Chapter 158: We Can Talk Properly Now

  Wilskey looked with a mixture of shock and anger at the person who had intercepted his arrow. To use an arrow to intercept another arrow, this was something even he himself could hardly accomplish. And the speed and destructive power of this arrow were not in the least inferior to his own.

  The female patrol ranger's already outstanding height among elves now made her stand out even more. Her body had actually grown by nearly half compared to when he had seen her before, now almost as tall as Sylka. Her tightly stretched clothes outlined a perfectly curvaceous figure. The black war bow was drawn again in her hands, and the green aura of battle energy flickered faintly around her body.

  Drawing this bow certainly required more than just brute force. Previously, the female patrol ranger had exhausted all her battle energy and strength to barely draw it once, but now she could draw and shoot at least continuously. The changes in her body brought more than just a simple increase in height and strength.

  The elven girl beside her had just moved the emerald green leaves from the female patrol ranger's body. It was obvious that this physical transformation was the effect of the spell she had used.

  "Everyone, stand down. If anyone makes the first move again, our arrows will not be polite." Backed by the thousands of bows and arrows around them, Elder Lloyd's voice carried much more authority.

  Sedros timely used all his recovered magical power to cast an ice wall spell, blocking the charging Templars. Although this thin ice wall was hardly different from a piece of paper to the Templars, no one dared to move recklessly. Breaking through this barrier under these circumstances might be a signal for the surrounding elves to take action. The Templars all looked toward Bishop Adela.

  "Elder Lloyd, what is the meaning of this?" Adela looked grimly at the elven elder.

  Elder Lloyd replied slowly: "I just want everyone to stop. Both sides are our friends, and we will not allow our friends' blood to stain the land of Tulalion Forest."

  Adela snorted coldly: "These two are the leaders of those evil orcs, and one is a heinous criminal wanted throughout the entire continent. Are you going to stand with them? You are making enemies with us."

  "How could that be." Elder Lloyd put on an expression of disbelief at being wronged, somewhat anxiously explaining to the cardinal. "If I were truly standing with Sedros, would I still be mediating here? Wouldn't the arrows of tens of thousands of elves here be sufficient?"

  Adela paused, then frowned slightly and her expression changed a bit. This explanation easily made one think of the possibility of the situation developing to an uncontrollable point.

  Lloyd sighed. Waving his hand with a well-meaning tone and expression, he said: "I've said, I hope everyone stops. You are all our friends. Even if you do have some grievances, we don't want you to argue here."

  "Everyone, step back first." Adela's face was slightly pale. She waved her hand, signaling the Templars to return.

  Hilton beside Ethan breathed a huge sigh of relief, almost falling to the ground. He had never imagined in his life that he would one day be brave enough to face so many Templars. His hand holding the sword-hilt was so tense from excessive nervousness that he couldn't loosen it.

  He was the only one here who breathed a sigh of relief. All the others did not relax because of this unexpected cease-fire, but instead appeared even more tense. Their eyes were all fixed on the battle energy storm in the center of the field, which was growing larger and more intense.

  Gru and Lancelot probably hadn't heard the elven elder's words, and even if they had, they wouldn't stop, nor could they stop. And Elder Lloyd didn't have the elves intervene to stop the fight between these two, or perhaps he knew that the elves absolutely couldn't stop them.

  The flying dust gathered in the field like a cloud and mist pulled to the ground, refusing to disperse. In the cloud and mist, two vague figures moved at high speed. Spinning, then colliding, emitting flashes like lightning when their battle energies clashed, followed by deafening thunderous roars.

  All humans and elves stopped their movements. Watching the tumbling, churning mist in the center. But almost all of them could no longer discern the situation within. The untraceable figures, the occasional cutting wind currents, and the sounds and light had long exceeded the scope of normal human understanding. It was as if two deities who should originally have been in the highest heavens were revealing their divine might and majesty due to their mutual battle, shocking and awing everyone.

