Rise Of The Infinite Sovereign

Chapter 329: Grandmasters Plan

Frederick and the rest had settled down and begun cultivating.

The mana stones had been placed to be refilled with essence and he’d left appropriate warning about the coming apocalypse.

All that remained was to create an abode.

No wait, there was one more other thing.

"What do you intend to do with her?"

Frederick stood in front of him as he pointed at Freesia bonded in metal.

"I was hoping you could keep her in that ring of yours still things die down"

"Sure" with that, Zydrax put her in the ring.

"Thank you" Frederick replied.

Zydrax shook his head. "I was only helping a friend"

With that, Frederick went back to the cultivation land.

Now to create the abode he’ll use for cultivation and recuperation.

Zydrax wiped away the small formation he placed below the barriers center and then used magic digging into the dirt.

Thirty minutes passed like that.

Zydrax lay afloat, with a wide chasm dug out beneath him and dirt piled by the side.

Taking a moment to flatten the pile of sand across the soil, he lands in the chasm, inspecting it.

To avoid mishaps, he’d dug out a space big enough to be a hall.

It had sufficient depth. About six of him would have to stand atop one another to reach the top, the width was even bigger.

Satisfied with the size, Zydrax spread a thin layer of rough ice over the soil, going on to form a roof.

From outside, it looked like Zydrax was stuck in an ice box.

He then deployed magic circles in layers towards the roof, creating an illusion of it being filled with sand.

Then, he pulled another stream of mana from the barrier’s center down into the chasm.

Ezra nudged him. ’When am I getting my body back?’

Zydrax replied, sitting cross legged. "You could even take back control by force, but once you do, you’ll lose control of the negative mana around your heart, and without it, you’ll die in minutes"

’When you put it that way...I guess I’ll leave it to you a little longer’

"The problem with your heart is nothing simple, it will take a good while to solve it, even for me" Zydrax spoke. "The fact that negative mana got directly entangled with your elemental orb is what’s particularly distressing"

"I call it negative mana because it’s very similar to mana, yet their natures couldn’t be more different" he continues, taking out the orb of negative mana from the space ring.

"Like water and oil, they mix but don’t mix. With your body filled with elemental mana, it wouldn’t be a surprise for you to implode the moment you try to cultivate"

’So...for now I can’t cultivate’ Ezra spoke. ’In any case, how are you going to solve it?’

"I have a few ideas" Zydrax intoned, pulling an object kept within the space ring for a long time.

The Mana Cube.

It floated in the air, illuminating the chasm with its blinding blue glow as mana silently leaked from

it.

(Basically the Tesseract but bigger and brighter)

’Hmm?’ Ezra was confused. ’Didn’t you say it was too much to use?’

At the time of which he lay motionless on a bed while Zydrax infused mana into him to advance to Mythic rank, Ezra had questioned him about the cube.

"It’s a good item even by my standards, no doubt the best artifact in Orion" he said. "But, even I’m not sure what it can do, and right now, its power is too much for you to handle and cracking it just to breakthrough to Mythic rank would too wasteful"

Zydrax explained. "That was when you were a Grandmaster. You’re now Mythic rank, and I’m not yet sure how to use it, but my intuition tells me it will prove helpful"

Ezra placed the stream of mana atop the cube and the orb of negative mana floated beside it.

Zydrax smiled, stretching as he iced his body, leaving the head and palms untouched to retain control over the floating objects.

Reduced movement calmed the heart, making it less erratic.

Inhaling, Zydrax got to work.

________

On the other hand, the siblings were facing trials of their own.

After witnessing Ezra’s level of power, their emotions were mixed up.

At the forefront of it was burning competitiveness.

At the start he was far better than them. Later down the line, they shortened the gap, reaching master rank alongside him.

Then out of the blue, he accelerated again. Before they knew what was going on, he’d become a Grandmaster, and they were imprisoned in Arcadia as accomplices to a demon.

Same thing after that.

Escaping from Arcadia, they went separate ways once more, and the next time they caught a glimpse of him, he’d broken through to Mythic rank.

Lastly, Ezra was younger than them! So they couldn’t help but think low of themselves at being left so far behind.

It hit them hard, almost plunging them into depression as the gap seemed too much to fill.

But Ezra’s introducing a cultivation land changed that and struck light through the darkness covering their hearts.

Now, they sat across one another, absorbing the mana greedily with their eyes closed, not a sound could be heard.

With extreme focus, they delved in their internals, filling it with mana while trying to guide the process of advancement.

They were determined to use this chance to close the gap.

Having just reunited with his sister, Frederick’s heart was also in turmoil as to how their relationship would be going forward.

Somewhere along the way, Freesia had lost her memory and somehow joined the Demonic cult.

