Chapter 1480 - 56: No Turning Back (2)

The illusory hammering never stopped. As the steel giant swung its arm, the nearly hundred-meter-long giant sword in its hand grew ever clearer. Its whole body was silver-black, shining with a cold, unyielding luster; as it scraped through the air, it let out a deafening buzzing roar.

This was no longer a slash in any conventional sense; it was like an entire iron mountain being hurled straight at him.

Bologue had nowhere to dodge and no way to neutralize this colossal strike. His Power of Command could not break through the Seeker of Glory’s Ethereum Mutual Exclusion and Rectangular Soul Critical. The countless defenses he had erected would all shatter and collapse beneath this mountain-like giant sword.

Yet Bologue still faced that strike that could cleave a city in two. His five fingers pulled downward, and heaven and earth cracked apart.

Terrifying tremors came one after another from the Dome overhead, as if a horrific earthquake were sweeping through the Land of Secrets. It was as though the Cultivation Room had been fully overlaid by an Alchemy Matrix; the Land of Secrets, vast as it was, had not reached that degree, yet its soil and its buildings were still riddled with a massive number of Alchemy Matrices.

Fortunately, thanks to Nesanel tying down the enemy’s main forces, the Aurora Path had ceased supplying energy to the region and instead was blessing a multitude of Condensers. Now, this once-impenetrable fortress known as the Land of Secrets had become unexpectedly fragile.

After expending a vast amount of Ether, Bologue finally managed to seep into the Alchemy Matrix and invade the section of earth overhead.

First came the quake, then the Dome caved in.

The violent shaking was like a huge invisible axe cleaving open the hardened crust, causing massive tectonic fractures. The exposed cross-sections took on a hideous appearance, as if the skin of the earth had been torn open, revealing the intricate bones beneath.

Dust and rubble flew; huge slabs broke off and came crashing down, slamming heavily into the steel giant’s body. Some were cleaved apart by the swinging giant sword, turning into fine powder that sprayed into the air.

More light poured in, allowing one to see the rough, uneven cross-section of the strata. It was like ancient stone weathered by ages of wind and frost, and also like a riverbed of silt sculpted by natural erosion.

The fractured edges were sharp as blades. Within the cross-section, broken pipes and cables could be seen, snapped by the rupture. They were like the earth’s blood vessels cut open, left ragged and ruined, displaying their helplessness and fragility in such a grotesque way.

"Let’s see who’s faster."

Bologue stared fixedly at that heavy giant sword. It looked slow, yet its speed was in fact terrifying. He had no way of knowing whether it would reach him first, or whether the slab of earth he had torn loose would crush this towering giant before that.

This was a high-stakes gamble, but Bologue felt not the slightest pressure; instead, he was wild with joy.

Bologue waited in anticipation, and a few instants later, the collision came.

The collapsing strata disintegrated as they fell. They were like a meteor shower, carrying tremendous force and destructive power as they plummeted straight toward the steel giant.

The impact of the two produced an ear-shattering boom. The rocky mass shattered into countless fragments, like fireworks exploding in an instant. The fragments flew in all directions with immense kinetic energy, pounding the surrounding air and forming a brief shockwave.

The heavy Armor rapidly caved under the barrage of rock, like ripples spreading across water, layer upon layer. The patterns and scales on the Armor were instantly crushed and warped, losing their former luster and vitality.

The giant’s posture faltered; it actually lost balance and tilted to one side, dragging the trajectory of its giant sword slash with it. But in the next second, it forcibly stabilized its stance, and the giant sword snapped back onto its original line, hurtling straight at Bologue.

Even if it were smashed apart by rock, the steel giant would, before it fell, use this sword to turn Bologue into a cloud of blood mist.

At the critical moment, a sudden gale arose.

As if a storm had descended, a tidal surge of air poured in from one corner of the collapse. It blew away the dust and rubble, tangled together, and turned into a cyan arrow, trailing a conical plume like a cloud. It arrived in an instant.

