Chapter 415: Backlash, Ascension
"By the Goddess..."
Christie’s eyes nearly popped out of their sockets.
Unfortunately, most people never lived long enough to share in that shock.
The demons were swallowed by the golden tide and reduced to nothing but ash.
The exhausted Divine Chosen crossbowman had long since run out of Divine Power.
In utter despair, he was obliterated by the bombardment.
Even the Corrupted Dragon, caught within the blast radius, was mercilessly bombarded.
Its flesh was torn apart, and one of its wings was nearly ripped off.
The bombardment continued for three full minutes.
Half of the battlefield was transformed into a blazing sea of fire before the overwhelming backlash finally forced Firomina to stop.
Her body trembled as she withdrew the Nirvana Seed.
Clutching her chest in pain, she breathed heavily.
"I only managed to kill one Divine Chosen."
"Fortunately, it was a Tier Three."
"That returned quite a bit of Divine Power."
Firomina frowned slightly.
"Combined with what I’d accumulated before..."
"...and the Divine Power my Moon Form gathered through the territory..."
"...it should finally be enough for me to advance."
Like the other Calamities, destroying cities allowed the Divine Chosen of Destruction to accumulate Divine Power rapidly.
However, unlike the others, she could also gain Origin Divine Power by slaughtering other Divine Chosen.
Meanwhile, although her Moon Form possessed virtually no combat ability, it could receive Divine Power from the territory just like an ordinary Divine Chosen.
"So..."
"The Lord does have some value after all."
Firomina murmured to herself before immediately shaking her head.
"No."
"What nonsense am I thinking?"
As the Nirvana Seed disappeared, an overwhelming torrent of pure Divine Power flooded into the mark on Firomina’s forehead.
Her aura exploded upward.
Even through his dizziness, Phield suddenly received the advancement notification.
"What the hell?!"
His eyes widened.
"She leveled up?"
"She actually advances by killing people?"
Along with Firomina’s dramatically increased attributes came four enhancement options.
1. New Divine Skill.
2. New Trait.
3. Existing Skill Evolution.
4. Randomly remove one negative status.
Firomina casually brushed back her long hair with her usual cold arrogance.
She cared about no one but herself.
Naturally, she attempted to choose the option she wanted.
Only to discover...
...she couldn’t.
"What?!"
She stomped her foot in frustration.
"Damn it!"
With no other choice, she awkwardly turned toward Phield.
Without saying a word, she simply blinked at him with her large eyes.
"Hahaha..."
Phield couldn’t help laughing.
"So that’s how it works."
"One of her negative traits is the inability to act independently."
"She can’t even choose her own advancement."
Then he fell into thought.
"There’s no option related to territory or army bonuses."
"As expected of Destruction."
"So..."
"...which one should I pick?"
Firomina’s negative statuses severely restricted her combat ability.
The backlash alone was practically a supreme level restraint.
The annoying part was that her other five negative traits weren’t particularly serious.
Some of them even helped Phield keep her under control.
If Firomina ever regained complete autonomy...
Phield didn’t even dare imagine what she’d become.
She’d probably spend every day standing on top of his head and looking down at him through her nostrils.
"If you make a stupid choice..."
"I’ll blow both of us up together."
Firomina quietly warned him.
Phield ignored her completely.
"Removing a negative status is out."
"Gambling on a one in six chance is ridiculous."
Using such a precious enhancement only to remove an insignificant debuff would be an enormous waste considering Firomina’s potential.
"Since there are Divine Artifacts that enhance skills..."
"...there’ll probably be Divine Artifacts that remove negative statuses too."
"I’d rather play it safe."
After hesitating for quite a while, Phield finally made up his mind.
"I’ll enhance her skills."
"At least skills can evolve again in the future."
With a thought, he selected New Divine Skill.
The information immediately appeared before him.
New Divine Skill.
Primordial Extinction.
Tier Two.
Description.
A pure Destruction Divine Skill that inflicts devastating single target damage upon its target.
"A single target skill."
"Looks pretty good."
Phield nodded.
His head continued throbbing violently.
He immediately forced himself to stop thinking.
Every ounce of his mental strength was now precious.
"This wasn’t one of my original skills."
Firomina also looked surprised.
"My abilities..."
"...have been influenced by the Lord."
She vaguely remembered that before her death...
...she had never possessed this skill.
"You damned monster!"
Someone climbed out of the massive crater.
It was Farlo.
Relying on sheer strength, she had somehow survived the bombardment.
"I won’t fall so easily!"
"I’ll eradicate every last trace of evil..."
"...no matter what!"
Contily and Marianne had also survived.
The price was the complete dissolution of their Divine Artifacts.
"Hehehe..."
Farlo roared.
"Even if I die..."
"...I’ll drag you down with me!"
Blood poured from every pore of her body.
She stomped the ground, instantly shattering the earth beneath her feet.
Like a human cannonball, Farlo launched herself directly at Firomina.
Her Divine Power had long since been exhausted.
She was charging forward with no intention of surviving.
"Let’s die together..."
"...monster!"
"You?"
Firomina’s expression didn’t change in the slightest.
"You think you’re worthy?"
She calmly stepped to one side.
Her eyelids lowered indifferently as one slender finger sliced across empty space.
"Tier Two Divine Skill."
"Primordial Extinction."
Space itself split apart.
A pitch black crack appeared, spreading outward with violent lightning like fractures until it resembled a miniature black hole.
Finding the perfect angle, Firomina casually pointed one finger.
Buzz.
A black ray flashed from within the void.
Farlo suddenly realized that she could no longer summon even the slightest strength.
She lowered her head.
All she could see was a charred hole where her heart had once been.
"I..."
"...can’t accept this..."
Darkness swallowed her consciousness.
"What incredible determination."
Watching from the sidelines, Tisiana let out a long sigh.
"I have to admire her."
Then her eyes brightened.
"If this keeps up..."
"...Firomina..."
Thud.
Firomina’s composure lasted less than three seconds.
The terrifying backlash finally overwhelmed her.
Her body swayed before she collapsed face first onto the ground.
"So dizzy..."
"I want to sleep..."
In truth, if she hadn’t advanced just now, the backlash from annihilating the demons alone would have been enough to knock her unconscious.
"What the hell?!"
Phield stared blankly.
"Why is everyone passing out all over the place?"
"This girl didn’t even give me a warning."
"At least tell me first so I can catch you!"
"What in the world..."
The Empress was so shocked she nearly leaped out of Christie’s body.
Even as an Empress, she had never witnessed anything so absurd.
The two remaining members of the Twilight Knights had already been severely wounded.
Even so, they should never have been defeated by a mere Tier One Divine Chosen.
Yet not only had they been defeated...
...they had both been killed instantly.
"Could this really..."
"...be fate?"
Although demons continued pouring from the formation, without the Twilight Knights holding it back, the Corrupted Dragon dealt with them effortlessly.
Christie had originally been barely able to fight Rosalia to a standstill.
Now, with her confidence shaken, she steadily fell behind.
Rosalia completely overwhelmed her.
"Help me!"
The Empress gritted her teeth.
"Riemann."
"Order your people to kill Phield!"
But Contily had already lost the will to fight.
"This is a human conflict."
"What does it have to do with us merfolk?"
Then a thought suddenly crossed her mind.
"Wait..."
"There are still treasures deeper inside the tomb."
"They’re probably relics belonging to the merfolk."
With that realization, Contily quietly began moving away.
Taking advantage of the chaos, she silently slipped into the next level of the underground palace.