Chapter 29: Time System
Su Xiao walked out of the Void Base Camp, immediately spotting the Abyss Dragon circling overhead, along with the Tide of Dark Shadow·Avila on its back. On their own front-line defense, the Sun Legion was frozen in time. Tide of Dark Shadow·Avila could certainly kill all these Sun Warriors, but the problem was that subsequent Sun Warriors would undergo "Return of the Past" under the sunlight's bathing.
Compared to endless slaughter, this was the fastest way to deal with the Sun Legion. The Abyss Army swept past both flanks of the Sun Legion, putting immense pressure on their own defensive line.
The Ancient Dragon King flew overhead, scattering large amounts of dragon blood. Only the Ancient Dragon King could survive a strike from the Supreme One at its peak; any other peak-level existence would surely die. However, seeing over seventy percent of the ancient dragons had been cut down, it was clear that peak-level beings truly struggled against the Supreme One.
Su Xiao pressed his hand on the sword hilt, and "Blade Domain" expanded. Within a few kilometers, all Abyss races had blood blades piercing out from their bodies. The current erosion level of the Void was too high, boosting the Abyss Army's defense; otherwise, "Blade Domain" would have kept expanding until it covered most of the Void.
Blood spears burst forth from bodies, hurtling toward the Abyss Dragon above. With the boost of Supreme power, the Abyss Dragon's flight speed soared. Yet, standing amidst mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Su Xiao had already begun drawing the longsword at his waist.
At that moment, even though he was over ten kilometers away from this Law Destroyer, the Abyss Dragon felt a bone-chilling dread, as if something terrible was about to happen.
Zheng~
A draw-cut slash. At that instant, the Abyss Dragon flying overhead sensed death—close at hand, death rushing toward its face.
Clang!
The crisp sound of a spear clashing with the slash rang out of nowhere. Tide of Dark Shadow·Avila had remained motionless on the dragon's back; she had briefly returned to the future a moment before the Abyss Dragon was cut, meeting the slash with her spear blade, preventing it, then returning to the main timeline.
In truth, Tide of Dark Shadow·Avila couldn't freely manipulate the "main timeline." Simply put, every passing second was the main timeline, and her abilities leaned more toward altering the future.
If reversing what happened "now" in the main timeline cost 10, then changing the past cost 50, and the further back in time, the cost multiplied by hundreds or thousands. Conversely, interfering with the future cost between 1 and 3.
"You've worked hard. Rest for now..."
Boom!
Wind pressure hit her face. The formidable enemy she had once faced with a fifty-fifty chance of victory now gave her a completely different feeling. Her pupils rapidly contracted, but the enemy wouldn't give her time to figure out why.
Clang!!
Longsword clashed with war spear. Avila's crimson cloak fluttered loudly. She suddenly felt an immense force transmitted through the weapon.
With a boom, Avila was sent flying diagonally downward. Since she was on the dragon's back, she pierced through the Abyss Dragon, crashing out from its belly.
Zheng!
Though it was just one slash, a cut mark appeared across the Abyss Dragon's massive body from head to tail. It let out a mournful cry as it fell. To be fair, the Abyss Dragon's defense was astonishing—it survived Su Xiao's slash, though this was directly related to the Supreme power Avila had left on it.
The Abyss Dragon crashed heavily onto the chaotic battlefield. Though not dead, it struggled up in a final burst of life, angrily flapping its dragon wings, smashing nearby combatants into paste. Suddenly, as if the Supreme slash power within it erupted, it raised its roaring maw and spewed an absurd amount of dragon blood before collapsing.
As for the Abyss Dragon being a treasure trove, no one on this level of battlefield cared. By this stage of the campaign, peak-level powerhouses died at any moment. Looking back over a dozen or more great epochs, there had never been such a brutal Abyss/Elemental campaign.
On both sides, peak powerhouses were bloodshot and frenzied. This was a fight to the death, with no other outcome.
A crystal spear over ten meters long and half a meter thick shot forth, piercing the Abyss Dragon and pinning it to the ground. Blue arcs of electricity surged along the crystal spear.
After the Abyss Dragon was "dead," its vertical pupils slowly moved, secretly observing. Seeing that the Law Destroyer was no longer paying attention, its pupils began to dim.
It could finally die. As for the Abyss Dragon's dignity and pride, heh, there was something no one knew: this Abyss Dragon, Gormoth, was actually the previous Abyss Lord's dragon mount—the Old King's rider. As long as it lived, there was always a chance to regain its prestige.
Besides, having fought to the death with Law-Destroying Shadow·Kukulin Bai Ye was an impressive feat, okay? As for what exactly happened during the battle, don't ask. Was it a deathmatch? And wasn't "deathmatch" just an abbreviation? The full name was: "A battle where I almost got killed in one slash."
Last Abyss campaign, the Abyss Dragon had gone through the same thing. Later, in the Star Realm, did anyone feel its dignity had diminished? Clearly not. Under these circumstances, the Abyss Dragon's death on the battlefield was more convincing, with semi-transparent ash-like soul mist emanating from its body.
Just as the Abyss Dragon was about to die, its peripheral vision caught a figure. This figure was four and a half meters tall, with black smoke rising from its body. The Abyss Dragon recognized it immediately—it was the Gluttony Original Sin! Though not the "unknowable terror," and from a different power system, this was still an Abyss original sin power, one of the higher-tier forces in the Abyss system.
Worse, having nearly had its causality shattered, it couldn't move now. Coupled with the surging Azure Steel Shadow energy inside it—this was genuine Supreme power—its paralyzing effect was too overwhelming.
What the Abyss Dragon didn't know was that this was the best paralytic effect Su Xiao's Azure Steel Shadow energy had ever achieved.
