Free Web NovelChapter 181: Chapter 181: The Apex Coronation
Chapter 181: The Apex Coronation
The heavy silence of the Blood Plateau was shattered by a deafening roar.
Ursa fully embraced his primal bloodlust. The colossal Dire-Bear stood four stories tall. His massive muscles bulged beneath thick gray fur.
He dropped onto all four paws and charged directly across the shattered arena. Every single footstep triggered a localized tremor in the red rock. He closed the distance instantly and swung a massive claw directly at my chest.
I did not move. I did not raise my heavy brass gauntlets to block. I planted my boots firmly in the stone and let the Level 74 brute hit me with absolute full power.
CRASH.
The kinetic shockwave blasted outward in a perfect circle. A massive wall of red dust blinded the spectators. The Vanguard soldiers standing on the rim of the plateau did not flinch.
The dust slowly settled in the freezing wind.
The colossal claws of the Dire-Bear were pressed directly against my green chest plate. My boots had slid backward exactly two inches. I looked up at the towering beast through my glowing red visor.
Ursa stared down in absolute paralyzing horror. He had just delivered a physical strike capable of leveling a small mountain. freewebnøvel.coɱ
My S-Grade Hive Chitin armor had sustained a single microscopic scratch near the left collarbone. My Level 68 consolidated vessel easily absorbed the remaining kinetic impact without fracturing a single bone.
I sighed softly. I ignited the pure white Flame of Life in my palm. I brushed my fingers over my chest plate. The warm conceptual fire instantly mended the metal. The microscopic scratch vanished flawlessly.
"Is that the absolute physical peak of this continent?" I asked.
Kael the Apex Lion did not wait for my judgment. The golden humanoid beast leaped high into the cold air behind me.
He compressed all of his Level 75 lightning magic into his heavy double-bladed battleaxe. The weapon sparked with blinding blue energy. He swung the massive blade directly down toward my exposed neck.
"Die in the dirt!" Kael screamed.
I casually raised my right hand. The pitch black Flame of Death violently ignited around my heavy brass gauntlet.
I caught the blade of the axe in midair.
The dark conceptual fire instantly devoured the lightning magic. The blinding blue energy fizzled into harmless gray smoke. Kael gasped in shock as his ultimate attack completely failed to pierce my grip.
I stepped forward. I drove my left fist directly into his pristine golden chest plate.
The heavy metal armor shattered into brittle dust. My thick green fingers pierced his flesh effortlessly. I reached deep inside his chest cavity and grasped his glowing Level 75 magical core.
Kael coughed up a thick mouthful of dark blood. His arrogant golden eyes widened in pure unadulterated terror. He finally realized he was fighting a force of nature.
"You do not possess the right to rule," I whispered.
I unleashed the Flame of Death completely. The pitch black fire erupted directly from my grip inside his chest. It instantly incinerated the Apex Lion from the inside out.
His flesh and bone turned to falling gray ash. I ripped his glowing magical core out of the collapsing dust cloud. I crushed the crystal in my palm and forcefully absorbed the raw experience points.
DING!
[System Alert: Level 75 Apex Core consumed.]
[Sovereign Core efficiency increased. You are now Level 72.]
[System Evolution: Physical density has reached a new dimensional threshold.]
The pile of ash blew away in the high altitude wind. I turned my glowing red visor toward the towering Dire-Bear.
Ursa shrank back entirely. His massive primal instincts screamed at him to submit to the apex predator. The bear violently compressed his physical form.
He shrank rapidly down into his nine foot tall humanoid shape. The scarred warlord dropped heavily to his knees. He pressed his forehead against the shattered red stone.
"I yield," Ursa rumbled. His deep voice trembled with absolute reverence. "I yield to the Apex. I am a beast of the mud. I offer my life to your command."
"You fought with brute honor," I stated. My baritone voice echoed clearly across the crater.
"You did not use parlor tricks. You will serve as the heavy shock trooper commander under my Alpha General. Stand up and take your place in the Vanguard."
Ursa stood up slowly. He walked over and stood in absolute silence directly behind Rolf.
The millions of beastmen watching from the jagged mountain ridges went completely silent. The legendary Apex Lion was ash. The unconquerable Dire-Bear was serving as a foot soldier. The sacred Great Hunt had been definitively won in less than three minutes.
A single figure stepped out from the massive surrounding crowd. It was an ancient gray wolf beastman wearing faded ceremonial robes.
He leaned heavily on a carved wooden staff. He walked slowly past the aiming rifles of the Blackhorn battalion. He descended into the deep crater and fell to his knees right in front of my heavy brass boots.
"The Great Hunt is over," the elder wolf declared. His voice carried across the silent plateau using a basic magical amplification spell.
"The wild respects only the strong. You shattered the sky. You broke our Kings. From the northern frozen tundras to the southern swamps we are no longer divided tribes. We are your absolute subjects. We offer our fangs and our blood to the Sovereign of the Forge."
Millions of beastmen dropped their crude weapons simultaneously. The heavy clatter of falling iron and bone echoed like thunder. They fell to their knees in perfect terrifying unison.
The sheer conceptual weight of their collective submission washed over my core. A massive continent had just surrendered in a single afternoon.
I prepared to issue my first decree to the new unified horde.
Suddenly a sharp mechanical beep echoed from Rolf’s waist. The Silver Colossus reached down and pulled a thick Void Steel communication rune from his heavy belt. He crushed the crystal in his palm to activate the emergency link.
A glowing blue holographic projection materialized in the freezing air. Nyssa appeared in the flickering light. The Chief Architect looked entirely frantic. Her green geometric tattoos were pulsing rapidly.
"Master!" Nyssa shouted.
"The deep sea scouts in the Azure Sea just broke radio silence. The timeline has entirely collapsed."
I narrowed my eyes behind my visor. "Report."
"The Pope did not wait five years to build a traditional new fleet," Nyssa explained rapidly.
"He is using forbidden desperate measures. He sacrificed half of his own coastal human population to forcefully power a colossal fleet of heavily enchanted dreadnoughts. They are already in the deep water. They are protected by massive overlapping divine shields. They will reach our eastern shores in exactly three days."
I looked up at the floating pitch black iron dreadnought hovering directly above the plateau. I looked at the millions of kneeling beastmen surrounding the arena.
We had the meat shields. We had the impenetrable Void Steel armor. The Two Front War was officially beginning.
"Load the transport ships," I commanded. My baritone voice shook the plateau.
"We are taking the entire horde back to the capital. We are going to meet their god in the ocean."
