Towers Of Heaven - 78 Book 3 Chapter 72

Vindred was your traditional humanoid demon, and of the remaining generals, only he wore armor. Unlike the elite demon armies, his equipment was unbelievably ancient. It was a miracle it still held together with how rusted and cracked it was. Strangely, from helmet to boots, it was all one piece. There were no gaps. You could only see a red glow from the slit in his helmet.

As soon as the Alliance jumped off the undead Toka, Vindred was immediately drawn to Shenlong’s spear, then to Shenlong himself. Vindred roared, his voice eerily distorted. His body blurred as he shot forward like a cannonball. Left in his path was a red line.

In the next moment, Vindred reappeared above Shenlong, his debilitated spear smashing down without finesse. The attack was brutish and crude, yet Shenlong felt forced to respond in kind. Either face it head-on or die. There was no other option!

“Break!” Shenlong released a low growl as he shattered the mental suppression infused in Vindred’s attack. A simple step back removed him from harm. At the same time, Shenlong pierced space and attacked Vindred from behind.

As if he had eyes on the back of his head, Vindred twisted in the air like a snake and narrowly avoided the blow. Meanwhile, since Shenlong dodged Vindred’s first attack, Vindred blow continued to smash down. If unchanged, it would likely create a crater upon making contact with the ground.

However, under Vindred’s godly control, he transformed his smash into a stab. In one smooth motion, Vindred used his spear as a pillar and kicked out with a Strength stat of five thousand.

Shenlong’s heart dropped to his stomach. Godslayer failing to land a blow after piercing space was somewhat surprising, but Vindred’s counter-attack struck when Shenlong was most vulnerable. After all, he was still in the motion of swinging his spear. Shenlong’s chest would collapse upon receiving Vindred’s kick. The only way to avoid the attack was to teleport away or activate Godslayer’s berserk skill, but those were Shenlong’s lifesaving skills. To use them in the first exchange meant defeat was inevitable.

At that critical moment, inspired by Vindred’s agility, this nearly a hundred year old senior performed the most acrobatic move in his life. Shenlong lifted his heels while at the same time leaning back until his back was perpendicular to the ground. After avoiding the kick, thanks to Godslayer’s passive skill allowing him to attack instantly at full momentum, Shenlong sent the butt of his spear into the earth beneath him and pushed.

Shenlong swung out with his free arm as he flew up. Like two magnets, his fist honed in and collided with the side of Vindred’s head. While he didn’t have five thousand Strength, the force behind the blow was still enough to send Vindred packing.

Only after flying a hundred feet did the demon come to a stop. Vindred could have landed on his feet, but he was too happy to care for appearances. That’s right. Happy. He’d finally found a worthy opponent and a spear user, no less.

When Vindred stood and locked eyes with Shenlong, the red glow from his helmet spread out to cover all the cracks in his armor. Now, they were more like veins.

As the two spear masters prepared for their second exchange, the Alliance and minotaurs finally clashed with the other demon generals.

Chaos!

Destruction!

It was like a scene from a movie depicting the end of the world. Lava sprang from the earth, meteors fell from the sky, and thick coils of lightning struck from the heavens. Space exploded, the wind howled, and the ground shattered as thousands of skills went off like fireworks.

The Health of ascenders dropped and rose like the tide. Carly, Tank, and the other healers were everyone’s lifeline. Although demons weren’t familiar with healing skills, they quickly figured out why their enemies never died. It only took a minute for them to lock onto Carly and the others.

Casil, the one-winged fallen angel, fought against Olivia and her team. After becoming Vex’s champion, Olivia’s strength underwent an evolution. No matter how Casil attacked, Olivia avoided everything, either by teleporting, becoming a shadow, or dispersing into darkness. When Casil tried to attack other ascenders, Olivia would attack her blindspot with ruthless precision. It was a nightmare.

“Ugh!” Casil pulled at her hair after avoiding a deadly stab from Olivia. “You think you’re fast, huh?! I’ll show you speed!”

A cacoon of wind formed around Casil at her declaration. No matter how the Alliance attacked, they couldn’t break through the barrier. Thankfully, it didn’t last long. In a moment, the cacoon shattered as Casil became a living tornado. Wind covered her body like skin, boosting her speed to unfathomable levels.

