Chapter 326 -: 325 Apraching Midnight.
Julius slowly turned his attention towards the group of spell casters positioned far behind the Heavenly Trial experts.
The moment his blazing gaze settled upon them, every last one of them instinctively stiffened.
Their faces turned deathly pale as an overwhelming sense of dread gripped their hearts.
Moments earlier they had watched the Phoenix of Destruction effortlessly overwhelm Magnus’ fire, tear through Helis’ enchanted steel, and force Heavenly Trial experts onto the defensive.
Now that same monstrous existence had chosen them as its prey.
Several spell casters unconsciously stumbled backwards while others hurriedly raised defensive barriers around themselves, yet none of those actions offered even the slightest comfort.
Their instincts screamed that death was already descending upon them.
The Phoenix of Destruction threw back its enormous head before releasing another earth-shaking shriek that echoed across the battlefield.
The terrifying cry carried Julius’ endless hatred, causing the surrounding mana to tremble violently before the divine bird slowly opened its massive beak.
Countless streams of blazing golden Hellfire converged within its throat, gathering into a miniature sun whose brilliance illuminated the entire battlefield.
The temperature rose at an alarming rate as the air itself warped beneath the unbearable heat.
Every spell caster below watched in utter horror as the sphere of condensed fire continued growing larger and larger, the surrounding space rippling violently as though reality itself struggled to endure such overwhelming power.
Then, without the slightest hesitation, the phoenix unleashed it. The torrent of Hellfire exploded forward like an endless river of destruction, swallowing everything before it as it rushed towards the helpless army.
Had that inferno reached the spell casters, the entire formation would’ve been reduced to nothing but ash within moments.
However, before the flames could engulf them, Elder Hidan suddenly appeared directly in their path.
The elderly spell caster had abandoned his lengthy incantation the instant he realised the Arcane Core spell casters were about to be annihilated.
A colossal waterfall erupted behind him, roaring across the battlefield with incredible force as countless layers of water mana surged together into an enormous tidal barrier.
The gigantic wave crashed head-on against Nathaniel’s flames, desperately attempting to contain the advancing inferno before it could consume the army standing behind him.
At the very same moment, the remaining Heavenly Trial experts launched their counterattack.
Magnus appeared from the phoenix’s flank, his gigantic golden lion roaring as molten mana gathered around its forelimbs before it unleashed a devastating punch directly towards the divine bird’s beak.
Dianan wasted no time either. The silver-armoured woman gripped the hilt of her colossal greatsword before hurling it through the skies with all the strength she could muster.
The massive blade spun rapidly through the air, slicing towards the phoenix with enough force to split a mountain in two.
Meanwhile, Helis stood silently behind them, his expression remaining calm despite the overwhelming destruction surrounding him.
Beside him stood an enormous beast unlike any ordinary bison.
The creature towered over everything nearby, nearly three times larger than its mundane counterpart.
Thick muscles bulged beneath its dark hide while its curved horns glowed with an eerie silver radiance that steadily intensified with every passing second.
Inside the Phoenix of Destruction, Julius’ eyes narrowed the instant he sensed the strange fluctuations spreading across the battlefield.
His expression immediately darkened as he recognised the familiar distortion. It wasn’t mana alone.
Space itself was beginning to bend. The gigantic bison’s glowing horns continuously released waves of spatial energy while Helis manipulated that same power through his own spell, causing the surrounding reality to distort more and more with every passing heartbeat.
Julius could clearly feel the changes taking place around him, and the moment he realised what they were attempting, a murderous rage unlike anything before erupted from deep within his soul.
"You dare..."
His fingers dug into Rosalina as he clenched his teeth so hard an audible crack echoed from his jaw.
"You dare use space before me?"
His crimson eyes blazed with boundless fury.
"How dare you?!"
The furious roar never escaped Julius’ lips, yet the Phoenix of Destruction answered the emotions surging through its master.
It released a deafening shriek that shook both the heavens and the earth before completely ignoring Magnus’ incoming strike and Dianan’s spinning greatsword.
Instead, every ounce of the phoenix’s focus gathered upon Helis and the enormous bison.
Once again, blazing Hellfire surged into the divine bird’s throat, condensing into an even greater mass than before.
The surrounding skies distorted violently beneath the unbearable temperature as the golden flames compressed further and further, becoming so dense that the space around them visibly twisted beneath their existence.
