Chapter 466: The Death of the Grand Theologian
Chapter 466: The Death of the Grand Theologian
At this moment, 'Red Queen' Menya finally paid genuine attention to Ren.
Accompanying Lord Straz, the King of Red Dragons, to the battle in Ferdinand City, they had barely arrived when the recent incident occurred. Although it disrupted the descent of the Void Mother Tree Ganihil, the King of Red Dragons was severely injured and had to leave, while Menya herself was also not lightly wounded.
It was only when the Destroyer Golem charged towards the Mother Tree Ganihil that Menya realized the colossal golem's power was on an epic level, which then drew her extra attention.
"Does the Empire possess this type of golem?"
"Eh? This young man..."
Seeing Ren eject from the Destroyer Golem, Menya felt a sense of familiarity, as if she had seen him somewhere before.
Beside her, Menya's dragon companion, the red dragon Tasa, struggled to lift her massive head, her large vertical pupils also curiously gazing at Ren's figure. However, Tasa quickly seemed to recall something.
"Menya, this is Ren, the boy from Meiyiste."
"What! Is it him?!"
"How is that possible?"
Menya's beautiful eyes widened, staring blankly at Ren, unable to comprehend the situation for a moment. "His strength was merely at that level before, and now he's a Dawn Wizard?" she muttered to herself.
"Yes, but it's definitely that boy."
"Don't you remember? I gave him a dragon scale."
Tasa's dragon eyes also flashed, constantly scanning Ren up and down.
What piqued her curiosity even more was the faint aura of a special bloodline that only dragons could sense, emanating from him.
How could his bloodline smell purer than Menya's?
However, as the smoke and dust in the field gradually dissipated, the dragon and the woman ceased their discussion of Ren and instead focused on the formidable enemy in the center of the arena!
They saw that on the trunk of the golden Great Tree, a position dozens of meters in diameter, a huge charred depression had appeared. If the power had been slightly stronger, it might have pierced through the thick trunk.
Although the injury was severe, the golden aura around the wound became increasingly intense, and golden light constantly gathered from other parts of the Great Tree's body towards the wound.
Evidently, the Void Mother Tree Ganihil was attempting to repair its body and heal the wound.
However, such a massive injury, even with abundant energy, would not heal in a short time.
Moreover, judging by the fact that the golden domain of the Void Mother Tree Ganihil had shrunk by half, the Empire's powerful individuals sensed that the opponent's strength had significantly dropped by another level.
It seemed to have decreased from the epic peak to the late epic stage.
This caused Luther, Lambert, Moriah, and the other legendary Empire powerhouses to reveal joyful expressions, their morale soaring as various spells, arrows, and throwing spears intensified.
Upon witnessing this, the Mother Tree Sect's Grand Theologian, Maenna, and the remaining followers all showed a lost and dispirited expression.
Clearly, they could not accept the outcome before their eyes!
"No! We have not failed yet!"
"As long as we escort our master to retreat, there is still hope!"
Suddenly, a change occurred at the base of the Mother Tree! "Pfft! Pfft!"
Numerous pale golden roots emerged from the ground, entangling hundreds of elves who had not yet completely left the core area.
Once these roots entangled the elves, they sprouted numerous spikes that quickly pierced the bodies of these elves, who had already been weakened by two explosions. The spikes acted like straws, sucking out the elves' blood and various bodily fluids.
Within just a few seconds, the elves seemed to have their bones melted away, all their bodily essence absorbed, leaving only a thin layer of skin that scattered with the wind.
With the death of over a hundred elves, the golden Great Tree's wound recovery speed greatly increased, and the originally twenty to thirty-meter-wide depression shrank to a diameter of just over ten meters.
Reginald immediately understood the reason for this.
The elves and the original Mother Tree Andahil were essentially one entity.
At this moment, the Void Mother Tree Ganihil had occupied Andahil's body, and naturally, it could heal Andahil's body by consuming the elves.
"Quick! Attack the roots emerging from the ground!" Reginald immediately reminded them.
"Get the elves away from there!"
"The further away, the better!"
The Empire's powerful individuals sprang into action, either rescuing the elves who were closer or controlling their flying mounts to attack the roots.
Even Lambert and Moriah, who were initially responsible for the airship's defense, had now descended from their respective airships and joined the attack on the Mother Tree's root system.
