“I’m sorry, but I have no interest in you. If you retreat now and station yourselves within the city, I won’t do anything.”
Akrain pulled back his hood, revealing a face unevenly divided into four parts by a massive scar that ran both horizontally and vertically. His appearance was unspeakably sinister.
Combined with his sunken eye sockets, it was clear he was blind. There was something indescribably strange about his aura.
Even Fei Si, who had seen much of the world, was startled.
“…And if we refuse?”
“Then I’ll have no choice but to eliminate everything in my way…”
Akrain spoke with complete indifference, as if no one present mattered in the slightest.
“Hmph, you’re the one who should be surrendering! Are you so sure we have no way to deal with you?”
But he paid no attention to Dulufu’s retort.
“Then by all means, feel free to try…”
“My name is Akrain Sels, Wrist Enforcer of the Heretic Gods.”
“I’d like to see how long you can keep up that arrogance!”
Dan Luo charged forward, his Sacred Artifact Spear aimed straight at Akrain’s brow.
“Hey! Dan Luo! Get back!”
Dulufu shouted frantically, but it was already too late.
Before the spear tip could reach Akrain, the shaft snapped in an unnatural manner.
“…Wh…what?”
“Fall back!”
Seeing the situation turn dire, Dulufu immediately rushed toward Dan Luo from behind.
“I believe I already told you, didn’t I? I’ll eliminate everything in my way!”
No sooner had the words left his mouth than the sound of tearing flesh rang out.
Dan Luo’s entire right arm was ripped clean off, and crimson blood sprayed in all directions.
Just as Akrain was about to deliver a killing blow, Dulufu leaped down from above, bringing a massive Holy Light Hammer wreathed in divine power crashing down upon him.
But the giant hammer struck the ground uselessly, as if it had hit nothing at all.
Because that was exactly what happened.
Akrain’s form passed straight through the hammer. Just as he was about to launch his attack, Dulufu turned and thrust his Sacred Artifact at the enemy’s body.
The space before him shattered, but Akrain had already distanced himself.
“…A troublesome one…”
Dulufu cursed inwardly as he quickly brought Dan Luo back.
Although the attack had failed, at least he had succeeded in rescuing his comrade.
“Take the Deputy Group Leader back for treatment!”
After issuing the order, both sides once again fell into a stalemate.
Given the bizarre nature of spatial power, even with the Sacred Artifacts that could limit Akrain’s abilities, they were all but useless.
He could freely bend and create space. As long as he didn’t want to attack, there was nothing they could do.
Clearly, Akrain was thinking the same thing.
Dan Luo’s severe injury was a warning.
“Damn it! Are we just supposed to stall here like this?”
“Group Leader Dulufu…”
Fei Si, who had been watching from the side, approached him and whispered.
“I have an idea, but it’s a bit risky…”
—
The pure white dragon raced through the sky, and before long, it had reached the mountain forest outside the city.
A deafening dragon roar echoed as Sophien grabbed Cuike and dove sharply toward the ground, picking up speed.
“Get down there!”
Cuike was slammed heavily into the ground. The immense impact struck the mountain peak, and the entire mountainside began to crumble rapidly.
Sophien descended slowly, locking onto the enemy’s position, her mana compressed to the limit and ready to unleash at a moment’s notice.
She knew well that Cuike was far from finished.
The increasingly intense magical fluctuations proved it.
Just as expected, the next moment, Cuike’s figure burst forth, delivering a heavy blow aimed directly at Sophien’s head.
Her nearly complete spell was forcibly interrupted, and her massive body staggered from the sudden strike.
Meanwhile, Cuike’s wounds were rapidly healing. The muscles beneath its skin writhed continuously, now completely different from its earlier grotesque appearance.
“So fast! And its mana is already beginning to fuse, making it even stronger!”
If she continued fighting in this form, she would likely be at a disadvantage. Her immense size made her far too slow.
Moreover, once the time limit expired, she would fall into a weakened state. Considering she still had to deal with Akrain later, this was hardly a wise choice.
“No choice… I never thought I’d have to use the results of my training on a monster like you.”
Sophien manipulated her wings, slowly wrapping them around herself. Then, the dragon’s form gradually shrank until it was roughly the same size as Cuike.
Sensing the sudden shift in her aura, Cuike immediately charged forward, but before its attack could land, a wing struck it from the side, sending it flying.
Sophien’s entire body radiated blinding mana light. As she took her first step forward, the light converged rapidly.
Pure white scales covered her body, outlining a breathtaking figure.
A pair of pure white dragon horns rested atop her head, and her pupils had transformed into golden, vertical slits. She looked like a fusion of human and dragon, exuding an aura of majesty.
“Dragon God Form: Dragon Human Variant.”
This form would not leave her weakened upon deactivation. The only side effect was that she would be unable to use Dragon God Transformation for a period of time.
The drawback was that it suppressed her mana output to half of the Dragon God Form’s capacity. Still, it was more than enough to deal with Cuike.
Sophien’s gaze sharpened, and she vanished from her spot.
The next moment, she appeared before Cuike, her fist wrapped in immense mana as she struck its head with tremendous force.
In an instant, violent mana swept through everything around them.
At first, Cuike managed to barely withstand the assault with its incredibly fast regeneration. But before long, the mana turbulence tore through its body.
Massive amounts of mana ravaged its insides, and in mere moments, it ceased to move.
Only after confirming that Cuike’s presence had vanished entirely did Sophien gradually withdraw her mana.
Before her, Cuike had transformed into a sphere.
Lifeless and motionless, yet radiating a chilling mana fluctuation.
‘Why would it rather endure the attack to fuse all the power of the magic stones? What’s the point if it dies in the process…’
Sophien stared at the bizarre sight before her, unable to fathom the Heretic Gods’ intentions.
‘Whatever the case, I should completely destroy this thing!’
But before she could act, the sphere vanished into thin air before her very eyes, leaving behind only traces of spatial power.
Sophien froze for a moment before belatedly realizing Akrain’s true goal.
‘Did he deliberately send Cuike to lure me out of the city?’
That bastard… had he planned from the very beginning to use her mana to fuse the magic stones?
‘This is bad!’
Realizing something was wrong, Sophien immediately rushed back toward Dalkez City.
—
At the casualty treatment point in Dalkez City.
Mann slowly rose, finally regaining consciousness.
Beside him was Yi Laisi, exhausted from treating him.
Perhaps startled by Mann’s movement, she jolted awake. Seeing that Mann had regained consciousness, she let out a long sigh.
“You scared me…”
But Mann wasn’t interested in idle talk.
“Yi Laisi, what’s the situation outside?”
“Well… Sophien took that monster away alone. The others have already dealt with the remaining Heretic Gods…”
“What about Akrain? Has he shown himself yet?”
Before Yi Laisi could answer, several Griffin mercenaries burst in, carrying the severely injured Dan Luo.
“…Dan Luo?! What happened?”
“Lord Mann?! The Deputy Group Leader… he was wounded like this by someone named Akrain.”
Hearing the mercenary’s reply, Mann’s face filled with shock.
“Akrain?!”
Why now of all times…
Something’s wrong. I need to go check it out immediately!