Online In Another World

"What brought this conclusion?"

"Crescentia has kept me frequently updated with what the Dragonheart boy has been up to. To say the least, he's been growing rapidly," Aelor stroked his beard, "While it's true he could be a beneficial ally in the war to come, he has also lost control on multiple occasions. He's a prime target for that faceless plague."

"Control? You call him a boy, that's a perfectly adequate reason for him to lack control–not due to the Faceless God's influence," Bastian stepped forward, "Leave him to me."

"...Mm? Are you suggesting you'll take the Dragonheart boy under your wing, Bastian Serappheart?" Aelor asked, looking at the man with one eye open.

This suggestion struck Aelor by surprise as the platinum-bearded elder looked towards the visitor to his domain with his hand on his chin, awaiting his answer.

"I am," Bastian nodded.

"Hm. I admit you're best suited for the task, seeing as none have more experience than you when it comes to these 'Systems', but the Dragonheart is another beast entirely. Quite literally, in fact," Aelor said, "The might and wrath of the dragon housed within that boy's heart is something truly frightening—if he reaches the level you have, he could be an apocalyptic force. And if he fell to the Faceless One's hands…"

"I'll kill him if it comes to that," Bastian claimed.

Once more, the gloomy clouds returned to the perimeter of the mountaintop valley, swirling around the summit as thunder began to return.

This caught Bastian's caution as he glanced around before setting his eyes on Aelor, who became reinforced in transcendent mana, hovering slowly upward as pebbles levitated.

"If I'm to trust you with the well-being of this world, Bastian Seraphheart, I must test if you're as capable as your words claim," Aelor said.

The Element King's words were power incarnate as each syllable was matched by strands of lightning giving off of his colossal aura, and thunder booming to echo his supremacy.

"You're quite the merciless old man," Bastian playfully muttered.

Bastian readied himself, shifting his armor once more as it became sleek and all-white, losing its bulk to undergo a more swift, condensed form.

[Current Stage: 9/10 | Divine Calamity]

Lowering his stance, a hum of golden light built up around Bastian before he launched upward in speed that broke through the sound barrier many times over, leaving even light lagging behind.

Even with such swiftness befit for the title of 'divine', the paramount mage was ready, raising a single hand.

"Too obvious."

Aelor spoke in absolute certainty as he wordlessly invoked a spell the moment prior, summoning a massive cone of thundering clouds in front of himself, catching the Seraphheart in its hold.

["Catastrophic Storm of Rejection"]

The swirl or dark clouds infused with bellowing thunder unleashed a thunderclap with tremendous force unlike any other, causing the entirety of the mountain below to rumble before Bastian was knocked back completely.

Swatted like an ant by the mighty wind, Bastian flipped back dozens of times rapidly, flying through the wind before finally catching himself with a manifestation of his astral wings.

Just as he caught himself, the air around him was vibrating, building up with a supreme heat as he looked towards the now distant Element King. The godly figure was shrouded in a crimson light, surrounded by enormous constructs of scarlet flames that took the shape of wingless dragons.

"If you seek to tame a dragon, then let's see how you respond to this," Aelor calmly said.

Without any word or gesture, the Element King commanded the half dozen constructs to fly forward towards the Seraphheart, each possessing a length that could rival a small mountain in itself.

Bastian stood there, manifesting twin, golden blades into his grip as he witnessed the colossal dragons born of flame roaring and soaring towards him. The clouds parted for the constructs of Aelor; ripples of small flames cascaded in the sky, shifting the nearby clouds into orange, fluffy flotations.

As the flame constructs of beasts neared him, Bastian felt their imposing size all the more as the fiery light shined down on him with a heat that made him sweat beneath his sleek armor.

Just as one unleashed a massive fireball from its mouth, Bastian evaded it through a swift burst of speed, passing by the ball of flames that exploded with enough destructive might to level a small city in one-go.

The tales do not do him justice. Aelor is truly the man closest to god in this world, Bastian thought.

Utilizing his massive increase in speed, combined with the flight gifted by his wings, he sprinted across the length of the first dragon, leaving trails of golden eviscerations along its intangible form.

