Chapter 416: Feast of Calamity
"I won’t be able to hold on much longer if we don’t take down the Empress. Rosalia, hit her with everything you’ve got."
With that, Phield pulled out nearly his entire collection: the Floating Shield, a second tier Artifact of Order, the Death Battle Axe, a third tier Artifact of Death, and the Twin Blades, a third tier Artifact of the Furious Sea.
"Rosalia is insanely strong, but damn, she eats through Artifacts like there’s no tomorrow."
Phield looked like he was about to cry. Nearly every precious Artifact he had collected had ended up inside her. She had practically devoured the entire stockpile of Nightfall Domain. Fortunately, Tisiana had managed to seize another Artifact, and he had still kept one small bow, the trophy from the border fortress campaign.
After swatting aside the surrounding demons, the Corrupted Dragon turned around. Massive chains shot forward, wrapped around the Artifacts in Phield’s hands, and swallowed them whole.
The Incarnate Synergy Battle, which had already reached sixty two percent completion, instantly reached one hundred percent.
An overwhelming tide of divine power erupted.
The dragon’s domineering body slowly unfolded. Its savage head fully materialized, revealing six pairs of vertical dragon eyes. Its ash gray body towered like a mountain, countless stars flowing across its scales. A massive hole gaped where its heart should have been, replaced by a brilliant black crimson sphere pulsing like a living heart.
Simply standing there unleashed such terrifying pressure that the surrounding demons struggled to move.
Phield noticed the change in the status panel.
Incarnate Synergy Battle: Corrupted Dragon Guard
Calamity Rank, Exclusive, Corrupted Creature
Description: Grants enormous enhancements to its contracted Divine Chosen, doubling vitality while increasing defense, attack, and divine power by twenty five percent. Additional bonuses are gained from consumed Artifacts. The dragon itself possesses unimaginable power.
Adjustment: It no longer requires chains to control it like a puppet. The Greatsword of Gluttony regains its chain ornament.
Introduction: When calamity descends, no one escapes, not even dragons.
"It’s finally complete. I never imagined Nightfall Domain, which barely has any Mana Knights, would obtain a dragon before anyone else."
Phield sighed.
"No wonder this thing is such a stat monster. It almost bankrupted me."
The Corrupted Dragon could still consume more Artifacts in the future to gain smaller attribute increases, but the returns would never compare to before. Maxing out every minor enhancement would require unimaginable wealth.
The resources from now on would have to be reserved for the others.
"ROAR!"
The Corrupted Dragon opened its jaws so wide that its cheeks and neck tore apart. To a corrupted creature, however, such pain was nothing more than a reward. Its grotesque appearance made it look even more demonic than the demons themselves.
A torrent of black crimson Corrupted Dragon Breath swept across the battlefield, the power of calamity annihilating everything in its path.
For the first time, Phield saw fear on a demon’s face.
Previously, Christie had still been able to teleport Riemann away whenever the Corrupted Dragon attacked.
Now the entire underground palace was engulfed in roaring flames.
"Run! It was all a lie!"
Marianne stepped forward without hesitation. Drawing upon the power gained from dissolving her Artifact, she desperately shielded Riemann.
She smiled bitterly as both she and the surrounding demons were obliterated into dust.
"Help! Somebody save me!"
Riemann completely lost control in terror.
Christie raised one hand and instantly summoned him behind herself.
Then she suddenly realized that Rosalia’s combat power had skyrocketed.
"Die! Die!"
Rosalia attacked like a madwoman, throwing out Divine Skills as if they cost absolutely nothing.
Before, she had only held a slight advantage.
Now she was completely overwhelming her opponent.
Christie was beaten senseless, slammed into the ground, and utterly dominated.
Just as Rosalia was about to kill both the Empress and Riemann, an unexpected change occurred.
"Ah! Help!"
"Splash!"
A miserable scream echoed from the palace below, followed by an eruption of strange divine power that startled everyone present.
Fearing an ambush, Rosalia immediately retreated to defend the group.
Moments later, a woman emerged from the mausoleum with an unsteady gait.
She wore an asymmetrical black violet dress that perfectly blended melancholy with seductive elegance.
Her long, flawless legs stretched beneath the uneven skirt without a trace of ornament, displaying a beauty that needed no embellishment.
Although sorrow lingered within her eyes, it could not conceal the overwhelming dominance behind them. A beauty mark beneath the corner of one eye made her appearance even more enchanting.
She looked like the very embodiment of a melancholy yet commanding queen.
Of course, she would have looked even more beautiful if blood had not stained the corner of her lips and if she were not carrying a severed head in one hand.
Six or seven broken golden spears remained embedded in her back, creating an unsettling sight.
One by one, she calmly pulled the spears from her body and tossed them aside.
"Heh. You experimented on me while I was asleep, draining my soul to construct this formation."
Her violet eyes swept across the battlefield before locking onto the Empress hidden within Christie’s body.
"You even dreamed of stealing the body of Calamity. How pitiful."
"Fuck! Mermaids are such brainless, worthless creatures!"
The Ancient Moon Empire’s Empress nearly coughed up blood.
She could no longer maintain the graceful dignity of a ruler and exploded into furious curses.
"Why did you have to release the Calamity? Why couldn’t you keep your hands to yourself?"
She had sealed Nether firmly in place, completely unable to move, planning to safely subdue her after the battle.
She never imagined Contily would accidentally set her free.
"Perhaps it wasn’t because she couldn’t resist touching things."
Marguerite covered her mouth and laughed darkly.
"Perhaps you’re simply too ignorant."
She casually tossed Contily’s severed head aside.
"Quick! Riemann! Use the Orb of Destiny on Marguerite!"
The Empress was frantic.
"Possessing her body doesn’t matter anymore. Staying alive does!"
Marguerite had regained her consciousness, making possession impossible.
"Right!"
Riemann immediately poured his soul power into the Orb of Destiny.
A soul connection surged toward Marguerite, only to meet fierce resistance.
Phield’s soul power was desperately interfering.
The orb flashed briefly before falling silent.
It neither succeeded nor disappeared.
Not even an ordinary contract had been formed.
Pale as death, Phield leaned weakly against the little angel Tisiana and slowly gave a thumbs up.
"Am I amazing or what? This is what it means to stand firm. Remember this. This is the strength of the strongest man in Nightfall Domain."
"My Lord... please stop talking."
Tisiana looked as though she were about to cry.
"You’re incredible. Truly incredible."
Tisiana had not cried.
But the sight before her brought the Empress herself to tears.
"Phield... please... just die already."
Her voice trembled with sobs.
"If Riemann can’t contract Marguerite, she’ll kill every last one of us."
"Think about the world for once! If a Calamity escapes, do you have any idea how many people will die?"
Why was every ally she found such an idiot?
She only wanted to save the world.
Why did everything have to become so difficult?
Marguerite instantly appeared beside Riemann, smiling with amused contempt.
"So this is your chosen one?"
She laughed softly.
"He’s rather disappointing."
Her figure became ethereal as she passed directly through Riemann’s body.
Turning gracefully, she beckoned with a single finger.
Riemann’s mouth fell open.
His soul power was drained completely in an instant.
He died on the spot.
"Holy shit!"
Rosalia was so startled that she immediately rushed back to Phield’s side to protect him.
The Empress reacted instantly.
Empowered by her demonic wings, she burst forward at full speed, snatched up the Orb of Destiny, activated the formation to block pursuit, and fled toward the ruins’ exit as fast as she possibly could.