"Whose blood? Whose hymn?"
Glittering lightning gathered in He Ao's hands. The storm carried his body, bringing him before the phantom figure almost instantly. Then he slammed two more punches into the phantom's cheek.
The entire darkness froze, and the power of the encroaching cages stiffened at that moment as well.
Even the flickering magic arrays around them stopped operating.
Time itself seemed to have paused. Within the surging darkness, there was only the sound of the Crimson Giant's fists and the flickering fine lightning covering the gradually solidifying phantom figure.
The two figures fell from the sky, along with the lightning and the night, crashing into the mountains.
Flashing lightning concealed everything around them. Ancient Cliff Walls turned to dust, and the undulating mountains had their folds flattened.
The frenzied beasts raised their heads and looked toward the two invisible figures in the darkness. Then, in an instant, their bodies twisted and mutated into hideous, crazed monsters that charged through the mountains.
Immediately afterward, the spreading darkness opened its greedy maw and swallowed those frenzied monsters.
"How could you... Impossible..."
A mad mutter filled with disbelief exploded in He Ao's mind.
"I told you, I was looking forward to our formal meeting."
A faint smile curled across He Ao's lips. Standing amid the shattered mountains, he raised his hand and slapped the phantom figure across the face, where it could no longer force a smile.
An invisible force acted upon the phantom figure, making its previously illusory body become a little more solid again.
The power He Ao had obtained from the God of War was actually limited by the energy that Nel's body could mobilize, as well as the strength of his own soul.
Although Ilan City was farther from Rock City than Winter City was, and transmitting