Inside Utgard Castle.
The battle was ongoing.
And at this ti, the three Giants guarding the small house — Dorry, Brogy, and Saul — stood within the starlight barrier Uma had set up.
They were spectating the unbelievable battle before them.
"Dragon Horn Strike!"
Teach, having completely transford into a pitch-black evil dragon, had a dark hue flowing across the twin horns atop his head — the horns that had once belonged to Loki.
That was the deadly venom of Nidhogg.
His sharp twin horns thrust towards Uma, and the fierce wind whipped up by his flapping wings seed capable of obliterating everything.
"Primordial Wind!"
But Uma still didn't dodge or evade.
Countless starlight characters condensed on the book in his hand as he continuously wrote.
[The fierce wind stops, the venom evaporates]
Accompanied by his writing, the fierce wind Teach stirred up abruptly ceased, and the venom was eradicated in an instant.
Imdiately following—
"Phantasm · Giant Fist!"
Uma wrote again, and a giant fist ford from converging starlight instantly collided with Teach.
The next mont, a shockwave mixed with starlight and darkness frantically expanded in all directions.
The massive colonnades of Utgard Castle, and even everything inside it, were instantly vaporized in the shockwave — and one must rember, given Utgard Castle's size, which could be called massive even for Giants, if this strike were placed on the sea, it would absolutely be one capable of obliterating an island.
But for the two currently engaged in battle, this could undoubtedly only be called a casual strike.
"What kind of... power is this!"
Watching this, Saul's voice was dry.
Even though he himself had once served as a Marine Vice Admiral, even though he and current Marine Admirals had been best friends, even though he was a Giant warrior of Elbaf — he had never seen, or even heard of, a battle of this caliber.
However, unlike him — although Dorry and Brogy hadn't seen a battle of this caliber either, they had at least heard of one.
"It's said that His Majesty Harald once fought that Rocks D. Xebec in the past... perhaps the battle between those two was a sight like what's before us now?"
These two warriors had already clenched their fists, their words carrying distinct excitent.
Even knowing that the one who occupied Loki's body was an absolute enemy, being able to witness a battle of this caliber still made it hard for them to contain themselves.
"It's a pity Lord Uma's judgnt was right... we cannot participate in a battle like this."
But at the sa ti, Dorry and Brogy also felt regret.
They were powerful fighters who took pride in their identity as warriors, but they also knew very well — they could not participate in a battle of this caliber.
It wasn't that they hadn't encountered powerful ability users before, but those two people clearly weren't quite the sa as ordinary ability users.
"Their abilities seem to be enhanced by so kind of power?"
"Mm... I originally thought that ability Lord Loki possesses was unique to his fruit."
"Gababababa! Truly remarkable... However, clearly being a guy aiming to destroy Elbaf, yet we need to rely on a guest to fight — if the God of Elbaf knew, he'd probably be angry, right?"
"Gegyagyagya, it can't be helped... let's treat him to a drink later!"
"Treat who? The God of Elbaf or Uma?"
Looking at the two laughing heartily, appearing extrely optimistic, Saul could only shake his head helplessly.
And while shaking his head, he also looked toward Uma's figure.
He knew very well the significance of this battle.
Judging from the strength Teach had displayed after occupying Loki's body, currently no one in all of Elbaf could oppose him — the outco of the battle between Uma and Teach would directly determine the survival of Elbaf.
But at the sa ti, as a Giant Scholar who had studied at Ohara, Saul's wisdom naturally led him to another question.
That was — since Teach clearly already possessed Loki's power, wielding martial might that could hardly find a rival in all of Elbaf, he could have completely relied on Loki's identity to forcibly seize the nation. Obtaining everything in Elbaf wouldn't have been difficult.
But he didn't do that, instead choosing to hide here and trigger earthquakes. Why?
"Even without Mr. Uma's presence, Prince Regent Hajrudin should have investigated here sooner or later — Mr. Mountain is the proof."
"Doing this shouldn't benefit him..."
As Saul murmured softly, an ominous feeling had already taken root in his heart.
And at the sa ti, Uma shared Saul's thoughts.
