The huge torrent of water gave the Infernal Banyan some trouble, but it was far from enough to stop him. What they didn’t know was that one of the seeds he’d thrown out contained a Blacksilver Pawn, or at least the core of one, just like he’d left deep down beneath the ground. To control the Infernal Banyan he had to maintain an energy connection with it and if he were to form one externally then his enemies could sense and possibly target it. That’s where the Blacksilver Pawn, and the Soul Fragment within, came to use. By the medium of his own soul, he could send Qi directly to these two huge Infernal Banyans without any external signs or connections that could be targeted. They’d have to locate and destroy the Blacksilver Pawns if they wished to stop these huge and disgusting ‘organisms’.

At the moment, twelve rank fives attempted to take him on all by themselves and they were far from being a match even with the assistance of their powerful Magical Tool that combined their laws and multiplied their force using the river below. The moment Sage was waiting for finally came: Six Grains lifted his hands and sand flowed out from his sleeves. Or at least it looked like it at first from the speed it poured out. As it started to pile up on the ramp beside him, Sage saw that it was instead small grains of rice. Or at least that’s how they looked on the surface. The ‘rice’ clung together and started to form into a shape, lifting up off the ground and swirling around Six Grains like it was a wave of water. This very strange sand whirled around the man, first forming into a protective wall and then circling around the man over and over again.

The rice kept pouring out of his sleeves, completely hiding his hands with the constant flow. Then the cylindrical wall around Six Grains undulated and the man appeared at the top of it. The wall became a pillar, lifting him up into the air. A spire on top of the Spire quickly formed, and then suddenly it rippled and shot upwards. This impromptu tower of rice flowed downwards and hit the ramp of the Spire, propelling the whole mass upwards like a huge spring. In mid-air the pillar beneath the man swung around, moving from beneath Six Grains to up above him. The immense volume of rice rippled as it took on the muscled appearance of a huge arm and slammed its fist up against the Infernal Banyan that was spread out over the top of the Spire’s defensive formation.

One of the seeds that Sage had thrown out was obliterated just like that, the origin point of a mass of tentacles was shattered apart and all the tentacles were blasted away. Some of them were well connected enough to other seeds to remain intact, but others were completely disconnected by this attack and sent flying into the air.

After the ‘punch’, the rest of the Infernal Banyans contracted, coiling up much tighter than they’d been a moment ago, concentrating their strength. After the attack, Six Grains started to fall back down towards the Spire, but only for a moment before the big arm flowed down beneath him and caught him on its palm. The arm shrunk while the hand got bigger and bigger. Remarkably, the hand didn’t fall from the sky. Instead it floated upwards, flying through the gap its punch had created and bypassing the huge net of tentacles that separated Six Grains from the strangely armored person riding the chariot with wheels aflame.

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Sage was surprised, not having expected the versatility of Six Grains’ Magical Tool. The ‘rice’ were actually all part of a single Magical Tool, or perhaps it was many smaller tools that could perfectly combine their power. Whatever the case, Sage had only heard that Six Grains was famous for having a very powerful weapon, but since he hadn’t actually fought in centuries, the actual details of said tool were very vague. Now was his chance to finally confirm the strength of the tool and he could see that its reputation was not without merit. From the looks of things, each of the little grains of rice could move about as if with telekinesis or under their own power without any obvious form of propulsion. It looked quite versatile and seemed like an excellent counter to the Infernal Banyan.

What a pain.

With Six Grains bursting through the web of tentacles, Sage could no longer count on attrition to capture the whole place. He’d have to defeat Six grains without having the man trapped. Worse yet, he’d need to do it while still diverting a portion of his Qi to the expanding ‘net’ over the top of the Spire. If he didn’t, the group of rank fives would use that Law combining firehose to destroy the Infernal Banyan. With this in mind, Sage quickly threw out the rest of the seeds he’d prepared in advance, tossing them out to join the others before Six Grains closed in with him. Sage wouldn’t have enough energy to expand this net while still fighting Six Grains, so he had to rely upon all the prepared seeds to be the battery for growth.

The chariot he was riding on started to move, flying away from the peak of the spire and the still expanding Infernal Banyan. Six Grains chased after him, riding on a huge ‘cloud’ of rice. They moved a few miles away from the Spire before Sage wheeled back around and charged back towards Six Grains. His right hand lifted and then shot forward, a black tentacle shot out from his wrist, cracking towards Six Grains as he passed by on the Flaming Chariot. The ‘cloud’ beneath Six Grains swept upwards like the curl of a breaking wave, forming a shield that blocked the spike-covered whip’s strike. The Flaming Chariot swung around to the side and started to circle around Six Grains. So far it seemed to fly much faster than the tiny rice and Sage used it to run circles around Six Grains while constantly cracking his whip.

Six Grains wasn’t affected much by these probing attacks, the rice flowing up and down to intercept the attacks with seeming ease. Sage increased the pace of the attacks, wanting to see if he could block Six Grain’s view by forcing him into a defensive position. With many attacks landing on the same spot for a prolonged period, the wall of rice maintained its shape, but Sage saw that there was always a small hole in the wall, allowing Six Grains to have a good view of his attacker. While it meant this tactic of letting Six Grains blind himself wasn’t successful, it also showed that the rice could, in fact, block Six Grains’ vision.

I can work with that.

The whip continued to strike the wall, sending bits of rice flying. The little bits were knocked away, but they recovered after a moment and flew back to rejoin the main mass. This meant if he wanted to break through by force he’d have to attack with enough force and ferocity to knock them all away very rapidly before they could recover. Or, that was what he hoped Six Grains thought. While the whip was striking rapidly against the wall, it suddenly elongated. It continued to strike the wall in the same space, no longer using its tip to attack, but one of the ‘loops’ along its length. The whip wasn’t just powered by the motion of his arm, it was also using a Spirit Power technique along with its own innate ability to be controlled with more dexterity than if it was a living thing, curling down underneath the large ‘cloud’ and wrapping around behind to strike at Six Grains from behind.