Mercedes' words were like thunder in a clear sky to the surroundings, "He isolated the space! It's the power of Solitude!"
Whispers of understanding escaped the lips of the observers. While Solitude was a trait that wasn't quite understood, there were a few popular theories about it.
"Master said that he saw a Solitary Sword Sovereign isolate a star from his solar system with a single swing of his blade after using the Breath of Solitude. The star still released light, but the light never reached any planet and from afar the star looked like a floating mass of darkness. So it's not far-fetched to believe that Solitude can counter a substance whose main trait is virility."
Mercedes' master, Everlasting Willow, had a reputation that could move mountains and overturn nations within this section of the system. No one doubted the veracity of Mercedes' words as the effects were clear to see.
"There is a huge gap between the average SSS cultivator and the next level. If 99.99% of the SSS are just above average at best, then that 0.001% left will all be powerhouses of the highest order. There is a good chance that Solitary is in that small 0.001%." Ulysses added as he calmly observed what happened.
"Then this man is a Natural Born Sovereign." Said Lydia with uncertainty. The system did produce Natural Born Sovereigns among locals. But they were not Sovereigns of a world. Instead, they were Sovereigns of the region. Just like with worlds, each region could only give rise to 3 Natural Born Sovereigns. But local Sovereigns were much rarer than user Sovereigns. Most regions didn't even have a single Sovereign among their populace.
"Since Peerless could use The Colossus Criterion Thesaurus, he is without a doubt a Natural Sovereign as well. That means his group has two Natural Born Sovereigns." Natasha, Gianluigi and the Group from the Eternal Night Empire gazed at Will's figure enviously. Mercedes and Ulysses were both Natural Born Sovereigns. The fact that one group had such a background allowed Spectralia to get away with only having brought a few members.
"The show isn't over." Death Calling had been extremely silent the entire time, as The Eternal Night Empire was the weakest of the large factions. The fact that he had been humbled by Peerless in the first round also reduced his standing. But he was still cautious of Lyra within the tent.
His words caused the others to shift their attention back to the tent as they remembered a crucial fact.
"Call of the Forest!" Lyra's shout resounded as he finished his chant.
A shockwave of water and metal attribute energy flooded the environment with Lyra's location as the epicentre. The initial shockwave was followed by others, releasing a high-pitched echo akin to that of a submarine's sonar.
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A large torrent of World Energy gathered around Lyra. It was not much in actuality, but this was due to the stability of the space. If they were still in lower-tier space, the vicinity would have been extremely tumultuous.
The previously invisible worm left over from Spirit Link materialized in front of the observers. The normally invisible link was now visible to all. This was an effect of Call of the Forest.
It was a spell that allowed spiritual summoners to tap into the power of Truth through nature. It allowed one to detect all forms of life in a certain range, including soul and mental energy beings. If taken a step further, it also temporarily forced spiritual beings to physically manifest by forcefully applying the hardening trait of stable Truth. Truth could make the tangible spiritual and the intangible ephemeral. When applied with skill it had frightening results.
Lyra was only able to cast this spell because Fafnir's poison was no longer present in the vicinity. The poison acted as interference, making the casting of long-range reconnaissance spells impossible. But thanks to Will, Lyra was able to show his worth. Lyra reached out to the map on the table and changed quite a few details. Hundreds of figures that were not present before appeared on the map.
Once again this was an effect many of the captains there could replicate. But none of them were below level 99. Lyra was still at level 90 and had not reached the peak of level 99. In fact, he could barely apply concepts to his spells at all. Despite this, his ability to infuse a higher sense into a wide area spiritual spell caused the others to swallow saliva.
"Peerless' subordinates all have some sort of gift with mental energy and Truth. Could they be included in its Nation Power Boosts?" added a captain from Gianluigi's group. At this point, the subordinates that had followed Achilles had returned. Pleased with the experience they had just encountered. Achilles came back extremely fatigued but he was happy. Macedonian Charge had taken up most of his energy reserves but he was happy with the results.
'I did not shame Tsimikas.'
Lyra followed suit and sat down after completing his spell. Waves of spiritual energy were still being released but Lyra was no longer the source. Call of the Forest was an application of force. Sword Force borrowed the power of metal from the sword one was wielding while Call of the Forest leveraged whatever elements the caster specialized with.
Many forests had metal ores and remnants that provided nutrition to plants while water was everywhere. Lyra leveraged the water element and metal element to use Nature Force to carry out Call of the Forest. Just like a Guided Strike, the spell would continue even if the caster was dealt with. Achilles sat down next to his brother in arms and they both started to meditate to recover.
Will wobbled forward and pointed at Death Calling, "Shouldn't you trace the source of that?" Will's finger shakily pointed to the Spirit Link worm that was retracting itself. Death Calling looked at Mercedes and the latter nodded. In response, he and a few of his fellow Eternal Night Empire Assassins disappeared like smoke into the distance. Chasing after the source of the Spirit Link.
Narcissus sat down next to the others and brought out his mirror. He released energy fluctuations that made it seem like he was in a state of recovery but he could not bring himself to act any weaker.
The group once again gathered in the tent, but this time, the eyes observing Will had a hint of respect for them. His potential was endless and his fellow countrymen were equally talented. Mercedes even entertained the thought of poaching them from Peerless. With Spectralia's reach and background, this was possible. However, it was clearly not going to be an easy feat, for one simple reason.
'I still don't know who Peerless' backer is. All I know is that he is somehow connected to the All-Father. According to Aphrodite, there is also a chance that other deities are in some sort of contact with him as well.'
Will waved his hand like he was swatting a fly and said, "Y'all can go ahead and ignore me for now. I'm basically tapped out!"
Thud!
To everyone's surprise, Will fell face-first into the ground, his body as stiff as a copse.
"He over drafted his mental energy and caused his adjustment to actually regress. Now his adjustment will last even longer and will affect him even more." Chuckled Francis.
"Hmph, serves him right for trying to show off." Lydia couldn't care how gifted he was, after all, who among the captains wasn't a once-in-a-lifetime prodigy? They were only slowly adjusting to their new environment and no one wanted to act until they had a better grasp of the situation. Thus no one had the intention to get serious from the get-go.