CHAPTER 672: SPECTATING: MRS. CASTER VS. MOON LADY (II)

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Grasping the power of laws could be considered a minor reality alteration ability in itself. Laws are the forces of nature, after all, and wielding their power means deciding how they work.

’Reality Alteration’ is a broad topic. It’s a rabbit hole of existentialism and a lot of space-time shenanigans, topics that are way too complicated for common folk to understand, much less influence.

Amongst the many variations of concept laws there are, Runic Laws was one of the very few that could truly touch upon the concept of altering reality and is one of the most encompassing ways to truly manipulate it according to the wielder’s desires.

However, as much as it was tempting to gain the power to alter reality itself, it is very difficult to do so. Understanding the concept of ’reality’ on its own was already hard, especially considering how illusive it was. Adding the deep and extensively profound studies of runes on top of that? Now it sounds even more impossible to do.

Besides, personal strength is still the basis of everything. Anybody who was strong enough could just negate any attempts of reality-altering skills. That’s why many people think that it’s a waste of time.

But of course, not everybody could truly understand how deep this concept truly goes. How can they when they’re not even qualified to have a look at it?

Cedric could speak from personal experience. After all, he does understand this concept too. He just doesn’t use it very often because it is too demanding with origin energy and his comprehension isn’t deep enough.

Still, knowing that Mrs. Caster was a rune specialist was a pleasant surprise. Her reality-altering trick was just a small part of her skills; her main strength lies in weaving runes like a natural phenomenon. And since Cedric was familiar with the concept himself, he knows just how deeply profound and complicated it was; that’s why he admires her for using it this well.

The fight continues, and this time, it was Mrs. Caster’s turn to attack.

Two out of the ten great law diagrams that hovered around her rose to the skies. They stacked on top of each other and grew in size, so much so that they covered the majority of the skies above the battlefield.

A foreboding sense of crisis was felt by everybody once they saw that. Yes, even the spectators themselves felt the threat, but they’re not really in danger. The one who was in danger was Mrs. Caster’s opponent.

The two diagrams then fused, and once they did, they turned into a massive portal.

From the other side, large asteroids started appearing. Each one was incredibly large and wreathed in flames. Mrs. Caster was raining meteors down on her enemy. She just casually summoned a world-ending calamity just to deal with her.

Seeing this, the other party wore a solemn look on her face. Although the process of summoning these meteors seems to have taken too long, in truth, it was completed in only a matter of seconds.

’Damn it, Hag! Aren’t you being a little too excessive? ’She complained inwardly.

But even so, she was still prepared to respond in kind.

She drew her giant moon-shaped bow and aimed at the falling meteors. Concept law diagrams appeared around her, shining with pristine silver light.

An arrow manifested from her fingertips. And as soon as she released her shot, at least a hundred more arrows were fired off at the same time, coming out of the law diagrams behind her. It’s like she became the equivalent of a whole firing squad on her own.

The amount of origin energy contained within each arrow was frankly alarming. Cedric estimated that even a single one of those arrows could erase an entire continent or two.

But given how grim the situation looked for her, this seems to be a proper response within her abilities.

The meteors and the arrows clashed. Surprisingly, the arrows prevailed. They pierced through the meteors with extreme efficiency, reducing them to mere rubble even before they made contact with the earth. This greatly reduced their threat to her, as mere boulders falling from the sky, even if she let them hit her, her barriers could naturally protect her from them.

Or at least, that’s what she thought until Mrs. Caster took advantage of that situation.

Swoosh!

Another one of the concept law diagrams around her move. This time, it didn’t fly away from her; instead, it just shifted its location and released a deep earthy brilliance, which seemingly stimulated the falling boulders.

Cedric saw the law diagram condensing a rune, one that is hidden to most but not from him. That rune reads ’Earth Sovereign,’ and that alone gave him assumptions of what it could do.

The falling boulders suddenly morphed, elongating into spears and spinning like a drill.

The moon lady felt a chill running down her spine as she saw this, and a great sense of crisis threatened to overwhelm her.

’Bitch! ’She spat hatefully to herself as she once again drew her great moon bow.

She didn’t dare to underestimate those drill spears. She’s been in enough fights that honed her instincts that she’s able to tell that these drill spears hold a far greater threat compared to the meteors that the hag summoned earlier.

The moon lady herself shot spinning silver arrows, one that’s spinning the opposite way compared to the drill spears. This was her attempt at neutralizing them.

Cedric praised her cleverness in doing this because this was indeed the best way to neutralize the attack. The spinning momentum of the earth spears gave them more oomph so that they would just pierce through any regular arrows she could shoot.

’But how will you handle the next one, I wonder?’ Cedric mused as he saw the Earth Sovereign rune still flashing with a deep earthy brilliance.

Occupied by dealing with the drill spears, the moon lady failed to sense that something else was happening.

Had she listened closely, she would’ve heard the faint chant coming from Mrs. Caster, and she would’ve noticed that previous brown law diagram flashing with a deeper and brighter brilliance than before.

The moon lady didn’t even get the chance to breathe right after getting rid of the drill spears from the skies before another surprising change happened.

An earthquake appeared, and suddenly, the entire battlefield shifted into something else.

Pillars of earth rose from the ground, turning into stiff mountain peaks that almost pierced the sky. Gravity has been magnified several times over the previous one. Spires of gold, diamond, and other rare minerals with nigh-indestructible durability manifested underground too.

The flow of origin energy shifted. The moon lady felt her control turning haywire because of it, so much so that she’s struggling to maintain the little zone she created that prevented her from being influenced by the reality-altering effects of Mrs. Caster’s ability.

With the gravity being magnified, she even found it difficult to hold her bow, much less draw it. The mineral spires were also doing something she couldn’t understand but was nevertheless harmful to her.

More importantly, the moon lady lost sight of Mrs. Caster. When she looked back at where she was previously, all she could see was a 15-foot-tall golem made from deep earth crystals glaring at her with scarlet eyes.

And it wasn’t the only one. There were at least five of them. Each one looked different; some were smaller than the rest, others taller. Some wide, some narrow. Yet every single one only wanted to kill her.

To make things worse, for monsters of their size, they sure move fast.

Bang!

The moon lady barely had time to unleash a barrier to protect her from the charging punch of one of the golems. Even then, the one she made easily broke under the immense force and pressure.

She could’ve easily defended against such a brute attack, but the new environment was hostile against her. It messed with her origin energy flow and control, and these constructs were surely not going to give her enough time to adjust.

The size and density of her bow were also working against her. It’s the only one she has, and she’s lacking in melee combat, so she’s out of options.

’God damn you, Hag! ’She screamed internally while trying to figure out how to deal with this situation.

Seeing this, Cedric sighed. It seems that this match was over.

Cedric could see where Mrs. Caster was. She was conveniently sitting on one of the mineral spires she summoned, observing her opponent’s struggles leisurely from a safe distance. It’s as if controlling all of those golems from this distance was as easy as breathing for her.

’Each one of those mineral spires suppresses other elements. Anyone else that’s not Mrs. Caster will find it difficult to wrest control over them with these around.’

’Yeah, the spires could be destroyed, but Mrs. Caster could always just make another one instantly.’

Cedric shook his head and knew the conclusion of this match already.

’The most fatal mistake one could make against a rune specialist is to give them time to set up their domain. Moon Lady, this is a painful lesson that I hope you’ll remember moving forward.’