Chapter 192: Clash of Martial Generals

Mayor Henar’s heavy fists clenched so tightly that his knuckles turned stark white, his trimmed fingernails digging deep into his palms until blood nearly welled up.

Every instinct as a ruler and a Initial-enlightened stage Martial General screamed at him to crush the golden-haired intruder resting so casually against his balcony wall.

Someone had broken into his private sanctuary, holding one of his most prized, stolen cultivation manuals like light reading material.

By all rights, Henar should have unleashed his martial aura and torn the young man limb from limb.

Yet, despite the boiling rage suffocating his chest, Henar could not force his boots to move even a single inch.

A primordial, instinctual terror—deep, ancient, and undeniable—begged him to remain completely still.

The aura radiating off the golden-haired stranger wasn’t merely strong; it was absolute, oppressive, and utterly divine.

Henar found himself physically incapable of maintaining eye contact with those golden-crimson eyes.

Whenever his gaze drifted upward, a cold, shivering dread paralyzed his throat, forcing his eyes back toward the floorboards.

He stood frozen, his breath coming in shallow, desperate hitches, until he finally managed to squeeze words past his dry, trembling lips.

"W-Who... who are you?" Henar choked out, his voice a pathetic whisper in the quiet bedroom.

Roy did not answer immediately.

He simply turned another page of the manual, a slight, knowing smirk gracing his lips—

***

BOOM!

Miles away, the night sky above Kaelos City shattered into a blinding kaleidoscope of silver wind and golden fire.

The main thoroughfare was no longer a street; it had been reduced to a scarred, crater-filled wasteland.

Stone buildings lay in ruins, their timber frames burning with pale-gold flames as two unstoppable forces collided, separated, and crashed into one another with catastrophic speed.

From the very beginning of the battle, the raw, natural disparity between the two combatants was violently clear.

Having evolved into an S-class Desolate Draconic Fenrir species under the divine grace of the God of Beasts, Eurenia’s physical foundation, reaction speed, and raw mana density were leagues beyond that of a standard human cultivator.

Every strike of her longsword carried the weight of a falling meteor, its razor-sharp silver wind slicing through stone and iron like parchment.

However, the Silver Lotus Elder was no ordinary martial artist.

As a high-ranking Elder of the Glorious Mythical Sect, he was a true master of human cultivation, bolstered by decades of secret body-tempering arts and complex mana manipulation techniques.

CLANG! BANG!

Eurenia’s silver blade blurred into a relentless flurry of strikes, her athletic frame flickering like a phantom across the shattered cobblestones.

The Silver Lotus Elder parried and dodged desperately, his pale-gold robes swirling as he used heavy mana-reinforcement techniques on his limbs to withstand her physical assault.

Yet, despite his formidable defensive arts, every parry sent shockwaves through his bones, slowly cracking the pavement beneath his feet as he was relentlessly pushed backward.

In terms of pure realm cultivation, the gap was stark.

The Silver Lotus Elder was a formidable Middle-Enlightened Martial General, but Eurenia had already surpassed him—standing proud as a Peak-enlightened stage Martial General, her terrifying foundation steadily creeping toward the threshold of a Pseudo-Martial Lord.

Her raw physical prowess was beyond mortal comprehension.

But what the old man lacked in raw stats, he made up for with a deadly, unpredictable arsenal of ancient sector techniques.

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

"Golden Lotus Array: Nine Solar Needles!" the Elder roared, flicking his long sleeves.

Dozens of dense, condensed mana projectiles—shaped like burning golden lotus petals—materialized out of thin air, firing toward Eurenia like high-velocity bullets.

Eurenia swung her longsword to deflect them, but the projectiles split mid-air, curving around her guard.

A series of explosive mana whips tore out from the ground beneath her, wrapping around her ankles, followed by three golden mana spears that plunged straight toward her chest.

EXPLOSION!

The sudden, erratic barrage of complex techniques forced Eurenia back, sending her skidding fifty yards across the stone street, her boots leaving deep grooves in the earth as she chopped through the burning mana whips.

The Silver Lotus Elder rapidly opened the distance between them, panting heavily, his gold robes scorched and frayed at the edges.

Eurenia brought her longsword down, wiping a thin trickle of crimson blood from her cheek.

Her emerald eyes sparkled not with fear, but with an intense, intoxicating curiosity.

"Fascinating..." Eurenia purred, her voice echoing through the burning street. "Mana shaped like bullets, whips that sprout from nothing, and spears that change trajectory mid-flight...

What kind of strange magic is that? How are you controlling your energy with such precision?"

The Silver Lotus Elder stood straight, his ancient face twisting into a cold, condescending sneer despite his ragged breathing.

"Ignorant beastly trash," the Elder spat out, his voice dripping with pure, unadulterated arrogance. "You possess raw, unrefined strength, yet you dare inquire about the sacred, transcendent secrets of the Glorious Mythical Sect? Secrets befitting true human kings are not meant for wild animals to understand!"

Eurenia’s wicked grin faded into a cold, terrifying gaze.

"Wild animals, is it?" she whispered softly.

THOOM!

In the span of a single microsecond, Eurenia vanished from the Elder’s sight entirely.

Before the Silver Lotus Elder could even channel his defensive mana array, a cold, smooth hand locked around his throat from behind like a vise grip of solid steel.

"W-What?!" the Elder gasped, his eyes bulging in sheer horror.

"Let’s see if your secret techniques can save your neck!" Eurenia snarled in his ear.

With a violent roar, she lifted the Middle-Enlightened Martial General by his throat and hurled him downward with all her primordial strength.

BOOOOOOM!

The Silver Lotus Elder shot through the air like a cannonball, crashing straight through the thick stone facade of a three-story commercial guildhall, collapsing the entire structure into a mountain of dust, shattered timber, and rubble.

The catastrophic impact echoed for miles, drawing the attention of a company of palace guards patrolling the nearby district.

"Over there! What in the world—?!" the guard captain shouted, leading a platoon of twenty heavily armored men toward the cloud of dust.

"Halt! By order of Mayor Henar, reveal yourself—"

CRUSH!

Before the guards could even finish their order, a violent, golden-red shockwave of furious, unbridled mana exploded outward from the collapsed building.

The twenty palace guards didn’t even have time to scream.

The sheer, suffocating pressure of the Silver Lotus Elder’s raging Martial General aura instantly crushed their bodies inside their steel armor, turning them into bloody piles of meatpaste against the surrounding walls.

STEP. STEP.

From the burning ruins of the collapsed building, the Silver Lotus Elder emerged.

His pale-gold robes were torn to shreds, his long white hair was wild and stained with blood, and his face was contorted into an demonic mask of pure, unbridled rage.

The air around him trembled violently as golden lotus flames erupted from his skin, scorching the earth beneath his feet.

"YOU INSOLENT BEAST!" the Elder screamed, his voice vibrating with lethal, murderous intent that shook the very foundations of the city.

"I swear upon my cultivation core... I will peel the skin from your flesh and turn your bones to ash for this humiliation!"

Eurenia stood atop a towering pile of rubble, resting her massive longsword casually over her shoulder. She looked down at the raging Elder, her silver hair fluttering in the hot draft, and let out a rich, mocking laugh.

"Talk is cheap, old fool," Eurenia grinned, her emerald eyes flashing with a predatory glow as a violent, black-and-silver gale erupted around her body.

"Show me what your grand sect is truly made of!"

With a earth-shattering roar, the two Martial Generals surged toward each other once more, unleashing a battle so violent and world-shaking that the very ground beneath Kaelos City began to split open.