Guardian vs. Captor

As the massive energy cage composed of dark golden runes was on the verge of closing, the boiling water in the lake finally erupted into a full-scale release of power.

The enraged creature abandoned its innate benevolence, baring the terrifying fangs of a "Guardian Deity" at the insignificant mortals attempting to shackle it.

Its massive head, formed from blue starlight, dipped downward before surging upward with a colossal wave.

A giant water pillar, composed entirely of highly compressed lake water and pure spiritual energy, struck like a blue war spear, tearing through the sky as it slammed into one of the three Steam Weapons!

The speed was too fast—so fast that the well-trained cult members on board had no time to take any effective evasive action!

A sound, far louder and deeper than all their previous explosions combined, detonated across the lake. The modern vessel, constructed from steel and the most advanced internal combustion engines, was as fragile as a paper boat in the face of that wrathful pillar of water.

The moment it was struck head-on, the irresistible kinetic energy smashed it clean in two. The cult members on board, along with their precision Steam Weapons and Whaling Cannons, were flung into the air amidst screams of terror before crashing heavily into the churning lake.

With just a single strike, an elite capture squad was completely annihilated!

Yet, the members of the Eternal Serpent were clearly a group of death-defying fanatics. The gruesome death of their companions did not make them retreat; instead, a more morbid, fanatical light burned in their eyes!

"The divine power has descended! This is the Primordial testing our faith!" the leader in black roared in a state of madness. "Continue! Keep the rune resonance active! No matter the cost, we must anchor it to the material world! For the sake of the great evolution!"

The two surviving steam boats increased their throttle, circling the UMA at high speed on the violent lake in a near-suicidal display.

The surviving cult members on board frantically fired their Steam Weapons in futile harassment while slicing their own wrists to smear their blood onto the tips of the steel chains already embedded in the lake!

As their blood merged with the runes, the dark golden Dragon-Binding runes erupted with blinding light once more. The incomplete cage, previously formed by only two chains, finally solidified at the cost of one ship!

A visible energy barrier rose instantly across the lake, sealing the great elemental creature and the hundred meters of water surrounding it within.

The UMA's body, which had been flowing with starlight and existing between reality and illusion, emitted a "hissing" sound of burning upon contact with the rune barrier.

Its physical form became more solid, as if it were being forcibly "pulled" from a higher dimension into the material world they inhabited!

"It worked! We did it!" The leader in black's voice was filled with the joy of victory. "All units! Switch to Spirit-Breaking spearheads! Prepare for the second round of capture!"

Lin Jie, watching everything clearly from the fishing boat in the distance, felt a surge of anger in his heart.

This was the most despicable hunt and desecration of a gentle, friendly, and great life!

"Sergeant William!" Lin Jie's voice was cold. "Bring the boat closer. Mr. Alistair, please operate the crane. We need to give it a hand."

"What are you planning to do?" Although William was equally furious, his reason as a veteran kept him calm. "If we intervene directly in this situation, we'll become a common enemy to both sides!"

"No." A calculating light flickered in Lin Jie's eyes as he raised his left arm, where the Spellbreaker Bracer shimmered with a faint glow. "We aren't intervening in the battle directly; we are only doing one thing: clearing the final obstacles for this 'divine punishment'."

Under Lin Jie's insistence, William chose to trust the partner who had already created several miracles. He steered the fishing boat, using the cover of the night and the chaos on the lake to approach the battlefield shrouded in rune light from a tricky angle.

By now, the battle had reached a white-hot stage.

The UMA, forcibly "materialized," was trapped in immense pain and fury. It churned the lake water frantically, whipping up waves large enough to capsize a freighter, using them to batter the energy cage made of runes.

But although the cage was teetering, it remained stubbornly intact due to the continuous infusion of spiritual energy by the cult members at the cost of their lives.

The cult members on the two surviving steam boats had already replaced their Whaling Cannons with more sinister spearheads.

These spearheads were not pure metal but were carved from crystals resembling obsidian, covered in spiral-shaped blood-red runes.

This must be their true trump card specifically designed to deal with this type of "energy-based" UMA—the Spirit-Breaking spearhead!

"Target the core in the head! Fire!" The leader in black issued the final attack command.

Both Whaling Cannons aimed simultaneously at the UMA's massive head made of starlight, ready to launch a lethal blow!

And at this critical juncture, Lin Jie, who had been hiding in the darkness, finally made his move.

"Now!" he whispered. His left arm, already infused with his mental power to the limit, rose rapidly. The Chaos Brass on his palm immediately erupted with a powerful interference field!

His target this time was not the sturdy Whaling Cannons or the crazed cultists, but the most precise and fragile parts of the two steam boats: the internal combustion engines providing power and the precision valves regulating the steam pressure of the Whaling Cannons!

Spellbreaker Bracer, activate!

"Clack—creak—!!!"

As Lin Jie unleashed his ability, the engines of the two high-speed steam boats suddenly erupted with a series of grinding, jamming noises from their metal components!

One steam boat's engine spewed black smoke and stalled on the spot, losing all power, while the other, though barely running, saw its stern propeller become extremely unstable, causing the ship to spin in circles!

Even more fatal were the two Whaling Cannons about to fire!

Their steam pressure systems, which relied on precision valves, instantly spiraled out of control under the interference of the chaos field. Massive amounts of high-pressure steam leaked from the wrong pipes, making the cannon barrels creak and groan, on the verge of exploding at any moment!

This sudden, ghost-like collective mechanical failure left all the cult members completely bewildered.

The powerful vehicles, representing the pinnacle of industrial and alchemical fusion, had simultaneously turned into two piles of useless scrap metal!

The great elemental creature, now imprisoned, keenly seized this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

It could feel the power maintaining the energy cage waver for a split second due to the cult members' panic.

It heaved its massive head upward and slammed it against the rune barrier with enough force to stir the entire lakebed!

"BOOM!!"

The arrogant cage that had imprisoned the Guardian finally shattered in the face of absolute power!

The Guardian Deity, freed from its shackles, was thoroughly enraged.

It gave the surviving cult members no further chances. Its massive body flipped in the water, and a whirlpool over dozens of meters wide formed with it at the center.

The two disabled steam boats were torn apart. Some cultists, amidst desperate screams, were sucked into the center of the vortex by the irresistible gravitational pull along with the splintering decks, only to be swallowed by the bottomless lake.

A moment later, the surface of the lake returned to tranquility, as if the heart-stopping hunt that had just unfolded were nothing more than an absurd farce.

Lin Jie slumped powerlessly onto the deck, gasping for air; that precise, long-range Force Field Release had drained the majority of his mental energy.

Yet, as he looked out at the lake surface littered with the wreckage of ships, a genuine smile appeared on his face.

They had succeeded, delivering the most lethal assist in this battle of vastly mismatched strength.

Just then, the elemental creature that had emerged victorious slowly turned its head, composed of starlight, toward the fishing boat that had radiated nothing but goodwill from the very beginning.