Chapter 53: The Method of Victory
Within the Moon Temple, black flames spread from the towering statue, which melted like a candle in moments, revealing a vertical seam. Upon closer inspection, the inner wall of the entire hall was actually two massive doors facing each other.
As the black flames spread across them, the astral patterns on the two metal doors linked together, causing the doors to gradually sink into the ground. With a rumbling boom, the tops of the doors aligned with the floor.
The area of the Moon Temple doubled. It seemed that the corrupted avatar they had just fought was merely a minor gatekeeper boss. This temple had long undergone changes under the erosion of corruption, unknown to the Wizard Faction.
Dark corruption spread ahead, but upon contacting the sealing power at the hall's edge, it rapidly receded, absorbed by the temple. As the corruption faded, a figure lying on a wide stone seat emerged.
Even though the stone seat was broad, part of the figure's upper body, one arm, and both legs hung over the sides of the stone seat. It felt as if the seat was holding this figure in a princess carry.
Clang~! Clang~! Clang~!
The dull sound of an ancient bell came from above the ceiling, from the old bell at the temple's top. Though the hall was calm, outside the temple, a fierce wind howled, swinging the bell back and forth. Large raindrops poured down. Though it was unclear how it could rain on the moon, the downpour was so heavy that it soon turned the area around the temple into a vast ocean, flooding the temple's foundation. It felt as if the Moon Temple was built on water.
Inside the hall, the First Witch lay on the stone seat, her long black hair cascading down. The moon-shaped earrings, unique to the First Moon Witch, hung naturally, with a faint moonlight slowly scattering.
"Mother is no more. No one can stop me now. This world that belonged to Mother must naturally be inherited by me."
The Black Witch—no, now the First Witch—spoke. It was unclear what her relationship with the First Moon Witch truly was: whether she was a split personality or a dark consciousness born from corruption.
This point was actually unimportant. What was truly terrifying was that this First Witch had inherited all the power. To put it simply, she was the dark-willed version of the First Witch. From the beginning of the fight against the Abyss until now, her combat experience and abilities remained intact, though her overall power was sealed by the Moon Temple. Even so, her combat prowess was still terrifying.
The First Witch turned her head to look. Her eyes had a smoky makeup effect, and paired with her black witch battle dress, she exuded a strong sense of darkness. After locking eyes with Su Xiao, she changed her posture, sitting upright on the stone seat.
"You look like the Law Destroyer I remember. Oh, you are one."
After saying this, the light in the First Witch's eyes shone eerily bright. It made sense. When the Moon Temple was first built, the sealing method used the Law Destruction Faction's unique "Super-World-Class Sealing Technique," compressed to create a powerful sealing force that had kept the First Witch bound in this temple until now. Seeing a Law Destroyer here naturally made her murderous intent surge.
With a crisp click, a weapon case about two meters tall popped up beside the stone seat. It opened to reveal a war scythe about 1.9 meters long with a pitch-black blade. The scythe had a large curve, and the outer edge also had a blade. Upon closer inspection, the scythe's body was composed of multiple blade segments, making one wonder if activating the handle's mechanism would send these sharp blades flying with a single swing. It was likely a transforming weapon.
Among top-tier weapons, transforming ones were rare because most were unstable. This scythe had likely been used since the Abyss invasion of this world, and its stability was unquestionable. Originally forged by the Dwarf King and imbued with elemental power as a silver war scythe, years of bloody battles had stained it black with the blood of Abyss Spawn.
The Mysterious Eye floated behind Su Xiao, scanning the data of the formidable enemy ahead.
[The Mysterious Eye has been activated. This scan will randomly select one attribute for comparison between enemy and self. The random selection range is: Strength, Agility, Stamina, Charm, Intelligence.]
[Random selection complete. The attribute for this scan is: Charm Attribute.]
[Your Charm Attribute is -22 points.]
[The enemy's True Charm Attribute is 610 points.]
[The enemy's Charm Attribute is 13,420 times yours (calculation method: enemy's Charm judgment standard unit divided by your Charm judgment inverse unit).]
[Tip: Due to the Mysterious Eye's characteristics, this scan successfully detected 50% of the enemy's data (if successful, this is the minimum value for Mysterious Eye scans).]
