Chapter 2299: Fighting the Fortress Master

BOOM!

Right after seeing Shin’s challenge, Donato narrowed his eyes before releasing an even stronger pressure that descended upon everyone on the battlefield.

The members of Deicide struggled desperately to keep themselves from falling to their knees, while the remaining NPC soldiers collapsed one after another.

Only the two NPC Commanders on the opposing side managed to barely remain standing.

On Shin’s side, the seven were still relatively unaffected, with the exception of Samael, who was already struggling to remain on his feet.

That was when the rookie Paladin heard Shin’s calm voice.

"Brat... the buffs."

Hearing this, Samael seemed to snap out of his daze and immediately opened his eyes.

He forced himself to stand straight while holding his sword vertically before him with both hands.

"By the authority bestowed upon me by the great Sun and Moon... I summon your sacred Sanctuary!" He shouted while pouring his mana into the sword.

Swoosh!

Immediately afterward, the magic formation beneath everyone, which Samael had summoned earlier, suddenly shone even brighter.

Countless motes of light rose from the formation before gradually transforming into small pillars of light that shot toward the sky.

WHOOSH!

A massive opening seemed to appear in the darkness above, revealing a virtual image of an eclipsing sun and moon.

’Eclipse Justiciar Skill (Quasi Tier 4): (Domain) Sanctuary of the Eclipse’

The radiance of the eclipsing sun and moon bathed everything beneath them, suppressing the enemies within range while greatly strengthening all allies affected by the domain.

The light also cleansed their minds and protected them from the overwhelming pressure released by Donato.

"Not bad, kid!" Owen laughed after sensing the tremendous power surging through his body from the multiple buffs provided by Samael’s Domain Skill.

Bang! Bang!

He slammed his mace against his tower shield several times before swiftly entering his strongest state.

’Unique Combat State: Virtual Simulation’

At the same time, a series of tattoos spread across his body, even appearing on the surface of his equipment.

’Sacred Neanderthal Racial Trait: Divine Tattoo – Thunderbird’

Lightning spread across his body, constantly flickering and dancing around him.

"Since you aren’t planning to make your move, then let me come to you!" Owen laughed before stomping against the ground and launching himself forward.

Bang!

Crackle! Crackle!

Lightning arcs lingered behind him as his body disappeared from his original position and instantly appeared before the Fortress Master.

His speed was astonishingly fast, especially for someone using a knight-type fighting style.

Owen hovered in the air before Donato for a brief moment before suddenly swinging his tower shield downward, the massive shield radiating divine light.

’Ancient Protector Skill (Tier 3): Shield Art – Divine Pound’

BOOM!

The air seemed to explode as Owen brought the shield down, generating violent ripples that spread in every direction and forced everything around him backward.

A manifestation of a gigantic hammer appeared behind Owen for a moment before merging into the tower shield in his hands.

The enormous hammer descended together with the shield, seemingly intent on crushing Donato with a single overwhelming strike.

Swoosh!

Seeing the descending divine hammer, Donato merely scoffed. "Arrogant brat!"

He then raised his battle axe before suddenly swinging it toward the descending attack.

BOOM!

The air seemed to split apart under Donato’s seemingly casual swing.

Shing!

The battle axe radiated with crimson light as it cleaved through everything in its path before colliding head-on with the descending divine hammer.

BOOM!

A massive explosion erupted upon impact, further destroying the command center and the surrounding structures.

Swoosh!

Amid the rising cloud of smoke and dust, a figure was suddenly sent flying before crashing into a nearby building.

BOOM!

The building immediately collapsed under the impact, burying the figure beneath a pile of rubble.

Boom!

A moment later, the newly formed pile of rubble suddenly exploded, sending countless stone fragments flying in every direction.

"Damn! That guy sure hits hard," Owen commented as he climbed out of the rubble, shaking his head to clear the dizziness.

A huge chunk of his HP Bar had disappeared from the exchange.

Seeing this, Samael immediately reacted and restored Owen to full health with a healing skill.

"Heh! That’s what you get for showing off," Shin said with a smirk.

If there was anyone who benefited the most from the Domain Samael had summoned, it had to be Shin.

As an Envoy of the Church of the Sun and Moon, he naturally resonated extremely well with Samael, whose class was affiliated with the same Church.

At this moment, Shin could feel an overwhelming power surging through his body, bringing his strength close to what he could normally achieve while using one of his special states.

Even so, he didn’t make a move immediately.

He knew that the opponent before them was far stronger than anyone they had encountered so far.

Moreover, they weren’t inside a Quest Scenario, meaning they had none of the additional buffs that could massively enhance their overall Stats and combat capabilities.

The previous exchange had already given Shin enough information to understand just how enormous the gap was between them and a Peak Tier 3 existence standing only one step away from entering the Tier 4 Realm.

Shin tilted his head slightly before finally entering his own Combat State.

’Unique Combat State: (Modified) Reality Manifestation’

"We’re going all out..." he said, signaling everyone to stop holding anything back.

The moment his words left his mouth, a massive crescent-shaped energy blade suddenly cleaved through the receding cloud of smoke and dust, flying straight toward him.

This attack was even more powerful than the previous energy wave Donato had unleashed against Samael and the others.

Even the surrounding space appeared to distort beneath its might, showing faint signs of collapse.

Shin was about to make his move when three other people took the initiative to face the incoming attack.

Bang!

Owen kicked off the ground, launching himself into the air once again while leaving a long trail of lightning arcs behind him.

"Let me!" he said as he appeared directly in front of the incoming energy wave, raising his shield before him.

