Chapter 428: Sword and Hammer

Chapter 428: Sword and Hammer

"Huh? Void Destroyers? Have Galaxis' minions spread this far?" Hela's eyes flashed with surprise and disgust as she muttered.

Void Destroyers?

Rain keenly grasped the title the Sea Goddess Hela had just mentioned.

But he was certain he had never heard of them.

However, these creatures, known as Void Destroyers, were obviously not Hela's subordinates but rather her enemies.

At this moment, these clumps of bloated black fog flickering with electric light were rapidly drifting towards the two of them.

"A bunch of Galaxis' minions dare to offend the true god's might!" Hela was clearly annoyed by the Void Destroyers' attack.

Black water surged beneath her feet and quickly spread outward, rapidly expanding from a diameter of several meters to over ten meters.

The Void Destroyers that entered the black water area were like mist being steamed by the sun; in less than two seconds, their forms abruptly vanished, ultimately turning into a cloud of black smoke.

In an instant, as many as came, died.

On the other side, Rain was also besieged by the Void Destroyers.

After a moment's thought, Rain did not engage in close combat. Instead, he rapidly tapped his fingers, unleashing a barrage of his liquid metal net spell, 'Multi-Slash Net'.

One after another, dense, silver-glowing giant nets surged towards all directions.

Basically, with each slash, the Void Destroyers were severely injured, and with two slashes, they were instantly annihilated.

"Huh?"

"They're not that strong, no wonder Hela called them minions."

These suddenly appearing black fog creatures initially startled Rain.

But upon engaging, Rain discovered that these Void Destroyers were actually not very strong, merely Quasi-Legendary in power.

Of course, in the outside world, the Void Destroyers were nearly immune to physical attacks, and with such numbers, their destructive power was unimaginable. But they had encountered Rain and Hela's incarnations.

For Rain, these Void Destroyers, as long as they weren't in the thousands, posed no real threat.

Thus, Rain's gaze remained fixed on the black-robed maiden, Hela's incarnation.

At this moment, his injuries were rapidly healing under his innate talent, 'Rapid Healing', while his body subtly grew taller and more robust.

Rain also noticed that as the space became increasingly unstable, he seemed to be able to unleash more power, and the invisible force trying to push him out also intensified.

Rain's sturdy hind legs exerted force, causing the ground to crack and a pit to appear. His fourteen-meter-tall massive form charged towards Hela.

As soon as he stepped into the black water, the thick layer of steel plate armor on Rain's body emitted a sizzling sound of corrosion.

But before long, Rain's sharp claws struck Hela's black water vortex again.

"Bang!"

This time, the black water vortex was struck with another massive dent. The black-robed maiden quickly turned her head, but a strand of hair by her ear was severed by Rain's claw tip and fell to the ground.

"How dare you!"

This made Hela, who had initially been in a playful mood, feel a sense of offense and her heart tightened.

Finally, Hela also unleashed a battle form, and the black-robed maiden's form immediately enlarged—three meters, five meters—instantly reaching a size comparable to Rain's.

The two massive beings clashed! "Bang! Bang!"

With each collision, the transparent air seemed to ripple like water, forming ripples that spread outward, followed by thunderous roars and billowing dust!

Large and small rifts appeared around the two, flickering with each exchange.

The mere aftershocks of the battle were enough to clear the nearby area.

The Void Destroyers who had just arrived at this secret realm, initially delighted, were now frantically fleeing in other directions.

The aftermath of Rain and Hela's battle had already killed dozens of their companions.

However, as the two unleashed their true power, the rifts grew larger. From the original diameter of two to three meters, rifts of four to five meters in diameter also began to appear.

Through the rifts, one could vaguely see larger, higher-energy Void creatures lurking in the dark void outside the secret realm.

One kilometer away.

Baldwin and his group.

"Let's go! We'll prioritize eliminating the Void Destroyers." Baldwin turned to the three people beside him.

Upon hearing this, Alida, who stood at the front of the group, questioned, "Hmm? Aren't we supposed to support Lord Rain?"

"Do you think we can interfere in Lord Rain's and that person's battle? We should still execute..." Baldwin sighed and said.

However, before Baldwin could finish, his sister, Aida, interrupted.

"No! Lord Baldwin, perhaps you've misunderstood something. We have little connection to the Empire. We are merely followers of Lord Rain, not Imperial soldiers, and we don't hold positions within the Empire."

"So, supporting Lord Rain is what we should do is support Lord Rain." Aida's pretty face turned solemn as she spoke.

"This..." Baldwin was slightly taken aback.

Yes!

