Chapter 1079: Vulnerable

Five main cannons flickered with electric light, vast energy waves radiated outward, the massive barrels resembling five blinding suns, making it impossible to look directly.

Luohaxiya immediately sensed danger.

It did not recognize the Star Destroyer, but had heard of the Fu Kong Cheng of the Oriense Empire, treating these steel fortresses as things akin to the Fu Kong Cheng, so it pointed at the Star Destroyer and instantly cast a Ten-ring Spell: Arcadian Wind of Slaughter!

In an instant, countless air currents formed from the void, creating tornadoes dozens of meters in diameter.

These tornadoes fell from the sky like giant divine hands, enveloping all five Star Destroyers.

Each tornado was composed of innumerable wind blades, each wind blade bearing lethal force; stacked together they swept a radius of ten thousand meters, dragging everything and shredding it into countless tiny fragments. Some frost giants that fell behind the ranks were instantly slain, turned into flesh and blood.

The flying creatures that swooped in from around were also hit by friendly fire; their bodies were sliced open, screaming as they turned into a rain of blood.

Boom……

Several tornadoes struck the Augustus, and its deflection field manifested.

Seated on the bridge, Lei En felt the entire warship sway; multiple external force fields on the armor were hit, but they were far from collapsing.

The other four Empire-class Star Destroyers shook even more violently, raging air currents battering the hull like tides, the tornadoes like drill bits, frantically assaulting the deflection fields.

The Star Destroyer was like a flat boat amidst a terrifying surge.

However, Lei En glanced twice and relaxed; the Arcadian Wind of Slaughter is a Ten-ring Spell, powerful but an area spell, its single-target damage is modest, far insufficient to pierce a Star Destroyer's deflection field.

Even though the spell was wielded by a demigod, Luohaxiya spared no divine essence, amplifying its potency twofold.

Moreover, the Wind of Slaughter requires guidance.

Lei En looked toward the Titan Elder.

"Luohaxiya, leave it to me," Suolim said, turning into a bolt of lightning that flew out of the Augustus, instantly exiting the Arcadian Wind of Slaughter's range, and appeared near the Storm Temple.

Boom!

Dark clouds gathered above the temple, and Suolim revealed his true form within the lightning.

A Titan Giant over twenty meters tall rose, wielding the "Spear of the Azure Firmament," like a deity descending, aiming at Luohaxiya who was guiding the spell; his arm muscles bulged, eyes crackling with electricity, he let out a roar and hurled the Thunder God's Spear with all his might.

Terrifying lightning streaked across the sky, but missed the target.

Luohaxiya's figure vanished before the spear struck; its spell was interrupted, and the tornadoes and raging air currents attacking the Star Destroyer dissipated.

"Suolim, I knew it was you."

Luohaxiya's voice came from all directions, calm and composed, as if reminiscing with an old friend, yet its trace was nowhere to be found.

Countless wind blades materialized out of thin air, slicing Suolim's body.

Cloudy vapor shrouded the surroundings, obscuring vision.

Suolim was unsurprised; the two demigod veterans had clashed dozens of times over millennia, often without a clear victor. The Spear of the Azure Firmament transformed into a bolt of lightning that returned to his hand; with a boom, it became a massive lightning bolt piercing the clouds, appearing hundreds of meters away, and the spear thrust forward.

Bang!

The Spear of the Azure Firmament seemed to pierce something; countless air currents and lightning exploded, dispersing the clouds in that area.

A humanoid figure dozens of meters tall materialized—it was Luohaxiya.

This was its demigod true form.

However, Luohaxiya had clearly anticipated; its figure vanished again, leaving behind a condensed air sphere at the spot, which the spear instantly pierced.

Boom!

The air sphere detonated in a massive explosion, like a Ten-ring Qi Explosion Technique; the terrifying shockwave outpaced lightning, sweeping across a kilometer range.

Suolim couldn't dodge; the shockwave staggered him, cutting slender wounds into his bronze-colored skin, spilling golden blood. As he was wounded, a massive wind blade a hundred meters long instantly formed, shaped like an unmatched curved blade, slashing toward his neck.

At the very brink, the Titan Elder again turned into lightning and fled, but shortly after his electric dash he collided with a sturdy wind wall.

Bang!

Suolim's figure was forced to appear; before he could land, his limbs were bound by streams of air, instantly losing balance.

The massive wind blade chased after him, slashing his back.

The Titan Elder's back spurted blood; a huge wound stretched from shoulder to waist, deep enough to see bone, yet his face showed no pain. He broke free of the air binds, landed with a "Thunderous Stomp," the ground violently shook, lightning and earth were hurled dozens of meters high, and the shockwave struck the enemy.