[The trajectory of the attack is deflected]
Accompanied by this writing, the dragon breath Teach spewed brushed past Uma's body, instantly sweeping into the ruined castle grounds and corroding deep craters one after another into the earth.
But Uma, having deflected this strike, frowned as he looked at Teach, who had transford into a half-dragon form before him.
The scales on the latter's body had been sent flying under the giant fist from just monts ago.
But simultaneously, his body was recovering in an instant.
Uma naturally knew — his strike just now contained Source Energy of Lineage Factor and was coated with Conqueror's Haki. Even the recovery ability of a Mythical Zoan had no reason to heal that quickly.
The only possibility was that Teach similarly used Source Energy of Lineage Factor to enhance the fruit's effect.
And in fact, this was exactly the core of their battle.
In terms of abilities — one was an ancient Giant wielding two Mythical Zoan powers, and the other was a Zodiac wielding a fused fruit.
As for the effects of the abilities themselves, they could only be said to be evenly matched.
So when the two fought, the decisive factor was actually the use of Source Energy of Lineage Factor.
The mutual consumption and the enhancent of abilities made both their fruit powers erupt with quite unbelievable force, which resulted in almost every strike shaking Jotun Snow Mountain and rocking the Underworld.
But the problem lay exactly here.
"My Source Energy of Lineage Factor cos from the Fruit Encyclopedia's exchange and previous collections. What's the deal with Teach?"
Regarding this question, Uma already had a guess — but undoubtedly, if that guess was true, then...
"A major incident has happened."
While Uma muttered to himself, accompanied by a maniacal laugh of "Zehahaha," Teach swung Lightning and smashed down another bolt of roaring lightning.
VMMM!
Uma waved his hand, and countless starlights instantly flew out from the Book of the Stars, forming a barrier.
BOOM!
The two collided once more. The rampaging shockwave instantly caused the Spring of the Underworld to whip up giant waves, and massive fissures to split the earth.
But the difference was—
Crack, crack, crack!
After this collision, everyone present could hear an unsettling, crisp sound emitted by the entirety of Utgard Castle.
"Is it the Holy Well!?"
The three Giants noticed the source of the sound even faster — it was that massive deep well at the center of Utgard Castle.
The edges of the deep well now had tiny cracking fissures that were clearly beginning to spread.
Then—
Rumble!
The body of that deep well completely shattered.
Rumble!
And the shattering seed to be the signal for everything to collapse.
The entirety of Utgard Castle, the frozen soil and rocks nearby, the castle's very foundation — all abruptly plumted downward like a collapsing sand dune.
Dust and snow mist perated the air. The three Giants hurriedly steadied the small house that was falling along with the foundation.
Their eyes looked in disbelief toward the place where the Holy Well once stood.
Where that massive well had been was now an even larger, bottomless deep pit.
And beneath that pit, the scene deep within the eye of the Hvergelmir spring was clearly visible.
Countless spring waters surrounded it, but a massive hollow cavity remained in the center.
And within that hollow cavity were roots massive to the extre, exuding an ancient aura of life.
Those were the roots of Treasure Tree Adam.
Just as the Giant race's legend told — the Spring of the Underworld, Hvergelmir, is the extension place of the World Tree's roots.
And this deep well within Utgard Castle was the door leading to those roots.
But right now, those tree roots that should have been vibrant with life were filled with a shocking, deathly stillness and decay.
The vast majority of the massive roots — which should have been thick and crystalline — had now beco shriveled and withered.
Their surfaces were covered in massive bite marks, and golden sap flowed from the broken roots like the blood vessels of a creature bitten open.
One could clearly see that the entire root network seed to be continuously shrinking and dying from the damage.
"Th-This... is..."
Saul was the first to cry out involuntarily.
His massive body trembled violently from fear and anger.
And the shape of those massive bite marks was no longer unfamiliar to him.
Those were the dragon teeth of the Nidhogg Fruit that Loki had consud.
The fact was laid bare before them — and it made Saul instantly understand the answer to the doubt that had been gnawing at him.
Why Teach, having clearly seized Loki's body, insisted on staying in the Underworld.
The reason was exactly what they saw right now.
He lay in wait here, silently devouring the world.
(End of Chapter)
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