Chapter 282: Wake-up Call
Surrounding the entire city was a violent wall of lightning. Hot-white lightning strikes fell over and over to the point where a dense, thick wall had been formed, preventing anyone from entering without Stormcaller inviting them in.
Uhtred had long seen the terrifying wall of lightning. Its glow could even be seen from miles away, so it wasn’t like Hassan Al-Malik was showing him something he hadn’t already noticed on his own.
However, now that Hassan had pointed his attention to it, he only just began to truly see it for what it was. He focused on it and felt the terrifying power held within each strike. Just one of those strikes could very likely kill a Mortal Realm ascender, or at least injure them severely.
There were hundreds, if not thousands, of such strikes every single second.
"We have all been trying to breach that wall of lightning, but our efforts have been futile," Hassan said. "The Free Ascenders’ Guild and the New World Government were the first to arrive. They have already tried repeatedly to breach the lightning wall, but they failed. In fact, they suffered some casualties whom they had to quickly send back to their territory for treatment."
"What about you? Isolde is also here. You both failed to breach it?" Uhtred frowned, casting a glance from Hassan to Isolde Castiglione, who stood with her family a short distance away and hesitantly watched him.
The moment their gazes met, she stepped forward and began walking toward them.
Uhtred waited for her, while Hassan seemed to be steaming from Uhtred’s casual remark.
"Ah?" Uhtred suddenly chuckled, looking at Hassan Al-Malik. "Don’t tell me that’s why you were acting so embarrassed and all..."
Isolde Castiglione, who had now closed the distance, heard Uhtred’s words and chipped in before Hassan could speak:
"Unfortunately, you are right, Uhtred," she said. "Even I was totally embarrassed, and that’s why I’m only just coming to greet you now."
"Ah?" Uhtred didn’t know whether to laugh or be disappointed. Based on what he could feel from the lightning wall surrounding Stormcaller’s territory, he was certain none of the ascenders present could breach it on their own.
Nobody here was at Level 40 yet, and Uhtred reckoned that was the very least that should be enough to handle that wall, so he really couldn’t understand why they were embarrassed by their failed attempts.
Or rather, he actually understood it, and that was why he was slightly disappointed.
Face.
The only reason Isolde Castiglione and Hassan Al-Malik hadn’t been able to breach the lightning wall yet was because they were both unwilling to lose face.
Uhtred could understand if it were the New World Government, or even the Free Ascenders’ Guild or the Inagawa-Kai, but for Isolde Castiglione and Hassan Al-Malik — two of the ten ascenders who were on the human champions’ team representing Earth in the Tower — the fact that they’d allowed face to hold them back here made him see them in a different light.
"No, this won’t do." Uhtred shook his head, a frown on his face. "Isolde, I’ve seen a bit of your abilities. Even you, too, Hassan. Yes, neither of you can breach the wall on your own, but that doesn’t mean you can’t combine your efforts to breach it together."
The moment he said those words, Isolde’s and especially Hassan Al-Malik’s faces twitched slightly, confirming Uhtred’s deduction.
"The fact that you both haven’t combined your efforts to breach the lightning wall simply means that both of you are unwilling to lose face here. You don’t want the World Government, the Free Ascenders’ Guild, or any other faction to think that you can’t breach that wall on your own," Uhtred said, looking between both of them.
"If I had to guess, you both only attempted it once, and even then, you likely didn’t put your maximum effort into it, right?" he asked, then continued without waiting for either of them to answer, already seeing the response in their expressions.
"So what? You both knew I was going to come here anyway, so you just decided to wait for a bigger power to come handle it? Is that right?" he asked, then his expression suddenly turned fierce. He spoke more slowly, his voice hard:
"Normally, I wouldn’t comment on this. You guys are your own people; you can do whatever you like. But just this once, I think I have to, simply because I see both of you as... capable friends. You both are on the champion team, so I want to see you continue to grow even after the Tower trial," he paused and looked them both in the eye.
