After piercing through nearly five hundred meters of the monster ocean, creating a horrifying path of destruction, the marble pillar, bearing its terrifying kinetic energy, finally reached its material limit!
*CRACK—BOOM!!!!*
With a deafening roar, the pillar violently disintegrated in the most densely packed area of the monster horde!
It wasn't simple fragmentation, but a violent explosion like a super-large high-explosive bomb!
Countless incandescent, razor-edged giant stone fragments, carrying the remaining immense kinetic energy, scattered madly in all directions like a meteor shower!
*THWACK! THWMP! CRUNCH! BOOM! KABOOM!*
Monsters directly hit by the fragments instantly shattered! Those swept by the shockwave were sent flying as if struck by an invisible giant hammer!
With the disintegration point as the epicenter, a massive fan-shaped area with a radius exceeding fifty meters was instantly cleared and flattened! The ground was a mess, littered with deep craters, molten traces, and monster remains!
Silence!
Absolute silence descended upon the city walls.
Phainon stood there, mouth agape, eyes wide as saucers, his heavy sword clattering to the ground.
His mind was blank, save for the afterimage of that pillar tearing through the earth, piercing the army, and finally exploding like the Day of Judgment!
The surrounding soldiers were frozen in place, their expressions were frozen in extreme shock and bewilderment.
They couldn't comprehend what they had just witnessed. That... what was that thing that flew past?
Was that divine punishment? Is this really... something a human can do?!
Only the perpetrator, Phaethon, tilted his head slightly, looking at the vast fan-shaped area cleared in the distance and the monsters still surging beyond, seemingly somewhat dissatisfied as he muttered to himself:
"Tch... the structural strength of the stone pillar is still too low. It can't even handle slightly surpassing the speed of sound... But..." A cold curve tugged at the corner of his mouth again, "Isn't the 'Scattering Blossoms' effect after it disintegrates exactly what we want? The clearing efficiency... is passable."
"Pha... Phaethon..." Phainon finally found his voice, which was as dry as sandpaper grinding.
He pointed a trembling finger at the deathly fan-shaped zone baptized by the "fragment rain," "This... this skill of yours... does it... does it also have no cooldown? It can't be..."
Phaethon turned his head, looked at Phainon, and finally, with "great mercy," nodded: "Oh, this? The [One-Time Use·Rods From God] is a bit troublesome to prepare."
Phaethon paused, and just as a glimmer of hope ignited in Phainon's eyes, he leisurely added: "It takes... about 30 seconds to prepare one shot."
"Thirty seconds?!" Phainon's voice shot up an octave, tinged with desperate crackling, "Thirty seconds for one of those things?! You..."
Phaethon smiled and interrupted Phainon, revealing a smile as radiant as a demon's. He spread his hands, another Infinity Gate materializing in his palms, and added, "However, who told you... I can only prepare one at a time?"
"..."
Phainon: (╯‵□′)╯︵┻━┻
So Phaethon is the one with the protagonist script, right?! All that 'Deliverer' stuff was just joking with me!
...
"Lady Aglaea, that is the situation. Lord Phainon and Lord Phaethon have already headed to the battlefield outside the city..." Castorice stood before Aglaea, her hands elegantly folded in front of her.
Aglaea paused slightly, turning fully back to face Castorice. A ripple of surprise stirred in her deep, lake-calm eyes, then instantly settled back into stillness. "Phaethon? He...?"
"Let's discuss these matters later, Castorice." Aglaea shook her head gently, temporarily setting aside the surprise. "Right now, we have a more 'pressing' invitation to attend. The Council of Elders, even in this hair-on-fire situation, hasn't forgotten to 'solemnly' convene an emergency meeting. They even specifically demanded my presence. I wonder if I should praise their inflated confidence in the Okhema military to the point of ignoring reality, or assume they're convinced that I am their 'nanny' will help to cover for them? Or perhaps... they've been sitting atop their clouds for so long, they've forgotten the smell of apocalypse's smoke, and forgotten that this smoke can burn the very platform beneath their feet at any moment." Aglaea's expression turned exceptionally cold.
The council chamber was filled with the stifling aroma of old parchment and the incense of power.
Aglaea pushed open the doors and stepped calmly into this colosseum that belonged to the core of Okhema's power.
Under the high vaulted ceiling, several gazes—scrutinizing, indifferent, or harboring concealed hostility—instantly focused on her.
Before Aglaea even reached the center, Caenis's voice rang out impatiently, laden with unmistakable provocation:
"Aglaea! You have privately misappropriated the Holy City's precious public resources to secretly cultivate a private army loyal only to you! Do you plead guilty?!"
This accusation of "hoarding military power for self-aggrandizement" and "filling one's own pockets" was hurled fiercely and hastily, intending to seize the moral high ground from the start and suppress Aglaea's momentum.
Aglaea stopped and calmly met Caenis's aggressive gaze. Her voice was like the water of a deep pool, unruffled: "I wonder which specific resources Elder Caenis refers to by 'misappropriation'? And which blood-shedding warriors defending the Holy City are referred to as a 'private army'? Please elaborate."
Aglaea's retort was precise and restrained, merely deftly tossing the ball back into Caenis's court.
But both sides knew this was just the prelude to the Council Of Elder's usual squabbling.
Caenis couldn't produce solid evidence, and Aglaea had no intention of getting bogged down in details at this moment. The real killing blow was often hidden later.
Caenis snorted coldly, seeming to have expected Aglaea's response. She no longer dwelled on the vague accusations but directly pointed her spear at her true target—Phainon.
"Fine, let's set aside those trivialities for now. But Phainon of the Aedes Elysiae, as the 'Deliverer' who has awakened the Golden Blood and receives resources from the Holy City, his power and duties rightfully belong to all of Okhema!"
"Yet, he has long remained outside the Holy City's regular military system, taking orders only from you, Aglaea! Isn't this turning the Holy City's treasure into your personal private soldier?!"
"Our Council of Elders has unanimously resolved: Phainon must be immediately integrated into the Okhema City Defense Force sequence and accept unified command and deployment! His power must be used to protect every inch of the Holy City's land, not become a tool for certain someone to consolidate their power!"
Her words landed with weight, and as she scanned the room, several elders aligned with her nodded in agreement.
A faint, almost imperceptible, self-satisfied smirk tugged at the corner of Caenis's mouth.