The Invincible Young Master

Chapter 250 - 250 - Teleportation

[A/N: Yay! 250th chapter, hit small milestone. I deserve a Cola. Jk.]

...

The battlefield, which moments ago roared beneath the clash of two overwhelming forces, now settled into a suffocating silence.

Dust drifted through the distorted air, settling over land torn open like raw wounds.

Deep fissures crawled across the flatland in jagged lines, and entire sections of the land had collapsed into sunken basins. Yet through all this ruin, the tall monolith still stood untouched, rising like an ancient pillar of fate, inscrutable and indifferent to the devastation around it.

Reynold lowered himself from the sky, the collapsed winds parting around him.

In his arms rested Silica's sealed body, her figure encased in a smooth layer of obsidian. Dim veins of runic light pulsed beneath the dark shell, casting faint ripples of eerie illumination across his armor.

Below, the teleportation array, scarred and trembling from the earlier collapse, glowed weakly as the elder forced its runes into order.

When Reynold's boots met the fractured ground, the elder turned to him.

"Marquis," he said rasped, the words coming out heavy with urgency, "destroy the Ruin Core."

Reynold gave a silent nod. He passed Silica's body to Lina. Then, reynold stepped toward the towering monolith.

He lifted his artifact sword and swung twice.

Two smooth arcs of invisible force shot forward, sharp enough to cleave mountains as though they were parchment.

However, the moment the slashes touched the monolith, they vanished, erased without even a ripple. It was as if the monolith inhaled the attacks and swallowed them whole.

Reynold's brows drew together. He steadied his breathing, readying a more refined strike, and slashed.

When all of a sudden the sky parted open.

And a burst of brilliant white light fell, spearing the ground between his blade slash and the monolith.

The force struck like a divine barrier descending from the heavens. Every soldier instinctively lifted their head, faces tightening as the air itself brightened to a blinding white.

Where there should have been empty darkness, sheets of radiance flooded the horizon.

Countless spears of light floated above them, dense and trembling, their tips humming with lethal purity.

They were identical to the divine arrows that had subdued the four-armed Asura, yet these were far more numerous, far more intense. Each one seemed capable of piercing the world.

Far above those lights, the twin suns shook. Their halos brightened until the edges blurred. They spiraled around each other in frantic loops, a dance so unnatural that even the emptiness looked as though they had lost their balance.

Lina raised her gaze. Her green irises glimmered as she activated her Sight, but in the next breath, her entire body stiffened.

A thin line of blood slid from her eyes, marking her cheeks in quiet streaks before she gasped and dropped to one knee.

"Lady Lina!" Princess Elize rushed to her, catching her shoulders. "What happened?"

But Lina didn't answer her. Her breath trembled in her chest as she lifted her head toward the elder.

"Elder…" she whispered through clenched teeth, wiping the blood smearing her face. "You must hurry. That thing's true body is descending."

Princess Elize's expression twisted in confusion and dread. "Real body? Isn't the Ruin Lord already defeated?"

Lina shook her head. "No. That was only its small projection."

Before anyone could respond, the commanders' voices thundered across the battlefield.

"Formation!"

The coalition moved instantly. Jul's squad, Yan's unit, and Reynold's elite men surged into position.

Three large defensive formations flared to life, weaving their barriers over one another until a vast dome of flickering sigils hovered above the troops.

The first layer of runes ignited, only for the falling spears of light to tear through it instantly. The barrier shattered like fragile glass, fragments scattering in sparks that fizzled out in midair.

Gasps spread among the soldiers.

But the onslaught continued without pause.

The divine spears fell toward the second barrier.

It held for a single heartbeat.

Then it cracked, and exploded outward in a deafening roar that rattled every bone in the human body.

The third layer began to flicker. The air trembled under the weight of the descending weapons.

Soon, the third barrier also ruptured with a thunderous crack. Shards of fading runes scattered into the air, dissolving into dim sparks.

With nothing left to shield them, the spears of descending light plunged toward the coalition forces.

But before the divine brilliance could reach them, a surge of flame erupted from above.

Huge dome of fire unfurled across the sky. The surface of the barrier rippled like molten glass, glowing in shades of deep red and smoldering gold.

