“I’ll do my best. Moen, stop using nature spells on it for now. That thing’s power is incredibly bizarre—any attack with a physical form will be contaminated and assimilated by it. We have to find another way.”
Starlight quickly analyzed the Stone Troll King’s skills and their brief exchange in his mind, gathering several pieces of information.
First was what he had just said: anything that made physical contact with the Stone Troll King would be rapidly converted into that red crystal, whereas spells like those of the wind and light elements remained unaffected.
Additionally, one thing puzzled him greatly: if the Stone Troll King’s goal was to activate some ability to destroy the dome upon the clone’s death, why didn't it just choose to self-destruct directly?
Wouldn't that be much simpler?
“Is it possible it intends to use several clones to whittle down the dwarven defenders first? Or perhaps... it can’t control the timing of the process itself?”
With the support of Noah’s soul power, Starlight’s black eyes suddenly transformed into a brilliant silver-white.
Through his elemental vision, the entire world turned into a network of flowing energy. To his surprise, he discovered that the energy dissipated from every single attack on the battlefield was being greedily devoured by the blood-colored crystal on the Stone Troll King’s forehead!
“As I thought... Everyone, I understand now! This thing’s body can absorb the energy dissipated from most attacks to charge the crystal on its head!”
“What?” The Silver-Beard Patriarch abruptly halted his swinging chain hammer, forcibly suppressing the lightning crackling on his weapon. “If that’s the case, how are we supposed to fight it?”
To be honest, when Starlight realized this, he felt a flicker of doubt in his own heart as well.
Attacking would charge the enemy, yet not attacking would mean sitting idly by while it recovered its strength.
Fortunately, Moen had reacted quickly. Working in tandem with him, she used a whirlwind to temporarily trap the Stone Troll King clone, but the howling wind blades were being absorbed by the blood-colored crystal at a visible rate.
“It seems pushing it out of Cinder City’s range is going to be difficult!” Moen estimated their current position.
If they followed the original plan to push the Stone Troll King back into the subterranean tunnels, they still had quite a distance to go.
The Stone Troll King clone seemed to sense their predicament and let out a raspy, menacing laugh.
It deliberately slammed its scarred body against the wind cage, each collision allowing the blood-colored crystal to absorb even more dissipated energy. At this rate, it would gather enough power in just a few minutes!
“Is it feasible to use the Power of Destruction to break the crystal on its head directly?” Starlight asked quickly in his mind.
“Theoretically, yes. Transcendent Power does not have a physical form, but you must make point-blank contact. With the reaction speed of a Saint Rank powerhouse, once it senses your intent, it will never give you the chance to get close,” Noah analyzed.
“I understand.”
Starlight gave a decisive reply before turning to Moen and the two dwarf patriarchs. “Give me the strongest Nature’s Blessing you can manage. Can you two create a suppressive physical restraint? The firmer, the better! Leave the task of destroying the crystal to me.”
“Just physical control? Old Goldie, bring that thing out!” The Silver-Beard Patriarch glanced at his old friend and roared in a low voice.
The Gold-Palm Patriarch nodded silently, his calloused hand unhooking a seemingly ordinary chain from his waist. With a soft click, the mechanism at the end of the chain snapped precisely onto the handle of his battle axe.
Next, he grabbed the chain and swung his battle axe like a flail.
“That thing is too strong; we can only hold it for a moment. You’d better seize the chance! Go!”
With a roar from the Gold-Palm Patriarch, his muscular arms exerted a sudden burst of force, and the battle axe flew toward the Stone Troll King like a meteor!
Even more miraculously, the chain continuously extended during flight, instantly growing from its initial two meters to dozens of meters. The runes engraved upon it lit up one by one, transforming into a brilliant ribbon of light in the air.
Facing the whistling battle axe, the Stone Troll King forcibly twisted its body within the wind cage, its rocky frame emitting an overburdened cracking sound.
The axe blade grazed its temple, trailing a string of purple-black blood droplets.
