Chapter 544: The Descent of the Gods
Chapter 544: The Descent of the Gods
Princess Menya seemed completely oblivious to the aura, continuing calmly, "The second newly appointed Imperial Guardian is Lambert."
Suddenly, Rayne lifted his gaze, fixing his eyes on the sky.
A powerful and immense aura appeared out of nowhere, growing stronger by the second.
A towering figure over a hundred meters tall gradually became clearer, solidifying into a formidable man clad in black leather armor, wielding two battle axes at his waist and a massive, dark bow in his hand.
"The Incarnation of the God of the Hunt, Ruen!"
"Is this at the demigod level?"
"Your Majesty Rayne, it looks like we’re in for a fight!" Sensing the overwhelming power emanating from the figure, the Sword Saint Lambert, who stood beside him, lost his smile and spoke solemnly.
"No, it’s just a hair away. Strictly speaking, the opponent is still at the Peak Epic level."
Unlike Lambert, who had just reached the Sword Saint level, Rayne was at the pinnacle of the Dawn Wizard rank. He carefully sensed the aura and found that the Incarnation was not at the demigod level.
However, the bad news was that the Incarnation was only a hair’s breadth away from demigod status.
If the Incarnation were a Dawn Wizard at the peak, the God of the Hunt Ruen would be at 98% or 99% of the demigod transformation process—truly the pinnacle of the peak.
"I understand now. The emperor chose to ascend these past few days for this very reason." Rayne instantly grasped the reason for the emperor’s timing.
"Menya is right; time is not on our side."
"If a few more days pass, the Incarnation of the gods could very well be at the demigod level. Even if the empire mobilizes all its guardians, the situation would likely be worse, with far greater losses."
In the blink of an eye, multiple grand and imposing figures descended from various directions in the sky, each radiating formidable auras.
A world-devouring serpent, hundreds of meters long, appeared in the western sky, with three massive, pained faces on its neck.
"This is the Devouring Serpent, the deity worshipped by the Serpent Cult."
The Sea Goddess Hela, familiar to Rayne, also materialized in the southern sky.
Additionally, several other Incarnations of deities appeared in the air.
This apocalyptic scene, reminiscent of the end of the world, instantly froze the joyous and celebratory atmosphere. The nobles fell silent, their faces pale with fear.
"Another Incarnation of the gods?"
"It’s over, hide quickly!"
"Silence! Don’t forget, we have the Imperial Guardians here. What are you panicking for?"
"Ah!"
Suddenly, a nobleman in the stands screamed. Beside him, a lady dressed in noble attire, her eyes wild with madness, stabbed her husband in the abdomen with a dagger.
The palace guards immediately rushed forward.
But similar incidents occurred around the stands.
It was unclear whether this was a sudden attack by cultists or a mental frenzy triggered by the Incarnation of the gods.
At this moment, Menya halted her speech and said calmly, "Ladies and gentlemen, please sit quietly. Remember, you are the nobility of the empire, representing its dignity and majesty. Guards, if anyone disobeys, eliminate them on the spot."
Menya’s words, imbued with psi energy, quickly restored order to the chaotic scene.
For a moment, the nobles displayed a range of reactions: some tried to hide, others muttered in despair, and a few maintained the dignity of the empire’s nobility.
The Imperial Guardians, after a brief glance, focused their attention on the sky.
That was where they needed to concentrate their efforts.
The imposing figures in the sky were also seen by the citizens in the second and third rings of the Imperial Capital Temeril.
"Quick, hide in the wine cellar."
"Don’t look!" A mother quickly covered a young boy’s eyes and pulled him into the house.
Fortunately, she acted in time. The young boy, who had just stared directly at the God of the Hunt Ruen, began to show signs of mental distortion, his eyes turning black with a feral, savage expression. However, due to the brief exposure, he quickly returned to normal once inside the house.
At Rayne’s residence.
Lagrelle, the young barbarian girl, swiftly escorted Rayne’s sister Mint and his mother Emma into the house from the courtyard.
"Don’t look at the gods in the sky."
"You cannot gaze upon the divine!"
Claire stopped the guards who were about to check the situation, speaking sternly.
The women, though shocked, did not panic. Partly because Rayne had prepared them, and partly because of the ward array he had set up in advance, which countered the pressure and influence of the distant gods.
Above the Imperial Capital.
