Chapter 428
Chapter 428
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Translator: Ryuma
Chapter: 428
Chapter Title: Torrent, Chloe
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Torrent, Chloe.
Born with a unique constitution, the spells she manifested wielded power on an entirely different level from those of the same rank. Even her basic spells rivaled the might of advanced magic.
However, it wasn't without its drawbacks.
Handling the raging starlight mana was exceedingly difficult. Ultimate spells, known as the pinnacle of magic that surpassed even advanced ones, demanded utmost precision—spells that Chloe could never manifest.
The rampaging mana had shattered her delicate circuits. Controlling enough mana at once to unleash an ultimate spell was simply too arduous. That was why she had never attempted one until now...
'It's time to move on to the next stage.'
Having endured trials, she now yearned for higher realms. She reached for greater heights. Thus, she grasped the thread of the extreme. With the aid of two fellow mages, she attained this new level.
Kiiiiiiing!
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Flare (Ultimate Fire Elemental Spell) At the tip of her staff aimed toward the abyss, the concentrated starlight began to whirl. True to her epithet "Torrent," the fierce mana surged, pressing down on the entire area.
A flash of blinding light.
As Chloe's staff glowed, a colossal magic circuit unfurled before her. Vast enough to blanket the sky, it shimmered briefly before the light faded, converging into a single point. What the gathered circuit birthed was a massive orb of heat.
"Manifest."
Chloe drew in mana and parted her lips.
She uttered the incantation's name.
"Flare." ⟨ Flare ⟩
The ultimate fire elemental spell.
Unlike other ultimate spells with complex forms and hard-to-grasp effects, this one was called excessively straightforward.
Flare was the superior version of Incinerate.
If Incinerate burned everything in its path with a superheated beam...
...Flare stood a few steps beyond.
Kiiing.
A slender line shot from the tip of Chloe's staff. The fired heat beam passed the superhumans and struck the armored dragon below. The moment it touched the beast's shell, which it trusted implicitly...
The superhumans, who knew the spell was coming, shut their eyes, plugged their ears, and crouched low.
Instantly, the heat beam that grazed the armored dragon's hide swelled. It flashed white. Sparks flew with a tick, tick, and in that moment, a wave of blinding white light erupted, as if to blind all who beheld it. The light swept away the darkness filling the vertical shaft.
A searing flash. Followed by a roar that tore at the eardrums. Then came the wave of heat.
Hwaaaaaaaaah!
The pent-up heat exploded entirely, splitting one beam into dozens, hundreds. The rays shot outward, incinerating everything in their paths. The beams pierced even the armored dragon's hide, halting only when they hit the walls, the abyss's end, or somewhere beyond.
💥 CRITICAL HIT! 💥 -[Massive Damage] HP
Heat beams pierce all defenses
All the heat beams detonated.
Holes riddled the armored dragon's body where the beams had pierced. The stench of burning flesh, evaporating blood, and boiling heat filled the vertical shaft.
Chloe, whose basic spells already matched advanced ones. Her ultimate spell had transcended common sense.
Kieeeek!
The armored dragons' screams echoed through the shaft. The first struck by Flare and two nearby plummeted, vomiting blood. Amid their falling corpses, the remaining two raised their heads.
Them too, riddled with holes.
Spraying blood, the last two armored dragons charged the intruders leaping into the shaft. But the tide had turned.
Sring.
The superhumans, now poised, welcomed the armored dragons with their swords. The beasts soaring upward saw it: bundles of fierce sword auras filling their vision. Sword auras spread like a net. Sword auras gleaming in moonlight.
Slice.
A quiet sound of severing, followed by a spray of blood.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 2.
"Follow at intervals. Don't come right after me."
"Got it."
Raniel issued a curt order and lightly shook out her hands. Behind her lay the charred corpses of summoned beasts. She had incinerated every one patrolling the forest. With the field cleared this wide, the apostate must have detected the intrusion.
Now, it was a race against time.
"Going ahead."
Murmuring that, Raniel took a step toward the slope. With a whoosh, dirt tumbled down, and she kicked off, sprinting forward.
Accel, then Chains.
Platinum chains wrapped around her hands with a clatter. Gripping them, Raniel charged. As she sped across the slope, the ground rumbled—drdrdr!
Kagagagagak!
The armored dragons, sensing the intruder, burst forth.
Scattering boulders, they erupted from the earth. A pack of seven charged at the dashing Raniel. But she didn't slow. She accelerated.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Accel Platinum starlight flickered briefly.
Raniel's form vanished in an instant. She reappeared behind the lead armored dragon. As it twisted too late, a clank echoed.
Chains bound the armored dragon's body.
