Volume 3, Chapter 90 – The One Who Destroyed the Barrier

Grayish-white light mixed with thick smoke spread rapidly as the golden-haired man slowly slid down the Dark Iron gate, collapsing miserably onto the ground.

‘Damn it… a… a sneak attack!’

The Chosen Son gasped for breath while cursing under his breath.

Seeing Xue Tian’ao’s chest pierced by his magic beam, not a single trace of joy at a job well-done appeared in Xiao’s eyes. Instead, to be safe, he raised his hand and snapped his fingers again. The grayish-white magic power surrounding him immediately answered the call, beginning to converge and construct two massive summoning arrays.

As the pale blue light of the summoning flickered, two giant magic wolves formed from concentrated elemental energy revealed their massive bodies.

Under Xiao’s direction, the two giant magic wolves roared and lunged fiercely toward the fallen Xue Tian’ao a short distance away. If Xue Tian’ao was not dead, the giant wolves would move in for the kill and bite through his throat; if he was already dead, the wolves would still attack to ensure he did not rise again.

Considering the terrifying protective divine power the Chosen Maiden unleashed during her battle with Wilt, Xiao had to be cautious. That divine power had instantly and heavily wounded Wilt, a high-level eighth tier combatant.

Although the previous Chosen Son lacked such protective divine power, no one could guarantee that the current Xue Tian’ao didn’t have it. To be safe, Xiao increased the distance between himself and Xue Tian’ao, using summoned magical beasts to launch the attack on his behalf.

Just as the magic giant wolves’ claws were about to touch Xue Tian’ao’s body, Xiao’s eyes narrowed slightly.

In the next moment, under Xiao’s indifferent gaze, a burst of pale golden light suddenly erupted from within Xue Tian’ao. Faintly, Xiao could see translucent golden chains appearing around Xue Tian’ao’s body, which abruptly shattered at that very moment. With the breaking of the chains, Xue Tian’ao’s aura surged violently, his peak seventh tier strength forcefully elevating to nearly the early stages of eighth tier under the enhancement of the golden light. His rapidly depleting life force actually ignored the laws of nature and began to flow back into his body.

“Aaaaaahhh!!”

Xue Tian’ao let out a roar as the Chosen Son pushed off the ground with both hands and leaped up, narrowly dodging the biting maws of the two giant magic wolves at the critical moment. After evading the attack, magic power nearing the early stages of eighth tier erupted from his body. Having liberated the first layer of his shackles, Xue Tian’ao was no longer so intimidated by Xiao’s magical pressure.

A mixture of azure and pale golden light continuously erupted around him, neutralizing the suppression exerted by Xiao’s grayish-white magic power.

“Come forth!”

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‘Sky-Cleaving Sword!’

‘Axe of Helhais!’

Xue Tian’ao’s eyes constricted as a brilliant golden light suddenly rippled from his spatial ring. Surrounded by the golden light, the two newest artifacts Xue Tian’ao had previously exchanged from the System were firmly gripped in his hands. In the next instant, the silver longsword pierced through one giant magic wolf’s head with a powerful momentum that seemed capable of penetrating all things, while the dark battle-axe unstoppably cleaved the other giant magic wolf into two segments.

In a single exchange, the two giant magic wolves abruptly collapsed, turning into countless grayish-white magic particles that dissipated into the atmosphere.

Holding the dual artifacts, Xue Tian’ao performed a backflip and landed in the center of the hall. His azure eyes locked onto Xiao, and a dense battle intent began to manifest around him. The massive bloody hole in his chest started to heal rapidly following the release of his first shackle.

The wound that should have been fatal actually recovered completely in just a few seconds. This scene even caused Xiao to display an expression of amazement.

‘He’s quite tanky…’

On the other side, Xue Tian’ao took a defensive stance. At this moment, he realized the other party’s killing intent was genuine.

The opponent truly wanted to kill him. Appearing here was undoubtedly to prevent him from obtaining the Divine Might Armor so it would be easier to take him out.

But why?

“Your Grace, please believe me, I have no intention of exposing your sister’s identity! I believe your sister, Miss Yu, is a special existence who can cooperate with humans. There is no need for you to be my enemy; we are both humans, and we should join forces to resist external enemies! If you are willing to stop and cooperate with me, we can become partners! I swear by the name of the Empire’s Emperor that I will absolutely let bygones be bygones regarding today’s events, nor will I tell anyone about Miss Blood Butterfly’s identity… Hmm??”

However, before Xue Tian’ao could finish speaking, Xiao shook his head playfully and looked at him with eyes full of mockery.

“Partners? Strictly speaking, the external enemies you mentioned are my partners~”

?!!!

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‘What?!’

Hearing this, Xue Tian’ao’s expression changed drastically as he pointed at Xiao and questioned sternly, “What… what did you say? Could it be… those Abyssal Demons outside the city were really led here by you?!”

“…”

Faced with the Chosen Son’s questioning, Xiao seemed to have no intention of answering, maintaining a face that suggested it was none of his business while smiling somewhat meaningfully.

