Chapter 373: Plan B "And what would prevent you from simply claiming everything inside once we breach those defenses? I’m hardly in a position to fight you for the spoils given my current condition." "We split the contents," Darian offered immediately. "Equal division of everything that shopkeeper hoarded. We both benefit rather than walking away with nothing while that demon laughs at us from her sanctuary." The queen remained silent for several long moments, her tactical mind weighing the proposal against the risks. Finally, she gave a curt nod. "Very well. We attempt this breach together. But if you betray our agreement once inside, I will ensure the remainder of my life is devoted to your kingdom’s complete destruction." "Understood," Darian agreed a soft grin on his face , already signaling his grandmasters to prepare for the attack. "Let’s see if that artifact can withstand the combined might of both our kingdoms."​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ The fifteen grandmaster-level combatants spread out in a wide formation around the shop, each positioning themselves at optimal angles to ensure their combined assault would converge with maximum force on a single point. The coordination required was extraordinary, but both kingdoms’ forces had trained extensively in such tactical maneuvers. Darian raised his hand, dark element energy already coalescing around his form in preparation. "On my mark. Full power, simultaneous impact. No holding back." Queen Seraphina’s light magic blazed from her remaining arm despite her injuries, creating a sphere of radiant energy that hummed with barely contained destruction. Her three grandmasters matched her example, their respective elements manifesting in spectacular displays. The dark elf grandmasters channeled their signature shadow magic, creating constructs of absolute darkness that seemed to devour the ambient light. The wind specialist generated a tornado of cutting force. The earth manipulator summoned massive stone projectiles. Each practitioner prepared their most devastating technique. The six orc grandmasters remained hidden. "Now!" Darian commanded. Twelve grandmaster-level attacks launched simultaneously, converging on the shop from every direction. Light and darkness, earth and wind, fire and water, ice and lightning—every element represented in a catastrophic display that lit up the entire forest with its combined brilliance. The techniques collided at the shop’s center point, their opposing energies creating secondary reactions that amplified the total destructive output exponentially. Light met darkness in annihilating explosions. Fire boiled water into superheated steam. Wind fed flames while carrying earth fragments at supersonic speeds. The convergence created a detonation that shook the ground for a mile in every direction. trees were ripped from their roots and hurled away like toys. Rock formations shattered into deadly shrapnel. The very air itself ignited from the thermal energy being released. Smoke exploded everywhere in massive billowing clouds that obscured all vision. Sand and pulverized earth created a secondary layer of obstruction that made seeing anything impossible. The combined assault had literally reshaped the landscape, creating conditions that prevented even enhanced perception from penetrating. Even the grandmasters themselves couldn’t see what was happening behind the dense smoke and debris despite their incredible sensory capabilities. Their vision was useless against the sheer volume of particulate matter suspended in the air. Magical detection methods were scrambled by residual energy from so many conflicting elements colliding. They waited in tense silence as the smoke gradually began to settle, each practitioner straining to detect any sign of whether their unprecedented assault had succeeded in breaching the shop’s defenses. Finally, Seraphina’s patience expired. She turned toward her wind specialist subordinate. "Clear this obstruction. I want to see the results immediately." The grandmaster nodded and began channeling his wind magic, preparing to generate currents that would disperse the smoke and reveal whatever remained of their target. Powerful gusts swept through the devastated area, pushing the obscuring clouds away. The smoke cleared gradually, revealing the aftermath of their combined assault one section at a time. What they saw left them all speechless with shock. The area around the shop had been completely destroyed, transformed into a massive crater that extended for a hundred meters in every direction. But the shop itself, along with the small circle of ground it stood upon, remained completely undamaged. The structure looked exactly as it had before the assault, not a single board out of place or window cracked. The door sat perfectly in its frame. The walls showed no scorch marks or impact damage. Even the small plot of earth the building rested on appeared untouched, as if an invisible dome had protected that specific area while allowing devastation everywhere else. It was impossible. Twelve grandmaster-level attacks, coordinated for maximum destructive output, had reshaped the entire landscape—yet the shop stood pristine and mocking in its perfection, a testament to protections that transcended anything they understood about defensive magic. Darian stared at the impossible sight, his earlier confidence evaporating into horrified disbelief. "What... what kind of artifact possesses defenses of this magnitude?" Seraphina’s expression showed similar shock mixed with dawning recognition of just how far beyond their comprehension this mysterious establishment truly was.