Chapter 504 - 504: Clash of Three Powers

"So Tigerhead died that easily?"

At that moment, a Voidborn crouched low against the ground spoke with a sneer. Its back was covered in sharp spines, and its pointed mouth made it resemble a wild beast waiting for the perfect moment to strike.

"We did underestimate you Aspects. But someone of Tigerhead's level isn't worth caring about even if he dies. You may be powerful, but there are only two of you."

As he spoke, the surrounding Voidborn eagerly stepped forward.

There were twelve of them in total.

Not one had shown even the slightest anger over Tigerhead's death. They were as indifferent as though a complete stranger had been killed.

In fact, after witnessing the strength of the Aspects, they had only grown more excited.

Faced with the Voidborn closing in around them, Kayle merely gripped her blazing sword and gave a cold snort. There wasn't a trace of fear on her face.

Mihira was the same. If anything, her expression was even colder, completely unmoved by the overwhelming difference in numbers.

There was no formal signal to begin.

One of the Voidborn roared, and the battle erupted instantly.

All twelve figures charged Kayle and Mihira at once, unleashing terrifying power in an instant.

The two stood back to back as divine power surged through their bodies, scattering sacred radiance in every direction. Their swords slashed again and again, their coordination flawless.

Yet they quickly realized something was wrong.

The attacks of these Voidborn were anything but ordinary.

Not only were they formidable when working together, even individually, each of them was stronger than Tigerhead had been.

Even with Kayle and Mihira fighting together, they were gradually forced onto the defensive and continuously pushed back.

Something was very wrong with these Voidborn.

"Finally noticed?"

"We're not trash like Tigerhead."

"I wonder what it feels like to kill an Aspect."

The surrounding Voidborn laughed coldly as they continued their assault.

Their forms varied wildly, their living Void carapaces twisted into all kinds of bizarre shapes. Purple energy flowed across their bodies, and every one of them radiated tremendous power.

Creatures like Horn and Tigerhead were merely some of the Void's earlier creations.

The later they had been created, the stronger they became.

If weaker specimens were killed, that merely helped the Void eliminate useless failures.

Within the Void, only those who survived could prove their strength.

Kayle and Mihira narrowed their eyes slightly.

Both had realized how abnormal these creatures were.

They were completely different from the Voidborn they knew.

But there was no time to contemplate the matter.

Shurima's planetary core was still being seized.

Suddenly, the air grew heavy, as though some overwhelming existence were about to descend.

A figure plunged from high above like a meteor.

The deafening roar of his descent shook the surroundings, and in the next instant, he crashed directly into the Voidborn formation.

"BOOM!"

A violent explosion erupted.

The earth shook as dust blasted high into the sky, and an enormous crater appeared.

The Voidborn had already scattered before the impact and now stared toward the crater.

"VWOOM!"

A blinding streak of light shot out like lightning, tearing through the air.

It seemed capable of piercing the stars themselves as it flew toward an enormous, bloated Voidborn.

Realizing that he couldn't dodge in time, the creature roared. Brilliant purple energy flared across his arm as he unleashed terrifying power against the incoming attack.

The two forces collided.

But the Comet Spear didn't slow down in the slightest.

It pierced straight through his arm, punched through his body, then embedded itself in the ground with a tremendous crash.

A massive hole had been blown through the right side of the bloated creature's body, purple blood spraying continuously from the wound.

Kayle and Mihira's eyes flashed when they saw what had happened.

They immediately knew who had arrived.

"Pantheon!"

Their confidence surged.

If there was anyone whose arrival on a hopeless battlefield could instantly raise the morale of everyone present, it was Pantheon.

The embodiment of war.

The surrounding Voidborn also realized that this descending warrior was far from ordinary, and none dared move recklessly.

"Damn you!"

The bloated Voidborn roared and raised his remaining arm, frantically bombarding the crater with bolts of energy.

The next instant, a figure leaped out.

Pantheon held his shield before him, blocking every attack.

Then he slammed the shield into the bloated monster.

An overwhelming force erupted.

The creature's massive body was sent flying like a cannonball before crashing heavily into the ground.

Before he could rise, Pantheon's foot came crashing down.

The earth sank beneath the impact.

A pair of icy eyes beneath Pantheon's helmet stared down at the monster as he raised his right hand.

The Comet Spear he had thrown earlier responded instantly.

It trembled twice, tore itself free from the ground, and flew back into his grasp.

