Chapter 704: Rank Up
Chapter 704: Rank Up
'Wha, wha, what!? That Emperor-level earth dragon will completely destroy this area!' Yralissa went panicked, but her expression still looked calm. She was genuinely shocked when she saw the intensity of the great earthquake that shook the entire Plain Slope and its surroundings.
She then looked far away at the capital forest city. It couldn't be seen from her current altitude, but she hoped this earthquake didn't spread there.
The cheerful laughter of someone caught Yralissa's attention. She looked back at the group of individuals on that earth dragon's back.
"..." Yralissa didn't know what to say because she could see that they were having quite a bit of fun.
"Hahaha! Boom, boom, bam! Destroy and annihilate them. Leave none alive! Ooh, this is like a rodeo but uses a huge earth dragon instead of a horse!" Sylvia cheered with joyful laughter. She still stood straight even though Gio continued to move ferociously.
She then checked her surroundings to ensure no one had fallen from Gio's back.
Ella and Evelyn were the ones who had the most challenging time keeping their footing. However, they persisted until the earthquake stopped momentarily.
"Here it comes!" Elysia waved her hand high to signal everyone.
Everyone immediately activated their anti-curse mechanism with that signal and attached it to Gio's back with a unique adhesive. After that, they took a few steps back.
Numerous puffs of black mist oozed out from the ground and charged at Gio like hundreds of tentacles.
However, the anti-curse mechanisms at the nine points of Gio's body immediately took effect to absorb all the curse energy like vacuums. Elysia and Elana tried their best to burn off any curse energy targeting Gio's vital organs and head.
"Wait, is that all?" Elena was stunned as the black cloud of mist disappeared so quickly. That's a lot less than her estimate.
"The sealing formation down there has collapsed. About two or three hundred monsters are trying to get to the surface. Gio's earth stomp attack isn't strong enough to wipe them out." Lifa told the current state based on her magic vision.
"!?" Gio widened his eyes. The word 'not strong enough' kept ringing in his mind as if it was a scourge of humiliation for him.
He would receive emotional damage if his master or grandmaster said such things. Therefore, he chose to avoid such a thing from happening.
He hadn't finished destroying those underground monsters yet. If one earthquake was not enough, he would need several more earthquakes and blasts to eradicate those pests.
Gio sucked in a lot of air with his mouth and tilted his head down. A puff of light brown light shone in his mouth.
"What does Gio want to do? He wants to spit out a fire breath like a dragon in general?" Elysia asked in wonder, but Rhea didn't know about it either.
Gio spat out a light brown breath from his mouth. It wasn't like a hot brown fire, but it caused a minor earthquake instead.
The light brown light instantly spread throughout the area for several kilometers away. Gio closed his mouth again and suddenly jumped up.
By the time he returned to the ground, a massive earthquake had shaken the earth. It destroyed all areas within a radius of more than twenty kilometers.
*BOOM!*
The enormous mass of land soared into the sky due to the great earthquake and impact. The Plain Slope instantly turned into a ravaged terrain with a giant crater. The surrounding forest was blown away and was buried by the ground.
The earthquake only lasted for a few seconds. Still, everything was razed to the ground because of Gio's amplified attack.
"Wow, I'm impressed. So, the light brown breath earlier was surface magic that would work to amplify his ultimate earth stomp? Hmm, this crater... The ground down there became as solid, hard as a rock." Elena covered her mouth as she checked her surroundings. She didn't expect Gio's attack to spread that far.
"So unfortunate. No trees and plants survived the great earthquake just now. The forests have been buried by the ground." Lifa put her hand to her cheek with a soft mutter.
"Sigh, Gio, you forgot the plan, didn't you? You were just going to use a centered earthquake, but you created a large, widespread earthquake. Never mind, please take a few steps back because there are still two monsters that survived the great earthquake." Lifa tapped Gio's head a few times between her words.
Gio was not satisfied yet. He would use more special attacks to impress his master.
He tried to absorb the earth's energy for it, but he received a light slap from the unusual root that appeared out of nowhere. Was it coming from his own cheek?