It ignored them and burrowed into the ground, deeming the chains trivial. But when they tautened, it couldn't move. Three such beasts were ensnared.
Screeech.
Taut chains neither broke nor dragged their wielder. The three immobilized dragons convulsed as Raniel stomped down with a raised foot.
Boom.
The ground cracked wide.
Stomping, she swung her chained arm forward. The three beasts were yanked from the earth.
Three massive summoned beasts hurled before her.
As they floated midair, Raniel yanked the chains back. Her knuckles whitened.
Kieeeek!
Toward the shrieking, pulled beasts, Raniel swung her fist. It struck with a crunch, denting the hide. One blow. Followed by a spell.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Smash Shatters shells and pierces multiple foes
Crunch, crrrrack!
The armored dragons' shells shattered completely. The shockwave didn't stop, boring massive holes through the stacked trio.
Splat.
Not just holed, half their bodies severed, they crashed with thuds. Blood rained. Amid the corpses, the remaining four pursued.
Maws agape, plowing the earth, Raniel eyed them and twisted her stomping foot sideways. The circuit etched into her boot flashed briefly.
⚡ SKILL ACTIVATED ⚡ Cataclysm Rumble rumble boom!
The earth shook, stone pillars erupting.
Favorable terrain now. Raniel dashed along the rising pillars. Each swing of her hand brought shattering sounds and explosive roars. Drenched in blood, she pressed on.
Toward the abyss's end.
Toward the apostate awaiting beyond.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ 3.
Those who entered the vertical shaft reached the abyss's end amid armored dragon corpses. First descended the sword superhumans and Belnoa. Then Natida and the other mages landed in the abyss.
"......"
The subjugation force silently gazed skyward. Despite descending underground via the shaft, a blue sky greeted them.
A fresh breeze. The rising sun.
And a vast green plain.
As if this place existed in another dimension. Before the alien landscape, the force swallowed dryly. The abyss's end. They had reached Alkeia, the land for the faithless.
"...Prepare."
Their eyes turned to the plain's edge.
A massive temple stood there, embedded in the walls. Before its grand doors stood a figure, like a gatekeeper defending the shrine.
The gatekeeper stared at the intruders stepping onto Alkeia.
Soon, a low sword hum echoed across the plain. As the gatekeeper drew his blade, a chilling ring reverberated. The superhumans shuddered briefly; rear mages instinctively stepped back.
The apostate's so-called masterpiece.
The former Sword Saint.
The proud swordsman, Kuntel.
Once called the mightiest superhuman, he now aimed his blade at the subjugation force.
Rumble rumble boom.
That was when.
The temple began to quake.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ Alkeia's heart.
The apostate slowly opened her closed eyes. Emerald irises gleamed in the dark. She felt it: the signals from her connected summoned beasts cutting off one by one. The intruders stepping onto her land.
"Ahaha."
The apostate laughed.
Or perhaps, the saintess laughed.
"You've finally come."
Laughing, she rose.
The light chuckle twisted into狂笑. The woman who trampled and mocked divine teachings swept back her hair, laughing.
The time had come.
The awaited day had arrived.
How long had she yearned for this?
For centuries, she had accumulated her divinity here in Alkeia, former site of the All-Gods Temple. Since beholding the true face of her believed god, she trusted no deity.
Her faith turned solely to herself.
The amassed faith, consecrated relics, turned Alkeia into her personal sanctuary, answering her call. Forgotten faiths began awakening one by one.
"Ahh."
Gleria moaned.
"Ahh, ahahahaha!"
Gletus rejoiced.
Drip drip drip.
From the temple ceiling, floor, walls—foul sludge dripped everywhere in sight. The drops formed waves. Amid the flooding curse, the apostate despaired. Rejoiced.狂笑ed.
"Come in, my children."
Today.
The apostate, Gletus.
The saintess, Gleria van Armias.
"The time to rend the heavens has come."
She would defy heaven, open the skies.
And prove it.
How futile were the things they believed in.
That this was the only true path to salvation.
◇◇◇◆◇◇◇ The flooding sludge. The quaking scene.
The temple doors opened.
From the gap poured a wave of sludge—made from melted humans, countless summoned beasts. The plain blackened as the wave surged. Someone stepped forward.
Thud.
As he did, he lightly swung his sword.
A low sword hum. Flicking blood from the blade, Kalt advanced another step. The Sword Saint's successor eyed the sludge's center.
There stood the sword superhuman Kuntel.
Kalt aimed his sword at his once-master.
"Go."
As planned.
"I'll handle this."
The gathered subjugation force scattered.
They plunged into the flooding sludge as Kalt charged straight ahead. Matching his steps, Kuntel advanced too.
Sword met sword.