Chapter 480 - 480: Invasion [46]

The next instant, he was already in front of her.

His hand wrapped around her neck.

Zarah's eyes widened as he lifted her slightly from the ground and pulled her closer.

His grip tightened just enough to make breathing difficult.

"I want to kill you so bad."

Zarah barely had the consciousness to respond.

Her voice came out weak, but there was no fear in it.

"Go...ahead...then."

Wes stared at her for a moment without moving a muscle, then he tightened his grip.

"But I'm thinking...Thinking about how wonderful it would be to make your death permanent."

His grip remained around her neck as he continued talking, almost as though he had forgotten they were in the middle of a battle.

"Maybe after Vale destroys the graveyard. But that's boring."

His eyes shifted slightly as though he were genuinely considering his options.

"I don't have enough time to keep you captive, so I should probably just kill you. But..."

A strange smile slowly returned to his face.

"Ha... I don't wanna do it. I don't want it to end yet."

Wes dropped his head dramatically, his shoulders slumping as though the decision had genuinely pained him.

Zarah, despite the state she was in, could only stare at him.

Was this goblin actually a lunatic?

Her body was barely holding together, her ribs were fractured, and she could still feel the lingering heat from the explosion burning across her skin, yet somehow the strangest thing happening to her right now was the one side conversation he was having with her.

Wes slowly raised his head. He looked resolute.

The mana gathered around his fingers, becoming denser with every passing second until the air around his palm began to distort from the sheer concentration of energy.

He was ready to finish her off.

Zarah's expression remained calm.

She was defeated. There was nothing she could do in her current condition, and if Wes decided to finish her now, she wouldn't have the strength to stop him.

She was looking ahead.

Perhaps the graveyard would bring me back.

She was certain Vale wouldn't find it easily so it might not be destroyed yet. The location had been carefully concealed, and even if he somehow discovered the entrance, Kharos would be there waiting him.

So perhaps this wasn't the end.

She closed her eyes for a brief moment.

Then she sensed something.

An familiar aura. Above.

Her eyes suddenly opened, and her entire expression changed.

The exhaustion that had weighed down her body moments ago seemed to disappear beneath a sudden surge of determination.

Something inside her had ignited.

She wanted to live.

No. She needed to live.

Her eyes burned with renewed fire as a grin slowly appeared across her face.

Wes noticed the change immediately.

"Oh what's this!"

This was exactly the reaction he had been trying to provoke from her throughout their conversation, but something was different about it.

He knew he had not caused this.

Something else had.

Wes stared at her for a moment before his curiosity overcame him.

"Why... what are you smiling for?"

Zarah's grin widened.

She looked directly into his eyes.

"You...You're screwed now."

***

Back at Eli's quarters, in front of the swirling portal, the strange box lay on the floor, its surface covered with numerous eyes that continued to twitch and shift as though they were watching everything around them.

The eyes suddenly widened.

Steam began pouring from the seams of the box.

Its entire body started glowing with an intense blue light, the energy building rapidly within its confined space until the surrounding air began to tremble.

Then it exploded.

BOOM!

Blue energy burst outward, swallowing the room in a violent wave before the resulting smoke and dust filled the area.

For a few seconds, there was nothing but silence.

Then the smoke began to clear.

A figure was revealed in the middle of the room.

Eli was down on one knee.

His head was lowered, his breathing heavy from the sheer amount of effort he had exerted, but there was a wide, elated smile on his face.

He was finally out.

After warping thousands of times, over and over again, forcing the prison to reverse and counter his movements until its mechanism could no longer keep up, the barrier had finally given in.

The [Folded Prison] SSS rank had crumbled.

Eli slowly rose.

He didn't waste a second celebrating.

There was no time for that.

The moment he had freedom, he activated [Warp].

His body disappeared.

He reappeared outside his quarters.

Then he warped again. Until he appeared high above the settlement, far enough in the sky to gain a clear view of the entire clan.

Eli's expression immediately changed.

From above, there was no way to ignore the damage.

Buildings had been reduced to rubble.

Smoke rose from several parts of the settlement.

Entire sections of the clan had been torn apart by the fighting, and the ground was littered with evidence of the battle that had taken place while he was trapped.

His eyes moved rapidly across the battlefield.

He could see the destruction.

He could see the enemies.

But that wasn't what he was looking for.

His gaze continued sweeping across the settlement.

Where were his goblins? Were they safe? Or had the enemies managed to get them all while he was trapped?

Eli immediately spread his senses across the settlement, allowing his awareness to sweep through the battlefield in every direction.

The moment he did, his expression hardened.

He could feel them.

Multiple goblins were still in danger.

Gobbo, Dribb, surprisingly Flogga.

And... Zarah.

His fingers slowly curled into fists.

Rage began swirling inside him, hot and immediate, threatening to overwhelm the calm he had fought to maintain ever since escaping the prison.

For a moment, the urge to simply descend and tear apart everything standing between him and his people was almost irresistible.

But Eli forced himself to breathe.

He couldn't afford to lose control.

He had already seen what happened when he allowed his emotions to dictate his actions. The enemies were scattered throughout the settlement, and charging toward one of them blindly could give the others an opportunity to cause even more damage.

He needed to end this properly.

His gaze swept across the battlefield once more.

Then Eli brought both hands together.

Mana immediately began gathering around him.

The air trembled.

Space itself seemed to respond to his presence as a strange pressure spread outward from his body, reaching across the settlement and encompassing the battlefield below.

There was one skill that was perfect for this situation.

One skill that would allow him to deal with the enemies without forcing his own people to endure any more casualties.

Eli's eyes narrowed.

"[World Partition]."