Chapter 182: Turning the Tides

Whoosh!

Without hesitation, Aurus transferred his control to his clone, who was still hidden between the trees not far away from the entrance of the alliance base. At the very instant the control was transferred to Aurus's clone, Argentum, he blinked for a few times to get used to the new main perspective he had before standing up to do some light stretching, adapting to the form of his clone's body.

"I should seriously evolve my original body to the Animate level as fast as possible," Argentum muttered as he warmed up his body for what he was going to do, thinking about the multiple things he could do with two Animate bodies. "Other than allowing me to easily adapt to the feel of this body, it would also allow me to have multiple identities. Well, the latter part is only helpful if I do something bad. I don't think I'd do crimes at the Animate level."

He then took a deep breath before focusing his sense of vision towards the top-down perspective he obtained from the soul balls, remembering the words that Chonk uttered a while ago. He could not help but think that if one of the elements from a while ago were lacking in any way, a chance like this would not have popped up, leading the two of them to die under Chonk's paws and ultimately the alliance after them.

"If I remember Chonk's words correctly, the [Grand Restriction] spell is being controlled by another Animate on their side, which could only be Chungus, the being Horell used as a scapegoat for Operation Reversal to succeed," Argentum went over Chonk's words while thinking out loud as he manipulated the soul balls to move towards a higher altitude before screening the whole area to find signs of a magic circle.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

"Chungus is only a Rank 0 Animate, which means I could kill him with the most basic spell I have without a problem," Argentum continued to think out loud as he finished scanning the area near the alliance base with the soul balls. Finding no magic circle, he then moved the soul balls to scan over the area between the alliance base and the territory Chonk's army resided in before going all in. 

"Then again, I can't help but be anxious after remembering what Chonk said. Since Chonk said that us at our Pseudo-Animate forms would die under Chungus's hands, then Chungus might have some life-saving trump cards that would allow him to easily escape my attack." With this in mind, Argentum let out a sigh of despair, thinking about what spells he had at the moment that would allow him to not let Chungus get away from his attack. It was then that a spark of inspiration flashed in his mind.

"Unless…I use [Tempest's Envoy]."

Ding!

Commanding the system to bring up the skill description of [Tempest's Envoy] in front of his field of vision, Argentum made sure that the effects of the spell would allow him to easily kill Chungus without a problem.

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[Tempest's Envoy]

MP Cost: 5 MP

A Level 0 Spell inclined towards the Wind element. The more known variant of this spell is [Wind's Envoy], increasing the speed and damage of a single spell by 50% for a short amount of time. As for this variant, it takes this effect one notch higher, borrowing the power of nature to enhance the speed and damage of any spell cast in a certain span of time by 100 percent, allowing lower-leveled spells to unleash the power of a higher-leveled spell while using less mana in the process.

________

Argentum could not help but lightly grin after reading the description of the skill one more time, closing the screen not long after as he moved the soul balls towards the territory Chonk's army resided in a while ago. While doing so, he muttered, "The Nature's Wind variant of Level 0 Spells truly is more powerful than any of the Level 0 Spells my Inanimate body has access to. Then again, the power of a spell is also based on the stats of the user."

"Ah. Found it." Eventually, Argentum was able to find the magic circle that Chonk spoke of a while ago, situated about tens of meters away from where the army resided. Manipulating the soul balls to reduce their altitude so he could get a better view of the surroundings around the magic circle, Argentum then imprinted the view in his mind before tilting it to fit his main perspective. Not long after that, Argentum started to dash towards the area where the magic circle resided at his full speed, making sure to not alert Chonk of his presence.

"Operation Turning The Tides has officially started!"

"Wait. Shit. I shouldn't be shouting."

…

While Argentum was heading towards the area where the magic circle, as well as Chungus, resided, a mosquito the size of a spider had made its way towards the area where three entities could be seen clearly with his spatial receptors, clearly feeling the aura that came from the three of them.

"Hm. Quite interesting." Looking at the landscape of front of it, it could not help but focus on two entities who were fighting against each other, both of them radiating auras that fluctuated in intensity. At times, it would feel that the auras radiating from them were as weak as mere insects, while at other times, it would feel that the auras radiating from them were very close to the aura radiated by normal humans.

"Hmm…If I were to gauge their power using the Constitution stat I have, at their weakest, they would be at a 0.01, and at their strongest…around 0.6?" the mosquito muttered as it watched the two continue clashing skills, mesmerized by the aesthetic of their skills. Not long after, it then shifted its focus towards the other entity in the area, who was quite a distance away from the other two.

