Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 228: Eternal Warden

But Hall had spoken the truth. Vale was still battling with his mind. It was as if something had shredded parts of it, leaving behind just a semblance of thoughts.

The only thing that saved Vale was that his will was stronger than the Acreage Knight and that the tower provided some measure of protection.

But even then, he knew he wouldn’t be able to create formations for some minutes, and that was enough time for his opponents to finish him off.

So he forced himself to create the fireballs, binding them after making a pact of changing places with them.

Martin raised his hand wearily to snuff out the fire when Vale disappeared, and appeared again, only to disappear once more. His figure began to blur, here now and gone the next instant.

All around the room, he appeared and disappeared, popping up in dozens of places as if he was more than one.

Grey sent an arc of lava lashing across the room, but the only thing that melted was the surface of the wall.

Hall narrowed his eyes. "He’s buying time, trying to heal his mind. We must stop him before then! I can’t get hold of him with my power, but you can, Martin!"

Without responding, the man pushed out his right hand, and wind surged forward, a stormy wave that kicked up the scattered contents of the room, and then it solidified. The storm had turned into a falling mountain.

All the fireballs that Vale created were snuffed out as if they had never existed, and the areas where he was appearing shrank into a corner. The solidified air didn’t wait, though, and filled the area completely.

Except that just before it enveloped him, Vale finally appeared. He wore a grimace, but his face was free from pain, and the near madness was gone from his eyes. It was lit up with his usual brightness that held a hint of feverish darkness.

He sent a punch at the wall of hardened air. As his hand traveled, it was covered in red, flickering fire, warping and twisting around it.

Bam!

The punch connected with a shockwave. The fire on Vale’s fist leaped and turned into a beam that tore through the air, shooting straight through it and slamming into another shield made by Martin.

Vale wasn’t done; his mind was stable enough, and there was only one person he specifically wanted to deal with—Hall. With a formation in mind, he dragged them all into his Infernal Prison, but this time, he made the second part of the technique.

He held the formation in his mind but didn’t yet activate it.

Instead, he opened his hand as if he was embracing something. "Dominion!"

A ripple of heat and light washed over the room.

As expected, Martin created a shield to cover them, but when the light was gone, Vale was now close to them. He stood in front of the shield and brought his hand down with the aftereffect of Dominion, holding an orb of light and intense heat.

The shield cracked with a solid twcnk!

The light flooded inside the shield. Instead of saving the shield, Martin collapsed it and made another one below. But Vale already had what he wanted. When the shield cracked, he had created a small fireball, pact-bound it, and sent it between his opponents.

So all he did was replace it, and now Vale was standing between Hall and Martin, who was with Grey.

Their surprise didn’t last. Attacks rained down on Vale, wind blades and lava whips, but they splashed against his fire cloak. He smiled and created the technique he had been holding in his mind since.

"Eternal Warden!"

The space behind him darkened. His shadows tore free and warped around a wall of fire that suddenly sprouted, molding into a figure that stood taller than anyone in the room.

Eternal Warden was a technique that allowed him to summon a mindless entity that existed solely to hunt down and recapture escapees of the user’s prisons.

It was a technique that could only work in the Infernal Prison. And within the prison, Vale could switch places with his Warden.

The fire held a club made of flame that looked nearly solid.

"Have fun with that, you mind-destroying shit bastard," Vale growled. With a simple command, the Warden lurched forward, straight at Hall.

To the others, who had separated themselves with a wall, Vale said, "Now we can let loose without worrying about anyone stealing our minds. Honestly, I hate those with magic that works on the mind. Maybe that’s why I hated the Suffield Bones leaders."

And it was the truth. It was much later that he understood just how much he didn’t like them. Those with mind magic robbed others of their will, which went against Vale’s nature.

First, he made the air between them explode with fire, a wave that flew harmlessly against the shield. A distraction, because the next moment, he was drinking a healing potion and one that would numb any pain he was feeling.

Now that he didn’t have to fear turning his power against himself, he was generous with his essence. His two hands caught fire, turning red-hot with a shimmer that warped the air around them.

This wasn’t a technique. He was simply heating his hands with continuous essence, burning it up and keeping the fire compressed with his will.

Since his heat resistance had increased significantly since he climbed a rank, he didn’t have to worry about his power.

His two hands slammed into the wall of hardened air, and the wall shuddered and screeched as the fire easily pierced through. Then he ripped the shield apart as if he were tearing a wall made of paper.

Martin shuddered as he lost control of his hardened air, his face twisting into a grimace. Grey, on the other hand, had been preparing the same type of attack he used earlier.

Red lines hovered in front of him, throbbing with power.

Then they blasted forward. Vale smiled and waved at them, effectively switching places with his Warden.

Time seemed to slow to a crawl. The Warden was hit by the attack and was shredded into bits of floating essence and shadow.

As for Vale, he appeared in front of Hall with a fire spear already molded in his hand. The man didn’t have the chance to act too surprised before the spear slammed into his chest, blowing his upper body away with a bang.