Starlight cursed under his breath, but he was completely unable to break free from his current shackles. He could only watch helplessly as the Stone Troll Emperor carried them higher and higher into the air.
“You bastard! Let them go!”
A clear shout rang out from the distance, accompanied by several fiery red arrows—Xia Duo and the others had finally arrived.
However, the Stone Troll Emperor didn't even bother to turn around to face the incoming battle qi arrows, letting them slam into its exposed spine and flesh.
The sparks of battle qi that erupted upon impact illuminated the monster’s semi-crystallized skeleton. Yet, those arrows—capable of piercing through steel plates—merely left a few shallow marks on the bone before vanishing into nothingness.
Seeing that her first wave of attacks had failed, Xia Duo immediately focused her mind, pouring all her concentration into her next strike.
She took a deep breath, quickly adjusting her state to its peak. Her entire body's battle qi condensed at her fingertips, transforming into an incredibly solid, fiery red arrow.
This was the strongest attack she could muster without the aid of the Sacred Wood Arrows, a culmination of her constant study into the Intent of the Arrow she had previously grasped.
She was confident that even an opponent far stronger than her could not ignore this arrow, and the other party’s disdain and contempt provided her with the perfect opportunity.
In the next second, Xia Duo’s azure pupils suddenly constricted. The bowstring let out a groan of strain against her fingers. The surrounding air seemed to freeze as all the stray energy gathered toward the forming arrow.
Her slender fingertips seeped blood from the sheer intensity of the condensed battle qi, but the moment the blood touched the arrow’s shaft, it evaporated into a bloody mist, dyeing the entire arrow a haunting dark red.
“Pierce through—”
Buzz!
With a sharp hum, the arrow generated a vapor cone in front of Xia Duo the instant it left the string. What trailed behind the arrow was no longer a common air current, but a spiral ripple that distorted space itself.
Bang!
The arrow tip precisely struck the crystallized joint at the back of the Stone Troll Emperor’s neck, kicking up countless crystal shards and passing directly through its wide-open mouth.
The arrow, having pierced through its head, left a large hole in the Stone Troll Emperor’s neck and skull, with only a few bits of unrecovered flesh still holding them together.
“Nice shot, Xia Duo!” Starlight couldn't help but cheer at the sight.
But in the very instant Xia Duo allowed herself a look of joy, the flying crystal shards and bone fragments suddenly suspended in mid-air, then began to converge back toward the Stone Troll Emperor’s wound as if time were flowing backward...
“What?!” Xia Duo’s eyes widened in shock. She wanted to follow up, but that previous strike had already drained her battle qi. She could only watch as the target carried Starlight and Stark further away.
Starlight watched as the dome above grew closer and closer, a sense of unease bubbling within him.
“What exactly is this guy trying to do? Did that last hit scramble its brains?”
Before he could ponder it further, they were brought to the very top of Cinder City’s dome.
A spherical red light rose from the Stone Troll Emperor’s body. The rock layers above, reinforced by the Fire God's power, actually parted on their own like living things before the red light.
“This isn't melting... it’s changing the form of the rock layers?!” Starlight struggled to turn his eyes to look at the separated stone. The cut surfaces were as smooth as mirrors, even reflecting the Stone Troll Emperor’s twisted silhouette.
“Where is it taking us?”
...
The Stone Troll Emperor carried the two through the tunnel of un-assimilated rock, continuing its upward flight. When the final layer of rock pulled back like a curtain, a bone-chilling wind carrying snow lashed against their faces.
Starlight, whose consciousness had grown hazy, shuddered from the sudden drop in temperature and forced his eyes open.
The biting cold briefly restored clarity to Starlight's mind. He struggled to blink away the ice crystals forming on his eyelashes, allowing his blurred vision to focus on the scene before him.
Amidst the wind and snow, the newly formed body possessed a bizarre beauty: the crystallized skin was as translucent as the finest gemstone, swirling with a rose-red aura. The once-twisted face now had soft lines, even carrying a hint of divine solemnity. Its slender limbs were perfectly proportioned, with every joint shimmering with starlike points of light.
