Chapter 182 : Chapter 182
Chapter 182. The Ancient Council’s Gaze
At the center of the magic array, the black vortex churned violently, and a deep, oppressive voice emerged from within, as though it had risen from the Abyss since time immemorial.
“Who dares summon me? Who dares disturb my slumber?”
The Orc Shamans paid it no heed. They chanted even faster, and the blood-red light on the array patterns burned ever more fiercely. They were clearly trying to forcibly bind the being they had summoned.
“You court death. How dare you try to bind me?”
The furious roar made the sky tremble, and violent Energy Shockwaves erupted from the array.
Then a gigantic canine head covered in dark-gold mane thrust out from the vortex. Its scarlet vertical pupils swept over the battlefield below, and venom dripped from its fangs, scorching the ground wherever it fell.
Before anyone could react, a second head emerged, then a third. Each was hideous in a different way.
One breathed flames, one exuded frost, and the last was wreathed in black mist.
“It’s Cerberus!”
Terrified cries rang out from the fortress walls.
“The monstrous beast said to guard the gates of the Underworld—its true body has actually descended!”
Cerberus’s enormous body gradually forced its way out of the vortex. The moment its giant scaled claws touched the ground, several deep fissures split open across the icefield. Pressure at the Demigod Level spread outward like a tidal wave, forcing even the clouds in the sky lower.
William’s pupils contracted sharply. It was Demigod-level.
The Orc Alliance had actually dared to summon something on this level. Had they gone mad?
Just then, a concentrated beam of golden light shot out from deep within the Orc army formation like a bolt of lightning and struck Cerberus squarely in the heart.
Cerberus let out a pained howl. Its enormous body struggled violently for a few moments, but the ferocity in its eyes quickly dimmed.
In the end, it crouched obediently on the ground like a tamed beast. All three heads drooped low, and none of its earlier savagery remained.
“They really controlled it...” Kru said, his voice trembling with disbelief.
Yet in the very next instant, a long, distant sigh suddenly echoed between heaven and earth.
That sigh was unlike anything any living being could possibly make. It seemed to contain both the chaos of the universe at its birth and the void that would end all things. It brushed lightly across the battlefield, yet everyone’s movements froze at once.
Then a vague divine figure appeared high in the sky.
No one could make out its features. Its outline seemed to be formed from countless motes of light, yet it carried a majesty so overwhelming that it made the soul tremble.
The soldiers and Orcs who instinctively looked up at it were suddenly crushed by an invisible force. Their bodies turned soundlessly into drifting ash, leaving not even a trace behind.
“Lower your heads! Quickly!”
William roared sharply and dropped his own head at once, his heart pounding wildly.
On the fortress walls and across the icefield, every surviving living being lowered its head in terror, not daring to entertain even the slightest thought of looking up.
That figure needed only to exist to erase all who dared look directly at it. This power far surpassed the Demigod Level. It belonged to the realm of true gods.
The battlefield fell into deathly silence. Only the wind wailed as it passed over the icefield.
The unseeable figure hovered quietly in the sky. No one knew why it had appeared, and no one knew its purpose.
William clenched his teeth hard, cold sweat beading on his forehead. He knew that this war had completely spun out of control.
Cerberus, the Orc Alliance—before this divine being that had descended without warning, they were all nothing more than insignificant dust.
In the next moment, the divine figure made no extra move at all. Its mere existence caused the Abyssal Array in the sky to twist violently.
Cerberus let out a despairing howl. Its enormous body was seized by an invisible giant hand and forcibly shoved back inside. The black vortex was torn apart along with it.
In the end, everything vanished into the void as though it had never appeared at all.
Immediately afterward, a divine decree devoid of all emotion echoed between heaven and earth, clear enough for every living being to hear.
“Rules are rules.”
As soon as those words fell, the unseeable divine figure receded like an ebbing tide and vanished completely beyond the horizon, as though it had never descended in the first place.
The battlefield remained deathly silent for several full minutes. Only then did the survivors slowly dare raise their heads and look at the clear sky once more, as if they had been given a second life.
William raised a hand and wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. The armor on his back had already been soaked through. He breathed heavily, still shaken by the aftermath.
“Thank goodness... thank goodness it was a false alarm.”
If that figure had not come to uphold the “rules,” Despair Fortress would probably already have been reduced to ashes.
On the other side of the icefield, Kalgari, commander of the Orc Alliance, wore a livid expression. He clenched his fists so tightly that his nails nearly dug into his flesh as he cursed inwardly.
Damn it. They had only sacrificed a little over a hundred thousand Barbarians, yet it had still drawn someone from the Ancient Council. His luck was abysmal.
“If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have started the sacrifice early. Sacrificing only these few tens of thousands should have been fine.”
He had originally intended to use Cerberus’s terrifying might to end the battle swiftly, crush the fortress in one stroke, and reduce the Orc Alliance’s casualties.
But now, not only had the summoned beast been driven back into the Abyss, it had also alerted those hidebound old powers. His entire plan had been thrown into ruin.
“Commander...” Lailan began cautiously, his face still pale with the shock of having survived the disaster.
Kalgari drew a deep breath, suppressed the anger in his heart, and cast a dark, vicious look toward Despair Fortress.
“So be it. The idea of ending this quickly has fallen through. Pass the order down. Tighten the formation and suspend the attack for now.”
He knew that after the Ancient Council’s gaze had passed over this battlefield, they could not use sacrificial summoning tricks again for the time being.
They could only rely on the Orcs’ own combat power and grind William down slowly.
“Let the soldiers rest and regroup. We have plenty of time.”
Kalgari’s voice was icy.
“I refuse to believe Despair Fortress can hold forever.”
Lailan did not dare say another word. He hurriedly turned and went to deliver the order.
The Orc Legion slowly began to withdraw. The oppressive pressure over the icefield eased somewhat, but the killing intent hidden beneath it had grown even heavier than before.
On the walls of Despair Fortress, William watched the retreating Orc Legion without relaxing his guard in the slightest.
He knew this was only a temporary calm.
The Orc Alliance’s scheme had failed. Their next offensive would only be even more frenzied.
He ordered them to count the casualties, repair the defenses, and have the mages recover their mana as quickly as possible.