Chapter 44: Writhing
Black raindrops fell as the Abyss invasion took hold. The Abyss Honor Guard released the massive Abyss greatsword in its hand. This was not its own weapon; to fight at its strongest, it could no longer use a blade belonging to its master.
The moment the Abyss greatsword pierced the ground, it vanished into the Abyssal darkness. This caused a dramatic shift in the world's landscape. Huge eyes of varying sizes opened in the sky above, and tentacle-like black ribbons hung in midair. Looking up, it seemed as if the world's very firmament was melting, dripping down like black wax.
Boom!
A wave of darkness spread. The Abyss Honor Guard pulled a massive hammer from the Abyssal darkness. It gripped the hammer with its upper hands, while the palms of its lower arms split open, transforming into circular maws filled with sharp, jagged teeth. Those pitch-black fangs sent a chill down one's spine, as if nothing could withstand their bite. This was a terrifying, inescapable law of the Abyss.
This was the all-devouring maw.
Seeing these two maws, Su Xiao felt a sense of dread. He had a very strong premonition that not only his own limbs, but even Dragon-Slaying Flash, if bitten by that dark maw, would be snapped in two.
But even so, he could not retreat.
The ground beneath Su Xiao's feet cracked. He transformed into a blur, breaking the stalemate between them. Due to the difference in their size, he could only use an upward diagonal strike: 'Blade Path Sword: Swift.'
The long blade tore through space, heading straight for the Abyss Honor Guard's throat. The Abyss Honor Guard swung the dark hammer, wreathed in rising darkness, meeting Su Xiao's attack head-on.
'Dragon Shadow Flash.'
As he instantly pierced through space, Su Xiao deliberately slowed his slash. The moment the enemy's hammer passed through him, he would exit the spatial penetration state and sever its throat with a single stroke.
Boom!!
Su Xiao was sent flying as a blur, crashing into the ground. Mud flew everywhere as he plowed a several-kilometer-long trench across the earth.
Getting up, blood dripping from his chin, Su Xiao stared expressionlessly at the distant Abyss Honor Guard. He wasn't surprised that Dragon Shadow Flash had been broken, but that hammer strike was truly brutal. The health he had just topped off was now only 2.1 million points. To put this in perspective, his current health was a staggering 5.41 million points.
One strike, just one strike. Su Xiao estimated he could withstand three such blows. The first would take most of his life, the second would empty his health and trigger 'Blood Master.'
'Blood Spear Grandmaster Lv.90 Ultimate Ability: Blood Master (Absolute Strength Rank · Passive): When your health drops to 1%, all your remaining soul energy, mental energy, and 80% of your physical energy will be instantly converted through the Devouring Core into blood energy. This massive amount of blood energy will protect your 'Primordial Life Force' for 6 seconds. During these 6 seconds, if your Primordial Life Force (heart) and the primary vital point of the human race (head) are not highly damaged, even if you sustain high-intensity attacks, your health will not drop to 0%, preventing death. After 6 seconds, the blood energy protecting your 'Primordial Life Force' will be exhausted.'
...
Within those 6 seconds, he might be able to withstand one more hit. But once the 6 seconds were up, the next blow would be fatal.
Even so, Su Xiao was the most durable one present. He placed one hand on the ground, and the crystals formed by Proud Song spread from his hand, creating a formation diagram dozens of meters in diameter beneath his feet.
With a dull thud, Su Xiao vanished from his spot. What he had constructed was actually a 'Law-Destroying Teleportation Array.' Please don't misunderstand; the ancestral Law Destroyers didn't use this thing, because its teleportation force was too violent.
Su Xiao's starting coordinates were beneath his own feet, and his destination coordinates were directly beneath the Abyss Honor Guard.
With a loud spatial explosion, the Abyss Honor Guard was blasted sideways, staggering two steps. This powerful Abyss entity was a bit confused. It had never seen this type of spatial attack before, and this thing... felt a lot like a teleportation array?
Clang!
