Caroline’s hands sank down—the heavy crate swayed about and nearly slipped out of her grasp. Her expression was solemn, and several arcs of lightning jumped about on her body as she stabilized herself. Having to take care of the heavy crate under this pressure was quite taxing even for a divine champion.

The initial feeling was that they weren’t far from the peak, but the shower of grey made it seem exceptionally distant.

Gazing at the drifting wisps of grey rain, Caroline unleashed a low roar and shot out hundreds of lightning bolts from her whip. The arcs of electricity looked chaotic, but they were actually split into several orderly waves—one surge was followed by the next to form a constant barrage. This single attack showed just how much control Caroline had over her lightning powers.

The tangible grey rain was incomparably tough. A bolt of lightning could only wear down a small part of each wisp, taking half a dozen strikes to completely destroy one. Following the sweeping storm of lightning, the grey rain had only thinned out slightly and was soon replaced by more...