Chapter 31: Overwhelming and Prestige
Drip, drop.
Dark blue blood dripped onto the water's surface. The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo, gripping the "Sealed Weapon·Raging Sea Calmer" with both hands, had muscles bulging across his entire body. He roared in a frenzy, his trident thrusting forward with all his might.
With a clang, power surged. Under full force, combined with the power-boiling effect of "Raging Sea Calmer," the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo managed to halt the terrifying human's oppressive consecutive slashes. As a price, he stumbled back several large steps, his mouthful of shark teeth cracked and fractured, his body burning with agony as if scorched by flames.
Before the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo could catch a breath, the sound of wind cutting came from ahead.
‘Extreme Blade·Return.’
The long blade slashed down fiercely. The cutting force of this strike equaled the peak power of the enemy's previous attack.
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo, rich in combat experience, sensed danger and, from a few inches below his armpits, sprouted two twisted but strong arms to grip "Raging Sea Calmer" and block. The weapon's trait was to grant power-boiling while resisting some supernatural forces. The problem was, he now faced pure cutting force.
With a dull thud, the seawater beneath the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's feet was half-shocked into a semicircular crater. He was sent flying backward through layers of airwaves, his two arms gripping "Raging Sea Calmer" severely twisted, nearly embedding the weapon into his chest.
After flying over a dozen kilometers, tentacles burst from the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's back, abruptly halting his backward momentum. He spat out a mouthful of dark blue blood, then thrust his trident into the space beside him, tearing open a rift to escape. This was the priority—fighting a Pinnacle System, especially a developed one, wasn't bravery; it was insanity.
A dark spatial fluctuation appeared ahead, and the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo prepared to leap into it. At that moment, over a dozen kilometers away.
Su Xiao clenched his left fist and swung it horizontally, smashing into the empty space beside him.
Boom!!
The space within a thousand kilometers shattered violently, like blast-proof glass struck by a hammer, breaking into irregular fragments.
Almost simultaneously, the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo, mid-leap toward the spatial rift, immediately halted, staring at the cracked spatial passage ahead. As a peak powerhouse, jumping into it wouldn't injure him, but he'd emerge from a nearby spatial fracture. Such short-range teleportation was pointless.
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo no longer hesitated. Even if losing the "Sealed Weapon·Raging Sea Calmer" would incur punishment from the clan leader, encountering a Pinnacle System was an exception. The clan leader wasn't unreasonable. He flipped his trident, retracting five Life Cores. As an Abyss Descendant, this number of Life Cores was considerable, thanks to the Fish Clan's deep reserves using some secret technique to compensate for the Abyss Descendants' weakness of few Life Cores.
The trident stabbed toward his throat. The next moment, the sound of wind came from his ear, accompanied by a side kick.
Bang!!
A powerful arm, torn off by pure force, spun through the air. The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo had turned into a streak of light.
His figure reappeared over a hundred kilometers away. Mid-flight, blood spurting from his mouth, the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo had released the bindings on his Life Cores. His combat instincts told him that if he didn't use his Life Cores to endure this stage, he might not make it back to the Abyss for "Abyss Return Resurrection."
Ultimately, the effect of the "Origin Clan Emblem" was to pull the Abyss Descendant's causality, fate, and existence back into the Abyss, nourishing resurrection. If he died while causality and fate were shattered, "Abyss Return" would inevitably fail.
Was the Causality System the bane of the Abyss System? Never make that mistake. The Causality System wouldn't dare touch Abyssal causality, let alone shatter it. But shattering Abyssal causality with pure power had no backlash at all.
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo finally understood how Spider Lady died. He plunged into the sea, sending seawater splashing thousands of meters high, a spectacular sight. When he stopped, he stood there stunned, his confused gaze seemingly wondering why he was there and who he was.
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo fell to his knees with a splash. The intense pain throughout his body helped him quickly regain his senses. He vomited a mixture of blood and organ fragments, even containing some Primordial Life Force.
Watching the Primordial Life Force slowly dissipate on the water's surface, a surprised smile appeared on the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's face. Then his expression turned serious. He knew he would die here. The Law Destroyer he encountered was despairingly strong, no different from the oppressive presence of the Abyssal Shadow of old. No, the imposing aura of a Technique Grandmaster was even more terrifying than the Abyssal Shadow's profound darkness.
If forced to choose between fighting one, the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo wouldn't pick either.
Since it had come to this, the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo stood up, feeling one Life Core shatter within him, releasing rich vitality to rapidly heal his body. He looked up, took a deep breath, and despite his dead-fish eyes, his gaze grew increasingly resolute.
"Ha!!"
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo slammed his trident onto the sea surface, stirring up raging waves. But the next second, a figure landed, stepping onto the water. The surging waves, as if pressed down by an invisible giant hand, immediately calmed.
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo gritted his teeth until they creaked. What kind of insane speed was this? Covering such distance in such a short time. Space couldn't escape, "Abyss Return" was unusable, and pure speed? Hah—comparing speed with a Pinnacle System was utterly foolish.
