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Chapter 392: 392
The massacre was short-lived, however, as the general noticed the lesser demons actively avoiding direct confrontation. The momentum of the Ogre army faltered as their enemies’ evasive maneuvers left them disoriented. This confusion deepened as the demons seemed to ignore their attackers, refusing to engage.
For the Ogres, nothing was more disheartening than being disregarded on the battlefield. Yet, they pressed on, their sense of duty compelling them to continue—even if killing enemies who wouldn’t fight back felt dishonorable.
Then, the general and his army noticed an approaching force of demons moving directly toward them. For the first time, the general smiled, pleased to face a worthy challenge. He let out a roar as he and his men charged to meet the oncoming enemy.
As the distance closed, the general’s expression grew serious. This was no ordinary demon force. Leading them were two figures—one male, the other female—whose power was on par with his own.
The sight made him realize that the hybrids they had fought before were pale imitations of the real thing. The three fifth-stage powerhouses locked eyes as their armies collided in a cacophony of chaos, the battlefield trembling under the weight of their clash.
The battle begins with Gorgar the ogre general raising his halberd high, slamming it into the ground. His Titan’s Crucible erupts into being, as the space around twisted into a battlefield of shifting stone and jagged rock. Massive pillars rise and fall at his will, while deep chasms open randomly, threatening to swallow anything unlucky enough to step on unstable ground.
Drakthar the male demon snarls, activating his Dread Labyrinth. Shadows engulf the terrain as webs spread across the battlefield, providing him with anchoring points and hidden paths. Zythera completes the environment by summoning her Ethereal Web, overlaying an invisible lattice of magical threads that hum with latent power.
Gorgar charges forward, each step sending tremors rippling through the ground. He hurls his halberd, the spearhead glowing with gravitational energy. The weapon arcs toward Zythera, but she deflects it with a fiery shield. Drakthar uses the distraction to leap toward Gorgar, aiming for a direct strike with his venomous claws.
The ogre meets Drakthar mid-air, summoning a stone pillar that launches the spider demon upward. As Drakthar tumbles, Gorgar recalls his halberd with a gravitational pull, spinning it in a wide arc to repel any follow-up attacks.
From the safety of her webs, Zythera conjures a series of fire-laced shadow bolts, each homing in on Gorgar. He blocks with a hastily raised stone wall, but the bolts explode on impact, forcing him to retreat.
Drakthar reappears behind Gorgar, teleporting through his webs. His claws rake across Gorgar’s back, venom sizzling against the ogre’s thick hide. Gorgar roars in pain but retaliates by stomping the ground, creating a localized gravity well that pins Drakthar.
Seeing her team mate in danger, Zythera casts an illusionary duplicate of Drakthar. The false image rushes Gorgar, drawing his attention long enough for the real Drakthar to escape and reposition.
The ogre slams his halberd into the ground, summoning a fissure that snakes toward Zythera. She leaps onto an ethereal thread, narrowly avoiding the collapsing ground.
Realizing the pair’s synergy is a significant threat, Gorgar expands his domain’s influence. Massive boulders rise and orbit him like planets around a star. He hurls these projectiles with devastating force, disrupting both Dread Labyrinth and Ethereal Web.
Drakthar leaps between falling rocks, using explosive webbing to redirect their trajectory back at Gorgar. One boulder strikes the ogre’s shoulder, staggering him momentarily.
The female demon conjures a fiery construct—a massive spider engulfed in flames. It charges at Gorgar, forcing him to focus on defense as Drakthar closes in again.
The fiery spider shrieked, its burning legs scraping against the shifting stone of Gorgar’s Titan’s Crucible. The ogre roared, swinging his halberd in a wide arc, the gravitational force pulling chunks of rock from the battlefield into the path of the flaming arachnid. The construct exploded in a shower of embers and molten rock, momentarily blinding Gorgar.
Taking advantage of the chaos, Drakthar, now perched on a high, jagged rock created by Gorgar’s own domain, launched a volley of venomous spines. They hissed through the air, several finding their mark on Gorgar’s thick hide. The ogre bellowed in pain, his movements becoming sluggish as the venom began to take effect. He swiped blindly with his halberd, creating a shockwave that cleared the immediate area but left him vulnerable.
