Under the night sky—
His elderly appearance vanished beneath a reinforced shell of elemental armor!
At the same time, the ground on both sides of him ruptured! Boom!
Two mid-level earth elementals clawed their way out, their forms rapidly stabilizing into massive tigers of stone and grass, standing three meters tall, and with the heads of a monkey. Their bodies radiated an oppressive weight, with every step cracking the ground beneath them.
"Go!" Otan roared behind the earth-formed visor!
Swoosh! The two tigers exploded forward.
Petra's eyes widened as she was hit head-on!
They were fast!
Boom! The sheer mass and momentum of these two beasts smashed into her like a living landslide, throwing her backwards through the air.
With her light body, being knocked back wasn't surprising, but—
What surprised her was their durability!
After landing, she flexed her fingers, eyes narrowing as she reassessed the two constructs.
Ka-ka-ka—
Small cracks appeared where she had secretly snuck in an attack on the first tiger, but just barely...
"…Tough," she grimaced, muttering in annoyance. She had intended to smash it, but it didn't shatter…
'That wasn't good enough, huh?' She needed more force! No…
She needed 'real force!' a 'power' born from 'weight!'
Petra hated stories that never explained how a figure that weighed the same as a feather could smack a mountain and not get thrown away by the recoil of their own power!
It didn't make sense, and this was the problem she was facing now…
Mental Energy did have mass, but this mass was deeply disproportional to its durability. At the end of the day, it didn't matter how big your rubber hammer was, if it didn't have the weight, it would either rebound or get knocked out of your hand.
This also applied to Petra's veil of Mental Energy. She could use it to manipulate and augment her movements, but that didn't change the fact that she was basically a walking feather!
She needed something more, a different tactic!
She needed an anchor!
Even if she could fend off the recoil problem for a while, she was still far from a solution…
Levy's voice echoed faintly in her mind—
Petra was warned about this…
She relied too much on her 'mental energy' and 'poisons'.
Her mental energy wasn't something she had fully 'earned' yet, and her poisons allowed her to win nearly any battle below the fourth level, but she gained no experience from those 'fights!'
Because of that, her 'fundamentals' were weak…
That was exactly why Levy had banned her from using poison.
Mm, it was also why Petra had been recently training her body.
She exhaled slowly, pulling her mind back into the fight, then refocused.
This fight wasn't an instant kill, no, she had to earn it, and instead of being frustrated by that, she only felt her excitement growing!
Her lips curled upwards.
Petra had no idea she was such a battle maniac!
"Okay," she said. "Let's do this properly!" With a sharp cry, Petra once again launched herself forward!
One of the earth tigers swung its massive paw, its claws tearing through the air with a crushing force.
Petra sidestepped it, her feet sliding across the ground as she let the blow pass, fluttering her hair. In the same motion, she kicked off the earth, jumping up, then used a burst of mental energy to slingshot herself back down and towards the earth tiger.
A massive hammer condensed above her head, and—
She brought it down!
Wa-booooom!
The impact obliterated the tiger in a single strike, with stone and soil exploding outwards in a violent spray that cracked the reinforced ground—but! Before she could land properly, the second tiger was already on her. It appeared behind her, claws flashing as they tore towards her head.
Swoosh!
Petra raised her arm instinctively, forming a compact little shield of mental energy along her forearm.
Clang—!
'Metal' scraped against 'metal' as the claws dragged across the small shield, the force driving her down, bending her back, until her boots carved twin trenches into the soil, and pushed her back!
Her body was durable, but her size still mattered!
Petra gritted her teeth in frustration.
Fighting something with this much weight was never easy!
She twisted sharply, redirecting the attack, 'parrying' it, then kicked off the ground and dropped forward, hammer already swinging down.
Boom!
The tiger leapt back, narrowly avoiding the strike as the ground beneath it exploded from the hammer!
Petra chased after it, then—
She suddenly flinched!
Her eyes snapped to the side.
She dismissed the hammer mid-swing and condensed a long spear instead, the weapon forming in her hands just in time to—
Clang!
