2288 2288. Ice

"We can't rely on random attacks if we want to defeat him with the next offensive," Great Builder declared.

"I thought strategies wouldn't work against him," Supreme Thief complained.

"Tricks wouldn't," Alexander corrected. "What should we do?"

"I thought you were on my side," Supreme Thief protested.

"He isn't blinded by his selfishness," Great Builder explained. "Compromises are necessary at times, especially in these situations."

"You aren't trying to scam me, right?" Supreme Thief wondered.

"That would be a mistake," Alexander announced. "We need your power to evolve. The final battle is far from over."

"Fine," Supreme Thief sighed. "What is this strategy?"

"His power source is quite immense," Great Builder admitted without moving his gaze away from the Rulers' Resolve. "We can't win if we give him the time to heal or summon stronger attacks."

"So?" Supreme Thief asked. "Do we have to coordinate? None of us is good at that."

"I am good at that," Great Builder scoffed. "Anyway, I was talking about something that can last for a while. We must trap him inside an environment that can thoroughly destroy his world without ever stopping."

"I have something for that," Supreme Thief declared.

"Same here," Alexander added.

"We have a strategy then," Great Builder stated.

The Rulers' Resolve could hear his opponents' conversation even if grey storms surrounded his figure. He knew what the three had in mind, but he didn't devise any countermeasure. That would go against his nature.

A power founded on the boundless determination that Heaven and Earth had shown until now couldn't resort to tricks. It needed firm faith and conviction. Its foundation would shake otherwise.

Of course, the Rulers' Resolve wouldn't stay still if his opponents revealed everything they were about to do. He could only hear their general plan before they opted for a mental conversation.

Great Builder, Supreme Thief, and Alexander needed to talk about their approach. Their abilities and creations could easily go against each other when creating an environment, so they had to make sure that everything could work in harmony before attacking.

Great Builder led that mental conversation and handled the challenging job of putting Supreme Thief and Alexander on the same page. Luckily for him, Alexander had no problems accepting Supreme Thief's whims, so the trio quickly reached an agreement.

"Finally!" The Rulers' Resolve shouted in his monstrous voice when he saw his three opponents splitting to reach different positions around him.

Supreme Thief flew under the Rulers' Resolve while Alexander teleported to a spot above him. Only Great Builder remained before the expert, but all three kept some distance.

"Did you decide to face what we are about to unleash?" Great Builder asked.

"You can't break me," The Rulers' Resolve stated. "I don't have to do anything to prove that."

The grey storms around the Rulers' Resolve intensified after his announcement. He was ready to face his opponents' offensive and prove the superiority of his world. However, the trio was also ready.

Great Builder closed his eyes and crossed his legs. Yellow strands of energy flowed out of his figure and dispersed around the grey storms to create the foundation for a technique.

Truth be told, the Rulers' Resolve had the chance to intervene. Great Builder had already reached his limits multiple times, so dispersing his energy wouldn't be hard.

Yet, that would force Supreme Thief and Alexander's hand. The two would surround the Rulers' Resolve again with a series of attacks that could hurt him.

The Rulers' Resolve wouldn't admit it loudly, but he knew that Supreme Thief and Alexander were fearsome experts. Only one of them wouldn't be enough to defeat him, but the situation was different with the two working together.

The sole fact that his world could lose was enough to destabilize it. Still, the Rulers' Resolve opted for a type of challenge that could remove that disadvantage. If he won it, there was a high chance that his opponents would be the ones to suffer.

Great Builder continued to spread his energy until yellow branches appeared around the grey storms. They surrounded the Rulers' Resolve's technique and created paths that Supreme Thief and Alexander had to follow.

Alexander knew that his turn had come. His aura exploded with power before calming down and transforming into white water that flowed toward the yellow branches.

The water followed the branches and covered them completely before expanding to create a spherical encirclement meant to contain the grey storms. At that point, the technique solidified to give birth to ice.

Supreme Thief's turn finally arrived. His figure released azure light that condensed and darkened in the form of small drops. Those dense and tiny masses of energy fell on the white encirclement and fused with it to add corrosive properties to its fabric.

The yellow branches, the white ice, and the dark drops started to fuse properly once everything was in place. Three pillars stretched out of the spherical technique while its size increased. Those channels enveloped Supreme Thief, Alexander, and Great Builder to absorb energy directly from their world.

The spherical technique shook as its internal surface expanded forward and clashed with the grey storms. A clash that no one could see happened inside that massive structure, and the Rulers' Resolve's voice grew quiet during the process.

Great Builder couldn't provide much energy, but his task mainly involved the management of his companions' power. Alexander's condition wasn't ideal, but his resilience was almost endless, so he gave everything he could to the technique.

As for Supreme Thief, he was still full of power. The spherical technique benefited greatly from his world, and energy never stopped flowing out of him.

The spherical technique soon turned into something similar to what Noah had summoned. The three experts had created an ability that expressed the full power of their worlds without hindering the different natures of the energy inside it.

Moreover, the general nature of the technique directly opposed what the Rulers' Resolve had summoned. The privileged cultivator had created storms, so Great Builder had pushed for abilities that expressed calm and stillness.

The spherical technique eventually started to expand in the opposite direction too. Its external surface stretched forward and increased its size while its color darkened. Its aura also deepened, and the void around it began to suffer under its sheer weight.

Everything went completely silent once the technique engulfed Supreme Thief, Alexander, and Great Builder. The structure had become so big that the pillars had disappeared in its dark insides. The Rulers' Resolve's voice also became impossible to hear from outside, so no one could understand who was winning.

Nevertheless, the technique behaved like a proper living being. The three experts continued sending energy and managing its growth, so it expanded until it occupied a decent part of the higher plane.

Once the growth stopped, the heavy aura disappeared. The technique didn't become only silent. It also lost any trace of power or weight. It turned into a giant structure that seemed to carry no ability or nature. It became a mere block of dark ice with unclear potential and purpose.

Everyone on the battlefield became aware of that big presence, but no one dared to approach it. Even those involved in the major fights avoided getting close to it.