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Seeing the shop’s complete imperviousness to their combined assault, Seraphina cursed with venomous frustration. The catastrophic expenditure of power had accomplished nothing except proving how utterly beyond their capabilities this mysterious establishment truly was. "I’m leaving," she declared coldly, turning away from the impossible structure with obvious disgust. "This is a waste of time and resources we can no longer afford." Her remaining grandmasters moved to escort their wounded queen, clearly relieved to finally withdraw from this disastrous confrontation that had cost them so much for zero gain. But as Seraphina began walking away, Darian’s expression transformed into something dark and calculating. A look of pure hatred settled over his face as his mind worked through the implications of their failure. If I can’t get that demon inside the shop, then it’s time to get the demon to come outside, he thought with cold determination. His plan had always been simple in its brutality. Use Seraphina and her forces to help him break the shop’s defenses through combined assault, then turn on the light elves once they had breached the protections. Seraphina wouldn’t be able to defeat him in her current mutilated state, missing an arm and exhausted from hours of combat. Even if she wanted to refuse cooperation, her vulnerable condition would have forced compliance. Unfortunately, the best-case scenario hadn’t worked. The shop’s defenses had proven completely impervious to even their unprecedented combined power. But that just meant he needed to proceed with what he had been planning to do anyway, destroy the light elven and make sure Serapgina could no longer see the light of the sun. Darian turned to look at Seraphina’s retreating back and her accompanying subordinates. His hand moved in a subtle gesture that only his own forces would recognize as a signal. The six orc grandmasters who had been positioned at strategic distances suddenly began making their way toward the light elf group with obvious hostile intent. Their massive forms moved with surprising speed, and their overwhelming auras became visible as they could no longer hide their auras. Seraphina sensed the approaching threat and turned sharply to identify what the massive auras represented. Her eyes widened as she recognized the orc warriors converging on her position with clear aggressive purpose. Before she could process this betrayal, Darian himself attacked. His dark element magic manifested as a spear of shadow that shot toward her injured body. Seraphina barely managed to raise a light barrier with her remaining arm, the defensive construct absorbing the assassination attempt but shattering from the force. "You backstabbing snake!" she screamed, fury and shock mixing in her voice. "We had an agreement!" "Agreements mean nothing when I can simply take everything by force," Darian replied with cold pragmatism, already preparing his next attack. He turned toward his assembled forces and commanded, "Slaughter them all! Leave no light elf alive to report what happened here!" The dark elf grandmasters and orc warriors immediately engaged Seraphina’s three remaining grandmasters in brutal combat. The numerical advantage was overwhelming—nine against three, with one of those three being a critically wounded queen who could barely defend herself. Inside the shop, Lola watched everything unfold through the windows with eyes that had gone cold and empty. She had calmed herself down from her earlier grief-stricken breakdown, and what remained was something far more dangerous. Her heart had become ruthless in its calculation—she couldn’t care less how many of them died in this escalating carnage. In fact, she wanted them all dead. If these kingdoms could kill each other off in their greed and treachery, that would save her the effort of hunting them down individually for revenge. But she wanted to kill Darian herself. She needed to take his heart out with her own hands and crush it slowly while he watched, making him experience even a fraction of the agony she felt watching Noah die. That specific death belonged to her, and she would tolerate no one else claiming it. As chaos erupted outside with light and dark elves locked in desperate combat, there was something critical that no one noticed in their focus on immediate survival and violence. Noah’s body, which had been carefully placed inside a casket of solidified darkness that Darian had conjured to preserve and transport the valuable corpse, had long since disintegrated and disappeared from its sealed location. The dark construct remained intact and undisturbed, giving no external indication that anything had changed. But inside the magical container, where Noah’s lifeless form should have been lying in state as proof of the dark elves’ victory, there was now absolutely nothing. The body had vanished completely, as if it had never existed at all.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​