And the Lake is Formed

The Northern Gate of Marina City

The evacuation process is still ongoing. 

Kirana, who arrived ten minutes earlier, is now working to create additional ice pathways to expedite the evacuation process.

Kirana pays no mind to the Abyss forces struggling in front of the city gate at the moment. 

Why? Because their numbers have significantly dwindled since Kirana's arrival in the city.

Over half of those demons have become lifeless bodies in a sea of blood.

Kirana is truly taken aback by the sight in the area before the northern gate. It's not the Marina soldiers struggling against the demon forces, but quite the opposite. 

The demons are the ones under pressure, not just due to the terror of the aura emanating from the figure they worship, but also because of their fear of the presence of a lone woman on the battlefield.

Kirana observes a woman standing alone amidst the enemy formation. 

Standing over a pile of demon corpses with a blood-soaked spear, surrounded by thousands of floating blood spears and countless other blood creatures swirling around her.

This woman, Legia, appears as though she possesses the strength of an entire battalion. 

Slaughtering demons without discrimination. Laughing and smiling every time a life vanishes at her hands.

Neither humans nor demons dare to approach. Legia has become akin to an angel of death descended onto the battlefield.

Kirana knows that Legia is currently influenced by one of the skills from Crimsonagin. 

This reassures Kirana, as the skill will fade away on its own, whether due to its duration or Legia's depletion of mana.

Kirana prioritizes accelerating the pace of evacuation, given the significant reduction in the enemy's numbers. This allows for a larger safe zone to be established outside. 

To achieve this, Kirana creates new ice pathways.

Suddenly, amidst Kirana's busy efforts and those of the human forces in evacuating the citizens, a wooden pillar becomes visible from the southern sky. 

It descends, striking the ground and shaking the land.

Both the citizens and Kirana are startled. Those on the ice pathways try their best to maintain their balance and avoid falling.

The tremors persist for a considerable duration, causing hysteria and panic among the citizens. Just as they had found hope in their escape, why did this terrifying shaking occur?

As the earthquake begins to subside, the citizens breathe a slight sigh of relief, but only for a few moments.

DRRRRRRRR!

Another massive tremor ensues, even worse this time. Not only are there tremors, but also a powerful gust of wind carrying dust, soil, and debris akin to a storm.

This amplifies the terror the citizens feel.

Kirana herself, experiencing all these shocks, begins to feel panic welling up inside her. 

The battle between her father and the incarnation of the Demon God intensifies her heartbeat.

Kirana is anxious. She wants to quickly finish the evacuation and then go to her father's location.

A few moments later, when the tremors cease, she intends to breathe a sigh of relief. 

However, as Kirana looks towards the south, she finds herself holding her breath in shock instead.

The sky in the southern direction seems to split open, revealing a massive meteor descending towards the location of the battle between Cien and the Demon God.

"What is that?!"

Kirana isn't aware of the exact nature of the battle between Cien and the Demon God, but she's certain that if the meteor were to strike the land, the impact would be many times worse than the previous two tremors.

Kirana swallows hard, feeling the tremendous threat looming over the citizens.

"Everyone, get ready!"

Kirana shouts, capturing the attention of those who hear her. 

As they turn their gaze, they witness a breathtaking scene in the southern sky.

Yup, for them, normal people, the sight perfectly encapsulates an apocalyptic painting.

A gigantic meteor hurtling towards the earth.

"Aaaaaa!"

In the end, the citizens scream in panic once again, immediately attempting to run as far as possible. 

However, what Kirana wants is for them to prepare themselves to withstand the shockwave.

Time is running out, and Kirana struggles to quell the panic among the citizens. 

She clenches her teeth, channeling mana to create massive ice walls. Not just one, but as many as possible to mitigate the impact of the impending collision.

She continues to create them, not considering her dwindling mana reserves. As the meteor's impact with the earth approaches, with only about a tenth of her mana remaining, Kirana manages to erect seven sturdy ice walls.

BOOOOOOOOOM!

An even larger earthquake immediately occurs. Along with the quake, like an atomic bomb, an incredibly terrifying shockwave sweeps away every building in Marina.

One by one, it demolishes the ice walls that Kirana had created.

BAM! BAM! BAM!

Like the sound of doomsday, Kirana and the citizens are overcome with extreme anxiety behind the ice walls. 

The sound draws nearer, and sweat flows more profusely on Kirana's face.

Kirana can't remain idle. She creates ice walls again, using the remaining mana she has, hoping it can withstand the impact. But just a few seconds later, all her ice walls shatter.

