Chapter 53: Overlay
Missiles trailed emerald-green tail flames across the sky. Before they could fall, they were pierced and detonated by a golden elemental sword formed of Li Element. A rain of emerald-green fire slanted downward, but before it could land on the heads of the beast clan warriors, a war beast with recurved horns opened its jaws wide, sucking all the falling emerald flames into its mouth and stomach. After condensing and compressing them, it spat out a straight beam of green fire toward Seraphilia, who was amidst the crowd.
Just as this green fire beam struck, Seraphilia raised her hand and pushed it sideways. A crystal shield composed of Li Element materialized. This shield not only blocked the attack but also reflected it. The emerald beam hit the crystal shield and was immediately refracted into over a hundred streams, piercing through the bodies of a large group of beast clan warriors before dissipating.
War drums and battle cries soared to the heavens. Surrounded within the encirclement, Seraphilia's gaze remained cold, but she knew she had been set up today. The kidnapping of Green Gillian, or the resurrection of the female Law Destroyer, were all just bait. The real goal was to trap and kill her here.
A total of eight beast clan legions had encircled her. Moreover, these beast clan legions had first attacked the "White Hoof Port," then assaulted the "Floating Light Island," and subsequently engaged in a chaotic battle with the most elite legions of the sea race from the "Crystal Forest." They appeared to be eight legions, but in reality, Ergin had been fighting while expanding. This was at least the scale of over twenty legions, reduced to this number through combat.
If it were just eight elite beast clan legions, Seraphilia would still have a way to escape. The problem was that these eight legions had the fungal carpet's enhancement, the War Lord's buff, and something akin to a "mobile recovery pile."
Even if mortally wounded, as long as they were sent near that insectoid structure, they would regain a certain degree of combat effectiveness within half an hour.
Clang!
One by one, Li Element swords thrust outward, pinning over a hundred beast clan warriors to the ground. Seraphilia floated two meters above the ground. Above her, golden ripples appeared, forming various Li Element weapons.
Looking around, Seraphilia was now densely surrounded by corpses pinned to the ground. Her gaze frequently turned to the sky. She needed to deal with the demon hawk and the space interference device first before she could use her spatial abilities to escape. After all, spatial ability was only her secondary system; her main abilities were Li Element and Arcane Arts.
Boom!
A massive Arcane Arts magic circle expanded, clearing everything within a diameter of several kilometers before the magical energy was neutralized by various defenses. Looking at Seraphilia now, her long hair still fluttered, and her aura remained undiminished.
At that moment, Seraphilia spotted Su Xiao in the crowd. She gathered a Li Element spear, which pierced through layers of spatial ripples, heading straight for Su Xiao.
Bang, bang, bang...
One thick shield after another was pierced and exploded. Finally, when the Li Element spear was a few meters from Su Xiao, it was blocked by a Titan clan member wielding a giant axe. The wind pressure blew over, but Su Xiao, seated on a wide chair, watched Seraphilia, who was surrounded on all sides within the encirclement, with a calm expression.
Su Xiao's setup of such an ambush made his intention clear: today, Seraphilia must die here. At least, that was how it appeared to everyone.
Concealed by the surging crowd around him, Su Xiao stood up and walked toward the rear. With Ergin present, she could use "Command Potential" to grant the War Lord buff to the legions on the field. Su Xiao's presence wasn't strictly necessary. He had more important things to do.
Meanwhile, within the sea race's main city, inside the Magic Energy Tower.
The scene of Seraphilia being besieged by the beast clan legions was being projected. The black-robed Soul Clan member yawned, looking unconcerned. However, Dean Guya, Lu En, and the Crow Woman all had grim expressions. Seraphilia had fallen into the enemy's trap. The most critical point now was naturally to rescue her.
Dean Guya hadn't panicked due to the sudden turn of events. After assessing the battle situation for a moment, he judged that if he successfully reinforced Seraphilia, along with the magical suppression of over a hundred younger spellcasters, they had a good chance of routing those eight legions.
Once that situation occurred, even if they couldn't trap and kill that Law Destroyer on the spot, he would lose influence among the beast clans. After all, hunting down a spellcaster was a personal grudge. Causing the beast clans to lose eight legions over a personal grudge was unacceptable, whether to the Beast King or the seven great families.
