Although she wore a helmet, she wasn't going to tank that with her face. When the fist hit, it hit the face of the Djinn, which had swapped places with her. The spirit burst into a cloud of dust and flames as the damage forced him to be unsummoned
"In blackest night, No prey shall escape my sight. Let those who fear the hunter's might, Beware my power- Bloodmoon's Light." Cade cast on herself and blinked behind the Abbot, striking him with her cursed claws.
"Gah!" the abbot cried out and breathy old man's shout.
The claws covered in a rose red aura pierced straight through his golden energy, cutting deep into his back. Cade could feel the resistance, as if she were striking a block of
"You cur!" he exclaimed. Ignoring his wound, he directly grabbed back and caught her right arm, which she just attacked with. Following through with the movement, he swung her like a sack of potatoes and threw her off the mountain.
She was literally soaring through the sky and saw the mountain below shrinking as she got close to the crown of the Guardian Tree Sapling. She was at the same height as the ships and vessels battling the vines of the arboreal foe.
Seeing the vast temple complex covering the whole mountain below her, she saw in horror as the abbot jumped after her. It was not the fact that he jumped after her, but that his actions created a crater in the inner sect, which collapsed several adjacent temple buildings.
"That's some terrifying physical force..." Cade couldn't help but think, but she didn't look on helplessly.
"Blight Flame Shower!" she exclaimed after a shortened chant. A swarm of green fireballs the size of boulders was created in the air around her and rushed forward to face the old man and rain on the sect below.
Seeing the crater, Cade had realized something. The abbot had been holding back previously because an all-out fight between the two would have completely wrecked the 8 Chakra Temple. He had thrown her to get the fight to change locations.
The rakshasi didn't have the same qualms; on the contrary. Facing the multiple fireballs that could raze a small city to the ground, the abbot did exactly what Cade had expected. He stopped his charge against her and turned to block the AOE attack.
Flying around, he once again drew golden lines in the sky. The sect was his weakness, so why not exploit it? While the abbot was busy blocking, Cade cast an even bigger spell. Below, a formation of golden light had taken shape, which crashed into the fireballs and managed to explode them in the air.
However, in the sky above, dark clouds had formed, covering the peak of the mountain with the inner sect in a dark shadow. This was something he wouldn't be able to block that easily.
"Rain of Greater Corrosion!" She finished the spell by calling out its name. Her words were followed by a downpour of black rain. However, the abbot smirked this time and charged at her, ignoring the spell.
"Ha! The defense of my sect still stands! A little rain will never-!" he exclaimed, just before the roots of the guardian tree ripped through the ground all over the inner sect. The milky white shield and barrier formations vanished as if their existence was a lie. Cade smirked.
Since the tree destroyed the defenses, the rain fell unhindered onto the inner sect. Where the rain hit unprotected rock, it ate through it like a solvent through Styrofoam, exuding a toxic gas in the process.
Some buildings had their own safety measures, shown as a golden shield, covering them from the rain. But those started flickering quickly before failing, leaving the grand palaces and temples to suffer the same fate as anything else.
Any living person, like the disciples who had their status lowered, could neither resist the rain nor the gas. Rain of Greater Corrosion was a dark magic and a curse that brought destruction, poison, and disease. Even those not directly hit or affected were bound to suffer.
The abbot watched in horror as everything but the central spire that stubbornly resisted the rain was decomposed. But it didn't end there, as the toxic fumes wafted down the mountain, affecting all the disciples in the levels below, fighting the roots and vines of the tree sapling.
Having shocked the abbot, Cade decided to take care of the immediate danger, her falling toward the ground at an increasing speed. She drank a potion of Feather Fall before using several
She had not returned to the inner sect but landed at the foot of the tree sapling, right in front of the massive statue of Huddba. If she had judged him correctly, he would- Whoom! With a great boom, the old man created another crater in the plaza in front of the statue.
There was nothing he could have done to save the sect above. What he could do was kill Cade. Or at least these were the thoughts she predicted.
"This will not end quickly. I will let you taste the 81 Sufferings of Huddba before I will even consider ending your pathetic existence," he spoke. His voice was cold, but his wrath was seething. Too bad he played right into her hand.
"Too bad you are not the brightest," she said to the man, who was blinded by rage and loss. The next moment, deep red roots shot up from the ground, binding his arms, leg and torso. "You see, I'm not your opponent."
It was never the plan for any of Minas Mar to directly face an immortal. All they had to do was weaken them and buy time. Time for the sapling to grow, feast, and become strong enough to take down the sect. Cade had already planted the tree yesterday, giving it ample time to suck power from the spirit vein. Now it had also drenched its thirst on the majority of the monks.
The only thing she had to ensure was that the abbot didn't just run away. This was the only weakness of the trees; once they had grown strong, they couldn't give chase. The immortal of incredible strength and resilience reared up against the roots.
He actually managed to break a couple of roots despite the earlier fight and the curses on him. Still, there were more and more roots, continuously covering him and slowly pulling him below the earth, where the tree would imprison him to suck him dry for nutrients.
"Bye, I still have something to take care of," Cade said and left the struggling cultivator to his woody fate. There were still three more cultivators of commendable strength left at the spire in the inner sect.
She couldn't allow them to flee now, could she?
---
---Nine Chakra Temple---
In a dark chamber, facing the emaciated figure of Huddba, an ancient monk raised his head from meditation.
"Ahh, my poor junior brother," he sighed. "In the end, you were unable to escape the confines of Karma. Your suffering was premeditated when you left the true path. Yet, can I just keep my hand when you are in trouble? hmm.." he pondered.
"Hmmm," he pondered some more.
"Hmm, I will have to ponder on this a little longer."