Chapter 76: Cultivators Battlefield
The central clearing of the forest became a catastrophic zone of colliding concepts.
The freezing, suffocating weight of the West smashed directly into the roaring, burning inferno of the North.
General Tagar stood at the center, his frost-white eyes fixed on the two Martial Masters.
He didn’t wait.
With a brutal burst of speed that defied his massive frame, he swung his double-headed frost axe, sending a wave of absolute-zero energy tearing through the mud.
Trojan reacted instantly, triggering his Supreme Battle Instinct skill.
His mind mapped the trajectory of the freezing blast a fraction of a second before it manifested.
He activated his Blade Tempering Physique skill, his muscles hardening to the density of forged steel as he braced his legs.
At the same time, his chest heaved as he unleashed his Special War Cry skill.
The sonic boom of his roar shattered the oncoming ice wave into harmless sparkling dust, momentarily rattling the eardrums of the western soldiers watching from the fringes.
But it was also a mana boost for his soldiers, those who were losing their strength immediately regained their strength.
Pushing through the enemy’s defenses.
"Is that all, northern worm?" Tagar sneered.
Suddenly, Eurenia blurred from the shadows behind Trojan.
Her Supreme Battle Instinct skill had guided her to Tagar’s blind spot while he was focused on the commander.
Her lungs expanded as she unleashed the Tempest Dragon Breath skill, a localized, roaring torrent of razor-sharp wind and compressed kinetic energy exploding from her jaw straight at the Troll’s face.
Tagar snarled, raising his massive armored forearm to block the blast.
The tempest shred his runic gauntlet to pieces, drawing dark blue blood.
Seizing the opening, Eurenia activated her Blade Tempering Physique skill to absorb the kinetic backlash, followed immediately by her Blood Flame Armament.
A violent, dark crimson fire coated her twin daggers, magnifying their cutting power as she drove them toward his throat.
Clang!
Tagar’s axe handle intercepted her blades.
The impact sent a shockwave that flattened the surrounding undergrowth.
"Puny pussy!" Tagar roared, activating his active skill:
Demolition.
A terrifying, destructive gray light coated his frost axe, its structural density and destructive output surging by twenty percent.
He violently swung the axe upward.
The sheer destructive force of the Demolition skill shattered Eurenia’s kinetic momentum.
The crushing weight blew right through her defenses, sending her skipping violently across the rocky ground, her Blood Flame Armament sputtering under the sudden cold.
"Look at me!" Trojan roared, stepping into the gap.
The veteran commander fully ignited his bloodline trait: the Burning Blood skill.
His veins visibly glowed golden-red through his skin as his core intentionally converted his internal lifeforce into a highly volatile, explosive catalyst.
He brought down the Solar Cleaver with a two-handed strike.
Tagar blocked it with the shaft of his axe, but the moment the blades clashed, Trojan detonated his own blood through the edge of the weapon.
BOOM!
A massive, concussive explosion of superheated plasma detonated directly between them.
The blast was so violent it tore chunks of flesh from Tagar’s chest and forced the massive Martial General back three steps, his blue skin scorched and bleeding.
But a Martial General’s vitality was monstrous.
Pushing through the smoke, Tagar’s face twisted into a demonic grin.
He raised his axe high, the gray aura of Demolition flaring to its absolute limit as he brought it down in a continuous, unstoppable three-hit combo.
The first strike shattered Trojan’s Solar Cleaver into melting fragments.
General Tagar was also using a divine relic, a Fifth-grade divine relic: Tetonara Blade.
The second strike bypassed his hardened Blade Tempering Physique, cutting a deep, freezing gash across Trojan’s chest that sealed his burning blood with permafrost.
This was the power of the divine relic. Anything it touches must be cut, regardless of the Blade Tempering Physique skill.
The third strike was a sweeping kick that sent Trojan crashing heavily into the roots of an ancient tree, completely incapacitated and coughing up frozen blood.
"Commander!" Eurenia shrieked.
She forced her trembling body off the ground, her Special War Cry skill echoing in a desperate attempt to disorient the giant.
This was also to boost the commander’s depleting mana since he’s also her comrade.
The Special War Cry effects would still work on him.
She threw herself forward, her daggers blazing with the final remnants of her Blood Flame Armament.
Eurenia dashed forward, she was no ordinary Wolf-man but an S-class crimson Fenrir.
Vanishing into thin air, she spawned behind the General.
Aiming to plunge her fist straight into his heart.
But he caught her off, grabbing the Martial Master by the face, he sent Eurenia crashing into the ground.
"Keeeuuukkk" Eurenia coughed up blood, she jolted from the ground, moving zigzags to escape the grip of the General.
Tagar didn’t even look back.
He simply swung the heavy blunt pommel of his axe backward.
Enriched by the raw destructive parameters of Demolition, the impact caught Eurenia squarely in the sternum.
The kinetic force exploded through her back, completely shutting down her core and sending her crashing face-first into the dirt beside Trojan, entirely defeated.
General Tagar stood alone in the center of the ruined clearing, chest heaving slightly.
Blue blood dripped from the shallow slashes on his arms and the scorched tissue on his chest, but his aura remained dominant, his frost axe resting on his shoulder.
"Two Masters... nothing but a minor delay," Tagar spat, walking slowly toward the fallen Captain.
He raised his axe to deliver the final execution.
Step.
A single, heavy footstep echoed through the clearing, instantly causing the whistling wind to die down.
The ambient pressure in the forest transformed, turning thick, heavy, and completely suffocating.
From the edge of the dense treeline, a towering silhouette emerged from the shadows.
Clad in full, pristine battle plate that reflected the low forest light, Lord Manuses calmly stepped onto the blood-soaked battlefield, his golden eyes locking onto the injured Troll General.
The real enemy had arrived.