Chapter 26: Ancient Wyverns
Arriving before the royal hall, a layer of crystal covered Su Xiao's hands as he pushed open the two scorched metal doors, their surfaces already heated to an extreme temperature. As the doors swung open, the scene inside the hall came into view.
The power of the divine thunder from earlier had shattered all the guards within the hall, leaving flesh and blood scattered everywhere. The high heat had vaporized the blood into white steam. Amidst this gruesome scene, a frail figure on the throne maintained a golden-white light shell, protecting both himself and the Holy Knight Monipe within it.
"Cough, cough, cough~"
A young man with a gentle appearance, dressed in loose gray robes, white hair, and closed eyes, covered his mouth and nose with one hand, coughing repeatedly. Blood seeped through his fingers—it was the Twin King.
"My King!"
The robust Holy Knight Monipe knelt on one knee, reaching out to support the Twin King, who was about to fall from the throne.
"You still didn't heed my command."
The Twin King spoke. All along, the Twin King's consciousness had been dominated by his elder brother, while the younger brother rarely emerged from the subconscious. These twin brothers, born together, loathed each other.
Hearing this, Holy Knight Monipe lowered her head, clearly admitting her mistake but showing no intention of changing her mind. Seeing this, the Twin King, unable to maintain his strength any longer, withdrew the golden light shell. Blocking the divine thunder that surged into the hall and saving Holy Knight Monipe had left him at his weakest.
"Since you stayed, finish what you should do."
After saying this, the Twin King coughed again, blood dripping from his pale fingertips. Strangely, his blood was bright red, not the pitch-black Dark Blood.
"Yes, my King."
Holy Knight Monipe's gaze hardened again. She rose from her kneeling position and drew the knight's greatsword that had always accompanied her. Gripping the sword with both hands, her eyes were more resolute than ever.
"Wind Sea Continent, Beast Clan, Hereditary Holy Knight, Monipe."
Holy Knight Monipe held the sword with both hands, the blade standing before her.
"Reincarnation Paradise, Bai Ye."
Su Xiao rarely spoke before a life-or-death battle.
With a bang, the ground beneath Holy Knight Monipe's feet cracked slightly. Leaving such marks in the hall was impressive, considering it had withstood the divine thunder.
Clang!
The knight's greatsword clashed with the long blade, holy power erupting with full force.
But the next second, a blood aura like a raging tide swept forth, making the holy power seem like a lone boat in a sea of blood. Feeling the power on the greatsword, Holy Knight Monipe gritted her teeth. The passing blood aura even cut wounds on both sides of her face.
If an uninformed observer witnessed the battle between Su Xiao and Holy Knight Monipe, they would immediately judge that Holy Knight Monipe was clearly the righteous ally and instinctively cheer, "Go, unknown knight sister!"
Holy Knight Monipe roared as her holy power erupted. It wasn't her habit to roar, but facing this technique grandmaster was overwhelmingly oppressive. In battle, it felt like the massive claw of a blood beast was pressing down on her head, making her bones creak and crack.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
Thump~
The time force field erupted. Against an opponent like Holy Knight Monipe, regardless of the strength gap, Su Xiao would not hold back in the slightest. He stepped back and leaped, causing the greatsword pressing toward him to be carried off balance by the long blade's force.
It wasn't that Holy Knight Monipe's combat style was crude; she was simply caught off guard. She had erupted her holy power to create an opening.
Holy Knight Monipe could only forcibly retract the holy power she had just unleashed. But who would have thought that Su Xiao, after a small backward leap, would immediately leap back the moment one foot touched the ground, delivering a simple, unadorned heavy slash with his long blade.
Clang!
Holy Knight Monipe blocked the strike, but forcibly retracting her holy power and being forced to meet this powerful blow left her blood and energy churning.
"Hah!"
Holy Knight Monipe forcibly erupted her holy power again and swung her sword downward. But when the greatsword clashed with the long blade, it passed through without resistance—Su Xiao had entered a state of space penetration.
[Limit Constitution: Space Walker (Passive): After performing a space movement, space teleportation, or space penetration, your next attack speed increases by 45%, and you deal a certain amount of space damage.]
'Blade Path Sword: Extreme.'
Su Xiao infused soul energy into his long blade, combined with the spatial cutting properties of this strike.
