Chapter 860 Arrival

Confusion flickered in Theron's eyes. He didn't understand what was happening at all.

These people didn't even seem to be here for him. No-originally, they were. But then they noticed Ayame and had decided to switch

targets.

Those words that the Fire Mancer had said were especially odd. What had he done that was worth their fanfare to begin with? Was it the formation of his White Cores?

But as far as Theron could tell, everyone here had some version of that exact same thing. It was hard for Theron to see the finer details, but he could see quite clearly that the boundaries between these people and the world around them were very blurred.

If Theron had had his full array of senses, though, he would have noticed that they weren't all created equal.

Not to mention the fact that not everyone here had a Dual Resonance like he did-one that gave him two White Cores to their one-theirs were also on a far smaller scale.

Although their "edges" weren't defined, they could still be found, unlike Theron's, which seemed to truly extend indefinitely.

In fact, if Theron's had "edges" as defined as theirs, he wouldn't be struggling so much right now. He couldn't even begin to recover his soul because his Cores insisted on giving him information about Mana hundreds, even thousands of kilometers away.

It was hard enough to control Mana in this volatile place without being saddled with such a difficult set of tasks to manage and deal with.

And now he was suddenly being attacked again.

Unable to react in time, Theron quickly turned around, choosing to

shield Ayame instead.

His thoughts were consumed with how to recover his soul.

Unfortunately, Theron didn't have a real Soul Method. The Matriarch of the Hall of Ice and Heart thought he did, but in reality those were just side effects of his father's necklace being misconstrued as such.

However, his father's necklace only seemed to react to a very particular set of emotions, and while it could improve his soul strength, it had never actually replenished it.

While Theron would take a soul strengthening right now if he could get it, he didn't have easy access to either. He couldn't just have soul enlightenment because he wanted it.

BOOM.

The strike landed against Theron's back and his body shook. He coughed up a mouthful of blood, taking a heavy step forward.

He had just barely managed to put up a small bit of defense, but that wasn't enough to deal with the caliber of opponent this was.

Cultivation didn't matter in this place. All that mattered was Resonance, and with their White Cores, these people had a strong influence over the fluctuations of the surrounding space, while every attempt Theron made to control that same space came with a headache that threatened to split his skull in two.

The 167th-ranked genius, though, was stunned. He took three quick steps back, not out of a loss of momentum, but instead due to

caution.

Theron should have been blown to pieces just now, but he had only coughed up a small amount of blood?

Ozen reacted similarly in the skies. He was far more powerful than Belen, but that didn't matter in a situation like this one.

A scorching palm print appeared on Theron's back, but when the soot and flames cleared, all that was left was a slightly faded mark. Then it

rapidly healed, vanishing as though it had never been there at all.

"What the hell..." Belen was in shock.

It was Ozen who took a deep breath upon seeing this. It seemed that it wasn't a fluke-Theron really was worthy of being ranked first.

But that didn't matter. Per cycle, only a single person could reach the peak of the Mountain of Heaven. Only a single person could see snippets of the battle between their Ancestors. Only a single person got a chance to leave their name.

He had thought that he would be ranked in the top 100 at the very least, but being ranked outside of it had dealt him a real blow.

Across all time and space, was he really only the 113th most talented?

That was unacceptable to him.

He needed to be the one to ascend the mountain. He needed to change his fate and reforge his talent into what he felt it should be- to what he deserved.

And it started with wiping this anomaly out.

However, before he could even move, Theron roared with fury.

A volatile storm kicked up-and then he was suddenly gone. Ozen's eyes flew open wide and his head snapped to one side and then the other.

Where did he go?!

Ozen tried to roar himself, but before he even could, the storm that had kicked up knocked him out of the air and he came crashing to the ground below.

At that moment, a group stood outside of the Gate of Heaven. Lyra, Ameridia, Messo, and even Alpha were present.

While the group had tried to get Alpha to turn away, unsure how the

Gate would impact the beast, he seemed insistent and wouldn't take no for an answer. Even Ameridia's stricter methods couldn't seem to

restrain him.

Rather than getting caught, Alpha used methods that were little short of suicide to shake himself free.

In the end, Ameridia couldn't be blamed for this and simply chose to

let him come.

"They're waiting," Messo said calmly, looking toward a distant asteroid where Kenton sat, and then another where Bamby was present.

They were actually willing to wait there for dozens of years need be. But Ameridia... couldn't wait that long.

However, just as they were about to step into the Gate, the world shook violently and then an enormous ship emerged from a wormhole

in the distance.

Standing at the helm of this ship was someone that Theron would have intimately recognized had he been there. But he didn't need to be-because Lyra recognized her just as well.

Matriarch Macie.

The Nightingales had arrived.