# Chapter 5: Sky Split
In the overcast, dim, and lightless pitch-black sky, a great blood-colored star rose from the earth, like a dim red sun, spreading its light across the void.
The moment it rose, the entire battlefield seemed to pause. Whether soldiers in the fortress or surging frenzied beasts, they all instinctively looked up toward the distant horizon.
The gloomy, thick dark clouds were instantly torn apart by the crimson point of light, as if ripped open by some ancient giant that commanded lightning and storms. Golden sunlight shot down like spears, once again illuminating the land. The rift continuously expanded, spreading rapidly toward the fortress.
"What... is that?!"
The white-haired mage gathered fluctuations of arcane power in his hands, powerful magnetic force swirling around him. The fortress mage corps instructor named Feng stared at the sky in shock as he questioned, while simultaneously unleashing various control spells without hesitation at the giant beast before him, driving away the lingering frenzied beasts nearby.
As an [Evocation Mage] capable of freely manipulating all types of energy, upon discovering that the four elemental spells were largely ineffective against this monster before him, he immediately switched to a different combat approach. In truth, magnetic and electrical forces proved significantly more effective than earth, fire, water, and wind at bypassing those layers of solid ice.
Facing the numerous spells woven from electromagnetism, the massive beast could not dodge and could only rely on its own physique and strength to forcibly resist the countless effects interfering with its flesh and nerves. It roared, but black-brown sparks crackled and popped across its fur, and its speed visibly slowed.
The golden-haired knight Zolgen did not answer his old friend's question—in truth, at this moment he simply could not speak. Wielding a cross-shaped heavy hammer, he released blazing, fiery pale-golden battle qi radiance from his entire body, resisting the bone-piercing cold that surrounded him everywhere, and from time to time delivered heavy blows against the enemy's flesh, drawing its attention away from advancing toward the city wall.
Though the mountain-like beast's speed had been slowed, its strength was not diminished in the slightest. As its massive trunk swung, sonic booms thundered, the atmosphere was torn apart, releasing countless white mist-like shockwaves that forced the knight to explosively dodge.
Under the beast's will, the surrounding temperature had already dropped countless degrees below freezing. At this low temperature, even a Silver Peak knight's stamina was consumed very rapidly. Feng, being farther away, still had some energy to spare, but Zolgen was engaged in close-quarters combat with the monster. If he slowed for even a moment and took a hit, his bones would turn to paste and his blood would freeze into ice. How could he have any damn time to answer his motherfucking question!
If the stalemate continued like this, with no way to inflict decisive damage on the Gold-rank beast, then in a few minutes, the knight could choose death.
Fortunately, after a flash of blue electric lightning, another figure joined the battle.
"Feng!"
Without a helmet covering his face, this sharp shout was crisp and clear. A straight sword wreathed in lightning was hurled fiercely. The sound of the sonic boom only reached the ears a moment later. This supersonic thrown sword pierced through the cold wave, broke through the ice armor, and then, amid violent explosive flames, stabbed into the beast's flesh. Upon hearing this voice, the white-haired mage did not hesitate for a moment. Countless cyan-blue swirling electric currents appeared between his hands, and he released the most powerful control spell in the evocation electromagnetic system at the fastest possible speed.
[Pressurized Magnetic Storm]
Under the surging, turbulent arcane power, the flickering electric sparks transformed into thunderbolt chains like miniature lightning, wrapping tightly around the beast that was contending with Zolgen. With the iron straight sword embedded in its flesh as the core, violent electric currents surged into the monster's body, penetrating deep into its muscles and nerves. Accompanied by an angry low roar, even with a Gold-rank physique, under the direct control of paralyzed nerves and muscles, the giant beast's limbs went limp, and it slowly knelt down. The earth trembled slightly, and it temporarily lost its ability to move.
Without time to marvel that Kili had been sent flying by the beast yet miraculously survived, Zolgen knew just how precious this opportunity to attack freely was. Instantly, his entire body erupted with blazing, brilliant radiance. Will replaced reality, and a ring-like halo appeared behind him. The knight leaped up and charged toward the beast, kicking up great swaths of ice and dust.
In the state of burning battle qi, his body explosively regained terrifying power. At the cost of being bedridden for half a month afterward, dazzling golden light gathered on the knight's cross-shaped heavy hammer. Zolgen roared, and with veins bulging in his arms, he fiercely smashed this deadly weapon toward the beast's flank. The powerful wind pressure rippled the air into translucent waves.
"BOOM!!!"
With the two at the center, the frozen ground for dozens of meters in all directions simultaneously exploded. Countless ice crystals and dust shot into the air like a massive smoke pillar. Frenzied beasts nearby were sent flying by the scorching heat wave in an instant. Even Kili and Feng had to step back, temporarily avoiding the brunt of the force. But Zolgen's outburst was not yet over.
As the shockwave gradually subsided, a pale golden light violently exploded. Countless tiny beams of light pierced through the smoke pillar enveloping the beast, and all the frenzied beasts struck by these beams immediately burst into flames all over their bodies, as if ignited by intense heat.
The moment the blazing beams dissipated, an electric-blue flash of battle qi flickered. Kili immediately charged into the smoke pillar. A few breaths later, he emerged again, but now carried an apparently unconscious figure on his shoulder.
