238 Chapter 238: Three Celestial Guardians (1/2)

”Even if you say that, it's not as if we can speed up the battle or something,” Glen grumbled, but he launched a lightning bolt at Serena, nonetheless. The lithe Assassin dodged his attack, only for Shun Yin to swing his blazing sword at her from behind.

The backstabbing attack might seem dishonorable, but at that moment, they had no choice. The fate of the world was at stake here. They didn't have many options except to take out the enemy as efficiently and quickly as they could.

Serena and Cronus did not begrudge them that. The Assassin couple broke off and fought in their respective divisions. While Shun Yin attempted to close in on her, she spun around and kicked him in the gut, hurling him several meters back.

”Ugh!” he grunted. Glancing up, he saw Serena launch several ominous-looking greenish-black spells at him. They resembled…arms or hands.

Most likely Serena Wright was from the same Umbra Sect as Ying Bu Si, employing similar techniques from the same school. Shun Yin flipped himself upward and gritted his teeth as he readied to defend himself, but a torrent of white flames surged ahead, purifying the dark mana and erasing the spectral hands from existence.

”Thanks,” he said as Angelica joined him. She merely nodded silently, and without another word the two of them split up to charge at Serena. Behind them, Glen commanded his White Tiger to lunge at her, lightning pouring out of its gigantic form.

Serena smiled and spread out both of her hands. Behind her, the greenish-black magic warped and transfigured themselves into eight pairs of hands, each equipped with a different weapon. She almost resembled some Buddha or goddess with an almost infinite number of hands and weapons. The three high school students were suddenly forced into the defensive when the elastic, spectral arms shot toward them, slicing and slashing.

”White Tiger!” Glen shouted almost panicking. Electricity exploded from its immense body and shielded him, but he was too far from his allies. Fortunately, Shun Yin and Angelica reacted in time, conjuring twin firewalls of crimson and white to deflect dozens of ghostly weapons. Even as the shadowy armaments battered against the flaming barriers, they righted themselves and withdrew to safety without sustaining much damage.

”That's bloody cheating!” Glen groaned.

”Quit your whining,” Angelica told him irritably. Beside her, Shun Yin scanned their opponent, his eyes on the countless writhing arms.

”Any idea how to defeat that lady?” he asked quietly. ”You seem to be acquaintances with her.”

”I'm afraid I don't know Serena well enough to come up with a solution,” Angelica replied reluctantly. ”We didn't really interact all that much, and this is the first time I've actually seen her and her husband fight.”

As for her husband, he was currently bearing down on the injured Yue Guang. Lionel Stuart intervened as quickly as he could, swinging his sword to cleave the giant before he could attack his longtime friend. However, Cronus merely batted him aside, his silvery aura protecting him from the hundreds of deadly blossoms that danced around them.

”Kuh!”

Lionel grunted as he was thrown back, but he managed to spin himself in midair and land on both feet. Without missing a beat, he immediately unleashed another torrent of lethal flower petals at the enemy, who was forced to twist around and engage him. With a wave of his hand, he caused the petals to shrivel and wither before they reached him.

”Accelerating time, huh?” Lionel clicked his tongue in annoyance. ”What a troublesome ability.”

Cronus almost seemed to vanish, and appeared right in front of him. Lionel's eyes widened, but he just barely managed to parry a devastating strike from Cronus before he was sent hurtling to the side. He smashed into the wall and crashed downward with a painful bellow.

”My lord!”

Yue Guang forced himself back to his feet and lunged at Cronus, delivering a furious flurry of strikes. However, the Assassin twisted around and dodged his barrage of punches, using his Time Alter (okay, maybe that wasn't the real name of his spell, but who cares, right?) to accelerate his movements and increased his evasive capabilities.

Even so, Yue Guang continued to methodically and relentlessly pummel him.

Cronus was far from defenseless, however. While evading Yue Guang's punches with his Time Alter, he countered with a hook of his own, almost catching his opponent off guard. Yue Guang just barely dodged the vicious fist, but the giant Assassin's knuckles grazed the side of his head, leaving a trickle of blood.

Roaring, Yue Guang buried his fist in Cronus's chest, almost throwing the guy off his feet, but the Assassin appeared to freeze time to halt his momentum, then spun around to kick Yue Guang. Only his incredible reflexes saved him from getting his head kicked off, the bodyguard instinctively raising his arms to block the powerful foot.

For a moment, Yue Guang appeared to have held his ground, but then his whole body was sent spinning head over heels off the ground and into a nearby wall, disappearing in a pile of debris. Coughing, he tried to dig his way out of the rubble, but Cronus was advancing upon him.

An inferno blasted across the cavern and engulfed Cronus before he could take another step toward Yue Guang, almost reducing him to cinders in a matter of seconds. Michael strode forward, sword in hand.

”Are you all right?” he asked. Yue Guang nodded, still groggy from the devastating impact earlier, and shook his head to clear it.

”I can still fight.”

”Good. Because I don't think it'll be over just yet.”

As before, Cronus's form appeared to regenerate, the silver aura ripping the inferno apart from within and his ashes glowing hotly before taking a humanoid shape again. Within seconds, Cronus's body was fully restored, despite his figure still steaming and fuming furiously.

Before he could fully recover, a storm of petals bombarded his position, causing him to vanish in a shower of blood. Lionel let out a yell as he unleashed a powerful Stuart swordsmanship technique, attempting to slice Cronus apart before he could reestablish his silvery time aura.

”Huff…”

An arm broke out of the mass of petals, and in an instant, silver mana erupted from within. The flower petals dried up and crumbled to dust almost immediately, even as a snarling Cronus burst out of their dying drifts.

He didn't get very far. Vermillion Phoenix swooped down on him, raking him with its blazing claws and causing his body to combust.

”Leave him to me! You guys should go help the kids.”

”I'll leave the big guy to you then.” Lionel turned away. ”Yue Guang, support Michael Porter. I alone should be more than enough to support the kids.”

”Understood.”

Even with the gigantic phoenix battering Cronus, the three men knew their victory was far from guaranteed. Whoever Cronus might have been when he was fully human, right now he was a monster.

Yue Guang waited for Cronus to bat the phoenix aside before he charged in and punched the guy in the face. The Assassin staggered, taken by surprise, but he retaliated with his own fist, pummeling Yue Guang. The future security chief desperately defended himself, but the blows sent him skidding backward despite him crossing his arms to shield his face and chest. Even so, it would only be a matter of time before Cronus's onslaught broke through his defense.

Fortunately, Vermillion Phoenix intervened before Cronus could succeed, sending a hail of fiery feathers down upon his position with unerring accuracy – such that, even with Yue Guang right in front of Cronus, none of the fiery feathers struck him by accident.

Back on the other side, both Shun Yin and Angelica were flung away when a shadowy arm bearing a bulky mace smashed through their twin barriers and struck them. The two of them rolled and dodged a series of attacks from the many shadowy arms of Serena, but they were about to be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers.