NOVEL NEXT Chapter 145: Collision point (II)
The thick fog of dust gradually subsided, curling away in lazy swirls until their silhouettes began to emerge like phantoms from a battlefield. From within the haze, Hildred lowered his arm from his face, his sharp gaze scanning both sides as the murk dissolved, revealing the broken ground around him. Just as the last veil of dust fell, a figure descended, Lumina, landing lightly to his left, her breath ragged, chest heaving like a hunted stag.
"Sir…" she managed, her tone edged with exhaustion. Hildred turned toward her, his eyes briefly flicking to his rear as if anticipating a threat before locking back on her face. "How is it, and…" his words faltered, weight dragging at his voice, "…what about the others?" His tone carried the remnants of strain, the echo of a man who had just pushed his body past its natural limit.
"Don't worry, my lord. They are here." Lumina's assurance had barely left her lips when the air split.
"Roooorrrr!"
The roar erupted, a thunderous, unified bellow that clawed at the skies, rattling bones and shaking resolve. A chorus of Primordial Beasts announced their fury, their voices harsh and grating, like molten stone grinding against iron.
Instantly, Hildred's stance shifted, his body bending low, muscles coiling tight, the posture of a predator ready to meet shame or glory head-on. But before he could advance, another sound pierced the air.
A scream, not of beasts, but of warriors. From behind him, the cry rolled forward, fierce and commanding, the battle-hymn of steel-hearted men. Hildred spun, his eyes straining as the figures began to emerge. At first, only shadows danced within the veil of distance, but then came a sight so staggering that even the beasts froze.
Hundreds, no, thousands, of blades and knives rose high into the sky, suspended above like a second sun breaking free from dusk. The weapons gleamed under the fractured light, their edges flashing as though stars themselves had been torn from the firmament to descend upon the world.
The Primordial Beasts were the first to react, their eyes widening in instinctive shock, pupils quivering at the unnatural rain forming above. Even Hildred, battle-hardened and unflinching, felt the breath catch in his throat at the spectacle.
From amidst the charging tide of soldiers, one figure stood apart, Rex. His strides were deliberate, unhurried amidst the chaos, his right hand raised and open, commanding as if the knives and blades themselves answered to his will.
The blades hovered at their peak, the sky thick with glittering steel, and then, Rex's hand turned. A single downward flip of his palm.
The response was instant.
The knives and swords plunged, their descent a storm of brilliance. Each edge caught the light, sparkling like falling diamonds, before the momentum of Rex's will drove them down with terrifying force.
They struck.
The colossal beasts shrieked, their bodies pierced again and again as the storm of steel tore through their flesh. Each blade sank deep, half-buried in monstrous hides, delivering pain like an endless tide of fire ants gnawing beneath their skin. Their massive legs pounded the earth, raising furious clouds of dust as though blaming the ground itself for their torment. Groans and guttural bellows bled from their maws, mixing agony with rage, their movements twisting into grotesque contortions as they fought against the storm raining down upon them.
Various knives and blades, like needles embedded in flesh, now clung to the colossal bodies of the Primordial Beasts, making them resemble grotesque porcupines still grooming their wounds with eerie calm. The clash of battle slowed, then came to a halt, as the Astro forces realized the distance between them and Hildred had vanished like mist under the sun.
Dunstan stepped forward, his boots pressing against the trembling ground, his gaze fixed on Hildred for a moment before shifting to Lumina. The two exchanged a nod, silent yet heavy as thunderclouds, while a bead of sweat traced the curve of Dunstan's chin before falling. He turned back to Hildred, breath sharp and uneven.
"We are fully prepared," he declared, his voice almost a vow. He paused, chest heaving. "And we are ready to strike back at any moment."
"Okay, let mo...." Hildred began, but his left leg betrayed him, his knee bending under unseen weight. Dunstan lunged, catching him before he could fall.
"It seems your stamina is nearly drained," Lumina said, her voice like a blade, swift, sharp, undeniable. "You need to retreat and recover your strength."
"There is no need for..." Hildred tried to protest, but his words dragged sluggishly from his lips, his breath broken and labored, sweat dripping from the tip of his nose. At that moment, he understood, retreat was no longer shame but necessity.
"Okay, I will," he admitted at last. Relief softened the steel in Dunstan and Lumina's posture, their shoulders loosening, their lungs releasing a breath they hadn't realized they held.
"But be careful," Hildred continued, his voice low but edged with urgency. "Those beasts can forge their surroundings into weapons."
Dunstan and Lumina's eyes widened, disbelief flashing like lightning, as if hearing of such monstrous ability for the very first time.
"Forging nature into weapons…" Dunstan muttered, the words barely leaving his lips, trembling with weight.