Bologue’s vision was chaos for a moment, then a fierce pain spread from his internal organs. He felt as if a truck had slammed into him head-on—and in truth, he had indeed been slammed and sent flying.

Wrapped in that cyan arrow, Bologue was whisked away at extreme speed, narrowly evading the fatal slash. They also shot through the rain of falling debris, and in almost the blink of an eye, they had traversed half the city district, until their speed plummeted and the airflow scattered.

Two figures emerged from the dispersing air mass, one ahead of the other, and crashed heavily onto a pitch-black alleyway. Bologue tumbled several times across the hard ground before slamming into the base of a wall, where he finally came to a stop.

Bologue felt as if his brain had been churned into mush. His stomach heaved; he nearly vomited on the spot.

He held it back, but the other person did not.

"Urgh... urgh..."

Palmer braced himself against the wall and struggled to get to his feet. Before he could even process the pain from the impact on his body, he doubled over and dry-heaved.

Wiping the corner of his mouth, Palmer swallowed hard, then gave Bologue a thumbs-up.

Bologue habitually returned the gesture with a thumbs-up of his own. By now, this counted as a kind of peculiar tacit understanding between the two.

At the same time, a distant, deep rumbling slowly rolled over them.

Bologue had torn away a corner of the Dome. That section collapsed and sank, crushing more than half of the steel giant’s body. Its original structure broke apart and fell to pieces. Worse still, all that metal was an Illusory Creation, requiring enormous amounts of Ether to sustain.

After this heavy blow, the Seeker of Glory plainly could no longer maintain the steel giant’s existence. These false constructs evaporated one after another, and soon the steel giant seemed to have weathered the passage of countless years. The metal on its surface kept Fading Away, like a rotting corpse, leaving only a towering, jagged skeleton.

Even so, the Seeker of Glory was unwilling to let go. The steel giant raised its giant sword and swung it wildly, venting its rage. It still wanted to continue the pursuit, but the destruction Bologue had unleashed had set off a chain of disasters.

From that broken corner of the Dome, more cracks spread out in all directions. Stones flaked off one piece after another, as if the entire Dome were about to collapse.

This signified not only the destruction of the underground world, but the annihilation of the world above as well. The civil war had lasted less than a few hours, yet the Land of Secrets was already tipping toward a state of ruin.

To stem this, the auroras entwined around the many Condensers dispersed one after another. They rose back into the air, merging together to weave the Aurora Path, then bored down into the strata.

The Ether returned once more to the earth, and the disastrous situation was brought under control.

Feeling the power constantly being stripped from his body, a resentful growl came from within the rapidly disintegrating remains; and that terrifying Seeker of Glory Ether reaction sank back down into the Defender.

"Looks like we’ve shaken off their pursuit."

Bologue pulled out a few Mang Silver Souls and drove them straight into his body to replenish the Ether he had just burned through.

"The bad news is, we’ve probably triggered their full alert," Palmer said anxiously. "Next time we’re discovered, the ones who come knocking will likely be the real Seekers of Glory."

"The real Seekers of Glory, huh..."

Bologue mused as he tossed the remaining Mang Silver Souls to Palmer.

This guy was only a Negative Power User; his Ether consumption was far more intense than Bologue’s. Besides, in a pinch, Bologue still had Protection·Soul Sucking and Essence Stealing for recovery. He didn’t have that much need for supplies.

"So are we still going on?" Palmer asked again.

"Do you think there’s any way back?" Bologue shot back.

Palmer looked up at the foundations of the Supreme Hub. After this battle, the two of them had actually drawn much closer to it; it could almost be said to be right before their eyes.

"No," Palmer shook his head. "Not at all. From the moment we made our move, there was only one possible ending here."

"So you’ve finally grown a bit of resolve?" Bologue laughed.

"No, I’ve just accepted the situation," Palmer dusted the grime from his body and said helplessly. "That’s life. Besides accepting it, what else can you do?"

As soon as Palmer finished speaking, the shadows not far behind them writhed, and Olivia and the other two emerged.

Seeing this, Bologue said softly, "Just in time."