Casil locked onto Carly in the distance and vanished. Before anyone could react, she was in front of the healer, her hand swiping across like a scythe. Carly looked on calmly as if she wasn’t on the verge of death. She could warp away by using Wekkin’s rune, but she didn’t.

Just before Casil’s attack landed, space stretched into infinity as darkness took over the world. Carly and the other ascenders vanished like smoke in the wind. Only two people were left in this realm: Casil and Olivia.

“Well? Show me your speed,” Casil spun around and found Olivia looking back at her with a languid expression.

“Brat, don’t regret your words,” Casil appeared behind Olivia as she spoke, though her face dropped after feeling nothing.

Like a mirage, Olivia’s body merged into the world of darkness as a soft chuckle came from everywhere. “Speed?”

Olivia’s tone was full of disdain, as if saying being fast was worthless. Casil ripped out her hair as she screamed, “Dead! Dead! You’re dead!”

Olivia wasn’t actually looking down on her opponent. No, she was trying to goad her enemy into making mistakes. Unlike her companions, Olivia would use everything to her advantage. Be that a disability or psychological warfare, it didn’t matter.

“Heh,” Casil suddenly relaxed and sneered. “Did you think I wouldn’t realize how much energy it takes to maintain this world?”

“Oh? You aren’t too stupid, after all,” Olivia’s voice came from Casil’s side, taunting her.

A vein throbbed on Casil’s forehead before she took a deep breath. “Five minutes? Ten? It doesn’t matter how much time you have if you can’t harm me. I admit you’re good, but your stats are too low. I wouldn’t be your match if we had the same attributes. Too bad.”

“Hey, I have a question,” Olivia abruptly changed the topic. “Do you think your physical body is in here, or your soul?”

“Hm?” Casil didn’t think much of it at first, but then she realized something. Wouldn’t her body be defenseless if her soul was the one pulled in? Casil immediately inspected her body. Even so, she couldn’t tell. She didn’t feel any different than usual.

Was Olivia trying to trick her? Could she afford to take that gamble? No! Then how could she break out of this place? Casil activated all her skills and runes, yet the darkness absorbed all her attacks without so much as trembling. It was like throwing a rock into an endless abyss.

“Brat! Tell me the truth,” Casi’s perplexion was pale as she screamed. The threat of death had entered her mind. Even now, she couldn’t determine whether this was her soul body or physical body.

Olivia waited a few minutes without responding. Only after realizing Casil wouldn’t attack further did she sigh. “Fine. This is your real body.”

At this time, the world of darkness started to collapse. Just as Casil felt relieved, Olivia’s next sentence froze her blood, “You’re so stupid.”

When the world of darkness collapsed, every attack Casil sent into it returned at full power. How many times did she attack in those five minutes? Ten times? A hundred times? A thousand times? Every attack struck her at once.

“You tricked me!” Casil screamed as her attacks ripped her body into shreds. Olivia deceived her into thinking her body was under assault, so she tried to break free from the world of darkness. Never had she considered this possibility.

Casil dropped two runes when she died. Olivia appeared next to the loot, but she was too exhausted to pick them up. Sustaining the world of darkness for so long drained all her Void Energy.

The nearby ascenders shouted in victory before moving to fight another general. Although Casil was the first to die, the battle was far from over. Of the remaining generals, Vindred engaged in an intense fight with Shenlong and Dubaku.

Amara and Lavos were pummeling Ynyvag, though upon realizing it was no match for them, it tried to take out as many ascenders as possible before it died. Hence, most casualties came from Ynyvag. Nearly two hundred ascenders and ten minotaurs had already died to its tentacles.

The losses were almost as much at Peter and Roy’s side. The tank-sized humanoid spider, Zess, possessed troublesome and deadly skills. As one would expect from a spider, it constantly spewed out webs, that once attached, couldn’t be removed. The webs glued many ascenders to the ground, after which Zess pierced their brains with her spear-like legs. No amount of healing from Roy or the other healers could reverse an instant kill.

“Damn it!” Roy screamed in agony after watching another ascender die. He’d been dishing out as much damage as possible to stop Zess from killing any more, but the spider was agile to an insane degree. Thanks to its anatomy, it could cast skills while moving and avoiding attacks.