Name: First Witch·Tinsh
Category: Corruption Dominator/Witch/Transcendent (Former)/World King/Savior (Former)/Strongest Witch in History (Former)
Health: 100%
Witch Source Power: 540,000/540,000 points (suppressed by the Moon Temple, reduced by 80%)
Battle Soul Power: 150,000/150,000 points
Strength: 628 points (True Attribute)
Agility: 795 points (True Attribute)
Stamina: 720 points (True Attribute)
Intelligence: 800 points (True Attribute, Absolute Strength Rank Extreme Value)
Charm: 610 points (True Attribute)
Skill 1, ??? (??? Exclusive·Passive, X): This ability is sealed.
Skill 2, ??? (??? Exclusive·Passive, X): This ability is sealed.
Skill 3, Immortal Witch (World King·Exclusive·Passive, X): When the First Witch is in the Witch Realm, unless killed with sufficient power, she cannot be eliminated by any means. Even if killed, she will resurrect within the Moon Temple (if the Moon Temple is destroyed, the First Witch will resurrect at a random location in the Witch Realm).
???
Skill 6, Elemental Witchcraft (Basic Passive, X): The First Witch masters five natural elemental properties: Wind, Water, Dark, Fire, and Light, and fuses them into advanced properties such as Black Flame, Chaos, and Time.
Black Flame Property: Wind Element + Water Element + Dark Element (Dark acts as a harmonizer).
Chaos Property: Water Element + Fire Element + Dark Element + Light Element (Water and Fire repel the mutual annihilation of Light and Dark, resulting in the Chaos property).
Time Property: Black Flame Property + Chaos Property.
Skill 7, War Scythe Grandmaster (Technique Passive, Lv.95): ???
Skill 8, Blade Scythe Grandmaster (Technique Passive, Lv.95): ???
Skill 9, Demon Scythe Grandmaster (Technique Passive, Lv.95): ???
???
???
Skill 17, Instant Execution Demon Scythe (Ultimate Active, X): ???
???
Skill 20, Corruption·Elemental Fury (Supreme Rank·Active, ???): This ability is sealed.
Skill 21, Time Freeze·World Stillness (Supreme Rank·Active, ???): This ability is sealed.
……
This was the strongest weapon grandmaster Su Xiao had ever seen. Three technique abilities enhancing the same weapon—just imagining it made one realize how sharp the enemy's war scythe was. Moreover, all three technique abilities had reached Lv.95. When a technique ability reached Lv.95, it underwent a massive transformation.
More importantly, being inside the Moon Temple, Su Xiao couldn't summon World Lightning here. Even if he did, the temple would block it. If by some twist of fate he damaged the seal here, the situation would only worsen.
The scythe blade hummed. The First Witch suddenly vanished, reappearing standing on the back of the stone seat. She held the war scythe with one hand, her long hair tied up. Her left index finger traced the scythe's blade.
Whoosh!
The First Witch disappeared. This wasn't teleportation; her speed was simply absurd.
The wind pressure of a slash rushed toward him. Su Xiao's instinctive warning made his entire body feel like it was pierced by needles. Just the first exchange brought a strong sense of death.
"Perfect Block!"
Clang!!
The scythe blade met the longsword. The impact sent a layer of cracked stone fragments flying from the ground, and a shockwave spread. The First Witch opposite him flickered, dragging the war scythe with one hand as she flashed behind Su Xiao, hooking the scythe around the Dragon-Slaying Flash.
With a boom of air, the First Witch used the scythe to hook and throw Su Xiao. Even though her Strength attribute was slightly higher than his, as a technique grandmaster, she didn't want to break his block with brute force. As for why she didn't use elemental witchcraft, there were few natural elements inside the Moon Temple, so she couldn't waste them. But here, there was an endless supply of corruption energy, which she found even more useful than natural elements.
A whoosh of wind passed by. The First Witch had already appeared where Su Xiao was about to land. Her entire body erupted with black flames. After a brief charge-up, she delivered a single black flame slash.
Clang! Clang! Clang……
A series of crisp sounds rang out. Su Xiao, mid-air and about to land, slashed over a dozen times. Though it seemed like just one black flame slash from the First Witch, it was actually over a dozen attacks stacked together. One misstep, and he would be shredded.
Crack, crack, crack!
Ice spread toward her. The First Witch, about to touch the ground, suddenly froze mid-air, just a few centimeters from the ice. She turned her head to look at Amu.
Snap!
The First Witch snapped her left fingers. Amu immediately slowed down, like an insect trapped in invisible amber, struggling helplessly.
A gust of wind. The First Witch, moving at absurd speed, appeared behind Amu, hooking her war scythe around his throat.