"The aura I'm sensing from this one…" the mosquito could not help but feel a bit anxious while examining this entity. Surprisingly, not long after, the anxiousness the mosquito felt had faded away in an instant as a thought flashed across its mind, replacing the anxiousness it felt with slight excitement.

If the strongest auras radiated by the two fighting entities were equivalent to the strength of a kid, then to the mosquito, the remaining entity had the strength of someone who was quite deep in the first realm of cultivation.

"Hmm…using the Constitution stat, this entity would be at around 2 or 3. If I were to estimate the purity of its bloodline though, probably around the same level as mine?" the mosquito said as it noticed that the aura emanating from this entity was gradually getting stronger, giving it a few goosebumps.

Nonetheless, it felt that the current situation it was looking at was quite boring, making it feel like that the travel it had done was not worth it at all. "At this point, I seriously don't think this is the inheritance place of that secluded cultivator. Then again, the intensity of the Wind element here is quite high though."

Whoosh!

Just as it was thinking of heading to another portion of Tempest Cliff to stave off its boredom, its senses picked up two auras that were only slightly weaker than the aura radiated by the previous entity, with the two auras gradually getting closer to one another.

Although most of its mind said that these two auras would also be in a boring situation like the three entities it was currently looking at, there was still a stray thought in its mind that made it feel like it would regret the fact of not checking out the situation of these two auras. Without hesitation, the mosquito decided to follow the stray thought it had, flapping its wings at its highest speed to check on the two auras.

…

Whoosh! Bang! Boom! Pew!

At the moment, Horell and Herellia were in a heated fight to the death…or at least, that's what they were trying to make it look like. At times, they would shout at each other with words related to death, demise, or despair while aiming their skills at one another. Of course, they focused on the flashiness of their skills rather than the power behind it, conjuring barriers from time to time to keep up the facade that both of them were struggling.

"Hoh? To think that you can withstand my attacks for this long!" Horell shouted as he sent a ball flying towards Herellia. In response, Herellia scoffed at Horell's words as she manifested a blood-red tendril on her right arm, manipulating it to send the ball Horell sent flying. "You truly underestimate me, Horell."

While this was happening, the two of them were having a separate discussion through a strand of energy, both of them letting out sighs as they felt that both of them looked like clowns if any other being was looking at what they were doing.

"I wonder if Aurus has already found where the magic circle is at," Herellia could not help but say through the strand of energy. She then added, "It's kind of embarrassing to keep up this kind of facade, to be honest."

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"I want to hide in a hole already, to be honest," Horell replied to her statement, relaying that he shared the same opinion. He then pondered for a bit before talking through the strand of energy, "Leader, do you have any idea as to what Chonk is currently doing?"

"Shouldn't you be the one who knows more about that? Why ask me?" Herellia replied with a tone of slight disbelief, waving a mass of red tendrils towards Horell, to which Horell retaliated with a blade of energy.

"Just wondering what you think he's doing," Horell responded to her question, sending a few energy blades towards her, to which she dodged all of them without a problem.

"Hmm…" Herellia pondered over it and responded, "From the ominous aura radiating from his body, it's quite obvious that he's preparing a move that would kill me in one hit."

"And that's what I wanted to hear," Horell lightly chuckled as he uttered his response through the strand of energy, conjuring a barrier as Herellia sent out projectiles made out of blood-red tendrils. After blocking the attacks, he then said, "I have a crazy idea that would make our facade more believable. I wonder if you're interested in doing it."

"As long as it makes this less monotonous, you have my full support," Herellia let out a short sigh before responding, conjuring a wall of blood-red tendrils as Horell shot a beam of energy at her.

"In short, I make it look like you overpowered me, allowing you to get close to Chonk and attack him. Of course, before you do, I block your attack at the last second as I send you flying to this same location," Horell said to her as he manipulated a blade of energy to slash at Herellia, which she retaliated with a blade made out of blood-red tendrils, clashing with one another.

"Hmm…" Herellia thought about Horell's idea for a bit, finally understanding what Horell was getting to with this idea. After that moment of realization, Herellia laughed with joy as she responded, "Sure, sure! Let's start right now!"

"[Bloody Thorn]!" Herellia shouted as she conjured a mass of blood-red tendrils that condensed into a large thorn, sending it flying towards Horell. Although Horell blocked the attack with a barrier, the strength behind the thorn was too much, hitting Horell as he was sent flying for a few meters. This shift made Chonk, who had been circulating the ominous aura around his body all this time, stop for a bit and wonder what had happened that made Herellia overwhelm Horell, who had been at an advantage all this time.

