NOVEL NEXT Chapter 133: the continuous collision
At the southern frontline, the clash between the Celestials and the Primordial Beasts had reached a fever pitch. The battlefield was a storm of chaos, smoke and dust curled in the air like vengeful spirits, while debris from shattered nature danced violently in the wind, swept by the fury of the ongoing war. Scattered across this maelstrom, Primordial Beasts rampaged with feral determination, roaring and thrashed, tearing their way through resistance with primal force, like knives through parchment.
Centric, Seraphina, and Kal fought with unwavering resolve, every strike backed by the strength of the convergence formation, a glowing lattice of power forged by their loyal subordinates.
High above, in the smoke-laced skies, Hung hovered like a radiant sentinel. From his massive, outstretched wings, feathers occasionally drifted down like falling stars, each one a divine spark, born of pure photon energy, rained down as they got replaced in silence before detonating in brilliant flashes upon contact momentarily searing the vision of the advancing beasts. This rhythmic cascade of holy feathers became the heartbeat of hope, a flicker of defiance in the storm.
But hope shuddered as two Primordial Rhinos unleashed a sudden, double-barreled attack, compressed wind and raw energy exploding from their horns, coiled into twin missiles of destruction, surging through the air with the howl of a wrathful god, aimed directly at Hung.
The ambush caught Hung off guard, but instinct and resolve snapped him to action. Just a finger's breadth from impact, his voice rang out, calm yet commanding:
With a breath's reaction to spare, he called forth his celestial art.
"Feathers of Revelation: Wings of Divine Rejection."
In a flash, three pairs of luminous wings unfurled around him, each feather gleaming with celestial brilliance. He drew them inward like a cloak of judgment. As the incoming forces struck, the wings shed divine feathers that ignited upon contact, each explosion singing with sacred fury. The shockwaves rippled outward, turning offense into holy retribution, wreathing the sky in radiant fire and temporarily overwhelming the daylight that hung like a shroud over the battlefield.
In the mid-air, where the explosive offense and unyielding defense had collided, a dense veil of white smoke blanketed the scene, wrapping it in a blinding shroud. Piercing through the mist were glowing rays of light, like divine spears breaking through the clouds of war.
"Deputy Astro!" Seraphina screamed, her voice sharp with fear.
"Commander!" Centric echoed, urgency carved into every syllable.
Every Celestial's gaze was pinned to the smoke-covered sky, their eyes trembling in their sockets, shaken by disbelief and silent prayers. Gradually, the thick fog began to fade, pulled away by time's gentle fingers, revealing Hung at its heart.
His wings, partially folded around him like a battered shield, bore deep gashes, raw, glowing wounds pulsing faintly, as if preparing to stitch themselves back together. Slowly, with deliberate effort, he extended them sideways.
"Are you okay?" Centric called out, his voice heavy with concern.
"Please say something… What's your situation, Leader?" Seraphina added, her body trembling like a leaf in a storm, her voice fragile with fear that the answer might crush her.
"I'm ashamed to have caused you all concern. Sorry about that," Hung began, his voice calm but laced with strain, still facing away from them as he hovered in the air.
"No injuries," he continued, "just my wings took the brunt. They've been damaged, and that'll slow my flight until they fully heal." He turned, his gaze descending from the heavens toward his anxious subordinates. "So I'm fine."
A short, reassuring smile curved his lips, faint but steady.
"Instead of wasting more time on this," he continued, his tone shifting to command, "why don't we focus on the changed situation before another attack catches us unprepared?"
"That's good to hear, sir. But…" Vega's voice cut in as she closed the distance from the rear, standing firm atop the Aether Glide. "We blinded their vision, how are they still locking on so precisely?"
"That…" Hung's eyes narrowed, his gaze fixed on the beast below like a hawk's on prey. "Their sight is still taken by my light explosion. Even now, their eyes remain shut."
"Then how?" Kal's voice emerged, measured but threaded with urgency, seeking clarity.
"If my intuition is right," Hung replied, "they're sensing their surroundings, locking onto us using an unknown perception that bypasses sight."
"Is there even any hope in this?" Centric murmured, despair trickling into his voice like water through a cracked wall.
"Don't get discouraged," Hung said firmly. "They still need a certain degree of concentration to maintain that perception. It's only a matter of time before they regain their vision, and I can't blind them again, my Feathers of Revelation is still healing."
His voice grew firmer, resolute. "So let's commence the attack… before it's too late."
Upon saying this, several beams of blazing, multicolored energy rained down like a meteor shower of destruction, crashing through the sky toward scattered locations, some targeting Hung, others aimed with ruthless precision at Kal, Seraphina, Centric, and their subordinates. Chaos erupted. They scattered, sprinting through the crumbling terrain, dashing to shield comrades nearly caught in the deadly strikes. The air sizzled as energy sliced past like celestial lightning bolts.
Hung, wings partially torn and frayed from previous battles, flapped through the sky with defiant resilience. His three pairs of wings, battered yet unyielding, carried him in jagged arcs and spirals, ducking and weaving through the onslaught of searing beams, each one a luminous spear hurled from the beast's jagged, glowing horns. His movements carved patterns through the air, his body a blur of motion and strategy, using flight not only to evade but to distract, a phantom dancing at the edge of death.
Below, the broken and cracked battlefield trembled with renewed fury as those grounded channeled their techniques, launching counterattacks amid the chaos. Elemental strikes, weapon arts, and mystical powers erupted in retaliation. With Hung drawing the beast's focus above, those below found openings to strike, thus began another violent phase of the battle, where every second held the weight of survival, and the shattered earth bore witness to their will to endure. And with this the battle made another turned init phase.