A smirk, weary yet sharp, flickered across Hildred's lips as his eyelids closed for the briefest moment. "That explains your reaction," he said, "since you've been sneaking into this territory of the Primordial clan without ever tasting their terror." His hand rose slowly, and both Dunstan and Lumina instinctively followed its path.
"For instance," he pointed toward the Primordial Beast that had assaulted him moments ago, its massive frame writhing, agony radiating from the knives and blades buried in its flesh. "It forged the light of its surroundings into solid arrows and spears."
His finger shifted toward the first beast they had confronted. "That one forged air itself into whips and rods."
His voice faltered, then steadied as he pulled himself free from Dunstan's support. His steps were slow but deliberate. "I will take a short break from the battle," Hildred said, turning away. Yet his words lingered like an omen. "And be careful. Those beasts… they seemed to be enjoying themselves only moments ago. I fear they haven't even taken this battle seriously."
His figure retreated into the rear, each step carrying the weight of expectation, as if waiting for a response from his subordinates.
Then "BOOOOOOM!" The ground quaked as the explosion roared, echoing like the wrath of heaven itself. The sound didn't fade in seconds, it lingered, gnawing at the air for nearly a minute.
Hildred froze, his body stiff as stone. He dared not turn, dread anchoring him. But when he finally forced his head around, his heart seized, almost two-thirds of the Astro forces had been erased in an instant.
His eyes widened, locked on the carnage before him. The survivors moved sluggishly, staggering into his view as though time itself had slowed down, giving him no escape from the nightmare laid bare.
Back at the confrontation at the southern frontline, Karl and the rest were busy, locked in a desperate struggle with the Primordial beasts far behind Nyxander's rear. The Primordial Beast King towered before him, its gaze shifting like a predator torn between prey, flickering between Nyxander and the clash raging behind. The air itself seemed restless, wind spiraling in uneasy currents, carrying motes of dust like heralds of the storm to come.
Nyxander partially tilted his head, his gaze flickering to his rear. "It seems things are unfolding quite interestingly over there." His words lingered for a breath, then his eyes slid back to the towering monarch of beasts. "Or what's your take on that?" he added, his voice edged with mocking calm, his gaze locking with the beast king's like two blades crossing in silence.
"Instead of sprouting nonsense, you should be thinking about yourself." The Beast King's voice rumbled at last, low and jagged like boulders grinding in a deep cavern.
"Never mind," Nyxander continued, his eyes narrowing into razors of intent. "The thing is… I'm here now. And you needn't worry about the ones behind me."
The beast king's brow furrowed, heavy with primal malice. The ground quivered, as if unwilling to bear witness to what was about to ignite. The very air grew thick, trembling beneath the weight of two forces too vast to coexist. Then, boom! The silence shattered.
Nyxander vanished in a blur, his figure melting into nothingness before reappearing an instant later at the beast king's massive shoulder level. Boom! Boom! Boom! ×6. His fists hammered down in a relentless storm, raining blows on the creature's colossal right scapula. Yet each strike fizzled, debuffed into impotence as though the beast's body itself mocked his efforts.
The king of beasts twisted with monstrous speed, its upper body swinging like a mountain in motion. A colossal hand snapped back, seizing Nyxander. His body sank almost completely into the massive grip, bones and flesh pressed like fragile glass in a vice. Then, slam! Rage and raw strength converged as the beast dunked him into the earth, slamming him as though he were no more than a ball thrown into a net. The ground screamed, cracking under the monstrous force as dust surged upward, burying him in a suffocating shroud.
Before Nyxander could fully register the assault, the grip returned, boom! pummeling him into the ground once again. The Beast King's colossal arm stretched to seize him once more, fingers like pillars closing in… when suddenly, its hand halted against an unseen resistance.
An invisible arc shimmered faintly, space itself hardening like crystallized glass. The Beast King's eyes widened, shock etched into their savage gleam, as they met Nyxander's smirking gaze.
Nyxander's voice was calm, but thunder hid beneath it. He had invoked "Aetherial Shroud Manipulation: Void Crystallization," weaving the void itself into solid arcs of defense.
His right arm bent, fist clenched, veins rippling as if carrying the fury of a storm. "Stormbreak Void Fist: Void Tempest."
The strike came like a judgment. His fist collided with the solidified void, detonating a shockwave that tore outward. The impact exploded like a tempest unleashed, flinging the beast king's colossal arm away and forcing its titanic form to lurch backward in surprise.
For several staggering steps, the Primordial monarch struggled to regain its footing. Its gaze fell to its twisted wrist, disbelief etched deep into its bestial face, before rising once more, meeting the unshaken figure of Nyxander, who stood slowly, dust cascading from him like the ashes of a fallen world.