Chapter 343: Astra’s Stalling

Astra saw the tide before it reached her. The creatures did not charge as an unthinking mob. They flowed together like a living current, thousands upon thousands of aberrant forms answering the silent command of the colossal entity looming above the ruined city.

Behind her, Jax floated motionless. His eyes were closed as golden light surrounded him in widening circles, each ring larger than the last, until they stretched across entire districts of the forgotten city.

Strange geometric sigils unfolded around him in three-dimensional layers, rotating at different speeds. He hadn’t moved since beginning to channel his spell, his mind fully focused on his task.

That worried Astra far more than if he had joined the fight, "He’s completely focused..."

Which meant she had to be. She inhaled slowly and lightning danced between every sapphire scale covering her immense draconic body.

Her wings slowly unfolded, the water around her vibrated and then, the first monster attack arrived.

It resembled an armored serpent with dozens of crystalline fins stretching along its body. Its mouth split open into four separate jaws as it lunged.

Astra met it head-on. Her claw struck first. The impact shattered its skull before it could bite, sending fragments spinning through the silver sea.

She didn’t stop. Her tail whipped around with enough force to break the sound barrier even underwater. Two more monsters disappeared beneath the strike.

A pulse of storm mana erupted outward.

Blue-white lightning chained between nearby enemies, leaping from body to body until an entire section of the advancing horde convulsed beneath the electrical discharge.

For a brief moment, there was empty water, but then the gap filled again.

"They’re endless," She muttered as she folded one wing and rolled through the water as a rain of black crystal spears erupted from below.

The ruined avenue she had occupied a heartbeat earlier exploded apart.

High above, the giant watched. Thousands of eyes remained fixed upon Jax. It barely acknowledged Astra. To it, she was only an obstacle.

Astra grinned as she understood its thought process, "Then I’ll be the biggest obstacle you’ve ever met."

Storm clouds began forming beneath the ocean. Mana condensed around her like a second atmosphere.

Her wings beat once and the resulting current expanded for kilometers. Water became a rotating cyclone. Lightning threaded throughout it until the entire vortex glowed blue-white.

She folded her forelegs together.

"Storm Sovereign Art - Tempest Dominion."

She unleashed it and the rotating ocean burst outward in every direction. Entire armies vanished inside the expanding storm. Massive leviathans lost control of their bodies.

Floating horrors were torn apart by currents that behaved more like grinding blades than water. Electricity exploded through the battlefield venomously.

Thousands of monsters disappeared beneath the attack. For several glorious seconds... Nothing remained.

Then, the spatial fractures reopened and new creatures poured out.

Astra blinked, "Seriously?"

She laughed despite herself, "You’re persistent, but I won’t budge,"

Behind her, golden mana continued gathering. Jax had not opened his eyes.

The circles surrounding him had grown into immense halos stretching across the hidden dimension.

Countless threads of golden light disappeared into the distance. Each one connected to something invisible.

Anchors.

The framework sustaining the realm itself.

Seeing this, the monster finally moved. One enormous claw swept across reality.

Space folded.

The attack never physically reached Astra. Instead, the distance between them disappeared. One moment the claw was kilometers away.

The next, it was directly in front of her.

Astra’s instincts barely saved her as she twisted. The edge of the strike scraped across her shoulder.

Pain exploded through her body. Several sapphire scales shattered. Blood drifted into the water.

She growled, "That"

Lightning burst from her mouth, "That actually hurt a-lot"

She retaliated immediately. Rather than pulling away, she accelerated toward the giant. Its size no longer intimidated her.

She had long since learned something from watching Jax. The bigger something was, the easier it became to hit.

She became a streak of lightning. The creature swung again but Astra flew beneath the attack. Its second arm descended and she climbed over it.

Its countless jaws opened and storm mana erupted from her chest. A concentrated beam of white-blue lightning struck directly into one rotating mouth.

The explosion illuminated the dimension. Several layers of teeth shattered. The giant recoiled and for the first time, it made a different sound, not anger, but pain.

Astra smiled as she heard that, "There we go."

Unfortunately, the wound closed almost immediately. Reality stitched itself together once again.

The broken jaws reformed. The monster’s countless eyes brightened. Its patience had ended. Every surviving creature surged toward Astra simultaneously. They no longer attacked independently.

They attacked together with perfect coordination. Like limbs belonging to one body. A colossal crustacean locked onto her wings.

Three serpents wrapped around her tail. Floating organisms released black clouds that interfered with her storm mana. Crystal beasts climbed across her back.

Astra roared as she engaged with them, electricity erupted in every direction. Hundreds of enemies died instantly, but more replaced them.

Claws pierced between her scales and jaws bit into her foreleg, but Astra battled back, tearing herself free.

Another monster took its place and she spun, lightning exploding off of her as a leviathan lost half its body.

Another wrapped around her neck, but Astra slammed herself through an abandoned palace just to crush it beneath the collapsing structure.