Facing this slash, Holy Knight Monipe, having just swung her sword into empty air, could only block with her greatsword.
Clang!
Struck by the slash, Holy Knight Monipe felt a buzz in her head. This strike had shaken her soul, and combined with the spatial properties, it felt as if part of her soul had been shaken into the spatial gaps.
Giving Holy Knight Monipe no chance, Su Xiao delivered a straight kick. But strangely, he performed the kick while in the 'Dragon Shadow Flash' state, and his right foot and calf were wrapped in soul energy.
With a bang, it seemed as if a translucent figure was kicked out of Holy Knight Monipe's body. She instantly went numb on the spot.
Why was this? The reason was that the soul-property + spatial-property strike, though blocked by Holy Knight Monipe's greatsword, had shaken part of her soul into the spatial gaps. Normally, this wouldn't matter and would recover in a few seconds.
The problem was that Su Xiao, in his space-penetrating state, delivered a soul-property straight kick, causing a massive shock to Holy Knight Monipe's soul, even leading to a mild separation of soul and body.
In battle, this was extremely dangerous. And in a fight against a technique grandmaster, this meant death.
Zheng~
A gleaming blade edge swept through, leaving a blood mark on Holy Knight Monipe's neck. She brushed past Su Xiao, but after running a few steps, she stopped. She instinctively reached for her throat with one hand, but unfortunately, her vision suddenly spun and lowered. With a soft thud, she was level with the ground. She saw a headless corpse, blood spraying from the severed neck as it fell.
'Truly, a battle that is both despair-inducing and admirable.'
That was Holy Knight Monipe's final thought. She sank into complete darkness. As for being reborn in the Abyss, she would not do so, because months ago, she had erased her 'Causal Life Source' from the Dukain family's 'Origin Clan Emblem.'
"Thank you, Law Destroyer. You have shown a knight enough respect."
The Twin King spoke, sitting weakly on the throne, his gaze complex.
"Our Dukain clan, due to our unique birth, possesses great power but is also cursed by inner evil. We are a naturally evil dark race, with no beauty in our hearts, only ever-expanding monstrous desires."
The Twin King rested his elbows on the armrests of the throne, hands clasped, and looked around at the scattered limbs and broken bodies, continuing:
"Admittedly, when I was weak, the clan protected me, so I had to be your enemy."
The Twin King smiled, then said, "But I also know that being your enemy is wrong. Whatever your purpose, you are protecting the innocent humans of Doan who just want to live, free from hunger and disease. But my clansmen don't seem to like that.
I've thought of many solutions, and in the end, I found that knowledge is a good answer. It contains infinite mysteries and might explain the Dukain clan's innate evil desires. Unfortunately, the wise scholars who possess vast knowledge are unwilling to come to the Corrupt Royal City. I don't want to force them, but some are willing, like those ancient god scholars."
At this point, the Twin King shook his head and smiled: "They are too evil, always wanting to bring pain to living beings and impose their evil faith on them..."
He stopped abruptly, his gaze fixed on Su Xiao: "I've never mentioned this to anyone else, yet I'm telling you, my enemy. Truly, strange."
The Twin King rose from his seat and walked to Holy Knight Monipe's corpse, his eyes showing a hint of reluctance:
"Regardless, she died for me, and you are now our enemy. Come, Law Destroyer!"
The Twin King's pupils turned golden. He floated up, and golden light spheres appeared in his hands, rapidly circling him, leaving black marks in the space around them.
These dragon-eye-sized golden light spheres, though unremarkable in appearance, possessed unreasonable penetrating power. Even with Su Xiao's physique, being hit anywhere would leave a hole. If hit in the head or heart, he could very well die on the spot.
Bang! A golden light sphere flew past Su Xiao's face, nearly grazing it. If not for his instinct ability frantically warning him, allowing him to dodge preemptively, this strike would have hit.
The next second, hundreds of golden light spheres flew toward him. Even more terrifying, these spheres suddenly split into tens of thousands, cutting the space along their path into pitch-black darkness.
'Blade Path Sword: Time.'
Thump~
The domain of Time spread. Su Xiao slashed out a black blade aura, which precisely passed through the gaps between the golden light spheres created by 'Time,' heading straight for the Twin King's throat.
