"Gold... Shield of Gold!"
Rastillos' left hand appeared with the shield once again, successfully blocking the feathered flying knives.
However, it was clear that the shield's manifestation speed was considerably slower than before.
"Ink-Black Sword!"
After confirming the attack was defended, Rastillos swung his right hand again, splitting the Stone Beetle on the ground in half.
By the time he removed the shield, Rhode had already disappeared without a trace.
"The sneaky rat, hiding underground again?"
Rastillos planned to manifest a giant pangolin to dig Rhode out.
But a shadow on the ground caught his attention, and he suddenly looked up to see the ugly creature leaping into the air!
As he recognized the figure, a stream of dark purple poison was already spraying down on him.
"Damn!" Rastillos could only hastily raise his shield.
The bone-corroding pain was distracting him, and now he couldn't quickly complete an effective manifestation!
Hiss~~
"Ah ah ah..." Rastillos let out a scream, his face contorted in agony as he pressed his right hand to the ground, "Pain... inspires my imagination, Thorny Hell!"
Clang clang clang...
A dense array of steel spikes emerged from the ground, each over a meter tall, spreading out for one or two kilometers centered on Rastillos.
As long as Rhode landed, he'd be pierced through like a sieve immediately.
However...
Rhode's form changed, his arms transforming into wings, halting his descent.
"Tch..." Rastillos remembered this person could fly just like him, "Then become Kuliba's food!"
Rhode spiraled in the air, firing feathered flying knives towards Rastillos.
And Rastillos' Arc of Manifestation completed, summoning a steel giant bird near him that was like a pterodactyl.
Kuliba flapped its wings, sweeping away the feathered knives. When its master jumped on its back, the giant bird ascended into the sky.
"Caw~" The giant bird let out an unpleasant cry, its mouth full of sharp teeth opening wide as it lunged at Rhode.
Unfortunately, without the support of the Crown of Embers, the feathered knives could at most penetrate a layer of iron skin, making it difficult to harm Kuliba.
Rhode turned to flee, but realized his flying speed couldn't match the opponent's.
"Fall in the sky, fairies!"
Kuliba flapped its wings, its mouth nearly clamping onto Rhode.
Rhode suddenly changed direction, executing an exaggerated evasive maneuver, tracing a graceful arc under the giant bird to dodge the chase.
This was a technique learned while playing aerial hide-and-seek with Hapi, the smaller Hapi favored using this move to dodge the larger Rhode.
Big and small silhouettes chased each other in the sky.
The previously summoned Beaked Bird came to assist but was accidentally struck by Kuliba's steel claws and disappeared.
Rhode agilely changed direction, seizing the chance to attack Rastillos on the bird's back with feathered flying knives.
Rastillos manifested a bird gun, occasionally firing at Rhode.
During the chase, Rhode noticed Elfman was already battling the enemy, numbering... at least a hundred people.
He needed to quickly regroup with Elfman.
But flying there wouldn't shake off this guy... should he defeat him here once and for all?
Bam!
"Uh..." A bullet pierced through Rhode's wing, feathers drifted down with blood from the sky.
Rhode's flying speed and agility sharply declined.
The giant bird opened its mouth, clamped shut with a clang, and caught Rhode inside.
"Flying fairy, buried in Kuliba's mouth, blood scattered, feathers falling, what a poignant sight!"
Rhode thought this guy sure hadn't read Journey to the West.
"Receiving · Crimson Marked Tree Monster!"
Rhode's body size exploded, entangled and wrapped in tree vines, transforming into a tree-like form, a bright red light orb shining on his chest.
The radiance of the Crown of Embers reappeared around Rhode, and the wounds on his arm and shoulder from before started to stop bleeding at an unusual speed.
Relative to Rhode's current size, Kuliba's mouth seemed a bit cramped.
The giant bird struggled to swallow, and in Rastillos' imagination, Kuliba's stomach had extremely corrosive acids.
Rhode calculated the position, swung his right hand, claws with red flames easily cutting through Kuliba's esophagus from inside, stabbing towards Rastillos on the bird's back.
"What... Ink-Black Sword!"
The giant bird's form faded, and the two collided in midair, falling in separate directions.
Blood spurted from Rhode's palm, and several continually bleeding wounds appeared on Rastillos' arm as well.
Though there was aerial combat just now, mostly small scale entanglement meant they didn't fly far from the previous battlefield.
The dense steel spikes on the ground hadn't disappeared yet.
Rhode had to use the Tree Monster's Wood Magic, rapidly growing many tree vines from the ground, interspersed among the steel spikes, creating a platform for him to land on.
However, upon landing, Rhode realized something was wrong.
Because Rastillos hadn't landed with him, instead white little wings grew on his feet, arms spread open in midair with a spellcasting posture.
"Come forth, Dingir's Tower! Let the foolish fairy drown in sorrow, return to dust!"
Rhode suddenly found himself immobile.
His body was already fixed within stone walls, rising with them, and despite the Tree Monster's state, he couldn't break free!
Rhode immediately canceled Receiving Magic but couldn't shrink his form to escape.
He immediately received the Ancient Stone Beetle but realized this shape couldn't use Earth Magic to escape the walls either.
The walls kept rising, forming an ornate high tower, and Rastillos triumphantly yelled:
"Give up! This is an unbeatable spell, no one has ever broken it!"
Doomed!
Rhode felt a bit panicked; he wasn't sure what this magic's effect was, but he sensed the massive burst of magic power from Rastillos. If it succeeded, he might die.
But a tower?
Rhode's magic power was about enough; as long as he could summon the Canyon Vanguard, there's hope to break this move!
The issue was being immobile!
In his current state, even his hands were fixed in the walls.
Rastillos had clearly targeted his summoning magic, which relies on held items.
Couldn't touch the pendant, thus couldn't summon, unless...
"Give yourself a bit of confidence; you're really strong. Magic is the power from the heart. If you don't believe in yourself, magic will weaken too."
The president's kind voice echoed in his ears, and Rhode tried to stretch his neck upward, feeling the pendant contacting his skin.
"It'll work, it'll work, I've practiced it, it'll surely work this time!"
"Canyon Vanguard!"
"Answer my call! Canyon Vanguard!"
Buzz~~~
A torrent of magic gathered where the pendant touched the skin, instantly consumed, the pendant released dazzling light.
Purple light gathered at the tower's base, a massive purple figure leaped from the ground!
"Obviously it's a holding type, yet able to directly..." Rastillos extended his right hand forward, "It's too late now, vanish!"
Rhode shouted, "Canyon Vanguard, tear it down!!!"
Boom!
The Canyon Vanguard seemed to transform into purple streaks of light, crashing into the tower.
Cracks spread from the impact throughout the tower's body, reaching where Rhode was trapped!