Chapter 231:

Chapter 231:

The barrier shattered. And yet the mage who was responsible for creating the almost impenetrable domain didn’t so much as twitch his eyes. His entire mind was focused on one job; to keep his mana channelling into the impervious shield.

Astrid hopped forward in preparation for the horrors approaching. If the mage broke his concentration and instead focused on attacking her, she would be caught by both sides with nowhere to run.

She tensed. But the approaching monsters stopped with a grim snarl. They didn’t dare approach. Whatever had happened here had taught them not to interfere with the mage’s magic. Whatever had commanded that obedience was obviously far stronger than Astrid.

Astrid summoned a purple energy in her palm. Block this, she thought as she fired a mass of chaotic void energy to the man's body. It engulfed him entirely. The man had no defence. Instantly, his body crackled. Then he screamed. For the first time, his eyes opened. A golden figure with a gilded mask and golden eyes gazed at Astrid from within.

He wasn’t alone.

Together with him, was the Leviathan in the middle. Seven individuals on its right, and at least a dozen black robed figures to its left. Astrid recognised them; they were the Order.

Those are the same golden eyes I saw when in Darcy’s mind. The one who severed the connection.

In the next moment, the man responsible for the unbreakable barrier died in a blaze of void energy. The quality of the void made it look like the man’s body was shoved through a grinder. In moments, he was erased.

With the man dead, the horrors looked at each other in confusion. Shit, Astrid thought as the monsters realised something. They weren’t an intelligent bunch, given that Astrid’s illusions could so easily redirect their ferocity to her clones. But they were smart enough to sense that the situation had changed. The man that they were feared of interfering with was now dead. And the woman wasn’t as scary.

They pounced at Astrid.

Astrid tore up into the sky and blasted them with copious amounts of Crashes. She took out chunks of heavy voidbent metal and pushed them downward. Thwum. They shot down like boulders from a ballistae. They struck the Horror's, smashing their body with a dense thud and a crack. Follow current novels on novelb((in).(com)

Astrid didn’t focus on killing them. Instead she averted her entire focus to crippling them. Her target was the wings. And they weren’t as strong as the thick bones supporting their frame.

There were eight of them in total. It was enough to weigh panic down on her heart. She cut the wings of five of them as she dodged in the air, but the strongest of them were also the fastest. Evading her psychic attacks, one of them slammed its fist against her barriers, shattering them all in a single strike. The monster's fist continued, colliding against the golden armour hugging her chest like a second skin. Pain blossomed. The hit was absorbed, mostly, but Astrid didn’t escape unscathed.

She hurtled through the air as another approached. She dodged, blinking to the side, blasting its wings off with another Crash. Her attack was unavoidable.

There were two left now. The one that had struck her fist was rushing forward. But the other was already at her side. It swiped its claws, noticing that its companion had failed with blunt force. It raked against Astrid’s shoulder, tearing through her flesh. The claws continued, scoring her flesh deep until they met with the golden armour. Sparks flew, the hit was absorbed, but pain gnawed at Astrid.

She snarled and blasted its wings apart. Astrid then blinked, finishing off the other monster's flight capabilities. They all fell. The first of them had finally struck land. Without wings to save their fall, Astrid was awarded the kill confirmation. She gained Levels, but Astrid was in no mind to gaze at her System.

Returning to the island with the strange markings, Astrid summoned an expansive illusion field. Whatever entered would come out on the other end confused.

She had to, because whatever was powering the sigils on the middle of the island was still running. Astrid could feel the connection still being made to the barrier back in the bubble. Her work was unfinished.

Their losses were nothing short of devastating. If Astrid had taken any longer; everyone would have their breaths cut short.

“Astrid–” Leena held her stomach as blood seeped through her fingers.

Astrid bit her lip. Her eyes turned raw, but her mind was filled with battle. She couldn’t turn emotional here.

“I’ll watch your backs,” Astrids shouted. “Get through the gateway!”

Astrid joined Havel and her mother. Although she couldn’t deal damage to the giant demons, she helped in other ways. Shields, illusions, throwing unbreakable voidbent metal ore at the horror’s feet to unbalance them. She did what she could.

They were ready to retreat. Eli kicked the chest of the demon, somersaulting backwards. The ground trembled. Then violently shook. Haavel looked back at his two renaming men. He was caught in the middle of the tremor.

A titanic hand broke through the earth, sundering the floating island in half, and Havel along with it. It grabbed hold of him, but his fighting desire blazed on. He thrashed around, trying to free his axe hand, but he was unable to move. Next, he resorted to using his teeth. He bit into the monster's flesh, but it was too tough. His teeth shattered under the impact. It was hard to tell if blood fell as his entire being was already painted red.

“Havel!” One of his men shouted in pain. His name was Korf.

“Get out of here you dipshits,” Havel screamed.

Astrid tried to help, summoning what was left of her mana, but a violent tug of her robe pulled her hurtling toward the dungeon.

“You can’t save him,” Eli said as she followed.

Astrid grit her teeth. Her nails dug into her palm. The world turned dark. Her eyes blinked open the next second. The crater around Astrid wasn’t what it once was. It was burned. Electricity scored the earth, and new, giant holes plotted the soil and rock underneath. It looked like hell.

In the distance she could see the cataclysm fight around the Leviathan. The mountains around the city and the city itself were no longer there. They were gone. Evidence of the long lost civilization of Ruitera was erased from the result of superhuman powers.

The Leviathan opened its mouth. Astrid was too far away to see what was happening, but she swore she could see a figure leap straight for the gargantuan nightmare. The figure entered the mouth of the Leviathan. Then the monster closed its dark maw. And then the person disappeared.

They were swallowed.

For some reason, Astrid’s heart palpitated. Smash. Smash. It banged against her chest. She listened to her own heartbeat.

“Who was that?”

Astrid mumbled. Fearing to know the answer.