The terrifying phenonon was also witnessed by the residents of Crescent Isle a hundred kiloters away and captured by satellites orbiting Earth.
Over that stretch of ocean dozens of miles wide, the heavens looked like a massive pot turned upside down, trapping Ethan beneath it like an insignificant insect. The sight evoked primal fear and despair. Of course, no one could see what was under that "pot," and no one dared to investigate. From a distance, it was just a churning mass of black cloud, flashing with lightning. Any electronic device venturing near would likely be fried.
HUMmmmm...
Suddenly, the churning thunderclouds froze dead in their motion. The very world seed to shudder with the abrupt cessation.
WHOOSH—WHOOSH—WHOOSH—
An endless torrent of raindrops began to fall.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
However, these raindrops violently exploded upon reaching a certain altitude.
They weren’t ordinary rain. Each one was a concentrated droplet of liquid lightning.
A perfectly circular, visible vacuum appeared in the center of the storm. The watching group squinted. They knew that vacuum was the location of the Suru Array they had just exited. The sa array that the Shatterstar ch’s main cannon couldn’t even scratch was now being laid bare under the baptism of this thunderous rain.
Inside the array, Ethan looked up. The roaring above him was deafening, a continuous, concussive wave. The rolling mists shuddered violently. He had no idea what was happening outside.
The intense barrage lasted only a mont. Then, Ethan saw the mist above him part, and a single, water-like droplet fell through.
Plink...
BOOM!
"Ugh... Holy shit...!"
The mont the raindrop landed on him, Ethan felt his entire body convulse violently, as if he’d been sucker-punched in the head.
"Argh!" Ormund, in his armor form, was violently shaken loose from Ethan in that instant. A white, winged tiger materialized at Ethan’s feet.
The sight filled Ethan with dread. He knew it—Ormund was being dragged into this.
Simultaneously, he discovered the strange, paralyzing force that had locked him in place was gone. It was as if that single drop of thunder-rain was the key that released the lock.
"Gate of Ascension... Open! Ormund, get in!"
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
In that mont, the mists above his head almost completely dissipated. The Suru Array they had struggled so hard to breach had been shattered in this brief, violent storm.
Ormund’s massive form, positioned below Ethan, took the brunt of the thunder-rain. In re seconds, his skin and flesh were torn open, white bone visible beneath. Blood dyed his pristine white fur crimson. The instant Ethan released the Gate, Ormund knew he was a liability. Enduring the horrific impacts, he hurled his body through the portal.
His movent was swift, but not before painting the air with a spray of his own blood.
"Whew..." Seeing Ormund was safe, Ethan let out a long breath of relief. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed his high-tech watch in after him.
He was inwardly shocked, feeling the thunder-rain land on his bare skin, each drop accompanied by a sizzling, explosive sound. His clothes had already been vaporized. Ormund’s flesh had been shredded in monts, yet he himself... while the rain was excruciatingly painful, it left him completely unhard.
CRACK!
A sharp sound, like the snapping of the world’s spine, echoed through the air. The mist surrounding him instantly vanished.
Ethan’s vision was finally unobstructed, and he saw the thunderclouds above, hanging over him like a lid of black iron.
POURRRR—
It was only then that the previously sparse rainfall transford into a true downpour. The earlier thunder-rain had rely been what leaked through the cracks of the damaged Suru Array.
A sudden, overwhelming agony made Ethan’s face contort.
BOOM!
In that mont, the thunder-rain finally struck the earth of Ascension Isle. The ground instantly shattered. The paradise-like scenery below was annihilated in the blink of an eye.
The only thing left untouched was the structure where Alaric had been—the ornate pavilion built entirely of priceless Southern Seas Rosewood. There, the rain fell as if it were ordinary water, causing no disturbance. The entire building glowed with a soft, golden light.
If Alaric and his Avatar had still been here, they would never have fled outward. They would have run straight into that building.
Of course, if they had tried, they would have been truly and utterly dood. Because the mont Ethan saw this, he flashed through the air, heading straight for it.
Strangely enough, the flight that had always been impossible for him—even on the Sea of Death he’d needed his Swift Flight Form—now ca naturally. Back on Earth, even his flight forms were inactive. But under this tribulation, his true body could fly unaided, and at incredible speed. In the blink of an eye, he arrived at the high platform where he’d fought Alaric.
He prepared to step inside, to seek shelter, but at that mont, a golden light erupted from the pavilion, blasting him back several kiloters.
"ALARIC, YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Ethan roared, furious, thinking it was so last trick of Alaric’s.
He had no way of knowing that Alaric had lived there for over three hundred years believing it was just a normal, if opulently built, structure. He never realized the house, whose value he’d only seen in its expensive materials, possessed such incredible power.
Flung back and with no other options, Ethan realized sothing. When he moved, the massive thundercloud above seed to keep him at its dead center. If he ran, the cloud would follow him.
Confronted with this reality, all fear left him. He stood suspended in the air, bathing in the storm of lightning. His black hair whipped in the turbulent wind, his eyes shining like stars. A wild, arrogant will surged from him, shooting skyward.
"BRING IT, YOU HEAVENLY BASTARD! THIS DRIZZLE IS FOR PUSSIES! YOU GOT THE GUTS TO FINISH ? CO ON!"
KABOOOOOM...!
The response was a deep, angry peal of thunder. Then, hurricane-force winds erupted beneath the cloud layer. The rain of lightning, of which he had borne less than a ten-thousandth of the total, changed. The droplet-shaped bolts of energy suddenly shifted direction, flying sideways. Every single one now targeted him, shooting toward him at speeds surpassing a Barrett M82A1 sniper round.
...
In the chaotic void, Morzan and the Order Keeper exchanged a stunned look.
What was going on?
The Annihilating Lightning’s thunder-rain was having no effect on the kid?
Although, his talent for taunting death was truly impressive. Morzan had thought that if Ethan could just survive until the thunder-rain stopped, he would have passed this tribulation.
Who could have guessed the kid would have a brain spasm and start cursing out the heavenly punishnt itself?
The mont the words left Ethan’s mouth, Morzan saw the sealed lightning pool hidden in the chaos behind them suddenly seethe and churn violently, like an enraged beast of pure lightning. And he saw it clearly—a massive tail flipped within the pool.
He didn’t know what it was at first, but in that instant, the Order Keeper beside him shrank back, his eyes wide with shock.
"The Thunder Whale... it’s awake..."
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