The shockwave radiated from the epicenter of the explosion in every direction.
Wherever it passed, a thick layer of the ground was gouged out, sending soil, rocks, and debris flying into the distance.
The retreating Amons warriors and the cannon fodder legions of the Wizard World were torn to shreds the instant the shockwave swept over them.
Ethan lay prone on the ground as the shockwave shrieked through the air just above his back.
【You have died. Consuming 1 year of longevity. Perfect Resurrection.】
【You have died. Consuming 1 year of longevity. Perfect Resurrection.】
...
【You have died. Consuming 1 year of longevity. Perfect Resurrection.】
Ethan died a total of nineteen times just to survive the lingering aftermath.
Once the shockwave passed, he raised his head and looked toward the center of the explosion.
The smoke was slowly dissipating, and the blinding light was gradually fading.
As the clouds cleared, the pillar of light remained.
The jade-green pillar still stood tall between heaven and earth, the runic patterns flowing across its surface even brighter than before.
Inside the pillar, the five-meter-tall lanky figure had finally raised its head.
Two beams of jade-green light shot from its eye sockets, piercing through the pillar and the thick dust to land directly on the War Fortress.
That gaze held no emotion.
Anger, killing intent, hatred—all were gone.
"The main cannon's attack was ineffective. The target's energy level... has not decreased. It devoured all the energy from the main cannon."
Wizard Thousand Eyes stood in place, closed his eyes, and then snapped them open again.
Across his entire body, countless eyes opened at the same instant.
Eyes snapped open on his forehead, cheeks, neck, the backs of his hands, his arms—every inch of exposed skin.
Each eye was an eerie pale gold with vertical slits for pupils, and deep within those pupils, countless complex runic patterns rotated slowly.
Hundreds, even thousands of eyes opened at once, and pale gold light shot from every single one, weaving into a dense net of light within the hall.
Three seconds later, all the eyes closed simultaneously.
Wizard Thousand Eyes returned to his normal appearance, as if the previous scene had been a mere hallucination.
"Mhm, it should be that native High Priest. My previous assessment was correct."
As soon as he spoke, the alarms throughout the War Fortress suddenly spiked in pitch.
Orion was charging toward the War Fortress at a staggering speed, his movement tracing a straight, jade-green streak across the battlefield map.
Wherever the streak passed, whether it was Amons stragglers or the Wizard World's cannon fodder, anyone who touched the edge of that light had their life force drained instantly.
"Report! The target has officially broken through to a Fourth-Tier lifeform! Requesting immediate assistance from Jade Shadow Star!"
Before the report could even finish, the marker had already reached the front of the War Fortress.
The pillar of light slammed into the fortress's protective shield.
BOOM!!!!!!
The entire War Fortress shuddered violently.
Dense ripples surged across the surface of the shield as jade-green and emerald lights tore at each other at the point of impact.
The lights inside the fortress flickered, and the glow of the crystals on the ceiling dimmed for a moment before brightening again.
"Shield energy depletion at three percent!"
"Seven percent!"
"Twelve percent!"
Wizard Thousand Eyes stood his ground, his face expressionless. "Activate the backup energy hubs. Redirect all energy to the shield."
"Yes, sir!"
Deep within the fortress, dozens of energy hubs lit up simultaneously.
Emerald light surged from the hubs, flowing through the energy circuits toward the shield.
The light on the shield's surface stabilized, and the cracks being pried open by the jade-green hands began to repair themselves at a visible rate.
The figure inside the light pillar tilted its head slightly.
It withdrew its right hand and raised both hands together. Two jade-green energy palms slammed against the shield, fingers interlacing as they pulled outward with brute force.
Cracks reappeared on the shield's surface, spreading even faster than before.
"Energy depletion at thirty percent!"
"Forty-five percent!"
"Backup energy hub output has reached its limit!"
Alarms wailed frantically throughout the command center.
Just then, a beam of emerald light shot into the sky from the top of the tallest tower in the deepest part of the War Fortress.
The light erupted from the spire and pierced the clouds.
In mid-air, the light condensed, shifted, and expanded, transforming from a speck of light into a sphere, then into a pillar, and finally into a figure that blotted out the sun.
It was Jade Shadow Star's Elemental True Body.
A jade-green giant nearly a thousand meters tall stepped out from the War Fortress.
Her five fingers slowly curled into a fist.
Countless layers of emerald halos flowed over the fist, and deep within each halo, innumerable fine runes were being born, restructured, and annihilated.
"A piece of trash who forced his way up by sucking on world origin... how dare you act up in my presence?"
The fist smashed down toward the pillar of light.
"DIE! FOR! ME!!!!!!"
The moment Wizard Jade Shadow's fist descended, Orion moved.
The air beneath his feet exploded as he transformed into a jade-green pillar of light, charging straight at Jade Shadow Star.
Wherever the pillar passed, the air was vaporized, and a trench dozens of meters deep was plowed into the ground. Soil and stone were melted by the high temperature, the edges hissing with white smoke.
Jade Shadow Star's fist struck.
There were no fancy trajectories or redundant movements—just a simple, direct punch.
The fist and the pillar of light collided.
In that instant, the entire world went silent.
There was no explosion, no shockwave, none of the violent reactions one would expect.
The pillar of light simply shattered before the fist.
Like a wooden stick hitting a steel wall, it disintegrated inch by inch starting from the point of impact.
Fragments of jade-green light splattered in every direction, tracing arcs through the sky and gouging countless deep pits into the ground as they landed.
Inside the pillar, Orion's body began to collapse.
The first to shatter was that layer of jade-green energy armor.
The runic patterns on the armor's surface all exploded at once, and fragments peeled away from his body, dissipating into the air as fine specks of light.
Then came the skin.
Pale green skin peeled off his body in chunks, revealing the dark red muscle tissue beneath. The moment the muscle was exposed to the air, it began to wither, dry up, and turn into grayish-white powder.
Then came the bones.
The exposed bone was covered in fine cracks that spread from his head throughout his entire body, following the spine, ribs, and limbs.
The sound of bones shattering blended together, sounding like hundreds of dry branches being snapped underfoot.
Orion's mouth opened as if he wanted to say something.
Not a single word came out.
His skull split open starting from the center of his brow, the crack extending to both sides and dividing his entire face in half.
The two halves of the skull flew off in opposite directions, tumbling through the air before slamming into the battlefield below, kicking up two clouds of dust.
His torso completely disintegrated, crumbling into countless small fragments that scattered from the high heavens.
Jade Shadow Star withdrew her fist.
Rate on N.U.
