Just as the distance between them narrowed, the Divine Beast suddenly leaped up and lunged at Nolan.
Its malicious maw opened wide, as if it could swallow heaven and earth, revealing sharp, vicious fangs as it bit savagely toward him.
Blinding currents of electricity burst from its mouth and nose, weaving together in the air to form an airtight web of lightning.
There was no doubt that if those jaws caught Nolan, what awaited him would be a brutal double assault from fangs and thunder.
The force of the bite came from the brave warriors' muscles, while that yellow lightning was different from the power of the Ancient Dragons and the Lord's Soul. It was the power of nature.
Nolan watched the merciless bite come for him. Under these circumstances, he should have dodged. He could guarantee that the beast would stop at nothing to bite off his head. But before that...
A dazzling burst of golden lightning erupted from Nolan's body without warning, surging out like a boundless tide.
That lightning was like a blazing sun, radiating a mesmerizing brilliance that instantly illuminated the entire dark space.
In the next instant, a deafening roar rang out as that overwhelming power erupted completely.
Ultimate thunder rushed from Nolan's body like a frenzied dragon, baring its claws and fangs as it rampaged through the Hornsent city.
In the blink of an eye, a massive spherical field of electricity took shape. Like a real sun, it radiated blinding light and scorching heat too intense to look at directly.
The spherical field expanded at astonishing speed, covering almost half of Tower Settlement in an instant.
Wherever it passed, houses, trees, and people alike were mercilessly swallowed, as if the whole world had been plunged into an apocalyptic scene.
At the center of that "sun," Nolan stood in silence.
He threw a punch, driving it forward with unstoppable force, straight into the lion's head.
Thunder intertwined as fist struck metal.
The lion head, symbol of the Hornsent's supreme glory, could not withstand such terrifying power. In an instant, it split apart and shattered into razor-sharp fragments.
Those fragments flew outward like weapons made to devour life, tearing blood holes of all sizes through the two warriors.
The lightning that had invaded the Hornsent bodies also began to ravage them from within. Powerful currents raced through muscle, bone, and blood vessels, bringing waves of heart-rending pain.
In the end, the two lion-like brave warriors had no power to resist that destructive force. They were instantly reduced to dust and vanished into nothingness.
In reality, Nolan could clearly sense that the Eternal Queen was like someone possessed by a demon, her heart burning with a raging fire that wanted to destroy everything. That madness was enough to make one shudder.
Yet when night fell and he entered his dreams, Nolan could also feel that the golden-haired goddess seemed to have lost all her strength, fragile as a ruined flower scattered by rain, able only to struggle helplessly.
He had always been perceptive and sensitive. How could he not notice the contradictions within Marika?
From the vague information he had, he could guess what kind of experiences had tortured this woman into what she was now. At times frenzied like a demon, at times gentle and fragile as water.
Surely the story hidden behind her was unbearably tragic, filled with endless darkness and despair, like a tragic painting rendered in pitch-black pigment.
This woman spent her days draped in beast fur, wrapping herself beneath a hard shell.
With the flames of vengeance burning in her heart and an unreachable dream in her grasp, she raised the curtain on that tragedy.
And so, a shocking, chaotic drama began. It escalated again and again, until it became the unmanageable mess it was today.
In countless dreams, that woman would suddenly appear like a fierce beast, growling low at Nolan.
He could hear her furious accusation against the entire world with perfect clarity. Every roar was filled with blood, tears, and pain.
But faced with those powerless cries, those cries full of struggle, Nolan's only response was a silent stare.
The raging thunderstorm was the embodiment of Nolan's own feelings.
Blinding bolts of lightning split the sky, and deafening thunder resounded through the clouds, fully declaring his attitude in this moment.
His blue-green eyes were now filled with solemn intent, erasing the last trace of mercy from his handsome face.
No matter who it was, anyone who dared become his enemy would likely feel fear upon seeing his expression now, fear of the overwhelming fury that would come crashing down upon them.
Everyone had the right to survive, and everyone had the freedom to pursue their own Faith. But that should never be built upon trampling others.
Especially those so-called Hornsent. What they showed was not merely a desire to live, but more often an unconscious release of the purest malice.
This world was not as gentle as one might imagine. In the eyes of those noble, horned people, the mere existence of others was a sin.
And the only way to resist that tyranny was to pierce their bodies with a Pike. This was Marika's resolve.
Nolan came before the Hornsent, even taking the time to admire this beauty that combined brutality and terror. At this moment, the world should understand that the Hornsent were no different from ordinary people.
The power Nolan bore was undoubtedly far greater than what these people possessed when they bullied others. With a simple wave of his arm, he could easily decide the life and death of countless beings.
That terrifying power, able to control everything with the smallest gesture, was like supreme hegemony, making him the undisputed master of life.
Thunder roared, flames burned, deathly energy spread, and light blazed in every direction.
The entire town seemed to have fallen into an apocalyptic catastrophe, with countless surges of violent energy crashing wildly across every inch of land.
Crackling sounds rang out as piles of mangled corpses were thrown high into the air like kites with snapped strings, then slammed heavily back onto the cold ground.
In only a brief encounter, countless living lives had already vanished.
This was absolute domination by violence. This was a bloody slaughter with no suspense at all.
The bodies of the Hornsent were like dazzling, splendid flowers. With every violent impact, those "flowers" burst apart at just the right moment, spraying merciless showers of blood and flesh.
The Hornsent fought back in a frenzy, chaotic and disordered, but everything they did was nothing more than a futile game with death.