Suddenly, one of the beasts lunged towards them swiftly, a giant claw made its way towards Ian and the Grand Elder. The claw almost slit the air and just like that, it had reached Ian and the Grand Elder.
"I'll take care of this!"
The Grand Elder stepped in front of Ian, leaving after-images as he shoved his fist towards the behemothic claw. The air appeared vulnerable in the face of the Grand Elder's terrifying vibrations.
At the moment the opposing force made contact, the space vibrated, the island itself shook at its core, and the clouds around them parted. The claw offered a moment of resistance before it got thoroughly blasted away by the Grand Elder's fist.
The Grand Elder's fist didn't stop. The giant lion roared in pain. Its eyes reddened, and an aura of violence appeared on its body. The beast knew that the attack was something it couldn't block at its speed. Without hesitation, the lion beast used one of its innate abilities, the skin on its body hardened and took the appearance of dark metal.
At this moment, the Grand Elder's unstoppable fist grew bigger as it connected to the target's body.
The collision caused the lion's body to bear the entire might of the Grand Elder's fist. The sky darkened, and the terrifying effect of the vibration caused the entire floating island to lose 30% of its land. This is the power of the Grand Elder, whose destructive power could turn multiple islands into smithereens. If not for his deliberate control, the vibration would have destroyed the entire Core Ring.
Of course, the floating island itself is actually protected by the beasts at the depths, so it might not be the case.
At this time, as they saw one of them die at the hands of a human. The other beasts growled menacingly. For them, they had treated this as their playtime. Most of the humans who entered in the past turned into their playthings. They tortured them, conducting individual battles to mock their pitiful strength. But now? The role of the hunter and prey seems to have reversed, and it angered them.
"Stronger than most Elders but weaker than me." The Grand Elder judged as he had just tested the waters.
Ian, on the other hand, watched with keen interest with his eye filled with curiosity. After all, it was the first time that he saw the Grand Elder in action. An old monster who had lived for thousands of fucking years. For the vibration powers? It reminded Ian of a certain anime character from a pirate-themed world he had once watched on Earth. Such power was enough to destroy the world once developed to a certain level. Its upper limit of potential might even reach the point of causing spatial damage. Vibration? Such power, wielded by a capable person, could be considered a nuclear bomb in disguise.
Suddenly, the humanoid ant appeared beside the Grand Elder, akin to instant teleportation. Then, it opened its mouth fiercely, and a blue energy ball came out at an unimaginable speed.
"Arghh!!" The Grand Elder's arm got obliterated as he tried to block the blue beam. "Damn you!"
Without hesitation, the Grand Elder used his special eyes to bind the ant, golden chains emerged from every air itself aimed at the humanoid ant. "Celestial Bindings!" the Grand Elder chanted. It was one of the abilities his eyes contained.
The Celestial Bindings, as their name suggests, had the ability to bind or restrict the divine. In reality, once caught by this ability, the target won't be able to channel their energy like that of a mortal, even though the strength of the body remains.
He had used this ability several times in the past to deal with an enemy far stronger than him, and the Grand Elder was confident that it would work just like those times.
Ian crossed his arms with no intention to join the battle. Why so? Because he wants to see every trump card that the old monster had. He hopes that the Grand Elder will reveal everything he has on his sleeve. Ian didn't fully trust the Grand Elder, and it's hard to do so...
Why? Because the Grand Elder had lived for thousands of years. The reasoning might sound simple but someone who managed to live for almost seven thousand fucking years? What does that imply?
Unbeknownst to Ian, the Grand Elder had only managed to survive that long due to his ability to grow stronger along the Blood Empire. All the abilities the Grand Elder had, including the vibration powers and divine eyes, were the rewards as the Blood Empire became more and more prosperous. As long as the empire rose to surpass every race in the Curtained Imperium to be the number one. He was confident of becoming as strong as Ian, or even surpassing him!
But in the end, the Grand Elder doesn't actually want to harm Ian. Why so? Because Ian, as the king, was now a huge part of the blood empire. It could be said that he had become the biggest contributor to the Grand Elder's strength. The Grand Elder's strength is actually growing day by day after Ian became the king.
For this, it could be said that the Grand Elder had adopted a great strategy to make Ian the king. He had gone to such lengths that he bowed his head. After all, with his ego, how could he submit himself to others? But if it meant breaking his limits, he was willing to do so!
It could be said that once Ian dies, it would be a huge loss to his battle power. He's really bound by Ian now. The most important thing was Ian's potential. The Elder understood that Ian was the key to going further on his path to power.
Of course, there was a limit. He could only receive 15% feedback of the power from Ian and every citizen of the Blood Empire. Still, the cumulative feedback was making him stronger and stronger.
At this moment, the golden binding was about to touch the humanoid ant. He performed instant teleportation again, and he directly appeared above Ian's head!
On the other hand, the remaining beasts swarmed the Grand Elder, intending to tear him apart.