MMORPG: Rise of the Primordial Godsmith

'How…?'

Watching her attack finally remove Valyr from the face of the planet, Erika immediately felt a sense of catharsis take over her, only for it to be replaced with schadenfreude as she thought about how helpless the young man was in front of her attack.

Of course, with her recalling how their previous fight was that of her just getting beaten to a pulp without any retaliation, the schadenfreude felt more like a sense of satisfaction, a satisfaction that no one else would ever get in her way anymore.

…Until that ended up not being the case sometime later.

Crack.. Crack…

Hearing cracking sounds emanate from the solid mass surrounding Valyr all of a sudden, a sense of dread slowly began to creep up within Erika's mind, inwardly hoping to herself that the worst fears she had in mind wouldn't come true.

Unfortunately, as if the heavens were condemning the actions she took before, the cracking sounds began to get louder and louder, eventually culminating into a point where a small crack had actually appeared on the surface of the mass she conjured.

Then, with Lunarossa taking the initiative to expand the crack and break the solid mass altogether, the sight of Valyr being unaffected by her attack soon greeted her, causing the delight and relief she felt just mere moments earlier…

…To be replaced with immense hatred and despair.

'How the hell did he survive that?!' she screamed inwardly, rage and fury gradually filling every crevice within her body. 'I poured almost all of my energy into creating that solid mass!'

'The heavens are unfair! The heavens are fucking unfair!'

Continuing to inwardly complain that the heavens were against her attempts at achieving success, Erika soon found out how Valyr survived the ordeal from the young man himself, eavesdropping on their conversation as she glanced at the group of participants standing by one of the amphitheater's passageways.

Not wanting to let the fury she felt overcome her rationality, the woman forcefully took in slow but deep breaths to calm herself down while passively listening to their conversation throughout.

By the time she felt like she had reined in her fury somewhat, Erika decided not to listen to their conversation anymore, having heard everything she needed to hear from them as she proceeded with her next attack.

'If that doesn't kill you… then I'll just have to put a bit more strength into it.'

Whoosh!

Glancing at the five that were getting into position, Erika let out a slight exhale as she sent part of her energy towards the center area of the amphitheater.

"[Forest of Temptations]."

Crack… Bang!

In an instant, multiple crimson vines began to protrude out of the ground, all of them aiming to wrap around the five to constrict them to death.

"Haah!"

Although not expecting such a move from Erika, Lunarossa remained calm as she slashed out in a spiral, carving out a foothold for the five amidst the sea of vines surrounding them.

"[Harmony of Nature]!"

At the same time, the other participants began to support Valyr once more from afar, with Leveina conjuring a series of domains around them before fusing them together.

Whoosh!

Sensing greater strength coursing through their body with the domains, Julian and the two other arbiters made a move, overlapping their own domain skills on the domain Leveina conjured before striking out at the vines surrounding them.

"[Pyrrhia Secret Hammer Art: 1st Technique]!"

"[Warhammer's Blazing Edge]!"

Taking initiative to expand their foothold, Julian brought out his war hammer once more and expand its head to around half of what he struck Erika with earlier.

Then, imbuing his energy into it, an edge began to form on the surface of both heads, allowing him to cleave a massive amount of crimson waves with one sweep.

"[Algerie Secret Art: Tearing the Oceans]!"

"[Voyant Secret Spear Art: Tears of the Somnambulist]!"

After that, Liam and Eliathaea entered the fray, removing yet another portion of the vines surrounding them as they tackled the sea from opposing sides.

"Haha! Now it's my time to shine!"

Whilst the two arbiters were destroying the sea of vines from the inside, a couple of the reinforcements Valyr recruited decided to aid a bit in the effort.

Among them was the young man's last opponent, who charged at the sea of vines with a large grin on his face.

"I was supposed to use this on Ylvar… but I'll use it here instead!"

"[Codices of the Sword Saint]!"

"[3rd Codice: Surpassing Fatality]!"

Swish!

Transferring all the momentum he built up onto his blade at the very last moment, the man swiftly slashed out at the vines, easily decimating all of the ones that were near him.

"Wha—"

However, rather than just stop there, a trace of the attack's energy continued to follow along its trajectory, eventually reaching a point where it removed over 5% of the vines by the time it got to the other side.

Unsurprisingly, almost everyone was left stunned by the man's attack, with the arbiters even more so.

'Having Valyr recruit the other participants was a good idea,' thought Julian to himself as he continued removing the sea of vines, only to feel a great sense of danger coming from the skies.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

Out of nowhere, three large crimson pillars began to fall from the sky, all of which seemed to be aiming for where Valyr and the others were standing.

In response, the five did not linger at their current spot any longer, especially with them having carved out enough of the sea to free themselves from its grasp.

Whoosh!

With that, the four distanced themselves from where the pillars would land, placing them a bit closer to the reinforcements Valyr had recruited for the fight.

At the same time, Lunarossa made yet another move against Erika, taking advantage of the chaos as she slashed out at her once more.

"[Meltierre-style Heavenly Sword Array]."

"[Myriad Blade Reflection]!"

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Knowing that the Lesser Sin had now mounted a proper defense against any future ambushes, the director took the more direct approach of destroying that defense by using brute force against it.

Continuing to imbue more and more energy into her attack, Lunarossa calmly watched as she chipped away at both the shield and the armor that protected Erika from further harm.

Yet, just as she was about to give herself an opening to make use of…

"[Vestments of Insatiable Lust]."

"[Sinful Crimson Aegis]."

The Lesser Sin cast both defensive skills once more with visible indifference on her face, though a hint of mockery flitted her eyes the moment she glanced at Lunarossa.

'Damn…'

Gritting her teeth as she used the despair she felt to further fuel her attacks, the woman doubled down on her ongoing skill, confident that she would eventually catch Erika off guard and turn the tides of battle back to them.

Unfortunately, even after forcing the Lesser Sin to reactivate her defensive skills a few more times, Lunarossa saw no opportunity that would allow her to breach through Erika's defense whatsoever.

…Until she did just a few seconds later.

Bang!