Chapter 78: Chaos
The moment their boots hit the ground, the nearest dark shadow contorted. It unleashed a silent, agonizing shriek, accelerating with unnatural ferocity. The entity dissolved into a streak of pitch-black smoke, hurling itself directly at the golden barrier.
Hiss—!
It sounded like a red-hot branding iron plunging into a bucket of ice water. The shadow didn't even have the chance to vocalize its agony. Upon contact with the golden soul barrier, a blinding flash of white light erupted. The darkness instantly vaporized into a wisp of sickly green smoke, scattering into nothingness.
The golden soul barrier merely rippled, a gentle outward wave of light. Its brilliant radiance didn't dim in the slightest.
"It works! It actually works!" March 7th cheered, her eyes wide with pleasant surprise as she pumped a fist in the air.
"Nice going, March! Excellent work." Stelle grinned, giving the archer an enthusiastic, heavy pat on the shoulder.
Iansan stared at the miraculous display. Shock and confusion warred in her wide eyes, quickly overtaken by a surge of genuine relief. "Unbelievable... this barrier is incredible."
"What about the energy drain?" Stelle asked, immediately pivoting to the most crucial tactical question.
March closed her eyes for a brief second, sensing her internal reserves. "It's totally fine!" she reported brightly. "Maintaining the barrier itself barely takes anything. That attack just now only caused a tiny ripple in my spirit. I hardly lost any energy at all! It's definitely enough to cover us until we get out of this zone."
Shielded by the steadfast golden glow, the trio's confidence soared. With March taking the lead, they marched forward, completely ignoring the scattered dark entities drifting along their path. The moment those shadowy figures drifted too close, the barrier incinerated them on contact—like mindless moths diving into an open flame.
They finally dragged themselves out of the oppressive, suffocating basin of black mud. Their boots stepped onto firmer ground—a relatively open, sprawling black plain. Yet, the air here remained just as choked with the suffocating miasma of the Abyss.
Before they could even catch their breath, the space directly ahead of them violently warped.
The air tore open, and several suffocatingly powerful Abyssal presences descended without a shred of warning.
The leader hovered above the scorched earth, clad in magnificent, flowing robes of stark white and deep, corrupted purple. A halo of elemental power spun slowly behind his back, radiating chaotic, overwhelming surges of energy. It was a high-ranking commander of the Abyss Order—an Iniquitous Baptist!
Flanking him in eerie silence stood three towering, dangerous figures: a Pyro Lector, a Cryo Herald, and an Electro Lector.
Further out in the gloom, a massive horde of distorted Abyssal monsters materialized from the shadows. They surged forward like a rising tide of black ink, instantly fanning out to form a deadly semi-circle around the trio.
"Ignorant transgressors..." The Iniquitous Baptist floated higher, his voice a low, echoing rumble dripping with dark allure. He spread his arms, clearly preparing to deliver a grand, villainous sermon on the teachings of the Abyss.
"You talk too much!" Stelle barked, utterly refusing to let him finish his monologue.
She roared, tightening her grip on her weapon. Her Flame Lance instantly erupted, a sky-piercing column of roaring fire illuminating the dark plains!
Her boots shattered the ground beneath her as she launched herself forward like a human cannonball. The heavy lance whistled, tearing through the stagnant air with explosive force, aimed dead center at the Iniquitous Baptist's masked face.
Flame Lance—Charge!
A flicker of genuine annoyance and surprise crossed the Baptist's glowing eyes. His figure instantly blurred into a smear of purple light. With a short-distance warp, he vanished from his original position, effortlessly sidestepping the furious, blazing strike.
He reappeared in mid-air a dozen yards to the side, his ornate robes fluttering wildly despite the lack of wind.
But Stelle's momentum didn't falter for a fraction of a second. She redirected her downward thrust, bringing the massive, burning tip of her Flame Lance crashing heavily into the exact spot where the monster had just been floating.
BOOM—!
A violent, fan-shaped shockwave of pure fire exploded outward. The sheer concussive force sent large swathes of the incoming Abyssal monsters flying backward. The intense heat ignited their corrupted flesh, reducing dozens of them to floating ash before they even hit the ground. The strike carved a massive, scorched trench of roaring flame straight through the center of the monster tide.
"Attack!" March 7th reacted with lightning speed. She summoned her bow, drawing the crystalline string back to her cheek in a fluid motion. A torrential downpour of jagged ice arrows rained from the sky, piercing through the screeching horde.
Simultaneously, thick, complex shields of Six-Phased Ice materialized around Stelle, herself, and Iansan. "Iansan, watch your back!"
"Understood!" Iansan yelled, her battle-lust fully ignited. She gave her spear a sharp twist, the weapon erupting with violent, crackling arcs of Electro energy. She charged headlong into the flanking horde, tearing into their ranks like a fierce tiger descending a mountain.
Raw Electro power surged through the shaft of her weapon. Every thrust and swing carried devastating, heavy momentum. She unleashed a flurry of wide, sweeping strikes, the concussive impacts sending shockwaves through the enemy lines. The fragile Abyssal monsters tore like wet paper under her relentless assault—pierced, shredded, and shattered into fading particles.