"Are you an idiot? Do you want to absorb the earth's energy and continue your attack when I tell you to stop? There is a lot of curse energy, and you intend to absorb it? Have you forgotten why you received so many curses and ended up being sealed under the sacred tree?" Lifa gave a light tap to Gio's super hard cheek with a root whip.
Gio ignored the words that the green-haired woman said. He took a stance and tried to absorb the earth's energy again for a more powerful attack.
However, he received another slap to his head. That root whip pushed his head to the side a little. His concentration was disturbed, and his action of absorbing earth energy failed once again.
"You stubborn child. You don't remember me and no longer heed my words, hmm? Elysia, please say something to this rock-headed dragon. He might listen to you more. Please ask him to take a few steps back. The curse energy down there is congealing into something awful." Lifa decided to ask Elysia for help because Gio was Elysia's vassal.
Gio received another root slap on the cheek. It didn't hurt, but he growled in grievance as he felt he didn't deserve it. He didn't even know why he received that humiliation from that green-haired woman.
Just as fury enveloped Gio's mind to retaliate, his master's voice suddenly came into his mind.
'Gio, let's take a few steps back. Allow us to do the rest. There are only two unique monsters that managed to survive your impressive attack. You've done your best. Thanks for the hard work. The Goddess of Life is just trying to confuse your concentration with that root whip, so you don't absorb any energy. She means well.' Elysia immediately tried to calm Gio down with gentle words.
'She tried to humiliate me with those root whips.' Gio gave a reason.
'Please forgive her, okay? She doesn't mean to humiliate you or hurt you. You're simply ignoring her good advice, and it's just a precaution, so you don't start absorbing any energy here. Curse energy is dangerous. So, don't try to absorb the earth's energy when a curse is around. Take a few steps back now, okay? You're a good earth dragon, come on~' Elysia put some critical points between her persuasion. It was like she was dealing with a sulky child.
Gio stared intently at the green-haired woman with his perception and complied with his master's order without fail. He took a few steps back without a word.
Sometime later, a plume of black ink liquid gushed out from where Gio was standing. It condensed and made an entity like a black ink slime.
"It's condensed curse energy? Why did it become like that?" Elena asked in wonder and beckoned Elysia to come closer. "Nevermind. If that's the case, then it's easier for us to burn that curse energy into nothingness."
'While absorbing some to level up? We are already at the peak of Apprentice-level and will probably go straight to Beginner-level! Goodbye Apprentice-level.' Elysia went to Elena's side with a playful smile.
'Yeah, we can do that too. We didn't have the right opportunity before. Ely, let's do that.' Elena grabbed Elysia's hand, and they flew into the air.
Rhea and Lifa immediately followed Elena and Elysia like bodyguards. They didn't want anything wrong to happen to this 'two in one' Goddess.
The massive condensed curse energy seemed to possess its own intelligence to oppose the giant earth dragon with a major curse. Unfortunately, the condensed curse energy does not consider the most significant threat in its short existence.
The condensed curse energy shot toward the earth dragon to contaminate the creature with curses. However, two floating puny humans suddenly blocked its path.
The condensed curse energy ignored that and continued to shoot like a cannonball. Unfortunately, its attempt ended as the two humans in question stretched their hands forward.
The condensed curse energy was suddenly burned by the golden flames and shrunk at speed visible to the eye. It was already no more significant than an insignificant pebble when it arrived right in front of Elena and Elysia.
'Have we leveled up yet?' Elena was feeling excited. She was expecting some level up.
'Only one level up... But why? I absorbed a lot of energy level-ups, and we only got a rank up?' Elysia crushed the gravel into nothingness and clenched her fist with a pout.
'Well, we need to be grateful for what we got. That may be what they call ease of leveling up but the difficulty of ranking up.' Elena patted Elysia's back with an amused smile.
Elysia checked her current status and heaved a subtle sigh. She then nodded slightly. "Mm."
They then returned to Gio's back as they needed to wait for the two surviving unique accursed creatures to go to the surface.