The moment the words left my mouth, Elias's kind facade completely vanished.
[May the earth reclaim your arrogance,] the old spirit echoed.
He simply raised his weathered hand.
The ground beneath my feet exploded. Dozens of thick, barbed roots shot out of the soil like spears, aiming directly to impale me.
My [Sixth Sense] flared. I instantly triggered Flash, teleporting ten feet to the right just as the roots shredded the space where I had been standing.
Without missing a beat, I drew my heavy combat knife. Against a spirit of the Holy Empire, normal aura would be useless. Instead, I channeled a concentrated burst of my own raw, natural Divine Force directly into the steel blade, making it glow with a fierce, blinding white light.
I swung the blade in a wide arc.
Clang!
