*CRUNCH!* A Furiae Warrior swinging a massive stone hammer was cleaved in two, man and hammer alike! The cut was smooth as a mirror!
*SQUELCH!* Several Furiae Archer, pouncing from the shadows with ghost-like swiftness, exploded into chunks mid-air as they entered a several-meter radius around Phainon, smashed by the mere wind pressure from a casual backhand swipe of his sword!
*BOOM!* An especially massive Furiae Praetor (elite monster), wielding a giant double-bladed sword, roared as it blocked the path!
But Phainon didn't even slow down! He simply raised his heavy sword overhead and executed a simple, unadorned leaping chop!
The sturdy stone armor shattered like cheap pottery! The massive Furiae Praetor's body was split cleanly from head to toe! It instantly disintegrated, crumbling into a pile of dust.
What made Phaethon's heart pound even more was that Phainon didn't always need his sword! During his high-speed charge, when encountering smaller Furiae Philospher or Furiae Troupe blocking his way, he simply shoulder-charged through them! Or threw a casual punch!
*BAM! CRACK!* The Furiae Philospher who was hit was instantly shattered into pieces as if struck by a battering ram!
*PUFF! PUFF! PUFF!* The smaller Furiae Troupe mobs caught by the shockwave of his punch were directly pulverized into dust that could be blown away by a gust of wind!
"*Hisss...*" Phaethon sucked in a sharp breath, forcing himself to focus. He decapitated a Furiae Warrior pouncing from the side with a [Oath of Radiance]-enhanced slash, his mind a raging storm:
*What is wrong with Phainon's physical abilities... this rate of improvement is simply terrifying!*
*This strength... this defense... this speed... He must have reached, or even surpassed, the threshold of some 'support-type' Demi-gods who aren't known for raw power! Is the Golden Descendant bloodline this ridiculously overpowered?!*
"Haha! Phaethon!" Phainon's roaring laughter, full of exhilaration and power, cut through the din of spells and monster screams. He even had the spare capacity to glance back at his brother.
"You're falling way behind! Looks like you can't escape dishwashing duty!"
As he spoke, he threw another punch, blasting a Furiae Troupe Leader trying to ambush his back, along with its surrounding minions, into a shower of fragments!
---
On the walls of Okhema, the defending guards were locked in fierce combat.
"Hold the line! Hold the line! For the Holy City!" the Guard Captain roared hoarsely, his greatshield firmly blocking a powerful chop from a Furiae Warrior. Sparks flew from the shield; wounds covered his body as blood stained his grip.
The soldiers around him were also in dire straits. Facing monsters whose strength far exceeded humans' and whose carapaces were incredibly hard, they paid a heavy price every second.
"Damn it! The strength of these monsters... it's inhuman! That's a two-meter-tall stone sword!
How is it even lifting that?!" a soldier cried out in despair, his spear leaving only a white scratch on a Furiae Warrior's armor.
"I hope Lady Aglaea can hurry... Huh?" Another soldier, mid-sentence, suddenly stopped, listening curiously. "Wait... what... what is that noise? Outside the city... behind the monster horde?"
"Shut up! Focus on the enemy! Do you want to die?!" the Guard Captain barked harshly, but the corner of his eye also involuntarily glanced towards the rear of the monster horde outside the city—something seemed... off there?
Amidst the monsters' roars, there seemed to be... sounds of explosions and shattering? And it was getting closer?
*KABOOM!!! CRUNCH-CRACKLE!!!*
The sea of monsters near the edge of the city wall was plowed through as if by an invisible colossal plow! Monsters in one area, whether Furiae Warrior or Furiae Archer, suddenly and inexplicably flew into the air and shattered en masse!
Immediately after, a figure bathed in blazing holy light and a torrent of destruction, like a deity parting the waves, tore a bloody path through the monster sea!
"That... that is!!!" a sharp-eyed soldier shrieked, his voice distorted by extreme shock and ecstasy, "It's Lord Phainon! The Golden Descendant, Lord Phainon!!!"
"Golden Descendant?! Lord Phainon is here?!"
"Gods! Reinforcements! We're saved!!!"
"Lord Phainon! It's Lord Phainon! He... he's so strong! Look! Those monsters! They're like... like paper in front of him! One slash clears a swath! Sometimes one punch is all it takes!" Another soldier stammered excitedly, pointing at the war-god-like figure outside the city.
The city wall instantly erupted into joyous cheers of survival! The atmosphere of despair was instantly ignited by this sudden, powerful reinforcement!
"All of you, shut up!!" the Guard Captain roared with all his might, forcibly suppressing his own surging excitement, though his voice also trembled slightly, hope shining in his eyes.
"Focus! Hold your positions! Lord Phainon will be here soon! Don't you dare die on me at this final moment! Show some backbone! Don't let the Golden Descendant look down on us, the guards of the Holy City!"
He roared, channeling his full exhilaration into strength. With a mighty shove of his greatshield, he actually forced the fierce Furiae Warrior back a step!
He knew it—the turning point had arrived! And they had to hold on until the brothers reached the city walls!
---
"Haha! Phaethon, I win!" Phainon laughed heartily, his voice brimming with satisfaction.
The heavy sword in his hand traced a dark light that tore through the air, accurately cleaving into the helmet of the fierce Furiae Warrior facing the Guard Captain. The massive monster's body split in two with a sickening sound of twisting metal and shattering stone!
He kicked the wreckage aside, bowling over a group of rushing minions, and looked triumphantly at Phaethon, who had just reached the base of the wall.
"Phainon, in such a hurry to declare victory?" Phaethon landed steadily at the blood-and-rubble-strewn base of the wall, his voice laced with amusement.
He turned to face the monstrous tide surging back towards them like an angry sea outside. "The war hasn't reached its final movement yet!"
"Oh?" Phainon swept his sword horizontally, swatting several approaching Furiae Archer out of the air like flies.
"Phaethon, still trying to weasel out of it? Don't tell me you think you can overtake me now, after being behind the whole time?" The smugness in his tone was almost palpable.
"Don't be so sure, Phainon." Phaethon suddenly smiled, his deep gaze locking onto the endless stone tide ahead.
Earlier, outside the city, he had been holding back, afraid of harming allies. He hadn't dared to fully unleash the [Oath of Radiance] skill.
But now... the area below the walls was clear, the solid wall and eager soldiers at his back, and before him... only damned, durable stone lumps!
"Phaethon, I say you..." Phainon was about to tease further when his peripheral vision caught Phaethon raising his hand: "Σ(ŎдŎ|||)ﾉﾉ!"
*BZZT—!*
The next moment!
*KABOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!!*