A blood smoke cannon shot toward her. Just as it was about to hit, she pointed her left index finger forward, precisely at the incoming cannon. The blood smoke cannon, already a dozen centimeters from her side, suddenly slowed. She changed the direction of her finger, and the cannon's trajectory shifted 90 degrees, exploding as it hit the swooping Baha. If Su Xiao hadn't reduced the cannon's power at the critical moment, Baha would have been in serious trouble.
"What the hell!"
Baha was stunned, overwhelmed by the First Witch. Even fighting the Ancient King earlier hadn't brought this level of pressure. Facing the First Witch now gave the feeling that victory was impossible.
The First Witch was simply too strong. Calling her the ceiling of the Absolute Strength Rank was no exaggeration. Even though her consciousness had only emerged in the last few centuries, she had perfectly inherited everything from the First Moon Witch, becoming the undisputed dark version of the First Witch.
"Descend."
A dark veil spread from the First Witch, slowing everything around her. The Iron-Blooded Bull Amu took a deep breath. Even as the scythe blade cut into the back of his neck, he fully controlled his heartbeat, pushing it to its maximum speed.
The scythe blade hooked and cut backward. Amu's head flew off, and a massive amount of blood sprayed from his severed neck. The sheer volume of blood made even the First Witch frown slightly.
Clang!
The scythe blade was blocked by the longsword, preventing Amu from being cut in half. Su Xiao, charging in, took the opportunity to throw Amu's headless body away. Baha swooped overhead, tossing Amu's head aside.
Amu's head and body landed at the edge of the arena. Bubu Wang, waiting there, ignored the risk of exposure and connected a pseudo-life device to Amu's severed neck and the underside of his head, maintaining blood supply and neural connections. The dim light in Amu's eyes briefly recovered but then faded again, eventually losing all luster. When it came to playing dead, Amu was a grandmaster. Seeing that Amu was out of danger, Bubu Wang re-merged into the environment.
Crack, crack, crack.
The longsword and scythe blade pressed against each other. The First Witch's figure blurred, leaving a shell behind as her true body appeared behind Su Xiao, gripping the war scythe with both hands, elegantly and swiftly slashing at his neck.
Zheng!
The scythe blade cut through. The demon spirit's black smoke trailed through the air as the scythe passed. Yes, the one beheaded was the demon spirit. Su Xiao had already appeared behind the First Witch.
"Extreme Blade: World."
Clang! Clang! Clang……
Metal clashed, sparks flying. The First Witch blocked all the slashes of "Extreme Blade: World" with her war scythe, then leaped backward, passing through Su Xiao in a semi-darkened form. The First Witch passed through as darkness, but the dragged war scythe hooked toward Su Xiao's throat.
The scythe blade cut through. Su Xiao had already vanished, using the Dragon Shadow Flash ability to appear over a dozen meters away.
"Impose Sin."
The First Witch pointed at Su Xiao from a distance. Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao felt everything around him slow down.
"Blade Path Sword: Time."
Thump~
The impact of Time spread, canceling the surrounding slow field. Even so, Su Xiao twisted his body. A sharp edge passed by, and his crystal left arm was severed, falling with a thud over a dozen meters away.
The dark version of the First Witch was completely different from the original savior witch. The original was dignified, steady, and prioritized the greater good, willing to seal herself in the Moon Temple for so many years to spare the world's creatures from past suffering.
This new consciousness was like an elegant yet cruel hunter, a smiling embodiment of dark will. It made sense. From the moment this consciousness was born, it was trapped in this temple and suppressed by the First Moon Witch's consciousness. Under such circumstances, it either became mad and outwardly fierce but inwardly weak, or outwardly elegant and inwardly extremely cruel. Clearly, she had become the latter.
The First Moon Witch·Titapeya was long gone. This was now another person, one who had inherited everything from Titapeya: the First Witch·Tinsh.
The First Witch used her index finger to wipe a drop of blood from the scythe blade, letting it stain her fingertip. Corruption converged on this drop of blood. Almost simultaneously, a shallow scratch on Su Xiao's shoulder suddenly deepened into a wound reaching the bone. Blood burst out with a pop, splattering on the surrounding ground. Worse, even though he instantly stitched the wound shut with Spirit Shadow Threads, blood continued to pour out.
Over a dozen meters away, the First Witch vanished again. Su Xiao's perception field contracted, shrinking to a diameter of five meters for sharper awareness.
Suddenly, the corruption-enhanced demon scythe swept past. Su Xiao couldn't even swap positions with the demon spirit in time, and his head was severed on the spot.
Snap!