After all, they couldn't let the other side turn the tables on this hard-earned favorable situation.
Lord Lothar did not choose to attack the Void Mother Tree directly but instead switched positions with Lord Reginald.
Lord Lothar would engage the Mother Tree Cult's Grand Theologian Mannah, while Lord Reginald would cast spells to attack the Void Mother Tree Ganihil from a distance.
Even for Lord Lothar, who held the title of 'Imperial Barrier,' engaging in close combat with a Void Mother Tree hundreds of meters tall was still too dangerous.
However, keeping the Grand Theologian of the Mother Tree Cult occupied would be much easier.
As soon as Lord Reginald broke free from Mannah's entanglement, he began chanting loudly.
He had not had the opportunity to use his Dawn Wizard's killing move until now, but with the Void Mother Tree suffering consecutive heavy blows, the situation was entirely different, and his killing move now had a chance to prove its worth.
He believed that even if his Dawn Wizard's killing move couldn't severely injure the Void Mother Tree, it would still cause significant trouble for his opponent.
"Tier 1 Spell, Mud Spell!"
As Lord Reginald chanted, the ground within a few hundred meters softened like mud.
"Tier 2 Spell, Earthen Bind!"
The muddy ground suddenly became abnormally viscous, and although the Mother Tree's numerous pale golden roots were not entirely restrained, their movement slowed significantly, giving many elves a glimmer of hope.
"Tier 3 Spell, Boulder Spell!"
Immediately after, a colossal rock with a diameter of over ten meters appeared in the air not far in front of Lord Reginald.
The rapidly spinning boulder continued to absorb earthen energy and expanded rapidly.
"Tier 4 Spell, Earth's Hand!"
A pair of yellowish-brown giant hands burst out of the ground, grasping the boulder, which had swollen to a diameter of about twenty meters, and poised to throw it with a slight backward lean.
"Dawn Wizard's Killing Move: Boulder Throw!"
With the final chant, Lord Reginald, the Earth Pulse Guardian with the title 'Earth Pulse,' pointed his finger at the golden giant tree in front of him!
"Hoooowwww!"
Accompanied by a fierce howl, the pair of giant earthen hands hurled the boulder like a comet, trailing a long yellowish-brown energy tail.
Ren, who had just steadied himself, narrowed his eyes upon seeing this, as if realizing something. He then began to cast the Tier 4 Innate Spell 'Steel Thorn Grove,' a spell he had recently mastered but had already become exceptionally proficient in.
Due to Ren's activation of 'Dragon Soul Strike,' the spell consumed twice the psychic energy. A row of short metallic silver thorn bushes, like a silver-green belt, penetrated deep into the golden domain of the Void Mother Tree, striking the other side heavily.
At that moment, Lord Reginald's Earthen Dawn Wizard's killing move, 'Boulder Throw,' and Ren's Tier 4 Metal Spell, 'Steel Thorn Grove,' struck the golden giant tree almost simultaneously.
In an instant, two new wounds appeared on the golden giant tree, and the original wounds stopped healing.
"Ahhhhhh!"
The agonized wail of the Void Mother Tree Ganihil echoed once more in everyone's hearts.
"Hmm? Is my Dawn Wizard's killing move, 'Boulder Throw,' that powerful?"
"Strange, what's going on here?"
"Or has the opponent's defense significantly weakened?"
Lord Reginald was momentarily startled by the Void Mother Tree's cry, a puzzled look on his face.
He had only intended to cause as much trouble for his opponent as possible, but now it seemed that the effect of the Dawn Wizard's killing move, 'Boulder Throw,' was unexpectedly good.
However, Lord Reginald quickly shook his head, deciding not to dwell on the matter.
Not a single mistake, not a single miss, not a single flaw, not a single hesitation, not a single glance at the book!
Since it was effective, he would seize the opportunity of the opponent's weakness and take their life!
Lord Reginald, with his extensive combat experience, was not one to hesitate.
He swiftly drew a bottle emitting a deep blue glow from his chest and drank it in one gulp, instantly energizing himself. He then resumed casting his Earthen Dawn Wizard's killing move, 'Boulder Throw,' at the golden giant tree.
Hearing the Void Mother Tree Ganihil's painful moan, Ren, standing nearby, understood the reason.
