The budding Advanced Primordial Aura around us rapidly matures.
Before, it only showed sparks of this dense output, but it's like the dam holding a reservoir back has finally broken; and now every single bit of Primordial Aura seeping out of our consciousness is turning into something completely different.
My High Royal Vibrations cannot escape the Isolation Barrier, but the waves that are still beneath, and now existing within the metallic red and black aura, grow tighter and stronger to become unbreakable.
There was a clear difference in their strength when shifting from just Royal to High Royal in the battles against the Outer Guards and First Bloods. It is what turned these Vibrations from frail yarn into what felt similar to steel cables.
Now, there is another shift taking place, as the High Royal Vibrations can finally set into their natural states.
Before, they were forced to be confined by only the physical reality around me that I could see, and the Primordial Aura would follow them like shadows.
Now, these unbreakable steel cables can finally bend into a different direction of space.
They have become like elastic bands, stretching and bending, and fusing with the Primordial Aura to embrace its true nature. There is less and less mystery dwelling in my heart and soul about where this energy comes from, and how it interacts with the reality around me.
I no longer have to rely on my blind-trust intuition; I am gaining full control over my will.
The same exact reaction is happening in front of me, as Maria's Advanced Primordial Aura consolidates and becomes denser and more mature. Neither of our auras feels as though they are lacking anything at all individually, but the moment we echo their true depth through each other's minds, it's as though two parts of a whole are being connected together.
Some of the colors that I saw inside Ember's aura, that I could not name, as they come from a different spectrum of perception, all begin to emerge and bloom in our auras as well.
Every new collision that beats down on us from above makes more and more sense. It is not only because the Isolation Barrier is dissecting the aura and feeding it to us in its broken-down form. I can actually see the ripples in space and comprehend exactly what both Ember and Marcellus have exerted on reality to send out such a potent wave of willpower.
It also makes the wounds that build up all over Ember's body so much more egregious.
There are hundreds of them, and each chaotic slash compounds to consciously attack his soul. The fact that his Primordial Aura has maintained its serenity is even more impressive, as though he knows exactly how this battle will end and he is not bothered in the slightest.
"To think I believed you had some kind of supreme wisdom for peering into other systems! Ha! You are just as rash and small-minded as all the other mortals in the Lower Realm. To gamble with your immortality, on a whim?" Marcellus continues to mock Ember, but the dragon's grin only grows.
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"It is no gamble. I have seen the great cycle take course more times than years you have waited for this one to come to a halt. I know when the system is ready, there is no doubt in my mind. Even if my silver core is shattered to break the seal, that is not what is needed for my plan," he replies back slowly. Each word is interrupted by clashes and more chaos-filled wounds.
Even my attention from their conversation in the sky wavers.
Another few hundred clashes go by, and they yell back and forth more about things I still do not fully grasp. It is of a past that even the memories of the First Bloods I absorbed cannot catch me up on.
However, their conversation does not matter much; it is only the energy waves that captivate me.
Maria and I both open our eyes wide with understanding once we've bounced our auras off each other's consciousness enough, and have devised a plan.
We have to time it perfectly, and we need to build up more Primordial Aura maturity, but I've never been more sure about anything; this will work.
Both of us stand to our feet and shift our stance to brace for impact, as all of the past shockwaves have hit us from above from certain angles. We will certainly be hit by a few, but it would be most efficient to be hit at their weakest points if possible.
Next, we begin letting our Primordial Aura seep into our souls, filling up the millions of glyphs that are lighting up, glowing, and ready to be summoned. Every drop of ether in our pools is being channeled into them, pre-weaving glyphs that stay dormant right below the Isolation Barrier.
The thin film that separates the hot white glyphs in the depths of our souls cannot be penetrated by our Primordial Auras, but we pour in large amounts to rest on this film, preparing for when we can.
I visualize the layers of thousands of dense structures, each carrying hundreds of millions of Creator's Legacy glyphs, and each one of those glyphs filled with our Advanced Primordial Aura.
I cannot use my foresight skill to properly predict what will occur, as I cannot sense everything in my surroundings yet; but I know that all I need is a moment and it will be enough.
Every few clashes that go by in the sky, our aura maturity increases, but I also watch Ember take more and more near-fatal wounds.
His will doesn't waver one bit, but I have no idea how much longer his physical form will last.
So, a mental signal bounces through Maria's and my minds, and I deactivate the [Total Isolation] perk in my Rising Emperor's interface.
As it's lifted, stacked layers upon layers of defensive glyphs explode out of us, traveling upward into the sky.
A shockwave of dense Advanced Primordial Aura floods downward too, spreading out on the base of the tree. Half of it looks like dark metallic lava, while the other half appears as a sheet of sparkling reflective ice.
The clashing of auras in the sky is bent away, as a new epicenter of gravity moves the control of the central domain.
I'm unable to focus much at all on the Demon or Dragon's reactions above; the majority of my aura is saturating these defensive arrays, and the little I have spare is pouring down into the center of my soul.
The film in our souls is instantly melted through by the hot white aura from an inheritance key, and all the liquid blockage that was stopping millions more unique glyph imprints from setting as permanent on our souls is evaporated.
Instantly they all are infused with red and blue auras, and it feels like a tight squeeze that was forcing me to hold myself back is finally lifted. I can breathe, and tap into a full new well of potential.
As my mind accepts this new wide-open feeling deep inside, up above, many of our defensive arrays are already shattering.
From the pressure in the atmosphere alone, the top layers begin breaking one by one. Then, when new concentrated ripples come off Marcellus and Ember's clash, dozens break at a time, leaving us with fractions of a second left at the rate of this battle.
My attention sweeps into my system, and I feel the barriers that repelled my mind from upgrading skills start to fade. Even the limitations on the Primordial Grade Demonic Skills and buffs I absorbed, all of them start to naturally adapt to the new pool of awareness that is flooding through me.
I scroll through my status and pinpoint the option with the least mental resistance and greatest potential upside. Then press [Upgrade] on [Absorption] instantly, spending 1,000,000 PP.