Chapter 1781: A Sneak Attack
Chapter 1781: A Sneak Attack
Caroline continued quickly, because she knew that once Selene’s path fully unfolded, there might not be another moment to speak. "Her Pseudo Cosmic Path is said to be one of the strongest paths among the younger generation of the second faction. Even the ancestors treated it very seriously. The only reason she does not use it freely is because it consumes too much of her power. She can only sustain it for a short period of time before it drains her energy rapidly."
Nancy’s face became grave.
Jessica and the other third faction elves swallowed hard.
If even Caroline, someone who had once belonged to the heart of the elven royal line, said that Selene’s path was one of the strongest, then it was not something to underestimate.
Max’s eyes remained fixed on Selene.
"Then she should use it now," he said calmly.
Selene heard his words.
A cold smile touched her lips.
"Do not regret asking for this."
The sacred sun wheel behind her fully opened.
Then her Pseudo Cosmic Path descended.
"Pseudo Cosmic Path... Heavenly Luminance Genesis."
The moment the name fell, the world seemed to brighten.
A domain of pure golden-white radiance unfolded behind Selene, vast and grand like the birth of a divine heaven. Within that path, one could see countless layers of sacred palaces, endless rivers of luminance, golden suns rising and falling, and divine chains of law crossing the sky.
It did not feel like an ordinary path built on battle intent alone. It felt like the beginning of a holy kingdom, a genesis light capable of birthing order, authority, and divine suppression.
The air trembled.
The ground groaned.
Max’s seven-colored lightning domain was still violent and majestic, but for the first time in this battle, it encountered a radiance so pure and so overwhelmingly structured that even Divine King Punishment seemed to meet an equal in authority.
Selene’s golden hair floated upward.
Her eyes turned completely radiant, no longer showing ordinary pupils but only divine light.
The halo behind her dissolved into that Genesis Path, and in the center of the vast heavenly radiance, a single weapon slowly formed in her hands.
It was a spear.
A spear of blinding white-gold light.
But unlike her previous Queen’s Divine Spear, this weapon did not merely contain radiant bloodline power. It contained the essence of her Pseudo Cosmic Path itself. Every inch of the spear was wrapped in the beginning and order of her Heavenly Luminance Genesis.
Merely looking at it made many weaker observers feel their minds tremble, as though their thoughts were being purified and suppressed by something higher.
Seraphine’s face filled with excitement. "Divine Daughter is finally serious."
Fin also looked relieved. "This time he should fall."
Rosaline stared without blinking.
Morgana’s smile became thin and unreadable.
Kaiden remained silent.
Orion crossed his arms more tightly and focused harder.
Selene raised the spear.
"Heavenly Luminance Genesis, Spear of First Dawn."
The giant Genesis domain behind her condensed.
Palaces of light, rivers of radiance, and suns of holy brilliance all collapsed inward toward that spear, turning it into the embodiment of beginning light. Then Selene thrust it downward at Max.
The spear descended.
Everything in its path was erased.
The air became light.
The storm around Max was split open.
The giant roots beneath the battlefield were torn apart as the attack fell with unstoppable authority. This was not just an attack of power. It was an attack carrying origin, suppression, order, and the overwhelming sanctity of Selene’s strongest path.
Caroline’s face turned pale.
"That attack..."
Even she had not expected Selene to use her strongest path so decisively.
But Max did not retreat.
The moment the Spear of First Dawn descended, Max’s eyes became colder, and his seven-colored lightning erupted again. Divine King Punishment roared around him, the thunder throne behind him becoming even more imposing as he prepared to answer Selene’s strongest path head-on. Lightning condensed around Dragonheart, and the destructive, punishing essence of his path gathered to an extreme.
He was ready to counter.
He was ready to destroy Selene together with her Heavenly Luminance Genesis.
But just as Max was about to move, something unexpected happened.
The ground beneath him exploded.
Countless roots of the Witch God Tree burst out from below like living serpents. They moved too suddenly, too quietly, and too unnaturally. Their timing was perfect, striking at the exact instant all of Max’s attention had been focused upward on Selene’s descending Pseudo Cosmic Path attack.