Long blade met giant hammer. Fine cracks of blood appeared on Su Xiao's right arm, but instead of retreating, he pressed forward.
Clang! Clang! Clang! Clang!
Su Xiao delivered four consecutive heavy slashes. The Abyss Honor Guard was about to retaliate when its perception suddenly faltered. A gradually intensifying sense of danger came from its side and rear.
A hundred meters to its side and rear, the shirtless Haoji was slightly hunched over, his face twisted. Blood blossoms burst from his body, and layers of gray dead skin peeled off. Looking closely, one could see what looked like worms writhing under Haoji's skin. Anyone with weak willpower would surely scream in terror.
This was Shenfu maximizing the damage to Haoji while ensuring he didn't die. Why? Haoji was a Rampage Power type. Through injury, he could continuously accumulate power for his next strike, even breaking through the 800-point Strength limit, much like the Beast Deity Su Xiao had fought before, whose Strength attribute had been stacked to a terrifying degree.
A bone-chilling power erupted from Haoji. Seeing this, Su Xiao, who was locked in a stalemate with the Abyss Honor Guard, felt a chill in his heart. He was certain that, at his current strength, taking that blow head-on would either kill him or leave him with no combat capability.
In truth, it wasn't just Su Xiao who was wary. Haoji, who was gathering power, was even more shocked. He had experienced what it was like to fight the Abyss Honor Guard head-on. The feeling of being on the verge of death after just a few seconds of combat was still vivid in his memory. And now, that Hunter was actually trading blows with the Abyss Honor Guard?
A tide of dark gold power erupted from Haoji as the center point. The Abyss Honor Guard hammered Su Xiao back. Just as it was about to act, water appeared out of nowhere, sealing it in place. A hundred meters away, the blind, closed-eyed Water Brother sat cross-legged on the ground, one hand loosely clenched. From his slightly trembling hand, it was clear that even binding the Abyss Honor Guard for an instant was an immense burden.
With a crashing sound, like breaking through layers of glass, Haoji charged forward as a streak of dark gold. His mere advance caused the space around him to shatter layer by layer. Almost simultaneously, Su Xiao attacked from behind the Abyss Honor Guard.
Facing the pincer attack from Su Xiao and Haoji, the Abyss Honor Guard swung its hammer horizontally at Su Xiao. At the same time, it raised its lower right arm, aiming directly at Haoji, who was now just two meters away.
Darkness enveloped Haoji, forming a vortex that swallowed him. Haoji was devoured by the darkness into an unknown place, and his punch naturally missed.
Boom!
The earth trembled. The Abyss Honor Guard slowly straightened its chest. The terrifying force of a punch on its back caused a faint fist imprint to appear on its chest. Haoji was actually behind the Abyss Honor Guard, having completed this heavy blow.
The process was simple. Just as Haoji was about to be swallowed by the darkness, Su Xiao used Dragon Shadow Flash to swap positions with him. This caused Haoji to appear at the Abyss Honor Guard's side and rear.
Even the Abyss Honor Guard was sent flying by this punch. What awaited it was a sin demon scythe wreathed in black flames.
'Original Sin: Scythe Kiss.'
The demon scythe hooked onto the Abyss Honor Guard's throat. If it were any other weapon, the Abyss Honor Guard could have withstood it with its physical body. But this was the [Sin-Eye Demon Scythe] from the Demon Scythe lineage, and it had already opened four of its five eyes.
Pfft.
The Abyss Honor Guard's head was severed. Its body, propelled by the immense force, plowed a massive trench in the ground before coming to a stop.
A moment later.
"Clap, clap, clap~"
The sound of deep, heavy applause came. The headless Abyss Honor Guard was walking forward, slowly clapping. The flesh at its severed neck writhed, and in less than a second, it had regenerated its head.
Compared to this, what was truly despairing was the Abyss Honor Guard's 850% health cap. This made its health bar in the detection information exceptionally long. And this wasn't even the Abyss Honor Guard's peak state. It seemed that the powerful Abyss entities they would face later would all have long health bars, as one of the Abyss's characteristics was to foster growth.