He didn’t excuse her sins, but he couldn’t bear even the thought of letting her die a second time.

Thankfully, Ezra was understanding. He didn’t know what he would’ve done if he wasn’t and wanted to kill Fressia.

"Huu’’ he breathed a sigh of relief.

__________

Three weeks passed.

The Grandmasters and Peak masters kicked out of the barrier had reached their respective kingdoms and delivered news of all that had happened, sending a shock through the upper ranks of society and an uproar throughout Orion.

It was one thing for a Grandmaster to report an issue, but when both Grandmasters and Peak masters spoke with an unprecedented level of urgency and their words rhymed, it could only be true.

With various injuries, new battle scars, and sometimes even corpses as evidence, its credibility couldn’t be doubted.

The fact that the Grandmasters sent to vie for a manite mine slaughtered by a single demon was appalling.

BUT, the fact that someone had then faced such a demon and won, was far more important news.

The reactions of ruling powers were quite simple.

Trepidation and Fear.

They couldn’t sleep peacefully knowing such a power individual had risen.

Five days after that,

Grandmasters convened a meeting in Vonnamor.

A white individual in red battle armour, Ferdinand Grimwald, Tezar’s Emperor and Rita’s step brother was here.

Denebar Bryan, a man tall but buffed, with an aged face covered in brown hair and beards.

This was Kreya"s Emperor, also Wimbledon’s older brother.

Three Grandmasters from Vannomor were also in attendance, they were all that was left.

Another would be a short but hefty individual with a large hammer by his side. Durham Bernard, Emperor of Yule.

Fazir Ruwain, a dark skinned man in blue and white robes, Zokov’s former right hand man, and now Ruwain’s monarch.

Nolan Tetch, one of the last two Grandmasters from the Houston Empire, making a total of eight Grandmasters in attendance.

"I assume you all have heard the news" Ferdinand took center stage. "What are your thoughts on this matter?"

Durham huffed. "Easy, we attack while he’s still recuperating and kill him"

Nolan shook his head. "If that’s what you intend to do, then I have no intention of joining. I still value my life"

"Coward"

Nolan sneered. "Says one who came to the meeting. Being so brave, why haven’t you gone to confront him till now?"

Durham slammed his hand on the table. "You itching to die, pipsqueak"

"Try me, you illiterate raccoon"

Sparks flew in the atmosphere as both Grandmasters stared down.

"Stop that. Both of you" Ferdinand broke it up. "We’re here to deal with a bigger problem, you can kill yourselves after"

"Tch"

"Like Nolan, I will not participate if you intend to launch an attack" Fazir commented. "I believe the Grandmasters were clear on how dangerous this being is. I don’t intend to throw away my life"

Durham insisted. "But that’s why we need to attack. We do it fast and hard.He’s still healing from his injuries and we have the element of surprise. What are you all afraid of?!"

Ferdinand shook his head.

"I also don’t intend to launch an attack. Rita made it abundantly clear that it would end in failure" he says, surveying their expressions. "But we can’t just do nothing either"

"So? What do you have in mind" Denebar Bryan commented for the first time since being seated.

"Let’s stage an attack"

"...."

"...."

"...."

Ferdinand coughed in embarrassment.

"I mean, let’s stage a show of power," he continued. "Think about it. It is the best way to hold our ground against this new nemesis"

"By my sister’s words, he must have the strength of at least ten Grandmasters. So instead of attacking, we gather ourselves and our top rank elite in front of his barrier to show our might"

"No matter what. He’s still in the middle of healing from his last battle, he wouldn’t want to fight us either"

"We can press our advantage and state out a truce that will last long enough for us to find a better solution. What do you all think?"

’So, we’ll be putting on a show’ Denebar rubbed his beard.

"Sounds interesting and practical. Let’s do it"

Ferdinand looked to the others.

"Hmm, this seems more fashionable" Fazir remarked, nodding. "I’m in"

Huffing, Durham spoke. "I still believe a swift attack to be the best way forward but, this will do too"

"I’m in as well" Nolan replied.

The Vonnamorian Grandmasters spoke. "We have decided to participate"

Ferdinand nodded. "Let us inform the others and gather as many forces as possible. The demonstration is due in three weeks"

They nodded.

"What about the lands that have lost their kings?" A Vonnamorian Grandmaster asked.

Fredinard shook his head. "We will sort that out after we meet this...Mythical being"

"Since an agreement has been reached, this meeting is over"

They promptly dispersed.

Five weeks later.

Thanks to different issues popping up, they ended up lengthening the time by two weeks.

In any case, they were here now.

"Hmmm?"

A voice reverberated from the barrier.

"I don’t remember calling for a gathering. So why have you all arranged yourselves at my doorstep?"

Let the show begin!