Chapter 68: Annihilation Mark
As Su Xiao crushed the stone ball in his hand, spatial fluctuations spread within the Grand Cathedral, causing the space there to begin distorting with a formidable presence.
Feather God · Hegra raised its hand with sharp fingertips, facing the incoming spatial fluctuations, and pressed down with a single hand.
A booming sound rang out as the spatial distortion abruptly halted before the Feather God. Its large hand clenched in the air, gathering the surrounding spatial fluctuations into its palm, forming a multicolored orb.
With a crackling sound, the orb was crushed by the Feather God's hand, and the surrounding spatial fluctuations ceased instantly. The Kodo School had actually been reliable for once, but the results of their centuries of research were crushed barehanded by the Feather God, seemingly having no effect at all.
Seeing this, Su Xiao frowned. Archbishop Noah had repeatedly emphasized earlier that this item must be used, claiming it would definitely work, that it was specifically created to deal with Feather God · Hegra, and that failing to use it would waste the efforts of many.
"What the hell, that's it?"
Baha, perched on Amu's shoulder, was somewhat stunned. As a space-type, it had felt the spatial fluctuations most intensely. They were clearly extremely powerful, yet in an instant, the Feather God · Hegra forcibly gathered them in its palm and suddenly crushed them.
Just as Baha was utterly confused, not understanding what had just happened, translucent patterns suddenly appeared on the Feather God's hand.
Thump~
A spatial shockwave swept through, and the next moment, a pillar of light about a kilometer in diameter descended from the sky, crashing down onto the Grand Cathedral.
Within the Dream World, many gazes turned toward the Grand Cathedral. Archbishop Noah also saw this scene, feeling both pained and gratified. The secret treasure developed through countless days and nights of research had been used today.
"I hope you become the victor above the clouds, and also, be careful of being struck by lightning."
Archbishop Noah's words were profound and meaningful. He had been there and experienced the feeling of being struck by lightning. Despite multiple layers of protection, he had still nearly died.
...
Su Xiao's surroundings were a vast expanse of white. He first felt a sensation of ascent, as if rushing up to an altitude of ten thousand meters, then began to descend.
Whoosh!
A fierce wind blew past, so strong that it blew Su Xiao, who was flying midair, dozens of meters away.
Judging the direction by the feeling of falling, Su Xiao stabilized his body in midair and landed on solid ground. The sensation under his feet indicated he was stepping on hard, flat stone slabs, though he couldn't see the ground beneath him—a layer of mist flowed slowly along the surface.
Su Xiao looked around. The view was very open. At a height of less than half a meter above the ground, there was a layer of white mist flowing along the surface.
Crack!
A golden lightning bolt streaked across the sky. There was no sun above; it was obscured by dark white clouds, yet the place wasn't dim.
Looking into the distance, the end of this place was nowhere in sight. Coupled with the ethereal mist underfoot, the golden lightning occasionally flashing across the sky, and the several giant statues standing in the distance, the scene was both majestic and epic in its grandeur.
[Prompt: You have arrived at the Summit of Clouds.]
Just as the prompt appeared, a loud crash came from a hundred meters away. Feather God · Hegra descended from the sky, and upon landing, the mist under its feet churned and spread outward.
Feather God · Hegra stood a full five meters tall, its oppressive presence already immense. Now, on its body with exposed flesh and blood, bones were also distributed, indicating its powerful physical defense.
In this regard, Su Xiao was already accustomed. Among the Ancient Gods, even those who weren't melee types possessed astonishingly strong physical defense and survivability.
The Feather God's gaze shifted downward, looking at Su Xiao from a commanding height. It hadn't entered its flying form. When it fell from the sky earlier, it had sensed danger—the golden lightning brewing above was poised and waiting for a release point.
The Eye of All Gods floated behind Su Xiao. He performed a second scan of the Feather God, not expecting much, but was pleasantly surprised.
[Comparing intelligence attributes between both parties. Comparison complete. Your intelligence attribute is ??? times that of the target. This is a second scan of the same target. 50.42% of the enemy's data has been detected.]
Name: Feather God · Hegra
Category: Ancient God
Health: 100%
Divine Energy (Ancient): 73920/75800 points
Strength: 223 (True Attribute)
Agility: 220 (True Attribute)
Endurance: ???
Intelligence: ???
Charm: -2
Skill 1, High-Rank Deity (Passive, Lv.79): Health +86000 points. Immune to all control effects. Nullifies all eighth-rank or below mental-type damage.