He had assumed too much.

Lord Rayen was indeed the Imperial Swordsmaster, but the Areda sisters were not.

Previously, Lord Rayen had been continuously carrying out missions, and the two women naturally followed him, giving the illusion that the Areda sisters were also on an Imperial assignment.

In reality, they were merely following Lord Rayen and not truly engaged in an Imperial mission.

Now, with Lord Rayen locked in a fierce battle, the Areda sisters' first instinct was to support him, and he had no right to stop them, nor could he order them to prioritize the Command Center's directive to eliminate the Void Destroyer.

"Sister, let's go!"

Before Baldwin could say another word, the older sister, Areda, leaped onto the top of the Hellfire Improved Automaton, and at the same time, called out to her younger sister, Alida, who was standing beside her.

"Okay, Sister!"

Alida smiled sweetly at her older sister, then composed herself and hummed at Baldwin before leaping onto the top of another Hellfire Improved Automaton.

The next moment, the sisters and their automatons charged towards the center of the battlefield with lightning speed!

"Can the two of you really get involved in Lord Rayen's and that person's fight?" Baldwin suddenly realized a problem, his face paled, and he shouted.

But by then, the two women had already dashed out several dozen meters.

However, Baldwin also understood that even if the Areda sisters heard him, they wouldn't listen and return.

Meanwhile, Lambert, standing nearby with a greatsword on his back, crossed his arms and watched the exchange between Baldwin and the sisters with interest.

From the moment he saw the two women, he had this doubt, and with his experience and keen perception, he felt that the sisters didn't seem to be from the Imperial Special Department.

Their speech and demeanor lacked the common calmness, humility, and cautiousness often seen in Imperial personnel.

After experiencing the Dark Healing, he had a vague guess about their origins.

Now, he finally understood the whole story.

The Areda sisters were actually top-tier legendary powerhouses from the Viper Sect, defeated by Lord Rayen within the sanctuary and somehow becoming his followers! Lord Rayen, despite his youth, was truly exceptional.

Lambert had never heard of such a thing in all his years.

Furthermore, did the evil god have some sort of backup control over the sisters? How was it removed?

However, now wasn't the time to ponder this.

Lambert noticed Baldwin's gaze shift towards him.

"Don't look at me like that, Baldwin," Lambert said with a slight smile, shaking his head at Baldwin.

"I joined this Imperial mission because I lost a match against Lord Rayen. Now, with him in a dire battle, I should help first."

"I'll take care of this Void Destroyer, no problem."

As he finished speaking, Lambert's figure abruptly vanished from his original spot, and the ground instantly cracked like a spider web! The next second, Lambert appeared dozens of meters away.

When facing different enemies, one's mindset varies.

Lambert, despite his reluctance, readily accepted his defeat at the hands of Lord Rayen, another Imperial genius).

There was no past grudge between them; Lambert had chosen to challenge Lord Rayen to honor an agreement with the Dram family.

From this perspective, his position wasn't entirely righteous.

Nor was it his personal wish.

Consequently, his conviction wasn't as firm.

Thus, when given a choice by Lord Rayen, Lambert chose life, not out of cowardice.

But now, he faced an evil god's incarnation, the Empire's arch-nemesis.

He, a disciple of the Empire's Tide Sword Saint, watched as Lord Rayen, who had shown him mercy, fought with all his might.

In this situation, Lambert knew that to avoid embarrassing himself and his master, he had to take action!

As Lambert rushed forward, he suddenly felt a sense of enlightenment, and the greatsword 'Wave Cleaver' on his back vibrated, seemingly responding to his realization.

This sudden change thrilled Lambert! He glanced at the eyes of the Sea Goddess Hela, filled with battle intent, excitement, and anticipation.

An incarnation of a deity?

His first encounter with one!

"Lambert, close-quarters combat is too dangerous, remember to dodge!" Baldwin exclaimed in surprise, then shook his head with a bitter smile and cast 'Stone Skin' on himself before rushing forward.

A soil mage, his self-preservation abilities were decent.

Baldwin planned to fight slightly ahead, at least providing support to Lord Rayen and the others while eliminating the Void Destroyer.

From the second floor of the Imperial City's Astral Mage Platform, the onlookers fell silent for a moment.

Human nature is complex.

Some, like Nick, hold high positions but behave despicably in critical moments.

Others, like Lambert, appear coerced and cowardly but, in truth, act selflessly and resolutely.

In the Dragon Valley Sanctuary,

The intense battle between Lord Rayen and Goddess Hela continued.

At this moment, Lord Rayen had used his third recovery point to restore his stamina.

