The Evolution of a Goblin to the Peak

The Royal Palace could withstand a battle between Hero-rank experts to some degree. It shouldn't have been destroyed this easily.

Unless the runes had all been disabled.

If that was the case, then it made sense why the runes hadn't sounded an alarm when the woman entered the throne room.

They must have been disabled beforehand.

The smoke slowly dissipated.

Through the haze, Xi Xing saw Anti Mage walking out from the broken palace walls with a faint smile on his face.

"I can't win against the emperor, who's in the Ninth Shackle Realm. He can fight Bloom Lotus, but I doubt he can defeat her. After all, she killed an Advanced Ninth Shackle expert from a large country two months ago."

Anti Mage raised both hands.

Numerous lightning spears suddenly emerged from the ground around him, crackling with violent energy.

"You're at the Peak Eight Shackle Realm, but I think I can handle you since you're a textbook mage who relies heavily on spells."

His smile widened.

"I'm only at the Advanced Stage, so let's duke it out."

With those words, the lightning spears rose completely from the ground.

Their sharp tips turned toward Xi Xing.

Every spear locked onto his position.

Xi Xing's expression darkened.

He felt danger.

From someone that should be weaker than him.

The sensation was unfamiliar. He had only felt it when facing those terrifying experts from the Holy Land.

Swoosh!!

The lightning spears shot toward him.

...

The central region was shaking. Its vast lands were detaching themselves from the ground, rising toward the sky. The entire region was enclosed by a rune formation that seemed to scan everything.

They were attacking every city around the royal capital. They were going to topple this entire land, even if it meant going against a Holy Land. That's just how determined they were to complete this mission.

They had some sort of backup plan.

They wanted to know more about the 'thing,' and they were threatening and killing everyone who knew about it. They spread rumors to lure experts into investigating what they were trying to find, yet they were also trying to kill those same experts.

It was unreasonable. Now, they were trying to topple an entire empire simply because they had found traces of that 'thing.'

It was unreasonable.

The six leading figures destroyed cities one after another, killing the vast majority of the empire's people.

While the central region was in chaos, Yunze City was also experiencing a brutal battle.

Ice Death and Green King looked at Alexander, Gerxuzs, and the others who seemed to have appeared out of nowhere.

The atmosphere was oppressive.

"Should we really capture that woman? If they successfully find that thing in the central region, then isn't all this a waste?" Poisonous Vine asked.

"What if that spirit already left with that thing? They will blame us for not completing the backup plan," Teng Guan replied, turning his eyes toward Ice Death and Green King. "Moreover, they will not tolerate failure. We have to make the woman spill what she saw regarding that thing."

"The other people who went there couldn't escape us, but that woman did."

The two of them looked at Erkigal, who was being supported by Isabella.

"She escaped with the help of that spirit, and if not for the timing of her contractor's arrival, we would have destroyed them. It's infuriating when you think about it."

Poisonous Vine stayed silent, recalling the contractor of that flame spirit. She secretly glanced at Teng Guan, and it seemed that this guy didn't know how the contractor had even managed to obtain that thing from Lord Gluttony's treasury.

Green King, on the other hand, glanced at Gerxuzs and said, "I'll take care of that monster."

"Are you sure? He killed Aurhone a few months ago, and he has repeatedly disrupted our Army's plans," Ice Death said.

Green King nodded. "As if you didn't know me. Aurhone is nothing to me now. You can handle the rest while I keep that monster busy."

"Fine," Ice Death said with a sigh. He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them, his expression had completely changed. Brutality and intense killing intent flashed in his eyes.

He stepped forward, and a strange ripple spread across the ground.

Ohm!!

The temperature dropped in an instant.

Alexander's eyes widened, and he immediately reacted.

"Move!"

Vashno, Doranjan, Eztein, Yaniesvyl, and the others quickly leaped away. Their instincts screamed at them as a chill ran down their spines, as if death itself were staring at them.

Their hearts beat wildly, and their bodies subconsciously trembled.

They felt like they were going to die if they didn't move.