The strong wind nearly knocks Kirana and a few soldiers beside her off their feet.

As Kirana starts to resign herself, suddenly a membrane of blood-red color forms around her.

"! What is this? Blood? ... Legia!"

Kirana realizes that the one behind the blood membrane protecting her is none other than Legia, who has regained her normal senses after the duration of her skill expired. 

Recognizing the same threat from the watery meteor.

Legia immediately rushes towards Kirana, enveloping all the humans with the blood she has gathered. 

She wraps them up like eggs, so now there are thousands of blood eggs strewn across the battlefield.

The blood eggs are trying to protect themselves from the natural shocks that could kill it inside.

Legia stands before Kirana, forming a blood wall that keeps shattering but constantly regenerates due to the ample supply of blood. 

She doesn't need to expend much mana, as she isn't creating the blood. 

This differs from Kirana's ice walls that shatter into pieces and are difficult to reform.

Despite that, the blood supply remains limited. 

Legia herself starts to worry as the shockwave storm seems unending.

However, luckily, the situation gradually subsides. 

Legia breathes a sigh of relief and releases her control over the blood.

This leaves Kirana and the others stunned when they observe the destruction around them. 

The city of Marina is no more. It's now just a chaotic expanse of land with a single large lake, roughly half the size of the former city.

The lake is formed from the crater created by the shockwave of the Demon God and the impact of the meteor, along with the abundant water from the meteor itself.

"Cough! Cough!"

"! Legia!"

Kirana approaches Legia, who lies on the ground. 

Legia has vomited quite a bit of blood and her face is pale.

Even though she managed to shield and save all the citizens, it doesn't mean Legia herself remained unscathed. 

Being at the forefront, she still incurred cuts and impacts from the shockwave.

Legia is severely injured, but her life can still be saved. Kirana instructs her to drink a Healing Potion and urges her to rest, as the majority of the demon forces have been killed due to the impact of the meteor. 

There are still a few hundred to several thousand remaining, but those can be dealt with by the Blackwinter and Marina troops that remain.

Kirana then inquires about those who have successfully been evacuated, including her mother and the group from Ashur.

Legia explains that she handed them over to a trustworthy figure before rushing to Kirana's location.

When Kirana hears the name of the individual, she freezes. 

Then, she nods to Legia and instructs some nearby soldiers to assist Legia with her evacuation.

Kirana waits anxiously for the person mentioned by Legia.

***

In another location, precisely where the watery meteor fell, now forming the the artificial lake, a wooden pillar of considerable size stands not far from the center the lake.

Atop the pillar, a middle-aged man with white hair hangs limply.

Cien, now unsupported by his mana supply circuits, lies powerless and unable to move a finger.

He had pushed his body too hard, suddenly flooding it with a tremendous amount of mana. This caused his body to go into a mild shock.

However, he had no choice but to do so if he wanted to contend with the Demon God. 

The soul soldiers he had created and the watery meteor he had planned wouldn't succeed unless he pushed himself to the limit.

As for the water meteor, Cien didn't create it out of thin air. 

He manipulated the rain that should have fallen. This rain was supposed to come down even before the arrival of the Demon God. However, when it was about to fall, Cien, who already had an abundant mana supply, redirected the rain upwards, collecting it behind the clouds.

After that, during the battle, Cien diverted the Demon God's attention away from the gathering water in the sky using his soul soldiers. 

He tried to keep the Demon God away from disrupting his manipulation.

Only after everything was set, Cien managed to drop the water meteor of unknown weight, causing a massive shockwave.

It was so enormous that Cien instantly worried about those evacuating to the north. He hoped they were safe.

With heavy breaths and his remaining strength, Cien crawled to the side of the pillar to get a glimpse of the situation below.

The creation of a lake surprised him, but Cien couldn't dwell on it. 

He carefully searched for the presence of the Demon God he struck with the meteor.

The aura of his adversary had disappeared, but Cien wasn't about to let his guard down. 

His opponent was a being on par with a deity. Even if it was just a small incarnation, Cien couldn't underestimate it.

Cien certainly hoped the damn incarnation was dead. Unfortunately, hopes and reality often diverge.

Cien could see a whirlpool forming in a section of the lake. In the center of that whirlpool stood the still-living incarnation of the Demon God, despite the wounds that covered its body.

Not only that, the oppressing aura he had felt had diminished. However, that didn't change the fact that Cien's life was currently at risk. After all, he couldn't move.

"Sigh... truly troublesome."