A truly hopeless situation had emerged. After a round of siege by the six of them, the Abyss Honor Guard was still at full health.
However, Su Xiao noticed that the Abyss Honor Guard's health cap had grayed out by a sliver. He knew exactly what this was. Back on Blazing Sun Star, after completing the task of defeating the 'Beast Deity,' he had obtained a [Passive Scroll Chest · Highest Rank]. From it, he had drawn an Absolute Strength Rank passive and successfully mastered it.
[Burning Blood Embers: Lv.1 (Absolute Strength Rank · Passive)]
Skill Effect 1: Blood-based abilities carry Burning Blood Embers state. Penetration +2%, Explosive Power +3%.
Skill Effect 2: Each time an attack carrying Blood-based Burning Blood Embers hits an enemy, the enemy's maximum health is reduced by 0.15%. This can stack, up to a maximum reduction of 2% of the enemy's maximum health.
Hint: This effect is not temporary but permanent. Over 99.82% of methods cannot heal it. It is a deep, permanent injury.
...
This ability was incredibly effective. It had successfully worked even against a powerful entity like the Abyss Honor Guard. If he could return to Reincarnation Paradise alive, he would definitely max out this ability.
Sharp steel rained down from above. Bladeless swords shot towards the Abyss Honor Guard. The Abyss Honor Guard didn't even dodge. It leaped high into the steel rain, and while in midair, it suddenly accelerated, reaching a speed that was unattainable for an Absolute Strength Rank entity.
Pfft!
A large hand pierced the chest of the Steel Demon Dragon, Kane. The agonizing pain of Abyss power eroding made Kane's face twitch. Yet he defiantly changed his flight direction, plummeting towards the ground.
Blood sprayed as a large portion of Kane's body was torn away. This was the Abyss Honor Guard's fighting style: violent and savage, but with unmatched power and speed.
Sometimes, this kind of simple strength was the most hopeless. Of course, this was also related to the fact that the Abyss Honor Guard had not yet returned to its peak. Most of its Abyss-based abilities were in a damaged state, a severe price paid from a battle with a certain ancestral Law Destroyer.
The Abyss Honor Guard grabbed Kane by the throat with one hand. Darkness erupted, and Abyss power violently eroded Kane. Furthermore, the Abyss Honor Guard's two dark devouring maw arms bit into Kane's dragon wings and waist.
A gruesome scene unfolded. Even though Haoji shattered one of the Abyss Honor Guard's arms during this time, and the Demon Scythe severed two of its arms, the Abyss Honor Guard ignored these two. Instead, it used its newly grown arm to pinch Kane's head with one hand. Its smile grew more gleeful, pushing cruelty and savagery to the extreme.
Kane heard the sound of his own skull gradually cracking. He also discovered something even more terrifying: when in contact with the Abyss Honor Guard, all his abilities turned gray, entering an unusable state called 'Abyss Suppression.' Even worse, this suppression would last for several hours, and the longer the physical contact with the Abyss Honor Guard, the longer the suppression persisted.
In fact, this was already a weakened version of the Abyss Honor Guard's core ability. At its peak, anyone within a few kilometers of it couldn't use any abilities, except for certain damned nemeses.
Zheng~!
A sharp blade hum. A slash flashed. The Abyss Honor Guard's arm, which was gripping Kane, was severed at the forearm. Water then attached itself and dragged Kane away.
Su Xiao hadn't been unwilling to help earlier. He had been holding the line against the Abyss Honor Guard for a while and needed to recover.
Zheng, zheng, zheng!
The long blade slashed repeatedly. Deep, bone-reaching cuts appeared on the Abyss Honor Guard's body.
'Extreme Blade: White Night.'
Su Xiao slashed at the Abyss Honor Guard's throat. The reason he kept using this move despite the damage to his body was that he had discovered something very critical.
Pfft!
Black blood splattered. Two thick upper arms flew into the air. The long blade sank two-thirds of the way into the Abyss Honor Guard's neck.