Then, they saw the entire ground turn into ice sculptures, including the rubble, dust, and everything else in the surroundings.

Doranjan raised his head and bared his fangs.

Roar!!

He felt a strange wave heading in their direction, and he knew that it could lead them to their deaths.

Vashno and the others felt death approaching. Their vision turned dark, their bodies grew stiff, and the entire area seemed to stop moving.

In the next moment, the space in front of them cracked and blasted them away.

Alexander appeared in the air and said, "Circulate your mana as hard as you can. This guy is freezing everything."

Everything.

Even the mana flowing through the atmosphere was being frozen. The air itself solidified, and even light was frozen under the might of Ice Death.

Alexander stared at Ice Death with a serious expression on his face.

"An elemental power at the Fourth Stage..."

It was already approaching the Fifth Stage. If not for the limitations imposed by the Shackle on a mortal's body, it might have broken directly through to the Fifth Stage.

Ice Death glanced at Alexander with a peculiar look. He hadn't expected this man to offset his power so easily.

It seemed that this wouldn't be as easy as he had thought.

"Who are you?" Ice Death asked.

"Me? I'm Alexander." Alexander simply stated his name and nothing else.

Ice Death remained silent. His gaze slowly shifted toward the monstrous creature.

Gerxuzs took a single step forward.

Crack!

The frozen ground beneath his foot shattered, yet his expression didn't change. The frigid atmosphere that could freeze even time itself seemed completely incapable of affecting him.

He raised the enormous club in his hand.

Boom!

A terrifying pressure erupted from his body. The air trembled, the frozen ground beneath him cracked, and the fighting intent in his eyes burned like an ancient beast awakening from its slumber.

Across from him, Green King remained silent.

His body didn't move, but the energy surrounding him churned violently. It boiled beneath his skin like a volcano on the verge of eruption. Every breath he took caused the surrounding space to tremble.

Ice Death's killing intent continued to spread.

The temperature dropped further.

The frozen ground creaked beneath everyone's feet as layers of ice crawled across the surface. Even the air seemed to become heavy and sluggish.

Alexander narrowed his eyes.

Gerxuzs tightened his grip around his club.

Green King's energy surged.

Ice Death's fingers slowly curled.

No one spoke.

No one dared to move.

The slightest mistake would be enough to ignite the battlefield.

The four of them stared at one another, their auras colliding in silence. The pressure was so immense that the surrounding space distorted, while cracks spread across the frozen ground.

It felt as though hours had passed.

Yet not even a minute had gone by.

Whooosh!!

The wind howled, and suddenly, the four of them disappeared from their positions.

They sprang into action.

"Element Drive!!!"

Four blinding lights representing Alexander, Gerxuzs, Ice Death, and Green King appeared in the sky.

They collided fiercely.

Boom!!

The ground violently trembled as an overwhelming force erupted in all four directions. The shockwave tore through the surroundings, sending dust and debris flying as the earth cracked beneath the sheer pressure.

Four blinding lights clashed and exploded into the sky, each one carrying immense power. They tore through the air, leaving behind trails of different elements as countless intricate lines of dense energy spread across the heavens.

Ohm!!

Vast and complex lines formed across the sky, weaving together before violently colliding and erupting into immense explosions one after another.

The four lights climbed to a height of ten kilometers above the surface, yet they never stopped clashing. They collided tens of thousands of times in the span of a few breaths, each impact producing enough force to shake the entire region.

Bang!!

Waves of energy ripped outward.

The air itself seemed to shatter, while the ground below trembled beneath the immense pressure descending from the battlefield above. Ice, flames, lightning, and countless other elements intertwined along the intricate lines, forming a chaotic storm that consumed the sky.

The collision was catastrophic.

The heavens became a dazzling spectacle of countless elements. It was beautiful yet terrifying at the same time, like the birth of a world-ending phenomenon.

Below, Yunze City seemed minuscule compared to the enormous and complex structure spreading across the sky.

Boom!! Boom!!

Vashno, Eztein, Doranjan, and Yaniesvyl stared upward, their expressions grim as they felt the immense pressure radiating from the four lights battling high above them.