NOVEL NEXT Chapter 122: The dangerous approach
At the Southern Force frontline, Seraphina, Centric, and Kal stood firm, their energy crackling faintly like restless stars caught in the fabric of twilight. Every muscle in their bodies coiled like drawn bows, the air thick with a suffocating tension, pressing down on them with an unseen weight. Across the battlefield, the Primordial Beasts advanced, their monstrous forms silhouetted against the bright glow of the galaxy.
Each footfall was a hammer against the earth, a war drum pounding in a relentless rhythm, shaking the very marrow of the world. The three celestial warriors felt themselves momentarily lift, their balance faltering as though gravity itself had wavered beneath the sheer force of the beasts' march. The earth trembled, not in submission, but in warning.
Centric gulped hard, his throat dry as desert wind. He shut his eyes for a brief moment, inhaling sharply before releasing a heavy sigh, his breath mingling with the dust-choked air. "Seraphina." He called, his voice steady yet edged with urgency, his gaze shifting sideways.
Seraphina, whose consciousness had nearly drowned in the ominous tide of the approaching Primordial Beasts, snapped to attention. Her eyes, once clouded, flared with renewed awareness. "Huh?" She responded, her voice rasping as though pulling itself from the depths of exhaustion.
"We can't stand here forever," Centric stated, his tone clipped, pragmatic. "If we wait for them to get a clear view of us, we'll be reduced to ashes before we even lift a blade. We need to move first."
Seraphina, still recovering from pushing her body past its limits, clenched her fists, her golden gauntlets reflecting the glowing light. "Okay... but what's the plan? We're staring down forty Dominator Beasts. That's no small feat." Her voice, though laced with fatigue, carried a flicker of resolve.
Centric's eyes darkened, calculating. "How many more moves do you think you can pull before your body gives out?"
Seraphina exhaled, gauging the strain in her limbs. "Not sure... but I should last at least another two minutes before I'm completely spent."
Centric turned to his left, locking eyes with Kal. "And you?" His voice cut through the dusty air like a blade through silk.
Kal, chest heaving, forced himself to straighten. "Probably about the same..." he admitted, his voice strained but unwavering.
Centric nodded, his gaze snapping back to the monstrous tide approaching. "Listen. The plan is risky, but it's our only option."
Before he could elaborate, Seraphina stepped forward, a smirk dancing at the corner of her lips. "Doesn't matter. I'm in."
Kal stared at her, momentarily dumbfounded by her recklessness, while Centric, still facing the beasts, let a small smile creep onto his face. "As expected of a battle-hungry maniac," he murmured before continuing. "We're jumping straight into their ranks. The key is to keep moving, staying off the ground, and avoiding the range of their legs. If we fight within their midst, they won't be able to use their energy blasts without hitting their own kind. That hesitation is our advantage."
Kal's heart thudded painfully against his ribs. Sweat slicked his brow as the weight of the plan settled over him. "That... that's just throwing ourselves into death's jaws!" he protested.
Centric's expression remained impassive. "Yes. With a single mistake, we die. But hesitation guarantees it. If they unleash their energy blasts from a distance, we're finished. Up close, they're restrained by their own numbers. That gives us a fighting chance." His gaze flickered between them. "Are we in?"
Seraphina exhaled sharply through her nose, gripping her gauntlets so tightly that the metal creaked. "Let's move," she declared, slamming her right fist into her open palm.
Kal inhaled deeply, then exhaled, his expression hardening. His forehead creased as his gaze locked onto the monstrous tide. "We're in."
The air between them shivered with tension, the battlefield stretching before them like the mouth of a slumbering beast, waiting to devour the unworthy.
With a final nod, they surged forward, their figures blurring against the backdrop of chaos, three streaks of defiance hurtling toward the inevitable. The battlefield roared around them, a maelstrom of destruction as the primordial beasts let loose a barrage of attacks. Their horns pulsed with energy, releasing beams of pure devastation, thunderous bolts, searing light, compressed sound waves, and raw power streaking toward the three warriors like judgment descending from the heavens.
Centric twisted his body, dodging left, then right, weaving through the incoming blasts before launching himself into the air. He tucked his legs close, spinning high above the battlefield like a whirlwind of flame and steel.
