Chapter 2: Solo Dueling a Beast God
As a spellcaster, and an Absolute Strength-level spellcaster at that, Elukulu immediately decided to cooperate with Hunter Bai Ye, Ancient God System Zuiyasi, and Devil Clan Wude. Regarding Su Xiao's identity as a Law Destroyer, at a critical juncture like this, setting aside such factional hostility for the time being was not impossible.
'Only by surviving can one reach the ancient tower of this world and obtain the "Dark Moon Star Ring."'
'Only by obtaining the "Dark Moon Star Ring" can the unclosable Abyss Passage in the Void Green Meadow Great Wetlands be contained—this is crucial to Arcane Eternal Star.'
After reasoning through these two points and forcibly comforting herself, Elukulu suddenly realized one thing: the three teammates she currently had might be the best partners for her to obtain the "Dark Moon Star Ring."
Elukulu took a deep breath, silently repeating to herself several times, "This is all for Arcane Eternal Star," and the guilt of temporarily cooperating with a Law Destroyer vanished without a trace.
A piercing howl came rushing in. Elukulu immediately entered an elemental state. A several-meter-long bone flipped through the air, smashing the giant tree she had been standing on into a cloud of wood shavings with a thunderous crash.
The Beast God leaped high, landing with a boom. Its even thicker right arm reached out to grab Elukulu, but caught nothing. Elukulu was now in an elemental state—a higher form of evasive attack than energy-based forms.
Realizing it had missed, the Beast God raised its head and roared. The formless flame on its thick, elongated right arm burst into solid, pale-golden Solar Flame. The eight-meter-tall being slammed its hand against the ground.
Boom!
A shockwave of Solar Flame spread out, causing the fire-elemental forces in the surrounding area to nearly go berserk. Elukulu was knocked out of her elemental state, her vision inevitably blurring. From a dozen meters away, the Beast God threw a heavy punch, creating an airburst. The terrifying, pure force struck Elukulu from a distance, causing blood to spray from her body as she was sent flying backward. Mid-flight, Elukulu clenched her hand, and absolute ice instantly froze the Beast God solid.
At that moment, Elukulu felt the oppressive weight of death bearing down on her. Though this formidable enemy was also at the Absolute Strength level, its pure physical power was too terrifying—so terrifying that such raw strength alone was more than enough.
A golden-blue blur streaked past, attaching itself to Elukulu. Golden-green energy surged into her, rapidly restoring her health while healing the cracks in her body caused by the force. It was Xianlulu.
After giving Elukulu a quick heal, Xianlulu immediately returned to Su Xiao, who had just stepped out of an alternate space.
Boom! The frozen Beast God broke free from the ice. It scooped up a handful of bone fragments from the ground and hurled them at Su Xiao. These bones tore through the air, creating pitch-black spatial holes. One piece flew straight for Su Xiao's head. He tilted his head in a preemptive dodge, the wind pressure from the passing bone ruffling his black hair, giving him a hairstyle similar to Kingsley's. The sharp edge of the bone left a shallow cut on his cheek.
Seeming to sense that the combination of Su Xiao, Zuiyasi, Wude, and Elukulu was indeed troublesome, the Beast God raised its right claw. The bone fragments on the ground in the surrounding area rapidly gathered, forming a massive hammer over five meters long, with a head the size of a small room. For others, this weapon would be far too large, but for the eight-meter-tall Beast God, though the hammerhead was a bit big, it was still manageable.
A circular great shield nearly four meters in diameter also formed. This bone shield was heavily compressed, incredibly heavy, and highly resistant.
With a giant hammer in one hand and a great shield in the other, the Beast God didn't charge in. Instead, it slammed the hammer against the shield in its other hand. In the next instant, the world fell silent.
When the blurriness faded from Su Xiao's vision, he found himself half-buried in a pile of bone fragments. Dozens of meters diagonally behind him was Elukulu, still dazed. Across from him, Zuiyasi was covered in cracks all over his body. Wude was already suspended between the second and third dimensions; from a side view, he was as thin as a painting.
As for the Beast God, after using that hammer-shield strike, it too had suffered damage. It regained its clarity almost simultaneously with Su Xiao, a testament to Su Xiao's current physical prowess.
"Blood Smoke Cannon!"
With a thunderous blast, the Beast God, about to pick up its giant bone hammer, was knocked off balance. It abandoned the hammer on the ground and instead hurled the great shield in its hand.
Before the shield arrived, the wind pressure hit first. The bone fragments in Su Xiao's area were sent flying, and layers of earth peeled backward. Yet under such an attack, Su Xiao's aura grew calmer.
"Demon Spirit: Dual Blades."
The Blade Demon Spirit manifested behind Su Xiao, mirroring his sword-wielding stance, and they struck out simultaneously.
Clang! Clang! Two crisp slashes. The first strike deflected the incoming shield, and the second sent it spinning in a different direction. From an observer's perspective, it looked as though Su Xiao had slashed the incoming shield, turning it 90 degrees, and then the shield shattered a large area of space beside him, like a burst mirror.
A blur appeared in front of the Beast God—it was Zuiyasi. His right arm exploded with a massive amount of black tentacles. For a moment, his 1.85-meter frame seemed more imposing than the Beast God's eight-meter-plus form. It looked like he was about to pierce the Beast God all over with countless tentacles, but—
The Beast God's massive claw came down, flattening Zuiyasi and all his black tentacles. Well, this style of looking cool for less than three seconds was very Zuiyasi.
Of course, Zuiyasi wouldn't be taken out so easily. After the Beast God flattened him with one hand, it let out a roar and repeatedly slammed its right claw into the ground, causing the earth for hundreds of kilometers around to crack continuously.
The reason was that on the Beast God's claw, black tentacles were burrowing into its flesh, spreading throughout its body. The main targets were the head and the Divine Blood Core at the center of its chest.
Just as Zuiyasi was invading the Beast God's body, a wisp of black smoke silently seeped into the Beast God's spine. Back at the Ninth Rank, Wude's abilities were already particularly eerie. Now at the Absolute Strength level, the strangeness of his abilities had reached the pinnacle of that field.
Besides Zuiyasi's internal devouring and Wude's erosion, a faint green smoke appeared on the Beast God's surface. This was an alchemical poison Su Xiao had tailored specifically for the Beast God, targeting divine systems.
Given the overwhelming number of powerful enemies in this world, unless facing a fellow technique-type opponent, Su Xiao would always apply alchemical poison to his foes. As for why he didn't use it against technique-types, it wasn't that he couldn't—there was simply no opportunity.
Floating in mid-air, about to summon lightning, Elukulu witnessed all of this. Watching the Beast God being corroded by the Ancient God System's devouring, the eerie system's corruption, and the alchemical poison's erosion, she inexplicably felt a chill run down her spine. In the near future, she might have to face a similar situation.
Unfortunately, for now, Elukulu had no choice but to grit her teeth and fight alongside the others against the Beast God. Otherwise, the first one to be crushed to death here would definitely be her. With the Divine Blood clinging to her, her aggro was so stable that even a main tank of the same rank would be impressed.