Chapter 972

"Hey brother, where do you think our siblings are?" Dan asked as they stood high in the sky, observing the carnage from a vantage point far above the reach of ordinary men.

Beneath their feet were invisible Ki platforms, structures as solid as the earth itself.

They had managed to conceal themselves effectively behind the clear, high-altitude clouds.

For some reason, there were two distinct shades of clouds looming over the battlefield; one was as white as it naturally should be, while the second was a heavy, ashen grey.

Feeling unsure about the unnatural formation, the duo hid behind the white, familiar vapours while carefully masking their aura and presence.

They had arrived on the battlefield only a few seconds ago and could now witness the staggering chaos unfolding beneath them.

Han didn’t rush to reply, his brown eyes gliding across the terrain while searching for specific individuals.

"I don’t know. The army is simply too vast for me to spot them easily. Even if they are here—which I know they are—they will surely be surrounded by enemies, making it difficult to pinpoint their exact location."

Dan crossed his arms with a slight, impatient huff.

"I still don’t get it, though. Why are we actually here? We don’t care about whatever happens to Dame, so what’s the point?"

Han turned toward Dan with a stern frown on his face.

"I’m here to witness the might of the Dawn forces. Nothing more, nothing less."

Dan rubbed his temples tiredly, clearly not sharing his brother’s curiosity. "Hm... well, the Supreme Magus isn’t here, so why are we bothering ourselves?"

Han sighed at his brother’s denseness, his focus remaining on the ground.

"Just keep quiet and let me observe what I’m observing."

__

Down below, Dame and Anna were already surrounded from all corners by a relentless tide of enemies.

Spear in hand, Anna was dancing fluidly through the press of bodies.

A precise thrust followed by a swift deflection; she batted a sword away before attempting to kick her opponent back.

But before she could finish the move, a heavy hammer descended toward her leg from above.

Snapping her limb backward to avoid the crushing blow, Dame slid forward and bashed his gauntlet into the man’s face.

The impact sent the attacker sliding away with a shattered jaw.

Anna twirled her spear and delivered a vicious thrust toward her rear.

TCHAAAK—!

The spear found its mark, ripping through enemy flesh with ease.

Yanking the weapon forward, she immediately ducked to avoid a horizontal slash aimed at her neck.

Dame’s leg whistled forward, crashing into the man’s side and sending him skidding away with cracked ribs.

But the assault didn’t end there.

He spun around almost immediately, crossing his hands in front of his face to intercept a fresh threat.

CLANG—!

A sword struck his reinforced gauntlet with a loud, metallic ring.

The attacker sidestepped instantly as Dame moved for a counter-attack.

Before the warrior could reposition himself, the enemy thrust a blade toward his exposed flank with desperate speed.

Anna surged forward at full velocity.

Swinging her spear like a heavy bat, she forced the man to duck in a frantic attempt to avoid the wide swing.

Seizing the opening, Dame whirled around, his gauntlets glowing with a concentrated light.

Punching the air with all his might, a visible Ki fist fired outward.

It crashed into the man’s abdomen, sending his body flying into the crowd as a burst of spit flew from his mouth.

Tilting her head to the side, Anna narrowly avoided a stray spear which, unfortunately, grazed her cheek, leaving a thin, crimson line.

Swinging her spear upward, she bashed the enemy’s weapon into the air for a moment before exploding forward with a lightning-fast jab to the man’s midsection. Blood spurted out like a fountain as the man collapsed.

Her eyes quickly darted around the battlefield to see more enemies closing in on them, but Dame was still trying his hardest to keep the tide at bay.

"Hey sis, I knew you were strong, but I never knew you were this formidable," Dame chuckled as he deflected a heavy blow to his chest.

His leg snapped forward, crashing into the man’s abdomen.

But to his surprise, the opponent didn’t go flying; he had reinforced his core with a dense coating of Ki.

Pushing forward, the man prepared to launch a counter-attack.

Anna slashed through the air with her spear, sending a Ki crescent bursting from the weapon’s tip and flying toward the enemy.

The man caught sight of the energy and quickly dove to the side to avoid being cleaved.

Unfortunately for him, Dame was already waiting, delivering a firm roundhouse kick to his neck that sent his body flying through the air.

"Get used to it," Anna added calculatedly.

__

In another sector of the chaos, the remaining members of the Crimson Lotus Clan—Ash, Judy, and Lance—were fighting back-to-back.

"I still wanna know why I’m on the frontline!" Ash shouted as a blow landed on his jaw, snapping his head to the side in sharp pain.

Leaping backward just in time, he dodged a second punch from another enemy.

A kick from a third opponent forced him to sidestep, but without hesitation, he snatched the leg out of the air.

His nails dug into the man’s limb, drawing blood instantly.

That was not all.

The man’s eyes bulged incredulously as foam began dribbling from his mouth.

He started spasming violently before crashing into the ground, neutralized.

Lance ducked in time, narrowly avoiding a strike to his chest.

His axe slashed upward in a vicious arc, but it was deflected by an enemy’s sword.

Clenching his jaw, he bounded backward before springing to his feet with renewed aggression.

"Stop grumbling and just fight, fool!" Lance growled before lunging back at his adversaries.

A slash here. A slash there.

One from above, one from the side—Lance was moving with a frantic, blurring speed.

The enemy was simply unable to keep up with his pace.

A heavy blow from Lance’s axe struck one man’s torso, ripping a clean gash across it as crimson sprayed into the air.

Lifting his second axe, he blocked a mace from another attacker; the impact rattled his bones and sent him drifting backward in dull pain.

Judy, meanwhile, was currently dancing between the enemies.

Her movements were fluid and precise.

Her previously shy, shifty look was gone, replaced by a gaze that was far more sinister and focused.

Vaulting into the air for a brief moment, the tip of her spear began glowing with a sharp, yellow sheen.

Bang—!

A beam shot out from the spear with lightning speed.

It crashed into the head of one of the men surrounding her, tearing a hole through his helmet before he could even react.

Before he could even hit the ground, Judy had already spun around in mid-air, repeating the lethal process on another enemy.