Below, Seraphina skidded to a sudden halt, narrowly avoiding a blast of concentrated energy that scorched the ground she had stood on mere moments ago. Without hesitation, she pivoted sharply, using the momentary opening to close the distance between her and the beasts.
At the far left, Kal slid beneath an oncoming barrage, his movements a blur of precision as dust swirled around him. Regaining his footing with fluid grace, he continued his relentless charge forward. Each of them moved like a phantom of war, bodies twisting, turning, ducking, and leaping as they danced through the deadly storm of energy.
"Flameborn Spirit: Flame Spirit Butcher!"
Centric, still mid-air, let his sword blaze to life, the molten liquid enshrouding its length molding into the shape of a primordial rhino's colossal horn. With a fiery gleam in his eyes, he came crashing down upon one of the charging beasts, driving his flaming blade deep into its thick hide. The molten steel sank into its back, scorching its flesh as the beast let out a guttural, pain-laced roar, its massive form staggering under the assault.
As the wounded creature flailed wildly, unable to retaliate, Seraphina seized the opportunity to strike.
"Mountain God's Crushing Fist: Peak Breaker Strike!"
This was no ordinary technique. The first stage alone contained the might of countless strikes combined into a single, earth-shattering blow. A reckless warrior would suffer shattered bones from the sheer recoil, making the move forbidden to those unworthy. But Seraphina had long since surpassed the limits of the initial stages, her mastery of the third stage allowed her to wield this power without hesitation.
She lunged forward, her fist tightening like a steel vice, before she delivered a devastating upward punch. The force behind it mimicked the collapse of a mountain, focused into a single point beneath the beast's lower jaw. The moment her knuckles connected, the creature's massive head recoiled violently, its essentia crystal fractured, its bones splintering beneath the raw, unrelenting force.
The beast stood frozen for a fraction of a second, its life already slipping away. Then, with a final groan, its colossal body collapsed to the ground, the impact sending tremors through the battlefield.
Dust exploded outward in a thick cloud as Centric leaped from the beast's back onto another, his blade already seeking its next prey. Seraphina, too, wasted no time, propelling herself onto the back of another monstrous foe just as the lifeless beast struck the ground with a thunderous crash.
The battlefield bore witness to their strength, but the storm of battle had only just begun.
At the secret route, midway up the mountain where the road split in two, chaos erupted. Several massive chunks of rock began breaking away from the cliffs, tumbling down with thunderous force. The air trembled under their weight, each collision sending shockwaves through the ground.
Among the falling debris, Lunara descended like a specter of war, her silhouette slicing through the dust-filled air. She landed with practiced grace, her knees bending, palms pressed against the ground to absorb the impact. The hem of her cloth fluttered around her like restless shadows, caught in the turbulent wind of destruction.
A storm of dust billowed outward from her landing, veiling her in a shroud of golden-brown haze. Behind her, the mountain's shattered remains cascaded down like a stone waterfall, framing her figure like an untouchable warrior idolized in battle.
A few paces away, Karl pushed himself to his feet, his muscles coiled with tension. He slapped dust off his clothes, shaking loose the stubborn remnants of earth clinging to him. Before either could regain full composure, a guttural, earth-shaking roar split the air.
"RROOOOAAARRR!"
The first Primordial Rhino had spotted them. Its obsidian-like hide gleamed under the fractured daylight, each movement sending ripples of raw power through its colossal frame. Its horn, jagged like an ancient war spear, gleamed menacingly, ready to impale anything in its path.
Karl and Lunara exchanged a brief glance, no words needed. locked onto the first Primordial Rhino, its massive form standing as an unyielding force of nature. Its hulking frame, armored with an earth-forged hide, seemed to blend with the mountain itself.
The beast's purple eyes burned with a challenge, its breath steaming through flared nostrils. They surged forward, each approaching from a different angle, their movements swift as the wind slicing through the crumbling battlefield. The battle was set, and the mountain itself seemed to hold its breath in anticipation. The predator's glare of the beast locked onto them.
The battlefield had chosen its players. Now, the fight would decide its victor.