Luohaxiya had shrunk to under ten meters; its humanoid outline became clearer, limbs complete, a vortex swirling at its waist, though its features remained somewhat vague.

It held a cyan curved blade in its hand, ready to deliver a lethal strike to Suolim.

Suolim swung the Spear of the Azure Firmament like a club, the spearhead smashing into Luohaxiya's head; lightning burst, instantly pulverizing it into dust.

"Ah……"

Luohaxiya let out a painful cry, its body teleported, ducking into the Storm Temple's protective shield, reconstituting its form.

Suolim did not pursue immediately, using divine essence to heal the wound on his back.

He glanced back, his gaze momentarily frozen.

At this moment, the two armies had engaged head‑on, countless wind elementals and flying creatures blanketing the sky like a tide from above; as they surged toward ground enemies, they released wind-type spells, but before they could close in, a deafening roar was heard.

Boom boom boom boom……

The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers at the forefront opened fire.

The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers used the standard‑model Bolt Gun, weaker than the Extreme Warrior's Thunder Roar Bolt Gun; the bullet's power was only equivalent to a Three-ring Flame Orb, yet the Bolt Gun's range, rate of fire, and frequency far surpassed ordinary spells.

At the same time, the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers launched Electric Blast Orbs, all Four-ring!

It was just a volley of simultaneous shots.

Whether winged humans, Alaka crowfolk, harpy‑like sirens, or gale dwarves, they were priority targets, instantly blown apart. Larger numbers of wind‑bat demons and ash‑feathered arrow sparrows, which liked to flock, were hit by several Electric Blast Orbs; after exploding, they all burned to ash within the lightning.

The sky near the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers was instantly cleared.

They endowed themselves with Wind‑Thunder Wings and Flight Technique, their speed not much slower than the enemies', even slightly faster.

The first wave of enemies could not hinder the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers' speed at all; while continuing to fly forward, they fired at the stronger foes among the enemy.

Legendary winged humans, feathered serpents, rift‑sky dragon eagles, griffin‑horses… were blown apart, turning into a rain of blood.

Although this was only a small fraction of the foes, a hundredfold more surged like a torrent, yet before the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers they were merely a false flood, shattering on contact.

Twenty‑five thousand Thundercast Celestial Soldiers formed an indestructible dam, not only blocking the flood but pushing forward, crushing every enemy in their path. Within a kilometer of their passage, no foe remained alive, only a sky of shredded flesh, blood rain, and a scarlet‑stained ground.

The giant legion behind had already prepared for slaughter, shouting loudly, but it was like punching cotton.

The giants stared dumbfounded, looking at each other, and some giants' faces were filled with terror.

They had never seen such a terrifying legion!

Then they felt relieved, this human legion on their side was the giants' ally. They only hesitated for a moment, and the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers had already killed several hundred meters ahead, so they hurried to catch up.

The Thundercast Celestial Soldiers destroyed everything in their path, charging toward the Storm God Temple.

Seeing this, Sorim also couldn't help but suck in a breath of cold air; he had heard Asina say many times that the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers were extremely powerful, but witnessing them sweep thousands of troops on the battlefield still left him speechless.

At this speed, in just a few minutes the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers could cut through a million enemy troops and reach the foot of the Storm God Temple.

However, the Storm God Temple's shield, the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers probably cannot break through.

"Retreat!"

"Descendants of the raging wind, all withdraw from the storm's peak!"

Lohashiya in the temple was also frightened by the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers, decisively ordering his troops to retreat and not die outside.

It had occupied the Storm God Temple for over two thousand years, never truly mastering it until the cloud giants surrendered and brought a large amount of source crystals, repairing the damaged rune formations, activating the temple's defense system, and with the temple's power, its strength increased by more than half.

The Storm God Temple was once the divine realm of Anheloz; its shield is the "Thunder Barrier," whose defense is stronger and more solid than that of human floating cities.

As long as the barrier remains unbroken,

Lohashiya's voice spread across the storm's peak.

Instantly, the great army of wind elements scattered like a retreating tide, fleeing in all directions, just wanting to get as far from the storm's peak as possible.

But not all enemies had time to withdraw; the flying creatures nearest the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers were shot down before they could even turn their heads.

After several rounds of gunfire and electric blast orbs, no one remained blocking the way.

"Stop!"

Hundreds of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers shouted in unison.

