Vol 3. Chapter 90: The One Who Destroyed the Barrier
Gray-white light mixed with thick smoke rapidly spread outward.
The blond-haired man slowly slid down from the black-steel doors before collapsing miserably onto the floor.
“D-Damn it... He actually... actually launched a sneak attack!”
The esteemed Child of Destiny cursed between ragged breaths...
...
...
Seeing that his magic beam had pierced straight through Xue Tianao’s chest, Xiao showed not the slightest trace of satisfaction at having accomplished his goal. Instead, just to be safe, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers once more. The gray-white magic power surrounding him immediately responded to his summons, gathering together and constructing two enormous summoning formations.
As pale-blue summoning light flickered,
Two enormous magical wolves formed entirely from elemental energy abruptly manifested their massive bodies.
Then,
At Xiao’s command, the two magical wolves roared and charged fiercely toward Xue Tianao, who lay on the ground not far away. If Xue Tianao wasn’t dead, the wolves would finish him off by directly biting through his throat. If he was already dead, the wolves would still finish him off anyway, just in case he somehow came back to life...
Considering the terrifying divine power that had erupted around the Child of Destiny when she fought Welt, Xiao had no choice but to be cautious. After all, that divine power had instantly inflicted severe injuries upon Welt, an Upper Eighth-Tier existence.
Although previous Children of Destiny had never possessed protective divine power,
No one could guarantee that the current Xue Tianao didn’t have it.
Just to be safe, Xiao maintained his distance from Xue Tianao and used magically summoned beasts to attack in his stead.
And just as the magical wolves’ sharp claws were about to touch Xue Tianao’s body, Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly.
The next moment,
Under Xiao’s indifferent gaze,
A burst of pale-golden light suddenly erupted from Xue Tianao’s body.
Vaguely,
Xiao seemed to see indistinct golden chains appearing around Xue Tianao’s body. At that very moment, those chains suddenly shattered. As the chains broke apart, Xue Tianao’s aura abruptly skyrocketed. His Peak Seventh-Tier strength was forcibly enhanced by the golden light until it approached the Early Eighth Tier! His life force, which had been steadily draining away, actually began flowing back into his body in complete defiance of the laws of nature.
“AAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
Xue Tianao let out an enraged roar.
Then, the Child of Destiny planted both hands against the ground and violently pushed himself upward.
At the very last moment, he avoided the bites of the two magical wolves. After dodging their attack, magic power approaching the Early Eighth Tier abruptly erupted from his body. Having released the first layer of his shackles, Xue Tianao was no longer nearly as intimidated by Xiao’s magical pressure.
Blue and pale-golden light continuously erupted around his body, counteracting the suppression exerted by Xiao’s gray-white magic power.
“Come forth!”
‘Heaven-Splitting Sword!’
‘Helheis’s Axe!’
Xue Tianao’s eyes abruptly narrowed as dazzling golden light surged from his spatial ring.
Enveloped in golden radiance, the two newest divine weapons Xue Tianao had previously exchanged for from the System Shop appeared firmly gripped in his hands. The next instant, the silver longsword pierced through one magical wolf’s head with a terrifying momentum capable of penetrating anything, while the pitch-black battle axe unstoppablely cleaved the other magical wolf in two.
After only a single exchange,
Both magical wolves abruptly collapsed, transforming into countless gray-white particles of magic power that scattered through the air and vanished into the atmosphere.
Meanwhile, wielding a divine weapon in each hand, Xue Tianao performed a backward somersault and landed inside the hall. His blue eyes locked firmly onto Xiao in the distance as an intense fighting spirit began emanating from his entire body. The enormous bloody hole in his chest began rapidly healing after the release of his first shackle...
The wound that should have been fatal actually healed completely within just a few seconds.
Even Xiao couldn’t help showing an impressed expression at this sight.
‘Pretty damn tanky...’
On the other side,
Xue Tianao assumed a fully guarded stance.
At this moment, Xue Tianao finally realized that the other party’s killing intent was completely genuine.
This man truly wanted to kill him...
He had deliberately appeared here,
Presumably to prevent him from obtaining the ‘Divine Might Armor,’ all so that it would be easier to kill him...
But,
Why?
“Your Grace, please believe me. I have no intention of exposing your older sister’s identity! I believe your sister, Miss Yu, is a special existence! She can cooperate with humanity. There’s no need for you to make an enemy of me. We’re both human. Right now, we should join forces against our common enemy! If you’re willing to stop and cooperate with me, we can become partners! In the name of the Emperor of the Empire, I swear to the heavens that I will absolutely let bygones be bygones regarding today’s events, nor will I reveal Miss Blood Butterfly’s identity to any—Hm???”
However, before Xue Tianao could finish speaking,
Xiao shook his head somewhat playfully and looked at Xue Tianao with a teasing gaze.
“Partners? Strictly speaking, the ‘common enemy’ you’re talking about happens to be my partner~”
?!!!
Huh?!
Hearing this, Xue Tianao’s expression changed drastically. He couldn’t help pointing a finger at Xiao as he sharply demanded,
“You... What did you say? Could it be... those Abyss Demons outside the city? You really brought them here?!”
“...”
Faced with the Child of Destiny’s questioning, Xiao seemingly had no intention of answering. He continued looking completely unconcerned, even revealing a slightly meaningful smile.
And just as Xiao’s smile drew Xue Tianao’s attention,
A gray laser filled with an aura capable of destroying heaven and earth suddenly launched a fierce attack from behind him!
