Chapter 343: 343

He rebounded quickly, barely staggered, the thin film around him rippling with his force. The priest laughed, a low, unsettling sound, and extended his hand. The golden shield stretched, snaking from his arm in a thin, malleable stream that he whipped toward her like a lash. It snapped through the air, cracking like thunder as it aimed to strike her across the face.

With a swift motion, the princess summoned a slab of earth from below, lifting her off the ground and raising her above the reach of his weapon. She extended her arms outward, and jagged rocks erupted from the ground, spearing toward the priest. He deflected each with a flick of his golden shield, each shard bouncing harmlessly off the gleaming film. But it cost him focus, and in that instant, she attacked.

Seeing her attacking like a reckless rhino, He charged towards the princess. The princess met his charge with her hammer raised, stone skin weaving over her arms and chest. The hammer swung forward, colliding with his axe in a massive clash, ringing through the air like thunder.

The princess wasn’t done as she created a foothold made of earth that held her in place and positioned her above the priest as her arms turned into a blur as she began hammering away the priest.

The priest twisted, using the golden shield around his arm to deflect her hammer’s head. Each blow driving him further into the ground, soon the golden light covering him began flickering.

The earth beneath him rippled and cracked, splitting open to form deep crevices around his feet. The priest stumbled, but his eyes blazed with exhilaration rather than fear. The golden film shifted, moving from his arms to his legs as he stomped down hard, stabilizing himself as the shield absorbed the energy from the tremors.

“Now” The priest roared out loud as time seemed to slow down as the princess hammer was about to hall on him, The golden film covering him formed a shield which he used to deflect the blow as he delivered a fierce kick to her side.

The princess recovered with a fluid roll, her movements as natural as flowing water. With a flourish, she summoned a curtain of dust and stone, obscuring herself from view. Her body sank seamlessly into the earth, disappearing without a trace. The priest’s eyes darted around the battlefield, his senses on high alert. Then he felt it—a vibration, a warning from the ground beneath him. He leapt just as the earth beneath exploded upward, jagged spears of rock slicing through the air, narrowly missing his legs.

She reappeared behind him, her body emerging from the stone like a shadow, and delivered a powerful kick to his back. The impact sent him stumbling forward, but his shield caught the brunt of the force, though he could feel the power in her strike.

The priest let out a primal roar, licking the blood from his lips as the mist of red surrounding the fallen zealots was drawn into his body. His axe clattered to the ground as his bones began to twist and crackle, reshaping painfully. In moments, where he once stood, there now towered a massive rhino the size of a house, his hide wrapped in a thin golden sheen that shimmered like molten armor.

The princess raised a brow, observing his transformation before she discarded her hammer and pounded her chest rhythmically with her fists. Her body began to swell, abandoning its human form. In her place now stood a towering golden gorilla, her body armored with patches of stone that looked as though they’d grown naturally, reinforcing her already imposing form.

“You’re the first to see my full strength in the fifth stage,” the princess growled, her voice rumbling. “Too bad you haven’t had time to digest the fruit’s gift, or this would be more enjoyable.”

The priest, now an enormous rhino, snorted, “I’ve been wondering why I broke through so easily.”

“That’s the garden’s gift to newcomers,” she replied with a knowing smile. “It pushes you to the peak of your current realm, and if you’re already at the peak, it grants a breakthrough. But the fruit’s effect is only once, after that it just a fruit filled with pure mana.”

Around the princess, a domain began to materialize, drawing the priest into it. They found themselves in an otherworldly landscape of towering rock formations and ancient monoliths carved with symbols and inscriptions weathered by time. Mirror-like pools lay scattered among the stones and cliffs, their surfaces flickering with hazy reflections of past events, memories frozen in the water’s depths. Caves peppered the cliffs, and from within them, faint echoes of ancient footsteps drifted like whispers of long-forgotten lives.

Hardy trees, ivy, and moss thrived between the stones, their colors muted and timeless. Each plant seemed nourished by the memories lingering in the rock, giving the entire scene an ancient, dreamlike quality.

“I call this domain the Stone-Born Memory,” the princess intoned, her voice heavy with power. An oppressive weight settled upon them both, and the priest felt his mind drawn deeper, his senses blurring as he and the princess slipped into a shared trance.

A figure emerged, shorter than either of them, crouched as it dug into the ground with bare hands, planting seeds or young saplings into the earth. Though the figure was indistinct, the princess felt a powerful sense of kinship, as if an invisible bond connected them. For the priest, however, the figure stirred forgotten memories—a war long past, between the Silver Kingdom and his people. He recalled a presence so immense it reshaped the landscape with a mere gesture, altering the land as easily as shifting sand.

The figure paused, seeming to sense their gazes. The priest felt its attention brush over him, an unsettling awareness that left him trembling. The princess blinked, only to find the figure standing directly before her, examining her with piercing eyes.

“Interesting domain you’ve crafted, girl,” the figure remarked, its voice a blend of power and wisdom. Then, with a gentle but firm push, it forced her back, its presence like an ancient force of nature.

“You’re not ready to handle the strength of this memory,” the figure said. “No need to rush. Have a fulfilling battle.”

In the hazy aftermath of the figure’s words, the domain shimmered with new intensity. The trance ended abruptly, leaving both the priest and princess reeling, yet a fresh resolve burned in their eyes. Both had been deeply affected by the vision; for the princess, it felt as if she’d glimpsed an ancient legacy, while the priest grappled with a lost memory, awakening long-buried instincts.

The priest, now in the form of a massive rhino cloaked in a shimmering golden film, let out a guttural snort, pawing at the ground. His body tensed with anticipation, golden tendrils from his shield stretching and winding over his massive horn, which now glowed with a metallic sheen. The transformation had amplified his raw strength, and each step he took sent tremors through the stone-riddled landscape.

Across from him, the princess, in her own colossal gorilla form, felt the weight of her power. Stone skin covered her chest, forearms, and legs, hardened and crackling with latent energy. With a deep breath, she squared her shoulders, her knuckles pressing into the ground as she held herself low and steady, ready to charge.

The priest charged first, his horn lowered, aiming to skewer her with devastating force. The princess braced herself, her massive fists slamming down into the ground, creating a thick wall of rock in front of her. The priest’s golden-coated horn shattered the barrier with ease, his weight and power unrelenting. However, the collision gave the princess the opening she needed—she sidestepped, swinging one stone-encrusted fist down onto his back, the impact creating a massive indentation in the ground.

The priest bellowed in fury, twisting his body as his golden shield reformed to reinforce his spine and prevent further damage. He spun, his horn glinting like a blade, aiming to catch her in his deadly arc. The princess leaped back, her powerful legs carrying her effortlessly up a nearby cliff. With a roar, she launched herself off the rock face, the air whistling as she descended, fists raised to land a shattering blow. The priest’s golden shield surged, forming a protective dome over his head just as her fists crashed down.

The ground caved beneath them, the sheer force of the impact sending shockwaves through the domain, scattering rock and shattering stone monoliths. Despite his shield’s protection, the priest was driven back, his colossal frame leaving deep gouges in the earth as he slid. But his eyes burned with relentless fury, and he retaliated by slamming his forefoot into the ground, calling upon the golden shield to encase his entire body in a hardened shell. He then launched himself forward, turning into an unstoppable, rolling force.

The princess met him head-on, digging her fists into the ground and summoning stone to bind her to the earth, her own body taking on a defensive, statue-like rigidity. When the priest collided with her, the impact was cataclysmic—rocks exploded, dust billowed, and the ground split in jagged lines around them. Both held firm, locked in a clash of wills and raw strength, their roars blending with the echo of shattered stone.

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