Chapter 931: The Giant Hand
The void annihilation space spread rapidly, swelling in the blink of an eye until it touched the Ancestral Warden’s shoulder. Then, in utter silence, that pitch-black maw—like the gaping jaws of some primordial beast—devoured a massive chunk of the Ancestral Warden’s shoulder.
In an instant, the Ancestral Warden’s right arm tumbled to the ground.
Moments ago, when its arm was blasted apart and torn away, the Ancestral Warden was furious but showed not a trace of fear. But now, a flicker of terror crept onto its face.
Because the devoured part—the power contained within—had been utterly annihilated!
In other words, a portion of its power had been completely consumed—gone forever!
At that moment, the Ancestral Warden abandoned its assault on Leon and turned to flee.
As the Ancestral Warden retreated, Leon’s complexion paled. This kind of direct clash burned through mana at a brutal rate. If the fight continued, it would be nearly impossible to destroy the Ancestral Warden without paying a dreadful price.
With a natural demi-plane at his disposal, Leon could almost disregard the issue of mana consumption, since that demi-plane could endlessly replenish his magical reserves.
But Leon’s body simply couldn’t withstand it. To burn through all his mana in less than ten seconds, then replenish it in a frenzy—after a few cycles of this, his body would reach its breaking point.
The relentless flood of mana brought immense pressure. If that pressure was spread out over enough time, Leon could fight on almost indefinitely. But if it was compressed into a few seconds each cycle, mana wasn’t the problem—his mind would buckle under the strain.
To put it bluntly: the body could keep going, but the mind would be exhausted.
Confronted with Leon’s sudden surge of power, Difo was utterly stunned.
From a distance, watching Leon fight, he’d never imagined Leon was this powerful—clashing head-on with the Ancestral Warden. At first, he’d thought Leon was on a suicide mission, but now, unbelievably, he’d forced the Ancestral Warden to retreat.
He’d actually driven the Ancestral Warden to retreat on its own…
Only now did Difo seem to remember that Heron had mentioned this to him before—but he’d never really believed it. Seeing it with his own eyes, he was speechless…
It wasn’t just Difo—everyone who saw that massive Ancestral Warden retreat was left dumbfounded…
You have to understand, the Ancestral Warden is considered one of the guardian deities of the Blazeforge Realm—not just because of its terrifying power, second only to the Celestial Rank, but because it’s nearly impossible to kill. It’s the product of tens of thousands of years of Blazeforge Orc faith—a pure spirit, with no true body, and no real fatal weakness. Even if its head was blasted apart, it could recover.
Any injury merely consumes its strength. Unless you can land a killing blow, the Ancestral Warden is practically immortal. Its reserves of power are immense—compared to any mage, it’s virtually inexhaustible. No mage could ever outlast it in a battle of attrition.
The fact that the Ancestral Warden retreated on its own meant one thing: Leon had the power to kill it for good—and that was enough to make it feel fear…
Meanwhile, in the distance, Heron’s face had gone so dark it looked like he’d been cursed by shadow magic…
From the moment the Ancestral Warden targeted Leon, and Leon exploded into action without a word, Heron knew things were about to go very, very wrong…
It’s over. This time, it’s really over…
Leon is the type to calculate every ounce of power—never wasting a single drop in battle. If he’s fighting a mage, he’d never use the strength of a Title Archmage just to show off.
But now, he’s throwing caution to the wind—clashing head-on with the Ancestral Warden, burning through mana with no regard for the cost. Leon is truly furious this time.
Difo, that idiot—what have you done? You’ve forced Leon, a man who always gets the biggest results for the smallest price, to fight like a reckless brute. If this isn’t genuine rage, what is?
And Difo, that fool, is still standing there. Doesn’t he know to run?
Doesn’t he realize Leon’s doing this to finish the Ancestral Warden as fast as possible? Doesn’t he know what comes next?
It’s over. This time, it’s really over…
Leon’s easy to get along with—normally, you could take advantage of him a little and he wouldn’t mind. But when he’s truly angry, no one can stop him.
Difo, that idiot, is going to die a miserable death this time—Leon probably won’t hold back at all…
No, Leon definitely won’t show any mercy…
Last time, Leon didn’t kill Difo—he was being generous. And yet, Difo keeps provoking him…
Sigh, what now? Difo may be an idiot, but he’s from the Black Tower Sanctuary, and he’s the leader of their reinforcements this time.