Finally, the phoenix opened its beak, unleashing an even more terrifying torrent of Hellfire.
The flames erupted forward like the wrath of the sun itself, bending the surrounding space beneath their overwhelming heat as they devoured everything before them.
Helis’ eyes narrowed.
His spell had already reached completion.
With a single wave of his hand, the spatial energy surrounding the gigantic bison poured directly into its glowing horns.
The beast raised its enormous head before releasing a thunderous roar that shook the battlefield.
Its horns shone with blinding brilliance as the surrounding space violently distorted before finally tearing apart.
A pitch-black rift suddenly appeared directly before the approaching inferno.
The tear rapidly expanded, stretching wider and wider until it resembled a massive wound carved into reality itself.
Helis quietly released a breath of relief.
It wasn’t the perfect result he had intended, but it would be enough.
Once Nathaniel’s flames disappeared into that distorted space, he intended to manipulate the rift itself and redirect the devastating attack straight back towards the Phoenix of Destruction.
It was a dangerous gamble, yet under the current circumstances he had no better option.
Unfortunately...
His relief lasted no longer than a heartbeat.
The instant Nathaniel’s flames touched the black rift, the impossible occurred.
Instead of disappearing into the distorted space, the blazing inferno continued advancing without slowing in the slightest.
The edges of the spatial tear immediately began trembling before cracks spread across its surface like shattered glass. Within moments, the entire rift collapsed upon itself.
Space itself seemed to burn beneath the overwhelming might of Nathaniel’s flames, unable to withstand their existence any longer.
The black tear disintegrated completely, erased without leaving behind even the slightest trace.
Helis’ expression froze.
The gigantic bison never even had time to react.
The torrent of Hellfire crashed directly into both master and beast before either could retreat.
Golden flames instantly swallowed their figures, consuming them so completely that not even their silhouettes remained visible.
A horrifying scream echoed across the battlefield. It lasted only for a few agonising moments before abruptly disappearing altogether.
Inside the phoenix, Julius slowly smiled.
He never bothered looking back, there was no reason to, he already knew the outcome, Nathaniel’s flames left nothing behind.
When the inferno finally swept past the place where Helis and his beast had stood only moments earlier, neither ash nor bone remained.
Both the towering Zlycon and his enormous bison had vanished from existence as though they had never been there at all.
Without wasting another glance, Julius turned his attention towards the three remaining Heavenly Trial experts.
Magnus, Elder Hidan and Dianan immediately resumed their relentless assault, refusing to give Julius even a moment’s respite.
Molten lava, torrents of water and devastating sword strikes continuously bombarded the Phoenix of Destruction from every direction, yet despite the combined pressure, none of them managed to inflict meaningful damage.
Nathaniel’s flames possessed such overwhelming potency that every attack was either incinerated or forced aside before it could threaten the divine bird.
Julius no longer cared about strategy. The endless bloodlust consuming his mind drowned every rational thought.
Kill them.
Kill every last one of them.
The Phoenix of Destruction obeyed without hesitation. Rivers of golden Hellfire continuously poured from its beak, sweeping across the battlefield again and again.
Entire groups of soldiers vanished beneath the blazing inferno before they could even scream.
Defensive formations collapsed one after another while enchanted barriers melted into nothingness beneath the unbearable heat.
Countless warriors perished as the battlefield transformed into a sea of destruction.
Magnus desperately fought to protect those around him, yet even he eventually failed to avoid the relentless assault.
One devastating torrent of flames struck him directly, leaving his body horribly burned and inflicting wounds severe enough to force him onto one knee.
Elder Hidan suffered an even greater price. While desperately shielding the retreating army, one of Nathaniel’s blazing torrents swept across his side, severing one of his arms completely before reducing it to ash.
As for Dianan, the silver-armoured woman endured the flames for as long as she possibly could, yet even her enchanted armour eventually reached its limit.
The golden inferno consumed her entirely, burning her body until she resembled little more than a charred husk.
By the time Julius finally stopped his relentless assault, the battlefield had become almost unrecognisable.
The earth still burned beneath lingering Hellfire while countless patches of molten stone glowed beneath the approaching darkness.
Thick smoke drifted endlessly into the night sky, carrying with it the scent of scorched flesh and burning metal.
Midnight was rapidly approaching, and despite the murderous rage still boiling within him, Julius reluctantly realised he could no longer remain here forever.