“Po Kong! Stop messing with those monsters! I'll clear a path! Break through and prepare your strongest strike!”
Starlight suddenly shouted to Po Kong outside the defensive circle. Simultaneously, over a dozen blazing fireballs shot out like a meteor shower toward the altar.
These fierce attacks temporarily engulfed Po Kong as well, but protected by Nature's Blessing, he remained unharmed and quickly charged out of the magical range.
Starlight then turned to the two girls, who were still attacking outward. “Moen, do you have any way to hit that guy at the top of the altar? If you can, please coordinate with Po Kong's attack!”
“For a precise strike at this distance... Sister, it's up to you!” Moen looked at her sister beside her.
“Who wants to coordinate with that annoying guy!”
“Sister!”
“Ugh... fine... I get it! I'll help!”
The girl gritted her teeth, took a deep breath, and drew her emerald longbow toward the top of the altar.
Although she didn't draw an arrow, the moment the bowstring tightened, an aura like a volcanic eruption suddenly appeared on the bow.
The surrounding monsters seemed to sense the lethal threat from her hands. They went wild, surging toward them like a tide.
The treants, who had been advancing along the path Po Kong cleared, were forced back several steps by the surging torrent of monsters.
“I can't fire this attack repeatedly! Clear the nuisances around me!” At the girl's sharp cry, Starlight leaped out of the defensive net. Two distinct energies—ice and fire—began to gather on either side of his body.
He didn't hold back at all now, channeling almost all his mana to inflict maximum damage on the monsters ahead.
With a wave of his hands, crimson flames engulfed the monsters rushing from the front left, while those coming from the right were covered in frost and frozen in place.
“Breeze, answer my call! Go!” Moen whispered from behind just as Starlight unleashed his attack.
A wave of pale green light surged from her hand like a rolling tide. When it met the flames Starlight had just released, it was like oil being poured onto a fire; the temperature soared, becoming even more scorching. On the other side, the frost seemed to accelerate, spreading rapidly and instantly clearing all the monsters in front.
“Well done!” Starlight looked back at Moen and praised her sincerely.
The assistance of this wind magic not only doubled the effectiveness of his spells but also bought him precious time.
He immediately seized the opening, extracting all the remaining light elements from his body and condensing them into a pure white light spear.
With the coordination of Starlight and Moen, the monsters on the path to the altar were nearly wiped out. Now, only an empty bone staircase lay between the four of them and the figure on the altar.
Without any obstacles, Po Kong's speed increased dramatically. With a few strides, he reached the top of the altar, leaped high into the air, and swung his sword at the figure.
However, the black-red tide surrounding the strange man seemed to have a life of its own. It suddenly transformed into a vortex, blocking the path of Po Kong's blade.
Blocked by the vortex, Po Kong felt as if his blade had struck a mass of thick glue. Even his descent was significantly slowed.
He could only continuously surge his battle qi to struggle against the vortex in mid-air.
Meanwhile, Starlight's light spear was fully formed. Seeing the vortex trap Po Kong, he hurled it toward its center.
This vortex, formed from high concentrations of dark elements and blood essence, was definitely stronger than Starlight's individual power. Ordinarily, his mana wouldn't be able to affect it.
But currently, it was only passively activating defensive measures and lacked active offensive capabilities.
Moreover, as Noah had said before, the technique used for this spell was extremely primitive. If one observed closely, it wasn't hard to see that the center of the vortex was its greatest weakness.
The moment the light spear, possessing opposing energy, struck the center, the entire vortex became extremely unstable, as if its power source had been cut.
Simultaneously, the vortex's suction suddenly decreased. Sensing this, Po Kong immediately erupted with staggering strength and broke free from the restraint.
His two longswords merged into one, becoming a giant sword. Using the remaining light element enchantment on the weapon, he slashed toward the spot the light spear had hit.
Under the combined force of the light elements, the uncontrolled black-red vortex could no longer maintain its form and exploded violently in the air, like a filthy firework blooming in the sky.
Po Kong, being the closest, was instantly swallowed by the rampaging dark elements. Fortunately, at the critical moment, he shifted his giant sword into its tower shield form and blocked in front of him.
Coupled with the protection of Moen's Nature's Blessing, he avoided any serious injury.
The shockwave from the explosion swept out like a wave, knocking the surrounding monsters over. Starlight and the others stood firm under the protection of the tall treants.
The treants dutifully withstood the wave of elemental energy for the three of them, but their own energy reached its limit and they began to crumble.
Just as the sun-blocking dark elements dispersed, the protection in front of the eerie figure atop the altar vanished.
Swish!
A blinding red light shot from the girl's longbow during this opening, piercing through the entire underground space like a meteor in the night sky.
Even the air, which was still vibrating from the lingering elemental influence, was instantly sliced through, letting out a sharp, crisp sound like cloth being torn by a sharp blade.
The red arrow condensed from her battle qi reached the target in an instant, piercing straight into the strange man's chest.
“It worked!” Starlight felt a surge of joy. He hadn't expected the girl's charged shot to be so powerful. In terms of single-point damage, the combined attacks of him and Po Kong likely couldn't match its potency.
“Is that it?” Po Kong, who had been pushed back by the dark element explosion, landed steadily beside the others and asked, looking doubtfully at the figure on the altar.
While the four of them hesitated, the figure in the air suddenly stood upright.
Starlight could see the exposed part of the arrow in his chest burning like a torch, but eerily, no blood flowed from the wound.
“Tsk! Something's wrong!” Seeing this, the elf girl's brow furrowed. She drew her bowstring again and fired three arrows in rapid succession, aiming straight for the strange man's head.
To her surprise, just as the three arrows were about to hit, a pitch-black hand emerged from the air and blocked in front of the man, catching the attack for him.
To their shock, the three battle qi arrows were crushed like toothpicks by the giant hand.
Although these attacks were fired in haste, they were by no means easy to intercept. Even a layman like Starlight didn't doubt their ability to penetrate a thick stone wall.
After blocking the three arrows, the black hand grabbed the man's chest and pulled out the broken arrow still lodged in him, crushing it in its palm.
As a wisp of smoke rose from the giant hand, the battle qi on the arrow was completely extinguished, reduced to nothingness.
“Hmm... that loathsome aura again. The scent of a usurper...” Just as the four were at a loss, a raspy voice suddenly echoed from above the altar.
With the voice's appearance, the strange man's body began to twist unnaturally.
The dark elements and blood essence that should have dispersed now converged back toward the altar at several times their original speed, frantically pouring into his body.
Centered on his body, a phantom several meters tall began to emerge from the center of the altar, quickly becoming solid.
Rate on N.U.
