Watching the hellish clash unfold before him, Elo couldn’t help but furrow his brow—
— Relying on just those three knights… was far too forced.
His gaze quietly shifted to the figure who had yet to make a move—the BOSS.
Then, under his breath, he muttered:
— You’ve got some patience, you damn old turtle…
He understood perfectly—
If the BOSS hadn’t been backing them up and keeping the battle balanced, those three knights…
— would’ve been long dead, not even a trace left behind!
The BOSS wasn’t standing idle, but was instead acting with a near-cruel precision—
Monitoring the battlefield, controlling the tempo, and waiting for that one perfect moment to kill.
Precisely because of this, Elo’s feelings grew even more conflicted.
— He respected him.
A warrior who could suppress the urge to strike… was terrifying.
Such people often meant: when they do act, it’s over in one move.
And yet, even with that respect, he still couldn’t help but mutter inwardly:
— Everyone down there’s about to be turned to ash. You seriously don’t feel a thing?
He let out a quiet sigh, withdrawing his gaze and turning it back to the center of the battlefield.
It was a living inferno.
And at that moment—
He saw it!
The spiritual fluctuations of the three knights were surging rapidly,
not growing linearly, but resonating like three volcanoes erupting deep within their souls!
Molten willpower was boiling, trembling, and roaring,
and the once-flickering spiritual link between them suddenly converged,
merging into a single—blazing, surging torrent!
It was the signal of an extreme state—a power gathering at the brink of eruption.
This was—the threshold of their trump card!
Elo's heart trembled.
Though the three knights were being suppressed to the point of barely breathing—They were far from powerless.
At this very moment, they had already met every condition required to activate a certain trump card.
But the strange thing was—they hadn’t used it.
It wasn’t hesitation. It wasn’t fear.
It was—waiting.
They had already pulled the trigger, but were holding it down, refusing to let that final burst of power fly.
In an instant, Elo understood.
That trump card—was never meant to kill the leader.
They knew perfectly well—they couldn’t kill that man.
What they were truly trying to do—
was to open a "window for assassination"—for someone else!
Elo’s gaze, almost instinctively, shifted to the one figure who had remained unmoving:
—The BOSS.
Calm as an iceberg, silent as the abyss.
No matter how fierce the battle raged, he hadn’t taken a single step.
As if he were merely watching fate unfold on its own.
The problem was—
That man, standing at the very eye of the storm,
bare-chested, feet in the flames, gaze like iron—
Could he really not see through the knights' intention?
No change in expression.
Even his breath and heartbeat were as still as dead water.
As if all killing, scheming, tactics, and eruptions in this world
could not shake his will in the slightest.
In fact—
Even if someone were to cast mind-reading on him at this moment,
they would likely find nothing but a blank, lifeless void.
But Elo knew—he had already sensed everything.
Not through observation, not through analysis—
But through that power beyond reason, beyond explanation:
—Transcendent Intuition.
Like the silence before thunder falls.
Like the still wind before a blade slices the air.
Like a predator, eyes closed, exhaling—
on the edge of the perfect kill.
“BOOM——!!!”
That punch came crashing down like a fallen star from the heavens,
as if the entire battlefield were being slammed straight into hell at that very moment!
Before the fist even landed, the earth shattered beneath it!
The air detonated in visible layers,
shockwaves rippling outward in concentric rings across the ground,
dragging fire, dust, and thunderous sonic booms in their wake!
A violent quake—
The edges of the battlefield looked as if they had been lifted from the ground!
And directly along the path of that oncoming, devastating blow,
the black-haired knight charged forward against the storm, forcing himself into the shockwave head-on!
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“Crack——!!”
His shield trembled violently, a terrifying fracture splitting across its surface!
The blast knocked him back three full steps,
his boots dragging twin trails of sparks and scorched lines across the ground before he barely came to a halt!
But he didn’t fall back!
He teeth clenched, his soul howling, his blood burning!
Both hands gripped his knight’s sword tight as battle energy surged wildly—
He slashed with all his might!
—That strike was like flame cleaving the clouds, lightning piercing the sun!
On the edge of his blade, the searing battle aura ignited the very air,
a crimson blaze like a blade, sweeping down from the upper left to the lower right,
leaving a burning arc scorched across the battlefield!
“CLANG!!!”
The sword slammed hard into the leader’s side—
sparks exploded, and metal clashed like thunder!
It felt as if a blazing greatsword—had struck a slab of divine steel!
Force burst outward, fire scattered wildly,
and that man—didn’t so much as flinch.
Not even a tremor.
The next instant!
