The southern border of South Vantina.
A blood moon hung high, forging a war-torn summer night.
The dense forests and winding rivers beyond the city-state seemed exceedingly restless amid the brutal clashes, constantly shuddering from the violent shockwaves.
"On my order, support High Priest Loren!"
The border troops across the southern boundary displayed their unyielding resolve, standing fearless before the horrors of the invading beasts and giving their all to assist High Priest Loren.
Having urgently evacuated the civilians, the elite army provided as much support as possible from the rear without interfering with Loren. South Vantina's magitech sky-cleaving cannon gathered mana as vast as a sea of stars, and at its peak, unleashed an ultra-long-range beam capable of tearing open the sky, striking precisely at Marquis Somerset.
Although the lack of an operational power station meant elite mages had to manually supply the mana, drastically reducing the firing rate, the integrated assault from magic apparatus with Tier 7 control potency still posed a slight threat to Somerset.
The heavy knight legion formed the Shield of the Firmament, a defensive formation maintained by spell barriers and martial techniques that created a protective field as impenetrable as the canopy of heaven, deflecting wave after wave of physical shockwaves.
Behind them, the priests of the Church of the Goddess of Fate channeled divine magic into a colossal guardian barrier. A curtain of starlight blanketing the city absorbed and deflected the fallout from the battle, relieving pressure from Loren's rear.
Even if Marquis Somerset wished to force a breakthrough, it would take him some time.
"Hold strong, High Priest!"
"Mr. Loren! Don't lose!"
The people's cries felt as if they were transforming into strength for Loren. From the enraged shouts of the nearby guards to the trembling voices of the civilians in the distant evacuation zones, everyone was calling out his name.
The resounding voices echoed across the southern district of the city-state, eliciting a cold sneer from Marquis Somerset.
Not only was it now difficult to use civilians to threaten Loren, but he also had to mind the attacks from South Vantina's city defense magitech weaponry.
"High Priest, do you have the guts to fight me like two true powerhouses—a fair duel without borrowing the strength of these ants?"
Marquis Somerset dodged a beam of light that bridged heaven and earth. Completely ignoring the distant magitech machinery, his crimson pupils locked onto Loren like a predator tracking its prey.
Senior magitech engineers of the kingdom operated the defensive Mirage Concussion Towers, using precision magitech machinery to generate intense mana interference that periodically disrupted Marquis Somerset.
"..."
Loren paid him no mind.
Wind and thunder illuminated the dust-choked sky and earth once more. Behind his mana barrier, Loren opened his palm, forming a golden-green vortex. Mana as boundless as a deity's converged on him, compressed so densely that it began to blot out all surrounding light.
Were an army caught in this Tier 8 offensive wind spell, even the largest force would likely be annihilated.
Yet Loren intended to direct its full fury solely toward shredding Marquis Somerset.
"In that case, I'll just kill you first before slaughtering this city-state you're so desperate to protect!"
Undaunted by the majesty of the Tier 8 spell, Somerset threw a punch and lunged forward.
He had assumed Loren was the type of opponent who was easily provoked in battle, but to his surprise, Loren's fighting spirit was fiercer than that of almost any human he had ever met. Faced with an enemy, he was the composed sort of powerhouse who would rather beat his opponent to death in absolute silence than waste words.
The battle grew increasingly fierce, engulfing the entire city-state in thick smoke and dust.
Beams of light, deafening explosions, and airborne clashes tangled together.
Storm clouds gathered and wheeled in the sky; the mountains and the sea themselves seemed shaken by the erupting cataclysm, and under the dark clouds beneath the blood moon, the atmospheric pressure intensified.
With every clash, the pitch-black night sky was lit from the ground.
The civilians taking refuge far in the rear could not clearly make out the Tier 8 cardinal-level death match on the southern border, even when looking up.
At the center of that battlefield, neither Loren nor Somerset remained in peak condition.
Loren, having suffered heavy injuries early in the fight, was gradually falling into a disadvantage; Marquis Somerset clearly had no intention of granting him any respite to heal.
With each relentless advance, the Eighth Progenitor, Marquis Somerset, sought to press his advantage and decide the fight.
Even so, he was not obsessed with killing Loren at all costs.
He knew clearly which of today's objectives carried more weight.
"...If you can pull it off, then by all means, try."
High Priest Loren repelled Marquis Somerset with atmospheric pressure once again. His hands were empty, yet the air currents could be shaped into any weapon. Every swing conjured sweeping gales and crushing pressure, as if guided by the aegis of the Wind God.
Marquis Somerset's crimson mana expanded, and a sea of blood surged from the ground like a violent waterfall to crush Loren. Loren, however, moved like an agile dancer. Now that he could fight without holding back—his rear secure and worries eased—his movements grew increasingly composed.
Loren's eyes were cold and rimmed with light; his sole focus was driving back the immortal Somerset.
Stepping forward, he coated the earth in talismans, creating a mana forbidden zone to meet Marquis Somerset head-on.
The distance between them closed once more, like two world-ending cataclysms colliding.