Roy watched another ascender get webbed to the ground. Soon, Zess would pierce their brains, killing them. Roy desperately thought of ways to kill the spider faster as Zess moved to its next victim. Peter tried to block Zess’s path but to no avail. He was no longer on the same level as Shenlong, Olivia, and Jason.

Roy’s eyes turned bloodshot as he saw the ascender pinned to the ground struggle to free themselves. Time slowed to a crawl as Roy’s mind went into hyperdrive. Spider. Webs. Trapped. Debuff. Debuff? That’s it!

Enlightened, Roy used a skill to remove debuffs on himself. As it was a single-target skill, he’d been using it whenever it was on cooldown, but it wasn’t enough to keep up with the rate Zess spewed webs. Now that Roy cast it on himself, he stretched his senses to the limit to feel its effects. Then, he mimicked it and spread it across his Domain.

A warm golden light encompassed everyone fighting Zess, and the webs pinning them to the ground or covering their bodies melted like snow under the sun. The person Zess was about to kill broke free and delivered a deadly blow from underneath. As for everyone else, their damage increased thanks to the webs no longer preventing certain actions.

Peter appeared next to Roy, “How long can you keep that up?”

“The whole fight if I focus on support instead,” Roy gripped his broadsword tightly as he decided to change tactics.

“Good!” Peter re-entered the battle while Roy stayed near the healers. Inwardly, Roy was a bit upset. He didn’t want to fill a support role. Like Jason, Roy wanted overwhelming strength. However, if this were to be his role, then he’d do his best, although reluctantly. To let his pride get in the way of his beliefs went against his code.

The ascenders dying to Zess dropped significantly after Roy found a way to counter her skills. With top-tier ascenders like Roy, Olivia, Shenlong, Amara, and Dubaku holding the general’s attention, victory appeared imminent.

Jason and Ebba, who sat upon the undead Toka, thought otherwise. Thanks to their position, they were able to get a view of the entire battlefield. While top-tier ascenders suppressed many generals, the remaining generals didn’t have anyone holding them back. The raid parties without someone like Shenlong or Jason lost an ascender every few moments.

In total, over four hundred ascenders and thirty minotaurs already died. This was the most significant loss humanity had ever experienced since the tower’s arrival, and that was without the demon king making an appearance.

“Damn it!” Ebba clenched her hands as she turned to Jason. “Have you recovered?”

Jason only gave a bitter smile. How much time had passed since the battle began? Not even fifteen minutes. It was already a miracle he’d recovered 10% of his Soul Force given the short time. Still, that only brought him to 40% in total. He’d need at least an hour to return to fighting condition.

Ebba thought for a moment. “Can you move yet?”

Jason’s control over his body was shaky at best, yet he still nodded. Ebba rose to her feet. “Get off! I’m entering the fight.”

Jasons insane consumption of Soul Force forced Ebba to protect him until he recovered. Upon seeing the state of the battlefield, however, she couldn’t give a damn. Unable to stand, Jason awkwardly rolled off the undead Toka and landed on the ground face first with a groan.

Meanwhile, Ebba controlled her undead minion to use one of its skills and reduce its size. Otherwise, she’d harm her companions more than help. As the undead Toka shrunk, Ebba noticed some movement in the distance.

Looking over, she found a cloud of dust, in front of which ran a few demons. Sersa, the humanoid salamander, an ash orc, a storm ant, and a dire satyr sprinted with such speed it was like they flew along the ground. Each of them was the chieftain of their tribe, and while their strength might not be on par with Lavos, they weren’t far off.

Neither the Alliance nor the demon generals expected reinforcements to arrive. To the Alliance, this was a miracle, but to the generals, it spelled their doom.

Vindred withdrew from his fight with Shenlong and Dubaku, then screamed. “Fight together!”

The remaining generals appeared reluctant, but in the end, retreated from their battles and grouped up. Never before did they think the day would come when they teamed up with their rivals. Their decision proved correct when the four chieftains entered the fight with a bang.

Sersa rode atop a wave of murky water and smashed into a general, while the storm ant burrowed into the ground only to appear underneath Zess and rip off one of her legs. Simultaneously, the satyr, a half-goat half-human creature, cast curses on the generals and buffs on the Alliance in some strange language.