Furthermore, Dean Guya believed that the beast clans should already be quite wary of this Law Destroyer. Once he lost the legions he commanded, he would inevitably be sidelined by the beast clan high command in a short time. Then, they could hunt him down to the ends of the earth within this world until he died.
Thinking this way, the most correct decision was to immediately go to the Dark Salt Lake region to reinforce Seraphilia. That area was about a hundred kilometers from the Dark Salt Lake, not too far from the main battlefield.
Dean Guya looked at the map on the table. There were many teleportation arrays from the sea race's main city to the main battlefield, but those on the main battlefield were too risky. Those arrays might be controlled by the sea race today but taken over by the beast clans occupying the area tomorrow. Who knew how many times they had been tampered with.
Even if they needed to reinforce quickly, they should choose the teleportation array from the sea race's main city to the sea race's fortress city near the main battlefield. The closest such place to the "Dark Salt Lake" region was the "Ancestral Lighthouse."
After a moment's thought, Dean Guya dismissed this idea. As the first choice for spellcasters to reinforce Seraphilia on the main battlefield, the teleportation array on the "Ancestral Lighthouse" had a high probability of being tampered with by the enemy.
The second choice was "Floating Light Island," which was also not very safe. It had been attacked by the beast clans not long ago, and it was the beast clan legion under that Law Destroyer. The probability of them tampering with the teleportation array there was also high.
Taking a step back, there was "Reef Island." Its defenses were impregnable. In recent years, no beast clan legion had ever attacked this place. Moreover, if they hurried, the time to reinforce Seraphilia wouldn't be much slower than teleporting to the "Ancestral Lighthouse." Besides, Seraphilia could hold out for a long time under siege. It was better to be safe.
Having made his decision, Dean Guya, along with Lu En, the Crow Woman, and other spellcasters, quickly headed to the main city's teleportation tower. Without much trouble, Dean Guya led over fifty spellcasters onto the large teleportation array. As for why they didn't bring over a hundred people, it was naturally for safety.
Click-clack～
The scale of the large teleportation array turned and finally activated. When the spatial fluctuations subsided, Dean Guya and the others were already inside the teleportation tower on "Reef Island."
Standing on the teleportation platform, a pungent smell of blood hit them. Before the spellcasters could see what was happening around them, the array diagram on the platform activated again. Upon closer inspection, the array diagram on this platform had two layers: one was a normal teleportation array, and the other was a "Law-Destroying Teleportation Array."
Boom!
Two loud sounds rang out simultaneously. The first was Dean Guya using a repelling ability to knock all the spellcasters off the teleportation array. The second was the sound of the teleportation array activating.
At this moment, around this teleportation tower, battle cries and dragon roars shook the sky. A Storm Flame Dragon flapped its wings, flying overhead, spewing black flames that incinerated the surrounding buildings. One by one, beast clan chieftains guarded the perimeter of this teleportation tower.
Had Su Xiao predicted Dean Guya's reinforcement route? No. This scene was occurring almost simultaneously at the "Ancestral Lighthouse," "Floating Light Island," and "Sleeping Island"—the three sea race cities closest to the main battlefield.
Under normal circumstances, Su Xiao couldn't have achieved this. But now, the Sea King had just dealt with the Sea God Cult, and the sea race high command was in a state of panic. The consequence was that the sea race had fully contracted their battle lines, allowing many beast clan spies and scouts to infiltrate these cities near the main battlefield.
...
With a thunderous roar, spatial debris scattered everywhere. When the teleportation ended, Dean Guya found himself inside an underground palace. He instinctively reached out and supported himself against the wall, stabilizing his body.
Magical energy erupted beneath his feet, shattering the teleportation array he was on to prevent it from activating again.
Interestingly, Su Xiao's invention, the "Law-Destroying Teleportation Array," was mediocre for daily teleportation—even he couldn't handle it well. But as a trap, it was surprisingly effective. Especially since this array activated extremely quickly and, upon activation, performed spatial energy storage, generating a powerful suction force that pinned the teleported individuals to the array diagram.