All the golden light spheres that entered the domain of 'Time' uncontrollably slowed down. Seeing this, the Twin King pointed his index finger forward, and a golden light sphere turned into a thin sheet, blocking the incoming black slash.
But the black slash suddenly slowed, transforming from a black blade aura into dark blue smoke, which quickly formed a demon spirit. The demon spirit's crystal long blade slashed down at the Twin King.
With a crackling sound, the crystal long blade was devoured and shattered, leaving only the hilt in the demon spirit's hand. Almost simultaneously, the tens of thousands of golden light spheres pierced through Su Xiao's body.
Zheng!
The blade aura swept across the Twin King's neck. Just a moment before, Su Xiao had 'swapped' positions with the demon spirit, so the one riddled with golden light spheres was naturally the demon spirit.
A strike imbued with triple soul-slashing properties, yet it didn't cause any change in the Twin King's expression. The wound on his neck instantly smoothed over, feeling less like healing and more like the wound was removed.
A golden light sphere shot toward Su Xiao. The crystal layer wrapped around his long blade as he slashed horizontally, cutting the incoming sphere into an L-shaped trajectory, sending it flying sideways. The crystal layer on the blade that contacted the sphere was devoured, missing a piece, but fortunately, the Dragon-Slaying Flash was undamaged.
'Blade Path Sword: Flow.'
An elegant wind mark cut through the Twin King's head. He ignored it, raising one hand as golden light spheres shot toward Su Xiao.
Clang! Clang!
Knocking away the incoming spheres, Su Xiao closed in on the Twin King and delivered a straight kick.
Bang!
The Twin King was shattered by the kick, but his flesh fragments flew back less than half a meter before beginning to reform. In an instant, the Twin King appeared completely unharmed.
Su Xiao pressed forward again and delivered another straight kick. However, this time, his right foot and calf were covered in soul energy, so dense it appeared liquid.
With a hollow impact sound, the Twin King collapsed weakly to one knee. A male soul figure, not resembling him but equally effeminate and handsome, flew out slightly from behind him. Because it was connected to the Twin King's soul, the kneeling Twin King's soul was also pulled out somewhat.
Zheng.
A blade aura flashed. A triple 'Soul Slash' strike cleanly severed the two souls, immediately followed by a horizontal slash that cut off the head of the severed soul.
The severed soul didn't look at Su Xiao but stared fixedly at the Twin King, its eyes filled with complex hatred. As the soul dissolved, it murmured something, but no one could hear clearly.
"Brother."
The kneeling Twin King raised a hand, then let it fall weakly. He shifted from kneeling to sitting. These two brothers, cursed by fate, had finally achieved their long-desired separation, but at the cost of both their lives.
Yes, the Twin King was about to die completely, unlike other Dukain family members who, before death, experienced a strange pulling force that dragged something away from them.
This was because the Twin King had erased his 'Causal Life Source' from the Dukain family's 'Origin Clan Emblem.' He loathed the Dukain, born and dominated by desire and evil, and hated being an Abyss Descendant. But in the end, he couldn't escape this identity.
The Twin King had tried to leave the Ancient Dragon Kingdom for a world far from evil. The result was that the friendly town that welcomed him was eventually invaded by the Abyss, and the girl who once looked at him with adoration and love screamed as she mutated into a dark creature.
"Law Destroyer, I leave this to you."
With that, the Twin King thrust his hand into his chest and pulled out his heart. It was a heart emitting dirty brown smoke, filled with a corrupt aura.
"Promise me one thing, and I'll tell you where the Dukain family emblem I control is."
"..."
"Consider it your silence as agreement. You're willing to fight us for Doan, so you certainly won't refuse this."
After speaking, the Twin King tossed a translucent crystalline spatial imprint. He continued:
"The residents of Ancient Dragon City didn't all die under Scorpion Lady's scheme. One-fifth of the innocent civilians are still alive. I said I'd use them as test subjects, but I actually settled them in the sealed area corresponding to this imprint. After I die, no one will supply them with food. So don't let them wait too long. They are all ordinary and fortunate innocents."