“Boom—!!”
The leader’s body trembled slightly, then his elbow snapped back in a sudden arc—
as if he had foreseen everything, the motion executed like a triggered mechanism, sweeping out in a brutal counterattack!
The air exploded like it had been struck by a warhammer, erupting with a thunderous, low-pitched blast!
“BOOM—!”
The black-haired knight instinctively pulled back half a step, his reaction near-reflexive—
But still—too slow!
The shockwave from that strike, heavy as an iron mountain falling, blasted him violently into the air!
He tumbled several times, his shield shattered, sparks flying—
and finally crashed to the ground on one knee, his chest shook violently, and another layer of his energy shield shattered!
Dust fell, blood surged.
He gritted his teeth and forced himself up, eyes burning with undiminished battle intent!
—And at that very moment!
Lightning erupted!
A golden bolt slashed through the night like a blade, blasting in from the left flank—
The golden-haired knight had arrived!
His strike wasn't swung—it was launched like a bolt of thunder!
“Zzzzt! Zzzzt! Zzzzt!!”
Three consecutive lightning thrusts!
Throat—
Heart—
Abdomen—
Each strike moved so fast it left nothing but afterimages,
every trajectory trailing with searing lines of lightning!
But—the leader still didn’t move!
Golden light surged across his entire body,
his figure like a war god forged from divine iron,
taking the lightning stabs head-on, with nothing but flesh and blood!
“Crackle!!”
Electric arcs burst wildly in every direction, lightning flaring violently—
Only to be completely devoured by the golden aura shielding him!
The thunderbolts crashed into the temple-like shield and were forcibly neutralized!
The golden-haired knight frowned, twisted both hands, and sharply raised his blade!
“BOOM!!”
The tip of his sword erupted in a flash of lightning,
detonating like a thunder pillar crashing down, shaking the earth and tearing through the air with a roar!
Yet—too slow!
“Bang—!!”
The leader stomped the ground with his foot, the scorched earth beneath him exploding as a towering wave of dust surged into the sky!
A shockwave laced with killing intent and psychic force burst out from under him in an instant.
like an invisible axe sweeping across the field—
slamming straight toward the golden-haired knight’s face!
And at that critical moment—
“BOOM—!!!”
A burst of scarlet flame descended from the heavens, like a shooting star streaking across the sky, scorching the clouds and cleaving the night!
The red-haired knight plunged down from mid-air in a furious slash, transforming himself into a burning meteor,
with the battle aura on his knight’s sword ignited into searing white flames, so that even the blade itself was lost in a dazzling glow!
“BOOM—!!!”
He forced his strike into the surging shockwave!
The intense heat tore through the currents, flames erupted in all directions,
the air screamed with piercing shrieks, and the ground seemed flooded by molten fury, so blisteringly hot that it warped and deformed completely!
He unleashed one furious slash—
this very strike hit the leader’s “invisible axe blade” head-on!
In an instant, fire exploded, a wall of dust soared into the sky,
scorched earth burst into flight, and the entire area appeared to be ablaze!
—Yet the leader didn’t budge an inch!
“THUD—!!”
His right foot stamped onto the scorched earth,
and the ground erupted with a resounding boom, cracking open in concentric circles around him!
Rocks scattered like rain, the muddy surface shattered like bursting glass,
and web-like fissures raced wildly across the ground!
Then he threw a punch!
“BOOM!!!!!!”
At that moment, it was as if a meteorite had crashed into the earth!
The instant his fist descended, a shockwave visibly rippled outward in circular bursts!
Within a six-meter radius centered on him, the entire ground suddenly sank three meters!
The soil was pulverized into fine dust by the overwhelming tremor,
scorched stones flew like shrapnel in every direction,
even the very air exploded under the sheer force of the blast—
“Sss—!!!”
A sharp, piercing explosion—like the ripping of steel—resounded across heaven and earth!
—The three knights took the brunt of it!
The black-haired knight reacted first, swinging his sword horizontally to block!
“Boom—!!”
But he was still struck head-on by the blast, his body flung backward like an arrow loosed from a bow!
“Crack-crack-crack—!!”
He crashed into a massive boulder to the rear flank, the entire rock face instantly spiderwebbing and collapsing!
Chunks of stone flew, dust surged skyward, the shockwave tearing through the air with a thunderous roar!
The golden-haired knight's expression shifted in shock as he forcefully halted himself amid the howling shockwave!
His legs drove into the earth, carving out two deep, razor-straight gouges—as if slashed by giant blades!
“Crack! Crack-crack—!!”
