The spatial power unleashed by the Rift Dragon King was exponentially more potent than anything Starlight could wield. Even with the four Saint Rank experts of House Red pushing their limits, they couldn't break free by even a fraction of an inch.
Yserazor sneered, his massive dragon form slowly looming closer. “Philip, did you think such petty tricks could restrain me? Now, it is time for me to settle the score for your crimes.”
He abruptly raised one of his dragon claws. Instantly, the artillery shells suspended in the air were crushed by spatial power into metal spheres the size of fingernails, rendered completely useless.
At the same time, a terrifying spatial rift coalesced at the tips of Yserazor’s claws. That rift pulsed with an unparalleled sharpness; with just a gentle swipe, he could tear Philip and his men into shreds.
The faces of Philip and the others turned deathly pale, but they quickly regained their composure. Philip’s gaze remained cold and sharp, his voice carrying a hint of mockery. “Do you truly think you have won?”
“Oh?! Old man, you’re quite arrogant! You’re in this state and you’re still talking tough?!” Po Kong looked at the immobilized group and couldn't help but jeer.
Starlight, however, keenly sensed something was wrong. They were still in Philip’s stronghold, and the man’s behavior certainly didn't look like that of someone at the end of his rope. Perhaps they still had a trump card left.
“Po Kong, be careful. Everyone, move closer. Something isn't right...” Starlight warned in a low voice, his eyes vigilantly scanning the surroundings.
Before he could finish his sentence, the black-robed assassins who had been scattered across the floor, seemingly lifeless, suddenly stood up one by one.
Their movements were stiff and eerie, as if they were being manipulated by some invisible force.
“What’s going on? Did you hold back just now?” Xia Duo’s voice came through the soul link, tinged with confusion and unease. Her brows furrowed as she carefully observed the strange figures.
Xia Duo knew very well that she hadn't shown any mercy. Every arrow had accurately struck the assassins' vital points; whether in the chest or the head, the wounds should have been fatal.
Yet those assassins, despite being pierced by arrows, stood up as if they had never been injured at all.
“I truly didn't expect it to come to this, but I have no choice. Death Slaves! Show them your worth!” Philip, his face twisted with malice, suddenly shouted.
At his command, the eerie black-clad assassins tore their robes almost simultaneously. In an instant, their true appearances were finally revealed to everyone.
Among these hundred or so assassins, there were both men and women. Every single one of them was tall and possessed beautiful features, with long, slender ears pressed against the sides of their heads—an unmistakable trait.
However, there wasn't a trace of color in their faces. Their skin was an ominous grey-green, and their eyes were utterly hollow, as if they had lost all life.
Upon seeing the faces of these assassins, Xia Duo and Moen froze on the spot, their bodies trembling uncontrollably.
“Anna... Helga... You... what has happened to you?!” Xia Duo’s gaze swept across several familiar figures in the crowd. She cried out in a voice filled with disbelief and deep agony.
However, the only response she received was a deathly silence.
Starlight’s heart sank. He had already learned from Noah that these elves had long since lost their souls and were now nothing more than puppets on a string. He simply hadn't had the chance to explain this to the sisters before the battle interrupted them.
If the battle had happened without her knowing, Xia Duo might not have felt such intense guilt.
But now, seeing the holes in her kin's bodies—holes she had made with her own battle qi arrows—her heart buckled under the weight of the blow, despite her years of training.
The emerald longbow in Xia Duo’s hand fell to the ground with a clatter. Her slender body shook violently, her eyes filled with pain and despair.
“Answer me! ...Ah!~~~” Xia Duo let out a heart-wrenching cry, as if trying to vent all the agony in her heart.
Moen’s face was equally pale. She stepped forward and gripped Xia Duo’s hand tightly, trying to offer some comfort, though her own eyes were brimming with grief.
These elves were once their compatriots, their family, and now they had been turned into these monstrous things.
“Philip... how dare you treat the elves like this! We will make sure you pay for this!”
Po Kong supported the two sisters who were on the verge of collapse. His voice trembled slightly, but his gaze was locked firmly on Philip.
Philip merely sneered, his eyes full of mockery. “Elves? Hah. As long as they are non-humans, they are nothing more than tools. Their souls have long been stripped away; they are merely puppets in my hand now. If your hearts ache for them, why don't you join them on their journey to the afterlife!”
As his words fell, the elven Death Slaves suddenly moved. Countless pitch-black runes surfaced beneath their grey-green skin, as if something was awakening from within them.
An aura diametrically opposed to that of the elven race erupted from these hundred-odd people. It was a dense deathly aura, so oppressive it was almost suffocating.
“Oh no!” Seeing this, Starlight instantly understood Philip’s intent—he planned to have all the Death Slaves self-destruct together!
Recalling the terrifying power of the two assassins' self-destruction that night, Starlight’s heart tightened. Without stopping to explain, he grabbed Moen and the other two, quickly rushing toward Little Gold and Lian who were still hiding within the shield.
As he ran, he shouted, “Rift Dragon King! Defend!”
Even without Starlight’s warning, Yserazor had already sensed the abnormality of these Death Slaves.
He didn't hesitate to raise his other dragon claw and slam it heavily onto the ground.
Yserazor didn't suffer from the same psychological burden as Xia Duo and the others. Against these eerie creatures, he unleashed his ultimate technique without hesitation.
“Spatial Tide!”
A powerful spatial ripple centered on Yserazor’s body surged outward like a tsunami, heading straight for the Death Slave assassins.
Wherever the spatial power passed, the ground shattered inch by inch, and the air was torn into pitch-black rifts.
Before the Death Slave assassins could even fully move, they were flattened by the Spatial Tide.
The terrifying spatial power instantly tore their bodies apart. Large chunks of grey-green skin and flesh were reduced to dust within the spatial rifts.
However, the black runes surfacing on their bodies did not stop. Starlight saw a dark light flash from the runes, and the entire hall seemed to fall into an eerie stillness.
“Boom—!”
With a thunderous roar, the entire hall shook violently.
In the next second, the remains of the elves completely disintegrated before Xia Duo’s helpless eyes, transforming into an overwhelming flood of black water. Like a black tide, it instantly enveloped everything within the hall.
In the final moment before the black tide hit, Starlight quickly conjured over ten layers of shields made of different elements around them, attempting to withstand the encroachment of this deathly tide.
The moment the viscous black water touched the shields, it erupted into a grey mist and began rapidly corroding Starlight’s barriers, dissolving several layers in the blink of an eye.
Isabella, who had already retreated to the side, frowned. She used a shroud of lightning to cover herself and Sui Yun.
Lightning battle qi, possessing the power to dispel evil, had a natural resistance to such attacks. Combined with her Saint Rank strength, protecting the two of them wasn't a major issue for the time being.
Yserazor, however, was not so fortunate. To exert his full power earlier, he had reverted to his dragon form, and his massive body had undoubtedly become a giant target.
Originally, his sturdy dragon scales could have barely withstood the erosion of the deathly tide, but after enduring minutes of artillery bombardment, his body was already covered in countless wounds of various sizes.
In a moment of oversight, quite a bit of the black water landed on his wounds. The instant it touched his flesh, it melted into deep pits and began corroding deeper at a speed visible to the naked eye.
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