Zythera, sensing an opening, wove a complex spell within her Ethereal Web. The air shimmered, and a series of shimmering portals opened around Gorgar. From each portal emerged a spectral hand, each grasping at a different part of his body. They tugged and pulled, hindering his movements and further disorienting him.
Gorgar, enraged and hampered, slammed his halberd into the ground with all his might. The Titan’s Crucible bucked and shuddered, the orbiting boulders accelerating and crashing into each other, creating a chaotic storm of debris. The spectral hands dissipated under the immense energy surge, and the portals winked out of existence. However, the ground beneath Drakthar and Zythera began to crack and crumble, threatening to send them tumbling into the chasms below.
Drakthar, nimble as ever, leaped from one crumbling rock to another, using his webs to swing to safety. Zythera, however, was less fortunate. A large section of her Ethereal Web was severed by the tremors, causing her to lose her footing. She cried out as she began to fall into a deep fissure.
Drakthar, seeing his ally in peril, made a daring move. He launched a thick strand of webbing towards a falling boulder, using it as a makeshift swing to propel himself towards the chasm. He managed to grab Zythera just as she was about to fall into the darkness, pulling her back to safety.
Gorgar, seeing his enemies momentarily disorganized, seized the opportunity. He focused his power, and the remaining orbiting boulders began to glow with intense heat. With a mighty roar, he unleashed them in a concentrated barrage towards Drakthar and Zythera’s position. The rocks streaked through the air like meteors, leaving trails of fire in their wake. The two demons knew they had to act quickly, or they would be consumed by the fiery onslaught.
Drakthar, with Zythera clinging to his back, spun a rapid series of webs, creating a makeshift shield just as the first burning boulder slammed into it. The webbing held for a fleeting moment, absorbing some of the impact, before disintegrating in a shower of molten rock and burning silk. The force of the blast sent Drakthar and Zythera tumbling backwards, slamming into a jagged outcropping. Zythera cried out in pain, her legs twisted at an unnatural angle.
Drakthar, his mandibles clicking in irritation, quickly assessed the situation. Zythera was crippled, their position was compromised, and Gorgar was pressing his advantage. She was now a liability. A bitter taste rose in his throat, a mix of frustration and a primal hunger. He glanced at her, her face contorted in pain, and a cruel glint entered his multifaceted eyes.
He considered his options. Devouring her now would provide a temporary boost of energy, but it would be a messy affair, and the scent of her essence would attract unwanted attention, especially with the battlefield collapsing around them. No, a swift end would be more efficient.
He shifted his weight, preparing to discard her, when a flicker of an idea sparked in his cunning mind. Perhaps she could still be of some use, a distraction, a sacrifice to buy him time. He could exploit her remaining magical power, then discard her when she was spent.
He did not gently help her to a more stable position. Instead, he roughly shoved her against the rock face, ignoring her renewed cry of pain. "Your magic," he hissed, his voice like scraping chitin, "use it. Now. Or I’ll tear out your throat myself." He began weaving a complex web, not for defense, but for offense, as before. However, now he forced Zythera, through threats and painful prods, to channel her remaining magical energy into it, augmenting its power with her own. 𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙥𝒖𝒃.𝙘𝙤𝒎
Meanwhile, Gorgar, sensing victory was within his grasp, continued his bombardment. He roared, summoning more boulders from the depths of his Titan’s Crucible, each one glowing with increasing intensity. He hurled them with pinpoint accuracy, targeting the shattered remains of Drakthar’s makeshift shield, unaware of the desperate calculus being performed by the demon.
Just as another volley of flaming rocks hurtled towards them, Drakthar unleashed his creation. The intricately woven web, now pulsating with raw power fueled by both his and Zythera’s energy, shot forward like a living projectile. It snaked through the air, dodging the incoming boulders with surprising agility, before wrapping itself around Gorgar’s halberd.
The ogre roared in surprise as the web tightened, the volatile energy surging through the metal of his weapon and into his very being. The halberd began to glow an ominous red, the gravitational forces it commanded fluctuating wildly. Gorgar struggled to maintain control, but the energy was too much. The halberd bucked and sparked, before finally exploding in a devastating burst of gravitational force and heat.
