Chapter 494: Hero King’s Wrath [Part 2]

The Aurelion Army and the Kingdom of Britannia only had one obstacle blocking them from conquering the Borderlands.

Gundar, the Great Shaman.

And with him gone, victory was in sight.

At least, that was what Magnus, Zepharion, and Samuel had always believed. It was this mindset that brought them to scheme together.

All they needed was one trump card.

And that trump card was a teleportation artifact, instantly teleporting Samuel to wherever the artifact was planted.

Zepharion had laid it down on the ground while in battle, then activated it in secret.

As soon as Samuel felt that he was about to be teleported into the ruins of Eden, he activated his absolute stealth ability.

He watched the battle intently, waiting for the perfect moment to unleash a surprise attack that would end the life of their greatest obstacle.

As expected, his attack succeeded. Gundar was no more. But not without paying a price.

In his final moments, the Great Shaman of the Borderlands launched a suicide attack that dealt a devastating blow to the two powerhouses.

Although both of them had defensive artifacts at the ready, they still took serious damage from the Divine Lightning that descended from the heavens.

Among the two, Samuel was at the dead center of Gundar’s last blow and received far more serious injuries. He even lost one arm.

Zepharion was luckier in comparison, but he didn’t come out unscathed either.

His body was left intact, but his injuries were severe enough for his strength and rank to drop a level.

Samuel naturally had it worse, dropping all the way to that of a Rank 5. Recovery might even take him months.

The victory they thought they had grasped after so much sacrifice was finally at hand... and yet, the expression they had right now wasn’t one of joy.

Instead, it was one of horror.

Towering above them, standing two hundred meters tall, was an Earth Elemental Queen. And she was the most beautiful elemental the two powerhouses had ever seen in their lives.

Her golden eyes locked onto their body, making them understand that this was an entity that none of them could defeat even at their full strength!

Samuel’s gaze locked onto the young man on the Earth Elemental Queen’s shoulder.

’It can’t be...’ Samuel thought. ’No. This is impossible!’

He tried to deny the reality right before him, but no matter what he did, he knew that this wasn’t a dream.

The same young man he saw that day, the one ridiculed by the King and the nobles of the Kingdom of Britannia, the one sentenced to exile in the Borderlands... now stood on the shoulder of a giant.

"Leone... Fronteraaaaaaaa!" Samuel roared, unleashing a barrage of magical bullets, targeting the young man who now threatened his life.

In response, the Earth Elemental Queen took a single step and raised her hand, blocking the magical attack meant for the young man sitting on her shoulders.

A second later, countless stone bullets materialized in the air.

These elemental bullets then rained down upon the ruins of Eden, piercing through the armor of the Aurelian Army soldiers.

Samuel used his stealth skill and moved away. But not even a second later, a stone spike jutted out from the ground, piercing through his leg.

"Arghhhh!" Samuel groaned in pain. "How?!"

He had asked a foolish question. Did he truly believe that a mere mortal could escape the gaze of a Goddess?

The Earth Mother took another step forward.

The moment her colossal foot struck the ground, the earth trembled violently.

Countless stone spears erupted from beneath the Aurelion Army, piercing through armor, impaling flesh, and tearing through their ranks in the blink of an eye.

Hundreds of soldiers were struck before they could even scream.

Some died instantly, their bodies pierced through by the merciless spears. Others remained suspended in the air, writhing in agony as blood trickled down the jagged stones that had skewered them.

Upon seeing this, Zepharion knew that if he continued to stay behind, he would die without fail.

Using every bit of his strength, he channeled the power of wind and propelled himself toward the southeast, hoping to get away from the Elemental Queen’s strike range and escape back to the Aurelion Empire.

He flew at great speeds, hoping they couldn’t follow him. Indeed, no one followed him. But a towering wall made of earth rose in front of him.

"Wind Piercer!" Zepharion shouted, unleashing an attack he believed could pierce through the wall before him.

And pierce through he did.

