal and Caliburn against each other. "[Twin Mountain Splitter]!"

As soon as the name of the Technique was uttered, Durendal and Caliburn shone in their own unique color: sequentially, silvery blue and gold. The pressure both legendary weapons were exuding was so intense, it made Ione sweat.

Hum.

The claymore and the sword trembled faintly, splitting the air each time they did. The Mana Pressure in the air was getting heavier in each passing second, meanwhile Charles' Spell was closing in on them at a noticeably high speed.

Swish!

Basil swung Durendal and Caliburn diagonally at the same time, creating two different colored lines that intersected each other, making them look like an X cross.

The X cross rapidly moved towards Charles' Spell. They clashed against each other after three seconds.

Boom!

As Charles' Spell; which looked like a humongous, shining energy ball; made contact with Basil's Technique, it was immediately split into four sections. Those sections kept moving towards Basil, but they gradually dissipated the closer they got to him.

On the contrary, Basil's X cross kept advancing towards the Temple—the mountain where it was located. They reached the mountain in three seconds, cutting three fourth of it and the Temple on it into four sections.

Boom!

Some of the mountain parts were completely destroyed due to Caliburn's destructive power, whereas the other parts were cut cleanly thanks to Durendal's sharpness.

Twenty seconds passed, and the mountain that had previously been a place where the Temple was built was reduced to a quarter of its original size. This happened just because of a Technique from an outstanding Multi Principle Practitioner.

"That was... Amazing," Ione muttered. "The fact that you are only a Fifth Circle Mage makes it mindbogglingly absurd, My Lord."

Instead of accepting Ione's praise, Basil warned, "Things are going to get real from now on—get ready."

Ione simply nodded her head without asking anything as she could already understand what was happening. Charles had shown himself—he was unscathed—and was gathering the ruins of the destroyed mountain around him.

He was making a massive Golem with it. He was going to be the core of the Golem, powering it with the absurd amount of Mana he had.

"Have you learnt [One With Nature]?" Basil asked.

"I haven't mastered it, but yes, I have learnt it." Ione nodded her head.

"Use it. You won't survive without it."

Activating his Pacifer Seal after saying that, his presence and demeanor immediately changed. His eyes turned gold at the same time his Pacifer Seal exuded a golden light.

Activating his Aura afterwards, he took out all of the bladed weapons in his Spatial Rings and Bracelets. Using his Aura Ability: [Master of Weapons] on them, he controlled them as if he was wielding them directly one by one.

Ione who was looking at the scene couldn't help sighing in reverence and amazement. She couldn't fathom Basil's strength anymore; he already looked more like a God of War than a human at this point.

"Ione..."

"Y-Yes, My Lord!"

Her admiring episode was cut short as soon as Basil turned his golden eyes to her. He was saying are you ready with his eyes, and Ione could only smile awkwardly as she weren't ready yet.

Fortunately, she didn't need a long time to prepare herself. Activating her Pacifer Seal in an instance, it immediately glowed in white at the same time she utilized [One With Nature].

Both of them were now using [One With Nature], which made them more in tune with Nature. Nature Mana was surrounding them, supplying their Magic Circles from time to time.

"I shall face the Golem," Basil said softly. "Ione, may do thou thy best."

"Yes, My Lord!"

The change of personality didn't surprise Ione in the least bit. She also felt like she turned into another person whenever she used [One With Nature], so she didn't find it weird in the slightest.

Boom!

Basil dived down towards the massive Golem Charles was controlling first. Ione followed suit in the next second; her heart palpitated the more she was exposed to its overwhelming Mana Pressure.