CHAPTER 679: THE ARROW THAT SPLIT THE SKY

Before long, the Emerald Castle army arrived at the foot of a massive fortress.

The power radiating from it was terrifying—so intense that even the frontline troops of Emerald Castle, despite their discipline, instinctively took a few steps back.

Ethan’s eyes lit up with interest. He could tell right away—this overwhelming force wasn’t coming from the lord of the castle. No, it was emanating from the walls themselves.

These walls weren’t ordinary stone. They were built from some kind of rare, arcane material. If someone knew how to tap into it properly, it could unleash a violent, almost primal energy.

Ethan stepped up to the wall and placed his palm against it. The moment he made contact, a surge of raw power rippled out, slamming into him and forcing him back several steps.

"Well, well... this is interesting."

"I really like these walls. If we could take this whole place and make it ours, that’d be perfect."

He was mostly talking to himself, but to the Emerald Castle troops, his words were as good as a royal decree.

Without hesitation, they launched a full-scale assault on the fortress.

The soldiers of the Obsidian Dynasty stationed on the walls were stunned. Fear gripped them like a vice. Never in their wildest dreams had they imagined that the once-weak Emerald Castle army would grow strong enough to attack their capital head-on—and with such ferocity.

The battle erupted in an instant. In the blink of an eye, both sides were suffering heavy casualties.

Truth be told, the two armies were evenly matched. A brute-force assault wouldn’t give Emerald Castle any real advantage. The outcome would come down to high-tier combat power.

The Obsidian Dynasty had lost a lot of their elite fighters—those ranked Tier 17 and above—but they still had deep reserves.

Three Tier 17 peak-level powerhouses floated high above the battlefield, their presence blotting out the sky.

The energy they unleashed gathered into a massive sphere in the heavens, pulsing with destructive force, like it could crash down at any moment.

Vmmm!

Vmmm!

Vmmm!

...

BOOOOOOMMMMM...

The three elites formed a triangle in midair, each locking into position. With synchronized movements, they pressed their hands into arcane seals. From each of them, black energy erupted like raging rivers, converging in the sky.

The collision of their power created a swirling vortex that crushed the clouds above, reversed the wind, and pulled loose gravel from the fortress walls into the air.

It felt like the entire world had been seized by an invisible hand, choking the breath out of it. The battlefield trembled with a deep, low-frequency hum that resonated in the bones.

In the past, Ethan might’ve ordered a full retreat right then and there. That kind of combined attack could level an entire city.

But now? He just tilted his chin slightly, eyes calm and unshaken.

He knew—Emerald Castle wasn’t the same as it used to be.

Whoosh—

A streak of emerald-gold light tore through the oppressive sky. Feylora didn’t wait for orders. She launched herself straight into the heart of the storm.

She stopped midair, directly facing the trio. Her slender fingers opened slightly, and the energy within her surged outward like a tidal wave drawn by the moon.

Waves of soft light rippled out from her like rings in water, each one brighter than the last. Wherever they passed, it was like the night sky had been split open by the first light of dawn.

She was only a few dozen yards from the three, yet she carved a "vacuum zone" between them—a space where their powers couldn’t touch.

In that moment, even the soldiers on the ground heard it—the sharp, cracking sound of air being crushed. A warning sign. The kind of sound space makes when it’s about to break.

BOOOOOM—

The three black pillars finally reached their critical point, crashing down like a flood from the heavens, a tidal wave of annihilation.

But Feylora didn’t flinch. She didn’t dodge. Instead, she closed her eyes, as if listening to the breath of the forest itself.

In the next instant, countless pinpricks of light burst from her body, scattering into the air. They spun, locked, and wove together mid-flight, forming a graceful, crescent-shaped spirit bow.

The flowing patterns along the bow’s spine weren’t just decoration—they were the living laws of nature, pulsing in harmony. Each glowing sigil vibrated like the rings of an ancient tree, accelerating through time.

"She’s... she’s going to take all three of them head-on?!"

On the Obsidian Dynasty’s side, the soldiers collectively held their breath.

One man raised his hand in shock—and forgot to lower it.

The bowstring was invisible, but it pulled in the tension of the entire world.

Feylora drew the string slowly, the bow humming with power. A dual-colored arrow—gold and green—formed at the center, its tail inscribed with glowing runes. One by one, the sigils lit up—these were the cores of her spirit domain, the ones she hadn’t fully unlocked last time.

Last time, she’d only used half her strength.

This time, she was going all in.

"This ends now."

She spoke the words softly—and let go.

VMMMM—!!

The arrow didn’t fly like a normal projectile. It tore through the sky like a divine boundary marker, a blade of law itself, slamming straight into the descending black pillars.

For a heartbeat, the world went silent.

Then, it split.

A narrow white fissure ripped through the sky, followed by a chain of thunderous detonations that shattered the clouds like glass.

Gold and black clashed in the heavens, their energies gnashing and folding over each other, collapsing and reforming in a violent dance—like two tsunamis colliding head-on.

The shockwave burst outward from Feylora in a petal-shaped bloom. Battle flags on the ground snapped and flailed in the wind. Dust and debris were sucked into the air, then slammed back down with crushing force.

Ethan planted the Scepter of the Fey Sovereign into the ground, summoning a curved barrier that shielded the front line of his troops from the blast.

Up above, the three Tier 17 elites were in shambles. Their protective auras were cracked and flickering. The energy cores in their chests pulsed erratically. Their pupils shrank, their breathing turned ragged—for the first time, they looked completely overwhelmed.

"This... this can’t be happening...!"

The words barely left their lips before Feylora’s spirit bow reformed behind her, glowing with renewed purpose.

This time, she didn’t charge it up. She simply raised the bow with a cold, steady hand.

Three arrows formed instantly—each one different. One warm like spring sunlight. One sharp and cold like autumn frost. One pure and clear like a mountain stream.

They loosed as one.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

The three arrows struck their targets dead center. The energy nodes in the chests of the Obsidian elites cracked like glass hearts—first a pinpoint fracture, then a spiderweb of lines, and finally, total collapse.

Their bodies disintegrated into glowing shards, shredded by the wind into a rain of light.

The Obsidian Dynasty’s formation lost its spine.

For a moment, there was only stunned silence.

Then panic spread like wildfire.

Some soldiers trembled and stumbled backward. Others turned and bolted in blind terror. A few collapsed where they stood, mumbling incoherently.

"—RUN!!"

No one knew who screamed it first, but the entire defensive line broke in an instant.

Orders were drowned in chaos. War drums fell out of rhythm. Formations shattered into scattered, fleeing silhouettes.

...