2208 - Furnace of the Day of Judgment
Robin smiled as he watched a particular scene.
There, a number of young space beasts were tearing Robin's spirit creatures apart, the beasts growing angrier and more hostile with each moment they felt the Flame of Purification burning them, and each time they saw the spirit creatures being rebuilt.
All 700 swords had also vanished, shattered after attacking a massive number of nascent space beasts.
And behind all of this, the adult space beasts began advancing in a straight line… They had had enough of watching.
When he saw this scene, Robin no longer rebuilt his spirit creatures nor regenerated the swords. Instead, he raised the array disc in his left hand to shoulder level and spoke with a smile, in an audible voice: "If this doesn't teach them a lesson, then I don't know what will."
"Do it!!" Blokan shouted desperately, "Whatever you're going to do, do it quickly!!"
"Your wish is my command." Robin chuckled, then began pumping an immense amount of spirit power into the hidden pendant beneath his clothes, from which a vast quantity of energy emerged, flowing toward the array disc like a waterfall.
This continued for several seconds until Robin began to pale; only then did the energy flow cease.
Even Blokan, Althera, and Asr noticed that.
Lord Robin did not seem affected by the production of all those immensely powerful Spirit Creatures, but this array affected him?
Then the Disk began to float upward while spinning, and a multitude of patterns and engravings started to emerge from it and revolve around it. The array was finally taking its true form.
Turmoil
The Adult Space Beasts, which had begun to move, were thrown into violent turmoil. The void that enveloped them trembled—they sensed an extreme danger from that Disk.
Instantly, they surged forward at great speed instead of the slow advance they had been making.
"Now!" Robin shouted joyfully when he saw that scene.
Turmoil
Turmoil
What remained of the seven massive Spirit Creatures shook violently, then—
Boom
—exploded.
The colossal explosion did not greatly affect the surrounding Young Space Beasts, but the flames covered them even more. Moreover, the immense quantity of Flame of Purification swept past them and descended upon every Space Beast in the area, whether nascent or young… There were even two adult beasts that the flames touched, but they completely ignored it and continued their charge.
Then, after a quick sweep of his eyes across the field, he pressed both hands downward.
Shooo
Shooo
Something began to happen…
Under the influence of the immense array, the Flame of Purification began leaping from one beast to another with precision and speed, as if they were small fiery creatures carving their way along specific paths.
The spread covered an extremely vast area; the number of beasts that were struck and suddenly began to burn reached tens of thousands and kept rising methodically. What aided this rapid spread was that there were already a massive number of beasts infected with the flame, scattered among their peers.
"What is happening?!" Blokan stepped back slightly. The screams of the beasts afflicted by the Flame of Purification overwhelmed the place, and those not yet struck began moving randomly and fearfully to avoid being hit.
Then he glanced toward Robin... that person was still controlling the array.
Nothing else strange was happening... except that the spirit creature, the Father Tree, began regenerating rapidly!
Turmoil
The adult space beasts increased their speed; a sense of anxiety and danger rose.
But the spread was far faster than anything they could do about it...
When the last fiery arrow struck the last beast in the pattern being prepared... Robin's grin stretched from ear to ear.
Then he spoke in an audible voice, "This is the costly gift I brought you from the other side; I hope you don't forget it!"
Then he seemed to take a breath before shouting:
<Furnace of the Day of Judgment!!>
Shooooooooooooooooooooooooooooot!
The blue flame suddenly flared with green tongues, as if someone had poured oil on it. The flame on every beast exploded, spreading across tens of thousands of kilometers in all directions.
There were tens of thousands of injured beasts!
“Kaaaaaaa—”
“Raaaaaawwwrrr—”
“Grrrrrrrr—”
The cries of the beasts caught in the flame intensified, and those not yet injured found themselves swimming in a sea of it.
Moments ago, the Father Tree was completely surrounded by space beasts, with a few distant blue and green stars representing the injured ones. But now, the Father Tree was entirely encased in a shell of scorching flame.
“Oooohhh!!” The young space beasts began colliding in agony. Hundreds of them, most injured directly or indirectly by the furnace array, and the explosion of the seven spirit creatures among them made the flame heavily concentrated on them.
“Good heavens…” Asr stepped back, his gaze fearful.
“…” Althera’s eyes widened as she watched the anti-life creatures depart from life in the worst possible way.
As for Blokan, he quickly overcame his shock and focused on the Father Tree, which had fully regenerated and was now striking in all directions.
At first, the strikes seemed random, meant to widen the circle around him and prevent the burning space beasts from rushing toward them in panic.
But with a little focus… Blokan saw the branches plunge into the flames for a few seconds and return laden with crystals.
Crystals upon crystals.
Yet in Althera’s eyes… the Great Tree, whose branches were being destroyed amidst the blue fire… appeared as if it were carrying the blazing sky in a breathtaking, epic scene.
“Get ready to escape!”
Robin’s shout cut through the trio’s train of thought.
“We have company that doesn’t know how to joke!”
“Huh?” The three looked to where Robin was pointing.
The adult space beasts were nearly upon the sea of flames—the great furnace. Several of them were already scorched by the fire, suffering with every inch they advanced, as if the flames were chasing them.
But their mere auras were extinguishing the Flame of Purification as if it had never existed.
“Hovey!” Robin shouted. “You’ve gathered enough—open a path!”
*Crackle*
The Spirit Creature pulled back more than half of its branches, then focused them on a single point—the spot from which the passage would emerge.
Then
*Bam*
It struck with its massive branches against the exhausted, burning space beasts, killing some and shoving others aside, creating a path of white and golden wood through the furnace!
“Move!”
Robin's shout reminded Althera, Blokan, and Asr, who rushed through the wooden passage with whatever speed they had left, conserving the last of their energy to breathe.
As for Robin, he took a look with the Eye of Truth through the furnace, where nearly a million beasts were burning...
Most likely, the adult space beasts would extinguish all of this when given the chance, but that pain would remain etched in their minds for a long time.
Now, he had to hold out for a few more moments until the adult space beasts arrived. By then, Althera and the others would have made good progress toward Morgana, and he could use spacetime to escape.
In this way, combined with what he had gathered, he could—
*Whoosh*
The Furnace of the Day of Judgment went out; the Flame of Purification vanished suddenly... and with it, Robin's smile.
Instinctively, Robin's eyes turned toward the place where he sensed a sudden disturbance...
There, he found two eyes staring back at him—two small, red eyes.