Chapter 466 - 439: Bizarre Creatures! Like Snapping Dry Twigs

Chapter 466: Chapter 439: Bizarre Creatures! Like Snapping Dry Twigs

Her face was ashen. She swayed, barely staying upright by leaning on her Longbow as she gasped for breath.

Sweat soaked the hair on her forehead, and the Power within her body drained away like a receding tide. A profound sense of weakness washed over her.

But the crisis was far from over.

Her act of killing one of their own seemed to have enraged the remaining enemies.

They all stopped attacking their other targets at once. Their "faces"—featureless, save for a burning, ember-like glow—swiveled in unison to "stare" at the exhausted Avril.

The sensation of being targeted by several cold, inhuman wills sent a shiver down Avril’s spine.

Two of the enemies’ arms morphed back into dangerously sharp forms as they advanced on her with steady, menacing steps.

Duraga roared, trying to rush to her aid, but another enemy held him back.

Galvis frantically plucked at his strings, but could no longer conjure any effective interference.

An atmosphere of despair closed in like a cold iron band, squeezing the heart of everyone present.

Just as the two enemies’ attacks were about to strike the defenseless Avril...

A figure shot out from the Darkness beyond Rusted Town, descending with the speed and power of a meteor tearing through the night sky.

BOOM!

The moment the figure landed, it was as if a meteorite had slammed into the center of the battlefield.

The terrifying Power of the impact sent a violent tremor through the ground, and a web of cracks spread frantically from the landing point.

The ensuing shockwave, carrying rubble and dust, expanded in a ring, sending the nearest enemies stumbling back.

The aftershock of the landing alone revealed the newcomer’s immense Power, a force that far surpassed anyone else on the field.

As the dust began to settle, the shell-shocked onlookers stared. In the center of the shallow crater stood a figure, half-crouched, clad head-to-toe in streamlined Dark Silver Armor that radiated cold majesty and an aura of unknown technology.

On its fully enclosed helmet, a narrow, ice-blue visor swept across the battlefield, devoid of any emotion.

’A... another one?’

Duraga’s heart sank.

’Is it one of these monsters’ allies?’

Avril’s gaze, however, immediately locked onto the longsword at the newcomer’s hip. Even in the gloom, it shimmered with a soft, moon-like radiance.

She could never mistake its unique design and Energy fluctuations.

"It’s Roland!"

She cried out, her voice a mixture of relief and disbelief.

But Roland didn’t immediately respond to the Elf Maiden’s cry.

For at the very moment Avril spoke, the enemy nearest to him was already swinging down. A condensed, dark red Energy Blade shrieked through the air, aimed squarely at his head.

Without even turning, Roland swung his arm back. The Moonlight Longsword, trailing a cold silver gleam, precisely met the Energy Blade.

BANG!

The Energy Blade was not shattered as easily as expected.

An ear-splitting boom, far louder than the clash of metal, erupted.

Energy and Power collided violently, and the discharged shockwave distorted the very air.

A heavy, domineering, and strangely corrosive force shot back up Roland’s sword arm, and his heart sank.

He flexed his arm, and the immense Power from the [Source Law Engine] surged forth, blasting the enemy and its "blade" back several paces.

In that brief opening, Roland focused on his enemy for the first time, his gaze filtered through the ice-blue visor.

Their forms were slender and elegant, as if sculpted from the finest Obsidian. Their surfaces were covered in fissures that resembled flowing Magma, under which a dark red light pulsed slowly.

They had no features, only a humanoid mass of Burning incandescence for a "face."

But it wasn’t their bizarre appearance that caught Roland’s attention. It was...

’This feeling...’

A faint yet incredibly familiar aura emanated from within these enemies.

It wasn’t an attribute of their Energy, but a deeper resonance, one that stemmed from the very source of life.

Roland focused his Spirit. The Extraordinary Perception Power granted to him by the [Source Law Engine] acted like the most precise of probes, instantly capturing and analyzing the source of that familiar sensation...

Giant Dragon Bloodline!

Though incredibly faint, as if it had been diluted and altered countless times, its essence was undeniably from the same source as the Dragon Race Power surging within his own body.

’How is this possible?’

The immense shock struck Roland’s mind like a tsunami, but his movements didn’t falter for a second.

He unleashed a powerful, sweeping strike with his Longsword.

Just then, two more enemies pounced. Their arms transformed into a Burning Energy Whip and a heavy, spiked hammer, closing in on Roland from both sides.

Faced with a pincer attack that would have spelled doom for Avril and the others, Roland merely snorted from beneath his helmet.

[Source Law Engine], full power.

At his command, a torrential wave of Blood-colored Fighting Spirit erupted from him like an awakened Giant Dragon.

But the Fighting Spirit didn’t just cling to him. Under the exquisite control of the [Source Law Engine], it instantly coalesced on his left arm, forming a massive, menacing Dragon Head Tower Shield that easily blocked the heavy hammer’s blow.

THUD!

With a dull, heavy boom, the Tower Shield held firm. In fact, the impact sent the hammer reeling, its light flickering erratically.

At the same time, with a slight flick of his right wrist, the Moonlight Longsword let out a clear, sonorous ring.

The silver light of the blade, the Blood-colored Fighting Spirit, and a trace of evoked Magic Elements all merged perfectly under his will.

He didn’t bother with any fancy Sword Skills, just a simple horizontal slash.

SWOOSH!

A crescent-shaped wave of destructive Energy, a blend of three colors, pulsed out from his position.

The Energy Whip was the first to be hit. It disintegrated, inch by inch, like snow in the spring sun, and was utterly annihilated.

Then, the wave swept unimpeded through the two attackers’ bodies.

There was no violent impact, no grating sound.

The bodies of the two powerful enemies—tough enough to withstand a blow from the Duraga War Axe—simply vaporized and dissipated from the waist up, silently, like ice tossed into a blast furnace.

Crushed.

They were completely and effortlessly crushed.

The remaining enemies seemed stunned by this incomprehensible display of Power, their movements freezing for an instant.

Roland gave them no time to react.

He moved like a phantom.

The Moonlight Longsword stabbed and slashed. Each attack, a multi-layered assault coordinated by the [Source Law Engine], tore through their Energy defenses and solid bodies as if they were made of paper.

Within a few short breaths, all remaining enemies had been reduced to shattered remains.

The battle was over. Before the survivors, having escaped death, could even cheer, Galvis pointed at the remains on the ground and cried out in terror.

"You... you all, look! They’re... they’re changing!"

As everyone watched, the hard outer shells and glowing light of the lifeless remains—once appearing to be made of Obsidian and Magma—began to visibly decay and dissolve.

It was as if a disguise were being stripped away, revealing their true forms underneath.

Their skin turned an unhealthy, deathly gray. Their bodies were smooth and hairless. Inside their eye sockets was nothing but a murky, ghastly white...

"These are..."

Roland retracted his helmet, revealing a grim expression.

They were the very same strange, humanoid creatures he had encountered deep within the corridors of the Seventh Observation Station.