The one launching the attack was none other than Xiao’s black staff, which had somehow floated behind Xue Tianao without him noticing!
Sensing the approaching destructive force, Xue Tianao’s expression abruptly changed as he roared in humiliated fury,
“You despicable bastard! Another sneak attack!”
While cursing, Xue Tianao hurriedly spun around and swung both divine weapons. Relying on the divine axe’s ability to absorb impact, Xue Tianao actually managed to successfully block the attack...
However,
All he could do was hold it back for a brief moment. The tremendous impact caused Xue Tianao’s face to become increasingly distorted.
Left with no other choice, Xue Tianao could only attempt to redirect the attack.
“AAAAAAAAAAAH!!”
Accompanied by Xue Tianao’s hysterical roar, the blond-haired man suddenly raised his hands and continuously poured his blue magic power into the attack, suppressing the magical cannon’s tendency to explode. Once his magic power gradually merged with Xiao’s magical cannon, Xue Tianao roared once more and successfully altered the trajectory of the gray energy beam.
“BOOM~”
The next moment,
The gray magical cannon violently blasted through the ceiling of the Divine Armament Hall.
Under the dumbfounded gazes of countless nearby soldiers, the massive beam of magic power shot straight into the clouds and tore through the sky. However, although Xue Tianao’s immediate crisis had temporarily been resolved, Skyvault itself was now in an extremely precarious situation.
Because as the magical cannon surged into the heavens, the defensive barrier spread across the skies above Skyvault was inevitably blasted open by the attack coming from inside, leaving an enormous crack...
Although the barrier was sturdy against attacks from the outside, its interior was considerably more fragile.
Moreover, this city-protection barrier had already been pushed to the brink of collapse by Yuan’er’s previous arrival.
And now, the gray magical cannon had blasted an enormous opening through it from within.
The barrier had reached its limit.
Caught completely unprepared, the mages maintaining the barrier suffered a terrifying backlash from the enormous energy. They spat out blood and collapsed heavily to the ground, unable to rise again.
Thus, under the despairing gazes of countless people, the barrier protecting the skies above Skyvault shattered along with the collapse of the mages, transforming into countless white motes of light that dispersed throughout the heavens...
The disappearance of the barrier meant that Skyvault’s skies had completely lost their protection.
Countless Abyss Demons that had been circling outside the barrier high above suddenly caught the scent of their prey. The hordes of Hell Beasts that had been waiting for so long immediately unleashed shrill, ghostly howls and charged toward the city with overwhelming momentum and savage, bloodthirsty killing intent...
Meanwhile, the troops guarding the city walls were completely incapable of dealing with an invasion from the sky.
At this moment,
The entire city was exposed beneath the claws and fangs of the brutal Abyss Demons.
Fear escalated once again.
In an instant, heart-rending screams rose one after another throughout the city as thick smoke from battle spread everywhere...
The Abyss Demon hordes that had entered the city launched merciless attacks against everyone who dared resist them.
Strangely enough, those incapable of resisting were not directly attacked by the Abyss Demons...
But regardless,
Skyvault, the capital of the Snow Night Empire, had already been enveloped in a bloody storm...
——
By the time Xue Tianao recovered from his shock, the miserable cries for help throughout the city had reached his ears, causing his expression to change drastically. And after taking in the scene unfolding within the city, Xue Tianao suddenly realized just how serious the mistake he had made moments earlier truly was!
‘Damn it, how... How did this happen?!’
In his panic, he had instinctively tried to protect the equipment beneath the Divine Armament Hall by throwing the enemy’s magical cannon upward into the sky?!
And because of that, the barrier had been directly destroyed?
Wait?
Recalling his actions just now, Xue Tianao’s pupils suddenly contracted.
In order to withstand Xiao’s magical cannon, he had poured an enormous amount of his own magic power into it, intending to control the force. As a result, the outer layer of the magical cannon had become saturated with the aura of his own power...
In that case?!
Once that power erupted, what would the people nearby sense?
Wouldn’t they sense his power?!
Everyone would think that he was the one who destroyed the barrier?!
Could...
Could this have been that bastard’s true objective?!
As though finally guessing the other party’s intentions, Xue Tianao clenched his fists tightly and abruptly turned around, glaring furiously at the black-haired man in the distance.
“You bastard! What the hell are you trying to do?!”
“...”
In response, Xiao merely sneered coldly, utterly unconcerned by Xue Tianao’s fury. Instead, he cast a meaningful gaze toward the smoke-filled city below, which was currently being ravaged by Abyss Demons.
“Sigh, I have to say, the people of Skyvault really are pitiful. The emperor they trusted actually betrayed them, personally destroying the barrier and allowing the Abyss Demons into the city.”
!??
“You?!”
Xiao’s words immediately made Xue Tianao’s face twitch, and he couldn’t help roaring furiously,
“You’re talking complete bullshit! You were obviously the one who launched the attack! You’re the one who destroyed the barrier!”
“So what if I was? The people of Skyvault have no way of finding that out anyway.”
“Wh... What? What do you mean?”
“Isn’t it obvious?”
As he spoke, the black staff instantly flashed back into Xiao’s hand and began releasing waves of violent magical fluctuations, emanating an aura that gave even Xue Tianao an extremely ominous feeling...
“Because you won’t have the chance to survive and explain it to them.”
Xue Tianao: ??!