Two layers of his shield shattered, a surge of pain hit his chest—
his internal organs twisted violently, tearing open in an instant!
Blood surged up—
but in the very next second, it was forcibly calmed by holy radiance.
Golden light burst forth, and his battle spirit reignited!
As for the red-haired knight in midair—he was in the most danger!
“Whoosh—!!”
Before he could land, an invisible warhammer smashed into him from above!
“BOOM!!!”
Three layers of his shield exploded in quick succession,
his entire body slammed into what felt like a wall of moving steel—
his form twisted, his trajectory thrown into chaos, completely losing control in the air!
“Voom—!!”
In the next instant, an internal force from the terrifying enemy burst out suddenly—
a gravitational pull that seemed capable of warping space locked onto him with crushing precision!
—He’d been caught!
[Transcendent Intuition] screamed in panic!
His soul scrambled to seize control, Buffs stacked to the limit in an instant,
his spirit ignited, defenses pushed to their absolute maximum!
Electric currents crackled like thunder, flame surged like a tide,
and he threw in everything—every ounce of strength and will—
to break free from that paralyzing force!
—But it wasn’t enough!
The pull remained—slow, cold, and merciless—dragging him downward.
As if the very fabric of space was conspiring with the enemy’s will to devour him whole.
—If this keeps up, he’s finished!
Just then, the BOSS, hidden in the shadows, narrowed his eyes—
a glint of cold light quietly flickered in his gaze.
—He "saw" it.
Amidst the flames, lightning, and surging shockwaves—
the ground torn apart, the battlefield a living hell—
stood the man at the eye of the storm,
the one who had, until now, seemed utterly invincible—like a demon god made flesh.
And yet, in that very moment—a flaw appeared.
Extremely subtle, but undeniably real—
a crack, barely visible, surfaced on that otherwise indestructible body.
In an instant, the BOSS’s spiritual power surged instinctively, ready to strike—
—But he didn’t move.
Not out of hesitation, but because—this flaw was too perfect.
So perfect it felt like an invitation—a carefully prepared invitation card,
beckoning him forward:
—Come. Strike now.
It felt exactly like bait—
—No, it was bait.
But—the BOSS no longer had the luxury of weighing options.
Because the battlefield had already veered far off from the script he had written.
The cleric—
the one who, in his original plan, was supposed to suppress the enemy leader head-on—
was still trapped under the effects of the [Buddha’s Palm].
The three knights—meant only to support and distract—
had been forced into a direct confrontation, and were now at their limit.
He could wait.
Wait a little longer, and the cleric would break free, enter the field,
and everything would return to the prearranged flow.
But the problem was—the knights likely wouldn’t last that long, especially the red-haired knight.
These three—each and every one of them—were not just his warriors.
—They were living embodiments of immense political power.
Allowing them to participate under the title of “support and containment”, was already the political bottom line.
Letting them suffer serious injuries in combat—
or worse, sustain irreversible damage on the soul level—
—That wouldn’t be a “combat loss.”
It would be a political catastrophe.
He weighed the situation rapidly in his mind.
Keep waiting?
Wait for the cleric to enter the battle—
but that would mean risking political fallout.
Strike early?
It would disrupt his original deployment,
but it would also allow him to save the red-haired knight on the spot,
and avoid a mountain of post-battle headaches.
What’s more—
Even if he didn’t ambush and just fought head-on,
he didn’t believe he’d lose.
Xianzi.Lin, plus the leader?
—Even the two of them together, so what?
This is his home ground, and the cleric is about to break free from his restraints;
So— the advantage is mine!
The BOSS lowered his head slightly, a sudden sharpness flashing through his eyes.
One thought, like a blade, cleaved through all hesitation in his heart.
—Activate.
Almost at that exact moment—Elo's heart jolted violently.
He saw it.
The leader—was smiling.
Not with his eyes.
But through [Transcendent Perception].
No curve of the lips. No smug glint in the eye.
In fact, there was no visible expression at all.
He still stood like a stone cliff: cold, silent, unshakable.
Killing intent surged like a tide at his fist.
Shockwaves gathered in his arm, the next strike already forming—
its target: the red-haired knight.
—He was going to take the red-haired knight out—for good.
And just as that murderous intent reached its breaking point—Elo saw it.
That trace of a smile.
It was a signal encoded in layers of soul-bound encryption,
a flash of cold amusement rising in the depths of consciousness—
a chuckle that pierced through the killing intent, through the battlefield, through every disguise.
In that instant, Elo understood—this had all been calculated.
In his heart, he cursed:
—These old foxes… damn, they really know how to put on a show.