"Just like that lecherous woman, soul severance really hurts."
The Abyss Honor Guard's large hand grabbed Dragon-Slaying Flash and then pushed hard. It actually pushed the blade to sever its own head.
As the head hit the ground, the flesh at the Abyss Honor Guard's severed neck writhed rapidly. By the time the head landed, a new head had already grown.
The Abyss Honor Guard pressed one hand on the back of its neck, cracking it with a series of pops. The next second, Haoji, who had fully charged again, appeared behind it, punching towards its head.
Boom!!
A small part of the Abyss Honor Guard's head was shattered. As it healed its head, it looked down at Haoji and said, "Hmm, the accuracy is better this time. The power is still a bit lacking. I can take it. Again."
The Abyss Honor Guard bared its flat, white teeth, which seemed capable of devouring all living things, and grinned at Haoji. This time, it wasn't just Su Xiao who noticed; everyone saw that the Abyss Honor Guard's overall physical defense was getting stronger with each attack.
This was the Supreme Rank. Even if suppressed to the Absolute Strength Rank by this world, the gap in strength was still terrifying. If it weren't world suppression but a notarized type suppression from the Paradise, then maybe there would be a fight.
All six present were battle-hardened veterans. They knew they couldn't afford to delay. Haoji's entire body was covered in dark gold patterns, and his size reached nearly four meters. At the same time, Shenfu appeared.
'Lost: Lamb.'
Shenfu began to age rapidly, becoming skin and bones. An astonishing scene unfolded. The Abyss Honor Guard opposite him also began to show signs of severe aging, causing the smile on its face to freeze.
'Original Sin: Other Shore.'
The Demon Scythe, Talid, disappeared. It reappeared on the Abyss Honor Guard's back. The demon scythe in her hand seemed to move slowly but touched the Abyss Honor Guard's throat. Black flames appeared on the Abyss Honor Guard's body, causing it to fall to one knee with a crash.
"Roar!!"
The Abyss Honor Guard roared. Layers of dark waves spread out. Haoji ignored this. Bleeding profusely, he charged forward and punched the Abyss Honor Guard's chin, forcing its head up. He then jumped onto its back, grabbed its messy, woody horns, and forced its head back, fully exposing its throat.
'Water Mirror: Reflecting Heart.'
A primordial magic mirror made of water appeared in front of the Abyss Honor Guard. Sensing the aura of an Original Sin object, the Abyss Honor Guard's breath hitched. But upon realizing it was the Primordial Magic Mirror, it relaxed. It wasn't afraid of those few items.
Shenfu and the other five had the Abyss Honor Guard firmly restrained. Space was pierced, and Su Xiao appeared in front of the Abyss Honor Guard. The long blade in his hand thrust straight towards its head. The blade was covered in dark blue smoke, indicating that Demon Blade was activated.
Although he couldn't kill the Abyss Honor Guard, he could at least create a weakness in the enemy. Otherwise, this battle was unwinnable. As for killing, the Demon Scythe Talid was also present. The Demon Scythe's ability to kill powerful Abyss entities was not weak.
Just as Demon Blade was about to strike, a slight smile gradually appeared on the Abyss Honor Guard's lips. It had finally been waiting for this. This seemingly crude and savage creature had actually been waiting for the Law Destroyer, in desperation, to try and use the Blade Demon Spirit to suppress its 'Immortal Body.' In reality, the Blade Demon Spirit could indeed do this.
Bang! The suppression by Shenfu and the other five crumbled in an instant. The Abyss Honor Guard's power surged by another fifty percent, and its speed became suffocating.
'Dark Domain: Time Devourer.'
Dong~
Darkness stopped the flow of time in the vicinity, then made it flow exceptionally slowly. The Abyss Honor Guard was unaffected. It raised its lower right arm, and the dark maw in its palm opened to its maximum, lunging to devour Dragon-Slaying Flash.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
Dong~
Everything around became even slower, including the Abyss Honor Guard. Seeing this, the eyes of the Abyss Honor Guard narrowed. It changed its mind about biting off the Law-Annihilating Blade and instead used a safer and faster method to complete this strike.
