After such a long battle, Caesar felt as if every bone in his body was about to fall apart.
The spinning black hole in the sky continuously emitted corrosive dark energy, its frequency high and speed fast; any contact would be a major problem.
And those twelve water dragon souls, imbued with vital essence, were utterly lawless, launching assaults and bombardment from all directions. The number of vengeful souls that had died under their onslaught was simply innumerable.
Those still standing on the battlefield now were almost all individuals with some significant capability.
The cannon fodder who had come to join the fray were nearly all dead.
As for the main body of the Sea-Turning Demon Whale, it had thrashed about quite a bit at the start, but now it was barely moving.
Originally, splitting off twelve sub-souls was an extremely taxing endeavor, let alone continuously controlling them to slay enemies.
If the main body had also kept moving, it would have undoubtedly led to multi-threaded chaos.
So, after an initial attempt, the main body of the Sea-Turning Demon Whale chose to slack off, focusing all its energy on harassing the twelve water dragon souls.
These water dragon souls were not afraid of being struck, their strength ferocious, their numbers vast, and their coordination impeccable. They had caused the awakened ones of the sea and others to die again and again, their blood flowing like rivers.
The area now enveloped by the Sea-Turning Demon Whale's domain had already turned into an endless blood red.
"This guy... he's not going to stop, is he..."
Arthur also felt waves of exhaustion.
Especially in the last half hour, as the number of combatants dwindled, the water dragon souls had been attacking them with increasing frequency.
"But the good news is, the Sea-Turning Demon Whale is probably also reaching its limit in controlling this situation."
"I can clearly feel that this barrier has weakened considerably."
"If we wait another half hour, we won't need it to actively dissipate; we can break free ourselves!"
Caesar was not as optimistic as him:
"Can we even last another half hour in this state?"
"The Sea-Turning Demon Whale has clearly realized that it can't keep all of us here, and has started to select its primary targets, trying to kill as many as possible."
"If we're unlucky and chosen, the pressure will be immense."
Arthur heard this and grinned:
"What's there to be afraid of!"
"My luck has always been very good!"
"Even when I'm eating, I can always accurately pick out the piece that's the saltiest because the salt wasn't spread evenly!"
Caesar's face immediately twisted:
"You call that good luck?!"
As the two spoke, the situation on the battlefield changed once more.
The black hole in the center, which had been continuously emitting energy, suddenly closed up. It began to contract inwards instead of expanding outwards.
"This guy seems to be charging up..."
Arthur murmured.
"Could it be attacking us?"
"That black hole possesses extreme gravity and corrosive properties!"
Caesar immediately had a bad premonition.
Due to its gravitational pull, the black hole was difficult to dodge.
If they were to take a direct hit from it, even he and Arthur could be in danger, let alone Julia beside them, who was already trembling from the cold and fear.
What they feared most happened. Just as Caesar finished speaking, the black hole's target shifted to the three of them.
Arthur's face instantly turned pale:
"Caesar, you jinx!"
Caesar's expression was equally grim:
"It's you, the unlucky one!"
"No, we can't dodge this. We have to block it."
"Otherwise, Julia will surely die!"
Arthur also understood the gravity of the situation. He gritted his teeth and reached for the hilt of his sword, which lacked a blade, at his waist:
"Leave it to me! You watch Julia!"
Caesar was startled:
"You're going by yourself?"
"Can you do it?"
Arthur snorted coldly:
"What else can I do? I have to do it even if I can't! We can't possibly expect the Sea-Turning Demon Whale to miss its aim, can we?"
"Just watch, and I'll show you what true..."
But before Arthur could finish, the situation with the Sea-Turning Demon Whale changed again.
The twelve water dragon souls, which had been flying about wildly, suddenly formed a neat line, arranged in a pocket-like formation.
Cold air was visibly boiling within the mouths of the water dragon souls, clearly indicating they were preparing for the next wave of offense.
And judging by their gathered stances and coiled readiness, it seemed they weren't planning on just firing a single water dragon blast, but were preparing for a close-quarters onslaught.
Arthur's prepared words were instantly swallowed back, turning into a helpless, bitter laugh:
"Caesar... we... might be about to die..."
Caesar's heart also leaped.
This feeling of being locked onto by countless dangers, with his scalp tingling, was all too familiar to him.
In his not-so-long life, besides this instance, it had only occurred twice before.
Once was in the battlefield of the spatial rift when he was surrounded by countless alien races. Another was when he insisted on not forfeiting and was directly knocked unconscious by Adam Hammerfall.
"It's my fault... I shouldn't have brought you here, brother..."
Caesar looked mournfully at the doll-like Julia, almost about to cry.
Julia, however, smiled understandingly:
"It's okay, brother."
"We shouldn't attribute unavoidable circumstances to personal errors."
"In any case, my life was saved by you on the battlefield. Between us siblings, there's no debt to be paid."
Hearing Julia say this, Caesar's nose felt even more sore:
"So be it..."
"Perhaps this is the destined calamity for our sibling pair."
"To have lived until today is already fulfilling enough."
Caesar also smiled with relief, turning his gaze back towards the sky-rending energy mass.
The black hole, the twelve water dragons, and the various incomprehensible skills the Sea-Turning Demon Whale had newly gathered now occupied nearly half the sky.
Caesar wouldn't delude himself into thinking he could survive such a torrential assault.
As for the others around them, let alone helping him, even if they could, they likely wouldn't. Instead, they might even be happy at his demise.
Since death was inevitable, he might as well die with some dignity.
With this thought, Caesar completely gave up, striking a pose as if to embrace the sun.
Julia stood silently beside Caesar, witnessing the final dawn.
Arthur's face was filled with reluctance, clearly still clinging to the mortal world.
If he could struggle, he would.
However, how could they possibly struggle when they were so firmly locked by the black hole?
Just as they were about to be engulfed, a flash of blue light suddenly appeared before Arthur's eyes.
Then, a voice he recognized sounded from beside him:
"Hey, I shouldn't be too late, right?"