No matter what, I can’t just watch him die. But this time, Leon definitely won’t cut me any slack. If I try to stop him, knowing Leon’s temperament, I’ll probably get crushed too.
Leon’s power now is overwhelming—not something any ordinary Ninth-Rank Title Archmage can match. If we fought, I doubt I’d stand a chance.
If I intervene, there’ll be no turning back. To fall out with Leon over Difo? I’m not that stupid…
Still, Difo can’t die. He may be foolish, but his teacher is a true Sky Rank powerhouse. Last time, Leon suppressed that one—Difo is his disciple.
He wasn’t killed, just subdued—so there’s still a way out. But if Difo dies, that Sky Rank mage will be furious, and then we’ll have real trouble.
And now, with the Blazeforge Realm at a critical juncture, the Sky Rank mage sent by the Black Tower Sanctuary for support is almost certainly Difo’s teacher.
(Irrelevant system message skipped.)
If Difo is killed by Leon, that being will definitely take action against Leon personally…
No matter how strong Leon is, he couldn’t possibly be a match for a true Sky Rank powerhouse…
If Leon dies, then things will really get messy…
At that point, civil war would break out for sure. Forget about fighting the Blazeforge Orcs or the wager with the Odin Kingdom.
The Merlin Family has kept a low profile these years, but back then, there was a Merlin who was a true Sky Rank powerhouse—he stunned all of Greendale and single-handedly saved the declining Merlin Family. No one knows what rank he is now.
At that point, civil war might really break out…
Everything in the Blazeforge Realm would have nothing to do with Andalusia anymore—the kingdom itself could erupt in an unprecedented war…
And then there’s Leon’s followers—not a single one is weak. If Leon dies, they won’t care about the Blazeforge Realm or the Andalusia Kingdom…
Especially that colossal Arcane Battleship of Leon’s—who knows where it is now. If Leon dies, his followers will stop at nothing to take revenge…
The losses…
Just imagining how things could end up made even Heron, usually so calm, go pale—the more he thought about it, the more terrified he became.
Difo can’t die—or if he does, it can’t be by Leon’s hand…
Heron, frantic and gritting his teeth, launched a furious assault on the three Orc Warlords surrounding him—desperate to break free and stop what was about to happen.
But ever since Leon started clashing head-on with the Ancestral Warden, Heron had been fighting at full force, attacking those three Orc Warlords without caring about the cost.
But he still couldn’t end the fight quickly.
He’d already killed one Sword Saint Warlord, and was about to shake off the other two—but by then, Leon had already forced the Ancestral Warden to retreat…
Heron was burning with anxiety, but there was nothing he could do.
Meanwhile, Leon had driven back the Ancestral Warden—without even calming his mana, he turned immediately toward Difo.
Leon unfurled his Ice-Fire Wings and flew toward Difo.
Difo was startled—Leon’s combat power had just shocked him, but now, Difo sneered and stood his ground, not the slightest intention of running.
Damn bastard—so what if you’re strong? Does the Merlin Family really dare to go up against our Black Tower Sanctuary?
Hmph, forget the Sanctuary—they’re not even a match for the Black Tower. I set you up, you idiot. What, you think you’d dare kill me?
Difo was utterly fearless, paying no attention to Leon flying toward him—instead, he lifted his chin, ready to keep mouthing off.
But as Leon landed, his Ice-Fire Wings faded away. He looked at Difo with a calm, almost indifferent gaze—like he was staring at the corpse of a pig beast.
Difo hadn’t even managed to get a word out before Leon opened his mouth and spoke a rune.
Instantly, the ground beneath Difo began to tremble.
A massive, earth-colored hand burst from the ground, reaching for Difo.
Startled, Difo shot into the air, casting a rune shield—a sphere of swirling runes enveloped him.
But before Difo could even shout at Leon, a frost-covered hand wreathed in flames snatched him up.
The frost giant hand was seven or eight meters across, glowing deep blue and eerily lifelike—slender, almost like a well-kept woman’s hand, every line and detail visible.
If you ignored the white flames burning on the frost hand, you might actually think it belonged to a living creature.
The hand gripped Difo’s rune shield like it was holding a fragile orb—light as a feather, seemingly without any force.
But even so, the runes on Difo’s shield flickered and surged wildly—waves of energy rippling, the shield’s shape shifting as if it might shatter at any moment.