Chapter 88

Boom!

Deafening thunder roared across the sky, and dark clouds spread rapidly throughout the entire field. Multicolored divine lightning swirled across the sky.

In the dim field, all the goblin troops began to emit a blue light. A large magic circle enveloped the formation above them.

Waving the giant hammer in his hand, Vigg Sorson flexed his body, which had regained flexibility. Just now, due to the suppression of the domain, he felt as if he were moving underwater, with every movement feeling hindered.

"Spirit equipment charged, target the human warrior Hiroshi above us. All firepower, open fire!"

The hammer in his hand shone with a bright light, and a magical shot filled with immense power was fired instantly.

The blue light flashed, illuminating the dark space.

A faint white spiritual glow shimmered on the small horns on Hiroshi's forehead. His dragon wings flapped once behind him, propelling him straight upwards.

Countless blue shots swarmed up from below. Glancing downward, Hiroshi spread his arms wide, causing lightning to surge across the heavens.

Crack!

A massive golden lightning bolt struck down like an indestructible sword. Where it passed, the blue magical shots were completely obliterated, like the heavenly judgment sword, slashing straight toward the goblin troops below.

Bang!!!

In the deafening boom, the blue magic circle flickered for a moment and shattered the descending golden lightning into particles of golden electricity.

Under the magical radiance, Vigg Sorson looked up at the sky with a serious expression.

Multicolored lightning continuously roamed quickly among the dark clouds, constantly emitting deafening thunder.

The black-and-white pupils in Hiroshi's eyes turned golden like dragon pupils again. He circulated his spiritual energy, channeling the Five Elements power throughout his body, linking it with his domain.

Boom!

With a loud noise, the dark clouds swirled into an enormous vortex, drawing the Five Elements' lightning towards its center. Thunderous sounds echoed endlessly.

Breathing heavily, Hiroshi looked down at the glowing magic circle and let out a low growl. He raised his arms high and suddenly pressed down.

"Five Elements Annihilation Millstone!"

Crack!

At the center of the vortex in the sky, the lightning surged. A millstone composed of multicolored lightning appeared and, under Hiroshi's will, covered the giant magic circle, descending toward the goblin forces.

Hum!

The massive magic circle began to shake violently. As the multicolored millstone slowly descended, a constant cracking sound could be heard as cracks began to spread.

Staring at the cracks in the magic circle and the enormous millstone looming above, Vigg Sorson's face twitched involuntarily, and he muttered, "This... has reached the divine realm!"

Turning to his subordinates, he shouted, "First unit, power up the spirit equipment and enhance the defense formation! Second unit, prepare the Doomsday Cannon with me!"

"Yes!"

The goblin forces quickly split into two groups, with blue light glowing within the magic circle. The defense formation, which had already been on the verge of collapse, quickly stabilized. The blue light grew increasingly intense as the multicolored lightning millstone drew closer.

Boom!

It was as if heaven and earth overlapped. A powerful wave of energy spread out from where the goblin defense formation and the multicolored millstone clashed.

The ground trembled as layers of soil were overturned, followed by a fierce wind blowing it away. Multicolored lightning rained down on the space like a storm, with the crackling sound echoing through the now-fading domain space. Half of the goblins' defense formation, strengthened by their efforts, managed to resist Hiroshi's full-force attack.

Amid the lightning storm, Vigg Sorson's comrades had already exhausted their spiritual energy. Raising a large, glowing blue hammer, he looked up at Hiroshi slowly descending from the sky and laughed, "For a mere human, you've almost touched the divine realm. It's been my lifelong dream, but it's a pity. As a powerful human, let me use our goblin race's greatest weapon—the Doomsday Cannon—to see you off!"

A massive magic circle unfolded above the hammer he held high. The hammer, infused with the remaining goblin forces' power, fell into the center of the magic circle, and dark energy began to gather and condense.

Breathing heavily, Hiroshi felt utterly drained.

Despite the goblins losing their trump card—the Core Burst—and their warships being destroyed, the remaining goblin forces were still no easy opponents, even as Hiroshi began to transform into a demigod and approach divinity.

He looked up at the colossal Doomsday Cannon in the sky, and his senses told him he was completely locked on.

With his feet planted firmly on the ground, golden dragon eyes reappeared as Hiroshi spread his silver dragon wings, preparing for the impact.

On the other side, Vigg Sorson's final drop of energy was exhausted. His will controlled the magic circle above, and finally, the energy-consuming weapon was charged. Had the goblin warships still been functional, the energy reservoirs could have easily powered the Doomsday Cannon.

This weapon was initially created by the goblins to deal with the dragon species that had entered the divine realm, and this was the first time it was aimed at a species other than dragons.

In this world, humans were seen as insignificant creatures, like insects, not worthy of being considered a species. However, for the first time, Vigg Sorson acknowledged that these insect-like creatures were indeed a species—like his own.

With a calm motion, he waved his arm, and the Doomsday Cannon above instantly fired at Hiroshi.