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's aura erupted suddenly. He gripped his trident with both hands, ignoring how the weapon should be used, and followed his instincts, swinging it down heavily at the enemy ahead.
Clang!
The long blade clashed with the trident. Despite the vast size difference—one at eight meters one, the other at one meter eight—the larger one's trident was deflected by the blade's strike, almost dragging the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo along, causing him to stumble several steps.
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's combat experience was indeed rich. He followed the stumble, swinging the trident back.
Clang!
This time, the trident was sent flying upward. One of the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's hands could barely hold it, the weapon dragging him back several steps.
‘Dead Water·Last Stand!’
As the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo stumbled backward, the surrounding air turned into liquid with a strong death attribute. This was his peak ability. His combat style was straightforward—aside from his peak ability, it was his powerful physique. The thousands of water-based abilities he mastered all served to enhance this unparalleled body.
With his weapon "Black Wolf·Dark Water," his attacks could be ranged or close, even striking enemies thousands of kilometers away from high altitude. The guaranteed hit would continuously lock onto and pursue the target.
Of course, against an equal opponent, he wouldn't pull out such a noob-stomping skill.
"Dead Water·Last Stand" caused the surrounding world to become riddled with holes. The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo finally breathed a sigh of relief. But then, he suddenly saw golden light ahead.
Boom!!
Golden technique energy erupted. The grayish, semi-transparent liquid generated by "Dead Water·Last Stand" evaporated and dissipated like water droplets under the scorching sun.
Pfft~!
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's entire body sprayed blood. When his vision returned, it had become a rotating perspective—his head had been severed.
The world went dark for an instant before the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo opened his eyes again. The regenerated head from the severed neck felt slightly uncomfortable. He prepared to activate "Dead Water·Last Stand" again, but the next second.
‘Extreme Blade·World Judgment.’
Su Xiao didn't slash. His long blade pointed diagonally at the sea surface, the blade tip humming. With a pfft, a dozen-meter-long blood blade stabbed from above, entering the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's neck and exiting at his waist, then exploding violently. One of his Life Cores shattered instantly.
Like a deep-sea beast, the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo charged forward on all fours with his mangled body. His exploded chest revealed sac-like hearts still beating.
Clang! Clang!
After two consecutive slashes, the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's trident was sent flying by the cutting force, along with his massive head. Another Life Core shattered.
A blood spear pierced the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's neck, shattering another Life Core. His headless body reached out with one hand, gathering an immense amount of seawater into a crystal core. The core exploded under high pressure, attempting to scatter everything around.
Zheng!
A slash cut through the crystal core unleashing terrifying water pressure. The massive seawater and pressure were instantly annihilated, along with a small portion of the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's body.
With a bang, the last Life Core within the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo shattered. His injuries healed instantly—this seemed to be the special ability of his final Life Core. His aura erupted again, and burning everything, he unleashed his strongest strike.
"Ah!!"
The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's roar sent layers of airwaves rippling outward. His trident emitted a dark blue glow as he thrust forward. Along the path, the world was scarred, liquid Abyss energy seeping out like black blood from a wounded world.
Clang!!
Su Xiao delivered a powerful slash. The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo, brushing past him, suddenly stopped.
Su Xiao maintained his slashing stance, while the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo was in a thrusting pose, back to back with him.
Drops of dark blue blood slid down the blade of Dragon-Slaying Flash. Behind him, the "Raging Sea Calmer" in the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's hands shattered, along with his arms, which crumbled into sugar-cube-sized fragments. Blood spurted from his throat, causing him to collapse to his knees with a thud.
His strong, towering body began to shrink. Soon, he was less than three meters tall, his skin wrinkled. He looked up at the sky again, sensing the Law Destroyer behind him, whose long blade was now emitting dark blue smoke. He said:
"What a... exhilarating yet despairing battle. Dying by your hand... I have no complaints..."
Zheng!
The long blade fell. The Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's head landed in the water. His headless body toppled forward. Almost simultaneously, on an "Origin Clan Emblem" somewhere in the Abyss, the Abyssal name belonging to the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo was covered in cracks. Just as it began to glow faintly, the name shattered.
On the Black Sea, Su Xiao looked around. He sensed another peak aura from the Fish Clan nearby, but it never showed itself. Facing two at once? He hadn't tried it, but taking out the one with fewer Life Cores first, then beating the other, should be fine.
At that moment, within an Abyssal gap in the surrounding area, Second Elder·Diknuga watched the Law Destroyer scanning his surroundings. His breath caught. He was certain that only the clan leader or someone at the Underworld God's tier—those qualified to seal the Supreme—could deal with this Law Destroyer. He hadn't shown himself earlier because he'd witnessed the opponent slash the Scaleless Sea King·Nezmo's peak ability to pieces.
Speaking of which, peak powerhouses' combat systems were generally straightforward. Truly strong peaks only had a few abilities; everything else was "Peak Passives." Peak powerhouses typically had the following combat abilities.