The Bloodline System

Chapter 1572: Uncertain Confrontation

As shards of ice rained down, Elias retaliated. He thrust his hand forward, sending a concentrated beam of pure energy slicing through the misty air.

It struck the guardianʼs arm, blasting away chunks of ice and rock, but the giant barely flinched.

The other guardians stirred to life as their massive forms shifted like glaciers on the move. One of them, with a body like a living mountain, opened its mouth and unleashed a blast of freezing wind.

The gale roared down the valley, carrying with it razor-sharp ice shards capable of tearing flesh from bone.

Elias countered, summoning a barrier of pure energy around himself. The wind howled against his shield, and the ice shards shattered on impact, but the sheer force of the blast pushed him back, his feet digging into the frozen ground.

Elias knew he needed to change his approach. These guardians were not merely large—they were the embodiment of primordial might.

He couldnʼt afford to stay on the defensive; he needed to take the fight to them. He took a deep breath, centering himself, and then launched into the air with a powerful leap, his body soaring high above the valley floor.

He targeted the guardian that had attacked first. His body was enveloped in a bright aura at this moment.

As he descended, he summoned energy from the depths of his being, focusing it into his fists.

With a mighty roar, he delivered a devastating blow to the guardianʼs shoulder, shattering the thick ice and rock with an explosion of force. The guardian staggered, its arm hanging limply from its side, but it did not fall.

The other guardians responded in kind. The largest among them, a titan with ice-covered spines jutting from its back like massive crystal formations, took a step forward.

With another rumble, it slammed its hands into the ground, and a massive wave of ice and snow surged toward Elias, threatening to bury him.

Elias reacted swiftly. He summoned a wave of heat, melting the ice as it rushed toward him, creating a cloud of steam that obscured him from view.

Using the mist as cover, he darted between the legs of the giants with blur like movements. He unleashed a barrage of energy blasts, targeting their joints and weak points. Each blast struck with precision, sending chunks of ice and stone flying, but the guardians were resilient.

Realizing that brute force alone would not be enough, Elias decided to use his environment to his advantage. He noticed that the guardians were bound to the earth. Their movements, though powerful, were slow and deliberate. He needed to exploit their sluggishness.

Elias raised his hands to the sky, calling upon the latent energy within the valley. The ground beneath the guardians began to crack and shift.

He manipulated the very earth, creating deep chasms and jagged peaks around them, forcing them to reposition themselves carefully to avoid falling into the abyss. The battlefield was no longer stable terrain but a maze of sudden drops and rising spires.

The guardians struggled to keep their footing, and as one of them moved to avoid a chasm, Elias seized the opportunity.

He charged forward as his body glowed with power, and landed a crushing blow to the guardianʼs knee. The impact echoed like a mountain splitting apart. The guardianʼs leg buckled, and it collapsed to one knee, creating a thunderous crash that shook the entire valley.

But Elias had no time to celebrate. Another guardian, with icy wings spread wide, took to the air causing its shadow to blot out the sun.

It let out a piercing shriek, and the temperature plummeted even further. It swooped down like a frozen comet, aiming to smash Elias into the ground.

Elias waited until the last moment with a calm and focused expression.

With a burst of speed, he dodged to the side, and the airborne guardian crashed into the ground.

Itʼs weight sent massive shockwaves through the valley. As it tried to rise, Elias took advantage of its vulnerable position, concentrating a massive blast of energy into its back.

The ice and stone cracked, and a spiky fissure formed along its spine, causing the guardian to tremble and fall silent.

Seeing two of their own downed, the remaining guardians grew more aggressive. They moved together as their bodies glowed with a fierce blue light, and they began to coordinate their attacks.

Elias found himself dodging massive ice spikes shooting from the ground, evading boulders hurled at him and also withstanding powerful beams of frost energy.

Despite his regained strength, the battle was taking its toll. His breaths grew heavier, and his movements slightly slower. But he couldnʼt afford to relent. He needed every ounce of energy hidden in this place to have a chance against the new Outworldly.

Elias decided that it was time to end it. He launched himself into the air, reaching a height above the tallest guardian. His body began to glow with a golden intense light—a concentrated manifestation of his remaining strength.

He thrust his hands downward, and a beam of pure, radiant energy shot from his palms, slamming into the largest guardian at its core.

The beam cut through layers of ice and stone like a knife through butter, piercing its chest and bursting out the other side. The guardian let out a deep, resonant groan—a sound that echoed through the valley like a dying wail.

One by one, the other guardians moved to aid their fallen leader, but Elias would not be deterred. He poured more energy into the beam, the light growing so bright it was blinding.

The ground quaked violently, and a shockwave blasted outwards, sending the remaining guardians toppling like mountains brought low.

As the light dimmed, Elias descended slowly to the ground. His chest heaved up and down from exhaustion.

The guardians, now nothing more than shattered remains of ice and rock, lay strewn across the valley. The battle was over. Elias had won.

Elias took a moment to catch his breath.

He stepped forward, towards the center of the valley, where a pool of vibrant, glowing energy began to seep from the cracked earth—a reservoir of power that he had stored long ago.

He extended his hand, and the energy surged toward him, flowing into his body, revitalizing his spirit.

With each breath, he felt himself growing stronger, more whole. The wind around him calmed

He had managed to reclaim about 7% of his original strength, but it felt like holding onto a fraction of his former self.

Even the cosmic winds that blew around him seemed harsher, biting at his skin like freezing needles.

All the places he had visited, that stored fragments of his power—he had absorbed them all.

There were no more hidden reserves left to tap into, no more ancient wells to drink from. The only thing left for him now was confrontation. A final stand.

Without a shadow of doubt, Ellias knew he was not even close to matching the strength of the current Outworldly.

The new entity had most of his power and if he knew how to properly use it could reshape the fabric of reality to his will.

Ellias could sense the cosmic dimensional webs he had carefully woven eons ago beginning to come undone, unraveling thread by thread.

His heart sank at the realization. The threads that had kept the deities from stepping foot on the mortal plane were fraying. If they broke completely, the mortal realm would be exposed to the wrath of gods and deities.

”I donʼt have much time,” he muttered to himself. ”Itʼs now or never.”

He knew he was outmatched, but he didnʼt have a choice. Ellias clenched his fists, feeling the faint pulse of his celestial abilities still coursing through him, though on a much lower level.

The power he once commanded effortlessly now felt like a heavy weight on his shoulders. But it would have to be enough.

With a single, powerful motion, Ellias launched himself forward, leaving Earthʼs orbit behind. He cast a glance back at the small blue planet as his eyes softened for a moment.

”Goodbye,” he whispered, his voice barely a breath in the vacuum of space.

With a flick of his wrist, he began to open portals that would get him to where he needed to go faster. He stepped through one after another, moving with a speed that defied comprehension and traversing the void between worlds. He Internally steeled himself for the inevitable encounter.

After what felt like both an eternity and a single heartbeat, Ellias emerged at the location where one of the dimensional webs that prevented the deities from accessing the mortal plane used to be.

The space around him was chaotic, filled with raw cosmic energy spiraling out of control. The remnants of the web floated like gossamer threads, almost invisible, but he could see them slowly disintegrating.

The new Outworldly was already here. His form was incredibly towering figure and draped in a cloak of swirling stars and nebulae.

Around the Outworldly, the deities had gathered as well.

They were poised and ready, waiting for the final barrier to fall so they could plunge into the mortal plane.