Blinding light gathered at the spearhead.

Pantheon drove it down into the creature's skull.

Blood sprayed everywhere.

When Pantheon straightened again and surveyed the battlefield with spear and shield in hand, only the motionless corpse of the bloated monster remained beneath his foot.

Barely three seconds had passed since his arrival.

Yet another powerful Voidborn had already fallen to his spear.

"All together!"

"Go all out! No more testing them!"

"Let's have a proper battle!"

The surrounding Voidborn immediately recognized Pantheon's terrifying strength.

Without hesitation, they roared as their bodies expanded one after another.

Each released their full power, their auras becoming terrifyingly intense.

The next second, they attacked en masse.

Pantheon, Kayle, and Mihira didn't even have time to exchange words before they were once again locked in battle against the Voidborn.

"BOOM!"

"BOOM!"

The entire battlefield shook violently.

Terrifying bursts of energy erupted everywhere, almost completely destroying the surface terrain of Shurima.

As traces of the Void continued spreading through the surroundings, Kayle and the others noticed that the Voidborn seemed to be growing stronger as well.

And apparently sensing the battle outside, even more Voidborn began joining the fight.

The newcomers were stronger still.

No one knew how many of these creatures existed.

Even with Pantheon joining them, the three still couldn't break through the outer defensive perimeter.

Without the slightest hesitation, Mihira raised her sword and fired a brilliant beam of light into the sky.

It was a signal directed toward Mount Targon.

Given the situation, the other Aspects had to come and reinforce them.

Otherwise, they could do nothing but watch as the planetary core was stolen.

As the beam faded, several powerful presences appeared.

But instead of relief, Kayle, Mihira, and Pantheon's expressions grew solemn.

"Looks like things are getting lively over here. Why don't we join in?"

A deep voice rang out.

Aatrox appeared with his enormous sword in hand, his Darkin lieutenants following behind him.

He looked over the bizarre Voidborn with interest before letting out a contemptuous laugh.

"Pathetic imitations of the Ascended. How laughable."

He saw through their nature at a glance.

Despite their grotesque appearances, every one of these Voidborn possessed extraordinary power.

Clearly, they had been designed as imitations of the Ascended.

Kayle and the others immediately understood as well.

No wonder they had felt something was strange.

Looking more closely, the traits of these Voidborn truly did resemble the Ascended of old.

It was as though the Void had created crude copies of them.

A thin, sharp-faced Voidborn sneered in response.

"Ascended? Never heard of them. Sounds like some ridiculous title."

The moment he finished speaking, his body suddenly felt impossibly heavy.

An overwhelming pressure descended upon him.

When he raised his head again, he found himself staring directly into Aatrox's cold eyes.

Then, in the blink of an eye, the bloodthirsty greatsword was already crashing down toward him.

"Vermin should not speak words their strength cannot support."

Aatrox's voice was cold and merciless, while the aura erupting from his body was absolutely terrifying.

They might have fallen and become Darkin long ago, but being Ascended had once been their greatest glory.

Even if they could never return to those days, Aatrox would never allow that glory to be sullied by filthy insects from the Void.

As the sword descended, the sharp-faced Voidborn felt even the air around him change.

The atmosphere seemed to solidify.

His body stiffened.

In an instant, the terror of death engulfed him completely.

He desperately unleashed every ounce of his strength.

Roaring furiously, he raised the massive axe-like weapon in his hands to block the descending greatsword.

The instant the two weapons collided, the giant axe shattered like a toy.

A horrifying force erupted through the creature's body, and terror flashed through his eyes.

"BOOM!"

The greatsword slammed into the ground.

An enormous fissure spread into the distance.

Aatrox had held absolutely nothing back.

He raised his sword again and expressionlessly flicked the Voidborn's blood from the blade.

The pressure radiating from his body was even more terrifying than Pantheon's.

Looking at the immensely powerful Aatrox and the formidable figures behind him, the Voidborn suddenly remembered.

These were the Darkin the Prophet had warned them about.

The former Ascended.

The god-warriors who had defeated the Void.

"Pantheon! Come!"

Aatrox turned his gaze toward Pantheon in the distance, openly provoking him.

"Let me see whether you've grown any stronger."

Pantheon stared coldly back at him.

The spear in his hand hummed with power.

"Pantheon, protecting the planetary core comes first."

"We don't have much time."

Kayle and Mihira watched the chaotic battlefield with grave expressions.