The palace disintegrated and the serpent did not survive. She emerged through the debris, only to meet another wave of monsters.

Her breathing became heavier, not because she lacked stamina, but because she had stopped getting moments to breathe.

The attacks never ceased.

Meanwhile, far away, golden light continued expanding. It had become impossible to ignore. Entire rivers of mana abandoned the hidden sea.

Everything flowed toward one point, towards Jax. The monsters attention was completely on Jax now.

It raised every claw and space cracked. Hundreds of dimensional rifts opened around Jax simultaneously. Monsters emerged directly beside him.

Astra’s eyes widened, "No!"

She tried to reach him, but three enormous leviathans intercepted her. She blasted through one but the second wrapped around her wing and the third slammed into her side.

Her momentum vanished as she tumbled through ruined buildings. Stone exploded and her lightning scattered, and by the time she recovered, the monsters had reached Jax, who still hadn’t moved.

The first creature lunged, but just in team, golden light flashed.

Without opening his eyes, a single rotating sigil expanded around Jax.

The monster struck it and initially, nothing happened, but then, the creature silently came apart. It simply separated into thousands of glowing particles before dissolving into mana.

The second attacker suffered the same fate, so did the third, forth and fifth.

Every monster crossing the outermost ring simply ceased existing. The spell was protecting its caster, but only barely, each impact caused another crack to spread through the golden construct.

It wasn’t invincible, it was just buying time.

Astra understood this and forced herself upright. Blood drifted from dozens of wounds. Several scales had broken. One wing felt painfully heavy, but she ignored all of it.

"If..."

She inhaled.

"...you want him..."

Lightning brighter than anything before erupted around her.

"...you’ll have to get through me!"

Her entire body transformed into living electricity as she accelerated.

She tore through the battlefield and entire columns of monsters vanished behind her. She no longer defended, instead attacking everything.

The giant descended. Its enormous shadow covered the city. Its jaws opened. Blue light condensed into a sphere larger than a mountain.

Astra looked up.

"That’s, "

Too large to dodge. She knew it immediately, so she climbed towards it. Storm mana gathered inside her chest and her entire draconic body glowed white.

"I won’t..."

The beam erupted.

"...let you touch him!"

Her lightning breath collided with the descending sphere. The collision became a miniature sun and the hidden sea disappeared beneath overwhelming light.

Shockwaves flattened everything nearby. For several endless seconds, neither attack advanced, but then, cracks spread across Astra’s beam.

Her attack weakened and the sphere pushed forward.

Astra poured in everything, more mana, but as time moved on, her vision blurred and her muscles trembled.

Still, the attack continued descending.

"I’m..."

She gritted her teeth.

"...not..."

Another crack.

"...done..."

The beam collapsed and the sphere engulfed her. The explosion shook the entire hidden realm.

Lightning vanished and the battlefield fell silent, the giant lowered its head, feeling satisfied when suddenly, a bolt of blue-white lightning erupted from the explosion.

~BOOM!~

Astra burst free, bruised and bleeding, one wing torn and half her scales blackened, but she was still between the monster and Jax.

She laughed weakly, "That actually hurt."

Her body shook. She knew she couldn’t survive another attack like that. The giant knew it too. It raised every claw, preparing the final strike to wipe her out when suddenly, everything stopped.

Because of Jax.

The Demon King’s eyes opened, but they no longer resembled ordinary eyes. Golden galaxies rotated within them. Every circle surrounding him aligned and every sigil stopped rotating.

Every thread connecting the hidden realm became visible. The entire dimension unfolded like a blueprint before him.

He smiled, "I found every anchor."

His voice echoed across the sea, not loudly, yet every creature heard it.

"So..."

He slowly raised one hand.

"let’s see what happens when someone removes the foundation."

He closed his fingers and every golden thread tightened simultaneously. The entire hidden realm shuddered.

The first anchor shattered, then another and they started dropping like flies.

The giant finally reacted, for the first time, fear appeared in thousands of eyes. It lunged toward Jax, but it was too late.

~BOOM!~

Golden light erupted across the horizon, dismantling the dimension itself. Like removing every stone from beneath a castle.

Reality began collapsing, the black tower split from its foundation while the abandoned city dissolved into streams of mana.

Every anchor exploded, until the entire hidden world resembled a galaxy breaking apart. The giant roared in fury.

Cracks spread across its armor for the first time. Not wounds, but instability. Its domain was dying, which meant its impossible regeneration ceased.

The spatial distortions vanished and the endless monster portals imploded. Every surviving beast dissolved into harmless mana before they could escape.

Jax watched calmly as the realm collapsed around them.

Astra, exhausted but smiling despite her injuries, slowly drifted toward him through the sea of dissolving light.

"Nice Job, you can rest," Jax said, tapping her scales and forcefully transforming her back to her human form, where he gently held her body in his arms.

"I’ll handle the rest,"