Skill 2, Spiritual Resonance (Passive, Lv.75): As an Ancient God, Feather God · Hegra possesses incredibly powerful mental strength, and its mind resonates with its body. Health +32900 points, Physical Defense +89 points, recovers 0.65% of max Health per second.
Skill 3: ???
Skill 4, Annihilation Mark (Unique · Passive, Lv.78): Taking any attack from Feather God · Hegra has a 34.7% chance of applying an 'Annihilation Mark.' When the number of 'Annihilation Marks' on the enemy's body exceeds 3, they will immediately suffer mental execution!
Prompt: Due to Feather God · Hegra being sealed for a long time and suffering severe injuries, this ability is recovering. Estimated recovery in 159 natural days.
Warning: Due to the impending battle with the Hunter, Feather God · Hegra acknowledges your strength. It has forcibly awakened this ability. As a cost, the Feather God's Divine Source has suffered permanent damage.
Prompt: Due to the Hunter's mental strength, you will suffer mental execution after accumulating 6 'Annihilation Marks.'
Skill 5: ???
???
Skill 8, Dark Falling Feathers (Active, Lv.72): Feather God · Hegra can summon falling feathers, covering a surrounding area of 4200 meters, for a high-density attack lasting 12 seconds. Each falling feather deals 950 points of base penetrating damage + 3700 points of mental damage + 2450 points of corruption damage.
Prompt: Each time hit by a falling feather, one layer of 'Annihilation Mark' effect is stacked.
Skill 9: ???
Skill 10, Mental Shock (Active, Lv.75): Feather God · Hegra immediately consumes 4700 points of Ancient God energy to forcibly repel all nearby enemies, dealing 4200 points of mental damage. This is a forced knockback effect with priority.
Prompt: Each time knocked back, one layer of 'Annihilation Mark' effect is stacked.
???
???
Skill 13, Grasp of Nothingness (Active, Lv.69): Feather God · Hegra can use its powerful mental strength to remotely grab enemies, restraining them for 0.2 to 15 seconds, dealing 200 points of base damage and applying a severe energy erosion effect.
Prompt: Each time grabbed, three layers of 'Annihilation Mark' effect are immediately stacked!
Skill 14, Feather Deity (Form Skill, Lv.42): ???
Skill 15, Dark Feather · Illusory Annihilation Avatar (Ultimate Skill, Lv.45): After entering flying form, Feather God · Hegra can manifest ??? avatars. The avatars inherit 85% of the Feather God's abilities and persist for 60 seconds.
Prompt: Attacks from the Illusory Annihilation Avatars also stack the 'Annihilation Mark' effect.
Skill 16, Extreme Darkness · Final Funeral (Ultimate Ability, Lv.50): ???
...
From this data, Su Xiao deduced that getting close to the Feather God would be very difficult. Worse still, the Feather God's physical defense and survivability were both very strong.
Not only that, the Feather God possessed an ability called 'Annihilation Mark.' Any attack it landed had a one-third chance of applying one layer of 'Annihilation Mark' effect. Once the 'Annihilation Mark' stacked to three layers, instant death followed.
Given Su Xiao's constitution, he could withstand a maximum of five layers of 'Annihilation Mark.' Stacking to the sixth layer would also result in instant death for him. This was a high-level mental erosion, unrelated to physical energy or soul.
Fortunately, this ability of the Feather God hadn't recovered earlier; otherwise, Amu, Baha, and the others would all have died in the previous battle.
Under normal circumstances, this ability of the Feather God would take over a hundred days to recover. Due to the battle with Su Xiao, the Feather God forcibly awakened this ability at the permanent cost of damaging its Divine Source.
It was clear that although the Feather God looked down on all beings, it wasn't arrogant to the point of conceit. In terms of combat power, battle experience, and the awareness and sacrifice for battle, this was an opponent very likely to take Su Xiao's life.
Mist swirled on the ground. Five dark blue energy orbs appeared behind the Feather God, formed by highly compressed mental energy. A wave of pressure spread, causing the surrounding space to distort.
Su Xiao drew the long blade at his waist, its tip pointing diagonally at the ground. It was as if a blood beast formed from blood energy appeared behind him, grinning ferociously at the Feather God.
Crack!
A golden lightning bolt struck between Su Xiao and the Feather God, electric arcs scattering within the mist. A life-and-death battle was about to erupt.