Neither had expected an entire group of Darkin to suddenly appear halfway through the battle just to make matters worse.

Calling the current situation troublesome would have been a massive understatement.

"I know. But they clearly aren't going to leave quietly."

Pantheon's battle intent surged.

His spear shone brighter and brighter, overflowing with the pure power of his will.

No matter what happened, combat was unavoidable.

He didn't hesitate.

His figure shot forward.

With that, the battle erupted all over again.

The Voidborn and Aatrox moved simultaneously.

The other Darkin immediately joined in as well, turning the battlefield into a chaotic three-way melee.

In terms of sheer destructive power, the Darkin were the most devastating.

They practically demolished the entire landscape.

They fought without the slightest restraint and attacked anything in their path, whether Aspect or Voidborn.

Their arrival made the battlefield even more chaotic while greatly hindering Kayle and her allies.

Suddenly, gemstone-like crystals streaked in from the distance.

Taric was the first reinforcement to arrive.

The Aspect side now had four fighters.

Every additional Aspect represented a massive increase in combat strength.

Even so, the battlefield remained chaotic.

Of the three factions, the Voidborn were actually the weakest.

Their advantage lay in their overwhelming numbers.

No one knew how many the Prophet of the Void had summoned.

Although they were merely imitations of the Ascended, their combined strength was still formidable.

Then a dazzling pillar of sunlight crashed down from the heavens.

The scorching radiance instantly vaporized one of the Voidborn.

As the light faded, Leona's figure was revealed.

The arrival of a fifth fighter gave the Aspect faction a noticeable advantage.

However, the Darkin led by Aatrox were not much weaker.

The strength of the two sides seemed nearly balanced.

No matter how numerous the Voidborn were, their numbers continued dwindling with every passing minute.

They were practically using their lives to fill the battlefield.

That familiar method of fighting once again reminded the Darkin of the distant past.

When that enormous Void rift had opened all those years ago, these filthy insects had used the exact same tactic.

They had traded one worthless life after another to kill the Ascended warriors one by one.

The memory only fueled the Darkin's rage.

Terrifying auras erupted one after another.

For a time, the Voidborn became the shared target of both opposing factions.

The entire region had already been devastated beyond recognition, yet the battle was nowhere near finished.

The Aspects and Darkin seemed almost to be temporarily fighting together against the Void.

In reality, however, they were still battling each other at the same time.

No one noticed the two pairs of eyes quietly watching from afar.

"I have to admit, they're really going at it."

Luke hid behind an enormous boulder, using his extraordinary eyesight to observe the distant battlefield while clicking his tongue in amazement.

"This kind of scene probably doesn't happen once in a century."

He was genuinely astonished.

Forget everything else, at this rate, saying they were about to tear Shurima apart wouldn't even be much of an exaggeration.

Even from where he was hiding, Luke could feel the earth shaking beneath him like the warning tremors before an earthquake.

"Aren't we going to help?"

Kai'Sa's voice came from the empty air beside him.

She had not deactivated her invisibility.

Otherwise, even her presence would have been difficult to conceal from the powerful beings on that battlefield.

"How exactly are we supposed to get involved in that?"

Luke glanced toward the empty space beside him.

Was this girl really that fearless?

That wasn't the kind of battlefield where you could just stroll over and join in.

"The second I show myself, I guarantee everyone there gangs up on me."

He wasn't taking a single step closer.

In fact, he was already prepared to run at a moment's notice.

Putting aside the sheer level of the battle, he was carrying one of the keys.

The moment he appeared, the Voidborn would unquestionably make him their highest-priority target.

And beyond that, he had fought Aatrox not long ago.

He could also sense Naafiri hiding somewhere among the Darkin forces.

There was no guarantee the Darkin didn't have some ideas of their own about him.

The Aspects were probably the closest thing he had to allies here, and even then, he had only recently caused a major disturbance on Mount Targon.

If he jumped into that battlefield now, every eye would immediately turn toward him.

Kai'Sa's voice carried a hint of worry.

"These Voidborn suddenly appearing in Shurima like this is far too unusual. They're probably trying to accomplish something..."

"Whatever they're doing, we'll have to react after they make their move."

Luke also knew that the Void was undoubtedly planning something.

But right now, revealing himself was absolutely out of the question.

Judging from the situation, the Void still didn't know where he was.

That gave him plenty of room to maneuver.