Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 159: Just like that

It cut through the air like a sword made of gleaming silver stones dulled with age. The walls surrounding it were crumbling, and the inner space was overrun with trees.

Unlike the other fortress, there was only the main building; every other space was built underground.

But that wasn’t all that caught and held Vale’s eyes. It was the ruin that sprawled in front of it, a ruin in the form of a hut-like building made of wood with a straw roof.

That wasn’t all. Around the ruin were three gleaming dark brown portals that swirled gently. The area around them felt heavy and oppressive.

Before the Tower even got close to the fortress, monsters began to pour out of the forest, and the portals swirled faster as more monsters emerged.

Leojan’s voice echoed all around them as he spoke. "Most of the monsters it’s sending out now are runts. We will head to the fortress and will not engage until it’s ready to."

Vale looked at the image on the wall and saw the monsters. Most of them were lesser beasts mixed with fledglings and a scattering of greater beasts. They snarled and howled at the Tower as it continued to float towards the fortress.

Vale took a deep breath and steadied himself as they passed close to one of the ruined portal breaks, the dark brown filling the viewing wall. ’If anything is going to happen, it’s right now....’

Just as he thought this, the portal shook, trembled, and rippled as a monster passed through. Seventeen feet tall, with a body like stone made flesh, its upper body was that of a bull with a flaring nose, and its lower half was human. It carried a heavy club that it dragged along the ground.

The monster turned to face them immediately and roared. The roar shook the ground and froze the smaller monsters in their tracks, but it affected the Tower like a splash of water.

"Minotaurs!" Leojan shouted.

Then the other portals rippled in the same way, and more Minotaurs began to emerge, all roaring and snarling. They then split into two groups—one headed toward the fortress entrance, while the other turned towards them. Each group was made up of four Minotaurs.

’Aberration ranks... I doubt I can kill one at my rank...’ Vale thought. His eyes were glued to the viewing wall, eager to see how they would handle the monsters.

Meanwhile, the first Minotaur was already swinging its club at them, trying to swat them out of the air. But the Tower was fast; it flickered like a bird, darting around the Minotaur.

The monster roared angrily, its deafening sound slamming into the Tower, but it couldn’t penetrate the level of defense set into it. Instead, the air around the Tower froze, trapping it in place.

The monster pounced, club swinging like a sword. But just as it was about to strike, Vale felt the mood inside shift. Before, he could sense Leojan’s aura around him, but now it vanished, as if it had been sucked into something.

Outside, just as the club was about to smash into the Tower, a hand made of condensed energy outlined around the Tower and took the hit.

Bam!

The weapon smashed into the energy hand with mountain-crushing force. Vale felt the tremor pass through the Tower, which then dispersed the energy, distributing the force evenly.

The Minotaur staggered back, preparing to smash the Tower again with its weapon, when the giant outline of condensed red energy flickered into place, with the Tower at its chest.

It was the image of a Blightfur.

Just as tall as the Minotaurs, it mirrored the exact form of a Blightfur. Vale looked at Leojan, whose consciousness seemed absent from his body, and concluded that this must be his power projection.

Red claws flared and jerked upright, striking at the monster’s raised arm. They cut into its elbow, severing bone and flesh. The monster bellowed and jerked backward, but its second hand came around, slapping the energy Blightfur on the head so hard it stumbled and stopped its follow-up attack.

The ground shook, and bones snapped as the smaller monsters below hurried to get away while the giants clashed.

By now, the other Minotaurs had joined the first, and all four faced the Tower simultaneously. Minotaurs’ roars had the power to freeze things in fear—even non-living objects were affected.

The four of them opened their mouths as one and roared.

As soon as Leojan saw what they were planning, the energy Blightfur flickered and disappeared. Just as their roaring—like mountains shouting—slammed into the Tower, locking it and the air around it in place.

The Minotaurs began to rush forward.

"The Tower can’t move, but nobody said anything about my projection!" Leojan’s voice rumbled outside. His projection flickered to life again, but this time it wasn’t projected around the Tower.

It was sent forward, landing in the middle of the rushing Minotaurs.

Claws flashed, and one of the monsters fell with a bellow as its throat was torn out. Another tried to roar in its face, but Leojan’s projection moved quickly, claws like little swords piercing through the monster’s lower jaw into its brain, killing it instantly.

Before he could move away, something slammed into his energy projection, making him stumble forward with a grunt. He whirled to see one of the remaining monsters twirling its weapon while the other made its way toward the unprotected Tower.

Leojan smiled. Without hesitation, the projection collapsed, reappearing around the Tower. The charging monster didn’t stop—it leaped forward, its dark horns gleaming sharply.

The projection hunched its back. The fur bristled as if a spark of lightning had passed through it. Each hair began to glow, gleaming like blades, and then, with a woosh, the hairs blasted out from the projection’s body.

A wave of red light—an energy storm of condensed arrows—whined through the air. It tore into the ground, unleashing an explosion of instant death for all the monsters below.

The Minotaurs were turned into bloody rags, collapsing with heavy bones shattered in the explosion. The small surrounding forest was leveled, and two of the monsters guarding the purple fortress were killed outright. The remaining two were injured.

Vale closed his mouth with a soft click. ’It’s over... just like that...’