Nitra tried to unclench Liang's hand that clenched around her neck, but it seemed impossible. Even if she used all her strength, she couldn't even come close to the level of physical power Liang possessed.
Crackle.
The protective plates on Nitra's neck cracked, then Liang took a step forward and threw Nitra upwards with all his might, straight into the Tree.
The Guardians would have liked to help their ruler, but the speed at which Nitra flew was too great. Even using the lightning bolts as a means of slowing her down, her speed was reduced only slightly. It wasn't enough to stop right in front of the Tree.
So, even though Nitra would never do something like that, because of Liang's throw, she punched her body through the trunk of the tree, flying out the other side.
Electric shocks went through the tree, and from the unusual roots that were inside the trunk, like human veins, came out a blue plasma, the same one that Alucard had tried to absorb before. As a result, his arm exploded due to too much pressure.
Every bit of plasma that was actually incredibly dense energy was very precious, even more, precious than the crystals growing at the foot of the Tree.
"Bastard! Stop trying to destroy the Tree!" Nitra angrily exclaimed, as her eyes filled with anger and a large amount of energy headed towards the spear.
Liang didn't answer anything, instead, he approached one crystal that was several times larger than the one Nitra had absorbed as he lifted his foot off the ground.
Then, Liang stomped, causing a shockwave that shattered the crystal into rubble due to the powerful pressure.
The Guardians would have liked to help Nitra or protect the Tree, but they realized that it was impossible to approach Liang. Now, he was definitely strong enough to just grab their heads and crush them, without any resistance.
"Wait... What is he doing...?" One of the keepers muttered with a trembling look. He couldn't believe what he was seeing.
Crunch. Crunch. Crunch.
Liang began to eat the crystal fragments, simply shattering them into crumbs with his teeth and powerful jaws. The crystals were strong enough that the Third Chronicle Creature couldn't harm them in any way, but it wasn't difficult for Liang to do so.
"Shit... Has he lost his mind?" The other guardian raised an eyebrow, staring intently at Liang, "Maybe on The Strongest Ones, but he's not a Human. He can't absorb that much energy like that. His body simply can't handle it."
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
When Liang had already absorbed about half of the crystal, blue waves traveled through his body. The energy was trying to find a free space, but Liang was already completely full. He had to let all this energy out right now or his body would be seriously damaged.
"Hm?" Liang frowned, "Hey, where are you trying to escape to? I'm not done yet."
Liang tightly clenched his sword, as his aura stopped coming out of his body. Instead, the scarlet aura, along with the red smoke emanating from his sword, headed towards his chest, towards his Spirit.
Like all Axalts, Liang had a Spirit, and considering that he was a man, his Spirit was in the form of a sun sign. This meant that he had to be an active, energetic, and emotional person, like everyone with the same Spirit.
However, Spirit was just a distinguishing feature of their race, something that helped them absorb the energy making it pure and dense. Spirit did not determine the future destiny of a person and perhaps Liang was the first to prove it.
"What...? What's going on?" Osvald asked with a surprised expression, "He's absorbing his aura and the aura of his sword with his Spirit...? Is it supposed to work that way?"
Sven shook his head, "No, he channels it into his body."
"Agh...? Doesn't that mean he's making it worse!" Osvald exclaimed, "Even Alucard with his insane regeneration wouldn't be able to withstand that kind of pressure. He's just overloading his body!"
Sven nodded, "Yeah, and if you think he's lost his mind, you're wrong. Let's just see what happens next."
Tremble. Tremble. Tremble.
The space beside Liang trembled while he continued to absorb the crystal. Almost all of his aura had already headed towards the sun sign on his chest.
'What is he going to do...? Is this some kind of cunning plan...? Maybe I should attack him right now...? What if it's a trap? In that case, I might lose the fight! Doing it near the Tree is too risky!" Nitra pondered, examining every detail with her mechanical eyes.