While Loren's stalling could not slow Marquis Somerset's approach by much, his far more intricate spell formula was fully primed. Space began to warp. Golden flames rising from the earth and dispersing rains of light falling from the heavens threatened to swallow Marquis Somerset whole.
Right then, Marquis Somerset's figure emanated a nearly translucent red blood mist as he entered an entirely new state of selflessness. He threw a punch of unprecedented force. In midair, the red radiance crashed into Loren's boundless mana, creating a massive explosion of energy that neatly split the sky perpendicular to the city-state's border.
A long while later, Marquis Somerset—having been thrown backward and skidding across the ground before coming to a stop—had clearly come out the worse in that clash.
"..."
Somerset's brow furrowed.
He already sensed something was wrong.
They had been fighting for tens of minutes now.
It wasn't merely that South Vantina's gathered ants were easing the pressure on Loren.
Why was this human growing stronger the longer they fought?
His mana reserves were a bottomless abyss.
Offense, defense, speed, healing, crowd control, the versatility of his spell constructs—everything was top tier.
Aside from Loren's relentless compulsion to protect the weak, Somerset's battle experience told him this human possessed no weakness whatsoever.
Somerset even began to suspect that if they kept fighting, it might only make Loren stronger and force him into a breakthrough mid-battle.
What was terrifying about this fellow was not just his strength as a peak Tier 8 powerhouse,
but the unfathomable room for growth he possessed before reaching the Tier 9 domain.
Even back in the era tens of thousands of years ago when Somerset was sealed, he had never seen a human with such absurd magical talent.
"I never expected that in this era, there would be a human like you whom even I consider a monster..."
A grin still curled Marquis Somerset's lips, as if he were merely toying with Loren.
"Loren, you are indeed strong..."
Somerset's smile was chilling.
"But have you considered that someone is already closing in on the rear of your city defense troops?"
"!"
Loren's originally calm expression finally rippled with subtle unease.
A while back, he had indeed sensed the mana fluctuations in the northwestern battlefield die down.
Afterward, neither the Tier 7 mana source nor the mysterious Tier 8 powerhouse showed any signs of combat, and the Tier 8 alchemical beast seemed to have ceased receiving commands, remaining motionless where it was.
If the Son of Destruction had won, then by this time, he should be nearing the south of the city!
If the Son of Destruction launched an attack from within the city-state right now, pinching the city defense forces between himself and the Tier 8 Blood Clan noble, the casualties could be unimaginable!
Sure enough, Loren sensed unrest spreading through the defensive lines behind him, and the mana of Salomon, Son of Destruction, grew distinct once more.
Though Salomon's mana felt exceptionally weak, he was breaking through with everything he had, throwing the rear lines into chaos as he rushed toward the battlefield where Loren and Somerset fought!
"...!"
Loren fended off Marquis Somerset before him, unable to spare attention for his rear.
Surging mana storms raged across the southern border, the clash of gale and bloodlight distorting the surrounding air and exuding an oppressive aura of dread.
"Loren, get ready for the surprise at your back!"
Somerset laughed heartily, his combat posture becoming increasingly relaxed.
Like a reenactment of a war from the Age of the Gods, wind and blood clashed in a peak Tier 8 cataclysm above the tottering pass of South Vantina!
Shockwaves and tremors battered every structure, and originally sturdy buildings and towers were reduced to ruins in the wake of rampaging smoky beasts.
"..."
Loren gritted his teeth, his expression grave, as he held the city pass with everything he had.
He knew he would momentarily face attacks from both front and rear.
For a brief window, he would lose the support of the city defense army behind him!
He had to react with blinding speed to diffuse the crisis and drag the situation back onto track.
If he could weather this wave of attacks, South Vantina's city-state barrier would soon be restored, tilting the scales of victory heavily in their favor.
Yet if the line collapsed, the outcome today would hang in the balance!
Or rather, victory and defeat would be decided in the very next clash!
Just as Somerset's wild laughter grew grating to the ears,
and Loren's heartbeat began to pound like a war drum,
Loren sensed the mana signature of the Son of Destruction close behind him!
Salomon's assault was finally here.
Loren could not predict how Salomon would interfere at this pivotal juncture, nor what consequences each of his own decisions might bring, but he had to stay calm and prepare for anything!
Yet...
When Loren, suspended midair, slowly glanced sideways out of the corner of his eye—
On the other side,
below the pass,
the moment the Son of Destruction charged out and caught sight of Loren's figure,
Salomon's expression, which had been exhilarated from surviving by the skin of his teeth, froze instantly.
He froze in place, dumbstruck.
Then, terror gripped him as he stumbled back several steps.
It was as though, just as he reached the exit toward hope, he discovered that what lay before him was the beginning of a true purgatory of despair!
"Lo—Loren!!!"
The only sound that followed was Salomon's shrill, panicked shriek echoing across the southern border battlefield.
Somerset's movements froze, his brow knitting tightly.
Loren was even more bewildered.
Was he really that terrifying?
Chapter 511