At this point, the Twin King spat out a mouthful of blood. Ignoring his status as a Dukain councilor, he crawled toward his personal guard, Holy Knight Monipe's corpse. Reaching her side, he smiled meaningfully at Su Xiao:
"As a Dukain councilor, my bloodline instinct compels me to protect the family emblem, so I transplanted it into the heart of a bad-tempered big guy. It's down below. When I die, its seal will break. But I'm sure you won't dislike this big guy. I wish you... become the victor."
With these words, the Twin King lowered his head completely beside his most trusted person. His body gradually decomposed into grayish dead worms, seemingly representing the secrets of the Dukain family.
[You have killed Dukain Councilor Twin King (Former Abyss Descendant).]
[You have gained 72,000 Sanctuary City Reputation.]
[You have obtained Abyss Chest: Viper.]
...
Closing the prompt, Su Xiao looked at the dirty brown heart floating before him. A slash mark cut through it, shattering the heart. The corrupt power inside dispersed but was quickly absorbed by the formations in the hall. Clearly, this was set up by the Twin King to absorb the corrupt power he emitted daily.
[You have destroyed 'Source of Decay.']
[You have completed Bounty 2: Source of Decay: Destroy the source of decay.]
[Due to the multiple bounty + bounty correction of the 'Hunt List: Blood Pact,' you will receive a total bounty of 7,500 ounces of Space-Time Power.]
[You have obtained Space-Time Stone Fragments × 280 (This is an equivalent item, can be sold to Reincarnation Paradise at any time for 2,800 ounces of Space-Time Power).]
[You have obtained 'Overlord Chest: ★★★★★' (This item is valued at 3,500 ounces of Space-Time Power in this judgment).]
[You have obtained Mysterious Universal Key (This cursed item is valued at 1,200 ounces of Space-Time Power).]
...
A metal key, 12 centimeters in total length, resembling a safe key, with a crying face and a smiling face on each side of the grip, appeared in Su Xiao's hand.
[Mysterious Universal Key]
Origin: Second Era: Alchemical Civilization, Forbidden Item Sealing Institute.
Category: Cursed Item.
Durability: -/- Points (Having devoured Star Realm power, this item, when broken, will reassemble somewhere in the Star Realm after a long time).
Equipment Requirement: None.
Equipment Effect: Mysterious Lockpicking (Core, Active): Can open any 'lock' in any sense.
Equipment Debuff 1: Probability Choice (Passive): Each use of this universal key to unlock will trigger a completely random judgment. 50% chance of 'Facing a Smile,' 50% chance of 'Facing a Wail.'
Facing a Smile: Nothing happens.
Facing a Wail: The 'Mysterious Universal Key' will devour your misfortune. However, if your misfortune amount does not satisfy the key's appetite this time, it will go from wailing to anger, starting to gnaw on your fate, causing permanent damage to your destiny.
Warning: If the 'Mysterious Universal Key' is used multiple times within 30 natural days, each subsequent 'Facing a Wail' will increase the key's appetite tenfold compared to the last, devouring your misfortune in massive amounts.
Warning: After having misfortune devoured by the 'Mysterious Universal Key,' you will not gain good luck but will be in a mid-range fortune state, lasting 3 to 5 hours.
Equipment Debuff 2: Direction Genius (Passive): For 12 hours after using this key, you will receive a 'Causal-level' debuff, causing a significant reduction in your sense of direction.
Equipment Debuff 3: Charming Presence (Passive): For 12 hours after using this key, Charm attribute is temporarily reduced by 85%.
Tip: This debuff is ineffective against you.
Equipment Debuff 4: Swimming Expert (Passive): For 12 hours after using this key, you will receive a 'Causal-level' debuff, causing you to sink rapidly upon entering water, with no swimming ability at all, and all underwater tools and equipment will temporarily fail due to accidental causality.
Equipment Debuff 5: Chosen One (Passive): For 12 hours after using this key, there is a 33.33% chance each hour of being struck by divine thunder.
Description: A mysterious and nasty universal key.
Price: After use, cannot be sold, traded, discarded, etc.
...
The properties of this key were truly peculiar, but its effect was very powerful. 'Can open any lock in any sense' was an equipment effect that sparked the imagination. However, there was no time to study this key now.
Rumble~
The royal hall began to tremble, the ground covered in cracks.
Thump!
Thump!!
Thump!!!
With each impact from below, the ground bulged more and more. Finally, after a violent collision, the hall couldn't withstand it and shattered.