Pfft~!
Blood splattered. Su Xiao and the Abyss Honor Guard passed each other. The Abyss Honor Guard stumbled forward a few steps before stopping. The sharp tongues inside the palm of its right arm licked the blood from its teeth. The long-lost taste of Law Destroyer blood caused this arm to tremble slightly with excitement.
With a thud, Su Xiao, who had lost his entire right arm, fell to the ground. Using the momentum, he rolled and crouched. Blood stained the right side of his face, but his gaze remained calm.
"Like this, I can rest assured. Without this demon blade, you all..."
As the Abyss Honor Guard spoke, its eight hearts all beat violently at the same time. Its expression changed dramatically, fear mixed with disbelief.
"It's... my master! Where is my master?! Where?!!"
The Abyss Honor Guard was furious. Its eyes darted around, completely ignoring Su Xiao and the others, searching for something. Suddenly, it realized something and tried to make its lower right arm vomit. But it only spat out Dragon-Slashing Flash, not Su Xiao's entire right arm.
Why was this? Because before his right arm was devoured, Su Xiao had quietly taken an item from his storage space and attached it to his arm under his sleeve. To be safe, he had also temporarily constructed some sealing runes. With his Lv.94 Sealcraft level, he could certainly do this. As for what he attached to his arm inside his sleeve, it was:
[Dark Writhing]
Origin: Previous Abyss Lord.
Quality: Abyss Rank.
Category: Dangerous Object.
Effect 1: By maintaining contact with this item, you can understand dark knowledge from the Abyss during this period.
Effect 2: Holding this item with both hands, you can use it to open any level of Abyss seal or Abyss energy cover.
Warning: Each time you use this item, you must pay sufficient darkness. If the darkness paid is insufficient, you will be devoured.
Rating: -- (This item will not be notarized rated.)
Description: This is part of the brain fluid of the previous Abyss Lord. It also contains a metal fragment, but it has been corroded black by the brain fluid, making its original form unrecognizable.
Price: After acquisition, it cannot be traded, transferred, abandoned, etc. It can only be submitted to Reincarnation Paradise to increase permission level.
...
Su Xiao had let the Abyss Honor Guard taste the flavor of its former master. However, judging by the Abyss Honor Guard's expression, it didn't seem to like it very much.
Boom, boom, boom~
The Abyss Honor Guard's arms, right leg, back shoulder, and other areas began to swell one after another.
"Ah!!"
The Abyss Honor Guard roared in anger. Its four limbs and large hands grabbed its head, squeezing it until it cracked, but it still madly shook its body. Hearing the cracking of its skull, Kane, who was lying on the ground half-dead, felt an indescribable satisfaction.
After the Abyss Honor Guard's furious shout, its body swelled into a mountain of flesh a thousand meters tall. And this was just part of the brain fluid of the previous Abyss Lord.
As for why Su Xiao dared to do this, he wasn't gambling. The 'Top-Tier Abyssology' he had upgraded with over a hundred thousand ounces of Space-Time Power was not just for show. Knowledge is power.
"Did you guys get the kill notification? The situation doesn't look good."
Haoji spoke. Hearing this, everyone looked at each other, but no one said anything.
The mountain of flesh in front split open, and a burly figure walked out. This figure was very similar to the Abyss Honor Guard, but its aura was stronger.
"This is a gift from my master. I should thank you for allowing me to take a step further. But, you will all still die."
The Abyss Honor Guard, as if reborn, walked slowly. On the way, it clenched its fist, feeling its newfound power.
"Honor Guard sir, as a dying wish, can you answer one question for me?"
Su Xiao spoke, glancing at the second hand of his pocket watch. Time was running out.
"Oh? You Law Destroyers are interesting. Go ahead, speak."
"Does the Abyss... have a new master now?"
"Nonsense!"
