Chapter 494 - 355: The Fall of a Legend, Big Mushroom

In Delria, the early morning air reeked of the great river.

Ian walked down the hillside. Gaga was perched on his shoulder, its black feathers refracting an eerie, multicolored light in the sun.

The little guy’s small eyes swept over the scene ahead. "Ian, it looks like they don’t plan on letting us pass."

"If they’re looking to die, they can’t blame me." Ian didn’t break his stride, continuing toward the royal palace.

Outside the camp at the foot of the mountain, a mass of soldiers had already gathered—a dense, dark sea of at least a thousand men.

They wore earth-yellow uniforms and held automatic rifles, their eyes filled with nervous vigilance.

They had received their orders last night: stop this man, at any cost.

"Halt!" A man who looked like an officer stepped forward.

"Mr. Yin, the King has given an order. Please... please return to the camp to rest first."

Ian didn’t even bother to glance at him. He continued forward, his pace leisurely, as if he were taking a stroll in his own backyard.

"You..." The officer’s face flushed red, and malice surged within him.

’I have a thousand elite soldiers and heavy weaponry at my disposal right now. If I kill him, won’t I have completed my orders ahead of schedule?’

"Fire!" the officer roared, his voice laced with viciousness.

RAT-TAT-TAT-TAT!!!

Gunfire erupted, a torrential downpour of bullets.

But when the bullets came within two thousand meters of Ian, they all abruptly froze in midair, as if they had slammed into an invisible wall.

Then, they began to deform, twist, and compress—from the bullet tips to the casings, from the copper jackets to the gunpowder.

Within the terrifying Gravity Field, all matter was forcibly crushed and compacted.

Finally, they were reduced to fine metal powder, which trickled down to the ground.

The soldiers’ pupils contracted. Their fingers were still on the triggers, but their bodies had frozen stiff.

They watched as their comrades at the very front... began to "collapse."

It was as if they were being squeezed by a giant, invisible hand. From the outside in, their skin, muscles, bones, and organs were compressed, crushed, and fused together, layer by layer.

POP! POP! POP!

Bursts of blood mist exploded in the air.

There were no screams, no struggles. There wasn’t even time to scream.

Within the range of the Gravity Field, all life was instantly crushed into its most basic particles.

The spreading blood mist stained the early morning sun a pale red and filled the air with the thick stench of blood.

Gaga covered its beak with a small wing. "Their blood stinks, too."

Ian said nothing and continued walking forward. Wherever he passed, soldiers were mown down like wheat.

No, they didn’t even have a chance to fall. They simply exploded into a bloody mist and settled as dust.

「Dozens of miles away, in the capital, Delria City.」

WOO... WOO... WOO...

A piercing alarm blared, shattering the morning’s tranquility. Soon, the sky was filled with a dense swarm of black dots.

The army defending Delria had reacted and begun a missile counterattack.

Countless missiles, trailing long plumes of fire, rose from all corners and soared toward Ian’s position.

They moved at extreme speeds, tearing through the air with a piercing shriek.

But all the missiles detonated simultaneously the moment they entered the airspace two thousand meters from Ian.

Just like the bullets before them, it was as if they had hit an invisible wall. The missile bodies instantly deformed, ruptured, and detonated.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A continuous series of explosions echoed through the sky. Flames surged, thick smoke billowed, and shockwaves spread out like ripples.

But the entire blast radius was contained beyond the two-thousand-meter mark. Not even a single wave of heat reached Ian.

He glanced up at the fireworks in the sky, a mocking smile playing on his lips.

"A futile struggle."

「The royal palace. The banquet hall.」

King Samit sat on his throne, swirling a glass of red wine in his hand.

Before him, a massive screen displayed a live feed of the scene outside the city.

The blood mist, the explosions, the vanishing soldiers... and the blurry figure strolling along as if it were a walk in the park.

"How dare he..." King Samit muttered to himself, his voice trembling.

"How dare he slaughter my people so brazenly on Indian soil!"

CRASH! He violently slammed the wine glass onto the floor. Shards of glass flew everywhere, and the red wine spread like blood.

"Bascara! Aditya! Shomia!"

He shrieked, his eyes filled with hysterical madness. "Kill him for me! Kill him!!!"

The three Legends stood before him, their expressions grave.

Bascara pressed his palms together, a golden light flashing in his eyes. Aditya’s muscles bulged as flame-like patterns appeared on his skin.

A sinister glint flashed in Shomia’s narrow eyes.

"Your Majesty..." Bascara began, his voice tight. "His power truly far exceeds our estimates."

"Estimates? I don’t care about any estimates!" Samit spun around and pointed at the screen.

"The three of you are the Guardians of India! You are great Legends, supported by the entire nation."

"Now, someone is slaughtering our people on Indian soil! And instead of stopping him, you stand there spouting such shameful words?!"

He took a deep breath, suppressing the surging rage within him.

"In my capacity as King, I order you to kill him outside of Delria City, no matter the cost."

"Even if... you must resort to the final measure."

The three Legends exchanged a look, a flicker of resolve in their eyes.

’If we use the final measure, it’s not like we don’t have a chance of killing him. We just need to seize the right moment, delay him for a bit...’

"Yes." Bascara was the first to respond. After a slight bow, he left, with Aditya and Shomia following close behind.

In the banquet hall, only Samit remained.

He collapsed back onto his throne, watching the blurry figure on the screen draw closer and closer.

His eyes held fear, anger, and a hint of regret.

’Perhaps... I shouldn’t have been so greedy for those Source Crystals.’ But now, it was too late for regrets.

「Fifteen miles outside Delria City lay a fertile alluvial plain.」