Chapter 627: Annihilation
The three members of the Blood Rose tried to counterattack, throwing blood spears, soul wails, and various curses and offensive spells desperately at the Yellow Sand Fortress. Yet, whether it was energy attacks or physical impacts, they were securely absorbed by the fortress, which appeared heavy and clumsy but was actually agile and resilient, absorbing energy. At most, it caused the sand on the surface to churn violently, but it couldn’t shake its foundation at all.
They were already overwhelmed trying to protect themselves amidst the bombardment of various elemental spells.
The counterattacks they could muster in such a situation were severely limited and posed no substantial threat to Duke.
Although the hall was large, it felt cramped under the sweep of these large-area, destructive spells.
No one expected anyone would launch such mad attacks without considering if they would be caught in it.
Duke completely relied on the powerful defense of his Sand Guardian and his exquisite spell control to minimize the impact on himself.
Despite the chaotic bombardment outside, seemingly disorderly and chaotic,
every spell was actually under Duke’s perception and control, thanks to the extremely powerful control abilities conferred by the Six-Element Compound Spiritual Crystal, allowing for the easy multitasking.
To be precise, he could handle hundreds of tasks at once; at this moment, Duke’s Spiritual Power Crystal was truly operating.
It was only after a period of high-intensity combat that he slowly discovered the powerful potential of this Spiritual Power Crystal, far more formidable than that of an ordinary wizard.
The three members of the Blood Rose still tried to evade, but with the full-scale, high-density, and attribute-complementary spell bombardment, the space for evasion was compressed to the extreme.
Every move risked colliding with a new Fireball or Wind Blade, and the ground beneath was also unsafe.
They attempted to force their way towards the hallway entrance, but Duke immediately focused his attention there. That area bore the most concentrated firepower, like a death zone.
Despair crept upon them like a cold, venomous snake, entangling their hearts bit by bit.
The first to collapse was the Thistle Dagger Wizard, impeded by a thigh injury.
His blood-red barrier finally shattered under continuous strikes, a Light Arrow seized the opportunity, piercing his shoulder, followed by several Fireballs exploding beside him, engulfing him in flames.
The screams cut off abruptly, his charred body fell, with life force quickly dissipating.
A wisp of dense blood essence floated out, greedily absorbed by the dark red giant door.
"Hughes!" the leader exclaimed, but could not help himself.
His and the Skeleton Staff Wizard’s defenses were also at their limits, their shield lights dimmed, body covered with wounds, nearly depleted of magic power.
"Let’s fight him to the end!" The Skeleton Staff Wizard looked insane, burning the remaining life force, releasing a dense, malicious gray fog to corrode the Yellow Sand Fortress, simultaneously hurling himself in a last attempt.
Since they wouldn’t truly die here, they had little concern over employing forbidden techniques.
Duke’s eyes remained unmoved, and with a thought,
the gravel in front of the fortress instantly condensed into a massive metal palm, with immense weight and energy absorption attributes, dispersing the gray fog with a slap, then swatting away the charging Skeleton Staff Wizard like a fly.
The sound of bones cracking was distinctly heard as the wizard crashed into a distant wall and slid down limply, clearly doomed.
The second stream of blood essence fed the giant door.
Now, only the leading Blood Rose Wizard remained.
His hair was disheveled, robe tattered, body marred with burns and cuts, and his Blood Sword showed cracks.
He gazed at his companions’ tragic corpses, at the giant door that drank blood with increasingly bright patterns, then at the Yellow Sand Fortress, standing like an unpassable mountain amid endless elemental bombardment, eyes filled with bloodshot madness and hatred, yet even more with unfathomable fear and despair.
"Ah——!!!" He roared unwillingly, squeezing out the last ounce of magic power, sending a massive blood-red Sword Qi at the fortress, before turning and fleeing desperately towards the corridor with his last energy.
Duke didn’t even specifically target him.
With just a thought, he instantly increased the density of Meteor Fire Rain and Wind Blade spells in that area by thirty percent, while two phantoms of the Judgment of the Holy Light Sword descended from the sky, blocking his way.
In the hopeless roar and amidst the flames and Wind Blades, the last breath of resistance finally extinguished.
The third, and also the thickest, stream of blood essence, merged with all the life energy of the leader-wizard, surged into the groove of the giant door.
The hall fell silent finally.
Only the lingering burnt and bloody scent, and the slight breeze caused by chaotic energy, remained.
The Yellow Sand Fortress slowly dissipated, once again becoming a sand flow circling Duke, seemingly scattered but actually ready to form and defend at any moment.
Duke maintained a calm expression, though his breathing was slightly labored.
Maintaining such high-intensity, multi-element wide-range spell bombardments for a prolonged period drained massive amounts of his magic and spiritual power, even with his recovery speed.
Yet his eyes remained bright and sharp, as he slowly walked to the center of the hall.
The ancient crimson Blood Door had undergone a dramatic transformation at this moment.
The bowl-shaped groove on the door seemed sated with blood, emitting a misty dark red glow.
Centred around the groove, those complex, three-dimensional relief patterns were more than half illuminated by the flowing dark red light, pulsating like blood vessels.
An ancient, heavy aura, tinged with an indistinct pressure, seeped from behind the door.
The door was about to open.
Duke glanced at the three miserable corpses on the ground, then at the giant door with streaming lights, his expression calm.
"Three offerings, seems it’s enough." he murmured softly, before shifting his full attention to the relic’s core entrance about to open, adjusting his own state, preparing to confront the unknown behind the door.
When the last bit of blood essence belonging to the leader was thoroughly absorbed by the groove on the dark red giant door, the entire bowl-shaped structure suddenly burst with a violent pulse, akin to a heart violently contracting and then relaxing.
"Buzz—Boom!"
A deep rumbling emanated directly from the door known as the Ancient Blood Door, where the relief patterns, mostly illuminated by the dark red brilliance, connected and penetrated swiftly, forming a complete and mysterious energy diagram.
Then, the heavy friction noise echoed, as if ancient, dust-covered mechanisms were arduously operating in the depths beneath the surface.