Chapter 275: Chapter 275 - Judgment at Tideveil
It was clear that a lord like Selvara had a system ability built entirely around her potential for large-scale destruction. The sheer force of her magic, powerful enough to reshape the entire battlefield into a vast ocean, proved that beyond doubt. Atlas had faced similar lords before, ones who could alter the war zone into volcanic terrain or other hostile environments.
For Atlas himself, a water-filled battlefield like this was hardly a problem. He and much of his army had trained by the coast, learning to withstand the pounding force of waves that could easily knock them down or drag them under.
However, not all of his troops, especially the new recruits, would have the same resilience. Many of them would struggle to fight in a war zone that was about to turn into a raging sea.
Tsunami-like waves towered high, ready to crash down and erase everything in their path. Yet, just as Atlas launched himself into the fray, his frontline fighters surged forward alongside him. Then, suddenly, those massive waves halted, as if frozen mid-motion, and then forming a towering wall of water before them.
Atlas stopped in midair, and so did his soldiers. The massive wave twisted upon itself, swirling violently until it split apart into two enormous water tornadoes. They spun fiercely across the battlefield, their pull so strong it seemed they could drag anyone in, even from a distance.
Beside Atlas stood Dullorak, surrounded by several floating heads orbiting slowly around him. One by one, those heads opened their mouths wide... and in the next instant, enormous spheres of blazing fire began to form in the sky, each one burning like a miniature sun.
With a deep rumble, the fiery orbs shot upward, soaring through the air and igniting the heavens above the battlefield. Explosions followed in rapid succession, colliding and merging in brilliant flashes of red and gold. The scene blazed with light and fury.
Yet, astonishingly, the twin water tornadoes devoured the flames with ease. The fire vanished into the spiraling vortexes, swallowed whole as if the heat had never existed.
"Such resistance... their elemental balance is perfectly controlled," Dullorak said, though it was quickly drowned out as Atlas and the others launched forward again.
At the same time, the enemy army surged in from both sides, flanking the massive, raging whirlpools that loomed at the battlefield’s center. The frontline fighters on both sides advanced, weapons drawn and a fierce glow in their eyes. The moment of collision was inevitable. The clash was about to begin.
But then, something else happened. The two massive water tornadoes swirling at the center of the war zone suddenly unleashed enormous water spheres that shot across the arena and exploded with deafening force.
The blasts tore through the battlefield, sending Atlas’s soldiers flying, their formations broken apart by the overwhelming shockwaves. The attack didn’t deal lethal damage. But it drained stamina brutally, leaving those caught within it breathless and sluggish.
Meanwhile, Serenith, who had already spent a great deal of stamina from her earlier attack, used the special item Atlas had entrusted to her: a Rank-A Item: Stamina Recovery Elixir.
With renewed strength, she soared into the air, breaking through the defenses of the two colossal tornadoes at the center of the field. Her sights were set on the enemy’s rear line, ready to unleash another devastating strike.
Seeing this, Selvara immediately redirected her attacks toward the airborne Serenith, but the woman’s speed was simply unmatched. Every strike Selvara sent was effortlessly dodged, the air shimmering from the near misses.
At the same time, both armies charged. Selvara’s forces from the flanks and Atlas’s troops from all sides. Steel clashed against steel as battle erupted in full chaos.
The twin tornadoes continued to rage across the field, hurling one massive water sphere after another. Explosions echoed across the battlefield, wave after wave, turning the war zone into a storm of relentless destruction.
[Unique - Stormcall Domain (Active) activated.]
Dark, thunderous clouds began to form above the raging battlefield as lightning struck again and again, each flash followed by a violent explosion that shook the ground. The clash of fire, water, and raw energy turned the entire war zone into chaos incarnate.
Atlas shot forward at incredible speed, his gaze fixed on his true target, the opposing lord. Selvara stood guarded behind the two enormous water tornadoes swirling around her, their violent dance creating a barrier that prevented anyone from getting close.
The battle raged on, chaos spreading in every direction, until a sudden burst of light flared in the distance. A massive detonation erupted behind enemy lines.
Serenith’s devastating strike had landed. The explosion tore through the rear of Selvara’s army, and countless of her soldiers were wiped out in an instant.
Yet even as the flames faded, Selvara still stood tall amidst the destruction. Her expression remained resolute as she continued to unleash massive water spheres in every direction, hammering the battlefield with unrelenting force.
Even after witnessing the deaths of so many of her troops, she still refused to surrender.
Massive water spheres surged toward Atlas one after another, but he moved through them effortlessly, his body gliding as if swimming through the air itself. Crackling golden lightning wrapped around him, flashing wildly as he dashed toward his opponent.
[Epic – Storm Chain: Judgment Spear (Conditional Active Skill) activated.]
In that instant, the lightning that had been striking the ground was drawn upward, pulled toward Atlas as though he were summoning the heavens themselves. The bolts twisted and spiraled into his spear, forming brilliant golden chains that stretched skyward like ropes of divine light.
The two colossal tornadoes began to close in, merging together to form a thicker, impenetrable barrier around Selvara as Atlas charged forward. The female lord stood atop the twin storms, surrounded by a surge of churning water, her trident raised as she shielded herself within the violent maelstrom.
But this kind of battlefield was nothing new to Atlas. Fused with Zefyros, he could move freely even within the heart of a raging storm. Instead of being swept away by the colossal current, he plunged straight into it, his form cutting through the torrent like a golden spear.
Dozens of lightning chains followed him down, piercing through the roaring waters as he forced his way inside the massive tornadoes.
Selvara’s eyes widened in shock. She hadn’t believed anyone could enter that storm alive. Yet Atlas was already there, closing the distance between them with unstoppable force.
It all happened in an instant. Too fast for anyone to even process. Atlas knew that no one could possibly survive an attack of this magnitude, not with lightning this powerful tearing through the storm. And worse for Selvara, the lightning’s damage would only amplify within the surge of water that surrounded her.
She had claimed she wanted to avoid unnecessary casualties, yet she kept fighting even when it was clear her army had already suffered the greater losses.
Now, end this!
Atlas’s body shot forward, lightning ravaging the massive tornado as his spear lunged straight toward Selvara. She raised her trident in desperation to block, but the moment their weapons met....
The world seemed to stop. Time froze for a heartbeat as a golden flare flashed before Atlas’s eyes, and a system message appeared before him.
[Selvara of Tideveil Sanctuary has declared surrender.]
[All active units under her command have ceased hostilities.]
[Battlefield synchronization halted.]
[Merging protocol initiated.]
"What?!"