The Evolution Of A Goblin To The Peak

Chapter 1157: The Demon: A Seventh Shackle Realm

ROAR!!!

Doranjan felt power surging through his veins. A strange sensation, one he hadn’t felt in a long time, awakened within him. He instinctively understood what it was.

Despite his massive body, Doranjan moved with incredible speed. He charged toward the three experts while unleashing [Bestrou].

Swoosh!!

He knew it—he had reached his limit, yet beyond that limit was something greater. A powerful force waited to be unearthed. Every cell in his body brimmed with raw energy.

I can evolve...

Doranjan understood what it meant to step into the next stage of evolution.

This was enough.

He stopped pursuing his opponents and lifted his gaze. Above, Alice was watching him.

"Go," Alice muttered.

Doranjan nodded. With a powerful flap of his wings, he soared into the sky, heading straight for the Guardian Fortress.

Swoosh!!

The experts battling Doranjan were stunned by his sudden retreat. They prepared to give chase, but Alice swung her spear, unleashing a powerful force that barred their path.

Hovering in the air, Alice glared down at the gathered experts. White mist seeped from her body as she gradually absorbed the chaos of emotions flooding the battlefield.

Doranjan was on the verge of evolution. Alice had to stop anyone from interfering.

She hovered in the air, spear in hand, white mist spilling from her body. Her gaze swept over the battlefield like a blade. Hundreds of experts locked onto her at once, their energy surging as they prepared to strike.

They knew she was Sixth Shackle Realm. But numbers gave them confidence and more Sixth Shackle experts were already moving in to crush her.

Alice tightened her grip on her spear.

"Vashno! Franklin! Eztein! You know what to do!" Torkez’s voice thundered across the battlefield.

The three warriors turned at once, responding instantly.

Then it came—a strange energy pulsing out from the Guardian Fortress.

Allies and enemies alike felt it.

For a moment, the battlefield froze. Every gaze turned toward the fortress.

...

In the distance, the Spatial Whisperer’s brows shot up. He wasn’t alone—thousands of watching experts were struck with the same realization.

"This sensation...?"

"No...!!"

"Someone is evolving!"

"It must be the Blood Lightning Monster!"

"No! The signature’s different!"

The high-level experts recognized it immediately—the terrifying surge of a monster forcing its way into the next stage. And the dread weighing down the air told them it wasn’t a minor evolution.

"A fifth evolution stage...!!"

The crowd’s intent shifted in an instant. They could not allow a fifth-stage monster to rise on the other side.

Ray Borg turned, watching the faces of thousands twist with the same grim resolve.

Ohm!!

A suffocating aura erupted across the battlefield, pressing down like a mountain. Ray Borg, the Spatial Whisperer, and the other SSS-rank experts stiffened as the sheer force of it crashed over them.

"This energy...!!"

Heads whipped around. In the distance, a small group descended from the skies, their leader radiating unmatched dominance. At the front stood an old man draped in white robes, long dark-red hair flowing like blood in the wind. His presence alone distorted the air around him.

"There’s no doubt... a Seventh Shackle Realm!!"

The first Hero-rank had arrived.

The battlefield seemed to pause. Countless eyes followed the group as they halted five hundred meters above the ground, suspended like gods looking down on mortals.

"That’s Berfien," Ray Borg whispered, almost in awe. "A master spellcaster who reached Hero-rank a few years ago... Vice-President of the Vintage Spell Guild."

The Guild itself was a titan of power, its Guildmaster a spellcaster of the Eighth Shackle Realm. Even among the forces in their country, the Vintage Guild was a name spoken with respect.

Behind Berfien floated his followers—experts of the Fifth and Sixth Shackle Realms—yet under his shadow, they seemed like mere attendants.

"This fluctuation..." Berfien’s voice rolled like thunder as his gaze locked onto the Guardian Fortress. His sharp eyes swept across the battlefield, and all could feel it—he alone stood at the Seventh Shackle here.

’Too soon,’ he thought. ’The other Hero-ranks are still bidding their time. But we cannot allow a monster on the Blood Lightning Monster’s side to evolve.’

The best feram clawing at the sky told him everything. This was no minor evolution.

