Lanqi's move plunged the entire battlefield into a brief silence.
Neither Askesan nor the robed figure had anticipated such an outcome. Their eyes were filled with shock and bewilderment.
The Nuclear Fusion Wolf's eyes were deep and glinting with red light as it gazed upon everything on the battlefield. Most eye-catching of all, however, was its steaming maw—clamped beneath those giant jaws was the sealed Abyssal Black Worm!
The dust and magical energy across the battlefield seemed to freeze, all attention drawn uncontrollably to this bizarre wolf.
Though Sigrid was the Bishop of Domination and had experienced countless epic spells defying common sense throughout innumerable death matches, her lips parted slightly at this moment, her heart pounding like a drum.
The muscles in Askesan's face visibly contorted. A flicker of shock and suspicion darted across his usually ruthless, icy eyes. As the Bishop of Extinction and the preeminent Sealer of this era, he had never seen sealing magic or a sealing-type summoned beast of this school. What bewildered him even more was why such an exceptionally gifted Sealer would become the Holy Son to the Bishop of Domination.
Even if the robed figure's reaction was veiled by concealment magic, his upper body clearly stiffened. His bottomless eyes seemed to strain to suppress his emotions; he rarely showed genuine emotional ripples, but Lanqi's action had clearly crossed his bottom line!
In this most critical of moments, a sharp, lightning-like gleam rose in Sigrid's eyes. Silver radiance flared from her body as if she were in her prime—like a dying flash of brilliance—and the power gathering in her hands felt capable of pulverizing any obstacle.
Gathering the full might of her being, she unleashed the most powerful strike of her life. Her body became a comet, hurling a fist intent capable of sundering heaven and earth straight at the robed figure!
The entire strike took place in the span of a breath. So fast was it that even Askesan, standing not far away, could scarcely track her motion. The force behind this blow ripped through the clouds above, laying bare a fleeting burst of white light over the snowy plains.
The robed figure had not anticipated this sudden, ferocious assault in the slightest. With virtually no time to react, he could only watch helplessly as Sigrid's full-force blow slammed squarely into him.
The colossal impact blasted the robed figure away, shattering hundreds of meters of ruins behind him. Amid billows of dust, wisps of black smoke rose from his body, and an indelible silver silhouette across his chest steadily eroded his pitch-black mana—a grievous wound inflicted by Sigrid's sublimated ultimate fist intent.
After landing the blow on the robed figure, Sigrid's body seemed unable to bear the immense toll. As though drained of all strength, her legs gave way, leaving her teetering in midair, extraordinarily frail. Only her amethyst eyes retained an inextinguishable resolve.
"Sigrid! Over here!"
Lanqi's voice, even on this lethal, ever-shifting battlefield, reached Sigrid's ears with extraordinary clarity.
Or perhaps words were not even necessary; the moment her gaze met Lanqi's emerald eyes, she understood his intent.
Hearing Lanqi's call, not a shred of hesitation lingered in her exhausted eyes. She mustered the last of her strength and dove toward him.
Meanwhile, Lanqi fed the giant wolf every single Tier 6 and Tier 7 purple sealed magic card he had gathered during his time in the Imperial Capital, stuffing them into its mouth like treats.
Excluding the devoured [Abyssal Black Worm], the [Nuclear Fusion Wolf] swallowed hundreds of sealed magic cards in one go.
The [Nuclear Fusion Wolf] could detonate itself at will—and trigger a chain detonation of every magic card it had consumed!
He would never return the [Abyssal Black Worm] to the robed figure!
Sigrid's figure, previously suppressed in midair by two great powerhouses, seemed suddenly endowed with new vitality. Her body bent lithely before kicking off empty air, stirring a sharp wave of wind beneath the thunderclouds closing overhead as she leaped toward Lanqi's position.
The wind quickened; the thunder intensified!
Everything had arrived at the final moment.
"Askesan, don't hold back anymore!" Fighting through intense dizziness, the robed figure staggered to his feet and shouted at Askesan, who was still in position to intercept Sigrid.
He knew Askesan was still keeping something in reserve.
All Sealers were like this: the greater the cost of a sealing art, the greater its power.
Unless backed into an absolute corner, a Sealer would never unleash their trump cards that dealt devastating damage at heavy self-harm!
Originally, Askesan's condition had been worse than his, and the cunning Bishop of Extinction had been guarding against him reaping the spoils.
Now that the robed figure's own state had deteriorated so badly, Askesan had no reason to hesitate!
Even if Askesan ended up in a comparable state after paying the price, neither would turn on the other; Sigrid had not yet forced out their life-saving trump cards, and neither would covet the other's life at a time like this.
