Edward squinted, eyes narrowing at the figure standing between them and Dara.
He couldn't see through the sage disguise—probably a royal grade dress.
( He wasn't wrong, the disguise belonged to Dara who passed it over to Sion. )
But he didn't need to see through the face to know who could do such a thing.
"…Sion," Edward finally said, voice low.
The other two blinked at him. Even Sion tilted his head—surprised at how the red haired dude had guessed his name.
"Sion?" Jake repeated.
"The second-ranked first year," Edward clarified. "I know all the male powerhouses in our year by face."
His gaze sharpened at Sion.
"Except one. You."
Jake raised a brow. "And your first thought is he's from your year?"
Edward looked over "you are a second year, right?"
Jake choked. "Yea, so?"
"You know any powerhouse who is so less busy to do this?" Edward asked flatly.
"Good point." Jake nodded.
"Besides, I am sure you guys are weaker." Edward continued.
"What?! I am stro—"
Before the argument could escalate—
CRACK.
Sion's figure vanished.
A blur.
Then—
BOOM.
His old Sage cane slammed into the ground like a divine decree.
A thunderous gust exploded outward, carving a deep, jagged gorge into the earth. Cracks spiderwebbed from the impact zone, splitting the stone floor for dozens of meters.
Jake, Edward, and Miler had effortlessly escaped the attack.
Jake and Miler both stared at the Sage with each with apprehensive eyes. As the third and fourth ranked of their year respectively, they were strong, but they could tell that this Sion of a guy was just as strong as them.
Sion stood upright as he stared at the cane resting lightly in his right hand.
"Too bad, I liked the cane." He muttered as it turned into dust—it couldn't handle the attack.
"…Not bad," Edward watched on, he gently brushed the rising dust aside. "I'll play along."
Jake exhaled. "I might as well tag along."
Miler scratched his head. "I call dibs on his space-ring."
Sion's lips slowly curled up.
"All three of you."
He spread his hands as a wave of golden energy ripped his sage disguise apart.
"Come at me."
His voice dropped with both provocation and authority. His appearance was still of his normal self. No golden eyes. No waist-long hair. Though, his canines and claws are longer than usual—reminiscent of the time he fought the burrowfang.
Edward's flames propelled him into the air as his gaze sharpened at Sion.
"A transformative gift."
His gaze shifted to Dara, this time he pay attention to her face.
The poison prince... This would be troublesome... But the voidpetal is worth it..
Meanwhile.
Jake had distanced himself from Sion by a great degree with the aid of his Space Transfer Artifact.
He took a deep breath as his gaze locked on Sion across the vast distance. He crouched, his hands placed on the floor as he channelled energy downwards.
In no time, over a radius of a hundred meters, the ground glowed blue. The blue soon gave birth to swarms of War Androids.
They did not hesitate, as soon as they were summoned, they charged at Sion. Some with rocket thrusters, others with jet packs, and some the traditional way—with their legs.
As if coordinated, Miler—who had sank into the shadows as soon as the others withdrew—manifested outside, just a distance away from the charging bots.
His shadow morphed and spread outwards, and out of them came a horde of shadow warriors.
He sank into the shadows as the bots caught up with the shadow warriors. The two armies soon mixed as they charged forward towards Sion. The whole caved space shook at the armies forward march.
Edward watched the army pressing on in amusement and part awe. "Now, I can't be outdone, can I?"
He stretched out his hands as multiple fireballs shot down like a meteor shower. Their landing zone was set a bit ahead the charging army.
"Infernal Army—First Squad."
As soon as the fireballs landed they uncurled into fire elemental warriors, with a fire general in front. The general wore a flaming cape embroidered with the shape of a daring phoenix.
The fire army waited for a beat, letting the other army catch up. Then, they charged forward together.
Edward looked at the army, then at Sion. "How will you deal with this... Transformative gifts can't conjure armies." He muttered under his breath.
Sion watched the approaching army. A sharp glint flashed through his eyes.
"This would be fun."
He took a stance.
Just as he was about to dash out, he stopped.
The image of his earring flickered in his mind.
Why don't I check out my improvement instead...
A smirk formed on his lips, his canines glinting in the din light of the Catacombs.
Then.
"No matter the number. They will all fall in front of my might."
Roar!!!
He roared.
Unlike the time at the entrance exam. He directed the direction of his roar forward—towards the approaching army.
The roar—
A space-erupting wave comprised of intense wind, mind-numbing-world-rumbling sound, a hint of golden energy and what makes it truly dangerous, unstoppable, a dangerous understandable force.
The force was like Domination made physical.
—crashed forward.
It's scale and width, expanding with progression.
When it crashed into the army, it was more than wide enough to encompass them all. An unfortunate fact for the army and their creators. Because.
It didn't matter if it was made of shadows, of fire or of futuristic alloy metal, they were destroyed.
The roar didn't tear through the army—it erased them. Effortlessly. Like they were nothing.
Simply put.
The roar pushed forward and.
Everything in its part was no more.
Strangely, it didn't continue on its path for long before simply vanishing, leaving behind only a powerful shockwave.
The roar stopped vanished at the same time Sion stopped roaring.
Edward, Jake and Miler watched on with wide eyes. Goosebumps rose on their body. They all shared the same question in their mind.
Can I survive being hit directly by that?
But their fear soon dissipate lightly as they saw Sion sway a bit.
It seems it takes a lot out of him to do that... Then, he won't be able to do it again anytime soon... Plus he should be weakened now, here is our chance.
Miler and Jake shared the same thought as they sprang forward.