“Is this... still that monster?” Starlight murmured in his heart. The existence before him had already transcended the category of magical beasts.
However, he couldn't shake the feeling that the Stone Troll Emperor’s current appearance... seemed a bit familiar. Where had he seen it before?
“Hmph... not bad at all...”
A cold snort sounded from the Stone Troll Emperor’s mouth, but it no longer carried the previous hoarseness or stuttering quality.
Starlight felt his body grow light as he was tossed into the thick snow. Falling beside him was Stark’s small frame.
He looked up and realized that Noah’s book form and Stark’s pendant remained in the other's hands.
“Cough... give Noah back! What do you want?!”
Starlight clutched his throat and stood up unsteadily, forcing his mana to condense in an attempt to take Noah back.
“Heh... another Elemental Saint Body? Though, you're still far too weak.”
The ‘Stone Troll Emperor’ toyed with the book and pendant in its hands, looking down at Starlight with a gaze that seemed to look upon all the world with disdain.
“You are not yet worthy of knowing my identity... but I must admit, it is thanks to the two of you that I was able to reappear in this world.”
“What do you mean by that?!” Starlight roared, condensing dark elements into a sphere and lunging it toward the entity's face.
“Enough.” The ‘Stone Troll Emperor’ raised a hand nonchalantly. With a light flick of its slender fingers, the Shadow of Annihilation Starlight had poured his all into shattered and dissipated like a bubble.
“Do not test my limits further. Just because I do not wish to act against you does not mean I will not.”
As it spoke, the ‘Stone Troll Emperor’ tossed the pendant and book before Starlight and slowly turned around. Its crystallized long hair fluttered in the wind and snow, its gaze locked onto a distant volcano spewing thick smoke.
“As expected... my presence will attract that fellow’s arrival. It can't be helped; I suppose this is what they call fate.”
Listening to the ‘Stone Troll Emperor’s’ nonsensical words, Starlight felt as if his head were spinning.
Why let us go all of a sudden?
And who was “that fellow” it spoke of?
“Who are you, and what are you doing?!” Starlight scooped up Noah and the pendant from the snow, shouting at the receding figure.
In the wind and snow, the ‘Stone Troll Emperor’ turned its head slightly and gave him a faint glance. It raised a slender finger and made a meaningful upward pointing gesture toward the sky.
Following that gesture, the distant wind and snow were suddenly torn apart by a terrifying force. A blinding flash of purple lightning pierced through the clouds, followed immediately by a deafening roar of thunder.
Starlight’s heart skipped a beat. That was definitely not natural lightning!
The ‘Stone Troll Emperor’ suddenly spread its arms wide, its long hair flying wildly in the gale. It threw its head back and let out a boisterous laugh, the sound interspersed with ancient Dwarven incantations.
“Indeed! You arrived quickly! ...Let me be the one to bring this battle from ten thousand years ago to its end!”
As the laughter echoed, its entire body erupted with a brilliant rose-red light that was impossible to look at directly.
The light flowed across its skin like a living thing, gradually condensing into a set of magnificent crystal armor. Even more terrifying was that the pressure it emitted was soaring exponentially, quickly surpassing the peak Saint Rank Starlight was familiar with!
Crack!
The snow within a hundred-meter radius instantly vaporized, and the exposed rock layer cracked and sank under the pressure. Starlight had no choice but to shield Noah and the nearby Stark beneath him, desperately pushing his mana to resist.
Finally, the ‘Stone Troll Emperor’s’ power settled at a level that made one tremble—the same level as You, Seranox, and Desdoraka: a Half-God.
“Come! Judge! Fight me!” Its voice resounded through the heavens and earth. The distant volcano began to tremble violently as boiling lava flowed upward, transforming into a massive battle hammer in its hand.
The figure turned into a rose-red meteor, charging into the rolling thunderclouds in the distance.
In that instant, Starlight finally remembered where he had seen this person before...
Rate on N.U.
