Chapter 599: Professional Counterpart
"What terrifying destructive power!!"
At the entrance of Hanging Stone, the members of the Recorders Guild stared blankly as the dust below finally dispersed.
A massive crater, hundreds of meters deep, now filled the entire underground space.
All the original buildings, magic plants, and landscapes had vanished completely.
The air shimmered with countless white light spots, remnants of destroyed magic lantern flowers.
And despite the devastation, both the atmosphere and the magic energy remained dense.
In fact, the underground space was even brighter than before.
From that brightness, one could tell: the enormous magic-ore pillars, tens of meters thick, were still standing strong, even after losing an entire outer layer.
The vast land infused with heavy magic beneath Pillar Mountain had not been completely destroyed either.
Even so, the power of the Demon King's attack left the recorder members utterly stunned.
There were so many magic mines here forming pillars, and the pillars and ground soaked in this ore were frighteningly hard.
Yet even with such natural defenses… this enormous crater had been blasted into existence.
If they hadn't been positioned above, and if the Recorder Guild's A-class defensive specialist wasn't with them, they would've probably suffered massive casualties.
Still, some recorders, faithfully inheriting Morgans' spirit, were far less concerned about their own safety.
What mattered was the situation.
One recorder raised the scorerviewer, aiming it toward the center of the battlefield.
There, a thick layer of solidified sand-sea shield blocked the view, and beneath it, a white-glowing energy shield shone brightly.
Aside from the Magic Ore Pillar Mountains surrounding it, nothing else was visible.
It was clearly the point of impact, yet there wasn't much damage.
The sand sea and the white shield had absorbed the brunt of the blow.
So now, everyone was dying to know.
What exactly was happening down there?
The recorders were extremely curious, aching to go down and check.
But they simply did not have the courage.
The battle wasn't over. Descending now would be no different from delivering themselves for reincarnation.
Still, their faces were full of restless expectations.
---
Center of the battlefield.
The storm slowly dispersed the sand waves that had blocked the sky, revealing the scene inside.
The demon army was scattered below, silent, staring at the War King in fear.
Then they turned toward the Demon King Desert beside him with gratitude.
Just moments ago, that terrifying strike had come crashing down.
Had Desert not protected them… who knew how many would still be alive?
They were thankful toward him, but when they looked at the War King, their fellow demon, their fear carried a faint trace of resentment.
The crater around them said everything.
Their home was gone. And the War King didn't care about their lives at all.
The demon army's higher-ups knew this better than anyone.
Because the War King never hid it.
Click! Click!
"Desert, your ability really is something. You actually managed to protect such a bunch of trash."
Not far from Demon King Desert, Yonglu held a chunk of magic ore in his hand.
He bit into it casually, crisp cracking sounds echoing as he ate and spoke at the same time.
It was a magic ore he had picked up from the shockwave,
Fear Ore, crunchy and delicious for someone of his profession, almost like crispy fried chicken.
It rapidly replenished both his magic power and helped in combating the holy power on his abdomen.
"They are members of the demon clan."
Desert looked at the demons, who were brimming with anger after hearing Yonglu's words, and spoke calmly.
The impact of the War King's attack had been enormous. Normally, Desert was apathetic, but he didn't want to see his own race sacrificed so meaninglessly.
Of course, the War King's attack was overwhelmingly powerful.
Fortunately, it happened here, where the earth was saturated with magic.
Only Desert could have blocked the shockwaves in the non-core zones.
The magic here was fear-type element, with properties of sand and stone, making this battlefield Desert's home turf.
"Really? You're so boring."
Gulp.
Yonglu swallowed the ore in a few bites, and the wound on his abdomen began healing faster.
Then he looked ahead.
While Yonglu and Desert chatted, the War King ignored them completely.
His attention was fixed on the humans before him.
White shields flickered around Kizaru and the others.
Above them floated three round mechanical spheres, marked with intricate patterns, connected to one another and rotating slowly.
Several layers of large, white shields, tens of meters wide, extended from the interconnected spheres.
It was these composite shields that had blocked the War King's earlier attack…
---
"That was terrifying! I really thought I was going to die!"
Kizaru patted his chest dramatically, then flicked his finger against the shield surrounding him.
He glanced curiously toward the Holy Knight and the others.
"What are those little balls? Some kind of technology?"
"I don't know either!"
Pasadong scratched the back of his head and laughed heartily at Kizaru's question.
"Sakamori, do you know what they are?"
Watching Pasadong's clueless face, Sakamori twitched his forehead.
"Sorry. It's not convenient for me to disclose that."
He didn't deny knowing, because those three mechanical spheres had flown out from the three A-class magic pattern users of the Magic Pattern Guild, Chasing Light.
They were clearly inventions of the Kingdom of Miracles.
Those three spheres formed the main shield, blocking the worst of the impact, while every magic pattern user on the battlefield had a smaller personal shield.
Because of that, the battlefield hadn't suffered catastrophic casualties.
---
"Humans, it seems you have some skill."
"In that case…"
The War King no longer cared what preparations humans had made.
Now he simply wanted to see how many of his attacks they could withstand.
Once he took action, failure was unacceptable.
The black lines on his body began dissolving rapidly.
Infinite magic surged into the sky, making the surviving magic pattern users tremble.
They looked up with dread tightening in their chests.
Even with their personal shields, they felt no sense of safety.
Because the black giant axe had reappeared in the sky, larger and more terrifying than before.
A monstrous axe over one thousand meters long.
The sky twisted with black currents, darkening the sky in a horrifying display.
"If you have the ability, block this."
His rumbling voice reverberated.
The War King did not believe those flimsy machines could stop him. He would not allow himself to be embarrassed.
Inside the three mechanical spheres, alarms sounded: "Warning. Warning. A massive dangerous energy source detected. Energy index exceeds defensive threshold. Calculations indicate eleven physical connections required to fully resist. Requesting secondary physical connection…"
No one understood the meaning.
But the lines on the spheres flashed red, giving off an ominous glow.
"Breath of War: Endless Battle Axe."
Squeak! Squeak!
The black giant axe descended once more.
(End of this chapter)