While Xiao used his smile to draw Xue Tian’ao’s attention, a gray laser beam filled with a world-destroying aura suddenly struck from behind! The one launching the attack was Xiao’s black staff, which had floated behind Xue Tian’ao at some unknown point.

Feeling the approaching destructive power, Xue Tian’ao’s face twisted as he roared in a fit of rage, “You despicable coward! You actually used a sneak attack!”

While cursing, Xue Tian’ao hurried to turn around and swung his two artifacts. Relying on the divine axe’s property of absorbing impact, he successfully blocked this wave of attack. However, he could only hold it back for a moment, and the powerful impact caused his expression to become increasingly distorted.

With no other choice, Xue Tian’ao had to redirect the attack’s trajectory.

“Aaaaaahhh!!”

Accompanied by a hysterical roar, the golden-haired man slammed his hands upward, suppressing the momentum of the magic cannon’s explosion by continuously injecting his own azure magic power. Once his own magic power gradually merged with Xiao’s magic cannon, Xue Tian’ao roared again and successfully redirected the gray energy laser’s path.

“Boom~”

In the next moment, the gray magic cannon blasted through the ceiling of the Grand Arsenal Hall. Under the stunned gazes of countless nearby soldiers, the massive magic beam shot straight into the clouds, tearing through the sky. While Xue Tian’ao’s crisis was temporarily resolved, the Sky Dome fell into a state of extreme peril.

Because when the magic cannon surged toward the clouds, the defensive barrier deployed over the Sky Dome was inevitably struck by this attack coming from the inside, blowing a massive rift into it.

Although the outer perimeter of the barrier was sturdy, the interior was quite fragile. Furthermore, this city-protecting barrier was already on the verge of collapsing from Yuan’er’s earlier impact. Now that a giant hole had been blasted through it from the inside by the gray magic beam, the barrier had reached its limit.

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The mages maintaining the barrier were caught off guard and vomited blood under the backlash of the terrifying energy before collapsing to the ground.

Thus, under the despairing gazes of countless people, the Sky Dome’s protective barrier shattered as the mages fell, turning into a sky full of white light spots that dissipated. The disappearance of the barrier meant that the Sky Dome’s airspace had lost its protection.

Countless Abyssal Demons hovering in the sky outside the barrier suddenly caught the scent of prey. The long-waiting swarms of Hellbeasts immediately let out sharp, ghostly shrieks and roars, charging toward the city with overwhelming momentum and bloodthirsty, berserk killing intent.

The troops guarding the walls were simply powerless to deal with an invasion from the sky. At this moment, the entire city was exposed to the claws and fangs of the brutal Abyssal Demons.

Fear escalated once more. In an instant, heart-wrenching wails rose one after another within the city as thick smoke billowed everywhere. The swarms of Abyssal Demons that rushed into the city launched cruel offensives against anyone who dared to fight back. As for those unable to resist, the Abyssal Demons surprisingly did not attack them directly.

But regardless, the capital of the Snownight Empire had already been shrouded in a bloodbath.

When Xue Tian’ao regained his senses, the tragic cries for help within the city reached his ears, causing his expression to change drastically. After taking in the scene within the city, Xue Tian’ao suddenly realized his severe mistake from moments ago.

‘Damn it, how… how could this happen?!’

In his desperation, he had instinctively tried to protect the equipment beneath the Grand Arsenal Hall by flinging the enemy’s magic cannon toward the sky. To think the barrier was directly blown apart?

Wait?

Recalling his actions just now, Xue Tian’ao’s eyes constricted. To block Xiao’s magic cannon, he had injected a large amount of his own magic power into it to control the force, meaning the surface of that magic cannon was covered in his own energy signature.

If that were the case?! Once this power exploded, what would the surrounding people sense? Wouldn’t it be his power?! People would think he was the one who blew up the barrier?!

Was… was that this guy’s goal all along?!

Seeming to have guessed the other party’s intention, Xue Tian’ao couldn’t help but clench his fists tightly and whip his head around, glaring at the black-haired man with burning rage.

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“You bastard! What exactly are you trying to do?!”

“…”

In response, Xiao only gave a cold smile, completely indifferent to Xue Tian’ao’s anger as he looked meaningfully at the smoke-filled city below being ravaged by Abyssal Demons.

“Alas, I must say the people of the Sky Dome are truly pitiful. Their trusted Emperor actually betrayed them, actively destroying the barrier to let the Abyssal Demons into the city.”

!??

“You?!”

Xiao’s words caused Xue Tian’ao’s face to twitch as he shouted sternly, “You’re talking nonsense! It was clearly you who launched the attack! You were the one who destroyed the barrier!”

“So what if I was? Regardless, the people of the Sky Dome have no way of knowing that now.”

“Wha… what? What do you mean?”

“Isn’t it simple?”

As he spoke, the black staff flashed back into Xiao’s hand, emitting bursts of violent magic fluctuations and an aura that made even Xue Tian’ao feel a sense of impending doom.

“Because you won’t have the chance to stay alive and explain it to them.”

Xue Tian’ao: ?