At least, that was what he believed.

His attack penetrated deep into the earth wall, so he thought he would reach the other side and escape.

But after getting in, he realized there was no end in sight. He ventured deeper and deeper, but there was nothing. No light, no exit.

It felt like he was traversing an endless tunnel, and his time inside made him feel a sense of dread.

Why?

The earth wall he attacked was not only hundreds of meters tall.

It was also hundreds of meters thick!

When his attack finally dispersed, the damage he caused on the earth wall regenerated instantly.

He was stuck at a dead end, and the path behind him sealed up, locking him in place.

The Earth Mother, who had her palm open at the time, closed it into a fist. The remaining space inside filled up, crushing the body of the Guardian of the Aurelion Army. A scream of pain escaped his lips, but even his voice didn’t make it out of the wall.

Any ordinary person would have died in that attack. However, the Earth Elemental Queen made sure that Zepharion lived.

She simply rendered him unable to move.

Then, her gaze shifted back to Samuel, who was also trying to escape while in stealth mode.

The Earth Mother once again opened her hands and snapped her fingers.

A second later, Samuel’s leg, which had been pierced through by one of her attacks earlier, exploded.

Samuel screamed as he fell face-first onto the ground, blood bursting from the leg that had just been blown apart.

"AAAAAARGH!"

His agonizing shriek echoed throughout the ruins of Eden, but the Earth Mother paid it no heed. Instead, her golden eyes gazed down upon the battlefield, watching the once-mighty Aurelion Army crumble beneath her presence.

The two Guardians, who had once stood at the pinnacle of power, were now reduced to helpless prey, unable to flee, unable to fight, and unable to resist the will of the Goddess who had descended upon their battlefield.

They had sacrificed countless lives, plotted for years, and finally succeeded in eliminating the greatest obstacle to their conquest of the Borderlands.

They believed that Gundar’s death would mark the beginning of their victory.

How foolish they had been.

The fall of the Great Shaman had unknowingly awakened something far more terrifying than the man they had conspired to kill.

And now, standing beneath the shadow of the Earth Mother, Samuel and Zepharion finally understood the true meaning of despair.

They had not won the war.

They had only created a monster.

A monster that stood on the shoulder of the Earth Mother. A monster that looked down at them with eyes filled with killing intent.

Leone Frontera gazed upon the battlefield while standing on the Earth Mother’s shoulders.

There, he saw the Supreme Commander in silver armor, standing out from the ruins of the city while being surrounded by thousands of soldiers.

The same commander who had led his people to invade the Borderlands out of greed.

The young chieftain then pointed in Magnus’ direction, prompting the Earth Mother to head where he wished for her to go.

"No... this can’t be," Magnus muttered as the soldiers around him dropped their weapons and started running away.

They had all lost their will to fight. This was no longer a fight between mortal men. Even if they faced their opponent with bravery and courage, it was simply a doomed effort.

It didn’t matter whether they had power or strength in numbers.

In the face of the Hero King’s wrath, the only thing they could do was escape with everything they had.

Magnus also dropped his weapon. But unlike his men, he didn’t run away.

He had envisioned himself as the Supreme Commander who would return to their Empire in triumph, showered with praise and welcomed as a Hero.

But now, he stood in disbelief with his mouth agape as the Earth Elemental Queen walked toward him with steady steps.

"This cannot be!" Magnus shouted hoarsely. "This is a dream! Yes! This is a dream! I am a victor! We won this war! I am the Hero of the Aurelion Empire! I am Magnus Grimholt! The one whose name will be written in history! Hahahaha! I won! I won! I wooooooooon!"

Laughing like a madman with his arms spread wide, Magnus looked up at the giant foot that was about to step on his body.

"Hahahaha! I am the hero of the Aurelion Empire!" Magnus laughed. "I AM LEGEN—"

Whatever he was going to say next, no one would know. For he was crushed by the Goddess of the Earth called upon by the young man, whose heart was screaming for vengeance.