Askesan gritted his teeth until they creaked. Without a moment's hesitation, he gathered all his remaining mana in an instant and hurled the most vicious sealing spell at Sigrid, causing blood to rupture uncontrollably from his seven orifices.
If struck by this move, Sigrid's defeat would be sealed!
The moment Sigrid gave up on fighting to flee was also when her vulnerability was most exposed and inescapable!
As the dense, dark gray corrosive aura surged toward Sigrid's back like a tempest, she felt an unprecedented oppression and danger—every tendril laced with bottomless malice, seeking to ravage her bones and sinews.
It felt as if countless icicles were driving into her heart, piercing straight into the depths of her soul.
In the distance, every bead of sweat on Askesan seemed to articulate his resolve and madness.
Beneath his tightly shut eyes, tears and blood mingled. The brutal price he paid served as the catalyst for his vicious spell, awakening a deeply dormant power.
Like chains forgotten by time, inscribed with distant eras and cold destiny, the spell pierced Sigrid's heart. In that instant, she heard the sound of bones fracturing within her body; every cell was destroyed, regenerated, and destroyed again by boundless agony, an endless cycle like waves crashing against the shore.
The finale of the sealing spell was a crimson flash of blood-light. Even if it failed to kill Sigrid outright, it seemed poised to pin her forever in this moment of torment, turning into a brand radiating an ominous glow.
Amid Sigrid's shrill, agonizing scream, the silver puppet also dissolved into nothingness.
Yet Lanqi had already stepped forward.
In the next second, he firmly caught her as she plummeted from midair.
"Ha... ha..."
In the distance, Askesan panted, watching triumphantly as Sigrid, struck near to death, fell. The only remaining opponent was this Holy Son of Domination, equally defenseless.
The toll of this sealing art on Askesan had been immense; had he not been pushed to the brink, he would never have risked his life like this against Sigrid.
Askesan no longer bore any trace of his former icy arrogance. His face was twisted, his body trembling, every muscle screaming from the catastrophic price of the sealing spell he had just unleashed.
Even so, neither he nor the robed figure had lost their ability to fight.
Between them and this lone remaining ant lay an insurmountable chasm.
Yet in the distance, Lanqi showed not the slightest fear toward Askesan or the robed figure.
"..."
Lanqi's eyes were steadfast as bedrock as he stared straight at Askesan, the depth within their emerald hue beyond words.
From across the distance, Lanqi gazed directly at Askesan.
Only the rising wind enveloped Lanqi and Sigrid, accompanied by the deafening roar of a storm dragon.
Cradling the near-unconscious Sigrid, Lanqi turned and walked away.
"You think you can run right under our noses?! Don't get so arrogant!!"
At that moment, the robed figure further away forced himself past the agony of Sigrid's devastating blow and surged toward Lanqi like an abyssal torrent.
This weakling, whom they had disregarded entirely, had somehow managed to seal his [Abyssal Black Worm].
To him, that alone was a humiliation!
And that brazen attitude, whether backed by confidence or not, was utterly intolerable!
How could they let a mere Holy Son of Domination carry off the Bishop of Domination right before their eyes? Where would their dignity go?!
And yet, Lanqi paid no heed to the closing robed figure.
"Askesan, the next time we meet will be the moment I reclaim your Original Slate."
The gale gradually swallowed his silhouette.
At that very moment, the Nuclear Fusion Wolf's eyes turned entirely crimson, and fissures cracked across its body, emitting a terrifying light.
Those eyes were like blood-red gems radiating an alarming glow; every fissure testified to a power more searing than destruction, more profound than extinction—and the light pouring forth pierced through the clouds like blazing suns!
Beneath the blinding white light, silence—an endless silence—took the place of the expected deafening boom. The only sound was the ragged breathing of Askesan and the robed figure.
This decisive instant became a vast blank in time.
Just as sound travels far slower than light, neither Lanqi, shrouded in the gale, nor Askesan was conscious at this moment of the earth-shattering roar.
When the explosion finally erupted, resounding throughout Bandera City, the situation of the Protos Empire—and with it, the entire world—had been utterly transformed.
The northern snowfields of the Protos Empire.
On the distant horizon, a tiny pinpoint of light appeared, expanding rapidly alongside an intense white glare.
Then came the deafening roar, thundering abruptly like the roar of the earth itself.
City walls and mountain ridges twisted and shattered before the rampaging shockwave. Immense energy overturned the ground; buildings were blown away like scraps of paper; trees and vegetation were swallowed by the white light.
As time seemed to stretch, the white radiance swelled and rose until it blotted out everything in the heavens!
Wondrous brilliance filled the sky like the majesty of the Almighty; only the light of a thousand suns could contend with its splendor.
Chapter 334