Novel Full Chapter 296: The Central Storm Node
Chapter 296: Chapter 296: The Central Storm Node
The central storm node was larger than all others.
It stood in the middle of the beast army like a crooked tree made of thunder bones. Lightning roots extended from it into the mud, into nearby beasts, and toward the Siege King itself. Every pulse from the node caused the beast army to move with renewed coordination.
Qin Yuheng saw immediately why the Siege King had waited so long.
This node was not merely command support.
It was the battlefield brain.
[Central Thunderstorm Command Node]
[Level Equivalent: 70]
[Function:
Battlefield coordination, Siege King storm feedback stabilization, elite beast command relay.]
[Weakness:
Grounding root overload, command pulse severance, core exposure during Siege King roar.]
Again, roar.
The Tower liked patterns.
The problem was worse now. The Siege King had learned from the previous trick. It would not roar easily unless heavily pressured.
Qin Yuheng’s strike force reached the outer ring of elite beasts.
Storm riders crashed into Thunderhide Boars. Fortress champions locked horns with lightning wolves. Qin Yuchen cut through serpents. Qin Lian moved toward the node roots. Qin Yuheng drove forward.
The central node released command pulses.
Elite beasts shifted instantly to block him.
Too coordinated.
Qin Yuheng narrowed his eyes.
He could break through with raw power, but it would take too long. The Node Death Seal duration was fading.
He activated Gate Thunder Command Field over the willing strike force.
"Small groups. Do not chase kills. Open route. Protect root cutters."
The field linked riders, champions, Qin Yuchen, Qin Lian, and Qin Yuheng. The result was immediate.
Storm riders stopped dueling beasts individually and began creating lanes. Fortress champions used shields to pin beasts rather than finish them. Qin Yuchen exploited openings. Qin Lian reached the first root cluster.
Qin Mo’s voice shouted from the wall.
"Root one marked! Cut in sequence! Do not cut all at once!"
Qin Lian obeyed.
First root cut.
The central node trembled.
The Siege King roared—not fully, more like a warning growl.
Not enough.
Second root cut.
Elite beasts panicked slightly.
The Siege King stomped, sending lightning roots across the battlefield. Three riders fell. One did not rise.
Qin Yuheng felt it through the field.
A death.
Not an illusion.
A fortress rider had died under his command coordination.
Commander’s Chosen Burden stirred.
False guilt tried to rise.
The Living Values Compass steadied him.
Battle carried loss.
He could not freeze.
"Maintain route," he ordered.
The rider’s squad tightened formation and continued.
Qin Yuheng remembered his own principle: memory is not sentence.
Third root cut.
The central node’s core exposed partially.
The Siege King finally roared.
Its throat opened.
But this time, Qin Yuheng was not under it.
The roar sent storm energy into the central node, trying to reinforce it.
That reinforcement created exposure.
"Now!"
Qin Mo activated grounding arrays from afar. Qin Lian cut the final pulse thread. Qin Yuchen and the riders blocked elite beasts.
Qin Yuheng reached the central node.
The core was protected by rotating storm rings.
He struck once.
Deflected.
Twice.
The storm rings burned his sword arm.
No time.
He used the SSS Grade Fivefold Path Stabilization Core resonance from earlier gates to steady his movement through the rotating rings. Then he switched from thunder to physical body force again, remembering the first node.
His sword pierced the outer shell.
The central node screamed.
The Siege King charged toward him.
Qin Mo shouted, "Destroy it now!"
Qin Yuheng needed one more strike.
But if he took it, the Siege King would hit him.
Qin Yuchen saw it.
He moved to intercept.
"No," Qin Yuheng snapped through the field.
Qin Yuchen stopped half a step, teeth clenched.
Roads that trust themselves did not mean throwing lives away.
Commander Lei Shuo acted instead.
"Unyielding Wall Pulse!"
The fortress heart activated.
Iron-blue light shot from Stormbreak Fortress and connected to grounding chains across the battlefield. For one breath, a wall of storm-grounded force rose between Qin Yuheng and the Siege King.
The Siege King smashed into it.
The barrier cracked instantly.
But held for one breath.
That was enough.
Qin Yuheng struck the central node’s exposed core.
The core shattered.
[Thunderstorm Beast Command Node destroyed: 5 / 5]
[All command nodes destroyed.]
[Node rebirth suppressed.]
[Thunder Herd coordination collapsing.]
Across the plain, thunder beasts faltered. Some turned wild. Some fled. Some attacked each other.
The Siege King crashed through the barrier, but its storm aura flickered.
Without nodes, it was still terrifying.
But no longer a battlefield commander.
Now it was a beast.
A huge one.
A deadly one.
But a beast.
Qin Mo’s voice came through, exhausted but fierce.
"Now you can hit it."
Qin Yuheng looked at the Siege King.
Its eyes burned with rage.
His own thunder rose.
"Good."
The final battle against the Siege King began.