Chapter 255: On The Brink

Raiden stood there feeling worried.

He wanted to help. He wanted to fight. But he couldn’t risk dropping Woolie, not when the little sheep was still so vulnerable. And even if he did join the fight, what could he do against Diamond-Tier beasts? He was strong, but not that strong.

Aria stood beside him, her hands glowing with golden-white energy. The wind around her swirled violently, responding to her emotions.

"Raiden," she said quietly. "Let me help."

Before he could respond, she raised her hands.

The ancestral knowledge Valcoric had given her flooded through her mind, and she began to chant in a language that sounded like wind passing through ancient trees. The air around her responded immediately, forming into blades, shields, and spears made entirely of compressed wind.

She sent them flying toward the Diamond-Tier beasts.

The wind blades sliced through the flaming tiger’s hurricane, dispersing it temporarily. The wind shields blocked the ice serpent’s freezing beams. The wind spears pierced through the golem’s stone pillars, shattering them into rubble.

Aria’s attack with full strength was able to disrupt the attacks of the Diamond-Tier Terra Beast and gave them a brief moment of pause between the decks. This brief moment was all that Rose and Neva needed to retreat from the battle.

Seeing this, the Diamond-Tier master’s eyes narrowed.

"So the girl has regained her bloodline," he said, his voice cold. "It doesn’t matter. You still can’t win."

He raised both hands.

All five Diamond-Tier beasts unleashed their full power at once.

The chamber became a storm of fire, ice, stone, lightning, and darkness. Under the new wave of attacks, Rose and Neva were thrown even further backwards, their bodies crashing into the wall hard enough to crack the stone. They slid to the ground, exhausted and injured, their light fading.

Seeing this, the five Terra Beasts didn’t wait anymore and closed in for the kill.

Above them, the battle between Tobias and the Clan Leader had reached its peak.

The Grand Elder rode Garuda through the air, the massive bird’s steel feathers cutting through the Golden Dragon’s flames with every flap. Wind blades the size of buildings sliced through the air, clashing with the dragon’s molten breath in explosions that shook the entire structure.

"You have disgraced this clan long enough!" Tobias roared, his voice amplified by Garuda’s cry. "Today, I will end your reign!"

The Clan Leader laughed maniacally, his dragon’s wings spreading wide enough to block out the light.

"End me? You old fool! I am stronger than you have ever been! I have consolidated power you couldn’t even imagine! The elders support me! The people support me! You are nothing but a relic of the past!"

The dragon opened its mouth and unleashed a beam of pure golden fire.

Garuda countered with a hurricane of wind so powerful it created a vacuum in the centre of the chamber. The two attacks collided, creating a sphere of energy that expanded outward, destroying everything it touched.

Tobias gritted his teeth, pushing Garuda forward.

"What can you even do with the support of those turncoats," he said, his voice filled with conviction. "I don’t need the people’s approval. I only need to know that what I am doing is right! And protecting my granddaughter from her own father is the right thing to do!"

The Clan Leader’s face twisted with rage.

"Father?! I am the Clan Leader, even before I became a father!! I am doing what is best for this clan! Weakness cannot be tolerated! Bloodline is everything! If she was too weak to keep her power, then she deserved to lose it!"

Tobias’s eyes burned with fury.

"That is where you are wrong. Bloodline is not about power. It is about responsibility. It is about protecting those who cannot protect themselves. And you... you have failed at every turn."

Garuda dove, its talons glowing with wind energy.

The dragon rose to meet it, its claws wreathed in golden fire.

The two Mythical-Tier beasts collided one final time, creating an explosion so bright that it blinded everyone in the chamber.

Below, Rose and Neva struggled to their feet.

They were battered, exhausted, and barely able to stand. But they refused to fall.

"Sha Sha..." Neva’s voice was weak, but determined.

Neva... won’t give up...

"Hiss..." Rose’s body was covered in burns and cuts, but her golden eyes still burned with defiance. Rose... will protect... Rai Rai...

The five Diamond-Tier beasts loomed over them, their auras pressing down with crushing weight.

The Diamond-Tier master smiled coldly.

"Admirable," he said. "But futile."

He raised his hand for the final blow as the five beasts gathered all their remaining energy for one final, devastating attack.

Fire, ice, stone, lightning, and darkness merged together into a sphere of annihilation that hovered above Rose and Neva, ready to crush them into nothingness.

Raiden’s heart sank.

He had no way to stop this. No tricks left. No backup.

Aria and Theodore stood frozen, unable to intervene as the sphere began to descend.

"Is this the end for me? Is this where I fall? No, that cannot possibly be true. I have come so far, and I have a lot of things that I still have to take care of. I can’t die here, not here, not now!!"

Rose and Neva closed their eyes, accepting their fate as the Diamond-Tier master’s smile widened.

"Tell me, buddy, are you going to let things play out as they are? Aren’t you their big brother? What happened to your promise? You were going to protect everyone, right? It’s your time now. Wake up!! Wake up and show the world what you are, what you can do!!! WAKE UP, WOOLIE!!!"

Raiden’s heartfelt words fill the air, causing the silence to fill the void. The next second, the opponent burst into laughter.

"Hahahaha!! Who do you think you are calling out for? There is nobody here who can save you. You are destined to die by my hands today, so just give up and accept your fate!!

BOOOM!!!!!!

Both Neva and Rose attacked the giant spear of destruction in the air, halting it briefly in place before it started moving towards them, inching closer and closer with every passing second.

Just as everyone was about to drown in despair, a small sound rang out in the air.

"Woolie...?"

The Emperor Woolie woke up.