Chapter 494 - 392: Winning the Battle for the Duchy’s Future
Chapter 494: Chapter 392: Winning the Battle for the Duchy’s Future
With this thought, Gaius no longer hesitated.
He spun around and issued a command to the messenger beside him.
"Relay my orders!"
"The entire army will break camp immediately!"
"Protect the Heart of the Giant Beast and return to the Black Stone Territory!"
"What?"
The surrounding generals were stunned.
"General, the Duke is still..."
"This is an order!"
Gaius’s voice was sharp and resolute, leaving no room for argument.
"The Duke and Lord Astra are buying us time! Retreating now is the best way we can help them!"
"Everyone, move out now!"
Under the weight of Gaius’s powerful authority, no one dared to object.
The vast army began to move once more.
Without a moment’s hesitation, they departed from the corpse-strewn swamp, marching at full speed toward the Black Stone Territory.
Behind the army, the thunderbolt-filled sky looked like a constantly expanding wound, grim and terrifying.
The journey home was long and oppressive.
As the army of tens of thousands marched along the edge of the pitch-black swamp, the only sounds were the heavy thud of footsteps and the clatter of armor.
A heavy weight pressed on everyone’s heart.
They had won the battle and seized the priceless Treasure, but their Monarch remained behind, locked in a life-or-death struggle with a Catastrophe that could destroy everything.
No one knew how long this Catastrophe Level battle would last, or how it would end.
All they could do was march onward, to return to the Black Stone Territory—back to human lands—as quickly as possible.
Raylo rode on Moonlight’s back, clutching the Heart of the Giant Beast tightly to his chest.
The heart’s beat was still strong and powerful, and a vast tide of Life Energy continuously flowed through his palms, nourishing his body.
But right now, he was in no mood to study this Treasure.
The apocalyptic scene in the sky replayed over and over in his mind.
That was the pinnacle of Power in this world.
Before such Power, so-called Domain Level Powerhouses and armies of ten thousand men seemed insignificant and helpless.
A desire for Power burned within him like never before.
「Several hours later.」
When the army’s vanguard finally set foot on the solid ground of the Black Stone Territory, everyone breathed a collective sigh of relief.
’We’re back.’
’We’re finally back.’
The familiar surroundings gave the physically and mentally exhausted soldiers a long-awaited sense of security.
The eastern skyline was still shrouded by the raging thunderclouds.
Lightning flashed, as if the apocalypse were at hand.
Waiting is the most agonizing thing in the world.
Time ticked by, second by second, and each one felt as long as a century.
Finally, as dawn broke, the thunderclouds that had raged all night began to change.
The lightning in the sky began to weaken at a visible rate.
The phantom of the Thunderboltous Giant Serpent coiling in the sky also grew blurry and dim.
"Is it leaving?"
a Lord asked uncertainly.
"No, it’s run out of energy."
Master Herast’s voice was hoarse. He hadn’t slept all night, and the toll on his Spiritual Power had been immense.
"Manifesting a Catastrophe Level avatar requires a massive amount of energy. It can’t fight indefinitely."
Just as Master Herast had said, after another ten-odd minutes, the Thunderboltous Giant Serpent let out a silent, indignant roar. The massive phantom dissolved into specks of light, retreated into the Thunderbolt Sea, and then vanished from the horizon along with the Thunderbolts.
The thunderclouds that had blotted out the sky dispersed in its wake.
The light of dawn finally broke through the clouds, shining down upon the land.