Aimless Ascension

The red demon-masked assassin was full of killing intent, blatantly showing that he was after Gale's blood.

Gale dodged the assassin's attacks and kept his distance while his three companions regrouped. With this, Gale's requirements were met, as he proceeded to unleash the storm. He knew he could only do this one last time and was determined to make the most of it when all those who came for him regrouped.

As the storm intensified, Gale did not need to reach for the sky to tap into its power. He flew from one tree to another, his arms wide, emitting most of his Qi, trying to connect with the natural disaster.

He released the power of Stormsong completely, utilising the common ground of power to draw on its energy to intensify the storm.

The assassin noticed the changes in the air around him and pursued Gale, relentlessly, showering him with arrows and violent abilities. Suddenly, the red demon appeared from nowhere and faced Gale from the opposite direction.

He swung his bastard sword at Gale, who barely blocked it with his spear, and growled at him. The red demon then prepared to shoot molten liquid flames at Gale from point-blank range.

Gale realised that the assassin was physically stronger than him and had greater access to Qi, leaving him with only one option - the Void Lock. In his heightened state, unlocking the power of one fate lock to focus back on another was easier, but Gale was unsure if he could do it in time.

The hole had barely formed, fluctuating with spatial tears in the air, when the beam of liquid fire assaulted Gale from the red demon. All of its power poured into the hole, causing it to become completely unstable.

"Oh boy," Gale swore.

Gale deliberately lost his connection with the Void Lock and established a better connection with Guardian Emblem, empowering his body to the limit. The red demon was still pouring out everything to break the hole, unaware of the devastation it could cause.

Gale had prior experience with a void lock overflowing, which was probably why he managed to keep his head on his neck when the hole in reality exploded.

The overwhelming spatial wave spattered the mountain, sending Gale and the red demon flying at a tremendous pace. Even the other assassins and wild animals within a few thousand paces radius were flung away.

Thick, tall trees that stood for decades collapsed under the spatial wave, creating another wave of a quake.

Thunder boomed again, and the storm continued as if the little interlude only increased its intensity. Gale crashed into a huge ironwood tree, collapsing it in the process. His connection to the Guardian Emblem was barely intact, rendering him in better shape than most people did .

His mind wailed in a loud thumping noise, which he wasn't aware, if it was his heartbeat or the earth quaking.

Then his mind throbbed with a loud beeping noise, which he wasn't sure if it was his heartbeat or the earth quaking. He shook his head violently to get rid of the noise, and when it slowed down, he thumped his palms against his ears and stood up, supporting himself on the collapsed tree.

He gazed up at the sky, and then back at the assassin, who was in a worse state than he was, but that didn't mean much. He knew that with gold body reinforcements, they would be back to cause more trouble for him in no time.

Gale let go of his other fate lock and focused entirely on Stormsong, who could barely stand and was leaning against the collapsed tree.

Something had changed in the surroundings after the spatial quake, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. It wasn't just the instability in the spatial reality that he could easily sense, but something less apparent.

However, he didn't have time to contemplate this as the group of assassins, led by their red demon leader, had already got back on their feet.

Gale growled again and blinked, only to find over a dozen illusions of himself surrounding him. He knew they were all illusions, but he couldn't turn his head to find Sumei. The girl was probably hiding, veiled somewhere nearby.

Gale felt an urge to kiss her for what she had done for him right at this moment, but he had to deal with the assassins first.

***

Meanwhile, Vale and Xiaolin were approaching the mountains. They have left Stormhold a few minutes ago. Xiaolin still remained on top of Vale, riding him as he grew almost twice in size and took on a more predatory look.

Xiaolin couldn't feel her master's presence through their bond and wondered if Gale had deliberately blocked it or was in a terrible condition.

However, Vale could sense his presence, although she didn't know how strong it was.

"WOOF!"

Suddenly, Vale growled violently, causing Xiaolin to peek around and look for any alarming signs. Before she could react, both of them were sent flying backwards and landed on the ground.

