Rise Of The Infinite Sovereign-Chapter 434: Fixation

Slowly but surely, Ezra completes the vein fortification of his entire body a bit after six hours.

Marking completion, the veins in his body glow, visible from the outside, it looked like a line of stars spread throughout his body.

His whole body then glows as the process is finalized, before receding soon after.

Specks of nova essence escape through his sweat pores, making for a fantastical sight.

At the end of it all, Ezra squeezes his arms, feeling his body strengthened.

In any case, he had the perfect opportunity to test the difference, so there was no reason to stand around.

Pondering whether or not to put on a new set of clothes, as it would probably become ragged as well, he decides to wear a new clothe regardless, teleporting in front of the fire island.

The gatekeepers noticed his entry, but upon recognizing him, none of them left their positions and simply watched him from afar.

Confused, Magnus scratches his head. ’Is this some kind of trap...?’

[No. It means you have passed the requirements for this section of the island, which was probably killing three of the seven beasts and you are allowed to head to the next section]

"Oh. Okay"

Jogging to warm up his body stiff from a six hour meditation, Ezra reaches the opaque wall in no time.

Standing before it, he tries to stare through it, but nothing on the other side is visible, leaving the next challenge a mystery.

Taking a deep breath, he steadies his breathing and resets his thinking, wiping away all unnecessary thoughts.

Stepping into the section, Ezra finds himself faced with a landscape most similar to the first section, but different.

Unlike the first section, it had no demarcations nor any mark of territory.

Instead, it sported a pool of lava whose depth could not be estimated, surrounded by a mass of molten rock to walk over.

Lastly, unlike the first section, there was nothing in sight. No beasts, nor anything that looked like traps.

Though perplexed, Ezra rationalizes that it’s probably because the gatekeeper of this section lived in lava, and so he took flight, floating a few feet above ground and began running to the other end, hoping not to wake the gatekeeper up.

Perhaps he could head to the third section without much trouble because he had figured it out?

But things were never that easy.

While running, Ezra stops as the lava begins to shake and subtly rumble, signalling the arrival of someone or something from beneath.

Taking out Skyfall, Ezra waits for it to make its entrance.

He didn’t have to wait long.

In second, the cause of the rumble showed itself.

Rising from the center of the pool, it was a creature made in the same image as the gatekeepers, a beast almost two meters tall.

But unlike those ones, this one had no skin and neither eyes nor ears.

Structured like a skeleton soldier, its body is made completely of bone and devoid of skin or organs.

Only, these bones are drenched in lava, making for a menacing appearance.

Focusing on this one beast, Ezra’s attention is snatched as a second undead beast rises from within the pool of fire.

Before he can examine this one, a third one exits the pool.

Instead of being surprised anymore, he simply looks at the pool.

In the next minute, two other undead creatures rise from within the lava pool, making a total of five.

’You cannot be serious’ Ezra laments, closing his eyes for a second.

Opening it, the beasts are still there, still five, and are now moving towards him, dragging themselves through the lava.

"Whew..."

Facing reality, Ezra lets off the first attack, a slash of ice energy.

What? Did you expect that he would wait for them to reach land?

Hitting the three in front, it simply cools the lava on their bones, forcing a massive amount of steam, barring Ezra from confirming the attack’s effectiveness

Though he guessed that it probably didn’t do much damage.

Wondering how to proceed with his battle, a beam suddenly erupts from within the smokescreen, scorching the place Ezra stood seconds ago.

Ezra’s face turns unsightly, looking at the scorched ground. Thinking ’Of course. They can do that too’

Giving the ’why am I not even surprised?’ look, Ezra observes the scorched spot more.

For one, unlike the sea creature from the first section, the beam wasn’t made of lava, but rather fire, so it burnt rather than melted.

Which meant it was probably easier to defend against.

’But since there are five of them...’ Ezra pauses. ’Should I just give up?’

Shaking off the thought, he turns his gaze to the approaching beasts.

Now very close to shore, the beasts didn’t attack Ezra even though he’s in close range and simply kept waddling towards him.

Rather than attack again, Ezra uses this time to observe.

Staring hard, he discovers that none of them have a molten core or anything of the sort at any part of their body, leaving him befuddled.

[It’s their heads. You have to destroy the skull to defeat them]

"I see. Thank you"

[Welcome]

Letting a second attack, it proved ineffective, and this time, they had reached the base of land.

Retreating, Ezra gives the beasts a wide berth, staying at a comfortable distance.

As they climbed onto land, the lava around their bodies began drying up, falling to the ground in drops and splashes, leaving them with blazing hot skeletal systems.