"Die, Chonk!" Of course, before Chonk could think any further regarding the situation, Herellia dashed towards Chonk at the highest speed possible, sending a blood-red tendril towards him.

Bang!

Just as the blood-red tendril was about to hit Chonk, a beam stopped the tendril from getting any closer, deflecting it towards another direction before another beam was shot towards Herellia, sending her flying back multiple meters.

Thud.

At the very instant Herellia had landed back to where she was a while ago, Horell hastily appeared in front of her, madly laughing as he shouted, "You thought you could overpower me, huh? I won't let you have another chance!"

"And that's basically how it works," Horell hastily established between them with a strand of energy, saying these words. In response, Herellia said in a dejected tone, "You could've been more lenient with the beam strength. I could fly, you know."

But just as Horell was about to apologize for his action, Herellia followed her words with a light chuckle before saying, "Other than that, this is far better than before! Look at Chonk's face, he's proud of you! Let's keep it up!"

And with that, the two continued with this new pattern, surprising Chonk every once in a while.

…

A few minutes had passed since Argentum started running towards the magic circle that restricted their strength. At this moment, he had finally arrived near the perimeter of the magic circle, hiding behind a tree as he looked at the rabbit that was infusing energy in the magic circle.

"Now that I think about it, why did I accept that wolf's offer in the first place?" the rabbit started to complain as it continued to infuse energy in the magic circle. This rabbit was none other than Chungus, thinking that he was alone, complaining without a care for the world.

"He's only a newly advanced Rank 1 Animate, he's not much compared to the previous customers I had," Chungus continued to complain before adding, "Did I have a few screws loose while I accepted his request or something?"

After saying that, he went silent for a bit, pondering over something. Not long after, he then let out a sigh as he muttered, "If I think about it, I could just go ahead and stop powering this magic circle at any time. The rewards given by the stronger Animates are still multiple levels better than what he was offering anyway."

Hearing this from behind the tree, Argentum decided to scrap his previous plan of using [Tempest's Envoy] to kill Chungus in one hit. After hearing that Chungus did not even have any good relations with Chonk, he thought that he could just talk it out with the rabbit, and perhaps, possibly redirect the power of the spell towards Chonk instead of them.

Mustering his courage, Argentum solidified his plans of talking with Chungus instead of fighting it out, creating a few rustling sounds as he walked past a few shrubs.

"Huh? Who goes there?" Picking up these sounds, Chungus could not help but look at the direction of the sound's origin, slightly surprised that a human with leaves covering its private parts had appeared before him. He was left at a loss for words for a bit, instantly becoming vigilant as he snapped back to reality, saying, "Are you here to kill me for my meat? If so, I won't let you have my meat without expending a lot of energy."

"No, not at all. I don't even need to eat to survive." Surprisingly, rather than go at him like any normal human, this human replied in a calm and composed manner as it sat down outside the perimeters of the magic circle. Of course, Chungus could not help but still be a bit vigilant towards the human…until it heard what the human said afterward.

"You were hired by Chonk to seal the strength of the alliance he's fighting against, right?" the human asked Chungus, not waiting for Chungus to answer as it continued, "Well, I'm the ally of the alliance he's fighting against, and I think it's quite stupid for Chonk to use such a skill to fight against Inanimates. Don't you think he has more than enough power on his own to fight against the alliance?"

"I can't say you're wrong...since it's true," Chungus thought about what he was going to say, voicing out his agreement with the human's words. He then continued, "It's quite cowardly for a Rank 1 Animate to use these types of skills to kill Inanimates."

"Indeed," the human said before adding, "And with that in mind, I am here to propose something that would benefit the both of us. Change the target of the magic circle to Chonk and I'll give you information regarding the multiple Ascension paths from Rank 1 to Rank 9 Animate. I can even tell you the requirements needed to achieve them."

Hearing that this human in front of him would give him information regarding something that was kept a secret by many, Chungus could not help but think that it was too good to be true. But then, the human gestured him to come closer, whispering something in his ears which made him widen his eyes in an instant.

At the instant the human was finished whispering, Chungus said without hesitation, "Alright, I accept—"

Slurp.

Just as Chungus was about to accede to the human's request, it seemed that an external force acted upon his body, sucking out all of the liquid inside his body, only leaving the dried corpse of a rabbit on the magic circle.

The human was visibly shaken as it saw this happen in front of it, looking around with intense vigilance, its eyes widening once he saw a large mosquito not far away from where it was, radiating an aura that did not lose out in intensity when compared to itself.

"Hello there."

"Care to have some fun?"

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