Chapter 445: Transition

A few kilometers away from Verdant Breeze Town, a group of people could be seen gathering around a large inscription of sorts, watching a young man crush a couple items worth millions of gold coins before smearing it on the inscription above him.

“I’ve seen a couple people use an Existence Transition technique before, but none of them needed this much preparation. In fact, the longest I could still vividly remember only took an hour to prepare,” Eleanor could not help but say, lightly yawning as she and the others had been standing there for over three hours already.

Taking a quick look at the still blazing sun, Aurus looked back at the inscription before replying with a sigh, “What can I do? I have to follow the instructions on the technique down to the finest detail if I want to make sure that this transition goes smoothly. I don’t want all of our efforts so far to go down the drain just like that.”

After saying those words, everyone went silent again, allowing Aurus to continue setting up preparations for the transition. Fortunately, Aurus was finished a few minutes later, wiping off the sweat from his forehead as he looked at the inscription that he had engraved on the ground.

“Horell, you go first.” Once he had double checked that each part of the inscription was made correctly, he stepped out of the inscription before offering Horell to go first.

Of course, Horell didn’t hesitate to ask why. “And why should I be the first?”

“Why not?” Aurus chuckled. “It’s not like anything about the technique would change at this point. Then again, I might have mixed the ingredients wrong, scribbled the runes wrongly, or perhaps…”

“Your words just make me want to not go first even more.” Horell groaned as he could not help but feel a hint of regret accepting Aurus’ offer. Nevertheless, now that they were at this point, there was no choice but to move forward.

With a sigh, Horell stepped on the center of the inscription soon after, letting his fate be dictated by Aurus’ actions as he slowly closed his eyes.

Seeing what Horell was doing, Aurus took in a deep breath as he recalled the contents of the [Phoenix Rebirth Technique] from start to finish, specifically its instructions on how to activate it. After making sure that he did not forget the sequence after trying to recall it a couple of times, he rubbed his hands together before placing it at one of the more detailed spots on the inscription.

Then, without any signal whatsoever from the others, he started to circulate his energy before eventually releasing it through his hands, allowing his energy to spread throughout the inscription as each part lit up one by one. Soon, an unbelievable sight was shown to Eleanor and the others, seeing each part of the inscription take on a different color.

Eventually, the rough silhouette of a multicolored phoenix appeared within their fields of vision, prompting them to take a few steps back as they noticed that the aura surrounding Aurus gradually intensified. Letting out a deep breath, he took a look at Horell, who continued to stand in place, before lightly nodding to himself.

“I am the storm that is approaching, provoking black clouds of isolation,” he chanted, an ethereal air surrounding the inscription.

“I am the reclaimer of my destiny, born and blessed in flames, blazing with prominence once more.”

“I offer this life and this body to grant me a new one, to be reborn anew. To rise like a phoenix rebirthing from the ashes.”

“1st Forbidden Circle. Ignitio Renovis Maxima Imperium. Vitalis Regeneratio Aeternalis. [Phoenix Rebirth]!”

Whoosh!

At the very instant Aurus was done chanting, the multicolored phoenix quickly turned fiery red, its aura becoming suffocating even to Eleanor and the others. Then, as if it had a mind of its own, the silhouette flew into the air before letting out a loud caw, allowing those before it to see the grandeur it held.

After circling around the area for a bit, the phoenix then flew higher into the air before diving straight down to the center of the inscription, where Horell was.

Bang!

With great speed, the phoenix collided with the ground as its body crumbled into thousands upon thousands of motes of red light, giving off the feeling that Horell was not spared from its demise. However, once everything had settled down, everyone watching the process unfold saw that Horell was unscathed, empowered even.

At the moment, a light red sheen suffused his body as it underwent a slight change. Externally, not much of a difference could be seen. However, to Eleanor and the others, who had the ability to sense a being’s strength from afar, they quickly noticed that Horell’s strength was dropping, eventually stopping at a certain point.

