Ryan barely had time to react.

’’You—!’’

Before he could even merge with the shadows, the massive golden beam swallowed his body completely.

BOOOOOM!

A deafening explosion rang out across the battlefield.

Golden lightning erupted wildly through the streets, tearing through nearby creatures and vaporizing the floodwater into steam.

Theo immediately jumped back, landing on an overturned car.

His eyes instantly swept across the battlefield.

Many of the remaining creatures still seemed to be affected by the madness. Yet whenever they noticed the Frost Serpent, each turned around and fled immediately.

’Good,’ he thought, nodding slowly. ’So the pressure got rid of the sickness.’

Then his gaze landed on Owen and Lyra.

Owen had long finished up his own fight, having smashed one of the Calamity men into the ground. Now, he’d even begun helping Lyra out.

’They’re fighting a silver core?’ he thought, hesitating for a moment. ’No, they can handle that.’

His gaze finally landed back where his lightning beam had struck.

Ryan’s body had completely disintegrated, with not even bones left behind.

Theo scoffed, shaking his head.

Then he glanced behind him with narrowed eyes.

The remaining civilians had all started to move, running desperately for the barrier.

Hunters shouted at them to keep moving while desperately guarding the sides of the convoy.

Some carried babies in their arms, others dragged along family members who could barely walk anymore.

A few even carried the injured on their backs, some of whom had their legs cut off after the Frost Serpent froze the water.

Immense fear and exhaustion covered every single face.

Yet despite all that...

None dared stop moving.

The two hundred ice sculptures behind them reminded everyone with each and every step.

Staying meant death.

BOOOOOM!!

Theo’s gaze snapped up into the sky.

Joop and the Frost Serpent clashed again.

A wave of purple flames, amplified by wind, rushed toward the serpent’s entire body.

For a moment, the serpent shrunk back.

But then—

Hundreds of massive ice spikes formed in the sky behind it.

CRACK! CRACK! CRACK!

Each of them shot forward toward Joop with immense force and speed.

They moved so fast, Theo could barely even track them with his eyes!

The old man twisted and turned, dodging spike after spike as a wind tornado formed around him.

WHOOSH!

The tornado spun rapidly, tearing the remaining spikes into pieces long before they could reach him.

It nearly grew to the size of a skyscraper.

Yet, Theo couldn’t feel the slightest hint of wind.

’Whoa...’

His eyes widened as he stared at the fight.

This was on a completely different level from what he could do.

The serpent shot several gigantic spikes the size of entire buildings toward Joop from all sides.

Joop forced out more flames, lighting the entire tornado up in a blinding purple mass.

But then—

Theo’s pupils shrank.

The Frost Serpent raised its tail slightly, forming a massive spiked sphere of ice on top of it.

Then, while Joop couldn’t see through the flaming tornado, it swung out toward him.

Inside, Joop’s eyes widened.

He barely had time to react as the massive ball rammed through his tornado.

BOOOOOM!

Joop’s body shot out of the tornado.

THUD!

His body crashed through an entire building, sending dust into the air.

Theo froze, pure horror appearing on his face.

’Joop...?!’

His gaze fell on the civilians below.

The first people had barely reached the barrier, still leaving over five hundred people walking behind them.

Without hesitation, he jumped off the overturned car immediately.

His legs almost gave out underneath him from exhaustion, but he didn’t care.

’I don’t have much mana left,’ he thought, gritting his teeth. ’But I have to help... or all of this is for nothing.’

That’s when the Frost Serpent slowly turned its head.

Its deep blue eyes locked onto the fleeing civilians, hunters... and Theo.

Theo instantly felt an overwhelming pressure crash down on him.

Several nearby civilians collapsed onto the frozen streets immediately. Others trembled so hard they couldn’t even stand anymore.

Even the weaker hunters guarding them felt their knees go weak, collapsing onto the ground.

As Theo saw the scene, only one thought went through his mind.

’I just need to stall,’ he thought desperately. ’Just stall. Stall. Stall.’

If he could take the attention off the civilians for even a minute, no, half a minute, most of them could create enough distance to reach the barrier.

Theo’s mind raced wildly as he searched for options while running forward.

’Can’t use water... it’ll freeze instantly.’

’Lightning? But how is it strong enough?’

’I need to do something!’

Then... the Frost Serpent opened its mouth again.

A freezing white mist began gathering between its massive fangs.

Theo’s eyes widened in panic.

’I’ll die!’

For a split second, his fingers touched the spatial plate in his pocket.

’Escape... and survive?’

But the thought disappeared almost immediately.

All around him, civilians struggled to move. Parents carried children, friends dragged each other across the flooded streets.

But he didn’t truly care about them.

Far behind him...

Owen and Lyra were still protecting the people.

His best friend for countless years, and a friend he’d just recently made.

’There’s no way in hell I’m leaving them behind!’

Theo’s grip tightened around his spear.

’I’ll send everything!’ he thought. ’Everything I have to block this one shot!’

The image of the silver-core stage of Divine Thunderstorm flashed through his mind again and again.

Slowly, Theo raised his hand toward the sky.

Lightning instantly gathered into a gigantic sphere above him.

Then—

It soared high into the sky.

Dark clouds slowly began gathering above him.

RUMBLE! RUMBLE!

Theo’s heart pounded violently as his body grew weaker with every passing second.

His mana drained at a horrifying speed.

Lightning crackled wildly throughout the clouds, slowly spreading all over the surrounding streets.

Yet this time...

It didn’t gather into one devastating beam.

Instead, multiple gigantic lightning streams intertwined with each other, zigzagging throughout the sky like arrows from heaven.

’This is it!’

Theo’s eyes sharpened as he stared at the Frost Serpent.