—A metallic clash rang out as Otan's mace slammed into her from the side, intercepting the spear and sending Petra flying straight into a nearby tree.
Boom!
The trunk exploded when her tiny body struck it like a comet!
In the same second that she was launched away, Petra twisted her body and snapped her waist, her heel reaching around and slamming into Otan's side with a powerful counterattack! Swoosh! She was still sent flying, but…
The impact shook his bones, and—
If not for the armor, he would have died on the spot!
Within the armor, the old man's eyes were bloodshot, widened in disbelief.
Ridiculous! He thought, as Otan staggered back several steps.
He trembled as his body adjusted, recovering quickly. His mind turned, quickly concluding that Petra had used the force from his own attack to empower her counterattack!
In his mind, he was shocked to discover that her small body could accommodate the power needed to attack at the peak of the fourth level! How was that possible!
He gripped his 'wound', his body still reeling!
Petra wasn't much better.
She was hurled backwards at a vicious speed, crashing through what remained of the tree line and collapsed near the edge of the clearing in a cloud of dust.
An instant later—
She pushed herself up almost immediately, dirt and leaves falling off her head as she did!
Petra grinned.
"Old man," she called out cheerfully, "is that all you can do? If not, I'm going to kill you now! Hehehe!"
Otan stared.
He was shocked.
No, he was beyond shocked!
What kind of monster was this?
How could she recover so quickly?
How could she even move?
The gravity had multiplied nearly twentyfold!
She didn't even look affected!
Not at all!
The air was so dense that a normal golden-core cultivator wouldn't even be able to breathe properly, let alone fight, yet for her, it was no different than walking through water!?
What was worse, he could see the madness swirling in her eyes!
She was becoming more excited by the second!
Ridiculous!
It was ridiculous!
Absolutely ridiculous!
Before he could even respond, Petra tilted her head slightly and frowned. "…Mm," she said quietly. "I guess that really is all you've got, huh?"
Otan's eyes darkened.
Petra could see it clearly, the smile on his face was fading. All this man could do was smash her with rocks and gravity. If her energy reserves were lower, then perhaps this fight would have been 'dangerous', but…
But Petra generated power internally, and nearly infinitely!
So suppression like this wasn't a real problem, not for her...
Still, she made a mental note for later—
'Create a poison that corrodes elemental energy'. Mm, no wait, she seemed to already have one…?
She didn't like this feeling of being pushed into a corner.
Otan gritted his teeth.
What kind of monster was this!?
Did he really have to use it?
That technique…
Damnit!
It would take decades to collect enough elemental energy again, so even if he won, even if he got the bounty, he would still need to race against time to re-collect it before advancing to the fifth order!
No, that wasn't the problem anymore…
He didn't have a choice—
He needed to end this!
Just then—
"What!?"
Otan froze in his boots.
Petra's body erupted with a sudden surge of blinding green light. It lasted only an instant, but it was like a flash flare. In that moment, the surrounding environment was annihilated completely. The dense earth-element elemental energy saturating the clearing was violently pushed back, stripped away as if something far denser had replaced it!
Otan trembled!
She had copied him!
She had learned this move in such a short amount of time!? The domain-like suppression he had unleashed earlier, it had taken him years to master! It was a shockingly delicate technique, because if you did it wrong, you would just detonate your body like a bomb! It was a technique literally derived from self-destruction, which is why most people never even tried to learn it! Much less did!
It had only been a few minutes!!
Impossible!
Ridiculous!
Incomprehensible!
The entire clearing was flooded with a dense sea of mental energy, overwhelming everything and absolute in its existence, far exceeding Otan's elemental energy, and pouring Petra's 'excitement' into everything around her, including Otan's mind!
Otan's body shook.
Impossible-impossible-impossible-impossible-impossible-impossible-impossible-impossible-impossible! No one at her level should possess this amount of power!
He understood now! This feeling! This little girl was a complete lunatic! She wasn't confident in performing the technique! No! Not at all! She simply didn't care!
In that instant, he made his decision!