The predictive image from "Grandmaster Instinct" shattered. Su Xiao crouched low, and the demon scythe cut above him. This made the First Witch let out a surprised "Eh?" before she flickered and appeared beside him, delivering a mid-air side kick imbued with corruption darkness, sending him flying.
With a loud boom, crystal fragments scattered as Su Xiao crashed into the right wall. He stood up, blood dripping from his chin, taking a deep breath as he sensed the approaching First Witch.
"Blade Path Sword: Extreme."
The demon spirit appeared behind Su Xiao, as if merging with him. He slashed out once.
Clang! Clang!!
The charging First Witch was stopped. The heavy pressure from the war scythe forced her back half a step. It made sense; taking two "Blade Path Sword: Extreme" strikes at once would force even the First Witch to retreat.
This was another way Su Xiao used the demon spirit, aside from "Transmission": "Dual." Due to development issues, this move consumed an enormous amount of energy, so Su Xiao didn't use it lightly.
A layer of crystal encasing the Dragon-Slaying Flash shattered, and one fragment grazed the First Witch's neck. In the next instant, blue arcs spread from the wound. Because the wound was too small, the "Soul Electrification" effect only lasted a moment, but that was enough.
Su Xiao delivered a straight kick. The First Witch opposite him turned into a beam of light, crashing into the wall across from him. The Blade Demon Spirit was already waiting there.
Crack!
A blue arc appeared beside Su Xiao, as thin as a hair, easily piercing through space.
At Su Xiao's heart, a blue ring appeared. From this starting point, blue arcs surged outward, spreading from him in all directions. It felt like a blue heavenly thunderbolt striking down at Su Xiao, but instead of harming him, it surged toward the First Witch over a hundred meters away.
Crackle~!
The arcs bounced through the air, piercing the air and riddling space with holes. In an instant, they reached the First Witch. A lightning chain hit her, then bounced to the demon spirit, and then back to her via the demon spirit.
After several lightning chain bounces, the demon spirit scattered into dark blue smoke. The First Witch, covered in arcs, hunched slightly, her hands hanging naturally as she stood there.
The First Witch raised her right hand. The demon scythe spun through the air, and she caught the handle with a slap. She slashed through the air, nearly cutting Baha in half. One of his wings was severed, and he barely flew away, leaving blood scattered everywhere.
An invisible shockwave spread from the First Witch. She vanished again with absurd speed, reappearing three meters in front of Su Xiao.
"Perfect Block!"
Clang, clang, clang……
This attack from the First Witch was like a cutting saw, with an attack judgment every 0.2 seconds. After Su Xiao perfectly blocked the first few judgments, the demon scythe broke through his guard.
Pfft!
The war scythe cut across Su Xiao's chest. Before the blood could spray, the First Witch was already behind him, pulling the scythe. The blade hooked into his throat. In the next instant, the demon spirit's head was severed by the blade. Su Xiao used "Substitution" again, barely escaping this near-certain death blow.
Blood flowed from Su Xiao's throat. He had to admit that the gap in strength was huge—whether in True Attributes or technique ability levels, the difference was immense. Plus, the First Witch had inherited the profound foundation from the First Moon Witch Titapeya. How could he win this fight?
Su Xiao wouldn't suddenly grow stronger mid-battle, nor did he have an ability to burst beyond his limits. He was a technique type. If he couldn't win, he couldn't win. There was no room for maneuvering in a frontal fight. Life-and-death battles were this cruel.
The scythe blade hummed. Su Xiao twisted to dodge, but felt his right arm go numb. His right arm, holding the Dragon-Slaying Flash, was severed. As if in retaliation, the First Witch, suddenly appearing in front of him, delivered a straight kick to his chest.
Boom!
Su Xiao crashed into the wall behind him, sliding down the stone surface. With both arms lost, he sat against the wall, watching the approaching First Witch.
"Aren't you going to run? Like those cowardly witches who, after losing to me, leave behind a trail of snake skin and escape this cage."
The First Witch didn't charge immediately. Instead, she approached slowly, clearly wary of any trump card Su Xiao might have, choosing to test him with words.
"Since you won't run, then die."
The First Witch prepared to strike. Su Xiao's pupils glowed with blood light. Seeing this, the First Witch suddenly felt a chill down her spine. She unleashed her full aura, ready to burst forward.
Blood light surged from the ground, suppressing the First Witch to one knee. Upon closer inspection, the blood spilled by Su Xiao, Amu, and Baha on the battlefield had formed a massive blood array. This array was identical to the engraving on the [Sealing Blade]. Yes, it was a banishment technique, powerful enough to banish the First Witch to the Eternal Light World.
