Chapter 424: The Powerful Antares

At that moment, Cassandra finally understood the true meaning of the final line in her prophetic dream—"bearing the fate of the world."

"If that's the case, doesn't that mean... doesn't that mean the fate of the entire world rests solely on the Captain's shoulders?"

"Ah, exactly." Hermes turned around and looked solemnly at Aiden. "Young Aiden... no, Flame Emperor. Are you ready?"

Everyone's eyes converged on Aiden.

"I've been ready," Aiden replied, his voice calm yet unyielding. "I'll put an end to this in my own style."

He reached out and untied the bindings on the weapon slung across his back, slowly drawing the god-slaying arrow known as "Orion."

It was a long spear forged entirely from an unknown, pitch-black metal, yet its shaft possessed the aerodynamic curves of an arrow, and its tip glinted with a freezing, deadly light.

"It's here."

Aiden didn't look at anyone. Instead, he raised his head, staring up at the massive void above them created by the collapse.

BOOM——!!!

With a deafening crash, a gargantuan, pitch-black monster plummeted from the sky, smashing heavily into the open ground before them.

A violent, ring-shaped shockwave instantly kicked up a massive cloud of dust, whipping Aiden's white hair wildly. The others instinctively raised their arms to shield their faces.

When the dust settled, the terrifying creature that had coiled at the heart of the temple—Antares—was revealed before them.

It had taken the initiative to hunt them down.

Almost the exact instant Antares touched the ground, Aiden was already moving.

He tightened his grip on Godslayer: Surtr. Roaring flames surged from the blade like an awakening dragon, illuminating the dim subterranean space around him.

No words were needed; the synergy between him and Robin had long surpassed the need for verbal communication.

The moment he lunged, her cold, melodic chant rang out.

"Listen, to this star-woven movement of destiny. With melody as the stairway, crossing the barriers of mortality. In this moment, please ascend to the firmament with me—Vox Harmonique, Opus Cosmique!"

As the final syllable of the incantation fell, a dazzling expanse of golden starlight materialized out of thin air, instantly wrapping around Aiden's body.

The ascension magic was complete.

BANG—!

The ground beneath Aiden's feet abruptly shattered, spiderweb-like cracks spidering outward in all directions.

He shot forward like a cannonball leaving the barrel, tearing through the air and leaving a blurred crimson afterimage in his wake. In a fraction of a second, he crossed the dozens of meters separating them and appeared directly in front of Antares.

He brought the sword down in a vicious overhead cleave.

The blinding arc of the blade looked as if it would cleave the entire cavern in two. However, just as the edge was about to touch the chitinous shell, a faint purple glow of divine power abruptly flared across Antares's armor.

CLANG—!

A deafening, metallic crash exploded through the cavern.

Godslayer: Surtr didn't feel as if it had struck flesh and blood, but rather an indestructible slab of Orichalcum.

A blinding cascade of sparks erupted at the point of impact, and a terrifying rebound force traveled straight down the blade, violently launching Aiden backward through the air. He forcibly stabilized his body mid-flight, his feet touching the ground and skidding back over ten meters before he ruthlessly drove his sword into the earth to halt his momentum.

"So tough," Aiden muttered, the corner of his mouth twitching.

Robin and the others watched with grave expressions. If Aiden's full-power strike—enhanced by ascension magic—couldn't even break its defense, how on earth were they supposed to fight this monster?

Not giving them a moment to think, Aiden launched another charge.

Antares's colossal, battering-ram-like scorpion pincer smashed down, accompanied by a howl that tore through the air. Aiden instantly twisted his body, dodging the fatal blow by a hair's breadth. The pincer slammed heavily into the ground, shattering the earth and sending debris and dust flying in all directions.

Now.

Seizing the opening, Aiden tapped his toe against the massive pincer, using the momentum to leap high into the air. Dashing up the monstrous, jointed limb, he charged straight onto Antares's back.

Sprinting rapidly across its broad spine, he swung Godslayer: Surtr in rapid succession, but the strikes merely sparked uselessly against the indestructible shell, still failing to break its defenses.

However, Aiden quickly found a target—a gap connecting two armored plates where raw flesh squirmed, completely unprotected by the indestructible carapace.

Without a shred of hesitation, he channeled all his strength into a single point and brutally plunged Godslayer: Surtr straight into the gap.

This time, the blade finally met the sensation of tearing flesh.

Though still incredibly tough, he had managed to break through its defense. Foul, foul-smelling purple blood sprayed outward like a geyser.

Aiden didn't linger. He immediately commanded the flames on his blade, triggering a violent explosion. Using the resulting shockwave, he launched himself far away from Antares's body.

"Hiss—!"

Antares's body jerked backward as it unleashed a shrill, agonizing shriek.

However, a scene of absolute despair immediately followed.

Under everyone's horrified gazes, the massive, several-meter-wide wound blown open by the fire began to heal at a visible rate. Flesh squirmed and bones regenerated. In a mere matter of seconds, the gruesome wound had completely closed up, making it look as though it had never been injured at all.

Seeing this, Tifa and Firefly prepared to step in.

"Don't come any closer." Aiden reached out and stopped them.

This thing was far too dangerous. Even he could easily make a fatal misstep if he wasn't careful. Since their attacks couldn't even scratch its armor, they were better off clearing out any small monsters that spawned nearby.

Antares slowly straightened up. Its emotionless eyes locked dead onto Aiden.

Crack... Crunch...

Accompanied by a bone-jarring sound, the heavy armor on its chest slowly parted once more, revealing the massive, pure blue crystal within. Inside the crystal, the true Goddess of the Moon still slept peacefully, holy and compassionate.

But this time, the crystal wasn't just on display.

A soft blue light began to gather and flow across the crystal's surface, like an awakening galaxy. An indescribable volume of divine power began to frantically compress within it.

The entire subterranean cavern felt as though it had been frozen by this power. The air stagnated, and even the light warped and distorted around it.

In the next moment, an impossibly dense pillar of blue light blasted out from the center of the crystal.

Aiden's pupils contracted violently.

In the instant that beam appeared, every single cell in his body screamed the most harrowing of warnings. Without a shred of hesitation, he gripped Godslayer: Surtr with both hands, the magical energy within his body roaring to life at unprecedented speeds.

"—Unsheathed Heavenly Fire!"

Sound and fire, oscillation and heat, invisible destruction and tangible incineration—all wove together and clashed across the blade, ultimately merging into a pillar of golden light that erupted from the tip of his sword.

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