Chapter 251: Chapter 251 - Judgment Spear: Delivered
Serenith streaked through the air like a bolt of pure joy, her laughter echoing even as dozens of war drones locked onto her and opened fire. Streams of mana-infused rounds chased her through the sky, but not a single one found its mark.
She danced between them, her flight sharp and fluid. Diving, twisting, soaring, her wings flaring in brilliant arcs of mechanical precision. The drones struggled to keep up, but she was a blur, grinning the entire time.
And then, she reached behind her back.
With a dramatic flick, she pulled out her signature weapon, the Crimson Thunder, a Legendary-grade bazooka glowing with static energy.
She aimed it over her shoulder, body twisting mid-air, and pulled the trigger.
BOOM!
A cascade of explosions lit up the sky. Drones erupted into fireballs, tumbling from the sky like shattered metal stars.
Serenith dove again, looping low before arcing up toward another cluster. Another shot, another shockwave of destruction.
"Wheeee!" she shouted with glee, pulling into another evasive spiral as bullets zipped past her. "Come on, keep up!"
Elsewhere, a group of war drones zeroed in on Morganna, who was floating calmly in mid-air... until she vanished in a blink.
Slash!
A blade of shadow sliced across the sky.
One drone exploded. Then another. Then five more in a blink.
Morganna moved like a ghost of war, appearing and disappearing between attacks, her blood-slick scythe carving arcs of destruction. She weaved between drone formations, never stopping.
Her form vanished again, reappearing beside Atlas just long enough to slash through a squad attempting to flank him. Then vanished once more into the clouds.
Drones began scattering.
Their targeting systems lost her entirely.
In less than a minute, dozens had been torn from the sky.
Near them, Lyrassa floated gracefully. She extended both hands, casting a shimmering green shield that enveloped several allies above the island, deflecting enemy fire with radiant pulses. Then, her vines unfurled.
From her back and shoulders, long, glowing tendrils of plantlife erupted outward, twisting and coiling like living armor.
With a sharp command, the vines shot into the sky, skewering drones mid-flight like kebabs, then dragged them downward, crushing them into twisted wreckage.
More drones swarmed in. But they were met with a wall of thorns, energy, and unshakable defense.
One thing became clear within moments: These drones were not prepared for these Rank-S women.
Meanwhile, high above, the skies around Atlas began to shift.
Dark, heavy clouds swirled into a storm front above. Thunder cracked, lightning forked violently across the sky, and a massive tornado formed. Its winds shrieking like war drums.
The vortex erupted near Alaric, forcing the techlord to jolt backward, his hover-platform kicking into evasive motion.
Then came the barrage.
Dozens of water-infused lightning spears rained down from the stormfront. Each strikes a precision weapon forged from elemental fury.
In seconds, clusters of war drones were obliterated. Blasted into scrap mid-air as arcs of lightning tore through their ranks.
At that moment, a surge of power swept through Atlas.
[You Have Leveled Up!]
[Level 99]
Mana and Stamina fully recovered.
His eyes narrowed as system prompts flared before him, stacking rapidly.
[Unique - Stormcall Domain (Active Skill) activated!]
[Epic - Spiral Tide (Active Skill) Lv. 5 activated!]
[Ocean’s Wrath (Active Skill) activated!]
[Sea of Storms (Active Skill) activated!]
The battlefield shifted.
Storm clouds darkened. Winds howled. The entire zone became Atlas’s domain.
Down below, Alaric’s forces began spawning more drones from hidden hangars and mobile factories. But Atlas had already made his move.
[Epic - Storm Chain: Judgment Spear (Conditional Active Skill) activated!]
Atlas raised his spear high.
And then... Crack!
Bolts of lightning from the storm above didn’t just strike the spear, they linked to it. Stream after stream of raw electricity flowed into the weapon, crackling, surging, charging. The energy didn’t explode. It channeled. Stayed and bound to the weapon, tethered from the clouds like ropes of power.
Atlas tightened his grip.
He lunged downward, dragging the storm with him.
His body sliced through the air like a comet, wrapped in roaring water and golden lightning. It was as if he was swimming through the storm itself, glowing with divine fury, radiant and unstoppable.
Alaric’s eyes widened. He launched himself backward, desperate to gain distance, already summoning another wave of drones to block the attack.
But Atlas’s voice rang in the storm:
[Epic - Lightning Step (Active Skill) Lv. 6 activated!]
A burst of light.
Atlas surged forward. Faster, brighter, more terrifying with each passing second. Alaric’s expression finally cracked, the calm replaced with panic. Desperately, he summoned massive drones from his rear lines. Shield-type units that flew into formation in front of him, stacking layer upon layer to form a floating barrier.
Then, impact!
The Judgment Spear struck the first shield with a thunderous boom. Lightning erupted outward in jagged explosions, energy crackling through the air like chained thunder.
But the spear didn’t pierce, not yet. It was held in place, pressed against the shield wall by sheer momentum and energy. Explosions rolled one after another, each more violent than the last. The shockwaves threw Alaric downward, unable to withstand the force.
Above, the storm raged.
Lightning crashed.
Thunder screamed.
Alaric hit the ground hard, protected only by his reinforced drone-shields, barely hanging on. The spear, still embedded, kept discharging. His barriers strained, trembling under the pressure.
Then, a blur of shadow and crimson streaked from the side.
Before Alaric could react, Morganna emerged. Her body cloaked in blood-colored energy, wings slicing the air behind her. Her scythe swung low.
Alaric panicked, spinning his last remaining shield drones toward her, slamming them outward in a desperate attempt to block.
But that was the mistake.
His defense cracked wide open.
Atlas lunged forward.
The Judgment Spear pierced through the chaos, finally breaking through the barriers.
The tip of the spear drove clean into Alaric’s chest, just as lightning surged again, crashing down from the clouds, flooding into the weapon.
Alaric’s eyes widened, fury and disbelief twisting across his face. And with a voice filled with rage, he screamed:
"You cursed primitive. I’ll see your island in ashes! I’ll burn your people down to their bones! This world is mine, DO YOU HEAR ME? MINE—"
But his words died instantly.
The spear pierced through, completely.
Alaric’s body lit up, lightning surging violently from within, over and over again. His armor cracked. His voice vanished. His form twisted in silhouette as the strikes overloaded him. Explosions erupted across his body like chained bombs, until finally.
BOOM.
A final surge of elemental fury lit up the sky.
And silence followed.
Atlas yanked his spear free from the fallen Lord’s chest, the blade crackling faintly with leftover energy.
Alaric’s body was charred, blackened, and utterly still. His armor warped and cracked from the sheer force of the lightning that had torn through him.
No one, no one! Could survive a strike of that magnitude.
The air was silent for a moment. Then, a cascade of system messages blinked into view in front of Atlas, one after another:
[You have successfully slain Alaric Van Helhausen, the Lord of the Isle of Nova Cogs.]
[You successfully defended against the enemy Lord.]
[Victory Achieved.]
[You have gained +20 Rank Points.]
[Your current total: 250 Rank Points.]
[Rank Promotion Pending: Reach Level 100 to advance to Rank-2.]
[You are now entitled to claim the opponent’s resource pool.]
[Your floating island will receive a territory size upgrade.]