Round 19: Thunder Roars Across the Heavens (Part 2)

As the deafening thunderstorms subsided, the lightning gradually diminished.
Yatu took a breath and stared at the results of the recent lightning barrage. Silver-white chains still connected the sky and earth from time to time, and the air was so pure that not even dust could be seen. Yatu was confident that nothing could remain unharmed under such intense thunderstorms—even if it were made of gold and iron. He firmly believed that any form of energy, when amplified enough, could break through so-called defenses and immunities.
His belief was quickly validated.
Up above! Moriel was still the first to sense the presence of Number 47, but this time she only had time to look up—Number 47 plunged downward once again, crashing like a cannonball into the defensive wall of the construction tower. The entire tower shook violently, and the invisible force field shield cracked significantly under the impact. Those inside the control tower looked up and saw a scene that seemed as if the sky itself had been shattered.
How could it still be so vigorous?
Number 47’s consciousness was actually somewhat blurred and disordered. As a steel construct, he had no idea how many strikes he had taken amidst the lightning storm. As countless bolts of lightning struck him, he temporarily lost his sense of direction and distance. In that silver-white expanse, he couldn’t even tell whether he was ascending or falling. Electric currents like light screens enveloped and pierced his body, flowing freely through both its surface and interior. The high temperature and heat from the lightning couldn’t harm Number 47, but he clearly felt a tremor—a continuous, high-frequency vibration that made him feel as though all his internal strength had been shaken out of his body, as if the tiny connections that kept him functioning throughout his body had been severed. For the first time, he experienced what could be called “numbness.”
Yet this didn’t stop him from trying to break that damned lightning rod in half.
Not enough. Yatu narrowed his eyes.
Number 47 pushed off the shield with his hands and feet, preparing to take off. Just as he focused on smashing this thing completely, a huge lightning ball appeared out of nowhere and trapped him. Inside the construction tower, as Yatu chanted more loudly and urgently, even more powerful attacks were prepared. Unlike the previous chorus of thunder, the flashing lightning repeatedly jumped between the spikes surrounding the tower, eventually forming a web of lightning. All the energy converged on one of the spikes, quickly creating a ball of lightning as bright as the sun. Inside the silver-white sphere, invisible energy surged and crackled incessantly. Similarly, a massive lightning web appeared in the sky, along with energy points similar to those on the ground—three points in a line, with Number 47 trapped in the middle of the lightning cage.
It seemed this strike would surely destroy Number 47 beyond redemption.

Moriel’s lips twitched. Since leaving Rain City, she had never shown her emotions so clearly on her face as she did today—even with her eyes closed, she could sense the unprecedented lightning energy gathering around Yatu. With the aid of Agus’s construction technology, it seemed as though the entire Magic Web had turned into lightning woven together. She didn’t think 47 could withstand the next attack… It was too late to use the mysterious spell derived from the dwarf warrior’s blood axe to unleash the scroll energy within 47, and it was likely Yatu would detect it before it took effect. So the only option now was to strike at Yatu while he was focused on casting his spell, but perhaps that would only delay his attack and not truly save 47. Moreover, once she acted, everything would be exposed.

Moriel’s hesitation lasted only a brief moment, but enough time for many things to happen.

The first to act were the dozen or so demonized elves on the ground; it seemed they instinctively sensed 47’s crisis. Felgas was the fastest, but due to her battle with O’Sullivan, she was also the farthest from Taling. The demonized elves made no sound, like silent ghosts rushing toward the forest of lightning-lashed spikes on the ground. Arrows were shot at the spikes as they passed by, but even if they hit their targets, it would probably be useless. Besides, once the arrows entered the Magic Web, they would instantly char and evaporate in midair. Yet this did not stop the demonized elves from moving silently and without hesitation. In an instant, several of those closest to the Magic Web rushed into that deadly zone like moths to a flame, raising their black curved swords to strike the spikes. Although the Magic Web’s target was not them, it clearly didn’t mind adding a few more souls to die. Lightning leaped onto the demonized elves like parasitic worms, instantly scorching their flesh until they turned to charcoal.

Even so, the other demonized elves continued their swift movements. They rushed into the Magic Web, determined to cut down as many of those metal spikes as possible—even if it was utterly pointless—and would perish under the relentless lightning strikes soon after.

Two spherical bolts of lightning, not huge but clearly filled with destructive energy, had already formed, and the discharge and collision between them would happen in an instant.

47, trapped in the Lightning Prison, couldn’t move for the time being, but he wasn’t unconscious either. The pervasive lightning kept him from approaching the construction tower, nor could he stop those overconfident demonized elves. The side effect of his fury was that the assembly cannon he couldn’t activate earlier suddenly started working—his arms closed together, the armor opened, and the extending parts reassembled into place with sounds similar to bullets being chambered. A long barrel extended, pointing at the construction tower. Lightning surged along 47’s body like snakes, but the black barrel remained cold and steady, without a hint of light.

