Chapter 346: A Sword Across the Army

The sword itself mattered to the power of Sword Nurturing.

Cassian had commissioned the exceptional Heartsense Sword Celia used for her art, paying for its forging and subsequent work. Enchantment, elemental imbuement, three infusions of Sword Soul—the blade had been prepared to hold an extraordinary charge.

She drew it half an inch.

A terrible pressure spread across the battlefield.

"Scatter!" Vaurak roared.

Swordlight burst from Celia’s hands.

A hundred meters. A thousand. Ten thousand.

In less than a second, the widening fan of light stretched across more than a hundred kilometers, sweeping almost half the Core. Its densest edge passed only a few meters above the ground, straight through the assembled army.

Soft cutting sounds ran through the ranks.

By the time the strike reached Vaurak, it had spent four fifths of its power. The fading light struck his golden axe and broke apart.

For a moment, nothing moved.

Then tens of thousands of bodies fell.

Blood and severed limbs covered the plaza. Those whose necks had met the edge died at once. Others lost their feet or legs, collapsing with most of their fighting strength gone.

The worst fate belonged to those cut through the waist. Their powerful vitality kept them alive long enough to scream.

A few flying troops escaped. Short fighters, including Dwarves, had passed beneath the killing edge. Barely a tenth of the army remained unharmed.

Many of the Legendaries had sensed the danger. When they tried to rise, gravity rounds, Void Entanglement, and Thorn Overgrowth caught them. Even some who had already been flying were dragged down into the path of the sword.

[Your Hero Celia Morcant has slain a Troll Warrior...]

Tens of thousands of reports flooded Cassian’s vision.

He smiled with complete satisfaction.

The loot alone was staggering. Battle Essence from that single strike reached twelve billion.

It was several times stronger than the sword that had cut through the Five Elements Temple.

Seven months had passed since that release. Celia had spent them building a fresh charge. Her Legendary Metalroot now strengthened her sword techniques, and Enlightenment Tea, together with the Aether Vein, had helped her Veinheart Sword-Nurturing Art reach Accomplished.

All of that preparation had come out in one stroke.

"No!"

Vaurak’s roar sent visible waves through the air.

"I’ll tear you apart!"

To him, the slaves were property. Celia had just destroyed nine tenths of his wealth. Worse, their battles had been his chief entertainment through the long years of confinement.

What would he do with the empty years ahead?

He snatched up his axe and charged.

With every heavy step, his body grew another dozen meters. Within seconds, he stood more than two hundred meters tall. Thick demonic miasma poured from him, wrapping his body in a dark shell. Hellfire burned in his eyes.

The size did not slow him. If anything, he moved faster, covering hundreds of meters with each stride.

"A burst skill. Of course."

Cassian could no longer read his Combat Rating.

"I’m glad we didn’t aim that sword at him."

With Vaurak’s one point two million Physique, Celia would have needed to release it at point-blank range for a chance of killing him. Even then, success would have been uncertain.

The giant crossed tens of kilometers in little more than ten seconds. He seemed afraid Cassian would retreat into the passage before he arrived.

Cassian was in a hurry too. More than ten minutes of the blessing had already passed.

"Dawnwings and Eclipse troops, finish the remaining soldiers. Liora, Demonic Calamity. Everyone else, surround Vaurak."

The giant came within ten kilometers.

The Kinetic Mechs fired first.

A hundred and fifty-six gravity rounds struck him. His body sank under the added weight, each footfall landing more heavily than the last.

His speed fell by only a fifth.

"Thorn Overgrowth!"

Sylvara’s thorns spread across several kilometers, twisting toward him like living ropes.

"Void Entanglement!"

Lethria led the Faerie Dragons’ attack. Spatial chains filled the air, reinforced by more than a hundred of her Sovereign Bindings. They strained to hold the giant in place.

The caster Maidens joined them. Crystal Rays struck his body, spreading patches of crystal across its surface.

Vaurak struggled forward. Thorns snapped. Spatial chains broke. The new crystal flaked away from his skin.

But his pace kept falling.

"Impossible!"

His voice shook with fury.

"Are all these troops Mythic? All of them Extreme?"

The blessing had given him quite the wrong impression.

Even under the combined pressure, he retained a tenth of his original speed. That still put him close to the speed of sound. Every swing of his axe cut through great swaths of bindings.

Cassian’s eyelid twitched.

"This monster..."

Twelve golden axe shadows exploded outward.

The six Blood Emperors barely stopped six of them. The other six tore straight through phased space and turned six Faerie Dragons into clouds of blood.

At least Vaurak could not throw those attacks without pause.

Liora’s summoned Demons arrived in a vast wave, an army counted in the hundreds of thousands. They swarmed over the giant, clawing and biting at his miasma.

A shake of his body burst thousands of them apart.

"Lesser Demons! You dare attack me? Obey your superior! Tear my enemies to pieces!"

Cassian’s heart tightened. Could he seize control of Liora’s summons?

The Demons ignored the order. They climbed over one another to cover the giant again.

Cassian let out a breath. Empty shouting, then.

With that mass clinging to him, Vaurak’s remaining speed was halved again.

Liora drank several bottles of Life Water in quick succession and raised the Grimoire.

"Eye of Judgment."

The artifact’s strongest attack against a single target joined the assault.

Rhea, Celia, the Divine Dragon, and the six Blood Emperors pressed in with the physical Maidens. Life Water replenished their spent reserves as they released their strongest attacks.

Clangs rang through the plaza.

A thousand dents appeared across the dark shell every second. Some were shallow, others deep. None broke through.

Mythics were striking it. Fighters whose Physique exceeded three hundred thousand were striking it. The miasma still held.

"How thick is this thing?" Rhea shouted.

Cassian was growing impatient too. His gaze found Aurelia.

Celia had spent her stored strike. Of the attacks still available to him, Aurelia’s was the strongest.

"Leave it to me."

A ten-meter blade finished forming in the space above Vaurak’s head.

Aurelia swung her Thunder Sword with visible effort, as though an immense weight dragged against her arm. The blade overhead followed the movement.

"Skyblade Descent!"

Her strength now rivaled a Mythic’s, driving a Grade-A skill at Transcendence.

This time, the defense failed to stop her.