Drip, drip～
Water droplets fell from the rock ceiling. The underground palace was dark and damp, a terrain very suitable for ambushes. Dean Guya raised his hand, intending to tear away the rock layer and the hundred meters of soil above the underground palace to open up the area and avoid any ambushes. But just as he was about to do so, an intense and burning sense of crisis appeared, forcing him to immediately stop his spellcasting.
The reason was that within the rock layer above this underground palace, a "Holy Sun Sword" was deployed.
The manufacturing formula for the Holy Sun Sword was: 600 Wrath of the Blazing Sun·Apollos + Fission Solution + Special Glass Cylinder Container + Large Amount of Concentrated Faith Power·Sun + Sunlight Amplification.
Regarding the manufacturing of Wrath of the Blazing Sun·Apollo, Su Xiao had obtained a large amount of Fire Gold in the previous world. The Sun Fragments were acquired through Kaiser. As for the remaining Flame Crystal Blocks, they were available in the Fierce Winter Territory's stockpile. As for the required Soul Crystals (Large), Su Xiao substituted them with Crystal Resin.
In principle, Soul Crystals (Large) served as the energy supply and transformative material in the Apollo manufacturing process. Crystal Resin had the same properties.
Unfortunately, Crystal Resin wasn't certified and couldn't be taken out of this world. Su Xiao recently had an idea: to produce a batch of high-purity Crystal Resin and certify it by submitting "Space-Time Power" to Reincarnation Paradise, using it for future Apollo manufacturing.
With these materials, 600 Wrath of the Blazing Sun·Apollos were no longer a problem for Su Xiao. As for the other conditions for manufacturing the Holy Sun Sword, with the Sun Ring and a large amount of concentrated Faith Power·Sun, that wasn't an issue either. The Fission Solution and the Special Glass Cylinder Container were even simpler. He could prepare the former himself, and the team storage space had over a dozen of the latter.
Finally, the Sunlight Amplification was even less of a problem. The "Sun Stone" generated by the [Blazing Sun Disk] was a top-tier "Sunlight Amplification" type item.
With these conditions combined, Su Xiao successfully manufactured a "Holy Sun Sword." Moreover, its explosive power was undiminished, while its volume was about 50% smaller than before.
The reason for this was thanks to Su Xiao's long-standing research on Apollo liquefaction. He liquefied 600 Apollos and then mixed them with the Fission Solution, increasing the power of the "Holy Sun Sword" by about 5% to 8%.
Furthermore, the [Blazing Sun Disk], which had been upgraded in the previous world, also provided a boost to the "Holy Sun Sword."
"[Blazing Sun Disk · Equip Effect: Blazing Sun Power (Core · Passive). The holder of this equipment, when using Sun Miracles, Sun Techniques, Sun-attribute equipment, items, explosives, etc., increases their strength or damage value by 20%."
For a long time, Su Xiao had felt that the power of Wrath of the Blazing Sun·Apollo was starting to fall short. Now, facing an Absolute Strong enemy, he had made a breakthrough in this area. He could now stably manufacture a "Holy Sun Sword," rather than relying on luck.
If it were within Reincarnation Paradise, the material cost for one Wrath of the Blazing Sun·Apollo would be 10 Soul Coins. 600 would cost 6,000 Soul Coins. The preparation cost for the Fission Solution would be 4,000 to 4,500 Soul Coins.
The much more expensive large amount of concentrated Faith Power·Sun could be obtained by Su Xiao at no cost.
As for the full-rated "Sun Stone" produced by the [Blazing Sun Disk], if there wasn't enough time to wait for its natural generation, he could also consume Soul Coins within Reincarnation Paradise to convert the Sun Power needed by the [Blazing Sun Disk], thereby condensing a full-rated "Sun Stone" in a short time. This would cost about 20,000 Soul Coins.
Calculating this way, the cost to stably manufacture one "Holy Sun Sword" was 30,000 Soul Coins. However, one point was that they couldn't be made in large quantities simultaneously. The optimal usage period for a "Holy Sun Sword" was 20 to 30 days. After this time, its power would decrease by 1% to 2.5% each day. At a certain point, the "Holy Sun Sword" would become extremely unstable.
