199 Divine 2 (1/2)
Just before the Divine beam of golden-blue light ascended to the heavens, Lars senses flared up and he turned to Luca to warn her, making ready to guard the damsel.
”Luca, be care—”
”GET DOWN!”
”Ful—UGH!”
However, before he could react, he was knocked to the ground by the ravishing beauty beside him.
Though he was surprised by her speed – equivalent to the Hill (World-class) level – that was not what made him unable to dodge. You could imagine Lars reaction at being tackled head on by a buxom, tantalising temptress.
Not to mention evading, even rational thought was suspended at the moment that he saw her jump towards him to cover his body, her arms and certain other appendages rising with her momentum to crash into his chest…
When her pillowy chest hit him in the face, Lars' vision turned black both physically and mentally. Because of that, even when the Divine Judgment of God rose up and struck the battlefield catastrophically, he couldn't see it…
He *did* feel the outbreak of power bursting forth from the epicentre though, causing his hairs to stand on end. Despite entering the Myth level in terms of soul, his battle power had not advanced beyond the peak-Legendary stage yet. He was still grasping at the laws that separated Legends from the world of Myths…
As such, this was the first time he saw – no, experienced a full-power Mythical attack first hand, and he was shocked by the potency. That is, he would have been if he were not shocked by something else far more *potent*.
Luca's lunge to protect Lars had carried him away from the walls, leaving them lying on the sandy streets of Fetch homestead. She lay on top of him, grasping his head in her embrace and making sure he did not receive a concussion or suffer from stray shrapnel ricocheting through the air.
It took a while for the dust to settle, and it was only when Luca saw that everything was safe that she got up off Lars' body.
She looked around while brushing the dust off her white translucent dress. All around them were warriors and hunters knocked out cold, some groaning as they slowly approached consciousness.
”Lars, it's safe now. The battle is won!” Satisfied that all was well, she turned to help Lars up, however, she was shocked when she saw the boy.
”Lars!!!” Luca hurriedly kneeled beside him then leaned down over his body to wipe the blood away from his nose.
”I-I'm fine, really, I'm fine!” Lars waved away Luca's attempts to help as he rushed to his feet. Though the impact of the explosion had been widespread, the aftershocks were negligible. Only the core area of the blast was of any threat to a Legend.
As they composed themselves, Luca expressed relief that Elder Mash'noth's plan had been executed successfully. It had been contingent on Lady Zera being able to create an opening using herself as the bait to draw in the Dark cultivators. However, it had been beyond their expectations for the enemy mastermind to be Lord Seth, former head of Fetch homestead.
Lars paused to think. If Lord Seth were among those ambushed and lost 10 years ago, then these events would need to have begun far, far earlier… It meant that there was still a grand conductor orchestrating the macabre events in the past decade and before that.
'It seems that despite our difficult victory, this was just round one, a prelude to more sinister plans to come… Tch…' Lars regretted holding himself back from participating earlier. If he had taken action, perhaps the destruction to the homestead and the surrounding dozens of kilometres could have been avoided… However, he had lacked the information or the confidence to draw out the dark hand behind the curtains.
'No matter… Even if you are deeply rooted, even if you are a mighty Divine realm being… Just wash your neck and wait for me, I'll surely rip out your roots and tear you apart…!' Lars gaze sharpened as he determined to find and destroy the heinous mastermind behind it all.
”If you're ready, shall we see Elder Mash'noth...? I'm sure she'll be able to answer any questions you have. She should be heading over to see Lady Zera and the others even as we speak.” Luca smiled gently at Lars and half-turned towards the front gate, that is, where the front gate used to be. All that was left of the walls and gates were piles of rubble – broken logs and cracked stones.
It was then that Lars felt the heartbeat – the same heartbeat that pulsed out from Zera's chest.
Alarms bells went off in Lars' head, raising his caution to the highest level. He moved instantaneously, trusting the premonitions of Insight.