Chapter 289: The Insidious Abyss
"Success! The core is exposed!" Stelle's voice was a jubilant cry, the immense fatigue of the battle momentarily washed away by the pure thrill of victory. She immediately raised her star-forged bat, golden light gathering around it once more as she prepared to rush forward and deliver the final, decisive blow.
"Wait, Stelle!" Lumine's voice cut through the air. She suddenly reached out, her colossal hand blocking Stelle's path, her expression unusually grave.
"What's wrong?" Stelle asked, the triumphant energy draining from her posture, replaced by confusion.
Lumine pointed toward the exposed abyssal core, then to the last of the rock fortifications that surrounded it. The barrier was riddled with deep fissures and looked as if it would crumble at any moment.
She spoke in a low, serious tone, "We can't attack it directly. The abyssal energy contained within that core is far too vast and concentrated. If we forcibly shatter it at such close range, the resulting explosion will absolutely overwhelm what's left of the barrier."
Her words were like a bucket of ice water, instantly snapping Stelle back to reality.
She was right. If the core detonated, a tidal wave of destructive abyss energy and raw shockwaves would pour out unimpeded. The corruption would surge beyond the Crag Gorge, potentially poisoning the very regions that were just beginning to recover their vitality.
All their previous efforts—painstakingly controlling the battle's scope, their very reason for fighting to protect this world—would be for nothing.
Stelle's gaze flickered from the victory that was so close she could almost taste it, to the cracked and groaning rock barrier. A wave of immense frustration crashed over her, a headache blooming behind her eyes. She groaned, running her hands vigorously through her hair.
"Then what are we supposed to do?! We finally managed to pry open this damn turtle shell, and now we just have to stand here and watch because we're afraid it'll go boom? Wait for it to repair itself or pull some other trick out of its sleeve?!"
Victory was within arm's reach, yet she couldn't deliver the finishing strike. The suffocating feeling of being so close yet so far was enough to drive her mad. The exposed abyssal core pulsed like an unstable black hole, emanating an aura that was both alluring and utterly deadly.
However, the solemnity on Lumine's face quickly melted away, replaced by a resolute calm. Without the slightest hesitation, she extended her massive palm forward, her gaze fixed on the pulsating dark heart of their enemy.
"Leave it to me."
Her voice was quiet but carried an obvious power, a soothing balm that instantly quelled Stelle's rising anxiety and sent a different kind of chill through everyone watching the battlefield.
The next moment, an invisible vortex quietly formed in the center of Lumine's giant palm. It was a power born of neither Element nor Path, but a unique characteristic that was hers and hers alone.
A powerful and precise suction, like an unseen tendril, shot across the distance and wrapped itself directly around the exposed abyssal core.
"Buzzz—!"
The core vibrated violently, as if sensing the presence of a natural predator.
Pure, corrupted abyss energy, like a Pandora's Box torn open, transformed into a viscous, dark-purple torrent. It was forcibly siphoned from the core, streaming into the invisible vortex in Lumine's palm before being absorbed directly into her body.
This sudden turn of events brought instant understanding to the spectators.
Rin's eyes widened. "Oh, that's right! Lumine… she can directly absorb abyss energy! She did something just like this back in the Chasm!"
Paimon zipped around excitedly, her tiny fists clenched. "That's right, that's right! She can even purify the poisoned blood from Dvalin's tears! Even though the energy from this core is a lot, it's definitely not going to be a problem for her!"
On the battlefield, Lumine's colossal form trembled slightly. Absorbing such a massive and pure concentration of abyssal power all at once was a tremendous burden, even for her. She was like a dam manager battling a raging flood, carefully controlling the inflow, ensuring the torrent wouldn't exceed her body's limit to process it.
But this drastic action—siphoning the very fuel from the fire—clearly enraged the Abyss itself.
High in the sky, the massive, continuously rotating Abyssal Entity, Baqunava, shuddered. As if its most fundamental dignity had been violated, it let out a silent yet soul-shaking shriek that echoed in the minds of all present. It was no longer expanding with chaotic erosion; instead, it began to contract, trembling violently and irregularly.
This was not a mere display of emotion. It was a far more dangerous sign. It was compressing its power at all costs, gathering every last drop of toxin in its veins, preparing to unleash its most venomous and final attack.
"What is it brewing…?" Venti murmured, his fingers stilling on his lyre as his expression grew uncharacteristically serious.
At that very same moment, Mavuika, who had remained suspended high in the sky gathering the fighting spirit and belief of all of Natlan, was wreathed in flames that surged to an unmatched peak. The sun totem blazing behind her was no longer merely radiant; it had seemingly transformed into a tangible, flowing river of liquid fire, its heat and pressure so immense that space itself began to distort around it.
In her hand, the great flame sword—the "Blaze of a Thousand Suns," forged from pure divine power and faith—shone with a light that defied description. It was as if she held a star on the verge of a supernova.
Her power had accumulated to its absolute zenith.
Her gaze was a burning torch, locked onto the trembling and contracting form of Baqunava in the sky. She was ready to unleash the final, decisive blow that would determine the fate of Natlan.
But just at this critical juncture—
A sudden change occurred without the slightest warning.
Right beside Lumine, less than a hundred meters from her colossal body, space was forcibly torn open as if by an invisible, giant hand. A super-massive portal ripped into existence, its edges flowing with a viscous darkness, its interior flickering with chaotic lightning and ominous firelight. The aura emanating from it was even more ancient, more pure, and more tyrannical than that of Baqunava.
Immediately following, a monstrous, terrifying dragon's head, encased in jet-black bone armor with eternal rage burning in its empty eye sockets, thrust its way out. It was followed by a sinuous neck entwined with abyssal flames, and then a massive, muscular dragon's claw covered in dull, heavy scales.
Just this protruding half of its body radiated an oppressive aura nearly as strong as Baqunava had been in its prime.
This was one of the very culprits that had been entrenched deep within the Night Kingdom, the beast that had led to its complete downfall—the Abyss's top-tier demon, Gustot, the Lord of Corrosive Primeflame.
It was clear this was not its full body. The portal fluctuated violently, seemingly struggling to support even this partial manifestation.
But the moment it appeared, its abyssal flame-wreathed eyes locked onto Lumine, who was completely focused on absorbing the core's energy.
Without a roar, without a moment's hesitation, a colossal sword materialized out of thin air in Gustot's outstretched dragon claw. Forged purely from highly compressed, dark-red corrupted fire, the greatsword burned with flames capable of incinerating souls. Carrying a terrifying might that tore through space itself, it cleaved down toward Lumine's unguarded side at a speed that defied perception.
The attack came too fast, too suddenly. It was as if the Abyss had calculated everything in advance, waiting for this one, most crucial moment to execute a decapitation strike.
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