Silent like the night—that was the trait of the Shadow of Annihilation. As the ultimate form of the dark element, its energy fluctuations were compressed to a startling degree.
Even with Starlight pushing it with all his might, the leaked aura was no more than a faint breeze, thinner even than the stray dark elements floating in the air.
Yet, behind this restraint lay a destructive power. Starlight could feel the dark elements he condensed undergoing a qualitative change; every strand of black light contained a power capable of tearing through space.
He waved his hand slightly and found that where his fingers passed, even the surrounding light produced a slight distortion.
“Lian, stay away from me in a moment. It’s no joke if this thing touches someone,” Starlight warned carefully, looking toward the stone mountain.
Little Gold had already led the group of monsters more than halfway around the stone mountain and was heading back toward the planned position.
Moreover, it seemed those monsters really lacked intelligence, blindly chasing Little Gold’s figure on the ground, letting out one roar after another.
“Almost there... almost at the position...” Starlight let out a long breath, gathering all the condensed mana at his fingertips.
The black light gradually condensed into a collapsing sphere at his fingertips, its edges showing slight distortions. As soon as the monsters got closer, he could annihilate them all in one strike.
The basis of this magic was the Shadow Sphere from Taros. Though the formula was still quite rudimentary, its power had increased several times over under the enhancement of the Ultimate Power.
Lian watched his movements silently, not even daring to breathe for fear of disturbing him.
But suddenly, Lian noticed a strange afterimage flash through her vision.
She followed the direction of the afterimage and looked up sharply at Little Gold, seemingly realizing something.
The next second, she suddenly stood up from the canopy, no longer caring about exposing her position, and shouted loudly toward Little Gold.
“Stop playing around, Little Gold! Fly up! Fast!!”
“What?”
Lian’s shout startled the approaching Little Gold. Due to his lack of experience and familiarity, he hadn't formed the reflexive reactions that Starlight and the others had.
Although he heard Lian’s command, his body’s movement was a beat slow.
It was precisely this moment of daze that gave the monsters on the ground an opportunity.
An exceptionally burly monster suddenly leaped high, stepping on its companions' bodies, its deformed claws reaching straight for Little Gold’s throat!
“Crap! You’re cheating, aren't you!?” Little Gold performed a side-roll in the air, dodging the monster’s pounce by a hair’s breadth.
The tips of the monster’s claws grazed his neck, tearing a shallow bloody scratch.
Before he could catch his breath, an even more terrifying scene appeared—the monster that had missed its pounce suddenly unfolded a pair of pitch-black fleshy wings in mid-air and slammed into him at an angle.
“Damn it!” Little Gold flapped his wings hard, intending to gain height again, but it was too late.
The monster opened its large mouth and spat a large amount of grey mucus at Little Gold. It covered him like a large net, and unable to flap his wings, he immediately fell from the sky.
“Oh no!”
Seeing Little Gold fall into the forest, Starlight grew anxious. He no longer cared if the monsters were in the optimal position and directly fired the magic condensed at his fingertips.
The sphere condensed from the Shadow of Annihilation flew out in a way that defied common sense. One moment it was at Starlight’s fingertip, and the next, it appeared in front of the monster pack.
The leading monster suddenly froze, the fist-sized black sphere reflected in its deformed eyeballs.
Although the black sphere didn't seem fast, it was impossible to dodge. The moment the black sphere touched its chest—
“Poof.”
No explosion, no dust, and no noise. There was only a soft sound, as insignificant as popping a soap bubble.
But the scene that followed choked the monsters' roars in their throats.
The monster touched by the black sphere suddenly froze in place. At its chest, starting from the point of contact, it began to collapse silently.
Skin, muscle, and bone were instantly swallowed by an invisible vortex, compressing inward layer by layer.
The next instant, its body looked as if it had been grabbed by a divine hand, twisted into an indescribable ball of flesh.
Then, an even more horrifying sight occurred. The ball of flesh began to “melt,” but not in the conventional sense of dissolution.
Its material composition seemed to be rewritten by some higher-level power, regressing from an organism into viscous protoplasm, then decomposing into basic elemental particles in the blink of an eye.
Before those drifting particles could even hit the ground, they were eroded again by the entwining dark elements, finally turning into nothingness—as if they had never existed.
After completely annihilating one monster, the black sphere continued to float forward. Wherever it passed, the monsters vanished one after another as if erased.
When the black sphere reached the center of the monster group, only a second or two had passed.
Then, Starlight suddenly clenched his fingers into a fist—the floating darkness instantly erupted.
The overflowing dark elements sent a ripple through the monster pack. Wherever the ripple passed, the monsters’ twisted bodies began to peel away from the edges, turning into fine black dust.
Those trying to flee froze in place the moment they raised their deformed limbs, then turned into a pile of powder.
Even the earth beneath their feet, all matter touched by the ripple, faded instantly.
The originally fertile black humus turned into pale ash, forming a perfect circle about thirty meters in diameter.
Everything within this circle lost its color and vitality, as terrifying as if the essence of its existence had been drained, yet it held a strange beauty.
Starlight didn't have time to admire the destruction caused by the Shadow of Annihilation. He grabbed Lian’s wrist and sprinted toward where Little Gold had fallen.
Because of Little Gold’s oversight, three monsters had not been attacked by Starlight’s magic, and their primary target was Little Gold, who had fallen into the forest.
When they rushed into the forest clearing, they found Little Gold just breaking free from that puddle of viscous grey liquid. The light on his body flickered as it was corroded by intense death energy.
Three monsters of varying forms had already surrounded Little Gold, and panic was clearly visible on his face.
“Little Gold! Get your head down!” Seeing the monsters about to attack, Starlight shouted.
This time, Little Gold didn't hesitate and threw himself flat on the ground without a care for his image.
When he glanced forward, he saw that the movements of the three monsters about to attack had frozen in place.
Then, their bodies slowly slid down along a perfect diagonal line, split into six segments like tofu cut by an invisible blade.
As the six segments of the monsters' remains crashed to the ground, kicking up a large cloud of dust, Little Gold finally raised his head and met Starlight’s outstretched hand.
“Can you be a bit more steady, kid?” Starlight pulled him up. “We were almost scared to death.”
“Hehe... I’m fine, aren't I?” Standing up, Little Gold patted the dirt off himself and grinned.
Seeing his carefree look, Lian couldn't help but pout. “You can actually still smile. Who was the one almost scared into wetting their pants just now...”
“Hey, hey, hey! Who was scared!? I was just... just a little flustered!” Little Gold’s face reddened as he immediately retorted.
Starlight didn't pay attention to the two youngsters' bickering. After confirming the monsters were completely wiped out, he immediately turned toward the stone mountain. What he needed to do now was rescue the Blue Dragon first and then ask him what exactly happened.
Soon, the three of them arrived in front of the stone mountain.
But when they actually got close, they realized the injuries on this Blue Dragon were far heavier than they had imagined.
Those grey chains not only pierced through its wings but several also drove directly into its chest and abdomen. The most shocking one was at the heart, where the surrounding dragon scales had all curled back, revealing the festering flesh beneath.
The Blue Dragon’s head hung limply, and its ice-blue dragon horns were covered in web-like cracks. Every weak breath brought out some blood foam.
Rate on N.U.