He poured a tremendous amount of mana into the shield, causing a huge translucent screen to suddenly expand outward before transforming into a towering wall of energy.

’Ancient Protector Skill (Tier 3): Fortress of the Divine Heavens’

Swoosh!

At the same time, Samael, who seemed to have anticipated this, pointed at the expanding energy wall and shouted, "Oh, Sun and Moon illuminating the sky... bless us with your presence!"

’Eclipse Justiciar Skill (Tier 3): Blessings of the Sun and Moon’

Whoosh!

An emblem depicting an eclipsing sun and moon suddenly appeared on the surface of Owen’s energy wall.

Brilliant radiance spread across the barrier, further reinforcing its defenses.

However, that wasn’t the end.

Felix had also taken the initiative to make his move.

He appeared beside Owen while holding his two-pronged sword vertically before him.

His left hand opened his index and middle fingers, gently placed them against the twin blades, and released his mana at the same time.

Ting~! Ling~! Ling~!

Along with the resonating sounds produced by the two-pronged sword, an invisible ripple suddenly appeared before the towering energy wall.

’Divine Sound Art: Sword Series—Sacred Resonance’

Only then did the massive crescent-shaped energy wave arrive.

BOOM!

It first collided with the series of ripples Felix had created, which shredded a large portion of its momentum and energy.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

However, the devastating attack continued forward, gradually exhausting Felix’s resonating ripples before finally crashing into the towering energy wall.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A series of explosions erupted as the two forces violently clashed.

Owen gritted his teeth and forced himself to withstand the relentless advance of the crescent-shaped energy wave.

BOOOOOM!!!

With one final explosion, the crescent wave finally exhausted its remaining energy, while the towering barrier also crumbled apart.

Owen was sent flying once again before landing on his feet after reaching the ground.

Bang!

The ground sank several inches beneath his feet, forming a small crater upon impact.

"Damn it! This dude is strong!" Owen couldn’t help but click his tongue after realizing just how powerful their opponent was.

The others didn’t have time to listen to his complaints, as they were already making their moves.

Alucard, who was standing on the roof of a nearby building, raised his sniper rifle and aimed toward the source of the crescent-shaped energy wave.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

An array of blood-forged rifles also fanned out behind him, each one aiming in the same direction and locking onto the hazy figure hidden behind the receding cloud of smoke and dust.

’Vampiric Ability: Blood Alchemy – Annihilator’

Alucard adjusted his aim slightly before finally squeezing the trigger.

BANG!

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Simultaneous gunshots echoed across the battlefield as the sniper rifle and the blood-forged rifles behind him fired almost simultaneously, sending a hail of crimson bullets toward their target.

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!

The crimson trails lingered through the air for a brief moment as the bullets rapidly approached their destination.

Donato immediately sensed the incoming attack and simply swung his battle axe, sending another crescent-shaped wave of energy forward.

Shing!

The crimson wave tore through the air and devoured every bullet in its path.

However, the barrage had served its purpose.

While Donato’s attention was momentarily drawn toward the incoming gunfire, a shadow silently appeared behind him.

Diablo materialized without a sound, taking advantage of the distraction to launch a deadly ambush.

His dagger and stiletto thrust forward simultaneously, both weapons coated in the power of his two unique Mana Manipulation Techniques—Ancient Shadow Powers and Sanctified Demonic Powers.

’Celestial Shadow Art: Shadow Ambush – Twin Fangs of the Shadow’

Shing!

The timing of the ambush was nearly perfect, placing immense pressure on anyone on the receiving end.

It was as though death itself had manifested behind Donato and was preparing to harvest his life.

Unfortunately, Donato seemed to have anticipated the attack.

He even turned his head and looked directly at Diablo over his shoulder. "Do you think I’ll fall for the same trick twice?"

A powerful surge of mana suddenly erupted from his body.

BOOM!

The resulting explosion sent Diablo flying backward.

Swoosh!

Another crimson energy wave immediately followed, chasing after Diablo as he flew through the air.

It was about to catch him when Diablo skillfully twisted his body and performed a flip.

At the same time, the surrounding shadows suddenly wrapped around his body and swallowed him whole.

Swoosh!

The crescent-shaped wave cleaved through the cluster of shadows, but Diablo had already disappeared without a trace.

BOOM!

The crimson wave continued forward and crashed into a nearby building, reducing it to rubble.

Whoosh!

At that exact moment, a massive magic circle suddenly appeared above Donato.

Felicia had made her move.

She held her kris sword in her left hand while gripping a magic scepter in the other. She pointed the scepter toward the magic circle before suddenly swinging it downward.

’Ocean Watcher Skill (Tier 3): Song of the Ocean’

BOOM!

The magic circle shone brightly before releasing a massive torrent of water that came crashing down toward the Fortress Master.

However, just before the spell could reach him, Donato suddenly swung his battle axe to the side, releasing an even larger wave of crimson energy.

Swoosh!

The crimson wave tore through the torrent, crushing the magic circle in a single strike.

BOOM!

Donato had barely finished the attack when Shin silently appeared before him.

Shin assumed his signature sword-drawing stance while channeling his mana into the sheathed sword that was currently possessed by Hanzo.

Click!

The subtle sound of the blade separating from its sheath rang across the battlefield as Shin’s thumb pushed the sword outward.

’Jade Kirin Scripture: Quick Draw – Eclipse Tiger Draw’

Shing!

Shin fully unsheathed the sword and swung it forward, releasing a massive surge of energy that transformed into a gigantic gray tiger before pouncing toward the Fortress Master.

ROAR!

......