Novel Full Chapter 663: Harbor’s Insidious Plan
Chapter 663: Chapter 663: Harbor’s Insidious Plan
With the Tunnel Worm opening a passage into the heart of the Withered Tree Fortress, Julian didn’t hesitate—he stepped right in.
In the blink of an eye, he appeared in the fortress’s core area. He now stood in the middle of what used to be the Serpent Empire’s elite military camp. But after the battle broke out, this place had been turned into a makeshift field hospital for the wounded.
Julian’s sudden arrival threw the entire area into chaos. The Serpent soldiers lying here were all badly injured—none of them were in any condition to fight him. The only other people around were healing priests.
When a few wounded Serpents still tried to attack, Julian sneered and struck them down. He didn’t have time to waste. His real goal was to use the scroll Harbor had given him. That was the only way Harbor could teleport straight into the fortress and bring it down from within.
After cutting down those who dared resist him and driving off the rest, Julian quickly pulled out the scroll. But the fortress was protected by powerful magical wards—just using the scroll alone wasn’t enough.
He had to pour his own energy into it first. Only after finishing all the required steps and setting the scroll ablaze could Harbor actually enter. That meant Julian had very little time.
He focused all his strength and forced the process as fast as he could. Normally, filling the scroll with enough power would take at least fifteen minutes, but with his effort, he cut it down to ten. Still, even ten minutes was dangerously long.
Barely three minutes later, General Sost appeared before him. With a cold look, the general raised his greatsword and swung it down at Julian.
Sost despised people who attacked the wounded. He had no mercy for such acts, whether done by an enemy or his own men. The fact that Julian had even managed to get inside the fortress shocked him. To Sost, the situation was already dire—so he had to act personally.
Julian had no way to match him head-on. His only choice was to throw every mystical beast he had—including the Tunnel Worm—in front of him, hoping to buy enough time.
Aside from the Tunnel Worm, Julian had other mystical beasts as well. But the rest of them were very weak in defense. Each one could only hold General Sost back for less than a minute.
Only the Tunnel Worm managed to stall him for longer. It resisted Sost’s attacks for a full five minutes. By the time all of Julian’s beasts had been wiped out, he had already finished pouring energy into the scroll.
Julian looked at Sost with contempt, gave a cold sneer, and said,
“Your speed is still too slow! So what if you killed all of my beasts? It means nothing. The enemy you’ll be facing next isn’t me. You’ll be facing a true genius!”
The moment his words fell, Julian tore the scroll apart.
As the scroll ripped, a surge of energy exploded into a glowing portal. Sost glanced at it and instantly saw Harbor’s silhouette on the other side.
Even though Harbor hadn’t stepped through yet, Sost could already feel his overwhelming power. He quickly judged that he wasn’t Harbor’s match.
So instead of taking the chance to kill Julian, he withdrew into one of the fortress’s tall towers. The tower’s defenses were stronger, and directly beneath it was the Gem of Light. He could use the Gem’s power to hold off Harbor’s attack. And if he still couldn’t stop him, he could at least call on Charles for help.
At the same time, Harbor stepped through the portal without hesitation. As he crossed, he mocked Charles deliberately:
“As a fifth-tier Beast Master, fighting me to a draw does prove you’re a real talent. But strength alone isn’t enough. To truly become the strongest, you also need wisdom.”
With that, he walked through. The moment Harbor entered, all of his mystical beasts followed after him.
Charles hadn’t expected Harbor to escape the battlefield so quickly with such a trick. He didn’t even need to think it over—he knew Harbor was heading straight for the Withered Tree Fortress.
“I have to hurry back! The fortress must not fall! I really underestimated just how insidious Harbor is!”
Charles gathered his beasts and rushed back at full speed. But no matter how fast he moved, it would still take him at least fifteen minutes to reach the fortress.
Within that quarter of an hour, General Sost had no choice but to rely on the power of the Withered Tree Fortress to hold Harbor back.
The moment Harbor stepped through the portal, it collapsed completely behind him. He glanced at Julian standing nearby and smiled.
“You did well.”
With that, he ignored Julian and walked straight toward the heart of the tower.
Even before launching his attack, Harbor already knew there was a powerful energy source hidden inside the fortress. After his fight with Charles, he quickly figured out that the source had to be the Gem of Light.
To truly defeat Charles in this battle—and at the same time destroy the Serpent Empire—he had to destroy the Gem of Light first.
Among Harbor’s beasts was one with the light attribute. If the Gem of Light was destroyed, his Angel of Light would gain a massive boost on every level.
Right now, the Angel of Light stood beside him, radiating intense light and heat. With that power, it was able to pinpoint the Gem’s exact location. Guided by it, Harbor quickly moved toward the Gem’s chamber.
On the way, he faced some resistance. But the Serpents who tried to stop him were not strong. His pace never slowed; he didn’t even need to strike them down himself. The passive light and heat pouring from the Angel of Light burned them to death on its own.
Before long, Harbor reached the very top of the tower. General Sost was waiting there, flanked by an entire formation of heavily armed Serpent Empire elite soldiers.
“You really think you can stop me?” Harbor asked calmly, his eyes sweeping over the defenders.
He could tell these Serpents were far stronger than the ones he had cut through earlier. Yet in his eyes, they were still no real threat.
But since Charles was rushing back as fast as possible, Harbor knew he couldn’t waste even a moment. His plan was simple: unleash overwhelming strength to break their spirit, force them to give up resistance, and buy himself more time to seize control of the Gem of Light.
“Cut the nonsense! We will never back down! No matter how strong you are, we’ll fight you to the very end!”
General Sost spoke bluntly.
Of course, he knew how terrifying Harbor’s power was. He also knew that standing against someone like Harbor, he wouldn’t last long. But surrender was never an option.
As an elite soldier raised by the Serpent Empire, he believed the best ending for him was to fall on the battlefield. And if he had to die, then dying against an enemy as powerful as Harbor was almost an honor—certainly better than being killed by a traitor like Aldany.
Harbor let out a quiet sigh. He knew there was no point in wasting more words. Sost’s will was firm, which meant Harbor wouldn’t have much time left to take control of the Gem of Light.
“In that case, let me send you all to your deaths.”
The moment he finished speaking, the Angel of Light released a devastating beam. A surge of searing light and heat exploded outward, striking the elite Serpent soldiers around Sost. Most of them were badly wounded in an instant.
Yet not a single one of them chose to run. They had all known, before coming here, that this was a battle where they would wager their very lives.
General Sost stood firmly at the front. He used his own strength to resist the crushing light and heat, while also channeling the power of the Gem of Light.
The Gem’s energy could provide some measure of protection, but against Harbor it was far from enough. After all, most of the Gem’s power was already being used to sustain the fortress’s defensive wards.
That was why Sost had also brought several treasures with him. These artifacts could drain some of Harbor’s strength—but under the blazing light and heat of the Angel of Light, they were almost all destroyed at once.
In truth, the only real obstacle standing in Harbor’s way was General Sost himself. And at that moment, he was fully prepared to fight to the death.