“Retract!”
The Gold-Palm Patriarch flicked his wrist, and the runes on the chain flared with light. The flying battle axe instantly traced a bizarre arc in mid-air, and the chain coiled around the Stone Troll’s thick neck like a spirit serpent.
The Stone Troll King immediately reached out, intending to tear the chain from its neck, but its claws—capable of shattering metal—only struck a shower of sparks off the glowing runes without leaving a scratch.
Instead, the revolving battle axe used the momentum to complete another wrap with the chain, this time firmly binding the Stone Troll King’s hands as well.
Boom!
A second later, the battle axe slammed heavily into the ground, embedding itself deep within the rock. Seeing this, the Silver-Beard Patriarch immediately rushed forward and grabbed the chain.
“Get down here!” Both patriarchs roared simultaneously, their battle qi erupting as they pulled the chain together.
The two chains instantly pulled taut. The Stone Troll King’s massive frame swayed violently, and its knees slammed into the ground, causing spiderweb-like cracks to spread across the hard basalt.
The red crystal on its forehead flashed frantically, but it could not quickly break free from the restraint infused with ancient dwarven arts.
“Now!”
Starlight’s eyes narrowed, and his figure shot forward like an arrow from a bow.
The Stone Troll King’s purple-black pupils reflected the “tiny” figure rushing toward it, and a hint of human-like confusion appeared on its hideous, rocky face.
In its limited understanding, mages were always cowardly beings who cast spells from a distance. Why was this human performing such a move that defied all logic?
Despite having its arms bound, this Saint Rank monster was still not to be trifled with.
It let out a heaven-shaking roar and forcibly straightened its body, its massive foot descending toward Starlight’s head with the weight of a mountain! If this stomp landed, even steel would be crushed into a thin sheet.
But just as it took half a step, an emerald vine as thick as an arm suddenly erupted from the ground, precisely coiling around its ankle.
With this, the off-balance Stone Troll King fell backward like a collapsing mountain, its back slamming heavily into the ground and kicking up a cloud of dust.
Starlight seized this perfect opportunity and leaped high into the air, heading straight for the Stone Troll King’s head. A pale white light sphere began to appear in his palm.
Upon seeing the Power of Destruction in Starlight’s palm, the Stone Troll King’s purple-black pupils suddenly contracted, sensing extreme danger.
Fear born of instinct caused it to erupt with unprecedented strength!
Crack!
With a crisp snapping sound, the chains in the two patriarchs’ hands were actually torn apart! The Silver-Beard Patriarch stumbled back several steps, while the Gold-Palm Patriarch was flipped over by the recoil.
The monster immediately used its freed giant claw to swipe at Starlight in mid-air.
But in the next instant, Starlight’s figure vanished from its sight, and the high-reaching claw caught nothing but air.
By the time it reacted, Starlight had already appeared on its forehead. The Power of Destruction in his hand swirled like a vortex as he slammed it into the crystal without hesitation.
“Since you’re so greedy...” A cold glint flashed in Starlight’s eyes. “Then see if you can digest this!”
The moment the Power of Destruction made contact with the blood-colored crystal, time seemed to stand still for a heartbeat. There was no world-shaking explosion, only pure void quietly spreading.
Starting from the point of contact, spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread across the crystal’s surface. The red-black substance within melted away at a visible rate, like snow exposed to a blazing sun.
“Awooo—!!”
The Stone Troll King let out a heart-wrenching howl, its massive body twitching violently, yet it could no longer stop the erosion of the Power of Destruction.
It slammed its giant claw heavily against its own face, but Starlight had already retreated, leaving its claw to strike empty air once again.
“Did it work?” Moen asked hesitantly, watching the struggling Stone Troll King.
“I don’t know, but at least that crystal on its head is broken!” Starlight landed beside her. He did not relax just because he had landed a successful blow; instead, he remained ready to charge back in and deliver a finishing strike at any moment.
Rate on N.U.