  The sounds inside became more and more dense and loud, the air was vibrating, the escaping currents cut painfully at the face, and it seemed as if the entire forest was trembling in this battle. The cloud of dust and battle energy rolled more and more intensely, but was always pulled by the power emitted by the two fighters within, preventing it from spilling out everywhere, only swirling and impacting within a radius of more than ten meters, then continuously strengthening. Just from the occasional escaping currents, one could see the intensity of the battle energy within. That vortex of battle energy was enough to crush any object that entered unauthorized. It had become a separate world for the two battle energy users.

  Stolen novel; please report.

  The expressions of both Sedros and Adela were exceptionally grave. Although they had both cast spells like Eagle Eye Sharp Sight on themselves, they still couldn't see or understand the battle in the field. But precisely because they couldn't understand it, they were even more nervous. The two fighters were the strongest on both sides. As soon as one side was defeated, the balance of power would immediately be broken. Even with the elves' interference preventing them from fighting to the death here immediately, the situation for both sides would inevitably undergo earth-shaking changes in the future.

  The expressions of the Templars were similar to the Cardinal's, or perhaps even more so. Fighting in the field was the embodiment of justice in their minds, their idols. They had long surpassed the attributes a normal person should have, they couldn't be defeated, couldn't die. But this battle had also long exceeded their understanding. Their minds and spirits were completely invested in the battle. Only the Javi warrior didn't show the slightest tension, but stared blankly, his sea-blue eyes as calm as a lake that had been silent for a thousand years, not even willing to blink as they reflected the battle before him, as if to capture every bit of it, engraving it into his mind.

  Although the four Temple Knights still looked somewhat tense, it wasn't intense, but more of a state of self-forgetfulness. Wilskey, Talise, and Aldric and Christine, who had already recovered under Adela's treatment, looked at the battle in the field with expressions like a painter observing the handiwork of the god of art, or a singer listening to the song of the melody spirits.

  Ethan was similar to them, perhaps even more so. Although his strength among the observers was certainly not the greatest, perhaps only he could truly see the battle most clearly.

  The meditation technique had been pushed to its limit, allowing him to clearly see the battle between Lancelot and Gru in the field. Their movements, the flow of battle energy, everything was rapidly but orderly reflected in his mind.

  Although the meditation technique kept his mind calm and clear, Ethan could still feel his blood boiling. Every movement, every strike, every mutual impact between Gru and Lancelot made him feel something burning deep in his soul.

  He really couldn't find any profound words to describe the battle between these two. If he had to say something, only two words were most suitable: beautiful, strong.

  Every movement of Gru, the explosive power contained in every attack, had long surpassed the limits of human beings. The power bursting from his body, which didn't look much different from an ordinary person's, amazed him countless times. More importantly was the aura emanating from Gru. He had no superfluous movements, even disdaining defense, always attacking. Even in the most dangerous and urgent situations, he used all possible means to hit his opponent with his fists and feet. This way of fighting, combined with his enormous destructive power, was strong in its simplicity, simple in its strength. Ethan even believed that even if facing the largest Behemoth beast head-on, Gru could handle it easily.

  This superhuman strength made his blood boil. Because he clearly remembered that he had once confronted and fought against such an opponent, that he had faced such a strong body.

  But watching Lancelot's battle made this boiling feeling go even further, deeper.

  Lancelot didn't have Gru's power that could destroy any opponent, nor that invincible aura, but under such power and aura, he actually showed no sign of defeat, which was even more shocking. His movements were still as flowing as clouds and smooth as silk, every smallest detail and movement coordinated perfectly, complementing each other seamlessly.

  He wasn't as simple as Gru. His swordsmanship was certainly flawless, and his use of battle energy and magic in battle was exquisite, not just integrated with his swordsmanship, but integrated with himself. Every sword, every spell, every burst of battle energy wasn't something he used, but something that naturally emanated from his body like blood and breathing. It looked simpler than all simplicity, because it was the simplicity that could only be produced after condensing originally complex things to the extreme. Great skill appears clumsy.

