Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 227: Preparing

They recovered from their surprise quickly. Martin flew at him, wind gathered at his feet, and his hand moved forward in a pushing motion.

Silver-whitish wind blades jumped out, cutting at Vale, who dodged between them. But then the wind blades didn’t dissolve. They turned into a windstorm that tried to envelop the area where Vale was fighting. 𝒇𝒓𝒆𝒆𝙬𝒆𝒃𝓷𝒐𝓿𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝓸𝒎

At the same time, countless symbols that had been drawn into the room lit up as they sensed the fighting. The defensive measures in the tent were about to kick in, and Vale wanted nothing to stop his fun.

So he made a new formation in his mind. "Infernal Prison!"

The illusory prison immediately overlapped with the layout of the room.

Then he spread his hands apart and created a firestorm of his own that slammed into the wind blade storm, everything collapsing as one.

"Wow. This is good, Vale. Is this some kind of pocket space? I didn’t know you could do something like that. Is it an enchanted tool you are using?" Gray said. He held a small orb of liquid fire in his hand. "This place increases fire magic."

He was a Fire Knight but with the sub-essence of lava. A whip of lava carved the air, searing it. The lava melted through the table and shot straight at Vale.

At the same time, something took hold of his mind and planted an idea, forcing him not to dodge and instead move toward the lava!

He did, and the lava slammed into him, sending him crashing to the ground. The front of his clothes was charred and gone, his skin red, but the attack hadn’t managed to break his skin. His fire resistance was there, after all.

But that wasn’t what Vale was afraid of. It was the mind mage! If that attack had been more powerful, it would have caused serious damage.

As he was standing, the air around him gained weight and pressed down on him, forcing him back down. Then his mind turned dizzy and hazy. For an instant, he forgot what he was doing and didn’t fight back.

That was enough! He was rammed into the ground with a loud crack, his head and chest crashing painfully onto it and causing a crack to spread.

When he got back to his senses, Vale could only grit his teeth. "My mind is mine!" he declared, and the tower spread his new law.

Then, slowly, he began to rise. Martin wasn’t going to wait around for that and increased the force. So Vale just filled the room with fire. Red fire roared as it came out in a surging wave, a tide that swallowed the room whole.

The force on Vale vanished, and he stood. The fire was gone as well, and he saw that it had little effect on them. Martin had used his solidified air to shield them.

...The three of them are used to fighting together...

Vale frowned. "Well? Won’t you come out and fight? You can’t hide behind that shield forever."

Martin hissed and chuckled. "You are far stronger than we thought. So this is what the Athrimir Clan has been hiding. It’s a shame that you have to die. You would have turned out to be a great asset."

Vale blinked. "I... will take that as a compliment."

Martin snorted. "Let’s get serious."

Just then, Vale felt the attack on his mind intensify. Even with the shield from the tower, he knew Hall would break it eventually.

...Then I have to deal with them fast... Any area attack won’t work because of Martin... His shield is just too strong... I have to...!!

The ground that Gray was standing on melted—steel and all—to reveal a small lava pit. The man spread his hands above it and then jerked them upright.

Vale expected to see the lava pit surging upward, but no. Small lines of red glowing light rose up, each as thin as a spider’s web, but Vale knew what they were. Compressed lava.

And he could almost guess the technique. Using pressure and then the weight of the compressed lava, it would turn into something devastating.

...Ah, shit... This must be why the bastard did not participate fully... He’s preparing this...!

He didn’t think twice. Vale created another formation in his mind. It was slower than he would like, but he got it, and he flooded it with essence.

It was his only defensive technique. "Veil of the Scorched Eclipse!"

Fire surged around him and then molded, forming into a cloak of hard red light that darkened.

He didn’t try to avoid the attack from Gray because it would only put him in a difficult situation. Instead, he braced for it!

But just as the attack was about to hit, something rammed into his mind with so much force that he screamed as pain laced through him. He swayed, and the fire cloak he was wearing slipped a little. It was then that the lava attack hit.

One pass cut a line through his shoulder and across, but the rest was caught by the cloak. Vale didn’t even notice the pain because he dropped all the techniques he was using as his mind seemed on the verge of collapse.

He groaned and swayed. He leaned against the wall, using his wounded left shoulder to center his weight, but it couldn’t take it, and he slid down.

Martin laughed. "How do you like that? It’s a combo attack we came up with when we were still active on the battlefield. We would corner the enemies and use it on them.

"People used to underestimate Hall because they thought they had some kind of shield on their mind."

Hall snorted. "There are thousands of ways into the mind. But you did better than I expected. You did not die and only got wounded a little, but that was only on the surface, right? Below, you are trying to hold your mind together so you won’t go mad!"

Vale didn’t answer. Instead, he raised his hand, his right fist clenched. Black lines like ropes crawled around his hand, and when he opened his palm, tiny fireballs floated away, each small ball carrying black lines.