At this moment, within the rock layer above the underground palace, strands of Spirit Shadow Thread extended from the "Holy Sun Sword," connecting to various points on the ceiling and even integrating into the space itself. If anyone triggered the spatial fluctuations here, it would immediately cause the "Holy Sun Sword" to explode. Just now, after the "Law-Destroying Teleportation Array" activated, the "Holy Sun Sword" had entered a semi-activated state.
Footsteps came from ahead. In the several-meter-wide corridor of the underground palace, an old beast clan member with graying hair and a withered appearance walked over. Part of his body was severely tree-like.
Tree-like transformation was one of the characteristics of being eroded by Abyss Power, and it was a bloodline-level erosion that caused this condition.
This old beast clan member, whose strength was in the upper echelon of the Ninth Rank, had come to die. But his eyes were bright, because dying here today would allow his descendants to break free from the bloodline curse, instead of having their bodies start to tree-ify after middle age, enduring the pain of petrification every moment.
Seeing the look in the old beast clan member's eyes, Dean Guya knew that the other party would definitely activate the explosive above. He clenched his hand in the air, mobilizing the gravity within a radius of several tens of kilometers, compressing it all around the "Holy Sun Sword" above.
Boom～!!
Blazing golden Sun Flame exploded, turning into a pillar of fire that shot straight into the sky. Large golden sparks scattered in the surrounding air. Coupled with the dim light in the Dark Salt Lake region, the Sun Flame was even more conspicuous.
From a distance, the towering pillar of fire looked like a sword of the sun standing between heaven and earth. Up close, one would see that with the explosion of the "Holy Sun Sword," the entire Dark Salt Lake was rapidly evaporating and drying up. The salt in the water formed snowflakes that floated upward under the high temperature.
Even more spectacular was the thick black cloud that had covered the Dark Salt Lake region for years. Under the scorching heat of the "Holy Sun Sword," it began to evaporate and dissipate. As holes appeared in the black cloud, sunlight from above shone through.
Over a hundred kilometers away, Seraphilia suddenly felt a tremor beneath her feet. She looked toward the source of the sound. The scene that brought her unforgettable memories appeared in the distance. She naturally recognized it as a "Holy Sun Sword." Almost simultaneously, she realized that Dean Guya had been ambushed. More precisely, he had been ambushed on his way to reinforce her.
The momentum of the "Holy Sun Sword" continued to spread. However, this was an Abyss-eroded zone, which drastically reduced the explosion range of the "Holy Sun Sword."
At the center of the explosion, a scorching magma lake bubbled. A figure with a damaged robe and singed hair and beard stood on this magma lake. His entire left arm was charred black from the burns. The magic ring on his right hand shattered with a crack.
If an ordinary Absolute Strong faced the "Holy Sun Sword," there was a sixty percent chance of death. However, the "Holy Sun Sword" still had room for improvement, just like when Wrath of the Blazing Sun·Apollo was first developed.
For an old-school Absolute Strong like Dean Guya, especially one from Arcane Eternal Star, it was absolutely impossible to die from this.
Just then, a dragon roar came from above. It was the massive eldest son of the Abyss Dragon. As it lowered its flight altitude and shook its body, over a thousand centaur heavy cavalry were thrown from its semi-fluid dragon body.
As soon as these centaur heavy cavalry landed, they all drew their bows and arrows. Four-meter-long metal spiral arrows, imbued with the "Blazing Sun" effect, were shot.
A shield wall appeared in front of Dean Guya. But to his surprise, these centaur heavy cavalry, whose individual strength was far inferior to his, shattered the shield wall with just over a hundred arrows. Considering there were over a thousand centaur heavy cavalry on the other side, firing over a hundred arrows was instantaneous.
Amidst the dense rain of arrows, Dean Guya was surrounded by magical energy. A phantom-like Book of the Elder appeared behind him. Layers of magical energy shockwaves surged out, scattering all the spiral arrows while simultaneously blasting over 400 centaur heavy cavalry into bloody mist.
A spiral arrow whistled toward Dean Guya's brow. As his graying hair flew, everything around him slowed down and eventually stopped. He raised his hand and pointed his index finger at this spiral arrow. Gravity caused the metal arrow to twist, compress, and transform into a black gravity ball the size of a marble.
Everything that had stopped resumed. With a boom, the marble-sized black gravity ball shot out. Everything in a straight line along its path shattered. Dozens of centaurs with shattered torsos fell.
