The Shining Star Above The Heaven
Chapter 200: The Golden Pillar

Chapter 200: The Golden Pillar

A pillar of golden light split the sky of the devil territory. Because the golden pillar was so conspicuous in the night, its light was visible even from Fanalis Town and beyond. The dark night of the devil territory, where Aldrian stood, became as bright as day. The devils who looked at this golden light felt their hearts shake, they couldn’t believe they had tried to hold someone with this kind of power. No, they were delusional to think they could catch Aldrian.

The Lust Devil looked at the golden pillar with a rigid smile. From this pillar, he could sense a power strong enough to kill—no, to be exact, to obliterate him if he didn’t do something.

"Fuck!"

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A few minute earlier.

In the area where the city fortress of Karak was located, Grand Duke Rivas gazed at the distant scenery of the vast grassland, now marked with many traces of battle. His expression seemed pensive, as if deep in thought. Not long ago, he had received information that made him raise his brows. It was good news, a welcome change after a string of bad tidings he had received recently. The invasion force of devils that had tried to attack Vicanti had been defeated, and even Ilyon had already been retaken.

At first, he didn’t believe that the situation had suddenly flipped, given how pessimistic things had seemed. Even with reinforcements from the imperial family, they couldn’t easily thwart the devils, who were like crazed war dogs. However, after sending someone to confirm the information, he was surprised to hear that it was true, and all the witnesses provided their testimony. It was the appearance of one person that had flipped the entire battlefield.

He wondered, who was this person? Was he an emperor-stage existence? All the testimonies claimed that this person was only at the peak Earl stage, but he doubted that was his true cultivation. Not only had he acted in Vicanti, but it was also said that this person had liberated Ilyon—the place where his daughter had last been seen. This brought some relief to his heart, as they could now check on his daughter’s condition.

"An incoming attack!"

Suddenly, he heard a shout from a soldier in the distance, and he finally saw an army of devils, with the Wrath Devil at the forefront. The Wrath Devil had a large axe strapped to his back, and his aura was intimidating. He looked in the direction of Grand Duke Rivas with a mocking expression and shouted to his armies.

"Let’s go! Kill those Rivas dogs, and whoever breaches the city will receive huge rewards!"

"UWOOO!" The war cry of the devils resounded in the dark night, and all of them suddenly transformed into their devil forms, something unusual for devils. Grand Duke Rivas frowned at these crazy bastards, who seemed to be going all out from the start. He took their transformation seriously. For them to use their devil forms right away—was there another strategy at play, perhaps one of their trump cards?

Rumble!!

Suddenly, a pillar of red light appeared at the front line of the devil army. The entire battlefield shook with a sudden tremor as a giant silhouette of a beast emerged within the red light, visible even from the city. The silhouette had four heads, and its massive body was like a small mountain. The aura it exuded was enough to make everyone present feel a chill, as the pressure from the high Emperor-stage beast spread throughout the city.

ROAR!!!

The beast’s roar shook the eardrums of all beings in the region. Grand Duke Rivas stared at the creature in shock, recognizing what had suddenly appeared.

"A fucking Hydra."

He was truly in shock. How the hell did the devils get their hands on a Hydra, a rare spiritual beast that was almost extinct on the Barisan continent? He already knew the devils had used a Hydra in Balin, but it was instantly killed by the mysterious swordsman, so he thought the devils had none left. To think that they now had another Hydra, and this one was even far more powerful than the one at Balin.

Grand Duke Rivas gritted his teeth. If the devils had called upon this beast, it seemed this would be their toughest battle yet, with an even greater chance of losing. Although he possessed his family’s legacy artifact, the middle divine-grade Divine Rain Sword, his strength was still insufficient to fully unleash its potential. And with the high Emperor-stage Hydra before him, he had no confidence in killing it. The Hydra’s cultivation was higher than his—he was only at the middle Emperor stage. To kill the Hydra, he would need time and for no one to disrupt their battle.

The problem was, the Wrath Devil was still here, making the situation even grimmer for the coalition forces. There was one other middle Emperor-stage expert from the imperial family as backup, but that still wasn’t enough to contend with the combined threat of the Hydra and the Wrath Devil. The Wrath Devil, with the same cultivation as the Hydra, could barely be thwarted by their combined efforts and the divine-grade artifact. Now, with the devils having two such beings—and one of them being another Hydra—the odds seemed even more impossible.

"Prepare the ballistas and the archers! Don’t give up! They’re using their last trump card. As long as we win this, we will secure a full victory for the entire Rivas Grand Duchy! So don’t falter! Fire as many arrows as you can! Use every technique at your disposal! Give everything you’ve got! They’ll be even more ferocious!" Grand Duke Rivas shouted.

Although he didn’t know how the devils had gotten their hands on the Hydras or why the creatures had chosen to serve them, he knew he had to defend the city. The rumbling sound of the incoming devil army tried to shake the coalition forces. Even though they were battle-hardened soldiers who had survived many battles here, the appearance of the Hydra raised their sense of desperation about the current fight.

However, suddenly, everyone saw a bright golden light on the horizon to the northwest from their position. The devils also noticed the light and turned to look in that direction—the direction of the devil territory. This left everyone here confused, each person with their own thoughts.

For the coalition forces, they thought the devils were launching another of their schemes. As for the devils, they couldn’t understand the sudden appearance of the golden light. From the direction, it seemed to be coming from the region where Sazim Fortress was located, but they hadn’t received any notice about this sudden occurrence.

The Wrath Devil also stopped to look at the golden light, and now he could finally see its shape—a golden pillar that reached up to the sky. It was so high that he thought it might have pierced the heavens. After a few seconds, he didn’t know why, but it seemed as though the golden pillar was falling toward their direction. A split second later, he was in shock as he realized the golden pillar was, in fact, heading straight for them!

"Shit!"

He then told the Hydra to stop as he saw the incoming golden pillar falling toward their position. The Hydra also looked up at the golden pillar coming straight down toward them. As an Emperor-stage spiritual beast, the Hydra had the intelligence of a human and could even speak like one. Upon seeing the golden pillar, it immediately raised its defenses. Proud of its regeneration and immense strength as a Hydra, it planned to take the falling golden pillar head-on.

As the golden pillar approached, growing larger with each passing moment, the Hydra finally sensed the immense power it wielded. His four heads widened their eyes in shock as he realized that the power of this golden light could instantly obliterate him if it struck. In a panic, he moved away from Karak, trying to evade the pillar’s path. The Wrath Devil, sensing that the golden pillar was about to fall on the city, followed suit.

Grand Duke Rivas could only watch in despair as the golden pillar descended, knowing it was beyond his ability to defend against. However, the tip of the golden pillar, shaped like a sword, actually dropped 700 meters from the fortress wall.

RUMBLE!!!

The wind swept outwards as the golden pillar struck the ground, causing the very space to collapse along its trajectory. The pillar slammed into a quarter of the devil army attacking Karak, instantly killing thousands. The golden pillar then disappeared on its own, but a deep chasm remained in its wake, creating a straight line from the distant horizon.

The space crack also created a spatial storm that took another thousand of the devil’s ranks, throwing their army into chaos before the space slowly began to mend itself. The Wrath Devil and the Hydra could only watch as the spatial storm had sucked in and killed many of their forces.

The Wrath Devil then suddenly received a call from his communication artifact. As he continued to look at the deep gorge, which created a straight line towards the horizon, he heard the voice from the artifact,

"Enough for now. Retreat with all of the soldiers to the devil territory."