?275 Clash of the Strongest - II

Joseph increased the distance between himself and Nathan, but both of them needed to suppress the SSS Rank Monsters and, if they couldn't, they needed to hold on and fight until more SSS Rank Hunters could arrive to help them.

As Nathan saw Joseph moving away from him, he ramped up his mana control even further, causing all the mana to swirl around him.

The command over mana that Nathan possessed was the strongest in the world.

Even Farnus and Silvus couldn't control mana like Nathan could, but that was due to his Bloodline ability, which allowed him to exert such dominance over mana.

Through the rough summer climate of Fashia, Nathan could see demolished forests and mountains, leaving nothing but dust in the distance.

Nathan stopped, and so did Joseph, as they sensed a massive surge of mana just ahead of them.

"Seems like this one is quite angry," Nathan said as he surveyed the destruction around them.

Soon, a behemoth of a monster emerged from beneath the sand. As it stepped onto the land, sand started falling from its rough skin and glowing red horns.

BOOM

Even before fully emerging, the monster sent a sonic wave towards Nathan and Joseph. Both of them dodged it, but "VRRRRRRRRAAAAAAAAAUGGGHHHHHHH," the monster roared, and Nathan felt the creature's mana clashing with his armor.

Nathan was wearing a heavy black armor that covered his whole body, except for his head. It was crafted by Dexter Wright himself.

This was an artificial artifact, replete with various runic enhancements and durable enough for Nathan to wear against an SSS Rank monster.

Unlike Farnus, who had the SSS Rank armor, most SSS Rank hunters wore custom armor made from an alloy of many strong materials. This armor could withstand and strengthen itself from an SSS Rank's aura and mana.

Although the consumption was quite substantial, SSS Ranks could withstand that, so these types of armor could only be worn by them.

Throughout Nathan's armor, there were various glowing red lines of runes that increased the strength of the armor as Nathan used his mana to fuel it.

Nathan raised his greatsword and brought it down, sending a red line arc from his blade, but the monster, sensing the power of the attack, dodged instantly.

Nathan's attack formed a wide crack on the ground.

Joseph unsheathed his sword, which was slightly longer than usual but still a single-handed weapon.

Both of them were waiting for the monster to show its power as neither Nathan nor Joseph intended to charge in first without knowing what the monster was capable of.

Especially not Nathan - he was not going to lower his guard in this battle at all.

Even more so, Nathan was currently very cautious of any traps that could have been set for him.

He still had some suspicions about this whole thing, as he didn't believe that a new SSS Rank or a Pseudo SSS Rank had come into existence.

Hiding such a talent was extremely difficult, given the surveillance capacity of the World Association and the other elite families.

It was only possible if one of the Seat Holders was involved in all this chaos, and Nathan didn't trust anyone.

This was one of the reasons he had Hassan Trevino and the other two SS Rank Hunters stay back in Soran to protect the family.

But what Nathan didn't know was that it was his grandson, someone he believed would eventually surpass him - Asher himself - who was responsible for all this chaos. The monster stepped forward and slammed its leg on the ground, creating a mana pulse, and strangely, the environment around Nathan and Joseph changed.

From the sunny vista of the dry climate of Fashia to a red sky with a black land filled with multiple cracks.

"Is it a spatial skill?" Joseph immediately distanced himself from the monster.

Joseph created an energy point on the tip of his sword, raised it to the sky, and the energy clashed with the false sky.

But his attack was absorbed.

"What?" Joseph was confused.

His attack should have been able to break anything, considering the amount of concentrated aura he had used, but instead, it was absorbed. Joseph noticed the monster's horn glowing slightly blue.

"Did it absorb my attack?" Joseph asked with a frown on his face.

"Hahahaha, does this thing think it has trapped me?" Nathan laughed as his crimson red eyes began to shine.

Suddenly, the monster raised its head to look at Nathan.

At this moment, Nathan took control of the mana around him and began absorbing it.

This was Nathan's bloodline ability.