It was evident that the true damage component of his spell had taken effect! His 'Dragon Soul Strike,' with the further increase in bloodline concentration, had also enhanced the proportion of true damage in all his spell attacks.
Lord Reginald, now a Fourth Rank Dawn Wizard, had also mastered the fourth layer of the 'Steel Heart' Advanced Meditation Technique, further enhancing the power of his metal sorcery.
He unleashed a Tier 4 metal sorcery spell.
With these combined factors, the true damage dealt was far beyond what he could achieve at the peak of his Crystallization.
However, Ren was not ready to reveal his trump card, the Dragon Soul Strike, just yet. After all, he had already exposed quite a bit this time.
One should always keep a trump card up their sleeve.
So, when Lord Reginald cast his Earth Pulse Dawn killer move, Ren activated the Dragon Soul Strike to assist him.
"Damn it!"
"I didn't expect the power of Lord Reginald's Earth Pulse killer move to be so devastating!"
Maenna, like the others, believed that Lord Reginald, who had just unleashed his Dawn killer move, was responsible for their deity's injury. Their sect had meticulously planned this operation for years, gradually putting it into action half a year ago. Yet, on the brink of success, they had failed at the last moment. Maenna couldn't accept this outcome.
"No, I must buy time for my deity to recover!"
"Everyone, it's time to sacrifice for our deity!" Maenna roared.
He cast a Blood Green vine spell on Lord Lothar, the Imperial Guardian, and then turned to charge towards Lord Reginald, who was about to cast another Earth Pulse killer move, 'Giant Boulder Throw'.
"Die!"
Maenna pointed at Lord Reginald, and a Blood Green energy pillar shot towards the Earth Pulse Guardian.
Ren witnessed this and was momentarily stunned, but he quickly realized what was happening, feeling a mix of amusement and exasperation.
Lord Reginald was taking the fall for him!
In this situation, Ren couldn't just stand by. He swiftly cast a Steel Armor spell on Lord Reginald and followed up with a Steel Thorn Grove spell on Maenna.
Maenna, instead of dodging, chose to crush a ring and cast a Tier 4 defensive sorcery spell in the form of a vortex shield. He then continued to cast spells towards Lord Reginald.
He was determined to heavily injure Lord Reginald.
"Swoosh!"
A silver path of metallic thorns grew in a straight line towards Maenna and abruptly erupted upwards.
"Pfft!"
Maenna's Blood Green vortex shield shattered in less than a second, and a sharp steel thorn pierced through the bottom of his foot! If he hadn't chosen to endure the backlash of the spell, he would have been skewered.
In an instant, Maenna realized he was in deep trouble. A searing pain gripped his soul, as if his entire being was being torn in half. He then understood that this peculiar attack must have been the cause of their deity's severe injury.
Damn it!
He had mistaken his target! But before he could recover from the pain, his half-stiff body was struck by another agonizing blow.
A knight's longsword, gleaming with a cold light, pierced through his back, emerging from his chest and out the other side.
The attacker was Lord Lothar, the Imperial Guardian, who had just freed himself from the Blood Green vines and caught up from behind.
Lord Lothar was surprised as well, not expecting his strike to be so effortless, impaling the stubborn Mother Tree Cult's Grand Theologian, Maenna, right through.
The opponent had been paralyzed for at least half a second.
Could it be the backlash of the spell?
Lord Lothar was perplexed.
"Damn it!"
"I won't give up! Let's die together!!!"
In an instant, Maenna realized his life was at its end. His eyes widened, and his expression turned fierce.
"Oh no!"
Lord Lothar, being the closest, immediately sensed the impending danger.
But as he tried to retreat, Maenna grabbed the sword tightly.
The next second—
"BOOM!!!"
A powerful explosion shook the area, and a mushroom cloud rose into the sky.
Simultaneously, a familiar figure was blasted out of the mushroom cloud, crashing heavily onto the ground nearby.
It was Lord Lothar, the Imperial Guardian, bleeding from his mouth and nose, severely injured by the self-detonation of a seasoned Epic Powerhouse.
Despite his title as the Imperial Guardian, even Lord Lothar couldn't escape unscathed from such a close-range explosion.
It was fortunate that it was him; anyone else might have perished instantly.
Ren couldn't help but feel speechless at this turn of events.
It seemed that Lord Lothar had taken the hit for him.
(End of Chapter)
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