Concealing himself, Ezra strikes, aiming for the skull of the one at the forefront, he makes a full swing.

And then...*CRACK*

His attack landed, cracking and subsequently shattering the creature’s skull.

Stepping back immediately, Ezra releases his concealment, looking at the result of his actions.

Upon destroying the skull, the gatekeeper’s body disassembles, falling to the ground as a pile of bones, while the energy orb which had been in the creature’s skull fell to the ground and turned into shards.

To all this, Ezra is simply bewildered.

’It’s that easy? Or is there another trap?’ he wonders.

But looking left and right, nothing happened.

Instead, the other skeletal beasts begin advancing towards him after taking a glance at their fallen comrade.

Their attitudes confuse Ezra even more.

Here, Zydrax arrives to give much needed advice.

[Why do you think it’s necessary for all your foes to be intelligent?]

’Hmm...’ Ezra ponders. ’I don’t’

[Is that so] Zydrax remarks, fading from Ezra’s mind.

"Yes?" Ezra is only more confused. "What does that even mean? What are you trying to say?"

His question and answer session is cut short as the undead beast arrives before him.

’Ooops’

Attacking with their limbs, the ground caves in as he avoids their attempt to clobber him.

Counterattacking, things turn difficult as the beasts prove to be more versed in defence than offence, blocking the majority of his attacks.

The same thing occurred when he tried to destroy their skulls with Skyfall-his attacks are easily blocked.

And in that vulnerable situation, the others didn’t hesitate to rain beams of fire upon him, confirming that every one of them can use the attack.

Yet, with this difficulty, Ezra didn’t feel much pressure compared to his battle in the first section, so he wonders why.

’I don’t think it’s because I moved up a stage. Those beasts would be difficult to fight even now’ he concludes.

Wondering and pondering, Ezra conceals himself once more and repeats his successful attack.

And once again, he’s successful in taking down another beast.

Here, the pieces start to come together.

But to be sure, Ezra doesn’t conceal himself again and fights the last three head on.

Once again, the battle enters a stalemate with him being unable to vanquish any of them.

More so because they could heal and regenerate.

Whenever one of them was damaged to a certain level, it would rush back to the pool and dip itself inside, healing itself and charging up before coming back to join the fight.

Honestly, Ezra thanked the stars many times. He had already taken down two of them beforehand, else this situation would be a complete nightmare.

But because of this, Ezra is able to realize why he hadn’t felt much tension despite the difficulty.

’These guys, there actions and movements are stiff and monotonous...like machines’

Unlike the cyborgs he fought back in the alchemist’s tomb, their movements, the way they attacked and their responses to certain attacks was consistent.

With this, he finally understood what Zydrax was trying to say.

These guys, unlike the majority of foes he had faced, don’t have a mechanism that allows them to think independently.

They are simply programmed with a set of instructions as responses for a number of actions.

But Ezra, because of his fixation on intelligence, had been blinded to this and had been reading into their action, trying to peer through whatever plan they had set up.

’Not every action has meaning, huh’

This is what Zydrax meant by his question.

Having understood this, the reason why he could easily take them down with universal concealment became obvious.

They had probably not been programmed with a response on what to do if the opponent disappeared.

Or perhaps they had been programmed with ways to see through stealth, but in Ezra’s case, where they couldn’t see through it, they simply become dolls with no comprehension of what action to take.

The fantastic part of all this to Ezra is that despite the crude programming and whatnot, without <universal concealment>, these creatures would be much harder to face than those of the first section because of their formidable teamwork.

In the first place, they all walk while clustered together, leaving each of them vulnerable only on one side.

If one of them is attacked from above or separated, the other let off beams towards the enemy, giving their comrade much leeway in either escaping or attacking since the enemy is now pressured.

If firepower is exhausted approximately below 35% by Ezra’s calculations, it runs to the pool of lava and recharges while the others hold off the enemy by any means till they get back.

If it reaches critical damage levels, it does the same thing.

And considering that they are always in groups of five at the very least, taking down would be an enormous hassle if fought normally.

Not to mention, unlike organic creatures, undead species have no concept of stamina or vitality, so they would never get tired of attacking.

Meanwhile, their opponents would gradually exhaust themselves...

Through this analysis, Ezra changes his mind.

Dealing with them normally would not be an enormous hassle, but a full-on nightmare.

Whoever made them knew what he or she was during.

With just a few commands and the optimal environment, these undead became utterly nightmarish opponents.

Contented with his findings, Ezra conceals himself and defeats the remaining undead.