Free Web NovelChapter 28: A Single Stomp
"Do you think you can stop me?"
Seraphina’s cold and mocking voice rang out, echoing through the throne room like a blade cutting through silence. The words carried no fear, only absolute contempt.
The elders didn’t answer. Their silence was their reply.
But their hands began to change as they started forming seals. Their fingers twisted and wove through the air with insane speed, each movement precise and synchronized, as if they had practiced this countless times before.
At the same moment, a formation rose from where they stood in a circular manner, enclosing Seraphina at its center. Golden lines of light erupted from the ground, connecting each elder like threads of a web, pulsing with ancient power.
It seemed to seal her with them as the catalyst, their own bodies serving as the anchors for the binding array.
Seraphina’s gaze swept across the formation, her expression unchanging. She recognized the formation.
It was a synchronized formation that combined the power of the people using it to form a sealing power. It seemed they really meant it.
"Are you planning on defying the orders of your Empress?" Seraphina questioned, her eyes narrowed into dangerous slits.
"When the Empress is going down the wrong path, it is up to the subjects to lead the Empress back on the right path." Granny Cherry replied, her voice steady despite the tension.
"And you think this can hold me?" Seraphina let out a soft, dark chuckle, a sound that held no amusement, only cold mockery.
She released the pressure of her cultivation. The barrier began to buckle, cracks spiderwebbing across its golden surface. The elders’ expressions turned pale as they withstood the overwhelming force pressing down on them.
Their cultivation wasn’t on par with Seraphina’s. Only Granny Cherry could put up a fight against her.
They didn’t know who was stronger between them. It had been a long time since both of them had released their full power and strength.
This was why they joined hands for this sealing. This should hold her for a long time, until she calmed down.
Seraphina’s gaze became colder by every second, the temperature in the room dropping with her fury. "You are really daring me."
The pressure increased. Each of the elders had to release their cultivation and bloodline to withstand the crushing weight.
Draconic horns sprouted from some. Draconic eyes blazed in others. Phoenix wings unfurled from backs. Stark phoenix eyes burned with ancient fire. Each elder displayed a different phenomenon of their bloodline, their forms shifting as they tapped into their deepest power.
Draconic chants and phoenix chirps resounded through the castle, their echoes filling every corridor and room, alerting everyone to the battle within the throne room. Maids, guards, servants, all wondered what was happening.
The sealing barrier suddenly changed. A red dragon swam through it, its scales shimmering with ancient light. A flaming phoenix flew around it, its wings trailing ribbons of fire.
Both creatures clashed against one another, their collision sending shockwaves through the barrier. A red flame pillar was released around it, blazing with intensity.
Instead of destroying each other, both creatures fused together. Chant of dragons, chirp of phoenix resounded at the same time.
From the heart of the red flame pillar, a figure emerged.
Its body was massive and coiled, covered in scales that shimmered like molten crimson. Each scale pulsed with a deep, ancient light. Its form was serpentine yet regal, with the powerful limbs of a dragon and the graceful wings of a phoenix spread wide behind it.
Its head bore the fierce visage of a dragon, sharp horns curving back like crowns of fire, eyes blazing with twin suns of burning red. But from its beak-like maw, a phoenix’s cry emerged, a sound both beautiful and terrible.
Its wings were a tapestry of living flame, feathers of crimson fire trailing sparks with every beat. Where its claws touched the air, ripples of heat distorted the space around them.
A halo of swirling embers crowned its head. Its tail, long and serpentine, ended in a plume of blazing red fire.
Seraphina’s eyes narrowed at the sight of this. The sealing power had grown stronger, and it seemed to have a suppressive effect on her.
Her lips curved into a grin. "Surprising. I never expected that you possessed a sealing power effective against a Dragon-Phoenix."
"I wonder where you found this. I thought it had been lost to the ages."
Her gaze turned to Granny Cherry, who was the core of the sealing power.
"We have no option. All our plans would go to waste," Granny Cherry said with gritted teeth.
Seraphina just laughed, but her laughter grew colder by every second, sending chills down the spines of the elders.
"Like I said," she said coldly, "do you think this can stop me?"
Her golden eyes changed, becoming stark draconic eyes, ancient, domineering, and filled with predatory hunger. Two golden draconic horns emerged from her brow, curved and sharp, yet wreathed in the flames and feathers of a phoenix.
Her presence shifted. The air around her grew heavy, charged with an ancient power that made the very walls of the throne room tremble. The sealing formation, once steady, now flickered and groaned under the weight of her change.
The elders’ expressions changed as they channeled more power into the sealing formation, their faces contorting with effort.
The image of the creature born from the dragon and phoenix radiated more power. Its crimson scales blazed brighter, its wings flaring with renewed intensity as it drew strength from the elders’ desperation. The dragon-phoenix let out a deafening cry, a sound that shook the very foundations of the castle.
But Seraphina’s gaze remained unchanged. Her cold smile only widened.
"You’re trying so hard," she murmured. "It’s almost admirable."
But Seraphina released more of her aura. The elders’ faces turned pale as they struggled to withstand the overwhelming pressure pressing down on them.
Seraphina saw this and her lips curled up into a smirk before she shook her head, almost pitying their futile efforts.
She raised her right leg and stomped the ground.
The whole castle shook. Everyone caught unaware lost their balance, maids stumbled, guards fell, servants cried out in surprise.
In that instant, the sealing barrier was immediately destroyed. Golden waves of pressure erupted outward, sending all the elders flying to the corners of the throne room like ragdolls.
It turned out that all their efforts had been futile. With a single stomp, Seraphina had shattered their greatest sealing formation.
Granny Cherry was also sent flying, bearing the brunt of the attack. Her face was pale as blood tumbled from her lips, staining her robes.
She heard footsteps growing closer and saw Seraphina approaching her.
Her eyes widened in shock as she felt the pressure radiating from Seraphina. Due to the sealing power, they hadn’t been able to feel the full extent of her pressure, it had been shared among them.
"You have reached that realm," she mouthed every word in shock, her voice barely a whisper.
Seraphina smiled at her with a cold gaze, not answering her question. Facts were speaking for themselves; there was no need to reply to such a question.
"When did you reach that realm?" Granny Cherry asked, her mind still processing the feedback her senses were giving her.
"And why do you need to know that?" Seraphina answered with a cold chuckle.
She slowly bent down and said, "I have warned you that if you cross my path again, I will kill you."
Seraphina waved her hand. Granny Cherry’s right arm burst into a puddle of blood, the limb vanishing in an instant. The sudden pain caused Granny Cherry to grimace, beads of sweat dropping to the ground as she clutched the stump.
"I don’t know where you got this sealing power, but this is my last warning. Next time, it won’t just be your arm, it will be your life."
Seraphina’s voice resounded through the throne room as her figure disappeared from the castle.
