Ch.232Chapter 232: A New Era (4).

# Chapter 232: A New Era (4)

The first to react to Zmorael’s arrogant provocation was King of Fists Lycan, known for his most hot-blooded temperament.

The ground beneath his feet cracked like a spider web with a roar, releasing an explosive aura.

BOOM–!

“I’ll crush that filthy mouth of yours first, you demon spawn!”

KWAAANG–!

Lycan’s massive body shot forward toward Zmorael in a straight line with a thunderous sound as if breaking the sound barrier.

His fists were engulfed in dense, destructive red energy swirling like a typhoon, powerful enough to pulverize entire mountain ranges.

“Take this!! Supreme Technique of the Dominating Heaven Fist: Explosive Chain Fist!”

THWAAAK—!

As Lycan’s first punch connected, the surrounding air seemed to explode with a deafening sound, and a red flash spanning dozens of meters struck the front of Zmorael’s pitch-black armor.

THUUUNG—!

The impact sounded like a massive siege hammer striking a fortress wall.

The darkness writhing on the surface of Zmorael’s armor distorted violently for an instant before Lycan’s second and third punches struck relentlessly at his abdomen and chest.

KWANG–

KWANG–!

KWANG–!

KWANG!!

Explosion! Explosion! More explosions!

With each strike, red energy exploded in succession, shaking Zmorael’s entire body.

Through the storm of explosive energy, Sword Saint Arka’s invisible slashes silently cut through space.

He had already created dozens of afterimages all around Zmorael—behind, to the sides, and in front—unfolding the path of his sword.

“Ryushtian Swift Sword. Sword Extreme: Chasing Birds.”

Arka’s sword energy had already sliced through the gaps in Zmorael’s armor and the flow of magical power dozens, hundreds of times.

With a sound sharp enough to cut through souls, blue sparks flew consecutively from various points on Zmorael’s armor at speeds faster than light.

KAGAGAGAGAANG–!

His sword energy possessed absolute cutting power beyond mere sharpness, seemingly able to slice through space itself.

Spear Emperor Valerius was also preparing a strike with his all, aimed at the center of the chaos created by Lycan and Arka.

The blue aura swirling around his entire body condensed to its limit at the tip of his magic spear.

The spear tip began to shine like a small star.

“Move aside!! Storm Spear Final Technique! Heavenly Thunder Flash!”

Their practice of announcing technique names served as a signal to allies, warning them of what was coming so they could prepare accordingly.

They knew each other so well that just hearing the technique name allowed them to predict the next action.

“Pierce through!”

BWOOOO–!

With Valerius’s shout, his magic spear transformed into a streak of lightning, cutting through space and shooting straight toward Zmorael’s heart.

Where the spear passed, a long blue trajectory remained along with traces of scorched air.

Medicine King Elios didn’t engage in direct attacks, but his role was crucial enough to determine the success of this grand offensive.

Emerald life energy flowing from the tip of his staff gently enveloped the three heroes, healing their wounds in the blink of an eye and replenishing their depleted stamina and aura at an incredible speed.

Simultaneously, he subtly disrupted the dense magical energy around Zmorael, while spreading invisible formations of life-force weakening and stacked curses of magical resistance reduction beneath the demon’s feet, maximizing the effectiveness of his allies’ attacks.

Four Grand Masters.

The coordinated attack of these heroes, known as the continent’s strongest, was breathtakingly perfect.

Their powers, each at the pinnacle of their respective domains, combined into one massive wave, unleashing an onslaught that even a dragon would find difficult to withstand without injury.

The space where Zmorael stood was already distorted beyond recognition due to their aura and powers, repeatedly exploding and recreating itself.

“Huff, huff, huff!”

As the dust storm and massive energy currents subsided, the figure of Zmorael standing at the center of the devastated attack zone was finally revealed.

Amidst the labored breathing of the four heroes, tension mixed with a glimmer of expectation arose.

Even a great demon couldn’t possibly remain unaffected after such a concentrated attack.

“How did that taste, you bastard!”

As expected, Zmorael’s body appeared torn, slashed, and blasted apart.

One arm was completely gone, and his entire body was covered in lacerations.

Purple blood, unlike that of humans, flowed freely, and the injuries would have been more than fatal for any human.

“I’ll deliver the final blow!!”

As Lycan was about to leap forward, Sword Saint Arka blocked the King of Fists.

“Wait, King of Fists. His aura hasn’t diminished at all.”

“What’s there to wait for! We need to finish him now! He’s taking damage! Move aside, I’ll end this!!”

