“What?!” Lucian’s blood ran cold. He jerked the Dragonslayer Sword across his body, metal shrieking against the rush of gray brilliance as he tried to throw up a last-second guard.
Clang! The Dragonslayer Sword wrenched from Lucian’s grip and spun away. The gray beam sheared across his breastplate and bit into flesh, carving a burning line straight through armor, muscle, and bone.
Pfft! A geyser of golden blood burst from the wound. The blow flung Lucian back a thousand yards before he skidded to a stop, armor cracked and chest split to the bone.
“Senior Disciple!” Lyria streaked after him, skirts snapping in the wind as she caught his crumpling figure with both arms, her flight breaking under their combined weight.
Every corner of the battlefield fell silent, as though the world itself forgot how to breathe. The three-hundred-thousand Celestial Army and the hundred-thousand Beastfolk Army alike stared, mouths open, stunned beyond speech. A prodigy of the Fourteenth Firmament, bearer of the Divine King Bloodline, Lucian—at the Top Level High Immortal Realm Level Seven—defeated?! Struck down by a single slash from Jared?!
The Grand Venerable went sheet-white, shoulders shaking in disbelief. “Finished… Even the envoy from the Fourteenth Firmament has fallen… Just what sort of monster is this Jared?!”
Lyria braced Lucian against her shoulder, shock and fury swirling in her wide eyes. “Jared! How dare you hurt my Senior Disciple!” Her teeth ground, her voice trembling with rage. “I will see you dead!”
She flicked her jade-pale wrist, and a golden talisman flared into being between her fingers, runes rolling across its surface. It was the Divine Seal Sigil!
“Master’s gift… Seal the heavens and earth! Jared, die!”
The talisman streaked upward, exploding into countless golden letters that spread across a hundred-mile circle of sky. In the blink of an eye, the very laws of heaven and earth locked tight. The Chaos Sword Domain vanished. The Chaos Convergence Array failed. Every formation, technique, and treasure on the field lost much of its bite!
“Hahaha!” The Grand Venerable threw his head back, roaring, “Jared, your death hour is here! All forces! Charge! Leave none alive!”
The three-hundred-thousand Celestial Army surged forward once more like a tidal wave of steel. This time, no array stood in their path. Jared glanced at the rain of golden runes, then at the charging mass of soldiers, a shadow of concern tightening his gaze. The Divine Seal Sigil was indeed formidable. Even the chaotic force has been suppressed… And yet… So what?!
He tightened his grip on the Dragonslayer Sword and turned to the hundred-thousand Beastfolk Army behind him. “Brothers, final battle! Follow me and kill!”
“Kill!” With death-defying resolve, the Beastfolk ranks stormed toward the three-hundred-thousand Celestials.
The decisive clash truly began. Above, the Divine Seal Sigil blanketed the sky, golden runes twined through the air like chains tightening around the world itself. The normally roaring gray chaotic force shrank under that pressure, like a strangled beast fighting for breath.
Inside Jared’s body, every current of chaotic force slowed, each draw of power costing him several times the focus it once did. The Chaos Sword Domain dispersed, and the gray sheen on the Dragonslayer Sword guttered like a candle in a storm wind.
“K!ll!” The three-hundred-thousand Celestial Army rolled forward like a tide, war drums pounding so loudly they shook the air while battle cries cracked like thunder over the field. Sunlight flashed off ranks of golden plate; spears and swords rose dense as a forest. Every hoof that struck the soil sent another tremor racing through the ground beneath Jared’s boots.
The hundred-thousand Beastfolk Army met the charge head-on, their morale unbroken. Yet sheer numbers pressed in from every side, and within moments the line bent, steel and claw locked in a grinding struggle.
Luther, Morvane, and Madam Nightfox carved bloody arcs through the melee, each trading blow for blow without retreat. But the celestial venerables, their power swollen by the sealing talisman, answered with force that cut twice as deep; beastfolk bodies fell in horrifying numbers.
“Jared, die!” Laughing wildly, the Grand Venerable burst through the dust cloud. The dark-gold staff in his grip stretched into a thousand-yard pillar and came crashing down toward Jared’s skull.
Celestial runes rippled along the pillar’s surface, each sigil glowing hotter than the last. The blow carried at least a third more power than it ever had before. At the same instant, Lyria flicked her jade wrist.
Nine violet streaks slid through the air like spirit serpents, weaving a cage that sealed off every path of retreat around Jared. Pure law energy pulsed inside each streak, refined to a frightening clarity. Only a veteran of the Fourteenth Firmament could have shaped such a technique.
A full-force strike pressed in from the front. A killing net closed from behind. Jared drew a slow breath and leveled the Dragonslayer Sword across his chest. He forced chaotic force through every channel of his body, each vein burning as it moved.
“Chaos Ward!”
A gray barrier blossomed over his skin, thinner than before but still stubbornly intact. Even in its frailty, it radiated a will that refused to bow.
Boom! The dark-gold pillar slammed into the barrier. The shield shuddered, and cracks spread across it in a spiderweb lattice. Jared grunted; a thread of blood slid from the corner of his mouth. The impact hurled him backward a hundred yards before his boots dug in.
The nine violet streams chased after him, knifing through the failing barrier and driving straight for his vital points. The sword in his hands whirled like a living dragon.
Blades of after-image layered in front of him, just barely swatting aside seven of the deadly lights. One remaining light skimmed his left shoulder, tearing a splash of blood. The last sank into his right flank; warm blood soaked his robe in an instant.
“Mr. Chance!” Luther shouted, desperation cracking his voice. He tried to break free, but three celestials locked him in place with relentless blows.
The Grand Venerable threw back his head and laughed. “Jared, this day is yours to die! Your chaotic force means nothing! Under our seal you are meat on the block!”
Cold light flashed in Lyria’s eyes. “My senior’s blood will be avenged today. Jared, I will rip out your soul and grind it to crystal so you never know rest!”
Jared planted the Dragonslayer Sword in the scorched earth and leaned on it. Blood streamed from his wounds, pattering onto the blackened soil below. He swept the battlefield with a single, steady glance. More than half of the Beastfolk Army already lay dead; bodies littered the ground, rivers of blood running between broken flags.
Luther dripped crimson head to toe, Morvane’s bone armor hung in shards, and Madam Nightfox fought on with only one tail intact. Every Beastfolk Warrior stood their ground, yet celestials poured forward like endless locusts.
Was the battle already lost?
Jared shut his eyes. Images flashed: King Ironhide’s final grin, Elder Hartcrest’s gentle face, the fearless gazes of the warriors who had followed him to death. He saw Rania’s tear-filled farewell in Jade Immortal Manor, Elder Gloam’s earnest charge in Nether City, and Cyril’s silent support in the frozen north.
No… He could not lose. His eyes snapped open, golden light searing out like blades!