Their expressions were solemn, all prior embarrassment long gone now. They didn’t even care that Uhtred’s voice wasn’t as low as before, and that those present with good hearing would pick up on everything he was saying.
"Face is good. In fact, when necessary, make sure you uphold your face. Reputation is vital in this new world that we live in," Uhtred said. "But the keyword there is ’necessary.’ Uphold your face when necessary. If not, discard it totally! If it will hinder you from achieving the result you want, then discard it in an instant. It isn’t worth shit in that case!"
He delivered the words calmly, staring at Isolde and Hassan for several silent seconds. His words clearly struck a chord with both of them, as their expressions turned hard and contemplative.
Isolde was the one to nod first. Her expression turned easy, as if a sudden weight had been lifted off her shoulders.
As the person with the greatest talent from her age-old family — the one being nurtured to carry their old family name further out into the multiverse — a lot of responsibilities naturally fell on her shoulders, and that seemed to have made her a bit disillusioned.
Uhtred returned her nod, somewhat understanding her situation, and looked next at Hassan Al-Malik, who also nodded, though he seemed to still be contemplating.
"Well, in that case..." Uhtred’s gaze turned to the wall of lightning beyond them, a fiery light of challenge in his eyes. "Why don’t I handle the wall that has befuddled all of you for so long?"
He stepped past Isolde and Hassan, striding toward the violent wall of lightning.
The gazes of every faction present followed his movement. Whispers and murmurs — some eager to see him in action, and others wishing to see him fail — droned from the different parties present.
.
.
Golden Eagle Vance’s POV
Golden Eagle Vance was standing at the fore of the New World Government forces, watching Uhtred walk past as the agents surrounding him were whispering words like:
"Look at him go... Man, I really hope he fails—"
"Imagine what the look on his face would be... After all this bravado—"
𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞
Normally, Golden Eagle Vance would’ve agreed with them. But right now, he found that he simply couldn’t bring himself to.
He had heard what Uhtred had said to Hassan Al-Malik and Isolde Castiglione. And surprisingly, he found that those words also struck a chord with him.
Over the past year, the higher he climbed in levels and the more that ascenders generally became more powerful around the world — with new powers rising, particularly their own new talent, Hero — his impression of Uhtred began to change ever so slightly.
By now, he was certain that Uhtred reaching his current number one position was no fluke at all. He hadn’t just been lucky to have been integrated with a high talent grade. He didn’t just have a knack for fighting beasts either. Instead, he was like a complete package: brutal and decisive when necessary, and level-headed and logical for the most part.
...Unlike that kid, Golden Eagle Vance sighed, the image of a blond-haired, similarly powerful young man flashing in his mind.
He waved the thought away and refocused on the present, watching as Uhtred finally reached the edge of where the lightning wall began.
"So you think he’ll fail to breach the lightning wall?" Golden Eagle Vance asked the agents whispering behind him.
They perked up and straightened quickly, recognizing the chastising tone behind Golden Eagle Vance’s voice.
"I think it’s fifty-fifty, sir. Uhtred is powerful, but that wall of lightning is powered by nature itself, fueled even more by the existence of cosmic essence. Even he would have a difficult time overcoming that," a smartly dressed female agent with a bob cut spoke up, delivering her analysis.
"Sound analysis." Golden Eagle Vance cracked a smile. "But I think you’re wrong."
Before the female agent could offer any more words, a shocking sight unfolded right in front of everyone’s eyes.
Within Uhtred’s palm, an abominable surge of magic — something that made every ascender present recoil in terror and alarm — appeared.
It was an orb of what could only be described as chaos... a jumble and mishmash of vaguely familiar essence signatures. They exploded and fought against each other, their power growing more and more terrifying by the second.
Then, in a sudden move, Uhtred released that orb, sending it sailing straight at the wall of lightning.