Su Xiao leaped back as building fragments scattered around him. When he landed, he found that the vast scorched earth created by the divine thunder pillar had turned pitch black. Droplets of black liquid, like rain, floated out of the soil, rising into the air.
Looking up at the sky, a massive vortex formed by darkness was slowly rotating.
Boom!
A giant dragon claw broke through the pitch-black earth, breaking free from the underground palace that sealed it. This was a powerful overlord from the Second Era, an ancient wyvern, 100 meters long, covered in gray-black dragon scales!
"Roar!!"
The ancient wyvern, rich with abyssal aura, roared to the sky. Layers of black air waves spread, and a terrifyingly powerful aura radiated from this abyssal ancient wyvern.
Bubu Wang, hiding beside Su Xiao and preparing to use his self-made detection device, was so scared he nearly peed on the spot. Fortunately, Bubu Wang's detection equipment was powerful enough.
Speaking of Bubu Wang's detection, it was quite interesting. As a follower, Bubu Wang couldn't equip detection-type equipment. But over 80% of detection equipment was tech-based, and Bubu Wang was now a tech dog. So he made his own detection device.
Thus, Bubu Wang successfully equipped the detection gear, as it was his own tech creation. Even more interesting, Bubu Wang's main attribute was true Charm, and detection was judged by Charm.
[Detection failed this time. The enemy was once a 'Supreme Peak' individual, with some undetectable remnants.]
[Due to Bubuteni's Charm attribute of 780 points, significantly higher than the enemy's -12 points, partial data has been successfully detected. Data as follows:
Name: Abyssal Ancient Wyvern / Heryuseli.
Health: 800%
Dragon Power: 12,800/12,800 points (Significantly reduced due to Abyss erosion).
Abyss Power: 1,200,000/1,200,000 points.
True Strength: ???
True Agility: ???
True Stamina: ???
True Intelligence: ???
Charm: -12 points.
Skill 1, Abyss Devouring (Abyss, Passive, X): ???
Skill 2, Dragon Hide (Supreme Passive, X): Health +3,000,000 points, ignores all control effects, negates 75% of all damage.
Skill 3, Extreme Dark: Dragon Rage (Supreme Passive, X): All attacks have a 25% chance to trigger 'Instant Death Judgment.'
Tip: Due to Abyss erosion, this ability's strength is significantly reduced compared to its original.
Skill 4, Extreme Dark: Dragon Roar (Supreme Passive, X): Emits a massive-range dragon roar, affecting an area of 30,000 meters around, with each 0.5 seconds counting as one attack judgment.
Tip: Due to Abyss erosion, this ability's strength is significantly reduced compared to its original.
???
???
Skill 8, Ancient Wyvern Combat Technique (Technique, Passive, X): ???
Tip: Due to Abyss erosion, this ability has become ineffective.
???
???
Skill 17, Dark Ultimate Destruction (Ultimate, Passive, X): 'Heryuseli' briefly accumulates darkness, then spreads its dragon wings to unleash it, causing large-scale true dark damage and multiple instant death judgments.
Warning: This ability has a cooldown of 2 minutes.
Tip: Due to Abyss erosion, this ability's strength is significantly reduced compared to its original.
???
Skill 19, Supreme Dragon Might (Supreme Peak, Passive/Active, X): All hostile targets within a 50,000-meter radius of 'Heryuseli' will be suppressed by dragon might, rapidly losing willpower, all attributes reduced by 95%, physical defense reduced by 99%, all resistances reduced by 99%, movement speed reduced by 100% (with a high probability of immediate freezing), taking 30% of maximum health as true frost damage per second, and undergoing judgments such as 'Mind Evaporation,' 'Consciousness Domination,' 'Absolute Fear,' and 'Soul Freeze.' Failure of any judgment will result in immediate 'Instant Death Effect.'
Tip: If 'Heryuseli' fully unleashes 'Supreme Dragon Might,' its range will increase 8 to 10 times, with a slight increase in overall power.
Tip: Powerful beings also at the 'Supreme Peak' level can use their own 'Supreme Peak Passive' to negate this ability, thereby avoiding all the above debuffs and damage effects.
Tip: Due to severe Abyss erosion, and 'Heryuseli' is no longer a 'Supreme Peak' level ancient wyvern, this passive has become ineffective.
...