The half-elf warrior joined up with the white-haired mage. Feng took the knight from his hands and cast a basic awakening spell. The golden-haired knight let out a weary groan and opened his eyes.
"Did it succeed?"
Leaning on his comrade's shoulder, Zolgen slowly stood up and asked in a low voice, somewhat worried. "I deliberately chose not to target the head, which is covered by bone armor, but the flank, which has the least defense. But that beast weighs over four hundred tons. My explosive attack was powerful, but it might not be enough to kill it."
"I'm not sure, but even a Gold-rank beast that broke through by burning its life force is still Gold-rank." Feng was also deeply worried. His arcane power was mostly spent, and he would need several hours of good rest to recover. If the enemy still wasn't dead, the mage would be helpless. "But at least for now..."
"THUMP!"
A bright purple light illuminated the smoke pillar, accompanied by a heavy heartbeat.
The three figures instantly stiffened.
"BOOM!"
It sounded like some massive creature slowly standing up. The earth trembled slightly under its weight. Two purple-blue points of light flickered behind the gray mist.
"THUMP!"
Another bright purple light. Black mist violently erupted, completely dispersing the smoke pillar. Then came another heartbeat, clearer and heavier.
"ROOOOAR—ROOOOOOAAAAAR—"
A sound similar to an elephant's trumpet, but deeper and more terrifying, instantly drowned out all other sounds on the battlefield. Reappearing before everyone's eyes, the giant beast now had a massive wound on its abdomen, through which one could clearly see damaged internal organs and writhing muscles. But dark purple mist frantically gathered at the wound. The bleeding was stopped in an instant, and even with disgusting squelching sounds, tumor-like fleshy masses rapidly grew near the wound, filling the injury that Zolgen had created with all his might.
Mad Dragon Transformation.
The virus spread by the Black Erosion Dragon had two stages. The first stage was like the Frenzied Beast Tide, sacrificing partial rationality in exchange for berserk power. In this stage, infected humans and magical beasts gained no other abilities besides their frenzied bloodline power.
The second stage was Mad Dragon Transformation.
Powerful monsters, even those not inferior to the Black Erosion Dragon itself, could withstand deeper viral erosion. In a short period, they gained incredible power: high-speed regeneration, monstrous strength, and immunity to pain were the basics. Most terrifyingly, they could now also spread the virus through attacks. And after a Mad Dragon Transformation monster died, there was a certain chance that a new Black Erosion Dragon would be born from its corpse.
Thump, thump, thump-thump, thump-thump-thump.
Only a purple-blue color remained in the beast's small eyes. The Mad Dragon instinct, dominated by the virus, drove it to attack the place with the most enemies and the strongest life force. So the monster simply abandoned the three figures nearby—one injured, one exhausted, one old—and began striding toward the city wall, then jogging, and finally sprinting—
Its massive body became a blur. Four hundred tons of weight shook the earth with each step. With an unstoppable momentum, surging blue ice tides, the beast ignored everything in its path, trampling countless frenzied beasts to death, and then, like a horizontally flying meteor, resolute and without hesitation, it crashed into the fortress wall!
"CRASH!"
The earth shook and the mountains trembled. The forty-meter-high gray-white wall, supported by living tree roots and steel reinforcement, shook violently. Many soldiers on top of the wall were shaken off, falling to the ground.
"ROOOOAR!"
Without pause, the beast slammed into the city wall again. Its bony head armor was extremely hard, flashing with an earthy brown light.
Another violent tremor. No matter how sturdy the wall, it could not withstand the impact of a Gold-rank monster nearly as tall as itself. So, amid the howling of the beasts, one-fifth of the Black Forest Fortress wall slowly collapsed, bringing down the adjacent section of wall like dominoes.
"It's over..."
Looking toward the city, the golden-haired knight lost all strength to support himself and fell to one knee on the black frozen ground. Already utterly exhausted, he watched in despair as the beast, now shrouded in purple-black aura and completely maddened, repeatedly crashed into and trampled the ruins of the wall. Large chunks of rubble shattered into fragments, and the surging beast tide rushed toward the city.
Tens of thousands of beasts against tens of thousands of civilians and a few thousand soldiers... the outcome of this battle seemed already decided.
"Everyone near the wall, fall back!"
Suddenly, a thought transmitted from the sky reached everyone's ears.
Kili and Feng looked up in confusion toward the sky. They saw that the originally dark sky had suddenly been dyed crimson by some inexplicable light, and a massive rift, like a crack in the sky itself, spread from the distant horizon to this point. The dark clouds dispersed completely, and sunlight returned to the land.
"When... did it get here so fast?"
With the white-haired mage's shocked whisper, the sky was torn apart.
A figure wreathed in pure black-crimson battle qi transformed into a flowing red light, like a falling star dragging a crimson trail. With an aura that could shatter everything, it tore through clouds and atmosphere, hurtling from high altitude toward the collapsed wall, toward where the Gold-rank beast stood.
BOOM—
The dazzling battle qi, carrying fierce winds, exploded with a roar. Snow melted away in an instant. The wall, the beasts, the earth, the air—everything around was engulfed by a surging wave of scorching heat.
The earth shook, even cracking open. In front of the Black Forest Fortress, the still-standing section of wall swayed precariously. A small mushroom cloud slowly formed and rose above the rift...