The Abyss Honor Guard was furious. Its anger turned to laughter, and it decided to kill this Law Destroyer immediately.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't say anything else. He generally didn't talk to dead people. After getting the answer he wanted, he snapped shut the expensive pocket watch given by the Holy Maiden.
With the snap of the watch closing, the approaching Abyss Honor Guard also exploded with a bang. Its head spun into the air. When it landed, its eyes were filled with confusion. But it had no time to be confused. Its head and remnant body began to turn to black ash and slowly evaporate.
At the same time, Su Xiao received a warning.
[Warning: You have suffered 'Dark Cause Annihilation: Bite' from the Abyss Honor Guard.]
[Based on your current health, you will suffer Instant Death!]
[Blade Grandmaster · Blade Heart has been activated.]
[You have consumed one 'Blade Heart,' successfully exempting this Instant Death. Remaining Blade Hearts: 2/3 (One Blade Heart recovers every 70 hours until Blade Hearts are fully restored).]
[Warning: This is a chain 'Dark Cause Annihilation: Bite'!]
[Based on your current health, you will suffer Execution!]
[You have consumed one 'Blade Heart,' successfully exempting this Execution. Remaining Blade Hearts: 1/3.]
...
The Abyss Honor Guard's death throes were Instant Death + Execution. It could only be said that powerful Abyss entities were too ferocious. No wonder the survival rate after encountering them was so low.
Did Su Xiao kill the Abyss Honor Guard? Not entirely. The Abyss Honor Guard died from a failed ascension. Because of this, its strongest tier of Abyss immortality was useless. To attempt ascension, it had to temporarily detach from this immortal state.
If the Abyss Honor Guard had been at its peak, it would have had less than a one-in-a-thousand chance of ascending to become the new Abyss Lord. But in its current state, it didn't even have a one-in-ten-thousand chance. Moreover, since the previous Abyss Lord had not yet perished, the probability of a successful ascension was definitely zero.
Crack, crack, crack~
A crystal right arm formed. Su Xiao pulled out Dragon-Slashing Flash, which was stuck diagonally in the ground, and flicked off the Abyss blood that was slowly evaporating into black ash. As he sheathed the blade, he felt a bit dizzy. Of the six people present, only he and Shenfu could still stand. The others were all lying on the ground.
With the death of the Abyss Honor Guard, the Abyss invasion of this world stopped. The rain ceased. The cloud scar cut into the sky was particularly conspicuous. It was clearly caused by Su Xiao's earlier battle. Sunlight now streamed down through this scar in the clouds.
"Hahaha, awesome! You're incredible. To think of such a method."
Haoji, who was lying on the ground, managed to sit up.
"..."
Su Xiao didn't say anything. He took out a bottle of Elemental Brew, pulled out the cork, and took several big gulps.
"Give me some."
Haoji said. He wasn't worried about the Hunter poisoning him now. A Blade Grandmaster wouldn't attack a comrade who had just fought side-by-side through life and death. It would damage his own prestige and aura, and the loss would outweigh the gain.
"..."
Su Xiao tossed the half-empty bottle over. Haoji drank it all in one go and praised it as good wine.
A steel train arrived. Bubu Wang, Amu, Baha, and Beini all got off. Bubu Wang, Amu, and Baha skillfully took out various equipment, such as a sensor that could only detect Su Xiao's cells, and a life support device.
Before long, Amu found Su Xiao's right arm in the mountain of flesh and placed it in the life support device for storage. Bubu Wang found the [Dark Writhing]. Su Xiao sealed the [Dark Writhing] and put it away.
Walking over to the life support device, Su Xiao frowned slightly. He noticed something: his right arm seemed to have been eroded by Abyss power. No, not eroded. It was an extremely pure and top-tier Abyss force that had integrated into this arm.
Third chapter completed. This mosquito's physique, as our dear readers know, means I might not be able to update a chapter of 8000 words every day from now on. Future daily chapters will probably be around 5000 to 7000 words. I hope our dear readers will understand. I truly don't dare to overwork myself.