Angelo had a skill called Sacred Sacrifice, and the effect of this skill was very simple.
Based on the price he was willing to pay he received a proportional power boost.
For example, if Angelo sacrificed his sense of touch for 1 day what he received was a power boost of x2 or he could simply put it all into a single attack to make the next skill 10 times more powerful.
However, being a level 165 soul evolver was still not enough for him if he wanted to face a dragon that surpassed him not only in terms of race but also in terms of Order and level.
Therefore, Angelo had no choice but to pay one of the highest prices he could in exchange for power.
He sacrificed his sense of sight for 7 days in exchange for his power to be multiplied x10 for 1 full day or he could consume all that power in a single attack to make his next skill 100 times more powerful.
Losing his eyesight on the battlefield while he was fighting such a fierce enemy as a Fourth Order dragon was basically equivalent to throwing away half of his life. The only reason Angelo did this was because he could rely on his Presence Sense skill, which allowed him to detect relatively close enemies as well as malicious attacks.
He thought his sacrifice had been enough… and in fact, his sacrifice was more than enough because after three hours of combat he managed to end Neos’ life.
Unfortunately, the dragon race turned out to be much, much more terrifying than Angelo had predicted.
A Fourth Order dragon was nothing more than a lackey…. Angelo couldn’t help but think that the leader of the other party was most likely a Fifth Order dragon.
He could barely kill a mid Fourth Order dragon by sacrificing his eyesight for a week, but this level of power did not allow him to kill two mid Fourth Order dragons.
‘Should I sacrifice my sight and sense of touch forever?’
Such a thought was born in his heart.
It was the only way he could fight two Fourth Order dragons most likely above level 250 at the same time with more than 70% chance of coming out victorious.
So far, Angelo had made only temporary sacrifices. He knew that the increase in power he would receive overall would make him much more powerful if he sacrificed one or two of his senses eternally.
However, Angelo dismissed the idea as soon as it appeared.
Who could guarantee that after these two Fourth Order dragons, no more would appear? Making a sacrifice as great as that for nothing was not something Angelo was willing to do unless he really had no other choice.
When the silhouettes of the two giant dragons not at all inferior to the previous one in size appeared in the distance, Angelo finally woke up from the shock that had shaken him to the core but just at that moment he saw the two Fourth Order beasts open their mouths wide at the same time.
“Fuck!”
The surrounding air grew hot, the grass in the distance died, and the earth dried up.
The throats of the two Fourth Order dragons lit up, and under the wide-open eyes of the human troops two whirlwinds of fire thick as buildings roared like live beasts in the direction of the man leading them.
“Leader!”
“Angelo!”
“Watch out!”
“Dodge quickly!”
…
Whether they were subordinates, friends, and even family members… Everyone screamed in terror looking at the small silver figure in the sky about to be devoured by the two dragon breaths.
A few seconds ago everyone had been celebrating, thinking that victory was finally theirs when they saw the Fourth Order dragon fleeing only to be cut in two halves with a single slash from Angelo’s sword. However, in a matter of sighs they all felt as if the sky was falling on their heads.
Angelo wanted to dodge and if he could he would certainly gladly do so, but it was only then that he figured out the reason Neos moved and seemed to flee at the end just before he died.
It wasn’t that Neos was running away but that he was moving to put Angelo in a critical position soon after!
Because behind Angelo was the fortress of Illinois in which millions of survivors waited with their hearts in their throats for the news of victory or the wail of defeat!
Angelo raised his sword and roared skyward, frustrated and indignant. His aura rose and an incredibly strong silver light enveloped him; even the light particles coming from his wings entered the blade of his sword getting brighter and brighter.
“Wipe Out!!!”
As Angelo shouted the name of his strongest skill while slashing downward, the sky seemed to split in two halves as a milk-white light over 400 meters long and 200 meters wide shot forward.
The speed at which the two torrents of flame were moving toward Angelo was so fast that it was just short of touching the sonic barrier. On the other hand, the cut of light was moving towards the dragons at a speed not at all slower.
Soon, the three attacks met head-on near the midpoint of the total distance between the two parties.
RUMBLE…!!!!
Despite the altitude at which they were fighting, the earth shook and split.
Large cracks spread everywhere, and some unlucky ones were not fast enough to escape in time and fell into the deep darkness.
War tanks, vehicles mounted with weapons, modified weaponry, normal humans, soul evolvers…. A lot of manpower was devoured by the cracks.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!!!!!!
When the three attacks finally exploded and released all the energy they contained, golden lightning flashed across the sky as flames hotter than those of a volcano covered the world.
The sky cried, and the only reason both dragons and humans were still alive was thanks to the milk-white light that devoured the flames without resting for a moment.