The ash orc entered the battle without any flashy display of skills. As she approached a general, the veins on her body bulged as her muscles expanded several times over. With a simple kick, the ground ruptured, and in the next moment, she was before her enemy. The general, a disfigured demon, used a lifesaving skill to evade the punch. Without a target, the destructive force behind the ash orc’s blow left a long trench in the ground.

The orcs following moves lacked any technique, but everyone could feel hear the sonic booms from her attacks. It was hard to imagine the strength of the legendary orc who fought the demon king to a standstill for several days if even her descendant displayed such might.

The scales of victory tipped towards the Alliance with the arrival of the four chieftains, but even if they won, it would be a pyrrhic victory at best. Facing the demon king afterward would be impossible.

Just then, space twisted and collapsed as the haven suddenly appeared adjacent to the battlefield. Atop the haven’s wall was Sam and his team. Before the battle, Peter ordered them to sneak away and teleport the haven over.

The haven’s fully upgraded barrier quadrupled everyone’s effective Health. Not only that, it continually regenerated, so it was like everyone had a personal healer. Hence, with the barrier’s protection, the Alliance and minotaurs started trading blow for blow.

Under the barrage of attacks from the haven’s structures and the Alliance’s mad assault, the generals fell one after another. Ynyvag collapsed, then Zess and Vindred, until finally, only the Alliance remained standing.

The minotaurs, ash orc, and the others cheered. Only the Alliance remained silent. All they saw were countless items littering the ground. Five hundred sets of equipment. Five hundred lives.

“Look! Look up!” An ascender abruptly screamed in terror before anyone had any time to grieve.

Everyone lifted their heads, and what they saw horrified them. The once distant eye in the sky was now frighteningly close, at most a few hundred feet away. Even the haven, a large town, appeared small and insignificant in comparison. What scared everyone the most was their reflection in its red slit of a pupil.

“What’s that in the center?” Shenlong questioned, his eyesight far superior to most.

Everyone looked closer, and indeed, they saw somethinga white dot. It grew larger and larger as if moving towards them. Soon, everyone could make out a castle made from skulls.

“Retreat to the haven!” Peter was the first to come to his senses. This turn of events was far stranger than anything the tower had thrown at them in the past. Thankfully, everyone had an inkling of what was happening and followed Peter’s command without hesitation. Soon, only the ash orc chieftain remained on the battlefield.

“I’ve been waiting for you!” The orc released a battle cry and leaped. In one jump, she reached the eye and entered its pupil, a queer sight. In the next moment, the orc shot out of the eye faster than she entered, followed by a sonic boom louder than any before.

The ground collapsed into a thousand pieces like a shattered window. At the center of the impact was the orc chieftain. Unlike a moment earlier, her torso had a gaping hole, almost as large as her chest. She struggled to her feet, and just when she stood, someone landed next to her.

(Mutant, Floor Boss) Aamon – Level 350

Health: 100,000,000/100,000,000

Although Aamon was only fifteen feet high, his presence was like the gravity of a star. You couldn’t help but gaze his way. If anything, he was impossibly beautiful. With sleek black skin and muscles sculpted by Michelangelo, his body was the epitome of perfection. The two horns atop his head were the only detracting factor, at least for humans. The only clothing he wore was a pair of shorts.

Aamon inspected the orc before him in interest, then shook his head. “Too weak.”

Just as the orc was about to respond, Aamon put his finger on her lips. “Out of respect for her, I’ll let you leave with your life.”

The chieftain’s eyes turned bloodshot. Instead of leaving, she raised her arm and attacked. Aamon sighed, sidestepped, then drove the ash orc’s head into the ground. She moved no longer. Surprisingly, Aamon didn’t absorb her essence. He only gazed at her corpse with a wistful expression before turning to the haven.

The Alliance, minotaurs, and remaining chieftains stared back, prepared for battle. However, Aamon’s next action shocked them. He simply sat on the ground and waited. Upon seeing the Alliance’s reaction, Aamon laughed, “What’s not to get? I want to fight you at your best. Right now, you’re all too exhausted to prove a worthy opponent.”

Was this arrogance? Disdain? Or perhaps respect?

This turn of events was the lifeline the Alliance needed. It was just unexpected to come from their greatest enemy yet. Regardless of how everyone felt, they copied Aamon and sat to rest. Once they recovered to their peak, the final battle would begin!

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