Chapter 319: Chapter 319: The Four Awakener’s Lord Guardians Are Here, Pet Fatal Injury

BOOM!

A massive and devastating explosion erupted directly in the middle of the street of the housing area where they had just been standing.

It destroyed several buildings instantly and even killed many players who had been unlucky enough to be nearby.

Leon’s [Mega Darkness Barrier] thankfully tanked the hit and absorbed most of the damage thanks to its passive ability that allowed it to remain always active around his body without him needing to manually trigger it.

But still, if not for that barrier protecting him, Leon knew without any doubt that he would have died right then and there.

And if not for tossing Celeste out of the way in that crucial moment, she would have also been turned back into her phoenix core form from the sheer force of the blast.

"What the hell is happening out here," Leon shouted as he tightened his grip on both his staff and his sword, his eyes scanning the smoke filled air for any sign of the attackers.

But instead of running, Leon did something strange: he immediately closed his eyes and started to focus all of his power, concentrating his mana and his will as he prepared to unleash his [Oblivion Meteor] spell if it became necessary to protect himself and Celeste.

He felt like he would not be able to use [Berserk] properly especially after just having used it so recently, or at the very least, he would pass out for even longer than before if he tried to activate it again so soon after the last time.

If he did end up passing out in this situation, not only would he be completely defenseless, but Celeste and Emilia would also be in terrible danger, and he simply could not afford to let that happen to either of them.

He did not even know who his opponents were to begin with or how many of them were out there hiding in the smoke, and so the easiest way to win this battle was to destroy everything in one massive attack.

Leon’s expression turned cold and deadly as the mana in the air around him reached its absolute peak, crackling with barely contained destructive potential.

’I can cast [Oblivion Meteor] at any moment now, all I have to do is swing my staff and everything changes,’ he thought with grim determination.

The moment he felt anything even slightly wrong or threatening, he would cast his forbidden spell without any hesitation and destroy all the surrounding area completely.

The meteor itself was not powerful enough to completely destroy the entire [Advanced District] in one shot, but a decent chunk of it would certainly die in the blast.

The shockwave from the impact would also destroy even more buildings and kill even more people beyond the initial crater.

The casualties would be in the thousands if not tens of thousands depending on how many players were currently in the area at this time of day.

But as he thought of that horrifying outcome, Leon suddenly flinched as another realization hit him like a truck.

’If I killed ten thousand players with this single attack, I will reach [Slayer X] instantly,’ Leon thought with a nervous expression crossing his face, ’And then the [Judgment Knight] will appear to deal with me personally.’1

Using the meteor suddenly became even more dangerous than he had originally thought, because the consequences would extend far beyond just the immediate destruction and death toll.

But even then, with all of those terrible consequences weighing on his mind, Leon did not falter in his resolve to protect himself and Celeste by any means necessary.

’So be it, it is not like I will be able to live anyway if these people kill me right here and now,’ Leon accepted his fate coldly.

The aura he felt from whatever had attacked them was absolutely tremendous, on the same level as Mathilde’s power from what he could sense, so he knew instinctively that he stood no chance in a fair fight against these opponents.

And right at that moment, as the dust from the explosion finally settled and he was finally able to see through the smoke and debris...

"Hah, I knew this would not be this easy," Leon muttered under his breath as his eyes adjusted to the revealed scene.

Before Leon stood not one or two enemies, but four distinct figures all looking down at him with cold and assessing eyes, each of them radiating immense power.

Each of these four figures was at level one hundred, which was twenty full levels above Leon’s current level, and surprisingly enough, Mathilde was among them, meaning she was part of their group.

As soon as Celeste saw the large NPC woman with her massive shield standing among the group, she shrieked in pure fear and instantly tried to run away by summoning her [Phoenix Wings] to fly out of the dangerous situation.

But as soon as she flapped her fiery wings to fly away into the sky, one of the dark skinned figures with a crimson beard and gleaming silver armor looked up at the fleeing phoenix girl and simply shook his head with disappointment.

"Idiotic," he said quietly, almost as if he was bored by her attempt to escape.

Fwoosh!

In an instant, he closed the distance between the two of them faster than anyone could track, and he grabbed Celeste right out of midair to stop her from escaping his grasp.

Celeste tried desperately to flap her wings repeatedly to break free and leave, flailing against his iron grip, but alas, the man was simply too strong for her to overcome with her current power level.

"Kyu~"

Pyra immediately came out of Celeste’s chest without her even ordering the small phoenix pet to emerge, and the brave little bird launched a fire attack directly at his face to try and free her master.

Fwoosh!

Another one of the four figures, a man holding a massive bow, pointed his weapon toward the tiny pet and launched an arrow so incredibly fast that it pierced through Pyra’s body before anyone could even blink.

"...K-Kyu..." Pyra whimpered weakly as the arrow struck her.

Pyra was immediately injured massively by that single shot, and she returned to her pet space inside of Celeste’s body to recover from the devastating wound she had just received.

A pet couldn’t truly die in [Eternal Ascension], as they would simply return to their pet space if they received fatal damage, but depending on the injury, it could take a while for them to be healed.

"You people are really annoying, you know that," the final guardian, a woman wearing luxurious mage like robes that shimmered with magical energy, frowned deeply at Leon and Celeste, "We are here by direct orders from the [Awakener Lord] himself, so there’s no need for all this pointless resistance."

Reminder that he appears once a player killed 10,000 people