"When was the last time I suffered an injury?" Voltrex thought inwardly as he gazed at his wounded arm. "It actually feels amazing."

Despite being injured, and having just been dominated in a contest of pure strength by Azhryx, an uncontrollable smile curled across his face. It had been over a hundred years since Voltrex had ascended the throne of the Hundred Sky Mountains. Since then, no cultivator had dared challenge him, let alone pose a genuine threat. Born as a Thunderbane, with the spirit of a warrior engraved deep within his bloodline, the king's peaceful life had gradually become dull.

However, the clash with Azhryx—his overwhelming strength—had awakened those long-buried, battle-crazed instincts within Voltrex. His sword did not tremble from fear, nor from the wounds on his arm. It trembled from excitement.

"Why did you stop, Azhryx?" Voltrex said, a smirk curling on his face. "Don't tell me you're already tired. The fun has only begun."

Veins bulged on Azhryx's forehead, fury surging from the sheer audacity of Voltrex's words. How could he still speak so arrogantly after barely enduring the aftermath of his attacks?

"Courting death!" Azhryx barked, biting down on his thumb and drawing several drops of blood.

The blood instantly took the shape of a large crimson mass. Azhryx pulled back the sharp string of his bow, and an arrow of pure Soulforce materialised alongside it as he drew the string taut. The arrowhead glowed like a crimson star, and the moment it was released, it pierced through the air with an eerie whistling sound that echoed across the battlefield.

"Hahaha! This is exactly what I was talking about!" Voltrex laughed, raising his sword high with both hands.

"Sword of the Thunderbane: Chapter Six—

Phoenix of Destruction!"

With a single swing of Voltrex's arm, a beast of blue lightning materialised, its form resembling a ferocious lightning phoenix as it surged toward the incoming arrow. With every beat of the phoenix's lightning-forged wings, a terrifying thunderstorm erupted, lightning fell from it's feathers, the ground split apart, and debris and dust exploded in all directions.

The moment the phoenix collided with the arrow, reality itself shattered once more, this time even more violently than before. Cracks spread across the sky, visible even from hundreds of kilometres away.

For a brief moment, the phoenix held against the arrow, their clash sending waves of destruction that even caused cracks to form along the sentinel lines. But in the end, the arrow pierced through, splitting the phoenix apart. Having suffered immense resistance, its speed was drastically reduced, and it finally fell short, dispersing before it could reach Voltrex.

In the very next instant, Azhryx was already before Voltrex, his claws slashing diagonally across Voltrex's torso. The attack tore apart Voltrex's robe, leaving four deep, parallel gashes running diagonally from his shoulder down to his lower abdomen.

The blood gushing from his body did not fall to the ground. Instead, it floated toward Azhryx, whose jagged mouth opened wide as he drank the incoming blood.

Gulp… gulp… gulp…

As he consumed Voltrex's blood, his Soulforce surged even higher, bending the air around him.

"The strongest cultivator of the Western Continent, huh?" Azhryx spat. "Tonight, along with your title, I will take your Heavenly Mountain—and your wife as well. I've heard her beauty rivals that of a goddess."

His tongue slid across his lips with a sickening growl as he continued, "I'll make sure to enjoy her properly atop your corpse."

With that, he brought all four fingers together against the tip of his thumb, forming a spear with his razor-sharp claws, and thrust it toward Voltrex's face. Just before the claws could reach him, Voltrex grabbed Azhryx's hand, halting it mid-air. The sheer pressure carried by the grip sent Voltrex's hair fluttering violently.

The circlet on his forehead rose slightly, revealing a long, diamond-shaped slit. The mark slowly shifted from black to blue as the Soulforce around Voltrex began to thicken.

Azhryx's heightened senses screamed danger. He instantly retreated hundreds of feet backward.

Stormir, who had ceased fighting the Archdemons once Voltrex and Azhryx began their clash and had been silently witnessing their battle, moved the moment he saw the mark on Voltrex's forehead change color. He rushed toward the human army below, or more precisely, toward Taranis.

"That idiot Azhryx… he's really done it now," Stormir muttered as he landed before Taranis.

At blinding speed, Stormir's hands moved in rapid succession, forming multiple hand seals. A transparent barrier instantly materialised—vast enough to cover the entire Sentinel Line and shield all the humans behind him.

The barrier was composed of countless interconnected hexagonal segments, eerily resembling the protective barrier that enveloped the Forest of Gumiho.

On the other side, Voltrex's face remained expressionless, his oceanic blue eyes glowing like a pair of stars in the night sky as he narrowed his gaze at Azhryx. The slit-like mark on his forehead began spreading, branching into countless blue lines that crawled across his entire body. They formed patterns resembling an ancient language across his back, chest, and biceps, runes no one present could comprehend.

"T-Taranis, help me reinforce the barrier," Stormir whispered, his lips trembling. "Or none of us will survive under the wrath of Voltrex."

Without asking a single question, Taranis immediately began forming hand signs, erecting another layer of translucent barrier, this one shimmering gold and enveloping the outer edge of the previous shield. It was a technique taught to him by his Uncle Stormir, who had learned it during one of his journeys to a distant continent.

"It's… it's not enough," Stormir muttered, his gaze fixed on his younger brother, who was fracturing reality itself through the sheer pressure of his Soulforce.

"Everyone who can still move, form barriers!" Taranis commanded the Thunderbanes, the only individuals, aside from a few imperial representatives, who were still standing.

Heeding his command, the cultivators began erecting barrier after barrier, one after another, until more than forty layers surrounded the core defense.

Outside the barrier, the five Archdemons—most of them injured and exhausted from their battle with Stormir—gathered behind Azhryx, forming a protective ring as they sensed an immeasurable danger emanating from Voltrex.

The sword slipped from Voltrex's hand and fell to the ground.

In a terrifyingly low voice, he whispered,

"Soul Domain: The Deity of Sky Mountains."

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