Although they could not help but inwardly let out a sigh at what had taken place in front of them, finding it a pity for someone to lose their power just like that, they also could not help but think about Horell’s future, considering that his current foundation was now as solid as it could be, thanks to the [Phoenix Rebirth Technique].

A couple minutes later, Horell finally opened his eyes, instantly noticing that his body felt different. Opening and closing his hands a couple of times, he could not help but take in a deep breath before asking them, “Did the transition succeed?”

“Don’t you know the answer to that yourself?” asked Aurus in response, prompting Horell to close his eyes as he quickly realized that the skills he had trained and honed all this time had disappeared without a trace. Looking at Aurus, he then gave him a wry smile. “Yeah, I guess the transition went without a problem.”

“Don’t worry too much about losing your skills.” Aurus patted his shoulder. “I did tell you back then that I had a way for us to get stronger once we transitioned to Animates. Of course, I don’t plan on reneging that promise.”

“Now, step aside and let me transition as well,” he said soon after, prompting Horell to step out of the inscription as Aurus took his place. Taking a seat at the center of the inscription, Aurus went ahead and did the same thing he did during Horell’s transition. However, this time, he was powering the inscription from the inside, which made the process take a bit more time.

Nevertheless, the process also went smoothly for Aurus, having a phoenix crash and burn to the ground the same way after a few minutes of infusing energy and incessant chanting. Eventually, a light red sheen suffused his body as well, prompting others to pay more attention to what happened to Aurus’ body.

Though, while that was happening, something else was occurring inside Aurus at the same time.

Ding!

‘The user has undergone through the Existence Transition technique [Phoenix Rebirth Technique]. All skills and titles obtained so far shall be removed from the system.’

‘Due to the specialties of the technique, the user can choose to save one skill from being removed by the system.’

As he received these notifications, Aurus did not take too long to come to a decision. “[Lesser Origin Affinity].”

Whoosh!

In response to that, a faint air surrounded him before spreading outward, a notification resounding his mind not long after.

‘The transition is complete. [Argentum] has now changed his existence level to Animate. [Argentum] has now changed his species to Human. All skills and titles have been removed.’

‘As the user has not met the necessary requirements to unlock said skill, [Lesser Origin Affinity] shall remain sealed until the user has met said requirements.’

‘As the user is a clone of another being, all skills related to [Spirit Imbuement] have not been removed by the system.’

‘The passive skill [Boundless Experience] has been added.’

“Huh.” Reading through the list of notifications he had received after making his choice, Aurus could not help but have a strange expression on his face. “In any case, the transition still went smoothly.”

“I’m guessing [Boundless Experience] was the secret little thing Lucius added,” he muttered soon after, commanding the system to show him the skill’s description as he stepped out of the inscription.

“Hmm…?”

“Well then. Lucius has definitely given us an incredible skill.”

…

Within the outer regions of the Celestial Plane.

“There’s no end to them! Fall back!” A woman loudly shouted as a great number of people started to dash away from the premises. However, the opposing side would not easily allow them to do so, utilizing their overwhelming advantage of numbers to form a wave of beings that chased after them.

Seeing that, the woman stood where she was before brandishing her blade, slashing outward as a great portion of the wave was bisected in two.

“[Myriad Resurrection Blade Art].”

“[Life Rending Slash]!”

Swoosh!

Watching the wave gradually fall back thanks to the woman’s attack, some of the people that were running away could not help but stop in their tracks before deciding to return, wanting to help the woman out in managing the wave. Realizing this, the woman could not help but curse. “You bastards! When I told you to fall back, I meant it! We’re no match for them!”

“And leave you to die here? Oh no, you’re coming back with us alive!” shouted one of the other people as they did not hold back, shooting out a beam of light that instantly vaporized a column of wave. Soon, more and more people sent out their own attacks, gradually slowing down the wave’s charge to the point it was even reversing.

Noticing this, the woman could not help but grit her teeth before letting out a curse, charging forward as she brandished her blade once more.

“Just gotta endure this for a bit more, then we’ll be able to return.”

“Heed my call and bring forth ruin!”

“Awaken!”

“Sin Eversor!”