146 True Strike

Tomas's action carried immense repercussions on the battlefield, especially in the side of those at the Soul Forging Rank.

It is true that despite having killed the Deathmask Dragon and fatally injured the Abyssfire Demon Phoenix, the equilibrium between the battle power of both armies remained the same because he was expulsed to the void as his strength reached a level that threatens the world itself.

But due to the unruly and chaotic nature of demons, the moment the two more powerful of them were no longer present to command them, the organization between those at Rank 4 broke immediately.

Those demons who were losing their battle against the Rank 4 Heavenly race members, chose to escape and those who were winning, started to attack like crazy beasts without care for the situation around them.

Both Dukes knew that although letting those Rank 4 demons escape will help them in their battle against the rest, it will also mean that they will slaughter and devour all the Heavenly race members in their path before they are found and killed.

Oliver and Martin attacked without regard for their injuries and commanded the rest of the Soul Forging existences to chase after the ones that tried to escape.

Little by little the demonic horde and those Rank 4 demons in the sky were pushed to the east of the continent, to the location of a region known as the Void Canyon.

This was a dangerous land in the continent, a deserted place with no valuable resource and not suitable for the growth of life as the natural energy on the world were in disarray and the levels of pollution will kill normal Rank 1 life forms.

It took an incredible amount of effort, and both Dukes suffering injuries so serious that it affected their souls, but they were able to pull the demons very deep into the canyon before retreating.

Once they were in the periphery of the canyon, both Oliver and Martin took dozen of white orb from their personal storage space and throw them to the ground making a white curtain appear.

The curtain starts to extend until it formed a dome that covered the entire Void Canyon, traping all the demons inside.

The curtain was known as Heavenly Guard, and even with the immense wealth that the Dukes have amassed as the leaders of the world, making it big enough to cover the entire canyon was very expensive for them and they will only be able to do it once.

The Heavenly Guard will only be able to resist the attacks of those Rank 4 demons for around two months, but the goal of it was never to contain them forever.

The time will be enough for Tomas to return to the world and start healing his wounds, and since they no longer have their leaders, the Dukes hoped that the demons will start to fight and kill among each other since there is no other life in there but themselves.

Despite having won the battle, no one in the army was celebrating. This was due to the great number of casualties and the fact that some of the Rank 4 demons had managed to escape despite the great effort of the Soul Forging existences of the Heavenly race.

There was also the fact that hundreds of thousands of demons that have separated from the horde long ago and have infested the continent and finding them all was going to be very difficult.

In the faces of Martin and Oliver, there was immense rage and frustration. They have lost twelve Soul Forging existences and less than a third of the army in the ground remained.

And the reason for their hatred, the force that had opened a portal into the Abyss and had caused hundreds of thousands of dead, was still hiding and they have no a single clue about their whereabouts.

...........

Inside the forcefield of the magic tower, all the Magi, Sunlight Champions, and Neo-Demons were discussing the immense energy they felt not too long ago and that was accompanied by the entire continent trembling.

The Rank 1 and 2 Magi were all smiling and thanking their luck that they were ordered not to perform explorations.

They do not know what was happening exactly, but it was clear that a battle between incredibly powerful individuals was happening and if they were found by them, then even if they want to die, they will have to wait until after suffering the horrible torture of having their souls searched and all of their memories extracted.

Those Rank 3 Magi had thoughtful expressions as they look at the top floor of the magic tower where the man that has forbidden to leave was and they were curious how did he know that the situation on the continent will be so volatile.

They understood that their previous action has made the relationship between them hostile, and most of them were trying to think of a way to fix it.

There were also those that when they saw Zatiel's abilities, it only makes their resentment against him grow, but they were smart enough to hide it.

Zatiel had also noticed the immense power that was released when Tomas released an attack powerful enough to destroy a considerable part of the continent.

But, unlike the rest, his experiences were much greater, so after making some calculations and having an educated guess about the situation on the continent and that of the man that made it tremble he return to his training.

He was healing the wounds in the Heavenly race's wings, he had obtained when he attacked the city of Berrak and also engraving the rune of Heavenly Polymorph on the skin of Rank 3 Magic Creatures.

His hands were moving with such proficiency, that it was hard to believe that he had split his mind, and most of his concentration was on his Animus training.

As a Rank 1 Animus, his Mind Force had reached the level that allowed it to took the form of an invisible aura surrounding Zatiel body.

The normal path of training of an Animus is focused on their disciplines and at Rank 1, they can start to gain true proficiency in three of them, which are Psychometabolism, Telepathy, and Clairsentience.

There is another path of training for an Animus that was created by Zatiel when he was the Incarnation of Death and Destruction, which he decided to call The Will That Guides the Heart, and that primarily focuses on increased body physical power.

It was purely theoretical since he did was not an Animus in his previous life, but it should be able to greatly increase his battle power.

But since it will only be truly effective when his Rank as an Animus and Neo-Demon are equal, he was not training it yet.

His main focus right now was in Clairsentience, in a specific display of this discipline that takes the form of a spell known as True Strike.

By using that spell, Zatiel will be able to potency his Clairsentience and extend his awareness a fraction of a second into the future, allowing him to predict his opponent's next movement and giving him the ability to respond with a counterattack if possible or going into defensive if it was necessary. 

There were several restrictions in this power as it will only allow Zatiel to see the action of the enemy he was focusing on and not the ones in the surrounding. Like anything related to the use of time, it was extremely exhausting, and only using it a couple of times will be enough to deplete his Mind Force.

But its uses are plenty and the advantage it could give in battle was great, especially in a melee fight where you are right next to your opponent and actions are decided in an instant.

The training of True Strike was very difficult but Zatiel practiced every day, and the only time he rested was when his Mind Force was depleted and he was forced to sleeps a couple of hours before starting again.

He will occasionally make some of the automatons that were created to protect the tower fight against him, focusing on using Clairsentience at all times to predict their movements and dodge their attack and when the time was right, use True Strike, and perform a counterattack that temporarily incapacitates them.

The days pass by, and his abilities continue growing, reaching the point that Zatiel was sure that if he will have to face that Angelic Paragon again he will not end up in such a deplorable situation where he could barely move.

He received a pleasant surprise as his proficiency in Clairsentience increased. His ability to detect danger was enhanced greatly and if he focused all of his power on it and maintain his concentration for a long time, he could predict events that could be dangerous for him.

It was very subtle and difficult to perceive, but he felt that there is something or someone that is trying to find him and if he leaves the cloaking force of the magic tower, his life will be in danger.

'A group of divinators or some especial artifact is being used to track my location, or maybe both. They must hate my guts due to the people they have lost but who cares, my goal has always been exterminating all of them from this world, so why will I care for their anger?.'

Total indifference was on Zatiel face, while he thinks on his enemies and the hundreds of thousands of death that his action has provoked on them.