Her killing efficiency was nothing short of astonishing.
High above, the Iniquitous Baptist and his three elite Abyss commanders did not immediately join the fray. They floated in mid-air or stood at the absolute edge of the battlefield, watching the slaughter with cold, indifferent eyes.
Their strategy was painfully obvious. They intended to use the endless sea of cannon fodder to bleed the trio dry, draining their stamina and elemental reserves drop by drop. Once the girls were exhausted and gasping for air, the elites would swoop in to claim their helpless prey.
However, as the minutes ticked by, the commanders began to realize something was terribly wrong.
The pink-haired archer was firing volleys of arrows as if they cost absolutely nothing. Whenever one of her crystalline ice shields shattered under a heavy blow, she instantly snapped her fingers and replaced it. Not a single drop of sweat dotted her brow; her face showed zero signs of fatigue.
The petite Natlan warrior was even more ferocious. She carved her way in and out of the densest pockets of the horde, her spear spinning in an impenetrable, crackling dome of lightning. Her stamina appeared completely bottomless, her strikes just as fast and brutal as her very first swing.
But the most outrageous of them all was the tall, grey-haired girl.
She was a walking, breathing humanoid cannon tearing through the battlefield!
Roaring flames surged with every brutal swing of her heavy lance. She would frequently plant her feet and sweep the massive shaft in a wide arc, clearing out dozens of monsters in a single, fiery explosion. Instead of tiring, her battle-lust seemed to multiply with every kill.
"Not strong enough!" Stelle bellowed, smashing a beast into the dirt. "Is that all you've got?! Send more!"
The Iniquitous Baptist's gaze darkened beneath his hood. If this slaughter continued, let alone exhausting the intruders, his entire army of cannon fodder would be completely wiped out by these three absolute monsters!
"Retreat!" he roared. The command was heavily laced with dark Abyssal power, echoing across the plains. Instantly, the surviving monsters scrambled backward, receding into the shadows like a retreating tide.
"It is our turn," the Iniquitous Baptist hissed, his cold, glowing eyes locking dead onto Stelle. "Capture them!"
The three Abyss elites immediately blurred into streaks of elemental light—crimson, azure, and violet—lunging directly toward March 7th, Iansan, and Stelle!
"Hmph! It's about time you stepped up!" Stelle grinned fiercely. She swung her Flame Lance, a fresh surge of blazing fire erupting from the tip, and charged head-on to meet the Pyro Lector hurtling toward her.
The heavy lance clashed violently against the Lector's fiery arm blades. A blinding shower of sparks exploded between them as they locked in a brutal test of strength.
Meanwhile, March 7th displayed astonishing acrobatic flexibility. Facing the Cryo Herald's relentless, sweeping slashes, she danced backward. She glided lightly between jagged ice cones and her own crystalline shields, moving with the grace of a butterfly flitting through a garden. The Herald's vicious twin blades carved through empty air, constantly missing their mark.
What frustrated the Cryo Herald even more was the girl's terrifying accuracy. Whenever he paused for a fraction of a second between strikes, a jagged ice arrow would snap through the air, burying itself precisely into his joints, wrists, or the gaps in his armor. While the strikes weren't fatal, the freezing impacts severely disrupted his rhythm and momentum.
Even more bizarre was the unnatural frost rapidly condensing beneath his boots, causing his footwork to periodically lock up and falter. He gritted his teeth in confusion. There was clearly no one using Hydro elemental power on the battlefield! How was he being frozen?!
Iansan, on the other flank, was locked in a high-speed duel with the Electro Lector. She ducked and weaved through a chaotic storm of continuous lightning spells and crackling orbs. With explosive bursts of speed, she repeatedly seized the narrowest openings, closing the distance to drive her spear deep into the Lector's defenses.
The Iniquitous Baptist himself decided to personally deal with Stelle.
His warping ability proved to be incredibly infuriating. Whenever Stelle committed to a heavy, devastating swing with her lance, the Baptist would instantly vanish into the void. He would reappear at a tricky, blind angle a split second later, unleashing a barrage of chaotic elemental blasts against her back.
Stelle grew increasingly infuriated by the slippery, cowardly fighting style. She swatted away a purple orb of energy and roared, "If you've got any guts, stop running! Fight me head-on, you coward!"
"Foolish brute force..." the Iniquitous Baptist sneered. He warped yet again to dodge a sweeping arc of fire, a mocking smirk playing on his lips as he raised his hands, preparing to condense a massive, devastating orb of Abyssal magic.
"You are so annoying!" Stelle growled, her patience completely snapping.
She slammed the butt of her Flame Lance violently into the scorched earth, leaving it embedded in the dirt.
Reaching out with her right hand, she grabbed at the empty air. A flash of light materialized, and a slender, elegant longsword appeared in her grip—it was March 7th's Liuli Sword!
The very second her fingers wrapped around the hilt, Stelle's entire aura underwent a terrifying shift.
The reckless wildness and explosive savagery that usually defined her combat style instantly vanished. In its place was a chillingly restrained, razor-sharp focus. An imposing, suffocating pressure radiated from her form.
It was as if a dormant, peerless sword intent had just violently awakened from its slumber.
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