Xiaolin let out a scream as her body collapsed on the ground, feeling her ribs cracking and her muscles spasming. Vale was in a similar situation as well, but his body was far superior to hers, as he could easily shrug off all the damage he got from that.

Xiaolin wailed and gritted her teeth. She surged her Qi, enabling herself to the minor healing ability she possessed. Still, she had no power to stand back up.

Her vision was red, her mind filled with pain and the wailing of Qi. However, she hadn't missed the golden light shooting over their head.

***

Gale called upon the lightning from the storm, running around along with all the other illusions, causing the assassins lots to mistake in their attack.

However, that changed when lightning crashed into Gale's spear, as an overwhelming amount of power surged through him. All the surrounding illusions vanished, but the assassins didn't approach him, wary of the lighting surging through his body.

Gale blinked his eyes, which glinted in the power of lightning. His spear was charged completely with the lightning's power, almost breaking out of his control.

Gale's clothes were already tattered, the arrow still plunged into his back, but he was feeling no pain anymore.

He couldn't describe his feeling in words, the overwhelming amount of power that was surging through his him. He needed to use them shortly, or. . .

Gale's mind blanked as he proceeded to do his work. His figure bolted at the red demon leader, swinging the lightning spear for his head.

Gale didn't care how the assassin leader blocked it with his huge sword. He literally plunged forth, lighting through Stormsong, sending him flying instantly.

There were three more in the vicinity. Gale turned to look at them.

"Attack!" the mid gold screamed, as all three of them charged towards Gale with their weapons drawn.

Gale spun around, his spear creating a vortex of lightning that deflected their attacks. The force of the lightning sent them all flying backwards. Before they could regain their footing, Gale continued on with his assault.

Gale charged towards them with his spear raised high. He unleashed a series of lightning strikes that zapped and stunned the assassins, leaving them disoriented and vulnerable. And dead.

One dead, two heavily injured.

He followed up with a swift strike, plunging his spear into the chest of one of the injured, lessening the number by one more.

Gale was ready to go for the last one of the trio, but Red demon rejoined, rendering the injured mid-gold to dodge his attack and swung his sword at Gale's exposed flank.

Gale's power was cracking out, but he found no limit to the connections he made to the storm. He drew in more than another thunderous lightning, crashed into him, and sent the two assassins flying.

They were injured, but not dead. The red demon was far from wounding up dead.

The lighting cleared and Gale saw the two assassins, both wide open. Gale spun his spear, taking his first step towards the assassins.

The mid-gold couldn't hold back anymore. He rolled on the ground to stand back again. But he didn't proceed on attacking anymore. Scared out of his mind, the mid-gold assassin turned his direction and left, not looking back.

The red demon was still growing in intensity, as if he didn't care about his feeling companion. Gale, on the other hand, had the same thought in mind; he could all the time look for the mid gold after he took care of this menace.

Still, Gale reacted quickly, parrying the attack with his spear and counter-attacking with a bolt of lightning that sent the assassin flying backwards.

Gale swirled his power, preparing to burn the existence of this red demon out of reality. While his opponent seemed to have the exact thought in mind, as his skin started to swell in red burning. The red demon prepared for one last attack just like Gale; the distance between them was barely twenty yards.

Gale screamed, and so did the red demon, Dior.

Swinging his spear, he crashed out of all his lightning towards the heavy sword-wielding demonic warrior. Dior was sent flying, all the lighting crashed into his body, but in hindsight he managed to complete his casting as the overwhelming waves of liquid molten flame crashed into Gale as well, flinging him away.

Gale's clothes shredded to nothing, his body battered, but he managed to land victorious, using his third fate lock.

At last, victory was within his grasp. He looked around at the carnage he had caused, feeling a sense of emptiness growing inside of him.

Next, he collapsed onto the ground, still conscious to find it wasn't nearly the end of it.