The Demon Monarch System

Chapter 553: Astarat's War: Humans v. Terrors (VI)

Astarat's War: Humans v. Terrors (VI)

Gideon's expression gradually shifted into a solemn one as a strange gleam circulated in his eyes. His gaze reached the barrier that barred the Three Heavens from entry within seconds. While they were helpless before the barrier, Gideon merely narrowed his eyes until his perception condensed into a sharp beam, puncturing the barrier after a few moments.

Of course, the barrier wasn't physically broken, so none of the putrid Death Essence leaked out. Even the faintest wisp of that Death Essence was enough to kill nearly all of the soldiers below the Zul Lord Realm. That's just how terrifying the power Az'kayzak wielded was. Even Brukti, who was born from a tiny fragment of his power, posed a significant threat to humanity despite his infantile age.

One could only imagine how powerful a Terror as ancient as Az'kayzak was.

What met his sights was the carefree smile of a being who seemed to personify death itself. Gideon closed his eyes and released a heavy sigh as his speculations were now confirmed. After a moment of silence, he turned towards Solomon and the others.

"It's just as I feared; that thing is alive. And, judging by his expression, he's doing much better than we'd like," Gideon said in a heavy voice. The severity of the situation just skyrocketed as he could sense abnormal fluctuations deep within the Endless Death Domain.

What's more, Gideon also noticed the faint tendrils linking to the Endless Death Domain withdrew, taking a tremendous amount of Death Essence along with it. This amount of Death Essence could only be consumed by one entity.

Thus, Gideon tightened his grasp on his staff until the archaic wood emitted creaking sounds and his palm turned white. "War? This war is about to become an absolute nightmare. I must go; their audience is now required. There's no doubt about it."

"Go? But you just got here Headmaster Gideon. You can assist everyone on the battlefield, greatly reducing the number of casualties we suffer early on. Won't you reconsider?!" Valerie exclaimed, stepping forward with eyes full of troubles. Since most of the healers bore a special marking, she understood the general situation by gathering information through the markings.

Plenty of Zul Knights and Zul Commanders had already perished, not to mention the astronomical amount of Zul Warriors who only served as cannon fodder. While their numbers were ridiculous in comparison to the other realms, they were too fragile when it came to combat. They could only withstand a few exchanges against a Rank 1 Terror before suffering extensive damage.

"Your understanding of this battle is far too narrow. The number of lives that have been lost already is incomparable to the devastation that will take place if I don't move right now. Besides, those who persist are those who deserve to survive," Gideon replied.

Valerie was stunned, not by Gideon's word but by the fear she saw in his eyes. If someone as strong as him felt fear strong enough to be deemed palpable, Valerie could only assume that the situation was far worst than she could imagine.

'Headmaster Gideon is a Saint like us. If I'm not mistaken, he should be a Zul Sovereign like the rest of the Grand Masters. What type of character is strong enough to invoke fear from him?' Soren wondered while quietly analyzing Gideon's behavior.

Unlike Valerie, Soren and Solomon merely took a step back as they understood where Gideon was coming from. Since they usually focused on combat, they weren't sensitive to casualties like Valerie was. Naturally, playing the supportive role influenced Valerie's thought process.

Meanwhile, Gideon gradually floated upward while staring down at Soren and Solomon, "Continue to inflict severe wounds upon that Disaster down there. Do not let him allow him the chance to recover again as he bears the power of a terrifying existence."

"Understood!"

"I already promised that hideous thing that I will cut it down. You can rest assured that I will make good on this promise," Soren answered decisively.

Gideon gave a simple nod in response. Afterward, he turned away from the Endless Death Domain and Catastrophe Line altogether, moving in the opposite direction. His target was a remote island coated in a dense fog with a single mountain piercing high into the sky.

The atmosphere surrounding this specific island seemed serene since the dense mist blocked out everything under a certain level. Unless one had reached the level of a Saint, it was impossible to locate this island. This was the sole reason for the Grand Masters migrating to the island; it provided the perfect isolation to explore their spiritual attainments.