“Pffffft!!!”
Angelo’s body was sent flying backwards like a kite whose string had been cut after being hit in the chest by the shockwave. He felt something coming up his throat, and the taste of iron in his mouth belonging to his blood flooded his senses as large spurts of blood shot out from his cracked lips.
A wince of pain followed by a groan that brought him back made Angelo realize that there was no way his current self could take on those two monsters at the same time; he had already fought a tough battle seconds before for god’s sake!
Turning his body and flapping his wings to get away faster by using the down force to his advantage, Angelo pulled a small device from his chest and shouted in an anxious voice: “Missile base, listen to my command! Commence number two missile launch at coordinates 40°00′01″N 89°15′01″W! Repeat, shoot missile number 2 to coordinates 40°00′0101″N 89°15′01″W!”
He had no choice!
If it wasn’t for how bad things were Angelo would never be willing to pull out the most terrifying weapon the human race had ever created; a weapon capable of destroying everything indiscriminately and regardless of whether it was the intended target or not!
“Nicolas here. Leader, we need the password to-“
“Nicolas you son of a bitch! If you know it’s me then fire the fucking missile if you don’t want me to throw you alive to the zombies! NOW!!!”
For security reasons, it required a password to fire a weaponry as destructive and damaging as a nuclear missile was. Even if the leader of the team stationed at the missile base recognized the Leader’s voice, such a password was still necessary not only for protocol but also as insurance.
However, Angelo didn’t have time for any of that.
If they took any longer things would get completely out of hand and there would be no hope for them anymore!
“I- Understood. Firing intercontinental missile number 2 at coordinates 40°00′01″N 89°15′01″W. In five… four…”
Nicolas’ trembling voice reached Angelo’s ears as he shouted into the distance, “Andrea, raise your strongest barrier in a wide arc! Hurry!”
At the front of the army, Andrea’s expression changed when she heard Angelo’s order. Even without him saying much more, she was smart and capable enough to understand what his thoughts were.
“All those with barrier type skills or enough physical power to lift the earth don’t hold back and give it all!”
Andrea rarely shouted and her voice was usually in tune with the naturally flowing breeze, but this time her voice sounded like thunder and spread across the battlefield at the speed of light.
No one asked anything, and with their eyes fixed on the two massive creatures that were getting closer and closer they did as Andrea ordered.
The mages raised their strongest barriers without holding back at all while the warriors struck the earth with their weapons or fists causing great natural walls to rise up amidst tens of thousands of brilliant magical flashes.
A second later, everyone saw a flash of light appearing in the sky from the west. This flash of light approached rapidly and thus its brightness became greater and greater.
The two dragons that were trying to hunt Angelo stopped in the sky at the sight of the bright flash of light.
One of them whose scales were as red as blood looked at the missile with disdain and laughed, “Those stupid humans keep launching those things at us as if they could hurt our bodies… They really don’t learn!”
The other dragon had metallic colored scales and they shone brightly under the glare of the sun. Its voice made it clear that it was a female dragon: “Those weapons can’t harm our subordinates at all what more to us.”
“Let me extinguish their hopes with a bit of fire!” The red dragon opened his mouth wide and a large amount of fire-like energy gathered in his throat getting hotter and hotter.
Angelo couldn’t see but he could certainly feel the hot energy behind him, and without hesitation, he launched himself towards the ground at full speed while shouting an inaudible curse.
Roaaaaaaaar!!!
The sky rumbled as the red Fourth Order dragon roared. His roar pushed the flames out of his throat and thereafter out of his wide open maw.
The female dragon watched indifferently as the practically solid flames hit the missile, but when she saw in that split second a white light coming out of the missile her expression changed.
“No! That sneaky human fooled us!” She flapped her wings in a hurry with the intention of fleeing, but it was too late.
At the same time as an explosion even more fierce than the one caused when Angelo’s attack collided with the two dragon breaths of the Fourth Order beasts, a brilliant white light with golden edges covered the sky and made it wail in its outburst.
BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOM!!!!
…
Seconds earlier.
In the distance, Bai Zemin and the rest of his team were flying in the sky riding on Little Snow’s back.
They had already entered U.S. territory about a day ago and thus had heard the explosion caused by two torrents of bright fire and a flash of white light.
“It looks like the battle is at its best.” Kang Lan sighed.
“As expected of our great King… arriving at the best time of all.” Nangong Lingxin couldn’t help but pout.
Bai Zemin opened his mouth to say something when he suddenly saw another flare of fire lighting up the sky and hitting something.
However, when he saw the white light spreading outward from that small object his expression changed tremendously.
“Holy- Holy shit! He really triggered a nuclear missile!”
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