CHAPTER 259: DISTRESS

Elena’s expression softened with satisfaction. They were able to dismantle the phantom strategy that the corrupted elves had tried to deploy to hide the smoothie.

"Prepare targeting coordinates. Focus all efforts on the identified carrier. Once they cross the boundary, we strike immediately." One of the archmages of the light elves said, with a serious expression on his face.

The stage was set for an assault that would catch the dark elves completely unprepared, their careful defensive planning rendered useless by capabilities they hadn’t known existed within their enemies’ ranks.

The luxury smoothie had cost eleven thousand golden coins, but the real battle for its possession was only just beginning.

The moment both armies crossed the one-kilometre boundary, the accumulated hatred of centuries erupted into devastating magical warfare that transformed the landscape into a hellscape of elemental destruction.

CRASH! BOOM!

The first exchange came from opposing grandmasters who had consumed Noah’s enhancement items, their capabilities amplified far beyond normal archmage levels. A light elf wielding light element clashed directly with a shadow elf manipulating pure darkness, their collision creating an explosion that carved a crater thirty feet across.

WHOOSH! CRACK!

Fire and ice battled overhead as two grandmasters hurled opposing elemental forces at each other with enhanced strength. The elves didn’t just have an affinity for light or darkness; in fact, very few had an affinity for any of these two elements. Most elves had an affinity for the four natural elements: fire, water, wind, and earth. The fire mage’s flames burned white-hot from protein bar enhancement, while the ice wielder’s frozen icicles and spears.

The blind elf archmage had accurately identified the smoothie carrier, and Elena’s forces focused their assault. Multiple grandmasters converged on the targeted dark elf through spellcasting that would have overwhelmed any normal practitioner.

THOOM! SIZZLE!

Lightning chains erupted from three different light elf casters simultaneously, their enhanced mana capacity allowing them to maintain devastating attack spells that should have drained their mana reserves completely.

But the dark elves had consumed identical enhancement items, and their carrier possessed the endurance to survive the focused assault while his companions retaliated with shadow magic that seemed to devour light itself.

RUMBLE! CRASH!

The ground shook as an earth-wielding grandmaster ate a rice cake before his aura amplified significantly from the intelligence enhancement that the item had given him. He manipulated the battlefield itself, raising stone barriers to block attacks and enemies alike.

SCREECH! BOOM!

Wind and shadow collided as aerial combatants engaged in a fight that sent shockwaves rippling across the neutral zone. Their spiritual sight abilities allowed them to detect and counter attacks that should have been difficult to dodge, let alone counterattack.

The battle escalated beyond normal magical combat as enhanced practitioners on both sides demonstrated powers that redefined the possible. Spells that should have required minutes of preparation emerged in seconds. Defensive barriers that normally lasted moments endured for minutes.

Multiple combatants fell as the battle continued raging.

CRACK! SIZZLE! BOOM!

The landscape bore the scars of amplified destruction as crater-sized spell impacts reshaped the terrain permanently. Craters filled the terrain with flames, consuming people and nature alike.

Shadow and light magic clashed with intensity.

WHOOSH! CRASH! RUMBLE!

A grandmaster who had drunk an energy drink demonstrated incredible speed. His movements broke the sound barrier, indicating that his speed had broken the speed of sound!

The blind elf’s supernatural senses allowed her to coordinate light elf forces with devastating precision, directing them to stop the courier of the smoothie from escaping. Multiple couriers had died during the process, with new ones constantly taking over before the cycle repeated.

THOOM! SIZZLE! CRACK!

But the dark elves weren’t to scoff at. With every death on their side, they managed to take a light elf with them.

The devastation spread beyond the immediate combat zone as missed spells and deflected attacks created secondary destruction that would take a long time to heal. Ancient landmarks vanished under magical bombardment that exceeded anything the kingdoms had witnessed during their decades of war.

Noah and Lola watched the carnage from their shop entrance with growing horror, both practitioners recognising that this wasn’t conventional grandmaster combat—these were enhanced warriors whose capabilities exceeded normal grandmasters through consumption of Noah’s enhancement items.

The tremors reaching their safe neutral zone demonstrated the unprecedented scale of destruction being unleashed by combatants whose power levels had been artificially amplified.

For the first time since opening his interdimensional business, Noah found himself questioning whether selling such powerful enhancement items to warring factions had been ethically responsible.

He had known intellectually that customers would eventually use his products for warfare, but witnessing firsthand the amplified devastation caused by his enhanced enhancement items created a moral crisis he hadn’t anticipated.

The battle raged with supernatural intensity as both sides demonstrated that ancient grudges combined with artificial enhancement could produce conflicts that transcended normal magical warfare entirely. The landscape would possibly never recover from what his business decisions had made possible.

CRASH! BOOM! THOOM!

The enhanced battle continued with devastating force that made Noah wonder if his pursuit of profit had unleashed something that no amount of wealth could justify.

Death.

Sensing Noah’s distress at what he was witnessing, Lola recognised the internal conflict written across his face. She could tell that Noah was starting to feel responsible for such destruction.

Without any warning, she stepped behind him and wrapped her arms around his torso, her body pressed gently against his back in a gesture that offered comfort.

Noah’s eyes widened in shock at the unexpected embrace, and before he could voice his surprise, Lola began speaking with quiet conviction.

"You’re blaming yourself for this, aren’t you?" she said softly, her usual playful tone replaced by a gentle one. "I can see it in the way you’re watching, like you’re carrying the weight of every spell they cast."

Lola’s arms tightened slightly around Noah, offering her steady support to him.

Lola’s feelings were on display; she was showing how deeply she cared about him.