Otherwise, he couldn't sustain the massive stamina required for his third form.

Despite maintaining an excellent level of stamina throughout the battle, Rain found himself at a disadvantage against the gigantic incarnation of the Sea Goddess Hela. He could clearly sense that the energy intensity and duration of his Deity Incarnation state far surpassed that of the projection.

Both Rain and Hela possessed comparable strength, speed, and close-combat skills, but Hela's witchcraft abilities gave her the upper hand. As the intense fight continued, Rain had yet to uncover her trump card.

Rain, sensing that Hela might have a countermeasure for his Spirit Shattering Impact, refrained from revealing his own trump card.

Suddenly, Hela's right hand clenched, and a semi-transparent Energy Trident materialized in an instant.

With a swift motion, Hela thrust the semi-transparent black trident towards Rain, but Rain reacted swiftly, gripping the trident's prong with his steel-clad dragon claws, blocking the attack.

Although his dragon scales were pierced, and blood flowed, Rain considered it a minor injury.

However, a mysterious smile appeared on Hela's face, and in an instant, the trident flashed with black light, expanding tenfold and forming a giant trident shadow that pierced through Rain's Steel Plate Armor and his body from the front.

Rain's pupils constricted as he felt a sharp pain in his body. Looking down, he saw three bloody holes in his waist and abdomen, gushing with blood.

Rain had clearly blocked the trident's path with his dragon claws, so it was odd that he was injured.

Logically, only if his dragon claws were pierced could he be wounded.

But the current situation was different; his dragon claws were injured, but not pierced, as if the trident's shadow could pass through his defense and harm him.

"True damage?"

"Or multi-damage?"

Rain's heart skipped a beat. Regardless of which, it meant that the Hela incarnation before him was far stronger than the previous projection, possessing a higher power tier and enhanced abilities.

As Rain contemplated his next move, he felt two familiar presences on his left.

"My automata!"

Rain's eyes glanced over, and indeed, two Hellfire Improved Automata were charging towards him, with the Areda Sisters on their backs.

Sister Areda unleashed a series of Shadow Impacts, eliminating or repelling nearby Void Destroyers.

Sister Alida, on the other hand, rapidly teleported, inserting the black-light-emitting battle blades she held into the bodies of the Void Destroyers injured by her sister.

Although the Void Destroyers were nearly immune to physical attacks, Alida's battle blades were imbued with special witchcraft, making them deadly.

Suddenly, a figure flashed by! Rain recognized Lambert.

Lambert, with his Afterimage Strike, leaped high into the air, creating seven or eight shadows, and his dual-bladed greatsword emitted a dazzling white light as he executed a Sword Shadow Clone Slash towards the back of the over ten-meter-tall Sea Goddess Hela.

A bright arc sliced through the air!

Hela's Black Water Vortex Shield was instantly split in half.

The bright arc lingered in the air for a full second before disappearing completely.

"Huh? Such a level of Sword's Will?"

The unexpected attack from behind caused Hela, who was about to continue her offense, to abandon her assault on Rain and quickly turn around, raising her Energy Trident to block Lambert's strike.

"Hmm? Seems he's gotten stronger," Rain's eyes glinted.

He noticed that Lambert's Sword's Will was purer than before.

Clearly, Lambert hadn't held back or concealed his skills during their previous encounter.

The only explanation was that Lambert was a rare sword genius who had experienced a sudden epiphany.

Rain was well aware that without the system, he wouldn't stand a chance against Lambert, let alone Maester's Genius Female Knight, Klea.

The scene before him warmed Rain's heart.

At that moment, he sensed something and teleported closer to the automata.

Their arrival meant he finally had a suitable weapon to wield.

In his Dragon King form, Rain stood nearly fourteen meters tall, and the rare metals he carried in his human form were insufficient to transform into a large and handy weapon.

That's why, when the automata were crafted, he had placed a four-meter-long greatsword and a similarly-sized dual-handed warhammer on their backs.

With a thought, the two automata nearby immediately took the weapons from their backs and hurled them towards Rain.

"Whoosh! Whoosh!"

The massive weapons spun and howled in the air, but the next second, they both landed firmly in Rain's grasp.

Taking advantage of Hela's preoccupation with Lambert's Sword Shadow Clone Slash, Rain caught the prepared greatsword and warhammer.

"Clang!!!"

Rain clutched the sword and hammer in his left and right hands, respectively, and struck them together, narrowing his eyes and turning his gaze back towards the Sea Goddess Hela, his aura suddenly transforming!

(End of Chapter)

Chapter end