A deep pit appeared on the ground, as everything along the path of the shot seemed to be erased from existence, leaving behind a dark scar that remained unhealed.

The spirit equipment fell from his body as Vigg Sorson looked up at the forest fleet engulfed by two massive beams of destruction. He chuckled, "Those long-eared elves didn't seem to fare well either. Humans... human race, huh."

"Heh, I guess I've underestimated these creatures that were like insects."

Bending down, he picked up the compact blue spirit equipment and turned to shout at his men, "Hurry up and recharge your spirit equipment! We've still got a tough fight ahead."

"Oh my, such a terrifying attack... it nearly scared this old man to death."

A voice interrupted him, and a golden flash appeared beside Vigg Sorson.

A towering figure, three meters tall, stood next to the relatively short Vigg Sorson. Borsalino held Hiroshi in his right hand, his lips curling up beneath his sunglasses, "Have you ever been kicked at the speed of light?"

Boom!!!

A golden flash instantly struck Vigg Sorson, who barely managed to lift his hammer in defense. In the massive explosion, his body flew like a cannonball, and golden flashes continuously shot out, knocking away the goblin forces trying to rescue Vigg Sorson.

A massive trench stretched to the distant horizon, and the goblin forces, now devoid of spirit equipment, were swept far away by Borsalino's light-speed kick.

"Thanks for the help, but can you put me down now, Old Man Kizaru?"

Hanging from Borsalino's arm, Hiroshi patted his leg. "This is embarrassing, plus my energy is starting to recover. Letting me touch the ground will help me recover faster."

"Young people always recover so well. Not like us old folks." Borsalino said casually, setting Hiroshi down and observing the faint glow returning to him. "So according to your plan, I attacked the goblin forces when they were depleted. But it seems they're still in for a fight. Truly terrifying—to survive my light-speed kick."

In the distance, Vigg Sorson spat out a mouthful of blood in the deep crater, his face pained.

"Another powerful figure nearing the divine realm? Without the support of goblin warships, facing such powerful enemies is definitely bad for us goblins. Our tech focuses too much on firepower, ships, and energy. Once we lose the warships, our combat capability is largely diminished."

Struggling to his feet, Vigg Sorson leaped from the crater, surveying his surroundings. His comrades were emerging, bloodied, from other craters.

He raised his hammer high, shouting, "How much longer for the recovery of those damned illusions? If they don't hurry up, we're about to meet our Maker!"

A goblin, missing one of his front teeth, rubbed his swollen cheek and replied with difficulty, "Sir, the illusion squad needs about ten more minutes."

"How long has it been already? Why so long?!"

"Sir, it's been less than two minutes since the battle began."

Scratching his head, Vigg Sorson pulled out a small cube, staring at the towering Borsalino and the faintly glowing Hiroshi in the distance. He shouted, "Tell them three minutes, max! Everyone else, prepare the magic cannons—we're going in!"

Hiroshi opened his eyes, the glow around him receding. He looked up at the goblin forces charging at him, wielding massive hammers and gun-like weapons. Turning to Borsalino, he asked, "Did you take care of those recovering illusionists?"

"This situation made me a bit upset, so I went a bit harder than usual," Borsalino said with a sly smile, lightly addressing Hiroshi at his feet. "Don't worry, they're not dead. This world is truly scary—so many phantom beasts. If they hadn't exhausted themselves, I probably wouldn't have had an easy time dealing with them."

"Did you really get angry this time, Old Man?" Hiroshi asked, crouched on the ground, hands pressing against the soil.

"I thought you just accepted this mission because the points were too tempting."

"Well, well, let's not dwell on the details." Borsalino grinned mischievously, watching the goblin forces draw nearer. "Hurry and finish them up—the real core of the mission is still in the sky. Truly terrifying, being the strongest divine."

"Alright, alright. We're lucky you and Venti took on this mission before the plan started—it made things a lot easier."

The power of the Five Elements cycled through Hiroshi's body, restoring his strength completely. He connected with the earth below, giving a light shout:

"Five Elements Rotation!"

The once-solid earth transformed into an ocean, rolling with waves that engulfed the goblin forces who had lost their spirit equipment.

The waves surged higher than the clouds, and a new mountain peak formed. Sprouts of green quickly spread across the mountain, with the roots of a new forest firmly taking hold, sheltering the reunited Earth faction within the hollow of the mountain.

Standing up, the Five Elements rapidly cycled within Hiroshi's body, restoring his energy. He looked up at the sky, where the battle had ended, and turned to Borsalino, who was digging in his nose beside him. "You and Venti must've decided to take this mission a long time ago."

"Eh?" Borsalino tilted his head, looking at Hiroshi floating beside him. "I'm still an Admiral, after all. Seeing a world like this makes even me a bit angry."

"Then why didn't you both come earlier?"

"Oh my, a world at war with the gods—so scary. I had to take my time to consider."

"... Though I'm really grateful you two came, making things a lot easier. In the end, you two old guys just didn't want to deal with the early preparations—you just wanted to slack off."

"True to form—two lazybones."

"Well, well."