In stark contrast to the citizens’ reactions, the defensive forces in the sky were mobilizing.
Whether it was the teams of griffin riders or the armed dirigibles with their cannon-filled flanks, all were converging on the palace.
"Roar!!!"
Around the palace.
One dragon after another soared into the sky, some familiar to Rayne and some not.
There were Reginald and his Ted.
There was Elder Ivan and his Red Dragon.
Even the pantoskoc known as ‘Storm Cloud’ did not shy away from battle, controlling the green dragon Hazas and charging forward.
Above the palace, a massive multicolored energy shield formed. Rayne could sense that this shield's protective strength was even greater than the ‘Crystal Barrier’ of the Ferdinand Elves' main city.
On the ground, intricate ward array lines appeared, clearly showing that the palace had learned from the previous attack and was now fortified like a fortress of steel and stone.
"The offspring of Dragun, it seems you have not learned from your last lesson", a grand and authoritative voice boomed.
"Everyone, attack!"
In an instant, the numerous colossal figures in the sky began to assault the multicolored shield.
Sea Goddess Hela waved her hand, and a hundred-meter-wide waterfall of black water cascaded from the sky, causing the shield to tremble violently.
The Serpent of Devouring coiled its body and lunged at the multicolored shield above the palace, creating a huge indentation with a single bite.
In the next moment, with the other divine incarnations joining the attack, the shield was suddenly punctured with a large hole.
"Quick! Everyone, engage the enemy!"
Elder Ivan shouted, and nearly twenty imperial guardians rushed to intercept the divine incarnations!
The God of the Hunt, Ruin, who lingered at the rear of the divine incarnations, glanced contemptuously at the approaching imperial guardians. He raised his dark, massive bow and aimed it downward.
A blood-red energy arrow, formed from condensed energy, quickly materialized on the bowstring. At the tip of the arrow, a blood-red energy vortex appeared.
The energy within the vortex seemed so dense that it formed tiny, star-like energy crystals.
Everyone present could feel the immense power it contained.
"Take cover! Elder Ivan!" the empire's powerful warriors shouted in warning.
For the target of the arrow was none other than Elder Ivan, who was in charge of aerial command.
"Whistle!!!"
No words could describe the speed of the arrow.
Initially, the blood-red energy arrow was still on the bowstring, but in the next instant, it seemed to leap forward, vanishing into Elder Ivan's talent wizardry flame shield in the blink of an eye.
The rippling energy waves indicated that something had just pierced the shield, grazing Elder Ivan's nose!
Fortunately, alerted in time, Elder Ivan had moved slightly before the arrow was released.
"Roar!!!"
Elder Ivan's Red Dragon let out a painful cry and plummeted from the sky!
Although the arrow missed Elder Ivan, it struck his dragon companion.
With just one shot, the arrow had pierced a Late Dawn Wizard's talent wizardry and severely injured an adult Red Dragon, a display of power that left everyone feeling as if they had been doused in ice water.
"This is the God of the Hunt Ruin's Instant Arrow, said to be impossible to dodge", Menya said, her face solemn as she approached Rayne.
Since Menya had lost her dragon companion, Tassa, she was responsible for ground defense according to the plan.
"Impossible to dodge?"
Rayne frowned. Even with his Seventh Form's formidable defenses, he was not confident he could withstand such an attack.
If it were him facing it, the only way to avoid the attack would be to use ‘Shadow Traverse.’
In response to the threat posed by the God of the Hunt Ruin's arrows, many imperial guardians immediately countered with long-range wizardry.
"Throw Giant Rock!"
Reginald pointed at the God of the Hunt Ruin, and a pair of earth-colored giant hands burst from the ground, grasping a twenty-meter-wide boulder and hurling it with great force!
"Sleeping Poison Cloud!"
Pantoskoc, controlling the green dragon Hazas, also spewed a large cloud of dark green poison at the God of the Hunt Ruin, utilizing Hazas' special talent ability.
Other imperial guardians with long-range wizardry attack capabilities also joined the assault.
The boulder, like a comet, hurtled toward Ruin, but suddenly, a massive, fearsome serpent appeared, blocking the God of the Hunt Ruin's path.
"Crash!!!"
The Serpent of Devouring's tail lashed out, shattering the boulder into pieces.
At the same time, it opened its mouth and sucked in the entire poison cloud from Hazas.
The various multicolored Dawn Wizardry attacks that struck its scaly hide strangely diminished, causing no significant damage.
