Chapter 218 - 183: Cosmic Primordial Dragon, Moment of Despair

BOOM—!

As the thick bolt of elemental lightning struck Raphael’s Mind Force Field, electricity erupted. Terrifying arcs of blue-purple energy rampaged across the ground and through the air!

This was a power entirely different in nature from a Spiritual Storm.

Raphael’s eyes widened as if they would tear apart. He gave it his all but only managed to resist for a single instant. Afterward, blood, a sign of his mind being overwhelmed, trickled from his eyes and ears. The battle cry he was about to unleash died in his throat.

The Mind Force Field was instantly pierced by the lightning, and an immense current coursed through his body.

The stench of burning filled the air as smoke billowed from the seams of Raphael’s Power Armor.

The Combat Priest, who just a second ago had seemed like a Demigod floating in midair and slaughtering the Space Dragon Race at will, now fell like a bird with broken wings. He crashed heavily to the ground on his knees and went silent.

The Elemental Dominator, hidden within the Battle Group, revealed a cold, disdainful sneer.

Pointing at the spot where Raphael had fallen, he spoke to his subordinates in the language of the Dragon Race, "Kill it. I will offer the heads of these Imperial Humans to the great Sakaha."

The war between the Space Dragon Race and the Empire had raged for ten thousand years.

These Aliens, of course, knew where they had traveled after leaving the Void Realm.

But even during the Old Empire’s peak, let alone during the current great rebellion, these Space Aliens had never shown mercy to the Imperial Knights.

It was just like the Elemental Master that Reinhardt had killed.

Unlike Wizards, they didn’t consider the value of their opponents. To them, the only good member of an Alien Race was a dead one.

This Elemental Dominator was supremely confident that the human, who he suspected was an Imperial Think Tank, had no chance of surviving the lightning he had summoned.

Even the weakest streams of fire from the Space Dragon Race infantry’s miniature elemental cannons could not be extinguished by any physical substance in the Real Cosmos that did not possess Extraordinary Power.

Once a creature of the real world was set ablaze by Elemental Fire, unless aided by a Transcendent, the flames would not go out until their Elemental Power was exhausted—even if they jumped into the ocean.

Thunder Summoning Technique.

This was a terrifying ability that could only be mastered by powerful beings at or above the level of an Elemental Dominator.

Even an Imperial Knight of the Earth Military Rank would find it difficult to resist.

This was because all extraordinary substances formed from Elemental Power were nothing like the ordinary fire, ice, and lightning of the real world.

According to the most ancient texts of the Space Dragon Race, at the dawn of the Real Cosmos, there was a ’Cosmic Primordial Dragon’ that devoured one-third of the universe.

After the Primordial Dragon’s death, one-third of its corpse became the dark side of the Real Cosmos.

It was an eternal land of absolute stillness, a place even Void Demons could not touch. The Land of Stars, a favorite hiding place for Wizards, was but the tip of the iceberg of this cosmic dark side.

Another third of the cosmic corpse decomposed into the most basic elemental particles, scattering throughout the Real Cosmos, the dark side, and the Void Realm. This was the source of power for both the Space Dragon Race and the Empire’s Elemental Knights.

And the Space Dragon Race itself was born from the final third of the Cosmic Primordial Dragon’s corpse.

After the Elemental Dominator gave the order, hundreds of Space Dragon Race soldiers charged toward the spot where Raphael had collapsed.

「Meanwhile.」

Matthias, who served as the rapid tactical support for the Vengeance Angel Squad, clenched his teeth and watched helplessly as Raphael, grievously wounded, fell not far away, swallowed by the tide of enemies.

Even his past service in the Death Battle Group’s Ash Guard, which had forged a mind far calmer than any ordinary person’s, had not prepared him for this. Matthias had never felt despair like he did today!

The endless enemies swarming them formed a terrifying offensive, wave after wave threatening to bury them under a pile of corpses.

Even when he faced the great war of the fall of Grillers World, he had his Battle Group brothers and Imperial heroes fighting by his side!

But now... he supported the severely injured Manon, fighting off the ceaseless tide of enemies as they retreated toward the tomb complex, his eyes scanning the battlefield.

The dense forests and plains, the hills and swamps, the sky and the great river.

Everywhere he looked, there were armies of the Space Dragon Race and Demons.

Reinhardt was being besieged by five Pure-blood Level Dragon Blood Warriors who had just air-dropped, each one an elite Centurion wielding dual blades!

And that wasn’t all. He also had to face the overwhelming artillery bombardment from the Elemental Master Battle Group.

And the countless soldiers of the Space Dragon Race’s Infantry Legion, trying to drown him in a sea of bodies!

His Power Armor was now completely scarlet, soaked in blood. Chunks of gore and flesh dripped from his Black War Axe.

Agate, who had been suppressing a Hundred-Man Battle Group of Elemental Masters, was now facing six more that had arrived as reinforcements. His Thermite Beam was instantly overwhelmed by a volley of Elemental Fireballs that crashed down on him like an avalanche!

The orange-red glow of this dense rain of fire lit up the earth and blotted out the sun.

As they struck the ground, the earth-shattering roar left only a sharp, blank ringing in his ears.

And Agate’s body was completely engulfed in the towering sea of flames!

The Witch who had retreated with them was facing a Pure-blood Level Dragon Blood Warrior. She was in a sorry state, with a gash on her back so deep the bone was visible!

In the distance, Raphael’s fate was unknown.

Even the giant Manon, a man built like an iron tower, was howling in agony beside him, his internal organs seared by Elemental Flame.

At that very moment, a massive ship, trailing a long tail of fire and thick smoke, fell from the sky and crashed into the army of the Space Dragon Race right before Matthias’s eyes!

A horde of Slaughter Demons poured out of the ship.

These bloodthirsty beasts brandished human heads, the faces frozen in expressions of terror. Some even had the mangled remains of human bodies, not yet fully swallowed, hanging from their mouths.

When Matthias recognized their identities from the clothing on the heads and body parts...

The veteran, who had been through the Grillers campaign and served for many years in the Ash Guard, felt his pupils shrink!

’That’s another one of Lord Anatol’s Vanguard Teams! We even saw them in the Tomb Treasure Vault less than half an hour ago!’

And when an Elite Slaughter Demon—over five meters tall, its massive body like a small mountain, and blessed by a Great Demon—ripped through the ship’s hull and appeared on the battlefield carrying a War Axe and the mangled corpse of a Tier Two Mage...

...the gloom of despair completely overwhelmed Matthias’s heart!

Even though every member of the Vengeance Angel Squad was the best of the best, their numbers were just too few.

The intensity of a grand war could never be matched by small-scale battles or elite missions.

The Warlord Nico they had encountered in the Grand Treasure Vault was powerful for all to see, his strength surpassing almost every expert in the Vanguard Teams.

However, here in Kemola, powerful beings on the same level as Warlord Nico were now everywhere!

The Elemental Dominator.

The Pure-blood Centurions.

And that Elite Slaughter Demon that had just arrived on the battlefield...

’Are we really going to die here in Kemola?’

It was also at that moment that a familiar ship appeared on the distant horizon, entering Matthias’s line of sight. It was the Vengeance Angel Squad’s ship—the Punisher.