The Hornsent guarding the Tower of the Gods were by no means elegant nobles accustomed to luxury. Their muscles were so massive they looked capable of tearing a great bear apart with their bare hands.
Yet beneath that soft, beautiful light, body after body was torn to pieces.
The surrounding Hornsent were quickly swept away by rows of light pillars. It happened too suddenly. This battle went completely against the sneaky, underhanded style one would expect from an infiltrator.
How was this theft of divine power? This was plainly an open, undisguised bloody massacre.
Even Miquella, in spirit form, had not expected Nolan to begin killing without the slightest hesitation. The tenderness toward life carved into his Lord's very bones seemed to have been thrown somewhere far away.
And his Lord was clearly about to accomplish the feat of cutting through the Hornsent sacred land alone.
"Careful! Those are Divine Beast Warriors! They are Hornsent who wield Divine Power!" Miquella, now manifested, could not help shouting, while the expressionless Nolan remained calm.
Nolan saw the armored Hornsent wearing lion-beast masks. Each carried a massive cleaver on his shoulder as they charged wildly through the surging tide of blood.
Their figures were like fierce lions launching a sudden attack on their prey. The moment they closed in, they would tear their target's body to pieces without mercy.
"Wield Divine Power?" Ranni asked instinctively, her mind going blank as she sensed the Order in her body. "Can just anyone become a god now?"
"It is not becoming a god in the true sense," Miquella answered gravely. "After performing a divine descent ritual, they gain a small portion of the Crucible of Life's power."
"The Hornsent civilization once existed in the age of the Ancient Dragon dynasty. It is said that the ancestor of the Hornsent warriors, the 'Divine Bird Warrior' Ornis, once tamed a golden divine bird and flew into the sky."
"From the heavens, the Divine Bird Warrior saw Farum Azula and the Beastmen, and mistook the Beastmen for messengers of the gods. From then on, the Divine Beasts who commanded storms became objects of Hornsent worship."
"Divine Beast Warriors are Horned Warriors chosen to receive the power of the Divine Beasts. Those especially skilled in divine descent can even become Brave Warriors and earn the honor of performing the Divine Beast Lion Dance."
"The Beastmen became Divine Beasts?" Ranni froze.
Since when had gods become so cheap? Even false gods were not something the servants of the Ancient Dragons should be able to usurp, were they? Would Lansseax laugh herself to death if she heard this?
Miquella said, "It is only symbolic. What truly grants them power is still the Crucible of Life. The Divine Beasts are merely something they imagined after seeing the Beastmen race."
Clang, clang, clang!
Unexpectedly, every great blade swung by the so-called Divine Beast Warriors who wielded Divine Power was blocked. The instant Nolan saw the figures sweeping toward him, he drew the Dark Moon Greatsword, his whole body as steady as a mountain brushed by a light wind.
Nolan looked up and saw that the ones attacking him were indeed the Divine Beast Warriors. They had not been frightened by the corpses scattered across the ground. Instead, they had chosen to charge in with great curved swords raised.
Those absurdly loud sounds of metal clashing came from their blades. These weapons already looked rugged and imposing enough, but their raw brutality was pushed to the limit as well.
"Worship your own gods properly, and no one would care. So why insist on provoking others? What you've ended up with now is deserved, but I don't think this punishment is enough."
Nolan's words were cold. He was not the master of the world, so of course he had no right to reward good and punish evil on behalf of all beings. But from the standpoint of personal feelings, he felt he had reason enough to avenge an old lover whose name was not convenient to say aloud.
If words could not stop the evil of violence, then greater violence would have to crush violence down.
In this world steeped in brutality, speaking properly seemed almost like a luxury. The customs of this land had long since branded violence deep into people's souls.
Most had already grown used to using violence to make their point. Wielding blades and swords was pure instinct to them, so Nolan chose the same method to speak with them.
An eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. The pain of flesh would be repaid with the pain of flesh.
Miquella nodded in satisfaction. This was what a Lord should be. Absolute power, decisive judgment, and a will that would never waver.
At that moment, Nolan, fighting three alone, put strength into his hands. As he swung the greatsword, terrifying force poured through it. Only now did the power of a Lord truly reveal itself.
He was like a giant who could shake heaven and earth, and the Dark Moon Greatsword was that giant's arm. It flung the Divine Beast Warrior high into the air and hurled him down like a crumpled ball of paper.
"Divine Beast Warriors may have gained the power of the Crucible, but in the end, they are not gods, much less Lords!" Miquella could not help exclaiming at Nolan's outrageous strength.
That power had already reached an almost unbelievable level, in no way inferior to the strength possessed by those Demigods famed for their ferocious combat ability.
After leaving the Land of Shadow, Nolan's chances of taking the throne would only grow higher.
Relying on their exceptional physiques and the power of the Aspects of the Crucible, the three Divine Beast Warriors quickly rose again. They sprang up from the ground like hyenas waiting for an opening on the plains, lowering their bodies as they charged forward at extreme speed.
They were the best among the Divine Beast Warriors. Their bloodline advantages were no weaker than the Aspects of the Crucible possessed by the Omens of the Royal Capital. With "Divine Power" strengthening them, their speed naturally surpassed that of other Horned Warriors by a wide margin.
In an instant, three deafening roars erupted, and three different yet equally fierce powers poured out wildly.
Lightning, frost, and storm. These were the powers that came with the roars of the three Horned Warriors. Divine Power did indeed deserve its name, for even heaven and earth changed color in that instant.
The divine descent began. Thunderous rain fell violently, cold hail mixed into the downpour, and wild winds howled without end. The spectacle was certainly grand, but that was all.
Seeing frost spread over the ground, Nolan stepped forward. The ice spikes were forced back, directly piercing through the Frost Divine Beast Warrior's body. Of the other two Divine Beast Warriors, one leapt up while the other swung his sword.
The Divine Beast Warrior in the air shot out a Lightning Spear. The sword-wielding Divine Beast Warrior swept forth a storm. One came from behind and one from the front, both rushing straight toward Nolan.
Nolan threw a punch, and Storm Assault surged out. The even more violent gale scattered the incoming storm, and with his other hand, he caught the spear that had pierced through the wild wind.
With a squeeze of his hand, the golden Lightning Spear shattered. Nolan loosened his fingers and held empty air, and a far brighter thunder spear condensed once more before he hurled it out.
Sunlight Spear.
As it flew, the Lightning Spear turned into countless streams of light, instantly engulfing the Lightning Divine Beast Warrior's body. He did not even manage to land. When the light faded, only a few scraps of torn cloth and broken armor fell.
The last Storm Divine Beast Warrior had barely come back to himself when he found he could not move even a finger. A silver-white figure appeared before him, and a fist smashed into him, shattering his head.
Powerful, elegant, beautiful.
That was the four divine children's most direct impression of this battle. It was also at this moment that they finally had the clearest chance to witness what kind of power the Lord they had chosen truly possessed.