Chapter 146: The Oculus Witch's Entrance

Chapter 146: The Oculus Witch's Entrance

Time remaining until the birth of the evolution stone: 14:43



Jonathan glanced at Gavin. He was an illusion mage and it was thanks to him that they had eluded the pursuit of the countless beasts that surrounded their party.

It was almost time now. Jonathan clenched his fists so hard that the whites on his knuckles were on display.

An evolution stone... the meaning was obvious. It was a chance at rebirth. Ever since Connor had died during the subjugation, he swore to himself he wouldn’t let another one of his friends die by his side.

For that, he needed strength.

A sudden explosion jostled his spine. The Seafaring squad looked at each other with uncertainty. A fight had kicked off. It wasn’t something they could even hope to get close to.

Apprehension tugged at Jonathan’s heart. Should he risk his life and compete for the stone? He gazed at the ground and sifted his fingers through the dirt.

One day he would be the fertiliser for the very soil under his feet. Was he destined for more than just being a noble Seafarer?

No, he wanted more. Strength, power, freedome, security. He wanted all of it. His head snapped back to the fight.

He just needed an opportunity.

Bellona was about to activate a Skill that she hesitated in using. One, it was a Skill that once one had seen it, they could prepare against it. And two, she had never used it before.

She was worried it would devastate her body. Destroy it. It was a Skill still in its infancy stage.

However, something picked her and the puppy up, and the next moment she opened her eyes, she was standing beside a tree. They were out of the range of the eggy smell.

A violent explosion ravaged the area she was standing in. The shrubbery, soil, and trees were eviscerated. The detonation had erased the scenery. A wide hole in the ground had replaced it.

“Brett?” Bellona frowned at the appearance of her colleague. An arm missing, a cold detached expression that was like a mask across his face, the desperate look on the battle-maids face...

She gazed at the emergence of a golden masked man. A halo was engraved into the forehead of the mask. A feeling of grandeur washed over her, but instead of a holy feeling–it was a ghastly version of it. Like it was plagued. It was wrong.

“Run,” Brett commanded.

Bellona wasn’t one to refuse such orders. Especially up against that man. She could feel the crazy mana radiating from his pores.

Could she cancel it? She shook her head as they immediately retreated from the area.

Just as the haloed man was about to pursuit, a gargantuan roar assaulted Bellona’s eardrums–causing them to thrum in pain. It was followed closely by a resounding slam, then a smell of rotten eggs.

Bellona glanced over her shoulder as an enormous demonic beast charged through the trees like a raging bull. Its only objective was destruction as it hurled straight for the haloed man.

Can it sense his mana? Bellona questioned herself. Judging by the strength of the monster, they had most likely invaded its territory. And with the haloed man being the strongest, he was its first target.

Although she only took a glance of the monster before running away, its image was branded into her mind. It had the silhouette of a gorilla, but it was more slender than it was bulky. It was as tall as a tree and its thickly armoured forearms were obviously its best weapons. Judging by its muscles that were akin to bundled steel wire, the entire body of the monster was a weapon.

The draconic bird and the haloed man moved at almost the same time. They were intending to kill two birds with one stone.

From a distance, Bellona could barely make out the strange attack the haloed man relied upon. It was faint, but she had sensitive eyes when it came to anything mana related. A vague cloud was formed, then it exploded with a click of his fingers.

The blast separated the two hulking behemoths from each other, only for the draconic bird to sweep in for an attack. Its talons suddenly glowed a faint savage blue tint–then it projected them forward. The dual set of claws surged through the air, then swiped a deep gouging mark into the mountain's already falling body.

As the two hulking figures were flailing to the ground. The ape managed to control its body. Blood dripped, yet it still moved as though it wasn’t injured in the slightest. With its hand, it somersaulted on the floor, creating a resounding surge of earth like a wave. Then it landed to the side.

The Skill was casted outward and caught the haloed man unaware. It was strange. Unlike the mountain golem who controlled the earth, the apes' attack had bound him.

He seemed to realise something as he lifted his foot in haste, only for the other one to erupt with blood. The next moment, his body vanished. Only to reappear within one of the vague clouds located some metres away.

Despite the injuries, it didn’t seem to affect them very much as the beasts bounded forward. Just as their colossal bodies were about to clash against each-other, a vast, chaotic energy storm surged from the ground.

It wasn’t mana, but something more... destructive.

The peculiar energy caused her to take a step back. She had trained all her life to stop mana. What she was seeing now, she couldn’t stop it, even if she tried. If it was aimed at her–could she survive?

It happened too fast. The three beast kings weren’t able to react in time as the ground was split asunder. Purple light shone from within each crack, then, an apocalyptic blast erupted the ground and continued its might through.

A purple ball of spiralling energy stopped, but instead of continuing like Bellona thought it would, it suddenly collapsed.

What happened next would remain within her mind for the rest of her life. The spiralling ball of purple mass exploded, but unlike a regular explosion, an ocean of stars were the backdrop of... nothing. Nothing existed within the space–as if it was the void itself.

The explosion caused the air to split, and the monsters along with it. They were sent hurtling back like empowered cannonballs.

A wing of the draconic bird lay limp. The ape was missing a hand. And the mountain golem was noticeably thinner.

“I did it! I finally exploded the damned, stupid thing!” A voice boomed throughout the battlefield, then, a small figure emerged from the cratered ground.

She had long golden hair and a savage grin filled with child-like excitement was plastered on her face. But that wasn’t the most striking thing. It was the two eyeballs floating behind her shoulders.

One was pink and almost the size of her head, the other was more subtle in size but it exuded a frigid cold.

“Leena, guys!” Astrid waved in exuberance to her battle-maid, and the others.

The beast kings, along with the haloed man–glared at the floating witch. But their gaze shifted at movement in the horizon.

An entire army arrived. One was made of rock golems, one consisted of apes, the other–draconic birds. But that wasn’t all. Along with them, on the other side, screams of crazed psychos screeched along the fields.

“The stone is mine, if you even attempt to steal my toys–” Astrid paused as a wicked energy emerged from her right eye. “I’ll rip out your eyes and add them to my collection.”

Despite her words, the battle of the evolution stone began.

Time remaining until the birth of the evolution stone: 10:00