All of his remaining elemental energy collapsed inwards towards his core. Dong! The weight of his presence pressed down on the world, and the ground collapsed beneath his feet.
Hoooong!!
Trees bent and groaned.
Gravity sharpened, focusing entirely around him.
Petra, seeing this, lightly jumped back, gliding up towards the trees. While slowly stepping through the storm like a butterfly, her eyes gleamed with a sudden interest.
"Mm?" she said. "That looks quite dangerous~~"
She smiled, then—
-
BOOOM!!
The entire clearing exploded!
Trees were ripped from the earth, and roots were pulled and snapped like twigs as the ground folded inwards! Stone shattered, soil collapsed, and the nearby forest was torn apart in a violent spiral of destruction, blooming outwards from the old man!
Hooooong!
Trunks rose, twisting into the air before slamming back down, shaking the ground as they were reduced to splinters. Boom boom boom! Loose rocks and a building storm of debris was lifted, hovering for a mere heartbeat, then crashed down violently as the warping gravity snapped into place—Boom!!
The ring of orbiting earth crashed down!
When it ended—
The landscape was unrecognizable!
The moon, now concealed by the cloudy night sky, disappeared with its light—
Scarred and shattered beyond belief, the entire clearing, including a large part of the surrounding forest, was devastated, and replaced by a vast, broken wasteland carved deep into the forest floor.
Dooong!
A final, thunderous roar followed, roaring from somewhere deep underground! Its resonance matched the old man, who was exuding far more elemental energy than someone at his level should be able to!
Fwoooooush!
Earth-element elemental energy erupted outwards, and the surrounding stone screamed as it was torn free, once again, with massive fragments of broken rocks rising from the ruins, molding, grinding, and 'stitching' themselves together midair…
Layer after layer of rock 'locked' into place!
Each movement shook the earth, sending tremors through the distant Forest. The Shockwaves rippled outward as something colossal gradually completed its form, then took its first step.
Boom!
The existence 'unfolded' as it slowly stood up…
From a small mountain of earth and stone, to a colossal figure—
BOOOOM!!
—A massive stone golem rose from the devastation!!
Formed from decades, no, centuries of accumulated earth-element elemental energy, the towering figure loomed over the forest. It stood more than two hundred meters tall, its limbs thick, legs like pillars, and an upper body that was broad and terrifying in scale!
Compared to its massive frame, its head was small and rounded, crowned by two glowing eyes that pierced downward like falling stars!
Upon its back grew an enormous garden.
Stone had been reshaped into soil and grass, forming a living landscape across its shoulders, head, and back. Near the center rested a fractured lake, its waters spilling over the edges and cascading down the golem's back in countless small streams.
Groooooooon—! The golem roared!
The sound was ancient and deep, a vibration that rattled the air and body alike.
Trees bent under the pressure, loose stone was pushed back, and the forest below seemed to shriek with the static of leaves as the giant shifted its weight.
Wooosh!
Otan stood atop the golem's head.
His gaze was heavy, focused, and resolute…
His robes billowed violently as the residual rubble orbited around him in a slow, grinding storm that refused to stop. He looked down from his elevated throne, his expression cold and murderous.
This was the power of a peak fourth-level summoner pushed to his limits!
He was no longer playing around!
If she was so durable, then capturing her like this should pose no problem for him!
His eyes widened in fury.
He roared! "Come! Let's—!"
But suddenly—
His smile froze.
"Huh—?"
In that instant, from his 'height'—
He felt 'it'…
A different kind of pressure.
It rippled over him like a bubble, subtle yet overwhelming, pressing against the domain he had just formed, no, that was wrong… He… seemed to have entered it himself…?
"What… is this…?"
He trembled unconsciously.
In the far distance, Petra stood atop the crown of a tall tree, looking up at the giant golem with bright, glowing green eyes. Her lips curled into a sinister grin as 'the shadow' swallowed the forest.
She didn't move her mouth, yet her words seemed to ride the wind, carried clearly to his ears…
"Aw, that's too bad", she said lightly, "I wanted to climb the golem, what a shame..."
Hooong—!
* * *