Chapter 676 - Costs
*BOOOOM*
A bolt of yellow lightning struck the ground in front of them. To the others it had materialized out of nowhere so there was no way they could have dodged it.
The ground shook like it was the end of the world and for a second all the color was washed out of the entire realm, leaving only a sickly yellow shade behind. It started expanding from the initial point of impact, absorbing everything in sight.
Hao Xuan raised his hands in front of him to shield his face as much as possible. That was all he could do knowing this wasn't the end.
*BOOOOOM*
*BOOOOOM*
*BOOOOOM*
*BOOOOOM*
A moment later deafening explosion rang all around them, some so far away that all that was carried over was a mild shockwave through the ground while others were close enough to be felt through the air heating up.
All Hao Xuan or anyone could do in this situation was to try to find cover, even though there wasn't such a place in the near vicinity. It sounded like a track from an old World War 2 movie back from earth, with the constant barrage of artillery fire falling all around them.
Hao Xuan was huddled up behind Burak who along with Isak were the only two individuals still standing straight.
When the first lightning bolt hit the ground, both of Burak's arms lit up with four symbols on each side, belonging to eight different words of power. These were not stationary unlike what you would see on the natives on the planet's surface and were moving along his hands and arms as needed, forming a sequence.
Two symbols, one resembling a turtle and another a diamond lit up on his left and right arms respectively. They swiftly moved to the front of the line, appearing on the skin on the back of his hands as he clenched, making two hammer-like fists before smashing them together in front of him.
*Krrrrr*
Similar to the sound of ice cracking, a white crystalline shield materialized in front of him in the shape of a turtle shell. It was more than wide enough to cover Burak and in turn, Hao Xuan who was hiding behind him.
Isak on the other slammed both his swords onto the ground, creating a wall of fire that acted as a shield. But it was much less effective than Burak's skill since it started breaking apart only after a couple of seconds.
The deafening booms continued to roll out like thunder strikes, never actually striking the same spot twice.
After half a minute when Hao Xuan got used to the light's intensity to some degree, he glanced around to find the other barbarians crawling on the ground. It looked like they couldn't see what was happening around them since they were going in all different directions.
'Earlier, Burak couldn't see what was happening in the clouds and now it looks their vision is gone too,' he recalled the scene from a moment ago.
Hao Xuan craned his head to look at how Burak was doing. His shield was still holding up although more and more cracks were starting to appear by the second.
"Can...you see?" he shouted in Burak's ear in the broken native language but did not get a response.
'Can he not even hear me?'
*BOOOOOOOOM*
Another bolt landed less than 20 meters away on the left, sending Hao Xuan rolling away. The force was too much for him to contend against but at the last second a giant hand reached out and grabbed him, dragging him back to safety.
It was Burak. Hao Xuan looked towards him and saw his unfocused eyes. He couldn't see what was happening either, just like the others.
"Stay behind...me!" Burak muttered through gritted teeth. Blood seeped out of his mouth and ran down his clothes, staining even Hao Xuan who was next to him.
It looked like just maintaining the shield skill for this long against such strong forces was all he could manage. Hao Xuan noticed the various cuts, bruises, and burn marks on his legs and arms. If he hadn't had tried to grab him just now he would have probably been fine.
Hao Xuan looked towards the last bolt that had landed nearby and saw its aftereffects. There was a barbarian unfortunate enough to be caught in the resulting explosion.
He was still alive...if that could be called living. It looked like his entire skeletal system had been evaporated. It was just a mass of human-shaped flesh and muscles being held together by a ruptured sack of skin that was leaking more and more. His eyes were gone, probably popped from the sudden change in pressure.
He was reaching out with what was left of his hands, slowly collapsing in on himself.
*Uuurk*
Hao Xuan almost threw up.