Unlike others who couldn't absorb wild mana, as that would lead to mana poisoning, Nathan was immune to it.

His bloodline ability allowed him to accept any type of mana into his body, but he couldn't use that mana to replenish his mana heart.

Instead, Nathan could only use it to enhance his aura.

This was something that nobody, except Nathan, possessed in the entire world.

As long as Nathan didn't take that mana to his core, he could manipulate it with his mana manipulation abilities.

Nathan couldn't use that mana to increase his rank and absorb it, but he could use that mana to exert dominance over others' mana control, and it worked on both humans and monsters alike.

This was what the monster was experiencing as it felt a dangerous sensation from Nathan. It was an instinct, but it was only faint.

Nathan looked at Joseph, who met his crimson red eyes.

Suddenly, the air around Nathan began to tremble. Joseph understood what Nathan wanted to do and immediately retreated as far as he could.

The strange land beneath Nathan started to rupture as he raised his sword and assumed his stance.

Nathan was about to use his first technique, a legendary sword art that instilled fear in anyone who witnessed it.

Suddenly, the space around Nathan began to tremble, though Joseph barely noticed.

Nathan disappeared from his spot, and the monster looked up to see a pair of crimson red eyes shining brighter than the red sky above.

In the next instant, Nathan's sword followed an unusual path, and the monster felt the space around it shake as various cuts appeared on its body.

"Shatter," Nathan muttered, and a massive amount of mana surged from the ground. His sword's aura descended on the monster, causing an explosion within the spatial trap that the monster had created. Unbeknownst to it, it wasn't Nathan who was trapped in the spatial ability, but the monster itself.

"Why did this damn monster create a restricted space?" Joseph asked, annoyed.

Currently, Joseph couldn't assist Nathan since most of his destructive abilities did not distinguish between friend or foe.

Nathan looked down and saw a massive wound on the Monster's back. It seemed okay, but was clearly enraged.

Both of them could feel a shift in the mana around them.

The temperature began to rise as the mana around the monster swirled, and the monster's wound started to heal, but only up to a certain point.

Nathan's attack had caused his mana to linger on the monster's wounds, stopping the bleeding.

"Let's take this slowly," Joseph reminded Nathan as he raised his sword and dashed towards the monster.

Nathan also disappeared from the sky and moved towards the monster.

The monster's horn started shining as Joseph spotted massive fireballs appearing in the sky.

False Mana Region, this was the monster's creation, an ability to absorb the attacks that touched the boundary of the false mana region.

The efficiency wasn't quite like a true mana region, but the monster had high control over its abilities, making it even more formidable.

This was going to be a long fight if Nathan and Joseph hoped to defeat this monster.

Meanwhile, in Soran,

Leonard was sitting with Reece, discussing their future plans.

"Will the treatment be delayed any further?" Reece asked.

"The Black Market will send the mana crystals when my father returns. The loss we will face won't be insignificant," Leonard replied.

"This is not good," Reece calmly replied, moving a pawn on the board.

"Well, you don't need to defeat Jayden Hargrave," Leonard told Reece.

"After all, once we establish our business, we'll be far ahead of the likes of him," Leonard said, moving a knight.

"I'm not so sure about that now," Reece replied, catching Leonard's attention.

"Are you talking about Zephyr?" Leonard asked, and Reece nodded.

"Don't worry, my father will handle that," Leonard replied.

"After all, his new card, Casie Hargrave, failed to make any headway at the Gala," Leonard added.

"He won't let those guys get away with ruining his plans," Leonard assured Reece.

"Our current focus is the World Academy," Leonard reminded Reece.

"And I've heard that you can't even handle Asher Greville," Reece's words irked Leonard, but as he considered Reece an equal, he didn't react.

"Are you suggesting that you could deal with him easily?" Leonard asked.

"With the rate he is growing, it will not be easy," Reece replied.

"But not everything needs to be resolved through a fight, am I right?" Reece said with a smile.