At the command, tens of thousands of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers almost simultaneously halted flight, hovering in midair, as if they were one person, astonishing to behold. The giant legion behind, not understanding, also hurriedly stopped its charge, but being too rushed, they almost collided, their formation falling into chaos.

"What's going on?"

"Why did we stop? Take this opportunity to charge into the temple!"

One doubtful voice after another rose in the ranks; giants, hill dwarves, frost giants, and orcs could not understand—they had not yet killed an enemy, their strength had nowhere to go, and most importantly, stopping now was not delaying the battle opportunity?

"Silence!"

Asina revealed her true form at the front of the ranks, and the Titan Giant's might immediately subdued the giant legion.

She knew exactly what was happening.

In the sky, the Star Destroyer's main gun was almost finished charging.

Lohashiya hid within the temple's barrier, so the main gun's target could only be changed to strike the barrier. Once the barrier collapsed, it would likely trigger a terrible backlash; if the giant legion were too close, it would inevitably cause massive casualties.

Moreover, the Storm God Temple's Thunder Barrier has offensive capability; under the demigod Lohashiya's control, it is no less than a catastrophe for the giant legion.

Groups of Thundercast Celestial Soldiers flew back and landed among the giant legion.

They were preparing to open a portal.

"Prepare for battle!"

"As soon as the portal opens, enter immediately!"

Asina stared intently at the Star Destroyer, waiting for it to fire and pierce the barrier, then she would lead the army through the portal to charge into the temple.

Ten seconds, nine seconds, seven seconds…

Lei En deliberately slowed the charging of four Imperial-class Star Destroyers, extending it to forty-five seconds to synchronize with the Augustus's main gun.

Three, two, one!

At the instant charging completed, the sky over the storm's peak instantly darkened.

The Augustus and the other four Star Destroyers fired five beams in unison: one was an eleven-ring annihilation cannon, four were ten-ring star-destroyer cannons; combined, they were like a sword tens of miles long, tearing the dark sky and shooting toward the Storm God Temple.

At that instant, the giant legion and the great army of the wind elemental plane fell silent; in everyone's view, only those five beams remained.

In an instant, the beams struck the Storm God Temple.

The massive Thunder Barrier appeared, but it only blocked for a blink, like fragile tissue paper being pierced; a hundred-meter-wide hole appeared on the barrier, triggering a chain reaction, and the entire barrier dissipated like foam.

The entire Storm God Temple was exposed, with explosions occurring everywhere inside.

As the Thunder Barrier collapsed, a huge shockwave swept across the storm's peak like lightning; although the giant legion was far from the temple, the shockwave hitting them was still extremely painful, even injuring some. The giant legion felt a lingering fear, thinking that if they had charged to the temple's foot, at least half would have died.

Amid the flying dust, people discovered that the temple had not been destroyed.

The Star Destroyer's main gun raised its angle; after the beam pierced the Thunder Barrier, it flew over the temple's upper space without bombarding the temple's structures.

Obviously, this was intentional.

The Storm God Temple is the giants' heritage; today's battle is to reclaim it, not to destroy it.

"Attack!"

Asina gave the order loudly.

As the barrier collapsed, the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers began to cast spells together, opening hundreds of tall portals among the giant legion, and they hesitated not to rush into the portals.

Within the Thundercast Celestial Soldiers' ranks, likewise, portal after portal opened.

A hundred-thousand-strong army instantly stormed into the Storm God Temple.

Sorim moved a step faster, entering the temple before his own troops, locking onto the greatest threat, Lohashiya. This wind elemental lord was already shaken in mind and spirit, terrified by the Star Destroyer's fearsome power; seeing the Star Destroyer begin to charge again, he immediately abandoned his people and troops, turning into an invisible gale and fleeing the Storm God Temple.

The Titan Elder instantly saw through its true form and shouted loudly, "Lohashiya, where are you fleeing to?"

Lohashiya did not respond, increasing its speed a bit.

The two demigods, one fleeing and one pursuing, in the blink of an eye drifted far from the storm's peak.

However, the battle inside the temple had just begun; after the giant legion charged into the temple, they discovered that someone had already attacked ahead of them.

Extreme Warrior!

They directly teleported from the Star Destroyer into the temple, encountering a group of bluish-gray-skinned giants, with a Titan Giant leading them.

These were the cloud giant tribe that had defected to Luohaxiya; upon discovering Luohaxiya's escape, they were about to activate a teleportation array to retreat, but were intercepted by the Extreme Warrior.

The two sides immediately clashed, and the outcome was decided in a single encounter!

(End of chapter)