However, Gideon was sure of one thing―he needed to go there and alert the Grand Masters to Az'kayzak's condition.

Seconds after Gideon left, Brukti burst back to the surface, landing with a heavy thud as he glared daggers at the Three Heavens. Similar to a bull, Brukti's chest heaved with each of his exaggerated breaths. Needless to say, he didn't appreciate Soren's earlier attack.

But, suffering from that attack came with some hidden benefits as well. Due to his excessive consumption of Death Essence, Brukti gathered enough power to activation the second level of the Death Command. It was a power similar to Spiritualization in that it greatly increased how much Death Essence Brukti consumed.

"Did you enjoy that earlier display? Well, I should repay the favor. It's only right," Brukti said with a menacing grin. Another catastrophic tremor occurred as Brukti raised his arm to the sky. The gauntlet surrounding his arm emitted a blinding green light, generating a response from many of the Terrors in the area.

Although all of the Terrors reacted towards the blinding light, Brukti's control over the Rank 1, 2, and 3 Terrors was broken when he clenched his fist. Since their numbers were pivotal to maintaining pressure on the battlefield, Brukti chose to focus on the rank of Terrors with the greatest prospects.

The essence of a thousand Rank 4 Terrors liquified, gathering to form a viscous glob of greenish-black liquid in the middle of the blinding light. All of this happened instantly, leading the Three Heavens to believe this glob was part of an attack, but their assumptions were far from the truth.

The purpose of the glob wasn't to attack; it was meant for Brukti's personal usage. After the glob ballooned to 50 meters in diameter, Brukti jumped inside and disappeared completely.

Soren's first instinct was to unleash an attack upon the glob as he didn't know what to expect from Brukti, especially after listening to the Disaster claim that he would reciprocate the injuries he suffered earlier.

Seven symbols lit up on Gaelbolg right before Soren hurled it at the center of the orb. The spear arrived instantly, but violent winds and sparks appeared, keeping the spear at bay.

"Is this blob not soft? Why is it exhibiting properties of hardened metal?" Soren muttered with a confused expression. The soft ripples that appeared when Brukti entered the glob misled Soren. Following Brukti's entrance, the glob solidified and adopted the property of the power seen earlier inside the depths of the Endless Death Domain.

As his attempt to interrupt Brukti was fruitless, Soren recalled Gaelbolg and conserved his Spiritual Essence. Despite lighting up seven of the nine symbols on Gaelbolg, Soren's earlier attack only consumed two percent of his Spiritual Reserves.

"So long as Spiritualization isn't involved, I can unleash as many attacks as need be," Soren said. A moment later, Soren steadied himself and crushed several Spirit Jades, replenishing a significant amount of his Spiritual Essence by absorbing the energy within.

"Prepare yourself. You heard Headmaster Gideon's warning. This guy possessed some monstrous growth potential, so we can't let his wanton absorption of Death Essence. Let this be the last time he absorbs a massive amount of it," Solomon suggested.

Each of Solomon's rapiers went enveloped in an aura identical to the night's sky as he stared at the cracks spreading down the orb before their eyes. Throughout their fight, Solomon identified their issue to be their lack of compound attacks. Perhaps they wouldn't be in their current predicament if they overwhelmed him from the start.

Crack! Crack! Crackkkkk!! Tsssssssh!

The massive orb surrounding Brukti shattered, revealing a monstrosity donned in thick armor. Compared to before, Brukti now looked like a goliath as his body from head to toe was covered in a dark green alloy.

"Round two," Brukti said. His voice was deep, guttural even, but it was filled with vigor.

Boom! Bang! Bang!

Brukti's speed now was incomparable to before as despite perceiving his movement, neither Soren nor Solomon could react before being sent flying by Brukti's attack. More importantly, Brukti's fist momentarily morphed into two maces before reverting to its prior form.