Chapter 501 - 499: Ashugar, Willing to Accept Punishment

Watching the people in front get sucked into the volcanic zone with her own eyes, the remaining crowd’s eyes filled with terror. They bolted backward like madmen, trampling incidents breaking out again and again.

Boom!

A figure fell from the sky, wearing the armor of the Dragon Rider Corps. He blocked the rupture in the Array, unleashed a towering wall of fire, and sealed off the shattered Array node, cutting off the suction.

Even so, the Fire Spirit had already absorbed the flesh and blood of tens of thousands of people, including quite a few Mages. Its suction intensified many times over, making his attempt to hold it back extremely difficult.

At the same time, those Mages still fighting were also forced to break off their combat because of the Fire Spirit’s sudden eruption of overwhelming suction. They scattered in retreat. Some injured Tier Four Mages, or those whose Magic Power was overly depleted, couldn’t resist this pull at all, and with despair were dragged in, becoming nourishment for the birth of the Fire Spirit.

The trembling of the earth grew more and more violent.

The Love Witch watched this scene in delight.

"Hehehe, how interesting, how interesting."

"Is it very amusing?"

A voice suddenly entered her mind. She turned with a smile—and then froze.

The figure before her was neither Erina, nor any powerhouse of the Blue Dragon Empire, but a...

Someone she didn’t know at all.

A very beautiful woman, with a head of red hair, a cold expression, and a faint blaze of anger flickering in her eyes.

The Love Witch felt an invisible pressure descend upon her.

She put away her rakish smile and looked at the other party cautiously. "Who are you?"

Raphael didn’t answer. A slender fire-type Magic, like a strand of Sword Qi, appeared and slashed toward Daisina.

Daisina’s expression changed. She sensed an extremely lethal danger.

She wanted to resist, but to her horror discovered she couldn’t move at all, her body locked tight by the other’s invisible Magic.

Just as despair engulfed her, a voice sounded.

"Stand down, Raphael. She’s still useful."

A figure appeared in front of Daisina, condensing a barrier to block the attack.

Raphael’s face darkened.

"Ashugar, move aside. I’ll only say this once."

"Give me a reason."

"Her actions interrupted my summoning."

Ashugar’s face changed, but then he frowned. "No. According to your progress, it should’ve finished yesterday."

"I tried it again."

"Your portion... is incomplete. You should find the other fragments, fuse them, then attempt it. Otherwise, you’ll never succeed."

Raphael said nothing, returning to the original topic.

"Move."

As she spoke, another flame-red Sword Qi appeared.

Ashugar reached out, once again condensing a barrier.

But this time, the barrier shattered with ease. His face changed; his figure flickered and vanished outright.

The Sword Qi that had broken the barrier continued forward, plunging into Daisina, who had just let out a sigh of relief.

Her expression froze on her face.

When Raphael disappeared, the people around suddenly seemed to snap out of a daze, looking somewhat bewildered.

Then they cried out in alarm.

Because before their eyes, a beautiful woman slowly split into two halves.

Elsewhere, Ashugar’s projection reappeared. He looked at the thoroughly dead Daisina and let out a helpless sigh.

"Raphael, doing this will affect my plan."

Raphael was not far from him, speaking coldly: "I’ve never approved of your plan. Lord Rose protects this world, yet you keep sabotaging it."

"This world has never thanked Lord Rose for his protection. It has become the image of the Pantheon. What’s wrong with what I’m doing? Our goal is exactly the same."

"And that’s your reason for extracting Alina’s blood?"

A flame-red Longsword appeared in Raphael’s hand, pointing at Ashugar from afar, her aura pressing down on him.

Ashugar’s body trembled slightly.

Raphael shook her head and withdrew her aura.

"Using the Gods’ Descent Magic to strip another’s body and soul for rebirth—Ashugar, you are no longer yourself."

Her figure slowly faded.

"What you’re doing now, what you did to Alina—even if you succeed in summoning him, Lord Rose will never forgive you."

After Raphael left, Ashugar’s trembling gradually subsided.

He took a deep breath and murmured to himself.

"So what? As long as it succeeds, Ashugar is willing to be punished."

...

"Lord Rose?"

"Hm?"

"You seem... preoccupied?"

Hilia looked furtively at Rose beside her. His expression went from the initial smile, slowly to calm, then to something more complicated.

Was it because he saw so many people become sacrifices for the Fire Spirit’s birth?

Hilia didn’t think so.

Although she and Encore had both been utterly stunned by that scene...

But how could Rose possibly be like them?

He had been through wars, had likely seen battlefields where hundreds of thousands died. How could the deaths of mere tens of thousands make him act this strangely?

Hilia knew that as her strength grew, the places Rose could observe grew ever farther. He could even condense a body from far away just to watch.

So had Lord Rose discovered something?

It didn’t seem like anything good.

Hilia was a little worried.

Rose looked at Hilia and rubbed her head. "I just saw some... interesting things."

Hilia didn’t resist Rose’s touch.

Were they really interesting?

Why did his tone sound so complex?

Hilia muttered inwardly.

But seeing that Rose clearly didn’t intend to explain, she could only press her curiosity down.

Rose said gently, "Hilia, take out your Magic Staff."

"Okay." Hilia didn’t ask why, and directly took out the Magic Staff.

Rose nodded. "I’m going to Dragon Island. You two stay here and keep watch. Don’t wander around, so you don’t interfere with my actions."

"Don’t worry, I won’t leave. Even if Encore wants to go, I’ll stay here and wait for you to come back." Hilia vowed solemnly.

Rose gave a soft "Mm," and his figure disappeared.

Even the presence in her mind vanished.

Looks like he’s about to do something big.

Hilia thought.

This time, she could only watch from the outside.

She wondered what major event it would be.

...

Rose walked along the streets of Dragon Island.

At this moment, the streets were packed with people, every face showing panic.

The entire Dragon Island was shaking.

From time to time, tiles and stones fell from above, smashing onto some unlucky souls’ heads.

The guards of Dragon Island were yelling, calling for everyone to get back inside the houses and take cover.

But very few listened.

The volcano on Dragon Island erupted year-round. Yet this was the first time that after an eruption, the quake not only failed to stop, but grew more violent.

Volcanic eruptions always come with earthquakes, but Dragon Island is special. The Array has long been inlaid into the entire isle, stabilizing the quakes from eruptions. At most it caused minor swaying, something the residents had long since grown used to.

However, the intense shaking after this eruption was starting to destroy everything nearby, scaring even those residents who were used to it.

By seismic scale, Rose felt that this quake must be approaching magnitude 8.

If not for the Array’s protection, the buildings on Dragon Island would likely have already collapsed entirely.

But that wasn’t the most terrifying part.

The most terrifying thing was that the earthquake was still slowly growing stronger.

At the same time, a powerful storm was brewing out on the sea.