Bang, bang, bang!
Three split arrows embedded themselves into Dean Guya's shoulder and abdomen. His eyes, now pitch black from his gravity ability, looked calmly ahead. Without any flourish, he pushed his single hand forward.
Boom!
Everything ahead was swept flat by the gravity gale. Only a small amount of blood mist still floated in the air. Contrary to expectations, after over a thousand centaur heavy cavalry faced Dean Guya, their total output was only three split arrows.
Viewed from above, with Dean Guya at the center, the ground within a radius of several tens of kilometers was flattened and compacted as if rammed. The magma was forcibly cooled and pressed into a black rock layer. Countless gravel floated and hung in mid-air due to gravity.
Under Dean Guya's control, the three arrows that had only caused him minor injuries were extracted by gravity and floated to the side. The bloodstains on them were stripped away and then annihilated by gravity. This old spellcaster had rich experience and would do his utmost to prevent others from obtaining his blood for causal or other types of spells.
Dean Guya looked around but didn't find Su Xiao's trace. Seeing this, his aura, which had appeared weakened, gradually recovered. He had forgotten how many times he had experienced assassination attempts of this level in his life, so he didn't pay it much mind. He looked toward the direction where Seraphilia was and prepared to go reinforce her.
Just then, Dean Guya suddenly felt dizzy. The dizziness was so intense that he could barely stand. A wave of sweetness rushed up to his throat.
Dean Guya spat out a large mouthful of black blood. When the blood hit the ground, it sizzled and corroded the surface. Only then did Dean Guya realize what the burning pain inside him was. It wasn't residual damage from the "Holy Sun Sword." He had been poisoned.
Regarding this, Dean Guya remained calm. He sensed his own body and then discovered that it should be an alchemical poison. Immediate detoxification would be very difficult. This was the poison of the Holy Flame Alchemist. However, as an Absolute Strong from Arcane Eternal Star, Dean Guya naturally had a trump card for detoxification. He took a small vial of potion from his robe and drank it, suppressing the alchemical poison.
The inhibitor worked quickly. Dean Guya breathed a sigh of relief inwardly. But as soon as he took a step, he suddenly felt intense pain all over his body. He spat out another large mouthful of blood. Not only that, but his poison resistance was rapidly decreasing.
The inhibitor he had just taken had indeed temporarily suppressed the alchemical poison. But whether it was the enemy's arrangement or a coincidence, this inhibitor, which used soul energy as its main ingredient, caused the Soul Poison Dean Guya had contracted to surge in potency. The Soul Poison, which would have erupted later, attacked him directly.
Realizing this, Dean Guya quickly took out an antidote for Soul Poison. One could only say that, as expected of an old spellcaster, he was well-prepared. He drank it in one gulp, and the intense pain throughout his body quickly subsided.
"Huff～"
Dean Guya breathed a long sigh of relief. But as soon as he took another step, his face suddenly turned an eerie green. "Wa!" He spat out a large mouthful of green blood. His eyes widened because he discovered that he seemed to have been poisoned with a Witch Poison.
One could only say that the old are cunning and the experienced are sly. Dean Guya tremblingly took out a vial of secret medicine to suppress the Witch Poison, drank it, and carefully sensed his internal condition before finally feeling relieved.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
Dean Guya coughed dryly, covering his mouth with his hand. Black blood seeped through his fingers. The reason was that the ingredients in the Witch Poison suppressant contained many plant-based components. These reacted with the alchemical poison, causing the just-suppressed alchemical poison to surge again.
Was all this a coincidence? Of course not. Among the Alchemical Poison, Soul Poison, and Witch Poison, the latter two were deliberately chosen by Su Xiao, especially the Soul Poison. Previously, the Fortune Teller Periel had refused to join the team. Su Xiao had given her ten million gold coins and commissioned a Secret Pattern Master to customize fortune-telling cards for her.
It wasn't because the Soul Poison was particularly strong, but because the Soul Poison perfectly formed an unresolvable cycle with the Alchemical Poison and the Witch Poison.
Of course, poison-type methods of this level alone were not enough to kill this Absolute Strong. But they would drastically reduce his speed. Dean Guya was already a magic-type user. Coupled with the Witch Poison and Alchemical Poison, both of which affected speed, Dean Guya's speed was now reduced to an unprecedented level.
