novelraw Chapter 499 499: An Unexpected Turn, Enjoying the Spoils of War
Chapter 499 499: An Unexpected Turn, Enjoying the Spoils of War
The blue droplet of light had only just appeared when Logan reacted as if he had known in advance. Not only did he halt his charge, he even seemed flustered, forcibly twisting his body mid-run, skidding into a drift before scrambling on all four limbs to flee in the opposite direction.
Safi'jiiva, who had arched its upper body to lure Logan into launching that attack, revealed a flicker of mockery in its icy vertical pupils filled with madness at Logan's retreat.
Trying to escape at this distance?
Too late!
From the moment it deduced its own impending defeat, it had secretly begun accumulating energy, even going so far as to deliberately expose the fatal wound in its chest to bait Logan into attacking—all for this very instant.
At such a range, even Logan would not escape the radius of this strike!
This would be the most powerful "Crimson Emperor Azure Star" it had unleashed since its birth!
Even if mutual destruction proved impossible in the end, it would still leave on Logan a wound that would not heal for centuries!
However...
Although once the Crimson Emperor Azure Star left its body even Safi'jiiva itself could no longer control it, basic perception was still possible.
For example, at this very moment, the energy within the final blow it had placed its hopes on for mutual destruction was vanishing at an inconceivable speed.
And the attack from Logan that had already disappeared reappeared at this instant.
A vortex-like "nebula" spun into existence before its chest, and at the center of the "nebula," that dazzling crystal was now devouring all surrounding energy like a black hole. The energy dissipating from the Crimson Emperor Azure Star was precisely what it was absorbing.
In the next moment, something occurred that even Safi'jiiva found inconceivable!
The Crimson Emperor Azure Star was an extremely condensed special bioenergy. The degree of compression within it spoke for itself.
Yet within the brief instant of its descent, a small portion of that "droplet" was forcibly stripped away.
The emergence of this phenomenon was like a set of dominoes toppling— the entire Crimson Emperor Azure Star collapsed apart, breaking and scattering like an ordinary droplet of water, then being absorbed by that mass of nebula.
The luminous sphere, which had originally been only about the size of Safi'jiiva's head, transformed in an instant into a massive orb of light with a radius of dozens of meters, pressing it down firmly.
Safi'jiiva's entire body felt as if it were being slammed into and crushed, every single cell wracked by a grinding pain as though it were being pulverized. But Logan's attack was clearly a close-range strike, wasn't it? And at the beginning, it had only been a slight sting—so why had it become like this?
Safi'jiiva was baffled, while Logan even kicked on turbo thrust, wishing he could grow two more legs!
Safi'jiiva didn't know what was going on—yet could the instigator really not know?
As the product of the purest fusion of power from two worlds, the pure energy that had accumulated in Logan's heart when he was remodeled as a bridge between them might not have the same exaggerated aggressiveness as Dragon Element energy or other elemental energies.
But it possessed an equally exaggerated trait: fusion and absorption.
Shattering Meteorite, developed on the basis of that trait, could forcibly absorb all surrounding energy and convert it into pure Terastal energy, using it to amplify the attack power of this strike.
Those "nebulae" that moved along with the Shattering Meteorite crystal were the manifested form of the energy it drew in.
Once this strike hit an opponent, that unreasonable absorption trait could forcibly absorb the energy inside the opponent's body—weakening the opponent while strengthening itself—until Logan either detonated it of his own accord or the absorbed energy reached the crystal's limit.
Put in another set of terms: the more energy the opponent had, the higher the damage of this strike!
As for the exact magnitude of its power, you only needed to look at the final size of the "meteorite" to judge it.
But Logan hadn't expected that something would go wrong on its very first use!
This Safi'jiiva—attacking but never defending—had, by sheer coincidence, chosen this exact moment to try to drag Logan down with it, producing a disembodied "Crimson Emperor Azure Star" with an absurd amount of energy!
The essence of that thing was leyline energy compressed to an extremely high density, not a single elemental energy on its own.
To Shattering Meteorite, that was practically a meal delivered to its doorstep!
In the span of a single second, it was absorbed and turned into nourishment, causing Shattering Meteorite to immediately reach the crystal's energy absorption limit and trigger the final attack beyond Logan's control.
A pure energy attack did not distinguish friend from foe. The instant Logan realized Shattering Meteorite was no longer under his control, he had already turned and run—but in the end, he was still a step too late.
Scorching white light lit up heaven and earth. Countless Terastal fragments scattered with the explosion, burying themselves deep into the impact site, then in the blink of an eye "sprouting" into one transparent Terastal flower after another. Next, those Terastal flowers exploded again, blasting out countless more fragments.
And so the cycle of explosions continued without end, until the energy was completely exhausted.
This was Shattering Meteorite's most terrifying third stage!
Whether it was living creatures or the surrounding environment, it could inflict apocalyptic devastation.
The continuous explosions caused the entire Secluded Valley to expand outward by a full circle. The first and second layers, which had already been reduced to almost nothing by their battle, vanished outright, and even the ground permeated and covered by Terastal was forcibly stripped away by another layer.
A massive fissure spread beyond the valley, and in the snowy region adjacent to the Secluded Valley, large stretches of glaciers shattered. A minor earthquake rippled through the entire Guiding Lands.
The Commander braced himself against a pillar. Only after the tremors had completely subsided did he release it and hurried out of the camp. Just as he was about to issue orders, he saw quite a few hunters had already mounted wingdrakes and were flying toward the valley.
At this moment, the flames that had intermittently flickered above the Secluded Valley also seemed to have been dispersed by the white light and the earthquake. The battle that had raged within for days had, in all likelihood, come to an end.
"Sunblaze Dragon..."
...
Gravel was swept away by powerful wingbeats. Logan's scales were shattered; several enormous gashes on his back and wings looked horrifying. Yet strangely, not a single drop of blood flowed—only faint crimson energy seeped outward from the wounds.
He had still underestimated Shattering Meteorite… no, rather, he had underestimated the energy of Safi'jiiva's final Crimson Emperor Azure Star. To think it could charge Shattering Meteorite to such an exaggerated degree.
Even with Terastal armor serving as a first layer of protection, he had still been injured this badly by the same Terastal energy. He had truly been careless.
With heavy steps, Gale Wings scattered the Terastal crystal fragments that hung in the air like dust. From afar, he could see Safi'jiiva's shattered body lying weakly within a deep crater. One enormous transparent Terastal flower after another bloomed beside it, as if holding a funeral, flourishing by drawing upon the leyline energy that flowed out along with its blood.
Logan beat his wings and flew above Safi'jiiva, landing lightly at its side. Lowering his head, he looked at those vertical pupils—already extremely dim, yet still fixed stubbornly on him. Even at this stage, Safi'jiiva showed not the slightest fear of death.
Perhaps, for a creature like Safi'jiiva, neither life nor death was anything to fear.
Rip!
The massive crystal wing-claw tore open the tattered back scales on Safi'jiiva's spine. Its heart, still faintly beating and continuously generating new energy, lay exposed before Logan.
The hunger that had been temporarily suppressed by battle surged back into his mind. Before Safi'jiiva's eyes completely dimmed, he bit down on that heart—which had not suffered much damage even within Shattering Meteorite.
As Safi'jiiva's eyes widened, the purest energy and life force belonging to its "perpetual motion" core began to be devoured by Logan like a whale swallowing the sea.
This was the moment for the victor to enjoy the spoils of war.