Chapter 186: Eternal Dawn Sealing Strike
In the midst of the explosion of power, Elton was knocked back a distance atop his Blue Heavenly Star Destroyer before screeching to a halt. Within the smoke, powerful beams of light from four directions suddenly came smashing toward him. Elton quickly reacted as the fourteen branches ignited with a thunderous white electrical ki, forming like shields before him as they intercepted the barrage.
Another explosion followed, this time with Elton at its center. He was once more thrown backward, grimacing in pain. His eyes glinted as he looked at the partially damaged sword-like branches under his control. Closing his eyes for a moment, a large portion of his celestial sense left the fourteen branches and his Blue Heavenly Star Destroyer, leaving them hovering unsteadily in the air. His celestial sense shot outward, locking on to a target.
With a sharp "Hmph," his celestial sense snapped back to the branches and his blade. The Blue Heavenly Star Destroyer surged forward as Elton dodged another rain of beams.
With explosive speed, he guided the sword beneath him toward a certain direction, the glowing branches trailing behind. His fifteenth branch, in the form of the Blue Heavenly Star Destroyer he wielded in hand, glowed with violent power. In an instant, he appeared before one of the Gold tier 4 beasts hovering in the air, still spitting beams of energy toward where Elton had been moments before.
The beast was completely caught off guard. It tried to defend itself, but Elton's fifteenth branch smashed down diagonally with thunderous force, cutting through its defenses and leaving a gaping wound across its body. With one hand outstretched, Elton released a ray of blue and white ki that blasted the creature down into the forest, leaving it incapacitated.
The remaining beasts roared in fury. They began to unleash waves of energy to clear the thick debris that had hidden Elton's movements.
It was at this moment that Elton reappeared, a phantom streak of blue light cutting through the air as he emerged behind the second Gold tier 4 beast. Before it could react, Elton called out a sword technique.
—1st Bright Brilliance Sword: First Light Pierce—
The fourteen branches struck like spears, piercing into precise weak points along the beast's hide. Each branch drove deep, setting its body ablaze before retreating, leaving horrific wounds across its frame.
Suddenly, Elton felt a terrifying pressure. A massive orange sphere of energy came crashing toward him. In an instant, he used the Gold tier 4 beast's body as a shield, both of them being hurled away in the resulting explosion. From the distance, the Shark Sea Lord roared, its power swelling as it prepared another attack. Meanwhile, two Golden Lord beasts charged through the debris, their auras crashing toward Elton with ruthless momentum.
Elton staggered to his feet amid the smoke, his body covered in injuries that began healing slowly on their own. "That was close. If I'd taken that head on…" He exhaled, then straightened, eyes sharp. "Now then…"
The two Golden Lord beasts came crashing toward him, the clearing debris revealing their titanic forms as their roars shook the air. Their attacks gathered, overwhelming and reckless.
Elton's fourteen branches split into two groups of seven. Their chaotic auras pulsed in unison, cracks appearing along their glowing forms as they teetered on the brink of exploding. The beasts faltered for a moment, sensing the danger, but then pressed forward with even greater force.
—Heaven-Piercing Radiance Fang—
The branches erupted into two enormous, white-flaming sword projections. They tore into the beasts' combined attacks, creating an earth-shaking explosion that engulfed the battlefield. Both Golden Lord beasts were hurled back, grievously wounded, their bodies smashing toward the Shark Sea Lord. The massive creature faltered as it realized its allies would nearly crash into it.
Elton seized the opening. Mounting the Blue Heavenly Star Destroyer once more, he shot toward the Shark Sea Lord like a ray of light, raising the fifteenth branch in his hand. The surrounding light was drawn into it, cracks spreading across its surface as it glowed with terrifying power.
"You damned bastard!" the Shark Sea Lord roared, its voice laced with anger but hiding its fear. "To think you'd bring this attack right to me!"
With another roar, the sea itself rose. Waves converged, surrounding the beast. Its massive body shimmered before transforming into a giant shark of condensed water, its aura elevated to the level of a Mortal Lord.
"Come, then," Elton said, his gaze fierce as he raised the cracked fifteenth branch. "Let's end this."
The giant water shark charged, its colossal jaws snapping down toward Elton in an instant.
—Devouring Sea Shark Fists—
Elton was swallowed in the watery maw. But his eyes flashed as he raised his blade.
—8th Bright Brilliance Sword: Eternal Dawn Annihilation—
The Blue Heavenly Star Destroyer fell in a single, decisive swing. For a moment, all time seemed to halt. Darkness swallowed the battlefield.
Then, light. An overwhelming radiance burst forth, engulfing the island and even stretching across the seas. The brilliance burned for ten full seconds before it receded, leaving silence in its wake.
Two figures stood opposite each other.
Elton leaned on his Blue Heavenly Star Destroyer sword, his body battered, his breath heavy, yet a satisfied smile tugged at his lips. Across from him, the Shark Sea Lord had shrunk to barely five feet tall, its body trembling with wounds, its face stricken with shock.
"W-what have you done to me?!" it shrieked, realizing its strength was sealed away.
Elton blinked, then laughed as realization struck him. "Wait… is this what I think it is? Similar to what Lady Aeloria did, but in the form of a sword strike. I can only use it with Eternal Dawn Annihilation… ah, I see now!"
His face lit up with maniacal glee. "With my celestial sense, I embedded the principles of Royal Elven spiritual bindings directly into the strike! By fusing the World Tree Branch Summoning with Eternal Dawn Annihilation, and combining it with both my Nature Meridian and White Sage Magic Meridian… this became possible! Hahaha! What an incredible discovery!"
The Shark Sea Lord's heart sank as it realized the madness of the man before it. Fear consumed it. It tried to retreat, only for a cold voice to rise behind it.
"And where do you think you're going, slave?"
The Sea Lord froze, its body suddenly stiff and heavy. A hand pressed against its shoulder, and within its mind appeared a pair of divine, glowing eyes. Its body collapsed in terror.
"Haha, Christy. So in the end you woke up." Elton sighed, rubbing his temple.
"Gege, how could we not? With all that rumbling?" Christy appeared with a helpless shake of her head. She glanced at the unconscious shark, her eyes sharp. "That ability of yours… it could be very useful with practice. I think we should stay in this place a while longer."
"My thoughts exactly," Elton replied, smirking faintly.