Chapter 1348: The Price of Someone Else’s Shot

Andona had barely turned her head when the attack reached her.

A trident came flying in from the side, cutting into the air mass’s path before it could strike her.

The trident’s prongs met it head-on.

The blades split the compressed air, and the force packed inside exploded outward in both directions. A ring of wind blasted across Andona’s face. The impact also hurled the trident backward, sending it straight into Namyanna’s hand.

Namyanna drew in a deep breath of energy.

Water surged beneath her feet, lifting her exhausted body back into the sky.

She tightened her grip on the trident, and her voice carried across the entire battlefield.

"Barrier—rise!"

The sea rose with her command.

A translucent blue shield erupted from the surface. Four walls climbed skyward at once, while interlocking vacuum zones formed inside them, creating layer upon layer of containment.

Namyanna raised the trident and hurled it toward the seafloor.

It pierced through the water and plunged all the way to the deepest point below. The instant its prongs stabbed into the seabed, blue light spread outward across the bottom and connected with the shield overhead.

A colossal rectangular barrier sealed the entire battlefield.

Any air blasts fired from outside would now have to pass through the water shield and multiple vacuum layers. The mantis shrimp could no longer snipe them so easily.

Vaelor was also trapped inside, with every route out completely sealed.

Two problems solved at once.

The bleeding from Seraphina’s wounds finally stopped.

She opened her eyes and looked up at Vaelor, fury unmistakable in her gaze. Scales spread across her body once more as her broad wings unfurled, blasting away every shard of ice nearby.

Back in dragon form, Seraphina charged straight at him.

"Sneak attack!"

She lowered her head and aimed her rock-hard horns at Vaelor’s chest.

"So we’re pulling cheap shots now, huh, kid?"

Her horns slammed into him head-on.

Vaelor was hurled backward. The blood swords around him immediately converged, forming several layers of cushioning behind him. The blades shuddered one after another under the impact, absorbing just enough force to keep him from flying straight into a vacuum zone.

But Seraphina wasn’t done.

She twisted around in midair and beat her wings again. Wind exploded beneath them as her enormous body accelerated along the same path, charging at Vaelor a second time with every intention of killing him on the spot.

Vaelor had already braced himself for her next attack. Even so, the sight of the furious dragon bearing down on him made him freeze for a moment.

What did I ever do to you?

Every beat of Seraphina’s wings blasted the moisture in the air aside. Her eyes remained locked on Vaelor, and not even the blood swords circling him could make her slow down.

There was no time to think.

Vaelor raised his longsword. Sword energy poured from the blade as several streaks of blood-red light shot into the sky. The swords around him spread out and crossed over one another, forming a sword formation in front of him like a trap waiting to spring.

Every point turned toward Seraphina.

Blood energy flowed through the formation, waiting for her to enter.

The others watched from a distance, unsure whether they should help.

Joining in would put Vaelor at a serious disadvantage, but with Seraphina in her current state, there was a good chance she would beat them up too. The moment they pictured those furious dragon eyes, the hands they had started to raise all dropped in silent agreement.

Better to let her handle this herself.

Far beneath the surface, the mantis shrimp and the shark had run into another headache.

A massive vacuum wall stood in their way, stretching from the seabed upward and completely blocking their path to the battlefield. Its transparent boundary pressed directly against the surrounding water, but not a single drop could flow inside it.

Who was this supposed to be targeting?

The little shark clearly couldn’t figure it out either. It swam all the way around the vacuum wall, bumped it with its head, then flicked its tail against the edge to test it.

Nothing happened.

The wall remained firmly in place.

With no other choice, the mantis shrimp and the shark followed the outside of the barrier up to the surface. From a distance, they watched Vaelor fighting in the sky and gurgled a few words no one else could understand.

Then they turned and slunk away.

On the ice, Namyanna slowly descended from the air. She crouched and dipped one hand into the sea, turning her fingers gently with the current.

The disturbances left by those two were rapidly fading into the distance.

"That’s all it took to make you mad?" Namyanna raised an eyebrow. "They sure left in a hurry."

She waved a hand.

The trident embedded in the seabed answered her summons, tearing through the water and returning to her grip. Once it left its anchor point, the vacuum walls surrounding the battlefield lost their support and vanished one after another.

Seawater immediately rushed in to fill the gaps. The colliding currents churned across the seabed for quite some time before finally settling.

In the sky, Vaelor stood on a blood sword, trying to use the rest of the formation to redirect Seraphina’s charge.

Before he could put his little trick into action, her claw punched straight through the formation.

The outer swords slashed against her scales one after another, bursting into sprays of blood-red sparks. Seraphina didn’t even turn her head. Her enormous claw came crashing down from above and struck Vaelor squarely.

He plummeted toward the ice along with the blood sword beneath his feet.

Boom!

A deep crater exploded across the frozen surface.

The blood swords surrounding Vaelor lost their stability. One after another, they broke apart and dissolved into blood mist.

Vaelor himself lay among the shattered ice, half his body buried in the frozen surface. For a long while, he couldn’t get back up.

Against overwhelming strength, a plan that never had the chance to unfold was worthless.

Andona was already waiting on the ice.

The moment Vaelor crashed down, golden patterns lit up around him. A magic array spread rapidly across the fractured surface, lines of light crossing the cracks and connecting into a complete design.

Andona raised her blade.

Golden energy gathered along the sword and condensed into a Blade of Judgment. She pointed her weapon at Vaelor, and the golden blade separated from its edge, shooting straight through the center of the array.

A blood sword appeared beside Vaelor.

It crossed over his chest and blocked the Blade of Judgment head-on. The moment the two forces collided, golden light overwhelmed the blood energy. The sword lasted only an instant before vanishing completely, while the remaining force of the Blade of Judgment continued downward.

Vaelor still lay trapped in the ice.

The golden array surrounding him began operating at full power. Pillars of light rose from its patterns and pressed relentlessly toward the center. Every golden beam that struck Vaelor drained some of the blood-red color from his scales.

Then the sky changed.

The clouds that had only just cleared gathered once more, casting a gray shadow over the sea. Thunder rumbled from their depths as brilliant white lightning flashed again and again.