CHAPTER 309: THE WALL THAT WALKS

On the other side of the battlefield, a different kind of fight had started.

It was loud. Heavy. Every step shook the ground.

Brangur Molveth, also known as Titan Hoof, stood like a mountain.

He didn’t waste time talking.

He charged straight toward the enemy with his fists clenched and his horns glowing.

Hextor Vallin, the Plasma Reaper, narrowed his eyes.

"Here he comes," Hextor muttered.

Brangur roared and activated [Horned Rush].

He bent down, his massive bull horns aimed forward.

His whole body blasted forward like a train.

The ground cracked under his hooves.

Anything in his path was crushed: fallen metal beams, cracked pillars, and broken stone.

"Come here, you beast," Hextor said.

He didn’t dodge.

Instead, he traced glowing lines across the ground quickly with his fingers.

Plasma hissed to life in a crisscross pattern beneath him.

[Burn Strip Detonate] was activated.

The lines flared and exploded just as Brangur reached them.

A fiery blast burst upward, trying to knock Brangur back.

But Brangur kept going.

He slammed his hoof into the ground mid-charge and activated [Iron Stepquake].

A massive shockwave ripped through the floor, breaking the plasma lines before they could fully detonate.

The explosion still happened, but it wasn’t strong enough to stop him.

Smoke and heat filled the area, and even Brangur felt the effect.

A glowing field clung to his legs.

[Thermal Lock] had been triggered.

Enemies who stepped into Hextor’s hot zones were slowed.

Their movement became sluggish. Brangur’s speed dropped, just a bit.

But it was enough.

"Now," Hextor said.

He raised both hands. Plasma coils gathered at his arms and eyes.

"[Execution Burst]."

He fired several high-speed plasma blasts from his palms, aimed right at Brangur’s chest and legs.

The shots came fast. Red and orange beams slicing through the haze.

But Brangur didn’t panic.

He grunted and stomped one foot down.

[Anchor Lock] activated.

Metal-like plates formed around his boots and shoulders.

He didn’t move. He didn’t even flinch.

The plasma blasts hit, but bounced off like rocks thrown at a wall.

"Your attacks don’t shake me," Brangur said.

Hextor frowned. "So it’s like that."

Brangur cracked his knuckles.

The flames still swirled around his legs, but his body didn’t care.

"You hit hard. But I hit through."

He raised one massive hand and slammed it into the ground again.

The floor cracked further.

"I don’t dodge. I crush."

Hextor wiped some ash from his visor.

"And I don’t retreat."

The heat around them rose again.

But elsewhere, the battle was shifting.

Seraine, still locked in a high-speed fight with Quavira, had been moving with a purpose.

She wasn’t just teleporting to dodge.

Whenever she blinked across the battlefield with [Phantom Step], she placed down glowing sword-shaped marks in key positions.

These were her [Blade Anchors].

Small, floating sword constructs shimmered in midair, spread across the field like silent watchers.

They let her jump across space again at will, attack faster, and even defend her allies by striking at enemies who entered their range.

"Let’s see you dodge this many points," Seraine said quietly.

Quavira noticed. "You’re building a net? Clever."

Seraine smirked and blinked to the next anchor. "Not just clever. Efficient."

Nearby, Belvyr was still locked in his power struggle with Nyxa.

Her threads were everywhere, cutting across the battlefield like silent wires.

But Belvyr wasn’t down.

He adjusted his stance inside his [Throne Matrix].

Ether lines flowed from his palms, syncing up with Seraine’s anchors and zone placements.

Though Nyxa blocked direct movement and attacks, Belvyr changed tactics.

"Seraine," he said, "tag them for me."

Seraine nodded. "Understood."

Each time she passed by an enemy or enemy-controlled area, she activated [Pulse Sync].

It was a delayed ether tag made by Belvyr.

Tiny pulses embedded into enemy auras.

The pulses would detonate when someone moved too quickly, dodged, or used a skill nearby.

It wasn’t an explosion of fire or light but a burst of interference.

Just enough to make them slow down, stumble, or lose ether control.

It was like setting traps without the enemy knowing.

But Nyxa noticed the change in rhythm.

Her eyes narrowed behind her visor.

"They’re syncing," she said.

Her fingers moved in sharp gestures.

She activated [Silent Snaplines].

A special kind of thread not made to attack, but to clear.

Thin, invisible lines swept across the battlefield in an instant.

They passed through the air like pulses, slicing apart anything labeled as foreign interference.

The [Pulse Sync] tags blinked out one by one.

Belvyr felt them vanish. "She’s wiping the sync marks."

Seraine frowned. "Didn’t expect her to react so fast."

"She’s not reacting," Belvyr said. "She’s reading the whole battlefield."

Nyxa’s threads kept moving.

"She’s setting up her own field," Seraine added.

"Correct," Nyxa said from the far end. "And you’re behind."

Suddenly, the air shimmered behind Seraine.

A surprise thread had wrapped around one of her blade anchors.

Seraine blinked away just in time before it snapped closed.

"Almost got me," she muttered.

"You will get used to disappointment," Nyxa said.

Belvyr clenched his fists.

"Then we push harder."

Meanwhile, further behind, Hiera was still standing firm against Malka.

She held her ground with her [Chorus Barrier] active.

Each strike from Malka sent sparks flying, but the barrier held steady.

Malka growled. "Your barrier was tougher than it looked."

Hiera only smiled as her barrier glowed with each impact, pushing Malka back with small bursts of shockwaves.

But without Hiera knowing, someone else was moving toward her.

It was Skeroth Drelvain.

He crouched low behind cover, eyes locked onto Hiera.

His long fingers twitched slightly as he activated [Thread Snare].

Unlike Nyxa’s threads, Skeroth’s were heavier and made for damage.

The dark red threads slithered out from his sleeves, hidden along the ground.

These weren’t meant to restrain.

They were meant to pull joints apart, cut through armor seams, and rip down defenses from the inside.

He watched sharply and muttered, "Let’s tear that barrier open while Malka restrains her."

Hiera narrowed her eyes.

Something didn’t feel right.