Chapter 390: Purification [3]

Vorthane raised his blood-red sword and met Damien’s enormous golden blade head-on.

The collision lasted less than an instant.

A tremendous force erupted from Vorthane’s sword, overwhelming Damien’s attack and sending him flying like a cannonball.

He crashed into a distant wall with a thunderous impact, leaving a deep crater in the stone.

Before Brandon could capitalize on the opening, Vorthane pivoted and drove a powerful kick into his abdomen.

"Ugh!"

Brandon was launched backward, his body tumbling through the air before crashing heavily onto the ground.

At the same time, Caelthas appeared beside Vorthane, his twin daggers flashing.

More than twenty emerald-green slashes tore through the air, forming a dense web of wind blades that converged on the Blood Elf from multiple directions.

Yet Vorthane didn’t even bother dodging. He moved his sword with precision, parrying every incoming slash. Then he thrust out his free hand.

A dense sphere of blood condensed above his palm before shooting toward Caelthas at astonishing speed.

BOOOOM!

The blood sphere struck Caelthas before he could fully evade it.

The First Elder was blasted backward, crashing into the ground and sending cracks spreading through the stone beneath him.

All of it happened in less than ten seconds.

Lyria watched helplessly as the three powerful fighters were defeated one after another.

Damien, Brandon, and even Caelthas—the First Elder of the Royal Council and one of the strongest elves in the capital had attacked Vorthane together.

Yet none of them could even injure him.

A wave of despair spread through the surrounding crowd.

The mages and knights who had witnessed the entire exchange froze in place. They had seen how powerful Caelthas was, and they knew that even Queen Aelyssa stood above most of the elves in strength.

Yet Vorthane had effortlessly repelled their attacks.

Did they even stand a chance against such a monster?

Meanwhile, Lyria struggled to remain conscious.

Somehow, she had managed to cast a healing spell on herself, allowing her to recover slightly from her injuries. However, the wound in her abdomen remained far from healed.

She could still feel the terrible sensation of the sword tearing through her intestines.

Fortunately, it seemed that the blade had missed her major blood vessels and vital organs. Otherwise, she would probably have died already.

Even so, the pain was almost unbearable.

Her body trembled as blood continued flowing from her abdomen. Worse still, the mana circulating inside her body remained dangerously unstable, threatening to tear her Mana Core apart from within.

Nevertheless, she refused to give up.

Grimacing through the pain, Lyria forced herself to stand upright, ignoring the dizziness threatening to overwhelm her.

She couldn’t just give up.

A gigantic magic circle materialized before her. Golden-white light gathered at its center, rapidly compressing into a dense sphere of energy.

Lyria poured everything she could still control into the spell.

If she could land this attack, she might at least create an opening for the others.

But Vorthane was far too fast.

The instant the sphere was released, he had already moved away from its trajectory.

BOOOOM!

The golden-white sphere struck the ground behind him, erupting into a massive explosion that sent debris flying in every direction.

Before Lyria could react, Vorthane appeared directly in front of her.

His hand shot forward and seized her forehead. Then he slammed her into the ground.

CRAAASH!

The earth beneath her shattered from the impact.

"ARGHHHH!"

Lyria screamed as pain exploded through her skull and spread throughout her already battered body.

Her vision went dark for a moment.

Through her blurred vision, she saw Vorthane raise his blood-red sword. Its blade glistened ominously beneath the crimson light of the burning World Tree.

He was going to kill her.

The realization struck her harder than the impact that had driven her into the ground.

’No...’

She desperately tried to move, but her battered body refused to respond.

The sword began descending toward her. Then, suddenly, a brilliant beam of light shot down from the sky.

Vorthane’s eyes narrowed.

He immediately swung his sword.

BOOOOM!

The beam collided with the blood-red blade, unleashing a powerful shock wave that swept across the area.

Vorthane turned his gaze upward.

Lyria followed his gaze weakly, her eyelids heavy and her entire body trembling with pain.

A figure was descending from the sky. It was Aelyssa Sylvaine, the Queen of the Elves.

However, her current appearance was far from the majestic image Lyria had come to associate with the ruler of Elythraen.

The queen’s clothes were torn and tattered, and numerous wounds covered her body. Blood stained her garments, while one of her hands had been horribly shattered, leaving broken bones exposed beneath the ruined flesh.

She was severely injured.

Yet as she descended and landed several meters away from Vorthane, her expression remained cold and composed.

Her piercing gaze settled on the Blood Elf before shifting briefly toward Lyria, who lay motionless on the shattered ground.

A murderous glint flashed through the queen’s eyes.

"Leave her alone, Vorthane," Aelyssa said coldly. "She has nothing to do with your conflict with the elves."

Lyria noticed a subtle change in Vorthane’s expression.

He seemed slightly tense.

Although she didn’t understand the full extent of their power, she knew that Queen Aelyssa was among the strongest elves alive. From the way Vorthane reacted to her arrival, it was clear that he couldn’t afford to treat the queen carelessly.

Even if he was stronger, she was still capable of seriously injuring him.

"Don’t come any closer, Aelyssa," he warned, tightening his grip on his blood-red sword. "Or I’ll kill her."

His crimson eyes flickered toward Lyria.

"Fortunately, I decided to check on the World Tree myself. Otherwise, my plan might have failed completely. I managed to arrive just in time to stop it."

"Don’t kill her," Aelyssa repeated, her voice cold but firm.

Vorthane glanced at her before letting out a mocking chuckle.

"Fine. I won’t kill her until the World Tree is dead. Perhaps I should take her with me as a hostage instead..."

He paused and looked down at Lyria, who lay near his feet.

"Wait a moment. She’s already on the verge of death."

Lyria’s heavy eyelids trembled as she struggled to look up at him.

Her vision was blurry, and her body had become so weak.

’Is this... the end?’

Her thoughts grew hazy as pain consumed her battered body.

’Am I really going to die here?’

She had wanted to save the World Tree. Yet, in the end, she hadn’t even managed to purify the flames.

All her efforts had been in vain.

’If only... I could have purified those flames first...’

At least then, even if she died afterward, she would have accomplished something.

A tear slipped from the corner of her eye and rolled down her cheek.

She had tried so hard. And yet, it still wasn’t enough.

"Don’t you dare touch her, you bastard!"

Damien’s furious voice rang out, drawing Lyria’s attention.

Despite his injuries, he struggled to his feet and began walking toward Vorthane, his golden sword trembling in his grasp.

Blood trickled from the corner of his mouth, and his breathing was ragged. His body had already suffered considerable damage from Vorthane’s earlier attack, leaving him in no condition to fight another battle.

Yet Damien continued forward.

Lyria stared at him through now some clear vision.

She wanted to tell him to stop and not to do anything reckless.

But all she could do was watch helplessly as Damien continued approaching the monster who had brought them all to the brink of despair.