"Dainsleif, the enemy of The Order!" the Abyss Herald exclaimed upon seeing the newcomer, immediately raising the blades on his arms in a wary stance.
In an instant, the situation reversed.
Shenhe, who had been on guard, silently put away her talismans upon seeing the Abyss Herald's dramatic reaction.
With Dain here, she probably only needed to keep a close eye on the Plaustrite in her hand. Looking at the Plaustrite, which was tethered to her hand like a balloon in the air, Shenhe gripped the golden rope in her hand tightly.
"Be smart, tell me your plan, or else..." Dain showed no fear upon seeing the Abyss Herald's demeanor.
Instead, he slowly walked towards the Abyss Herald.
"Dainsleif, you know better than us. Your resistance against the Abyss has long been a stalemate."
"Even if you learn something, this insignificant ripple won't change the final outcome!"
The Abyss Herald sneered a few times, seemingly finding Dain's relentless pursuit of The Order's plan laughable.
"It seems it's better for you to keep quiet now." Dain narrowed his eyes, took a large stride, and his figure vanished.
When Dain reappeared, he was already beside the Abyss Herald.
Looking at the Abyss Herald's twisted yet robust body, Dain delivered a high kick to it.
A sensation of hairs standing on end immediately swept through the Abyss Herald's body. He barely managed to raise his arms, attempting to block Dain's attack with the twin blades on his arms.
"Bang!"
But it was clear that the Abyss Herald failed to block it; his body flew backward like a cannonball. Where he had just stood, several aquamarine fragments lay quietly on the ground.
The soil around the fragments deepened in color, and as the fragments dissipated, this deeper color spread.
Those were the water blades condensed from element power on the Abyss Herald's arms, but now they had been violently torn apart by inhuman strength.
"So fast." Lumine rubbed her eyes. Just now, she only saw Dain's figure flash by, and then the Abyss Herald was kicked away.
The entire process was so quick that Lumine couldn't see much clearly.
Shenhe's expression also showed a hint of surprise at the scene she had just witnessed. She saw it a bit more clearly than Lumine, but only a bit.
Now, she was astonished that Dain hadn't used his full strength when they had fought earlier.
"After all this time, your strength doesn't seem to have improved much, has it?" Dain turned to look at the Abyss Herald, who was getting up from the ground, and mocked.
"How come I feel like Dain's emotions have become more varied after seeing the Abyss Herald?" Paimon, hearing the change in Dain's tone, flew to Lumine's ear and whispered.
"It's normal for emotions to fluctuate when enemies meet," Lumine waved her hand. As long as he's human, he will always have things he cares about.
And what Dain cared about was probably the Abyss Order.
"Hmph..., then let's try it. If you still can't kill me, it means you're about the same."
The Abyss Herald wasn't angry at Dain's words. Their strength hadn't increased, but neither had Dain's.
For his body, it would be a blessing if his power didn't regress.
"Hah!"
With a roar from the Abyss Herald, a light blue element shield began to glow on the surface of his body.
Abundant Hydro element power emanated from the Abyss Herald's body, giving off immense pressure.
"element shield? It will indeed let you live a little longer." Dain saw the Abyss Herald's appearance without surprise.
He had fought the Abyss Herald countless times and had a deep understanding of his every move.
An element shield, he naturally had a way to deal with it.
"Is that so? Then let's try it!" The Abyss Herald crossed his arms, and two sharp blades extended from them.
With a swing of his arms, two sharp water blades followed, slashing towards Dain.
The water blades were larger and brighter than any Dain had seen before! Like two extending walls of water, making it impossible to see what was happening behind them.
Upon seeing the new move, Dain retreated. The Abyss Herald was tainted by the power of the Abyss, and no one knew what sinister plots his seemingly ordinary moves held.
If one were to be carelessly corroded by the Abyss, the consequences would be dire.
Dain retreated step by step, and the two water blades pressed closer, clinging to him relentlessly.
"Hurry, don't let it escape!"
Just as Dain was busy dodging the water blades behind him, Lumine's shout suddenly came from a distance.
A bad feeling immediately arose in Dain's heart.
He jumped on the spot, leaping over the obstruction of the water blades, and saw the Abyss Herald about to enter the Abyss Passage.
"Damn it, I've been discovered!" The Abyss Herald cursed under his breath. He looked up; the Abyss Passage was right in front of him, and he could escape immediately.
So he ran even harder. The Abyss Herald was not a fool like Hilichurl or Slime; he understood that the current disparity in combat power was too great for him to overcome.
Leaving aside Dain, who could easily overpower him, just Lumine and the woman who fell from the Sky beside her were enough to give him a hard time.
With three people together, one Abyss Herald probably wouldn't even be enough for them to warm up.
So he decisively chose to flee.
Why was the Abyss Herald the backbone of the Abyss Order's fighting force? Besides their inherent strength, the ability to escape at any time was also an extremely important point.
"Buzz—"
A piercing hum sounded, and the Abyss Herald suddenly found his body unable to move.
"I'm sorry to disappoint you, I've always been improving, but you just haven't noticed."
Dain emerged from the bursting water, the sharp water blades causing him no DMG.
At this moment, he held up one hand, and a dark blue flame burned in his palm.
And around the Abyss Herald's neck, a dark blue forbidden curse appeared, which was precisely what rendered the Abyss Herald immobile.
"Good opportunity!"
Shenhe, seeing this, exerted force with the arm holding the golden rope. The Plaustrite, which had been like a balloon, instantly transformed into a meteor hammer, fiercely swinging towards the Abyss Herald.
"I can't fall behind either!"
Lumine was not to be outdone. She stomped her foot, and the Geo element flowed into the ground. Immediately, sharp rock spikes rose from the ground, one after another.
The jade-like rock spikes spread towards the Abyss Herald, one after another, along with the Plaustrite swung by Shenhe. One from above, one from below, leaving the Abyss Herald no escape route.
The rock spikes and the Plaustrite were getting closer and closer to the Abyss Herald. If either of them hit the Abyss Herald, it would be enough to permanently keep him there.
But just then, an anomaly occurred.
A stinging pain throbbed in everyone's temples, causing all three of their movements to momentarily halt.
"Screech—, Boom!"
A violent explosion sounded, and a dark purple shockwave spread out with the Abyss Herald at its center.
This shockwave was just like what Lumine had seen at the upside-down statue; it didn't push everything in its path like a normal air current, but rather devoured them all.
The air current swept over the falling boulder, and the boulder immediately vanished without a trace. It swept over the Plaustrite..., and the Plaustrite immediately shrank outwards—Shenhe cherished this Plaustrite greatly.
The all-corroding ripples dissipated, but the condition of the three was not good.
Lumine and Shenhe lay on the ground, breathing with difficulty. The Plaustrite, which Shenhe had desperately protected, also flew towards the Sky due to her exhaustion.
Although the two were not directly hit by the ripples, the stray aura alone was enough to cause them DMG.
Of the three, the only one who still looked fine was Dain. The situation, which had been so favorable just moments ago, had now reversed in an instant.
"I didn't expect..." Dain saw a golden yellow amidst the purple, his expression quite complex. He was about to say something when he was interrupted.
However, it wasn't the gradually clearer Aether who interrupted him, but another extremely familiar voice from above.
"Whose balloon is this? If no one wants it, I'll take it."
"Hmm? Abyss Order, why are you all lying down?"
"It seems this isn't an ordinary Abyss Order; I must strike hard!"
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