It all happened in an instant.
Wrath's hand wrapped around Damien's neck, immediately exerting immense pressure to crush it. At the same time, Tian Yang arrived next to him, spreading his authority and using everything he had to force Wrath's movements to a halt.
Like this, a stalemate developed. Damien became a hostage who would be killed the second Tian Yang let his guard down.
"Keuk…!"
He coughed out the blood that had gathered in his throat as his bewilderment grew with every passing moment. It took a few seconds for him to realize his own predicament.
While his heart began to panic, he forced a strand of mana into his brain to calm his reaction. If he moved too rapidly, Wrath's razor-sharp fingernails would dig into his neck and rip his head off.
He really had no leeway. It took everything in his power to remain calm in this situation. But as he saw how hard Tian Yang was working to keep him alive, he was able to calm himself far faster.
This wasn't something he had any say in. This was a standoff between Demigods where he was unfortunate enough to be caught in the middle.
"Let him go." Tian Yang uttered coldly, enunciating every syllable. His rage was clearly represented in the billowing killing intent coming from his body.
Damien could feel small pocket spaces opening between his neck and Wrath's claw, giving him some space to breathe.
If it was any other time, Damien would've marveled at Tian Yang's precision control, but now, he could only be thankful for the breaths he was taking.
Wrath's eyes were almost literally burning. They didn't leave Damien's figure even as Tian Yang spoke to him and restrained him. With every ounce of his strength, he pushed against those pocket spaces and attempted to gain ground on Tian Yang.
Tian Yang sighed in frustration. Wrath's rational mind was already gone. Conversing with him was impossible. But at the same time, Tian Yang no longer had the freedom to move against Wrath and kill him.
There were two reasons for this. Firstly, Wrath's insistence on killing Damien was too fierce. If Tian Yang diverted his attention to attack, Wrath could just as easily use that time to pierce through Damien's neck, which was the worst possible outcome.
Secondly, Wrath still had the final option of detonating his life force and mana. If he did this, not just Damien, but almost everyone else in this world would perish in an instant.
Tian Yang absolutely couldn't push Wrath to the point where he'd consider this option.
The only thing he could do was defend and make sure Damien didn't die.
Luckily, Wrath was already heavily injured and he'd used up a great deal of mana. In terms of attrition, Tian Yang had a major advantage.
If so, the only thing he could do was wait. When Wrath's strength decreased appropriately, he could take the opportunity to attack and save Damien.
As for Damien who was stuck playing this waiting game with Tian Yang, he could only hollowly laugh at his situation.
This was the second time Tian Yang had saved him from Wrath's murder attempts. Even compared to the last time, this one was far direr.
Damien's strength wasn't near his full potential, and with Void Mana currently hindering him more than it helped, he didn't even have the ability to put up a weak defense against someone like Wrath. He only had his mortal body.
This feeling of being forced to rely on outside help was extremely irking to Damien, but if it was Tian Yang, he could somewhat cope with it.
To this master of his, he only felt gratitude and closeness. Owing Tian Yang a favor or two wasn't a problem at all, even if that favor was a life-saving grace.
After all, this wasn't the first or second time Tian Yang had saved him. He'd saved Damien from Xue Yebai, many assassins sent by the Eclipsing Shadow Sect, and even from himself!
If it wasn't for Tian Yang's existence and guidance when Damien first arrived on the Cloud Plane, he really would've wandered with no goal or idea of how to proceed forward. Even his emotional trauma would've never been solved without Tian Yang's initiation.
Hell, in the previous moment, Tian Yang had even sacrificed his own blood vitality for Damien's sake!
Therefore, in this situation where his life and death wholly depended on Tian Yang, Damien was calmer than ever before.
If he died here, it would only be his own fault for not being prudent enough, attracting the greed of a Demigod.
This was the amount of trust he had in his master.
***
Within the Authority, only three were present. Those in the outside world hadn't even had time to react to the sudden change. In their eyes, Damien had merely vanished into thin air.
But even while being alarmed at this change, the allied force could only continue fighting. Their only chance at salvation was to win this war. Otherwise, death would be the tamest fate for them.
In the central area where Damien previously was, the death rates were by far the lowest. While in other areas, even 4th classes died like flies, it was different here.
Because this was where all the experts congregated.
Among the crowd, the White Dragon King, Elvira, Lucius, Aishia, and the Phoenix Matriarchs stood out the most. It wasn't just a matter of power, but also skill and cohesiveness.
Aside from Aishia, the rest had spent many years together and were incredibly familiar. Aishia herself was also incredibly adaptable and had amazing battle sense, making it relatively easy for her to understand and merge into their dynamic.
The White Dragon King utilized light while Lucius utilized darkness. When these two forces combined, they created a chaotic destructive force that could raze massive amounts of land with ease.
The Fire and Ice Phoenix Matriarchs also had similarly dichotomous abilities, combining fire and ice to create a sturdy defense and offense that couldn't be penetrated.
This only left Aishia and Elvira. While Aishia was a wood and life law practitioner, Aishia could use spirit laws, which were also a powerful and esoteric form of natural laws. Their combination was more additive than the other two groups, but their power didn't fall behind at all.
Together, this group cleaved their way through the battlefield. It came to a point where the surrounding enemies became too fearful of them to even move lest they become the next target.
But at this moment, the cohesion they maintained was abruptly broken.
"Hm?!"
"This…!"
"EVERYONE DODGE!"
The White Dragon King roared with everything he had. His body morphed into a massive dragon body over a thousand kilometers long. In his claws, he rapidly grabbed Aishia, Elvira, and Lucius and pushed his mana to exit the chaotic battlefield as fast as he could.
And seeing his actions, the two Phoenix Matriarchs also rapidly entered their beast forms and fled with him.
Their actions were instantaneous and extremely confusing to many. A large majority of them even thought the group ran out of energy and was fleeing in fear.
But a small portion of people like Jiang Hualing who had keen perception and ability to read people didn't hesitate to follow their actions.
These helpers called by Damien were fierce, far fiercer than a majority of the Cloud Plane's forces. There was no way they'd act without reason.
In that moment, a mere second after the White Dragon King's group and the Hidden Dragon Group escaped the central area, the earth burst apart.
It wasn't a small explosion at all. It was an explosion that enveloped the entire central area, swallowing all those remaining there within.
Suddenly, something shot out from the ground. This object was almost as thick as the massive hole that was created in the earth and shaped like a vine, the only difference being its pinkish and disgusting appearance, it almost looked like an internal organ more than a natural construct.
This fleshy vine burst through the central area. Everywhere it passed, 4th classes would burst into blood mist and be absorbed into the vine.
But its target…wasn't this battlefield at all.
It raced into the sky, shattering a hidden dimension that none present could sense with ease. For a millisecond, the scene of Wrath clutching Damien's neck while being imprisoned by Tian Yang was revealed to the world.
And in the next millisecond, that vine wrapped around Wrath and crushed his body into a paste, devouring him whole.
Everything went silent.
Whatever had just burst forth from the ground…was a calamity of untold proportions.