Rumble!
The Moon Temple trembled violently. A massive spatial vortex appeared behind the First Witch. Blue chains bound her. She threw her demon scythe with all her might, but the blue chains wrapped around it, dragging it into the spatial vortex.
"I will… return! And make you… die without a burial place!!"
The First Witch's right hand clawed into space, tearing it apart with a crack before she was dragged into the black spatial vortex, completing the banishment.
Why was Su Xiao willing to come to the Moon Temple to face the First Witch? Just because Moon Witch Sephira said he wasn't from this world and wouldn't face its rejection? Of course not.
Su Xiao had one virtue: he always knew his limits, or as the saying goes, he had a good sense of his own place. The Witch Realm was famous for producing powerful beings. Over the years, many of this world's strongest, at the peak of the Absolute Strength Rank, had come to the Moon Temple to challenge the First Witch, and all had failed.
These renowned powerhouses had all failed at the peak of the Absolute Strength Rank. With Su Xiao's current combat power not yet reaching their level, how could he win?
Even with the main mission, talent mission, and Blood Contract Bounty 5, Su Xiao wouldn't knowingly enter a losing battle. In fact, even Moon Witch Sephira herself didn't know that one of her words had convinced Su Xiao. She had said that the Moon Temple's seal was a condensed version of the Law Destruction Faction's unique "Super-World-Class Sealing Technique."
Hearing this, Su Xiao realized something. In any other environment, his chance of successfully banishing the First Witch to the Eternal Light World was less than 10%. But inside the Moon Temple, his success rate was at least 80%. This was a sealing domain unique to the Law Destruction Faction, perfect for banishing powerful enemies.
The biggest problem was forming the array needed for banishment. After some thought, supernatural blood was a good choice. How could a battle not draw blood? If the enemy was too strong, it was only natural for Su Xiao, Amu, and Baha's blood to splatter everywhere.
At this moment, waiting for the First Witch Tinsh in the Eternal Light World were 15 million demon beasts, 1.2 million demon flame dragons, and 150,000 titan beasts. If that wasn't enough, the insect race's main base would produce troops at a terrifying speed.
Yes, Su Xiao had developed the Law Destruction Faction's strongest prison: the Eternal Light World. In the past, world-destroying beings banished there were trapped. Now, they were besieged to death.
Crystals spread from the severed arm stumps. Soon, Su Xiao's crystal left and right arms formed. He stood up and went to Amu, finding him only near death. He gave Amu a recovery potion injection and used Spirit Shadow Threads to stitch the cut on his neck. After dealing with Amu, he went to Baha and gave him a recovery potion injection as well. As for Bubu, he was dazed by the battle's shockwaves, sitting beside Amu resting, occasionally dry heaving.
Su Xiao raised his hand. The Dragon-Slaying Flash flew to him, and he gripped it. After drinking a suppression potion, the wounds caused by the demon scythe barely stopped bleeding.
The First Witch was incredibly strong. After leaving the Moon Temple, her power seal was lifted. However, she faced an endless swarm of demon insects. More importantly, to deal with the Ancestor, Star Devourer, and others, Su Xiao had activated the "Super-World-Class Sealing Technique" in the Eternal Light World. Though the seal was now unstable, it still had some effect, preventing the First Witch from unleashing her full power.
Time passed. When Su Xiao saw the message Jila posted in the team channel, he activated the "War Lord" skill 2.
[Skill Effect 2: Designated Summon (Active): Summon 13 insect race individuals. These individuals can stay in the hunter's current world for 24 to 72 hours, depending on their strength.]
As Su Xiao activated the summon, a large spore tank was summoned. The spore tank immediately exploded, revealing the First Witch inside.
"Cough, cough, cough!"
The First Witch coughed up blood. Covered in blood, she knelt on one knee, holding the war scythe's handle to support herself. The demon insects had reduced her health to 0.65%, with over a thousand layers of "Plasma Erosion" from the titan beasts and "Vulnerability Status" from the demon dragon flames.
Zheng!
Without a word, the longsword, rising with dark blue smoke, cut through. The First Witch clutched her throat with one hand. The dark blue quickly spread to her eyes, and her head drooped weakly. The war scythe fell with a clang.
Just as the First Witch Tinsh was successfully killed, the corruption energy in the hall became increasingly unstable, as if about to boil.
At that moment, the temple's main door heard the clicking sound of a lock turning. The previously locked door opened. In the dim light outside, after a flash of lightning and a rumble of thunder, standing at the door was Moon Witch Sephira.
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