  Watching this perfect way of fighting, recalling the restrictions of battle energy and magical power that had remained in his body earlier, Ethan felt as if he had touched upon something. Although he wasn't yet clear what exactly these were, just this vague feeling was enough to excite him. He clearly felt that he was taking a step upward on a high mountain.

  A figure suddenly shot up from the cloud of dust and battle energy, it was Lancelot in his Radiant Battleplate. His entire body was enveloped in the light of white magic, and there were already many cracks and dents on his Radiant Battleplate. In mid-air, he shouted loudly, and milky white light emanated from his body, instantly expanding and solidifying into a huge holy light cross sword. This cross sword was larger and more brilliant than any previous one, with the white sword light of holy light coiling around it for more than ten meters.

  If gods truly had weapons, then it must be such a weapon. Everyone who saw this sword had this feeling.

  This giant white sword, like a miracle, struck down at the cloud of dust below at the same moment it appeared. There was no sound of wind, perhaps this light sword was only tangible but formless. But the thousands of onlookers, whether standing near or far, in whatever direction, all felt a twitch in their hearts. They all had this illusion, that this sword would split themselves and the entire forest neatly from head to toe.

  And from the dust suddenly burst another ball of white light. This ball of light wasn't as clearly defined as the holy light cross sword, but was blurry yet extremely intense, illuminating the entire ball of dust. The large, gray ball of dust from a moment ago had instantly become an extremely dazzling ball of light.

  Gru's roar came from within the ball of light, and the entire forest and everyone shook together. Then this huge ball of light rose from the ground like a giant meteor defying the heavens, rushing toward the holy light cross sword that was falling from mid-air. As soon as this ball of light left the ground, the wind and momentum it brought filled the entire space.

  "Step back." Ethan shouted, but even he couldn't hear his own voice clearly. He reached out and pulled Sedros back urgently. Hilton and the other two also took the opportunity to turn and run back.

  Adela was also pulled back urgently by Wilskey, and the Templars also protected the injured Aldric and Christine and flew away. Everyone could see that the coming attack was a full-force clash between two peerless experts, heaven-shaking and earth-shattering.

  One sword, one ball, two huge white lights collided together. It was unclear whether the sword had cut into the ball of light or the ball of light had crashed into the sword's edge. In an instant, there were only countless shattered white lights and battle energy mixed with cutting winds, carrying the sound of shattering, sweeping wildly.

  The two nearest trees, which would require three or four people to encircle, were directly torn apart like paper under the light and cutting winds, and then another ten or so large trees also fell. Hilton and the other two, who were closer and less powerful, were directly sent flying. Sedros consecutively cast three or four ice walls and atmospheric divine shields, only then barely standing firm with Ethan. Adela did the same, and with the Templars cast several protective magic spells in succession to stabilize their position.

  The two figures in mid-air fell down. Lancelot barely stood firm. His Radiant Battleplate had shattered, and his exposed bronze skin was covered with horrifying wounds. He staggered back to Adela's side, and just as he was about to speak, he first spat out a large mouthful of blood.

  Gru's condition seemed a bit better than his, at least he still stood straight. But a long wound stretched from his left shoulder to his right waist. Judging from the bleeding, which was slightly more than a gushing spring, this wound was definitely not shallow. The key was that his originally bottomless black eyes now had no trace of light or momentum, actually showing a thin layer of gray.

  The elves stood far away, but even so, a large number of them stumbled and fell. Elder Lloyd, however, had a smile on his face, as if very satisfied with the current situation. Just now, Luya had timely created a barrier of thorns, blocking the impact.

  "Now everyone can finally talk properly." The elven elder coughed, waved his hand, and led the female patrol rangers and Luya to walk over. The surrounding elves also narrowed their encirclement.