Trianne nodded obediently, her face showing complete trust. "Understood! Trianne will hide well and wait for news of your victory!" With that, her figure quietly vanished among the broken walls and ruins.
Watching Trianne depart, Terravox turned his gaze to Mydei. "Prince of Castrum Kremnos, time is short. You don't mind if I use a rather... direct method to clear a path straight to Nikador, do you?" He slightly lowered his stance, adopting an ancient and powerfully evocative posture.
Mydei looked at the ruined city of his homeland, a complex emotion flashing in his eyes, ultimately resolving into a soft sigh. "Please proceed, Lord Terravox."
The next moment, the earth roared dully! Driven by the will of the Demigod of Earth, the thick, crack-riddled walls of Castrum Kremnos before them seemed to be torn and wrenched apart by an invisible giant hand!
Massive stone blocks and bricks rose and rearranged themselves with deafening rumbles, and in an instant, a straight, broad, stone-paved avenue leading directly into the deepest darkness of the city was laid before the group!
"Forward, everyone!" Phainon took a deep breath, his eyes burning with resolute fire. He glanced at his companions from the Express. "Let us join hands and personally inscribe the final punctuation to Nikador's long-overdue epic!"
Everyone nodded in unison. Weapons were drawn, energy hummed faintly. Having made all preparations for battle, they stepped onto this road forcibly carved by divine power.
As the group delved deeper into the heart of Castrum Kremnos, an oppressive, suffocating, intangible pressure surged around them like a tidal wave.
The air was thick with a frenzied will to fight, whispers that stirred discord within their hearts, and... an overwhelming, cloyingly sweet scent—a mixture of divinity and the stench of decaying blood.
Just as they approached the final barrier, the entity behind the wall seemed unable to restrain its violent attack desire any longer—
"BOOM!!!"
A spear forged purely from violent divine energy shattered the last thick wall without warning. With an air-rending shriek, it shot like a meteor towards Terravox at the forefront!
"Look out!" Cyrene reacted with lightning speed, almost instinctively raising her ritual staff, ready to invoke the Oronyx-Priestess's authority to freeze this lethal strike in time.
But one hand moved faster than her incantation!
It was Terravox!
Facing this divine javelin capable of piercing mountains, the Earth Demigod didn't dodge or evade. He simply calmly raised his arm, thick as a stone pillar, opened his hand, and with unerring accuracy, seized the tip of the golden spear!
"CRACK—!"
A sound of grating fracture echoed. The spear, containing terrifying energy, was crushed and snapped by his raw physical strength, scattering into a shower of drifting golden motes.
"Too weak..." Terravox shook his hand, his tone as flat as if he'd merely brushed off dust. His profound gaze pierced through the shattered wall, staring directly at the massive shadow beyond. "Nikador, Titan who once held the authority of Strife. Have you truly fallen to such a feeble state?"
No more words were needed. Phainon and Mydei exchanged a glance, tacit understanding forming instantly.
The two shot forth like arrows loosed from a bow, one left, one right, becoming two blurs of motion. Carrying immense power, they launched the first assault against the deity concealed in the darkness!
The initial phase of the battle was almost one-sided. Nikador's defeat seemed a foregone conclusion.
In just the first exchange, Terravox's heavy fist, imbued with the might of the earth, boldly shattered the seemingly indestructible armor on one of its arms. Golden divine blood gushed forth like a spring.
Stelle and Welt hadn't even found the chance to fully intervene when Terravox stomped his foot. A huge, sharp stone spike erupted from the ground with unstoppable force, piercing through Nikador's enormous divine form with precise and cruel precision!
Seizing this perfect opportunity, Phainon and Mydei erupted with astonishing power simultaneously. Grabbing hold of Nikador's divine form, they used brute strength to wrestle the wounded Titan to the ground with a deafening crash.
Without hesitation, Terravox's massive form closed in like a collapsing mountain range. His fist, capable of pulverizing stone, rose high, aiming directly at Nikador's crowned, broken head, intending to shatter his armor and utterly extinguish his madness.
However—a sudden change occurred!
Nikador's right hand—the one that should have been utterly shattered by Terravox in the first exchange and left limp on the ground—suddenly lashed out with a strange, swift force, completely defying logic, striking at the off-balance Terravox! That arm... when had it healed?!
Welt, who had been closely monitoring the entire battle, perceived this deadly sneak attack at the critical moment. "Careful!"
He shouted a low warning, his cane striking the ground. An invisible massive gravity field instantly materialized, crashing down like an invisible giant hand, ruthlessly pinning that strangely restored, shimmering with ominous light arm back to the ground, forcing it deep into the pool of golden blood flowing from Nikador itself.
Shocked by this sudden turn, Terravox, Phainon, and Mydei were immediately on high alert. Without lingering, they retreated from Nikador's side at top speed and reformed a defensive formation.
"What's going on, Mydei?!" Phainon's head tilted slightly towards his companion, his voice urgent, though his gaze and weapon remained locked on the Titan undergoing terrifying changes. "Weren't you certain earlier that Nikador hadn't obtained an immortal form?!"
"That's not an immortal form in the conventional sense..." The reply came from Terravox, whose voice grew even more deep and serious. The Earth Demigod's perception was far keener than the others'.
"Its... its state is peculiar. It seems, from beginning to end, it hasn't truly 'died.' There is an... extremely subtle, yet incredibly tenacious external force, like a most vicious curse, forcibly sustaining its life and consciousness, preventing it from finding rest."
During their brief exchange, a heart-stopping scene unfolded—the massive wounds on Nikador's body, recently torn by Terravox and pierced by the stone spike, began to writhe and heal at a visible rate!
Shattered armor re-coalesced, broken bones re-knit, even the arm crushed by gravity regained vitality.
Within moments, this Titan that should have been near death rose once more, wreathed in a violent aura surpassing its previous state, surrounded by unsettling energy.
"This... this terrifying regenerative power..." Stelle's pupils contracted sharply. This scene defying logic reminded her of some unpleasant memories from the Xianzhou Luofu. "It won't turn into one of those endlessly regenerating Abundance abominations we encountered on the Xianzhou Luofu, will it?"
And in this atmosphere thick with shock and tension, the newly reshaped Nikador, from beneath its broken helmet, emitted a unclear yet infinitely painful and obsession-filled mutter:
"Resist... the Black Tide... for... the preservation... he spoke of!!!"
These fragmented words exploded like thunder in their ears.
Cyrene, who had been closely monitoring the battle, upon hearing this sentence, her pupils contracted sharply, a flash of disbelief appearing deep in her eyes!
This iteration's state of Nikador... is wrong!