The Shining Star Above The Heaven-Chapter 574: The Border Region Under Control

Arthur’s strike is powerful enough to alter the landscape, carving a deep slash mark on the ground stretching as far as 30 kilometers. The devils’ and undead army formations caught in the path of Arthur’s technique cease to exist, engulfed by the blinding pillar of light.

As for the chimera, only parts of its limbs remain, marked with burning wounds. Its head and most of its body are already destroyed, and a few moments later, the remaining parts collapse to the ground. The powerful chimera, a middle emperor-stage creature that would normally require many to subdue, is slain by a single individual.

The troops look in Arthur’s direction and see him slightly gasping, having exerted a tremendous amount of energy to unleash that technique. However, given the destruction it caused, the effort is clearly worth it. It opens a path deep into the back of the devils’ line and throws their formation into chaos.

As for Rudolf, he had already moved to another location and watched the destruction with a smiling face, though sweat lined his forehead. The strike just now was truly dangerous. Fortunately, his summoned beast—the chimera—was able to hold off the attack for a few seconds, just enough to save him from instant death.

He hadn’t expected the chimera to last only a few seconds before the sword slash struck his position. He had to admit, the technique Arthur displayed was truly powerful—worthy of someone counted among the ten great swordmasters of the continent.

While he looked at the destruction, another commotion suddenly rose from the rear of the devils’ lines. He turned to the side and saw a group of emperor-stage cultivators emerging from behind the devils, throwing their ranks into even greater chaos.

"That is His Majesty Emperor Ladwin’s group!"

"Yes! They did it!"

"Attack harder! Don’t let the devils concentrate elsewhere!"

Many alliance troops shouted, their spirits ignited as they saw Emperor Ladwin’s group joining them in a pincer attack. The group that had attacked the summoning sites not long ago and had been waiting for the right moment to strike from the rear was finally entering the fray.

Rudolf narrowed his eyes—the situation was turning grim. With this new group joining the battle, their defeat was only a matter of time. He had received information earlier that many summoning sites deeper in the territory had been attacked by multiple groups of emperor-stage cultivators across the region.

He wondered how those groups knew that there were summoning sites deeper within the territory. Because of that attack, the devils near the border did not receive additional reinforcements in the form of beast groups, and the second group of devils ended up trapped in a pincer attack instead.

Rudolf saw the group led by the emperor of the Ivory Empire, Emperor Ladwin, as the emperor unleashed his own technique. A giant dragon-shaped root erupted from the ground, killing many devils with the slam of its body or the sharp thorns on its jaw.

A powerful cultivator at Emperor Ladwin’s class was in a league of his own and could sweep away many devil lives easily in one go.

Despite the unfavorable situation, Rudolf only looked at it without any desperation and instead looked at Arthur and the others with a smile on his face. Without any words, he crushed the escape talisman under his robe, and his body instantly disappeared, leaving the alliance force stunned.

Did he just escape?

Arthur looked at this with narrowed eyes. Rudolf really had not put much effort into holding this line. Looking at the losing situation, he did not hesitate to escape. It seemed the alliance would have to face this kind of tactic until they arrived at the gathering point, which was located near the black pillar.

However, he still did not sheath his sword even after he saw that Rudolf had disappeared. He then attacked the other devils near him. There were still many devils here that he needed to kill.

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When the battle in one part of the border was still raging, in another part, the fighting had already ceased. The strategy of the pincer attack proved truly effective, and the devils’ lines of defense were easily broken from the rear. It made the battle much shorter than predicted.

The border area now was almost entirely under the control of the alliance forces, and this was a good development. They could move to the deeper part of devil territory much faster.

The battle area where Xin Haotian was located had already entered the cleanup phase, where they were counting and gathering their casualties and burning the bodies of the devils. His performance as the Sword Saint was not disappointing, as his strength and ability left no room for the devils in this area to hold out.

Even one of the Seven Devils of Destruction had appeared when the battle started, but Xin Haotian managed to cut off one of his arms before that man escaped. Yet despite all his achievements in this battle, he seemed to wear a calm expression, and not even a stain of sweat marked his face.

The people also finally saw the power of the Xin family, which was truly what made the battle here much easier and faster. The family that specialize in light laws and added with their powerful techniques, was truly terrifying. The devils could do nothing against them as they were slaughtered like the Xin family held a deep grudge.

Xin Haotian was observing the cleanup process alongside his father. They watched as Grand Duke Rivas gave orders to his men while also overseeing the cleanup. His daughter, Irene, could also be seen helping the wounded troops with her retainer, Eleine.

"This is truly refreshing, I can unleash my power without any concern. It truly reminds me of my younger days, when I ventured out from the secret realm," Patriarch Xin said.

"But from the looks of it, the devils’ intent with this battle was only to slow us down, not to win. Their strategy wasn’t complex. All they did was sacrifice their own troops like cannon fodder," he added.

Xin Haotian nodded.

"It can be understood. The devils must truly depend on their god’s descent. They will do absolutely anything to buy time for the portal to fully open," he said as he looked in the direction of the black pillar.

Patriarch Xin sighed as he also looked up at the sky, where the black pillar was opening the portal, which continued to widen slowly.

"I hope our plan succeeds, and young Aldrian truly can stop the devil lord in time," he said.

Over the next few hours, news from the border kept arriving and spreading across the continent. Before sunrise, the report that the alliance forces had taken control of the entire border region had already spread. Now, the alliance army was moving deeper into the devil territory.

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The sun finally rose, signaling the arrival of a new day. Normally, this would mark the beginning of people’s usual activities across the continent. However, at this moment, the morning light only served as a reminder that they were drawing closer to their own fateful day, as the portal continued to widen with each passing moment.

Across the continent, people began to see the portal forming in the sky where the black pillar touched. Although many still tried to believe that the alliance forces would succeed, the sight of the dark void beyond the portal gave them a deep sense of unease. They could not help but imagine the god Aldrian had spoken of descending from that darkness.

Could they really survive when that time came?

At the same time, Aldrian was finally nearing the core of the canyon. After flying through the night without rest, and with the morning light offering a clearer view of the land, he could now see a new scene unfolding not far ahead.

What he saw was a vast, flat stretch of land at the base of the canyon, surrounded by the canyon’s cliffs. The landscape was truly unique, and just as Dureus had said the night before, Aldrian could sense a faint divine aura lingering in the air. This confirmed that something imbued with divine energy was indeed present here, and it was not his own golden energy.

"We’ll have to land here and not fly any closer. I don’t want to be rude to that thing." Dureus said, descending to the base of the canyon.

"There’s an entrance not far from here," he added after landing. Aldrian hopped down from his back, and Dureus shifted into his human form before walking ahead to guide him.

After walking for more than twenty minutes, they finally arrived near the edge of the cliff, where they found a big opening resembling a cave entrance.

"To be honest, this is the first time that thing hasn’t reacted, even when we’re this close. Do young master notice there isn’t a single living being within at least 10,000 kilometers? That’s because no one dares to live within that range," Dureus said as he continued walking toward the entrance.

"If we came near, that thing would give a warning by unleashing its aura—even I felt goosebumps from it. So for us to be this close and still get no reaction—" He paused and looked at Aldrian with smile.

"I think that thing might truly see you as someone special. Maybe the one it’s been waiting for all this time," he said before continuing forward.

Aldrian’s curiosity only deepened. He kept following Dureus until they finally stepped through the entrance.

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