Chapter 60: THE SKY FALLS ON THE PACIFIC
The skies over the Maritime Pacific Corridor turned pitch-black as two distinct elemental storms collided above the ocean waters.
Sixty miles east of Sector 1, the three Aegis-Class Floating Battleships of the Global Vanguard Fleet carved through twenty-foot waves. Their massive anti-mana energy barriers glowed in blinding hues of golden and silver light, creating a protective dome over two hundred SS-Rank Hunters, dozens of tactical support craft, and thousands of heavy mana-artillery batteries.
Suddenly, the ocean surface surrounding the fleet began to boil violently.
CRACKLE-KABOOM!
A massive, hundred-mile-wide tempest of pitch-black lightning and pressurized violet wind—generated by the combined spellcasting of Shadow Commander Ronald and Shadow Commander Beatrice—swallowed the sky above the fleet. The temperature plummeted below freezing in fractions of a second, coating the steel hulls of the two-thousand-foot battleships in thick sheets of dark, corrupted ice.
"Atmospheric pressure dropping to critical levels!" a fleet engineer screamed over the blaring red sirens inside the bridge of The Spear of Geneva. "Anti-mana barriers are taking heavy environmental wear! External thermal sensors are completely frozen!"
Standing at the bow of the lead flagship, General Viktor Vance didn’t flinch as dark lightning struck the ship’s golden barrier, sending violent shockwaves through the deck. He stood like an immovable iron statue, his silver-glowing broadswords drawn and pointed toward the darkened western horizon.
"Maintain formation! Do not break the shield network!" Viktor’s booming voice echoed across the communications channel, overriding the howling tempest. "The spatial anchors are holding! He cannot jump his legion directly onto our decks! Force him into a frontal aerial engagement!"
Beside him, Archmage Cassandra held her staff with both hands, her silk blindfold fluttering wildly as she stared with her mind’s eye toward the sky above Sector 1.
"General..." Cassandra whispered, horror cracking her ethereal voice. "The spatial anchors are holding... but he isn’t jumping..."
"What?" Viktor asked, his silver eyes narrowing.
"He’s flying..." Cassandra gasped, her knuckles turning white around her staff. "He’s coming straight at us from five thousand feet!"
ROOOOOOOOOAAAR!
A world-shattering, primordial dragon roar echoed through the storm clouds, so loud that the metal plates of the three battleships vibrated with deafening intensity.
The dark clouds above the fleet split open. Sweeping down from five thousand feet came the colossal, five-hundred-meter spectral body of the Shadow Dragon Leviathan. Its massive golden-burning eyes illuminated the dark storm, and its towering shadow blotted out what little daylight remained over the Pacific Ocean.
Standing proudly atop the skull of the ancient shadow dragon was Renan. His black coat billowed in the tempest, his glowing dark Monarch armor crackling with black-and-gold energy that radiated thirty-seven thousand eight hundred physical stat points.
Flanking the colossal dragon were his primary shadow commanders—Ignis, Sylas, Gregory, Beatrice, Ronald, and Jonathan—along with two thousand winged Abyssal Shadow Gargoyles that filled the sky like a swarm of spectral locusts.
[Absolute Extraction System: Global Vanguard Fleet Locked]
Target: 200 SS-Rank International Hunters & 3 Aegis-Class Battleships
Active Sovereign Domain: Operational over Pacific Sector (100km)
Monarch Mana Reservoir: 100% (Maximum Output)
"Look at that thing..." a North American SS-Rank Elementalist stammered from the deck of the secondary flagship, dropping his glowing staff in absolute terror. "He... he turned a National-Class Calamity Boss into his mount!"
"Fire all heavy mana-cannons! Fire!" an American Admiral screamed into his mic.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
Over eighty heavy Class-SS mana-artillery turrets mounted on the three battleships rotated upward, unleashing a blinding wall of concentrated plasma beams, armor-piercing magic shells, and holy-infused kinetic warheads directly toward the descending Shadow Dragon.
Renan looked down at the incoming barrage of global military might, his golden eyes filled with cold, absolute indifference.
He raised his right hand, making a simple downward crushing motion toward the lead flagship.
[Skill Activated: ’Sovereign’s Orbital Compression’]
Target Area: Global Vanguard Fleet Flagship (’The Spear of Geneva’)
Gravitational Mass Applied: 50,000 Tons of Pressurized Vector Force
BOOOOOOOOOOM!
An invisible, mountain-sized gravitational hammer slammed down onto The Spear of Geneva from the sky.
The high-density golden anti-mana barrier protecting the two-thousand-foot battleship groaned, buckled, and shattered into millions of sparkling mana shards in less than two seconds. The massive steel deck of the flagship caved inward like an empty tin can, snapping titanium support beams and driving the two-thousand-foot vessel fifty feet down into the ocean water, creating a massive hundred-foot tidal wave that rocked the accompanying fleet!
"Agh!" Dozens of SS-Rank Hunters on board were thrown flat onto the ruined deck, their magical barriers popping like bubbles under the overwhelming gravitational weight.
General Viktor Vance slammed his broadswords into the buckled steel deck to anchor himself, his silver aura flaring violently as he pushed back against the crushing gravity. Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, but his silver eyes remained locked on Renan descending above him.
"Renan!" Viktor roared, his voice cutting through the sounds of twisting steel and roaring waves. "You stand against the entire unified strength of human civilization! You cannot defeat the whole world!"
The Shadow Dragon Leviathan halted its descent, hovering two hundred feet above the sinking flagship. Renan stepped off the dragon’s snout, floating down through the sky until his boots landed softly on the buckled bow of the lead warship, thirty paces from General Viktor Vance.
The surrounding air instantly grew cold and heavy. Every SS-Rank Hunter on the deck felt as though an iron anvil had been placed on their chests just by being within fifty feet of Renan’s physical presence.
Renan looked at General Viktor, then swept his golden eyes over the cowering, bloodied SS-Rank Hunters scattered across the ruined warship.
"Human civilization?" Renan murmured softly, his double-toned, layered voice echoing across the open ocean. "You hoarded power, built cages, and crowned yourselves as gods while feeding the weak to the abyssal rifts."
Renan took a single step forward, black miasma swirling around his boots and melting the steel deck beneath his feet.
"You brought the world’s strongest Hunters to my doorstep," Renan whispered, his golden eyes burning with absolute, predatory malice. "Now... show me if your world can survive its Sovereign."