Still, one thing comforted the Abyss Dragon: the Gluttony Ox's size was small. At most, it would devour part of it, and the Abyss Dragon could take the opportunity to return to the Abyss, leaving only its flesh shell. As the saying goes, keep the soul, and there's always a chance to revive. But what the Gluttony Ox did next infuriated the Abyss Dragon.
Amu grabbed the Abyss Dragon's hide. With one pull, a chunk of flesh larger than a four-story building was torn off. When Amu stuffed it into its mouth, the massive piece of flesh was sucked in, satisfyingly chewed, and then swallowed with a gulp.
The Abyss Dragon trembled with rage. If it hadn't taken that Supreme-level Law Destroyer's slash, leaving its soul completely numb and its causality somewhat shattered, it would have swung its dragon wing and sent this Gluttony Ox flying to the horizon. The Ox had indeed devoured a massive amount of Abyss power, but it was still far from peak level.
By the time the Abyss Dragon successfully extracted its soul body and returned to the Abyss, Amu had already eaten half of it.
On the chaotic battlefield, Su Xiao and Tide of Dark Shadow·Avila stood several kilometers apart. Though chaos reigned around them, their Supreme domains faced each other. The next moment, a crimson war spear was already at Su Xiao's throat, even piercing his skin. In terms of speed, Tide of Dark Shadow·Avila was undoubtedly the strongest. "Time Insertion" rendered distance meaningless.
Pfft~
A few drops of blood splattered. Su Xiao entered the "Boundless State." No, Dragon Shadow Flash was no longer just entering the "Boundless State."
[Dragon Shadow Flash: Lv.EX (Active Ability).]
Skill Effect: Instantly penetrate "Star Realm Region/Abyss Region/Element Region" and move 300 meters, freely choosing between 0 and 300 meters.
Note: Dragon Shadow Flash cooldown is 30 seconds.
Note: Each use of Dragon Shadow Flash consumes 10% of Azure Shadow King energy (i.e., 71,042 points of Azure Shadow King energy).
Note: After penetrating "Star Realm Region/Abyss Region/Element Region," entering the "Boundless State" can be maintained for 0.01 to 1.8 seconds (duration determined by the user's will). Unless the enemy also enters the "Boundless State," you will not be affected by any attacks during the "Boundless State."
...
Theoretically, "Dragon Shadow Flash" worked like this, but it had an unexpectedly high ceiling. When the single-use consumption reached 70,000 points of "Azure Shadow King Energy," its effect underwent a qualitative change, allowing Su Xiao to penetrate into a "Void State," truly immune to attacks, even from Supreme-level enemies of the same rank.
Speaking of which, at the Supreme level, both "damage reduction" and various defensive traits were subject to penetration mechanisms from enemies of the same rank. "Damage reduction" had an extremely high tier, even on par with "true attack" and "absolute defense," all in the top echelon. But even among the top echelon, there was a ranking. "True damage" was the big brother, while "damage reduction" ranked much lower.
More specifically, "damage reduction" temporarily connected to the Star Realm's power through one's own protective energy, borrowing the Star Realm's strength to share the damage taken. "Damage reduction" could be broken—if the enemy's power was strong enough to pierce the Star Realm, it would naturally be nullified. Before the Supreme level, "damage reduction" was only theoretically breakable. Now, it had entered the practical stage.
Bad news: Accumulated 95% "damage reduction" could be completely shattered.
Neither good nor bad news: Only Supreme-level beings could achieve this.
Good news: "Extreme Physical Defense Tier" and "True Resistance" could not be shattered. These were the ultimate defense tiers. The former could be seen as "physical defense" at the Supreme level, while the latter was full resistance. With both protecting the body, all types of attacks could be handled. Su Xiao's current stats were:
Extreme Physical Defense Tier: +414.
True Resistance: 6,645 points.
Simple yet overwhelmingly powerful.
The crimson war spear, trailing specks of blood, passed through Su Xiao's neck. Avila knew things were bad. This level of etherealization made it impossible for her to attack. Fortunately, the enemy's energy had noticeably decreased, indicating this ability couldn't be used many times.
Avila instantly returned to her position five seconds ago. Whoosh! The wind pressure was fierce. She was about to backtrack again to avoid the slash, but the heavy consumption of "Time Power" made her abandon the idea immediately. Being locked by a Technique Grandmaster, if she forcibly backtracked, the remaining "Time Power" wouldn't be enough for the subsequent fight.
Hum!
Dragon-Slaying Flash turned translucent blue, as if wrapped in a layer of crystal. One slash fell, consuming 50% of "Azure Shadow King Energy"—a massive cost. But this slash carried the weight of 552 "Soul Life Cores."
Facing this slash, Avila suddenly felt a chill deep in her marrow. But having been locked down by an Extreme Technique Grandmaster to this extent, even she couldn't use "Time Power" to escape. She had to endure.
The moment the longsword clashed with the crimson war spear, everything around them went silent. With the two at the center, nearby Abyss races silently shattered, simply evaporated by the immense impact force.
Thud!
The ground trembled and sank for the first time.
Thud!!
The ground shook and sank a second time, cracks spreading across the battlefield. In fact, cracks covered a third of the Void region.
Thud!!!
Avila turned into a blur as she flew backward, crashing through the distant Dark Fortress behind her. All Abyss Army members inside the fortress instantly turned into blood mist from the impact. Fortunately, the three Abyss Army leaders were inside the Crimson Fortress; otherwise, one or two would have died.
Behind the Dark Fortress, beneath the towering but cracked boundary wall, Avila's chin dripped with blood, as did her arms. A pool of blood had formed at her feet. Her narrowed eyes held confusion about the enemy. She thought of two possibilities.