Chapter 1001: Safe Corridor Through the Enemy Lines
And right at that moment, Victor abruptly changed his move. Instead of continuing the sweeping motion with his staff, he thrust it forward.
Ting.
A crisp, metallic ring echoed across the battlefield as the tip of his staff struck the very end of the massive greatsword, precisely where the chain connected to the blade. The enormous weapon jerked violently off course. The strike that had been aimed squarely at Markham’s head crashed into the ground instead.
BOOM!
At almost the exact same instant, Markham’s thousand-meter phantom greatsword descended from the sky. It came crashing down directly in front of the formation, and the earth itself seemed to quake under the impact.
WHOOSH!
Every player caught in its path was wiped out instantly. A blazing crimson fissure split the ground open, and a towering pillar of fire erupted toward the heavens. Without missing a beat, Markham spread his hands apart. The colossal blood-red phantom greatsword split cleanly down the middle, each half sweeping outward in opposite directions. The inferno followed its movement, dividing into two immense walls of flame that stretched for an entire kilometer along both flanks. Then Markham led the formation straight through the gap.
The kilometer-wide passage became an untouchable corridor. No enemy player dared cross it. Even brushing against the flames was enough for the fire to cling to its victim, burning relentlessly until nothing remained. No amount of healing could extinguish it. These were the underworld’s Karma Flames. Once they latched onto someone, death was the only escape.
Watching from afar, Ethan allowed himself a faint smile. In the time he’d spent away, his companions had grown far stronger than he’d imagined. For a brief moment, even he found their strength almost unfamiliar.
By then, the Renegade Alliance’s formation had driven itself completely into the heart of the three-faction coalition, leaving everyone watching the livestream speechless.
High above the battlefield, OneSwordBreaksArmy narrowed his eyes after his attack had been deflected. With a flick of his wrist, the chained greatsword flew back into his grasp. This time, he looked at Victor with unmistakable caution.
That Priest... He’d identified the weakest point of the attack almost instantly. The exact point where the chain linked to the blade. That single strike had been enough to throw the entire attack off balance.
More importantly, something about this Priest felt completely wrong. Even if another Priest had spotted that weakness, they shouldn’t have possessed enough physical strength to redirect such a heavy weapon so effortlessly. Priests specialized in Intelligence, not Strength. Against a Warrior, they were supposed to be hopeless in close combat. Yet Victor was calmly flying closer. Was this Priest actually planning to fight him head-on?
"Holy... Judgment."
As the thought crossed his mind, Victor calmly raised his staff. The two words left his mouth almost casually. But no magical aura gathered around him. Instead, the tiny owl perched beneath him suddenly began to shine. The adorable chibi owl glowed with brilliant white light that spread from the tip of its tail across its entire body before concentrating into the crescent moon resting atop its head.
"Wheee...!"
The little owl let out a childlike cry. The crescent moon flashed brilliantly. A beam of soft, milky-white light shot forward, aimed directly at OneSwordBreaksArmy’s gryphon. His mount was also a flying battle companion.
OneSwordBreaksArmy reacted instantly. "GRYPHON’S ROAR!"
The gryphon threw its head back and opened its beak.
"ROOOAR!"
A violent sonic shockwave burst outward, colliding head-on with the incoming beam. He intended to neutralize Victor’s so-called Holy Judgment before it ever reached him.
Down below, Markham happened to glance upward. "Heh... that idiot’s about to learn the hard way."
By now he’d already fallen back to the second line while SeraphWarrior took over the vanguard, swinging his enormous greatsword through the enemy ranks. Every swing carved a bloody path forward, and anyone unlucky enough to meet the blade lost their head.
"Hurry up. You seriously have time to watch the fight?" Leo shoved him from behind. "Your cooldowns are almost back. Get ready."
Markham rubbed his nose with a grin. He had already switched into his dual-wielding stance. A massive greatsword rested in his right hand, while a blood-red phantom blade shimmered in his left. The two weapons blurred together as he attacked, leaving streaks of afterimages in every direction. Anyone who tried to stop him was cut down before they even realized what had happened.
