Chapter 48: The Road Home Is Gone
Ten halos interlocked and rotated like gears, and at their center, a blinding white orb of light rapidly condensed. Enough energy to destroy everything was being concentrated at the core. The four people still halfway up Sigma Volcano all changed expression simultaneously, sensing a terrifying threat. Before they could even look up, one of them suddenly realized something: "Wait, now that you mention it, that beam of light just now really did look like the decomposition beams or annihilation rays commonly used by mages... The judgment light in divine spells is somewhat similar too."
"It's not just that."
Shaking his head, Joshua narrowed his eyes, recalling the fleeting scene he had glimpsed earlier. "Not to mention that there seemed to be a space-time rift just now... That strike contained more than just destructive power. I feel that if we hadn't escaped just now, we would have been completely annihilated—from soul to matter, utterly and completely, without a single trace left."
"That was a massive composite formation... made up of countless, at least tens of millions, of magic arrays."
—Even in Mycroft Continent twenty years later, this was something that only existed in theory—an ultimate magical weapon requiring millions of mages to create collectively.
Drawing a deep, cold breath, Joshua rarely showed a wary expression. He murmured, "Does the Chaos of this world actually possess power at this level? Even a personal visit from an Evil God would probably be no more than this. If it can use attacks of that level continuously, then it's truly on the level of a deity."
On the side, Ying and Lin also nodded. Since they no longer needed to focus on escaping, the young boy and girl had ample time to observe that beam of light. Within that pure white beam was not holiness, but an indescribable chaos and evil—a desire to return everything to chaotic nothingness.
But Loranda noticed something else strange. He reached out his hand, as if trying to condense something, but only a few scattered points of light emerged from the atmosphere. The paladin said with some confusion, "Strange. The elemental concentration in the atmosphere is only one-seventh of what it is back home? With such a low concentration of mana, it's no wonder that magic array was so massive—but it disappeared after firing one shot."
"But what's even stranger is, with such a low mana concentration, how did the Chaos manage to create such a huge magic array?"
"Compared to that question, I think we should consider something more practical."
The warrior kindly reminded Loranda. Joshua pointed toward the direction of Sigma Volcano and said in a deep voice, "That attack just now seems to have made the space-time gate disappear—friend, before considering other issues, we should probably find our way home."
—Babel Province
The nearest elven settlement to Sigma Volcano, aside from a few scattered small cities and villages, was the provincial capital. In the provincial capital, the mayor and military commander, exhausted from dealing with the endless onslaught of stone golems, were busy issuing orders one after another.
But just as they were still working hard, an elf by the office window let out a cry of surprise. Everyone present shot him angry looks, fueled by the frustration of being trapped in the city by the stone golems after days of labor without rest. But this elf didn't shut up because of that. He just pointed out the window in shock, stammering, "Look, look! The Apocalypse Array has appeared again!"
These words truly shook everyone. On the spot, all the elves present, including the mayor and other high-ranking officials, ran to the window. They looked into the distance, at the massive array that had once again appeared in the sky, their hearts filled with astonishment.
Could it be that the terrifying scene was about to repeat itself?!
They had all learned through observation arrays of what had happened near Sapphire Harbor. The sight of countless flying stone golems swarming like dark clouds from a space-time rift had left a shadow on everyone's hearts. They had barely managed to regain some advantage in the street fighting—were they about to be suppressed again?
Before they could finish thinking, a pillar of light spanning heaven and earth appeared in the distance. Everyone felt their hearts clench; they sensed a primal fear.
And in a corner of the city.
A great fire blazed, the ground cracked open. A black half-dragon was surrounded by five golden stone statues in the center of a vast ruin. Its body was wreathed in clouds of red elemental fire, and in the calm stalemate brewed a fury capable of destroying everything.
Countless other stone golems lurked in the shadows, but neither side made the first move. But at that moment, the Apocalypse Array appeared again in the distance. The stone golems, as if puppets receiving their master's command, immediately marched in perfect unison toward the black half-dragon. The half-dragon also seemed to sense something. It let out a roar and charged in the opposite direction, clashing with these giant monsters.
Beams flew everywhere, and explosions and flames immediately filled the ruins. Ashes drifted in the fire.
The battle was far from over.
(To be continued.)