Chapter 810 The Battle Against Malachar
Boom!
A deafening explosion shook Bloodstock City.
The humans below shielded their eyes. Only after the blinding light faded did they dare look toward the sky again.
A Celestial Manifestation nearly as large as a planet hovered above them.
It was Kael’s Grand Celestial Manifestation.
Kael himself had activated Stage Twenty of the Fiendgod Transformation. His four hands wielded his spirit sword, Astral Mountain, the Time Mirror, and his other treasures.
His colossal sword swept outward.
At the same moment, the Grand Celestial Manifestation threw a punch.
A series of explosions erupted across the sky.
The Stellar and Planetary Realm experts surrounding Kael plummeted like meteors. Some crashed into Bloodstock City’s protective barrier. Others possessed bodies so durable that they tore straight through it and fell into the crowds below.
“Withdraw!”
Malachar’s voice thundered across the sky.
His body expanded rapidly until he matched Kael’s towering size.
The other cultivators couldn’t contribute anything to a battle between experts of this level. If they remained nearby, they would only get in Malachar’s way.
The cultivators who had charged forward so aggressively fled even faster than they had arrived.
They didn’t go far. Instead, they stopped within a hundred miles to watch, each wrapped in a thick protective aura.
Humans, members of the Shadow Race, and experts from the myriad races had all gathered. Every eye was fixed on the two giants in the sky.
Kael gripped his sword with both hands and stared coldly at Malachar, who stood roughly five hundred yards away.
Malachar drew a deep breath and summoned his own spirit sword.
Without warning, the two enormous blades collided.
A dense shock wave erupted from the impact and swept outward in every direction.
Kael glanced down at Bloodstock City. Then his figure flashed, and he raced toward the outer reaches of Northguard City’s territory.
“You think you can run?” Malachar shouted. “It’s too late!”
Assuming Kael had lost his nerve, Malachar pursued him without hesitation.
The Planetary Realm and stronger experts among the myriad races followed from a distance. None of them wanted to miss a battle between two supreme experts.
“Can Kael defeat the Shadow Race?”
A human had barely finished asking the question when a Shadow cultivator atop the city wall pointed into the void.
The surrounding space rippled like the surface of a mirror. The distortion spread rapidly, forming a colossal projection several miles across.
Within it, Kael raced toward the edge of Northguard City’s territory at full speed. Despite his apparent retreat, there was no panic or disorder in his movements.
Malachar followed close behind, while the Planetary Realm and stronger experts of the myriad races trailed after them.
No matter where Kael flew, the projection remained locked onto him.
“Wretched humans. Today, I’ll let you witness the moment the City Lord crushes your precious hope.”
The Galactic Realm Shadow cultivator on the wall looked down at them with contempt.
Several days passed.
By then, Kael had put an entire light-hour between himself and Bloodstock City.
A battle here would have almost no chance of affecting the city.
When Kael stopped, Malachar halted as well.
The experts who had followed to support Malachar once again surrounded Kael from a distance.
In truth, some of them had no desire to help the City Lord.
But if they failed to make at least a token appearance, Malachar might settle accounts with them after killing Kael.
Deep down, some even hoped Kael would win.
Their races occupied the middle and lower tiers of the universal hierarchy. A sudden upheaval might offer them a chance to change their fortunes.
“Finished running?” Malachar asked calmly.
“Why would I run?”
Kael slashed without warning.
“You’ve signed your death warrant!”
Malachar answered with a furious swing of his own sword.
Clang!
A ring of cosmic radiation spiraled outward from the collision.
“What—”
“Aaargh!”
Several cultivators who had recklessly remained too close were struck by the radiation and reduced to cosmic dust.
Kael pressed forward, forcing Malachar back, then swung again.
Clang!
This time, Malachar staggered back more than a dozen steps.
Dark formation patterns appeared beneath his feet with every step.
Malachar gathered all his Origin Power and prepared to counterattack, but Kael was already upon him.
Another sword strike descended.
Clang!
Malachar was hurled backward.
Before he could regain control, his body split into thousands of black shadows that scattered in every direction.
“The Shadow Race’s Great Void Phantoms?”
Kael focused his attention. Blue light shone from both his eyes.
The technique deserved its reputation as the Shadow Race’s innate divine ability. Even Kael needed some time before he detected that one shadow was different from the rest.
He immediately summoned Astral Mountain and sent it hurtling toward the distant shadows.
Boom!
Everywhere Astral Mountain passed, its immense gravity dragged the densely packed shadows toward it. One after another, they were annihilated.
Only a single shadow managed to escape.
That was precisely the opportunity Kael had been waiting for.
The Time Mirror shone upon it.
The shadow’s movements immediately slowed.
Kael’s other two hands closed around his spirit sword and brought it down with tremendous force.
The blade tore through the shadow.
“Aaargh!”
A shriek filled with rage and hatred echoed through space.
Malachar’s true body reappeared.
His entire right arm had been severed along with his shoulder, and his aura had weakened by nearly half.
Northguard City’s massive void projection transmitted the entire scene back to Bloodstock City.
The city fell silent.
Then the humans erupted.
“Lord Lin is winning!”
“Humanity finally has hope!”
“Even the Lord of Northguard City can’t defeat Lord Lin!”
“We won’t have to watch three thousand of our people executed every day anymore!”
Countless human voices merged into a continuous roar.
An old man dropped to his knees and repeatedly prostrated himself toward Kael’s image in the sky.
The Shadow cultivator controlling the projection stood frozen, all confidence gone.
The cultivators surrounding the battlefield had already retreated several hundred miles. From there, they used their Spiritual Sense to track every movement Kael and Malachar made.
The Shadow cultivators were horrified by what they saw.
The powerful races that had prospered under Northguard City’s rule were equally shaken.
The less successful races reacted very differently. Their gazes sharpened with barely concealed anticipation.
As for the races Northguard City had suppressed, they stared at Kael as though he were their savior.
Although those races suffered under Northguard City’s rule, they had still been allowed to stand above humanity. That small privilege gave them a sense of superiority and helped prevent them from rebelling.
But cultivators weren’t fools.
They had only pretended to take pride in their position because they feared Northguard City’s power. Deep down, they understood that the entire hierarchy was merely a tool the Shadow Race used to maintain control.
Given the slightest opportunity, they wanted a powerful force to defeat the Lord of Northguard City and give them a chance to reverse their fortunes.
“How can you possibly be this powerful?”
Malachar spat out a mouthful of blood and stared at Kael in disbelief.
Kael showed no emotion.
He swallowed a drop of Immortal Spirit Liquid. The Origin Power he had expended was restored almost instantly.
Then he raised the Time Mirror again.
The mirror hummed.
Malachar’s movements slowed once more.
Kael’s other two hands lifted his spirit sword.
“Wait!”
Malachar had spoken only a single word when Kael’s colossal blade came down.
This time, it cut him cleanly in half at the waist.