The tentacles reached within a few inches of Shui's face in no time, but they were then caught by bright silver chains that sprouted from the ground. The tentacles quickly melted once caught by the chains, and this melting phenomenon travelled along the tentacles towards the main body. The fallen immediately detached the tentacles, but it was late in noticing the giant array slowly glowing with silver light beneath it. The array easily surpassed tier 6 so Shui could only tell that it was a type of sealing array.
Just as it took a step towards Shui, chains emerged from the ground and pinned it down. Its body started melting, so it tried to escape by making itself smaller, but a transparent film of fire covered the gaps between chains. Shui could sense that the core of these silver chains was his void flame, but it was much different under Alia's control. She seemed to have tamed the wild beast that would devour everything and focused it on the fallen. Even this wouldn't be enough to kill the creature, but Shui was still astounded by her technique.
While the fallen squirmed under the silver chains, Alia floated down to Shui's shoulder.
"That should keep it here for a couple of years. Let's go."
At first, Shui wanted to ask more about the array she set up, but through their contract, he could sense that she had become weaker since they were last together. She wasn't injured, but constructing the array had obviously taken much from her.
"...Okay."
Shui invited Alia into his pocket and then activated his token. The space inside the Spirit Nest was so unstable that cracks had appeared in the sky, so he wasn't sure where they would be spit out, but the token brought them to an exit.
Meanwhile, Kate and Mater found themselves a small distance apart at the outskirts of Malirin Forest after leaving the Spirit Nest. The transfer left them feeling nauseous, but neither let their eyes wander from their opponent.
"Well, well, aren't you being too clingy?" taunted Mater.
"That's right. I'm about to making my fist cling to your face as well."
"Hah! I admit you could cause me some trouble inside the Spirit Nest, but you're deluding yourself if you believe that it'll be the same now that I have my true cultivation back."
"Let's put that theory to the test then."
Now that they had returned from the Spirit Nest, it wouldn't be impossible for the elders to find them and interfere in their conflict. Kate didn't want that outcome, so she planned on finishing this battle quickly.
Now that he had experienced the danger of Kate's talent first hand, Mater wished to get rid of her with no elders to get in his way, so they were in agreement in that sense.
"Storm Impact!"
Right off the bat, Kate cast one of her strongest spells at Mater, but she was blocked by his barrier spell.
"Let me give you some advice as your Eldest Brother. If this is the best you can do, your paltry attacks will never make it past my barrier."
Kate retreated to avoid spikes of ice that jumped from the ground, but she didn't forget to analyze his barrier as she did so. With her cultivation unsuppressed, Kate's 'Storm Impact' could kill someone at the peak of the Earth Realm, but Mater's barrier surpassed that. She wasn't certain, but his barrier seemed capable of defending against attacks from an experienced expert in the Sky Realm. He hadn't shown the limits of his offensive ability, but she knew it wouldn't be lower than what she had shown so far.
"I would have liked to do this barehanded, but even if you lack morals, you're certainly strong."
"Hmph! Morals are for the strong to decide. Are those your last words?"
"Of course not. But they might be the last words you ever hear."
Kate took out a certain box from her sleeve and then removed the pair of amber gloves contained within it. The gloves appeared to be a blessed spirit-rank artifact, but something about it made Mater wary. Once Kate wore the gloves, a wild aura exploded from her body, giving Mater the illusion that he was facing an evolved beast instead of a human. The aura gradually retreated into Kate's body, but her sharp eyes still possessed explosive ferocity.
"What kind of artifact did you-?"
Before he could finish his question, Kate appeared in front of Mater and pierced through his barrier with her hand. His quick reflexes allowed him to create a second, more focused barrier to block her hand, but he was still pushed several steps back. Without giving him a chance to rest, Kate followed up with another Storm Impact, but Mater dodged this one by leaping out of the way. Kate's spell tore apart the land in front of her and kept going towards the forest, but her attention was only on Mater.
Mater created giant rings of water around her and combined them to form a dome, but Kate quickly broke out of it and charged at him.
"You sure are persistent. Fine then, I'll play along."
Mater revealed a supreme spirit-rank artifact in the form of a translucent orb the size of a human head. This was a supportive artifact that could significantly decrease the casting time and energy consumption of his spells, making it a valuable rarity among spirit-rank artifacts. Once he had the orb in hand, Mater swiftly cast several water-attribute intermediate spells. Kate could evade them, but the moment she tried to approach Mater, a spell blocked her path.
"How does it feel to be trapped like a rat?"
Kate had definitely become stronger, but her decision making had dulled so she wasn't able to see through Mater's tricks. Mater didn't know what else she had up her sleeves, so he planned on tightening the noose around her neck as fast as he could.
As this was the first time she was fighting with the gloves on, Kate had to resist the feral instincts from the gloves while fighting. She knew it was reckless to do this, especially against an opponent as powerful as Mater, but a strong opponent was very effective in helping her synchronize with the artifact. As soon as the wild intent of the gloves fell under her control, Kate could finally utilize her enhanced senses properly.
She jumped to avoid a water spear, but ended up in the crosshairs of five other spells. If her mind had been clouded, she would only be able to defend, but she now saw a different path. She used the air as a platform and leaped higher than any of Mater's spells before casting her own. She created a small tornado above her right hand and swung it down. Mater blocked the tornado with his barrier, but the turbulent winds distracted him from Kate's rapidly approaching presence.
The moment the tornado dispersed, Kate appeared in front of Mater and cast Storm Impact. Even Mater couldn't defend against this spell at such close range, but there was no time to evade either. Forced into a difficult situation, Mater used his artifact to block the spell.
The wind hurled Mater and his artifact towards the forest, but Kate knew that her last attack wouldn't be enough to defeat him, so she took the time to absorb her recent insights and prepare for the next round.