And at its center hovered Reynold, both of his arms wrapped in dark, violent flames that writhed along his skin like living serpents.

Suspended above the armies, he resembled a burning star held aloft in a collapsing world.

Divine spears slammed into the flaming barrier, one after another. Each impact sent a harsh flash across the sky before the holy light melted into the inferno and vanished without a trace.

The heavens flickered between blinding white and raging crimson, the collision of their powers turning the air into a trembling storm of heat and pressure.

Below, soldiers shielded their eyes with shaking hands, staring up in awe and disbelief. The Marquis burned like a living torch, unyielding, immovable, terrifying.

Flames poured from Reynold's arms in thick, roaring waves, feeding the barrier with every breath. Yet the cost carved itself across his face.

His cheeks drained of color, his lips tightened, and sweat streamed across his skin only to evaporate the instant it formed. The fire clinging to him devoured everything, including his strength.

"Hurry!" he shouted, his voice hoarse with exhaustion. He had also sensed something powerful heading their way.

The elder dropped to one knee, blood dripping steadily from the empty space where his arm had been severed. He pressed his remaining hand against the teleportation array, forcing his energy in its fractured circuits. The runes flickered, but then recoiled violently, as if rejecting him.

His face twisted with alarm. "The connection is sealed! Something has locked this place. I can't break it in time!"

Hearing this, Reynold clenched his jaw. His arms trembled beneath the strain as another cluster of divine spears rained down. The flame dome flickered, its surface thinning like stretched glass.

He didn't have time.

He thrust his right arm downward.

A torrent of flame erupted from his palm, so sudden and fierce that the nearest soldiers flinched and braced themselves, certain they were about to be incinerated.

But the fire never touched them.

It flowed past them, splitting into dozens of thin streams that slipped through the ranks like rivers obeying a hidden command.

The flames raced across the battlefield, weaving between bodies, surging across torn earth, and funneling straight into the great array beneath the elder.

The flames entered the array without burning it. Instead, they coiled into the runes, seeping into every carved line and etched channel.

The symbols responded instantly. One after another, the dormant markings ignited in a brilliant pillar of fire.

The ground trembled as the formation awakened fully, a spiraling column of heat and radiance tearing upward and smashing against the invisible seal that smothered it.

The elder gasped, relief flashing through his weary eyes as the runes under his palm surged to life at last.

"The connection is open!" he cried. "Marquis, come quickly!"

Reynold nodded once, grimly.

He pushed one last surge of flame into the dome above, thickening it for a few precious seconds.

The fire shield blazed brighter, buying him the narrow window he needed. Then, exhaling shakily, he released it and descended toward the array.

The dome remained overhead, held together by the last fragments of his energy.

Reynold floated towards the array, unsteady. His once-roaring flames flickered weakly around his arms, dimming with every breath.

The teleportation array continue to blaze, its rings of light spinning faster and faster, the final sequence nearing completion.

And above them, the divine spears continued to fall, faster, heavier, as if the entity above realized their prey was slipping away.

He was only a small distance from the array, when a soundless flash cleaved through the air.

At that moment, all eyes widened staring at Reynold on the air.

Reynold's body jerked stiffly, as if an unseen force had hooked him mid-fall. His breath escaped him in a sharp gasp.

For a heartbeat he simply hung there above the array, suspended between sky and earth, eyes widening with disbelief.

A spear of pure light protruded through his torso, entering through his back and exiting from his chest.

The flame barrier he had created still burned fiercely overhead.

But the spear had slipped through it as if the flames were nothing more than painted smoke.

Reynold turned his head, staring up at the still-burning barrier, unable to fully comprehend how the attack had bypassed it. His fingers twitched toward his sword but found no strength.

Below him, panic shook the everyone.

"Senior!"

"Marquis!"

"MY LORD!"

Their cries broke apart, echoes twisting and stretching as the teleportation array roared to life beneath them.

Light surged upward like a tidal wave. It swallowed the formation in a burst of blinding brilliance, wrapping around everyone.

Lina and the soldiers reached out toward Reynold, but they could not cross the distance in such short time.

And then, in the next instance, they vanished.