A monster was forcing its way into the fifth evolution stage.

The pressure of his aura spread wider, causing weaker experts to tremble and falter in midair.

Berfien narrowed his eyes, his presence towering above thousands.

’Perhaps... I will make them move for me.’

Ohm!

A terrifying pressure burst from Berfien, blanketing the battlefield. His gaze swept across the experts, his voice booming like thunder:

"Stop watching! Attack the fortress! Do not let that monster reach the fifth evolution stage!"

...

Alice hovered in the air, her eyes locked on the countless enemies below. The weight of their combined presence was crushing.

She tightened her grip on her spear.

Swoosh!!

A surge of killing intent rose as seven Sixth Shackle Realm experts broke forward. Behind them, Alice felt it, an even greater power lurking in the enemy’s ranks.

With a resounding boom, she launched herself forward, cutting across the sky to intercept. Seven at once, she couldn’t afford restraint. Her Element Drive ignited, Dream Power flooding her veins.

Swoosh!!

The air froze. Shards of ice formed into deadly spears that rained down from above.

"Go back!!" Alice roared, unleashing a terrifying force that shook the sky.

Boom!!

The seven Sixth Shackle experts halted abruptly, throwing up barriers against the storm of her attack.

All around, expressions shifted. The sheer weight of her strike made even distant experts realize, ignoring her meant death.

Vashno, Eztein, and Franklin glanced over mid-battle. Vashno felt his chest tighten. He and Alice were the only Sixth Shackle experts on their side while the enemy fielded dozens.

He had already slain a few, but the enemy’s numbers still towered over them.

"Damn!" Vashno gritted his teeth as countless tentacles erupted from his body, lashing out at the encroaching foes.

Swoosh!!

Torkez drew a sharp breath. He knew he couldn’t stand against the enemy’s high-level experts. His role was clear, thin the ranks of the weaker ones, reduce their numbers, and ease the burden on his soldiers.

Then he saw it... tens of thousands of enemies charging straight for them. His expression hardened.

"Everyone! Retreat!" Torkez’s voice cut across the chaos. "Form a defensive line near the Guardian Fortress! Do not engage outside the [Five Elements Barrier Formation]!"

His command spread instantly through the Astros’ ranks. Soldiers broke from scattered engagements, pulling back in disciplined groups toward the fortress.

The enemy gave chase, surging forward in waves. Those who crossed into the barrier formation felt their strength suppressed, their movements dulled but their overwhelming numbers still pressed hard against the Astros’ lines.

Torkez’s strategy was clear: tighten the battlefield, force the enemy into the range of the formation, and let the barrier even the odds.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The ring of steel filled the air. Explosions erupted as spells and techniques collided.

Bodies fell every moment, yet the balance was in Astros’ favor. Their melee combatants, strengthened by parasites, held the line with brutal efficiency. Casualties among the Astros remained minimal, while the enemy’s numbers steadily bled away.

"Use it!!" Torkez’s command rang across the battlefield.

The soldiers of Astros immediately pulled small bottles from their pockets. Orange light shimmered within each vial as they drank. Ahead, Alice, Eztein, Franklin, and Vashno did the same.

A moment later, the spatial structure around them shuddered.

A rift split open before the Astros’ lines. From within, a surge of purple gas poured out, spreading rapidly. Within seconds, the entire interior of the [Five Elements Barrier Formation] was engulfed.

Torkez’s eyes narrowed. "We can hold this."

...

On the other side, Berfien frowned as the dense purple haze swallowed the battlefield.

Many had overlooked a critical detail—this gas was not conjured naturally. It flowed directly from a spatial rift.

That meant someone on the Blood Lightning Monster’s side wielded spatial abilities.

Thousands of enemies had already pushed into the barrier, pressing the Astros on all fronts. Yet Berfien knew it wasn’t enough. A fifth evolution monster could emerge at any moment. If it did, the balance of the war would tip in an instant.

"There’s no other choice."

Berfien bent his knees, aura rippling like a storm. With a single motion, he launched himself forward. In a blink, he tore through the purple fog, entering the barrier formation and plunging into the heart of the battle.