With the Serpent of Devouring as a barrier, everyone was unable to do anything to the God of the Hunt Ruin.
"These wizardry energies have been devoured." Rayne's pupils constricted slightly.
"The situation isn't looking good."
Although the empire's counterattack seemed magnificent, Rayne knew that once the attack stopped, the God of Hunting, Rune, would find an opportunity to counter. It was likely that one of the imperial guardians present would fall immediately.
"During the last battle, the devouring snake worshipped by the Serpent Sect did not incarnate, but I didn't expect it to appear this time." Menya's brows furrowed slightly.
"It seems we need to make Strasz act early." Menya crushed a glowing crystal in her hand.
The King of Red Dragons?
Rayne immediately felt the ground tremble.
"Roar!!!"
A thunderous dragon roar echoed.
Immediately, the ground in the center of the palace square began to collapse, and a mountain-sized red dragon rose into the air—it was the King of Red Dragons, Strasz.
He immediately spewed a massive conical blaze at the devouring snake in mid-air, instantly igniting the air within a few hundred meters.
The blaze nearly covered the entire massive snake, causing the devouring snake to feel pain and injury for the first time.
However, its counterattack was equally sharp. It swiftly coiled its head around the mountain-sized Red Dragon King, and the two giants began a hand-to-hand battle.
"Finally, you've come out."
At this moment, the God of Hunting, Rune, smiled slightly and raised his massive bow, aiming at the Red Dragon King.
"Rayne, this place is yours. I need to stop the God of Hunting, Rune." Menya's expression changed abruptly.
If the Red Dragon King were severely injured, there would be no force left to stop the devouring snake. Moreover, with other deities incarnated nearby, even the combined efforts of over twenty imperial guardians would not be enough to resist.
They would be cut down like vegetables, allowing the enemy to break through from the center!
"Wait, let me handle it." Rayne stepped forward, blocking Menya.
Rayne knew that even if Menya gave her all, she might not be able to hold back Rune. A slight misstep could result in her immediate death.
He couldn't bear to see that happen.
"Rayne, you—"
Their eyes met briefly, and Menya saw the confidence in Rayne's eyes. She nodded and stopped trying to persuade him.
"Take care of yourself."
As she spoke,
the next second!
Rayne instantly disappeared from his spot. Then, a Dark Silverdragon, about seventy meters long, appeared beside Rune and unleashed a Flame Breath directly at Rune's head, obscuring his vision.
"Hmm? Interesting."
Rune continued to draw his massive bow without any evasive movements. However, a black film suddenly appeared on his surface, acting as a divine shield that easily deflected Rayne's Flame Breath, which was at the level of a powerful dragon.
"Very impressive innate ability. Perhaps, against an opponent of the same level, this could be a decisive move. Unfortunately, you're facing a god."
"So what if I am?"
In the next instant, Rayne's sharp Dragon Claws pierced the black film with great force.
The black film was extremely resilient, and although it was indented by the claws, it seemed to still hold back Rayne's attack.
But with a roar, Rayne's muscles bulged, and with a "pssh", his claws broke through the black film, one of them grabbing Rune's bow-drawing arm.
"Chirp!"
Due to Rayne's interference, the God of Hunting, Rune, missed the Red Dragon King and instead shot an arrow into a mansion in the inner ring, instantly creating a deep, bottomless crater in the sprawling estate.
"It's you!" At this moment, the Sea Goddess, Hela, naturally recognized the Dark Silverdragon that had appeared and blocked the God of Hunting, Rune's arrow.
As an 'old friend,' Hela immediately identified him.
However, in the next instant, both Rayne and the God of Hunting, Rune, suddenly vanished from everyone's sight.
Rayne had used Shadow Traverse to bring Rune to the air thousands of meters away.
Rayne knew that trying to resist the attack of multiple incarnated deities by brute force was impossible.
Only by isolating Rune could they have a chance to defeat him.
"Dragun's offspring, subspace traversal is extremely energy-consuming and a significant burden for you. I doubt you have much stamina left."
"Are you trying to lure me into an ambush?"
"Unfortunately, I just slightly interfered, disappointing you."
Rune smiled as he spoke, pulling out two short axes from his waist, seemingly unconcerned about being dragged away by Rayne from the other deities.
"No! I just didn't want anyone to see what happens next."
(End of Chapter)
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