It was a majestic scene amongst the clouds; the scarlet dragons roared, unleashing fireworks into the air that spread the sky and shook the heavens, all whilst the Seraphheart himself combatted them with his divine blades, cutting through their elemental forms.

Bursting through the last of the colossal constructs, Bastian was unimpeded now, propelling towards the Element King, who remained unmoved from his spot in the sky the entire time.

"Hm," Aelor watched with an unfazed expression.

While moving through the sky at heavenly speeds, Bastian summoned enormous weapons with sizes that would be meant for slaying the largest of giants.

In response, Aelor raised a single hand, "Gnome."

Right then, everything began to rumble. For Bastian, it felt as though the sky itself was quivering, vibrating against his armor with a disorientating hum.

It was difficult to tell where it was coming from, but he looked up as the clouds began to disperse beneath something that emerged from beyond them, coming from above Aelor.

"--" Bastian watched in awe.

…Isn't this overdoing it, Aelor? He thought.

What came from beyond the dark, thundering clouds above was a figure forged of rock and sediment, possessing a size that surpassed such terms as 'colossal' or 'enormous'--dwarfing the mountain below as it remained hovering in the sky, partially submerged in the clouds.

It reached down towards Bastian with one arm, its entire hand casting a shadow down on the valley that caused it to rumble more violently.

"--!"

Bastian felt an inexplicable pressure pushing down on him from the hand that slowly moved downward.

Conjuring such a figure went past godhood and stood on the threshold of madness altogether as Aelor stroked his beard, spectating the scene without any guard raised.

Returning to the summit of the mountain, Bastian's boots me the gravel once more as he looked up towards the kingdom-sized golem's hand that came down like an inevitable doom.

Bolstering himself with divine aura, Bastian placed both of his hands up, stopping the gargantuan palm just as it reached the valley.

Beneath the man's boots, the mountain itself began to whimper, cracking from the overbearing weight and pressure as he held back what felt like the weight of the entire world attempting to squash him.

["Surge of The Seraphim"]

A massive build-up of divine energy poured from Bastian, lending him the strength to finally repel the colossus' hand, causing it to crack. The display of gargantuan physical force caused the air to crack in such a way that the ears of those in the vicinity popped, bringing silence for a moment.

Just as the stone golem of unequivocal size had its hand lifted from the summit, the Serappheart launched upward with the speed of the divine, conjuring regal gauntlets over his fist that exuded destructive power with each blow.

He left these fearsome attacks rapidly while ascending the limb of the golem, leaving a shower of stone befalling the valley below.

Aelor stood, having yet to move in his spot in the sky as he moved a single finger, "As impressive as the legends speak of, Bastian Serphheart, but a mage is never as obvious as you may believe."

Like that, the country-sized form of the golem shifted as massive strings of boulders began plummeting from its position behind the clouds, shifting the chains of stone into serpents of rock that hissed and lunged down towards Bastian.

Each serpent was massive, possessing different elements as some hissed with fiery ferocity and some spewed lightning from their stone mouths.

It would be a dreadful sight for beings subject to normalcy; a storm of stone serpents, each wielding shattering power and the wrath of elements, though for Bastian, they were merely obstacles in his way.

["Divine Spark"]

The strength of the Seraphheart could not be overstated; he summoned golden lightning to amplify his movements and attacks alike, bolting through the air, striking from serpent-to-serpent with potency in his strikes that turned the durable fiends into thousands of pebbles.

The falling serpents attempted to bind the man with their rocky tails, bathing him in flames spewed from their mouths and shrieks of lightning hissed out, though Bastian broke out with a flex of his armor.

"...Hm, how troublesome," Aelor mumbled, witnessing from above.

There was not a single scratch on the pearly-white armor worn by Bastian, unscathed and unimpeded as he continued towards Aelor, who repeatedly placed obstacles born from the country-sized golem in his way.

A simple explanation stood for why Bastian seemed impervious in this encounter, and it was an answer that Aelor was already well aware of: "The Serappheart Armor."