<Finally.>
Boron allowed himself the grace to say it as the world shuddered. He was but fifteen kilometers away from the barrier that split Aigas in two, and he could already see the gigantic shadows on the other side. His foes had arrived, or rather, they had been forcibly dragged here – as he preferred to think.
Slowly, the Deity rose from the sea, which he had been using as a solid spot to sit on. His body engorged, eager to match the shadows he could see, eager to expand his well of strength, distributing it across a colossal frame.
This was it.
Boron had not deigned to involve himself in any other conflict that took place on Aigas.
He had not intervened when a Doom Knight had appeared.
He had stayed his interest when the power of an Arch-Lich exploded all throughout Opungale.
He had even chosen to evacuate Pelian and settle here when a showdown between Divines began a few minutes ago.
But now, he no longer had to stay his hand. The six Generals flying around him became lively as he surged into motion. He wouldn't need them for the battle ahead.
Boron turned south, where gigantic, draconian creatures were flying about while a plethora of intriguing hostile signatures rode them. He wasn't concerned with any of them. Instead, he was interested in what was under them.
<Bring it to me, Ashema.>
While Aigas shuddered for the arrival of Quintess and Listafelle, it also spared a few notes of acknowledgment for something rising from below. On this half of Aigas, everyone turned to the turbulence brewing from under the sea.
Rias, Uyuniya, Sila, Kintar, Gerriey, Nigerra, and the other Stark Troops all turned to a specific spot on the surface of the water.
Something massive and spherical pushed against the salt waters and began to rise. It seemed to shrink the more it emerged, but still, it remained as large as a small country. Its boundary was a dark shell that was simultaneously fragile and stalwart, impenetrable and see-through.
It was a Territory indeed. Cogent Stark Order.
Kintar, in particular, scowled at this development. Her fury only grew.
'You are getting in my way too, Pherdanta?'
…Yet something else rose from the sea, quick, and determined to soar away.
Despite its size dwarfing the Territory's by leagues, it swooped into the sky at an alarming speed. A halberd, it was, carried by a particularly driven servant not even a thousandth of its size. All that remained of this servant was a fractured, torn consciousness, but even that didn't stop him from pursuing his objective.
Ashema had collected rocks, moss, roots and dirt from the Under to forge a flimsy body with which to use to carry Boron's halberd out of the Under. It took an inhuman, an in-Carven force of will to manage it while he did.
In the one-on-one, he had proven that he was no lesser than the Commander of the Stark Troops!
"MY LOOOOOOORD! CONQUER IT ALL! VANQUISH THEM ALL WITH YOUR MIGHT!!" Ashema cried with something deeper than a voice. Everything with a soul heard him. Naturally, Boron did as well.
The Deity spared a fraction of a moment to look upon Ashema, and then stretched his arm towards the halberd.
<Well done.>
His unseen grip fell upon the halberd, and at the same time, he graced Ashema with a fraction of his power, constructing for him a new body and a new soul.
The seventh General of Boron was quite surprised. He had expected death immediately after seeing to his mission, but instead, he had been rewarded. His body – his flesh – throbbing with life, his soul brimming with joy, he grinned and cackled.
O what sweet grace.
The halberd he had been carrying quickly began making its way towards Boron. It was sweet watching it fly away.
But what was even sweeter, at least for Ashema, was to gloat. His dark wings spread across the sky, and he turned to laugh at Pherdanta, that hateful woman he'd won a match of resolve against, when…
The General's face sank.
Something wasn't right.
The first to sense it… was actually Boron. The slightest of frowns came upon his face as the odd feeling he'd gotten just now was substantiated.
He had only just dragged his halberd, a Void rank Treasure, a kilometer towards him, when it suddenly jolted and stopped. It resisted his pull.
<Hm?> The Deity was displeased, but at the same time, he understood the cause of such a phenomenon.
His eyes stared deep past the boundary of Cogent Stark Order at the mortal who had just cut the movements of his halberd.
Even when the dreadful pressure of Boron's gaze fell upon her, Pherdanta didn't wither. She met the gaze with her own, the bloodlust flaring within her soul growing.
Boron didn't spare her another moment's worth of attention. He didn't need to. His hand still aimed at the suspended halberd, he reinforced his intent, and Aigas tremored as the space around the halberd exploded like glass. The halberd flashed towards Boron at once, unbothered.
It only took a fraction of an insignificant span of time for it to reach Boron's hand.
…But that span proved to be rather lengthy for everyone, including Boron himself.
For even he hadn't anticipated just how much Pherdanta was burning from the prospect of losing against Ashema. The Deity had not known how deep her resolve to prove her worth was.
As it were, Ashema had posed a question earlier: What is it that this woman even intends to do against Lord Boron's halberd?
Well, the answer was as simple as it was frustrating.
KATAKATAKATAKATAKATAKATATKATAKAKARAKATA!
Pherdanta didn't need to swing her sword to unleash a flurry of slashes. In fact, she didn't really need to see the target of her attacks at all.
One of her new slashing techniques quite enjoyed responding to her resolve with immensity and depth.
Impossible Splicer, Great Sempiternal Vein.
It was an unending volley of slashes that couldn't be used in tandem with any other slashing technique. Fundamental Barter had been applied to improve the power of this technique above the norm Pherdanta could achieve with her Impossible Splicer Series.
And as such, these slashes fell upon the halberd before it reached Boron's hand.
Yet… they did nothing.
They could do nothing to a Void rank Treasure despite being above the normal threshold for Divine abilities – for Andori.
The slashes were meaningless indeed.
…
…
…But a certain being, entertaining Future Skullius as he rode away from Aigas at this very moment, was thoroughly intrigued.
His system for Fundamental Barter was usually automatic, picking up extraordinary abilities accordingly for those who didn't know Fundamental Barter, like Pherdanta, and approving conditions set for Fundamental Barter by those who could invoke it consciously.
COLMUUN rarely got to see people like this woman decked in stars. People who could summon his influence so effortlessly with grit and resolve.
<Fascinating. Give him hell, little one.>
And thus… Pherdanta's Great Sempiternal Vein was edified by Fundamental Barter (on its own) a second time.