Even with his Dimensional Sovereign Body, the interference came too abruptly and from too close. Before he could completely shift away, the giant roots wrapped around his legs, his waist, his sword arm, and his other shoulder, binding him in place.
Max’s eyes changed instantly.
This sneak attack had come completely out of nowhere.
For the briefest moment, even he was caught off guard.
Caroline gasped. "Max!"
Jessica’s face turned pale. Nancy’s expression changed sharply.
Orion’s eyes widened slightly.
Kaiden’s gaze became deeper.
Rosaline’s brows furrowed.
And then everyone’s eyes turned toward one person.
Morgana Starveil.
The witch stood at the edge of the battlefield with one hand slightly raised, and around her fingers, faint violet star-charms were revolving slowly. Her expression remained graceful and calm, but the meaning of what had happened was clear to everyone present.
The roots of the Witch God Tree had not acted on their own. They had been controlled, guided, or awakened by her witchcraft.
Even Selene seemed momentarily surprised by the timing, but she did not stop her attack.
If Max was bound, then better.
The Spear of First Dawn descended completely.
Max was still restricted.
And in the next instant, Selene’s full-powered attack landed on him while he was completely defenseless.
Boom!
The explosion was world-shaking.
Golden-white radiance swallowed the battlefield whole. The entire base of the Witch God Tree trembled violently, countless nearby roots were blown apart, and the force of the clash spread outward in a ring of destructive light that forced even the surrounding observers to retreat or raise defenses.
The second faction elves stumbled backward, Rosaline’s group activated barriers, Kaiden distorted the incoming shockwave, Morgana raised a curtain of purple starlight before herself, and Orion only planted his feet harder as the explosion crashed into him with a wide grin.
The third faction elves were horrified.
Caroline nearly stepped forward on instinct, but Jessica and Nancy stopped her.
Dust, light, shattered bark, and broken roots filled the battlefield.
For several breaths, no one could see anything.
Seraphine’s face lit up. "He took it head-on while restricted."
Fin laughed in relief. "This time there is no way he survived that without heavy injuries."
Selene remained in the air, breathing slightly harder now.
Caroline’s warning had been true.
Using Heavenly Luminance Genesis drained her power quickly. Even though she stood straight, there was a faint instability in her aura now, and the vast radiance behind her had already dimmed somewhat after unleashing that terrifying attack.
Yet in her eyes, there was still confidence. Max had been restrained at the critical moment. Her full-powered strike had landed directly. Even if he was absurdly strong, there was no reason for him to emerge unscathed from that.
The battlefield slowly began to clear.
The light faded.
The dust settled.
And then everyone saw him.
Max was still standing in the center of the ruined battlefield.
The roots binding him had already been shattered, broken into blackened fragments around his feet. His body had not been pierced. His flesh had not been burned. His clothes were torn and partly destroyed from the explosion, but beneath them, his body was now covered in golden-black dragon scales from head to toe.
Every scale gleamed with a terrifying luster.
They were neither purely golden nor purely black, but a fusion of both, carrying an ancient, noble, and chaotic aura at the same time.
The remaining traces of Selene’s Genesis light were still crawling across those scales, but they could not penetrate them at all. Instead, the light slid away or shattered apart as though it had struck the body of an ancient dragon king rather than a human cultivator.
For a moment, no one spoke.
Caroline’s eyes widened.
Jessica looked stunned.
Nancy slowly exhaled, though the shock in her face remained.
Seraphine’s expression froze.
Fin’s smile vanished.
Rosaline’s pupils narrowed.
Kaiden’s gaze became serious.
Orion let out a low whistle.
Even Morgana’s calm smile wavered slightly.
At the center of it all, Max slowly raised his head.
Golden-black scales covered his face and neck, leaving only his eyes fully visible, and those eyes were now colder than before. Lightning still coiled around him. Dragonheart remained in his hand. The small cursed eye clung to his left shoulder as if even the Witch’s mark was watching in silence.
Max looked first at Selene.
Then his gaze slowly moved toward Morgana.
His voice was calm, but terrifying.
"So," he said softly, "that is how you want to play."