Yatu couldn’t see any changes in the forty-seven thunderballs, and even if he had, he wouldn’t care. With his left hand above and right hand below, palms facing each other, he stretched his arms as wide as possible—Yatu was utterly confident that anything would vanish with his thunderous strike.
There was no more time to wait! Moriel’s right hand, hanging at his side, emitted magical light from all five fingers. The fastest and least detectable by Yatu was the magic missile, the spell Moriel excelled at besides prophecy—even drawing his immediate attention would be useful.
The demonized elves had all committed to suicidal attacks on the lightning pillars on the ground; their total destruction was just a matter of time.
The red light in the forty-seven’s eyes intensified, and the lightning around him seemed to be controlled by some force, flowing entirely toward the muzzle of the convergence cannon.
Yatu slammed his palms together, and the two destructive thunderballs above and below suddenly broke free from the clouds and ground. As his palms rapidly closed together, they sped toward their target: the lightning prison trapping the forty-seven.
Dagulas pushed up her glasses. A burst of dark red flames, carrying a strong aura of hell, erupted from her delicate body and rushed toward Yatu with speed and mercilessness.
It all happened almost simultaneously.
Moriel was blown away by the scorching heat wave, and his magic missile vanished; the flames consumed Yatu, causing him to let out an angry roar. The collision of the two thunderballs suffered a slight error, preventing them from hitting the forty-seven at the same time and causing them to collide instead. The convergence cannon emitted a beam of light that could blind any creature daring to look at it, striking the construct tower.
The sky and earth shook. The converging lightning burst forth with a destructive light akin to a supernova explosion; even the people inVierkville saw that flash, which seemed to illuminate the entire world.
Jolice emerged from beneath Pagu’s now completely charred body. She had been saved twice by the tree people that day, yet she had no mood to mourn. Everything before her gave her a strong sense of unreality, even her own existence.
The land covered by the lightning zone had turned into utter scorched earth. Although Agus’s construct tower still stood in the center of that land, thick smoke billowed from its top, and fragments kept falling off. The forty-seven’s blast not only shattered the shield but also completely penetrated the entire construct tower. The clouds in the sky remained, but there was no more raging lightning. The clusters of spikes lost their glow, looking dim like burned wood, standing crookedly here and there. Of the demonized elves who had rushed in earlier, fewer than ten still showed signs of life, struggling weakly to get up—seemingly able to sustain themselves until the lightning network failed, survivors of yet another process of natural selection.
Jolice looked around in confusion. The Agus soldiers and construct warriors who had fought her earlier were all dead due to being too close to the lightning zone. Behind her, her own compatriots slowly emerged from behind the burned trees.

“First, save those dark elves!” With that, Jolice rushed out first, followed by a dozen surviving dark elves.
Morrill stood in the control room of the Construct, surrounded by cold steel walls. She didn’t see Yatu; some of the other high-ranking mages were still trying to stabilize the Construct, while most had already prepared spells to deal with the ever-smiling Dagulas. They had seen her attack Yatu, and no matter how capricious this woman usually was, she would never go so far as to attack Lord Yatu at such a time. So if she had done it, there was no doubt she was now an enemy of the Empire.
“Interesting,” Dagulas said, raising her hand and pointing at a white-robed mage who had just prepared a chain lightning spell. A burst of negative energy immediately pierced through his body, draining all his life force.
“Aren’t you coming to help? Don’t think you can stay out of this. If you don’t help, I’ll expose you!” Dagulas stamped her foot lightly, and black flames erupted from the feet of the other two mages, enveloping them in screams and flames.
“Darling! What are you waiting for? Only by uniting can we have a chance of defeating Yatu! Or do you want to help him against me? What about your steel boyfriend?” Dagulas cast another dissociation spell. The fourth fool, who had just regained consciousness from the ruined control panel, turned to dust before he could understand what was happening. Killing four high-ranking mages in a row seemed to be her best effort. The last mage wisely refused to join the attack; instead, he cast a few protective spells and fled the control room without looking back.
“Over there,” Morrill said, pointing.
“You’re so annoying!” Dagulas shot a black-red flame from her palm, which penetrated the wall in the direction Morrill indicated. Soon after, they heard faint cries of pain.
Morrill and Dagulas exchanged a brief glance.
There was no mistake this time—Dagulas had made contact with that powerful creature from the Abyss. Her return was certainly not just due to lucky survival. It was easy to guess from her attack on Yatu at that critical moment that her goal was related to Number 47.
Although Dagulas’ attack on Yatu was clearly out of fear that Yatu would completely destroy Number 47, she could be considered an ally for now. But still, Dagulas was not someone to trust, and it was hard to predict what would happen next.
“Even if we unite, we still can’t match Yatu. You must realize that!” Morrill felt the ground beneath her feet growing unstable—the Construct was on the verge of collapse. “Or do you have more confidence in the new power you gained from the Abyss?”
“Oh, I only have that little ability…” Dagulas even tried to act coy.
“Ungrateful dog!”
A thunderous roar made both of them pale.
“Let’s go!” For the first time in her life, Morrill took Dagulas’ hand, and the light of a teleportation spell flashed.
The scorched ground was almost too hot to stand on, but Morrill and Dagulas didn’t care. They both looked up at the collapsing Construct.
The wind picked up again.

Shards of the Constructed Tower flew everywhere, the clouds in the sky were torn apart, the air rushed rapidly, and faint thunder sounds resounded once again—A storm that formed swiftly swept up the blinding clouds of debris, gradually shaping a towering human figure—the churning thunderclouds formed his messy hair, while the shards of the Constructed Tower collided within his massive body, producing flashes like fireworks. The giant opened his mouth, his mouth and eyes filled with intensely bright lightning: “Awaken! Be utterly destroyed within my body transformed into the Yatu Storm!”