The Renegade Alliance had already pushed three kilometers into enemy territory. Even so, the coalition’s numbers seemed endless. More than nine million players stretched across a battle line fifteen kilometers wide. Clearing a path through sheer force would still take time.
Markham spared a quick glance toward the rear. The Demonic Siege Engine was still sitting where it had been, completely motionless instead of advancing with the formation. What exactly was the Boss planning?
Meanwhile, high above the battlefield, Victor’s Holy Judgment met the gryphon’s sonic roar. The beam sliced straight through it. At the same time, Victor guided his owl sharply upward, causing the remaining shockwave to pass harmlessly beneath him. A heartbeat later, the beam struck the gryphon squarely between the eyes.
"GRAAAH!"
OneSwordBreaksArmy’s expression changed. He hadn’t expected the attack to break through his counterattack so easily. But... No damage appeared. Not a single point of health had been lost.
Then the gryphon suddenly convulsed. Its entire body trembled violently as it let out a pained screech before rolling wildly through the air. OneSwordBreaksArmy yanked hard on the reins, but the gryphon ignored every command. Instead, it bucked violently, trying to throw him from its back. Its long, scorpion-like tail lashed through the air before whipping straight toward its own rider. It was attacking him.
"Damn beast!"
His face twisted with fury.
Not far away, Victor simply watched with an amused smile. This was the only offensive ability his exclusive mount possessed. It didn’t deal damage. Instead, it threw enemy mounts into complete confusion, disrupting the bond between mount and rider. If luck was on his side, the connection would shatter entirely, allowing the owl to seize control of the target. And this time... The effect had triggered perfectly.
The gryphon no longer recognized OneSwordBreaksArmy as its master. He realized it almost immediately. Without even a moment’s hesitation, he roared in frustration and swung his greatsword.
CHUNK!
Blood sprayed through the air. He decapitated his own gryphon with a single clean strike.
"What?!"
"That’s brutal!"
"He actually killed his own mount without thinking twice?"
The livestream captured the entire scene in close-up. Quite a few viewers couldn’t help feeling sorry for the headless gryphon as its lifeless body continued tumbling through the sky. Blood scattered across the battlefield while OneSwordBreaksArmy, drenched from head to toe in crimson, kicked the corpse away.
He dropped toward the ground and, moments before impact, activated Thunderous Leap Strike. The skill absorbed the force of the landing as he slammed into the earth, his massive greatsword crashing into the ground with him. Then he slowly lifted his head. His furious gaze locked onto Victor, who was still hovering overhead.
Victor simply circled once through the air before turning back toward the Renegade Alliance’s formation. Without his flying companion, OneSwordBreaksArmy had been forced to the ground. His greatest advantage had disappeared.
Victor wasn’t worried anymore. Even if OneSwordBreaksArmy charged the formation from the front, he no longer had the mobility needed to threaten it. The real danger had always been his ability to attack freely from the air.
They had researched him thoroughly before this battle. He truly was powerful. Within the Western Frontier Region, his reputation rivaled Ethan’s own in the Northern Frontier Region. But this wasn’t a duel. On a battlefield involving millions of players, even someone as powerful as OneSwordBreaksArmy couldn’t decide the outcome alone.
No matter how overwhelming an individual’s strength was, every powerful skill still had one unavoidable weakness. Cooldowns.
By the time Victor rejoined the formation, the Renegade Alliance had already driven halfway through the coalition’s nine-million-player army. Everyone watching was left in stunned silence. Many found themselves asking the same question. Were battle formations in this game really capable of something this terrifying?
Half the distance had already been covered, but the vanguard’s strongest abilities had all entered cooldown. Just as everyone began wondering how they would break through the remaining enemy forces...
A command arrived from Ethan. The moment they heard it, every member of the Renegade Alliance froze in place.