A pillar of sacred light, more blinding than the noonday sun, more violent than a thunderclap, so pure it tolerated no impurities, roared forth from Phaethon's sword tip!
This was no longer the tentative beam from before, but a world-annihilating deluge with its shackles completely released!
Where the light pillar passed, space twisted violently! The air was instantly ionized, emitting a sharp, crackling explosion!
The Titankin charging at the forefront—be they Furiae Warriors, Furiae Philosophers, or the relatively tougher-shelled Furiae Praetors—upon contact with the light pillar, didn't even qualify to resist!
Vaporized!
Reduced to gas!
With a force that crushed everything in its path, like sweeping a nest clean, the light pillar tore open a corridor of destruction over ten meters wide and more than a hundred meters long through the surging tide of monsters—a hallway burning with holy flame and nothingness!
The blinding white light swallowed everything, casting the faces of the soldiers below the city walls in a deathly pallor!
*(Phainon: What the hell?! Bro?! This power... You were going easy on me when we fought, weren't you?!)*
Behind Phaethon, the soldiers who had just been cheering for Phainon and were now stunned by this divine punishment-like spectacle, their eyes nearly popped out of their sockets, jaws hitting the ground.
"That... what is that?!" one soldier's voice was hoarse, trembling as if on the verge of tears, "Phaethon... Lord Phaethon?! He... isn't he the one in charge of... cooking at the Golden Eatery?!"
However, Phaethon, at the center of the holy light explosion, furrowed his brows tightly.
Just as he suspected! *He had sensed it vaguely while fighting through the monster horde earlier. These Titankin, born from the distortion of metal and rock by the power of "Strife," possessed astonishing resistance to pure energy attacks!*
Even a divine art of the level of [Oath of Radiance], unleashed at full power, had only thoroughly purified the "small fry" within a hundred meters.
Those tougher Furiae Praetors on the edges were merely heavily wounded; they were still struggling to get up, trying to continue their charge!
As for beyond two hundred meters? Those Furiae Warriors and Archers were only scorched and repelled, quickly merging back into the charging tide!
But... Phaethon's peripheral vision swept over the soldiers on the wall behind him, their faces filled with shock, awe, and even fanaticism. He listened to their suppressed exclamations and sharp intakes of breath.
The objective... was preliminarily achieved. Ever since meeting Caenis, the plan to settle accounts with the Council of Elders had been brewing in his heart.
But before overturning the table, he must firmly secure the hearts of the military, especially these mid and lower-level soldiers!
Nothing boosts favorability more than turning the tide on a desperate battlefield and displaying absolute power!
"Pha... Phaethon." Phainon's voice held a trace of imperceptible dryness and a sense of foreboding.
He pointed at the scene ahead, where although a large swath had been cleared, monsters in the distance were still swarming endlessly, "This skill of yours... is so fierce, does it have a long cooldown?"
Hearing this, Phaethon slowly turned his head to look at Phainon, a hint of... mischief? seeming to play at the corner of his mouth. He said nothing, just leisurely raised a single index finger.
Phainon's face paled: "One hour?! With power like this, only a one-hour cooldown? Is that reasonable?"
Phaethon shook his head, his movements elegant yet firm. That raised index finger remained steady, even wagging provocatively.
"O-one... one minute?!" Phainon's voice shot up an octave, "Phaethon, are you fucking cheating?!!"
However, "No, no, no, Phainon," Phaethon finally spoke.
"Since when... have you ever seen my skills require something like a 'cooldown'? Of course... it's... continuous fire!"
Before the words faded!
*BZZZZ—KABOOM!!!!*
A second [Oath of Radiance] light pillar, equally thick, blazing, and utterly destructive, burst forth without any interval!
It precisely covered another group of monsters that had just approached, trying to fill the gap! The blinding white light once again flooded their vision, turning those ferocious figures into nothing but dust!
"I PLAY YOUR M!!!!!!" Phainon, watching Phaethon's relaxed and effortless posture, as if he'd merely brushed off some dust, and then thinking about his own impending month of bleak "dishwashing hell," completely lost it! What's the point of comparing anymore, bro?! Are you running an unlimited power hack?!
Phaethon, no longer paying attention to his brother collapsing beside him over "dishwashing hell," turned his calm gaze back to the battlefield.
Energy attacks are significantly less effective? [Oath of Radiance]'s clearing efficiency doesn't meet expectations?
Then... change the method! A more direct, more violent solution instantly formed in Phaethon's mind—a One-Time Use Version·Rods from Godl!
He slowly raised his right hand, fingers spread, palm facing forward.
The next moment!
*WHUMP—BOOM!!!!!!*
Not an explosion, but a terrifying sonic boom at extreme speed, like the blast of a million-ton freighter!
Everyone on the battlefield, whether soldiers on the wall or Phainon below, felt their hearts gripped by an invisible giant hand!
A blurred grey shadow, almost impossible to track, shot out from the Infinity Gate in front of Phaethon's palm at a terrifying initial velocity approaching the speed of sound!
It wasn't energy, but a giant stone pillar over one meter in diameter and nearly three meters long, made entirely of some kind of dense marble!
The pillar tore through the air, its front end instantly burn into incandescent molten state due to the extreme speed friction with the air!
Behind it, it trailed a visibly violently twisted white conical shockwave! A brief yet violent vacuum channel formed around the stone pillar!
*BOOOOM—!!!*
Where the stone pillar passed, the terrifying air pressure acted like an invisible plow of destruction! The soil on the ground was ripped up and shattered like brittle crackers!
Titankin within a fifty-meter radius on either side of the path, regardless of size or strength, were swept up and tossed like scarecrows in a hurricane, caught in the violent suction and shockwave!
Those closer were torn apart mid-air! Those further away were slammed into the ground or their comrades like ragdolls, bones shattering!
And this was merely the aftershock of the pillar's passage!
The pillar itself, carrying apocalyptic kinetic energy, pierced through the dense monster horde without any resistance!
*THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP-THUMP—! CRACK! BOOM!*
Furiae Warriors blocking its path directly were pierced and crushed like paper! Their sturdy stone shells meant nothing in the face of absolute force and speed!
A Furiae Praetor tried to block with its greatsword, only to have the sword, its arm, and half its body instantly turned to powder upon contact! Where the stone pillar passed, it left only a straight, scorching corridor of death over forty meters wide, paved with shattered metal fragments and molten rock!