But their hopeful expectations turned to extreme shock in the next moment, as if they’d been doused with ice water.

SHWAAAK—!

As a storm of magical energy enveloped Zmorael, all his wounds regenerated without a trace.

His face showed no sign of pain; instead, a chillingly cold smile deepened, as if he found this entire situation extremely amusing.

“Kukukuk…”

Zmorael’s low laughter cut through the silence.

That laughter strangely mixed disappointment, mockery, and even a slight hint of satisfaction.

He looked down at the four Grand Masters like an adult who had been watching children’s desperate antics for a long time.

“At least you can scratch my body somewhat. How adorable. Your power is certainly close to the pinnacle in this primitive world. Is this all? Surely it doesn’t end with just this much?”

The four heroes instinctively sensed deadly danger.

Zmorael hadn’t dodged or blocked their attacks.

He had simply allowed all their attacks to hit his body directly, purely to gauge their strength and to see how insignificant these so-called heroes of this world were.

And the result was merely a condescending evaluation of “adorable,” like looking down at insects.

The demon’s body was beyond imagination, treating the Grand Masters’ desperate fatal attacks as mere scratches.

Before they could even be shocked, Zmorael’s true power began to manifest.

From beneath his feet—no, from the entire ground he stood upon—dark red magical energy began to erupt explosively like a fountain, like a volcano.

It was completely different from the murky, impure magical energy used by previous demons.

It was pure and dense, a fundamental crystallization of malice that corrupted, destroyed, and drove all living things to despair by its mere existence.

“Now, let’s see. It’s time to reward you for participating in my little amusement.”

Zmorael’s voice resonated eerily with the four heroes.

The playfulness in his eyes remained, but the pressure he exuded was on a completely different level than before.

“Rise.”

At that moment, the Sword Saint shouted like lightning:

“Dodge!!!”

PWHAAAK–!

At Zmorael’s quiet command, massive black pillars erupted from the ground where the four heroes stood, tearing through the earth with screaming sounds.

These weren’t simple pillars of earth or stone.

They were magic that corroded everything and greedily sucked away life force, created from condensed magical energy—magic of death and despair.

“Kuk!”

Medicine King Elios had instinctively sensed the danger before the Sword Saint shouted and had thrown himself aside, but the tip of his left toe barely grazed one of the black pillars.

“ARGH!”

With Elios’s scream, the tip of his toe instantly turned black, withering and crumbling like an ancient dead tree.

The terrible curse of magical energy spread at a frightening speed up his leg through his blood vessels.

“Damn it to hell!”

Without a moment’s hesitation, Elios drew a dagger coated with blue herbal extract from his waist and cut off his infected toe in one swift motion.

Crimson blood spurted like a fountain, but he didn’t make a single sound of pain as he immediately poured blue herbal powder on the severed area to stop the bleeding and suppress the spread of the magical energy.

Cold sweat beaded on his forehead, and his face had turned pale from the extreme pain.

The other three heroes also narrowly avoided or destroyed the black pillars, but their faces already showed incomparable shock, anger, and even a tiny hint of despair compared to before.

But Zmorael’s attack didn’t end there.

“Oh! You dodged that! Interesting, very interesting!”

He even clapped his hands in delight.

The cruel smile on his lips deepened.

“Well then, how about this?”

He muttered while lightly flicking his fingers.

“Explode.”

With his second command, the space where the heroes stood began to distort, triggering a chain reaction of spatial distortion explosions.

KWAGWAGWAGWAGWAGWANG–

PUNG! PUBUNG–! PUBUBUBUBUNG–!

It wasn’t a simple magical explosion.

It was an incomprehensible and absolute attack where space itself collapsed inward and then exploded outward with tremendous destructive power, as if shaking the dimensions themselves.

“Damn it! Such impossible power…!”

King of Fists Lycan roared, crossing his arms and exploding red energy throughout his body in a defensive stance, but his massive body was thrown like a piece of paper by the chain of spatial explosions, landing dozens of meters away.

The fortunate thing was that he could block the penetration of magical energy with his concentrated aura.

A massive impact crater remained where he had landed.

Sword Saint Arka and Spear Emperor Valerius also tried to cut or pierce through the spatial distortions themselves by raising their aura to the limit in their sword and spear.

However, faced with unpredictable explosions occurring simultaneously from all directions, their defenses were breached too easily, and they bled red blood.

The four Grand Masters.

The continent’s strongest heroes were now shocked by Zmorael’s overwhelming power.

Before his true ability, they keenly felt how insignificant their fame and strength were.

And they realized.

That they, the Grand Masters, were merely challengers.