23 Star-class vs Star-class (Part 1)

Inside the fort, Lycidas and everyone around him were stupefied by the sheer power of the lightning strikes that were heading for their positions. Moreover, its velocity was truly mind-boggling!

The Vampire King's instinct was extremely alarmed!

He can deduce better than anyone else that those lightning strikes were abnormal. Too different from typical thunder-element techniques.

"Evade!!!" Lycidas quickly shouted with a slight panic tone.

Even though he was a powerful birth stage Star-class ranker, there's no way for him to be left unscathed if he got hit by those bolts of lightning. Besides, he didn't have time to set up or prepare any kind of defensive measures. Thus, evading the impact area as far as possible was the only way that could allow him to be safe from danger.

In a flash, Lycidas dashed to the left in frantic. His high cultivation allowed him to possess near unmatchable mobility, enabling him to leave the impact zone instantly.

Unfortunately, lots of invaders, including some of Lycidas' own subordinates, failed to react in time…

DUARRR!

A deafening sound erupted as the lightnings struck the fort!

The fort's whole area was electrolyzed, including everything and everyone inside!

No one was spared from being turn to ashes…

The Heavenly Lightning wasn't something that mortals could resist.

Even rankers of Diamond-class, a bunch of established powerhouses whom each of them had the ability to rule over a territory within Heavenly Tower, respected and admired by many, were nothing more than dust before the divine lightning's might.

Weak and fragile, nothing to be proud of.

Lycidas was among the few who were safe from danger. An unsightly expression appeared on his face as he turned his head and watched the aftermath.

Fury rose inside his heart, the destruction inflicted upon the fort was absolutely devastating!

That fort and everything inside was the crystallization of months of hard work which has been done painstakingly by Lycidas himself and his forces. And it all destroyed in an instant, by a single strike nonetheless.

For the Vampire King, it was really heartbreaking to watch the scene unfold while being powerless to prevent it from happening.

Suddenly, before he could assess the situation further…

He sensed another incoming danger that wasn't less threatening than the lightning strikes from before approaching him!

At the same time, the whole world turned dimmer as well, as if the sun had miraculously disappeared from the sky all of a sudden.

Alarm blaring intensely inside his mind, telling him to quickly avoid the incoming threat. However, Lycidas found himself unable to move his own body.

It was truly difficult for him to even just moving his fingers. He feels like carrying a thousand tons of weight on his shoulders, extremely heavy and suffocating.

'Domain!!!' Lycidas screamed inwardly and his heart sank once he realized what exactly the kind of power that restricted him.

Normally, Domain used by a Diamond-class ranker won't be able to trap or affect a Star-class ranker no matter.

In order for rankers to advance to Star-class aside from condensing a "Star Core", they also must form a "Will". It was basically a manifestation of the belief of their existence.

Someone who possessed a "Will" can strengthen their existence within the natural order of the universe to be more sturdy, which will separate them from ordinary beings that can be forgotten easily by the universe. This shows that once a ranker ascended to Star-class, they were walking more onto the path toward higher-order lifeforms, who would cement their existences further until they reach immortality.

Because of having a "Will", Star-class rankers were able to negate the effect of any Domains deployed by rankers below their level.

Thus, the deployment of Domain that succeeded in restricting a mighty powerhouse like him right now can only means one thing; there was a presence of another Star-class ranker with equal strength as him nearby. And that person was on the opponent's side.

Lycidas did not expect that he would face a Star-class powerhouse in this world. Although this world does have one Star-class protector who had just ascended a decade ago, that ranker's recent whereabouts was unknown.

The only information that Lycidas aware of was originated from the tracking team who have been tasked to track that particular Star-class ranker, mentioning a rumor that she was staying in Heavenly Tower's 2nd layer and has not returned home for a long time.

But it looks like that info was completely wrong. Moreover, the fact that she was here and trying to ambush him means that the three worlds' operation to conquer this planet has been compromised. The natives know that they were coming and had prepared to repel them.

In other words, the three worlds' intelligence apparatus was a complete sham and truly incompetent.

Without any hesitation, Lycidas unleashed his entire power.

He didn't dare to be complacent at this time, the current situation was too precarious for him.

The "Star Core" inside his body was rotating in full-spectrum, exerting every bit of strength that its host has.

Gritting his teeth very hard and hardening his entire body, Lycidas stubbornly resist the opponent's domain restriction. A Space-element-based Domain… one of the abominable things that exist in this universe, for him at least.

Space could be considered the most difficult element to understand and rankers who have an affinity with it were extremely rare. The potential application of this element in combat was enormous, whether offensive, defensive or support, Space could do it all.

And to think that there exists someone who had mastered this element to a terrifying degree, and not to mention, successfully comprehended a Domain based on it, this was really unbelievable.

Her mastery level could be judge by how flawless the space within the radius of hundreds of meters around Lycidas brought under her control and was completely sealed off, isolating it from the outside world entirely. The gravity in inside has been tweaked as well to the point it could restrict a powerful Star-class powerhouse, rendering him immobile.

Lycidas had to admit, this opponent was truly formidable.

He had been trying to resist the restriction for a while now, but no matter how hard he tries, the most he could do was merely moving his fingers.

Fear, an emotion that the infamous Vampire King hasn't felt for a long time, started creeping inside his heart.

"You shouldn't come here, Alien…" Out of nowhere, an enchanting voice that carries a hint of authority and sounded strangely ethereal softly resound to Lycidas' ears.

'WHAT?!'

Lycidas was startled from hearing it. And then, he saw a blurry figure of a person accompanied by purplish electrical bolts flashes right in front of him.

Swing!

Bang!!!

"Guakghhh!!!" He lets out a painful scream after he got hit by a powerful strike and was sent flying back to the island. Trails of red blood were also spraying out in the air.

Boom!!!

Lycidas crashed heavily to the ground near the remains of the fort. Ground cracks and a large crater were created as the results.

Confusion and bewilderment filled both of his mind and hearts as he lays in the middle of the crater. Raising his blood-soaked, shivering hand he couldn't help but feel weird.

After a few centuries, he finally sees his own blood again. And it has been a long time too since he became a mess like this in battle.

He, Lycidas, a mighty birth stage Star-class ranker and the dignified vampire king who ruled the second-largest vampire kingdom in Balestier world, has been beaten down and humiliated by an unknown opponent into this state. He couldn't accept it.

His anger was greatly aroused and his expression turned very unsightly.

Ignoring the really painful wounds on his body, Lycidas slowly stood up.

Even though his current situation wasn't really good, his standing posture was ramrod straight while a strong pressure still emanating from his body.

His red bright eyes fiercely glared at the one who managed to make him like this, the previous unknown opponent, a woman who possessed a wavy light- purple colored hair, garbed in an exquisite purple robe, wore a faceless mask on her face and a large jet-black battle-axe wield by her right hand. Around her, purplish electrical bolts still coiling and flashing continuously while dark clouds rumbling in the background.

Her visage was quite surreal and domineering.

'So that's her, huh… Gaia's only Star-class protector.' Lycidas murmured inwardly.

That woman was gazing calmly at him from above, he can perceive what kind of expression she has underneath that faceless mask, and it was an indifferent kind, nothing else.

This made him extremely dissatisfied, disregarding him was the same as looking down on him.

'Humph! You had made me like this only because of a surprise attack, it'll be different now, I'll show you.'

Killing intent surging out from Lycidas' heart. He decides to be serious as he wanted to teach this arrogant woman a lesson.