After a while, cracks began to appear on Liang's insanely tough body, some of them even bleeding. This caused Nitra to smirk contentedly.I think you should take a look at
'Hah, I knew that arrogance would ruin him! I admit, he definitely has the right to wear his Title, but just because he's The Strongest One doesn't mean he's omnipotent! He also has weaknesses, and even he can't absorb that much energy!' Nitra exclaimed excitedly internally.
Then, her spear was covered in black electric discharges. She prepared to attack, gathering energy at the tip of her weapon.
As soon as Liang finished and retreated due to the negative effects of the excessive energy absorption, she would immediately attack. This time, Nitra would not miss the most important moment! This was her chance to change the course of the battle.
However, Liang was not about to retreat as suddenly his aura began to intensify.
Crackle. Crackle. Crack.
Along his Spirit, cracks began to crack as parts of the sun sign began to fall off.
"Ah...? He's destroying his Spirit?" Marlis muttered in a disbelief. Everyone knew that for Axalt, such a thing was almost equivalent to death, for they would lose the ability to absorb energy.
"Well... Those aren't exactly the right words. It's the normal form of his Spirit that he retains, in normal times, but during a serious battle everything changes." Sven calmly said, but his voice was serious and cold.
Marlis got goosebumps as her eyes went wide, "Wait... Axalt has only two types of Spirits, the moon and the sun. Occasionally, some Axalts have mutations and their Spirit becomes dual, but that's pretty rare. That's about it."
Sven smirked, "You're right, the thing is, I'm not sure if you can call what appears a Spirit, but it has a similar function, or rather... the exact opposite."
Marlis gave him a questioning look. As a scholar, she was curious about the unique Spirit that Liang had, but Sven didn't say anything more.
Crackle. Crackle. Crack.
The sun sigil completely fell apart, revealing another sigil on Liang's chest. It was a crimson vortex, its tips were bright red while the center was completely black like the entrance to the abyss.
Then, from the tips of the vortex, unusual red threads spread across Liang's body, very similar to ordinary human veins that flowed blood. However, something else was traveling along these threads, and it was energy.
At the same moment, Liang's aura became much more powerful as the wounds on his body quickly healed. It wasn't enhanced regeneration, just considering his level of strength, scratches and thin cuts wasn't anything significant.
"What is this...? You have a unique Spirit...? What function does it have? Why did your body stop collapsing due to too much energy!" Nitra exclaimed, not realizing what was happening.
She had access to all the knowledge of the Construct World, one of the largest databases in all worlds. Only the Undeads had more information than the Construct who were constantly experimenting and recording everything, every detail.
However, she hadn't even seen any mention that Axalts might have such a Spirit. Obviously, she knew nothing about its functions and capabilities.
Liang tilted his head while the threads spread throughout his body, gradually becoming one with it. After all, to Axalt, their Spirit was practically an extra organ. Their bodies weren't rejecting Spirits, they were merging with them.
'Well, this will take a bit of time, so we can enlighten it.' Liang thought, looking at the vortex in the center of his chest.
'This isn't a unique Spirit, or rather what you saw before was something like a sword sheath. Since this is my Spirit that I obtained many years ago." Liang calmly replied while the energy spread through his body, completely free of pressure.
"Agh...?" Nitra was puzzled.
"A long time ago I was seriously injured, and my Spirit was damaged, it was malfunctioning, and it was very hard for me to clear energy. Then I thought, if it's a part of my body, I can change it the way I want. And I wanted to get rid of this weakness because it meant that without my Spirit, I would become nothing." Liang calmly replied.
"I was gradually destroying my Spirit, it was difficult and even crazy, but then I noticed that something new started to grow under my old Spirit. At that moment, I realized that my body had answered my call."
Nitra's eyes went wide, "In that case... What is the function of your Spirit...?"
Liang smirked, "The opposite. This vortex gets rid of all the excess energy!"
Nitra was puzzled as well as the guardians, but a chill ran down Marlis's back. She realized that in Liang's case, it was a terrifying power.