Chapter 278: Defense and Offense – End of Battle.
"What?"
"Are you afraid?"
The moment Lorien's voice resonated eerily across the battlefield, it weirdly traveled across time and space and straight into the ears of Makima and Kishibe, instantly waking them up from their shocked, and weirdly dazed state.
Having just been unexpectedly attacked by the will of the world, Makima and Kishibe's immediate reaction was one of shock, quickly followed by a heightened sense of vigilance.
After all, being in the business of devil hunting for such a long time, being sneak attacked wasn't something new to them.
However, unlike any previous attacks they had encountered, the warning sent by the will of the world was accompanied by a mental attack, which was the reason behind their previous dazed state.
[Leave!]
[Leave!]
[LEAVE!]
As this voice, seemingly originating from the depths of the unknown, continued to echo in their minds, both Makima and Kishibe found themselves strangely unable to resist or refuse its influence.
To them, it was as if this voice held absolute authority over their lives and deaths.
However, as Lorien's voice echoed, it swiftly shattered this eerie trance, enabling them to realize what was currently happening.
It's just that this awakening also came with a price as Lorien's voice didn't just awaken them, but it also slightly injured them as it seemed to carry some sort of mental attack.
*Cough*
*Cough*
Coughing up some blood, Makima and Kishibe's eyes collectively shrank as only now did they realize that they got themselves into a situation that was way beyond their pay grade.
After all, they had only taken a couple of steps onto the battlefield and were already attacked by the two opposing parties for no apparent reason.
However, if we were to talk about who was more confused between the two, that would be Makima, whose eyes suddenly widened as she realized something unbelievable.
'My injury.'
'It's not healing.'
As slight as it was, no matter what Makima did and how she tried to transfer the injury to other people, it was simply impossible to heal it.
Each time she transferred it, the injury would indeed disappear for a moment before mysteriously returning as if nothing had happened.
'A special attack targeting devils?' she thought, still confused about the situation.
However, what she didn't know was that the injury inflicted on her by Lorien was actually caused by a conceptual attack targeting "Makima" itself as a concept.
Additionally, neither she nor Kishibe had any time to ponder this, as Lorien's intervention had triggered a violent reaction from the world.
*Crackle*
*Crackle*
With the dark clouds in the sky churning erratically and thunder and lightning echoing across the battlefield, the attack that the world had been preparing was finally unleashed, directed straight at the 4km-wide dreamland at the center of the battlefield.
This attack seemed to indicate that even though the world might not be able to stop Lorien from intervening directly, it could still deal with him in other ways.
*Swish*
Seeing this, Lorien whose focus was still on Makima and Koshibe, quickly reacted mobilizing all the power he could to block this attack.
Right now, there were only 4 kilometers left in his domain, and from prior experience, each attack forced him to sacrifice about 5 kilometers in radius to block it.
So, all things considered, if we were to describe Lorien's situation mildly, it would be called dire.
However, thankfully for him, having gained some breathing room in the prior attack, which allowed him to restore some of his energy, Lorien could now at least use his own power to mitigate a portion of the incoming attack.
Additionally, Lorien decided to alter his tactics slightly this time around.
"The best defense is a good offense."
"Instead of sacrificing a portion of my domain just to block the attack, I'd rather sacrifice it to launch one of my own." Lorien reasoned.
"That way, I may not only be able to block this attack but also cause more damage to the world will." Lorien concluded.
With this thought in his mind, Lorien wasted no time as he swiftly mobilized his power, sacrificed 3 kilometers of his domain, and launched the attack in one fluid motion.
*Bzzz*
*Bzzz*
In a heartbeat, under Makima and Koshibe's shocked eyes, the scarlet lightning dragon that was hurtling from the sky was suddenly intercepted by a multicolored sword slash.
Then, without leaving them time to react, the two attacks collided, erupting into a colossal explosion that shook the ground beneath them, shrouded the heavens above them, and drained all color from the world.
*BOOM*
However, fortunately for them, the aftermath of this clash didn't travel far this time as Lorien chose not to redirect it.
After all, the only reason he redirected it the last time was because it affected him, however, with only 1 kilometer left in his domain, this wasn't an issue anymore.
Though, the situation differed for the World Will as the aftermath of the clash caused the clouds in the sky to scatter once more, resulting in the loss of more power for the world.
"Tsk, Tsk, Luckily, I intercepted it before it traveled far; Otherwise, I probably wouldn't have been able to block the aftermath this time." Lorien spoke, his breath erratic from exhaustion.
Saying this, Lorien lifted his gaze to the sky once more, waiting to see if the 'Clouds' would gather once more.
By now, Lorien had already depleted a significant amount of the World's Energy in this battle.
The only question now was whether it was enough for the world to deem any further actions not worth it.
'It's time to wait...'
1 Minute, 2 Minutes, 3 Minutes, 5 Minutes...
This waiting game continued for about 15 more minutes, only then did Lorien slightly lower his guard.
However, despite its withdrawal, Lorien could still feel the sense of oppression emanating from the world and the continuous strengthening of the surrounding time and space blockade.
'Hmmm?'
'I see, so it most likely guessed that even if it were to attack me again, it would most likely fail to kill me.'
'So, instead of wasting more energy in attacking me, it spent this energy to block my escape; That way, it could prepare for another wave of attack once it recuperates.'
'Tsk, however, I probably can't leave the domain now; otherwise, it would most likely immediately take advantage of the opportunity and launch an attack.'
'Now, it is basically a waiting game.' Lorien concluded.
'Which will happen first~'
'It, recovering and attacking me, or my plan succeeding?'
'HAHAHA, this is quite interesting.'
Thinking about the situation, Lorien couldn't help but feel quite happy.
He had not only survived relying solely on his own power but also found that things were somehow proceeding according to his plan.
'And here I was thinking about running away.'
Shaking his head, the smile on Lorien's face remained as he turned his gaze towards the edge of the battlefield.
'Well, I guess that are still a couple of things to deal with...'
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