SUPREME ARCH-MAGUS

Chapter 978: Life for Life!



Chapter 978: Life for Life!

“Retreat! To the temple! Now!” shouted Prince Varun, grabbing his sister and shielding her with layers of protective talismans.

The Naga Patriarch, still carrying the unconscious Neela, turned with burning eyes.

“Elders! Hold them off!” he commanded.

Four elderly ministers—venerable warriors whose hair had turned white from centuries of service—stepped forward. Without hesitation, they clasped hands and invoked the Life-for-Life Seal.

Their bodies burst into light.

Massive spiritual towers formed around them, casting holy runes that slowed the onslaught of demonic beasts. For a brief moment, the army was shielded again.

“For the Scaled One!” they chanted together, as their souls became runic anchors.

The army surged forward, dragging the wounded, shoving forward the sacred relics and spiritual anchors. Cries of sorrow rang as they left the four behind.

Finally, the frontlines crossed the divine barrier of the Sea Ancestral Temple. A vast, translucent dome pulsed to life, sealing them within.

Khagara screamed in rage.

His beasts hurled themselves at the barrier, but they were repelled by holy lightning and divine flame.

Inside, the temple priests sprang into action.

“Activate the Outer Array!”

“Channel the Divine Pillars!”

“Burn the Spirit Core!”

With an ancient rumble, the sea temple awakened. Beams of spiritual light shot into the sky from its spires. Runic patterns carved into the coral surface surged with divine energy.

The Sea Serpent’s Wrath Array was active.

Bolts of blessed lightning speared through the water, vaporizing dark beasts. Walls of golden flame erupted outside the dome, incinerating scores of enemies.

Now it was the enemy’s turn to scream.

The pagoda trembled in Khagara’s hands, the backlash beginning to show. Blood ran from his nose. His eyes dimmed.

He gritted his teeth. “It’s not over!” he swore.

But the tide was turning.

The forbidden beasts could not cross the barrier.

The Naga were safe—for now.

Inside the dome, Nyara stood in front of the healing pools, one arm still bleeding. Her other hand clutched a talisman. She turned toward the injured warriors.

“All of you,” she said, voice shaking but strong, “rest. Heal. Kent has entered the cave. Our duty now is to survive—to make sure there is a Naga clan left when he returns.”

Varun, standing beside her, nodded grimly. “We’ll hold. If they try again, we’ll bury them in the bones of our ancestors.”

The Naga Patriarch, placing Neela in the hands of the priestesses, whispered a silent prayer to the Sea God.

The darkness that lingered beyond the divine barrier of the Sea Ancestral Temple began to settle, but only barely. Inside the dome, the Naga Clan tended to their wounded with hurried hands and hearts heavy with pain.

Outside the barrier, the battlefield reeked of blood and scorched mana.

Cracked tridents floated aimlessly in the water, and the blood of countless warriors diluted into a red haze across the sea.

The Abyssal Shark Clan was a mess.

Their soldiers were battered, scattered, and spirit-broken. Healers and spiritual monks scrambled between ranks, pouring healing waters over open wounds and reciting soul-binding mantras to preserve the lives of those barely clinging to breath. A once-proud legion of deep-sea predators now stood dulled and divided, their morale fractured by Khagara’s rampage and the Naga’s resilient escape.

Lord Russ, the Shark Clan Patriarch, stood at the rear trenches with blood dripping from his left shoulder. His sabers hung at his side, dulled by the sheer spiritual exhaustion he had endured during his clash with the Naga Patriarch.

“This war was never meant to go this far,” Russ growled, slamming his fist into a coral wall, cracking it. “We lost too many, and now the Scaled One has entered the cave. The task is done!”

Several of his generals gathered around.

“Shall we prepare the army for retreat, Patriarch?” one of them asked cautiously. “If we move quickly, we can regroup at Abyssal Hollow and recover. The Naga have sealed themselves within. They won’t pursue.”

Russ gave a slow nod. “Sound the recall horns—”

But he never got to finish.

A ripple of bone-chilling energy spread across the field. Dark fog coiled above them like a serpent. The sea trembled—not from the force of nature, but from the force of madness.

Ancestor Khagara appeared.

Floating above them, his eyes burned like twin crimson pits. His robes were in tatters, yet he glowed with a demonic hue. The black pagoda hovered beside him, spinning slowly, radiating pure malevolence.

“Leaving?” Khagara’s voice cut the sea like a saw. “Who permitted such cowardice?”

Russ narrowed his eyes. “Our objective is over. Kent has already entered the Forbidden Cave. There’s no point losing more lives now.”

“There is always a point,” Khagara hissed. “Do you think this is over?”

The Shark generals looked between each other uneasily.

Khagara’s gaze pierced through them. “That boy… the Scaled One… if he emerges with the Sea God’s Legacy, it will mark the end of our era. You want to retreat now?”

Russ stepped forward. “Then what do you propose? Attack the divine barrier again? We’ve already lost hundreds. Even you can’t breach the Sea Temple defenses. That is suicide.”

“I don’t intend to breach it,” Khagara replied, his voice lower, more dangerous. “I intend to guard the Forbidden Cave. No one goes in, and no one comes out. If the Scaled One emerges with the legacy… we kill him before he breathes.”

Silence.

The Shark generals exchanged horrified glances. Even the soldiers watching from behind had gone pale.

One brave general stepped forward. “Ancestor Khagara… with all due respect, no one can stop the bearer of the Sea God’s Legacy. It is divine decree. If we try, we invite the wrath of the heavens.”

Khagara’s smile stretched like a fracture in the world.

“Then let heaven bleed.”

A demonic aura burst from his body. Horns of molten coral formed on his head. His eyes became empty sockets of shadow. His voice no longer resembled anything mortal.

“I command this alliance now. No one leaves. No one retreats. Anyone who disobeys…”

He pointed a crooked finger at the coral spire behind Russ.

The spire exploded.

In its place hovered a floating corpse—one of the Shark Clan’s commanders, impaled by spectral chains.

Khagara’s laughter rang out, deep and broken.

“Anyone else?”

Even Russ flinched.

He stepped forward, fists clenched. “You’re mad. This is not war anymore—this is obsession! We are not your slaves, Khagara!”

Khagara’s expression didn’t change, but the pagoda beside him spun faster.

“You can die like a hero of the past, or live as a relic of failure. Choose, Russ.”

Russ’s men drew their weapons out of instinct, but the Shark Patriarch raised a hand.

He looked around. Broken warriors. Dying beasts. The blood of his people still clouding the sea.

He exhaled sharply. “We hold the gate… for now.”

Khagara’s laughter ceased. “Wise. Very wise.”

The black pagoda dimmed slightly.

Khagara vanished back into the cursed fog, leaving behind a haunted silence.

Russ turned to his men. “Fortify the line around the cave. Triple the guard. But stay away from him,” he muttered.

One general asked, “Patriarch, what do we do if Kent returns?”

Russ stared toward the forbidden abyss in the distance.

“…We pray he doesn’t.”

Tq guys!


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