In contrast, the lethality of these Witch Poisons and Alchemical Poisons wasn't that strong, and their duration was shorter. But as long as they could significantly reduce Dean Guya's speed, it was worth it.
Due to the explosion of the "Holy Sun Sword" just now, the space within a radius of over ten kilometers was covered in cracks. In such an unstable environment, it was impossible to use spatial items. Unless Dean Guya had a life-saving item from Paradise's production. But there was a problem: without a Paradise's mark, he couldn't use such life-saving items.
Just as Dean Guya was slowed to the extreme by the triple poison effects, over ten kilometers away, on a crystal platform.
Su Xiao released all 119% of his Blood Qi, along with nearly all of his soul energy, to construct a blood spear. A blood spear over five meters long, with a crystalline texture, was formed.
In addition, Su Xiao now had two buff states. They had been applied to him by Xian Lulu and the Witch Doctor Baze from a hiding spot several tens of kilometers away. Xian Lulu had applied her ultimate-level ability to him.
As for the Witch Doctor Baze, he had applied a buff state called "Ancient Hunt" to Su Xiao. The effect of this state was simple: it increased the damage intensity of ranged attacks by 20%.
Furthermore, the pendant and trinket Su Xiao was wearing were both for enhancing ranged abilities, and they were borrowed from Molei.
"[Starlight Pendant (Equip Effect · Passive)]: Energy-type attack damage rank +2."
"[Psychic Energy Trinket (Equip Effect · Passive)]: Ranged-type attack damage rank +1. Comes with super high speed and strong penetration effects."
Finally, Su Xiao put on the [Doom Ancient Ring]. His mana rapidly depleted. Soon, over 60,000 points of mana were infused into this blood spear, giving the entire spear a chilling and terrifying sensation.
A Blood Qi phantom formed above Su Xiao. One Blood Soul merged into his back, and another merged into the Blood Qi phantom, providing a double Blood Soul enhancement for this strike.
This strike contained the attack power of full Blood Qi, the damage bonus of full soul energy, the enhancement of double Blood Souls, the boost from Xian Lulu's ultimate-level ability, the Ancient Hunt state, the enhancements from the Starlight Pendant and Psychic Energy Trinket, and finally, the ultimate enhancement from the Doom Killing Ring.
As the Soul Greatbow was drawn, the bowstring creaked. A terrifying wave of energy spread, causing the ground around to collapse with a roar. The weather, which had brightened due to the "Holy Sun Sword," suddenly darkened.
Boom!!
The blood spear shot out, piercing through layers of spatial barriers. The ground beneath its path crumbled inch by inch. Large fragments of shattered space scattered. First, there was a brief silence. 0.1 seconds later, a sound even more deafening than when it was fired erupted.
Su Xiao didn't hesitate. After firing this blood spear, he immediately activated [Drifting Bait]. He had already sensed that Dean Guya, knowing he couldn't avoid it, had rushed forward from the front and was now only a few kilometers away. This distance was too close to the center of the blood spear's explosion.
Five kilometers away, Dean Guya, floating in mid-air, suddenly felt his sense of crisis skyrocket. He judged that the enemy's fatal strike had been launched after locking onto his position. He had to dodge this fatal...
With a boom, the tip of the blood spear appeared in front of Dean Guya. This strike was too fast, leaving no chance to dodge. The only thing Dean Guya could do was press his single hand against it.
In an instant, magical energy exploded. Amidst the fierce energy wind pressure, Dean Guya, pushing forward with one hand to block the blood spear's tip, showed a ferocious expression. But even so, under the violent energy impact, cracks began to spread from his right arm. Eventually, his arm shattered, and the blood spear struck his head.
First, there was a brief silence. Then, the energy explosion engulfed everything within a diameter of over a hundred kilometers. A massive blood-red sphere appeared, lasting for about ten seconds before gradually dissipating into the air. Everything it had enveloped was gone, except for Dean Guya, who fell like a torn cloth sack.
Water surged up into this huge semi-circular crater. It seemed it wouldn't be long before this place turned into a lake. At the bottom of the water, Dean Guya's aura rapidly weakened until it completely disappeared.