Chapter 35: The Violet Crystal Monster
The brown-haired woman, Galen, and the silver-haired man, Jarrod, were moving swiftly side by side.
"That Delia is such an idiot," Jarrod cursed under his breath. "A dignified high-level god demon, yet she insists on staying with a bunch of mid-level gods. She's practically asking for death."
"Enough. If Delia wants to die, what can we do about it?" Galen shook her head. "Besides, it's still uncertain whether we'll even survive this danger ourselves. Let's go. Get as far away from those monsters as possible."
Jarrod seemed to recall the monsters as well and couldn't help but shudder. "Let's go. Hurry." The two accelerated and sped away.
"Those two high-level gods said this Violet Crystal Mountain Range is very dangerous. Are we still going to press forward? I think we should stop running around and just stay here."
"Stay put and be safe? Didn't you see those two high-level gods running? If it were safe here, wouldn't they have stayed?"
Linley furrowed his brow, staring at the dense white fog around him. "Violet Crystal monsters? Those two said to be careful of Violet Crystal monsters, and even high-level gods flee in fear. That means..." Linley turned to look at Delia, Bebe, and Olivier.
"We should split up from this group," Olivier transmitted. "Staying with them will only cause more trouble."
Linley glanced back at the others.
"Lord Linley, you... you're not going to abandon us, are you?" someone immediately spoke up.
"Lady Delia, we followed your orders. Please don't leave us behind."
"Lady Delia..."
These mid-level and low-level gods were most worried that Delia would leave. Who would protect them then? With a high-level god demon around, they felt safe.
"Shut up," Bebe suddenly barked. "Quiet."
In the Infernal Realm, the threat of death loomed at every moment. Who would bother protecting others?
"What are you yelling at us for? You're just a mid-level god. Who gave you the right to shout?" Many people were annoyed with Bebe.
Bebe's anger flared.
"Silence!" A low voice rang out.
Everyone looked toward the source of the sound—Linley! Linley was frowning as if listening to something. The mid-level and low-level gods gradually began to hear the strange sound too—a low roar, though very faint.
But soon, the roar grew louder. Clearly, some monsters were approaching rapidly.
"Beast roars?" Many people started to panic.
Linley immediately sent a mental message: "Delia, Bebe, Olivier, let's run!" With that, Linley shot forward. Delia, Bebe, and Olivier didn't hesitate and followed Linley, sprinting at top speed.
"Follow Lady Delia!" someone shouted, and the others chased after them.
The crowd of over a hundred people scrambled behind them in a chaotic rush.
But Linley's group of four was truly fast. Under such tremendous gravitational pull, Linley and Bebe's powerful bodies could withstand it and allow them to sprint at high speed. Delia, a wind-element high-level god, was also fast. The slowest, Olivier, was a light-element mid-level god skilled in speed!
The crowd of over a hundred was quickly left behind.
But—
"Roar! Roar!"
The roars echoed through the sky, rapidly closing in. Their speed far surpassed Linley's group.
"So fast," Linley thought in alarm. The monsters' running caused the ground to tremble violently, sending chills down his spine. "Roar! Roar!" The roars grew closer, seemingly right behind them.
"Ah! What monster?"
"Kill it! Kill it!"
"Ha! Die!"
"Ah!"
"Lady Delia, save me! Ah!" Cries rang out.
Linley, Delia, Bebe, and Olivier couldn't help but look back. What they saw shocked them.
At first glance, the creature resembled a fierce lion. It stood four meters tall and was over ten meters long. Its entire body was made of metal and stone, glowing with a violet light. The mid-level gods' divine artifacts slashed against it without leaving a scratch!
Strangest of all—
On its head were three spikes arranged in a triangle, and its back was covered with over a hundred spikes, densely packed across its entire back.
"108 spikes!" Linley instantly counted. "And its whole body radiates a violet crystal aura, glowing with violet light. The color and aura are very similar to violet crystal. Could it be... its entire body is made of violet crystal?"
As he sprinted, Linley speculated silently.
There were two Violet Crystal Monsters chasing them. These monsters opened their massive jaws and casually bit a god-level expert in half with a crunch, swallowing the upper body directly.
"Roar!" The Violet Crystal Monsters' crimson eyes scanned the surroundings. One of them casually swung its claws.
"Bam!" It sent a divine artifact flying and smashed a god-level expert's body to pieces. The expert's head tried to flee, but under such gravity, it couldn't lift off. The Violet Crystal Monster opened its maw and sucked the head into its stomach.
In the blink of an eye, nearly twenty people had died.
"Run!"
"These monsters are immune to soul attacks and physical attacks!"
The brief battle shattered the crowd's will to resist. They had struck the Violet Crystal Monsters with all their might, leaving not a scratch. Soul attacks had no effect either. Meanwhile, the monsters killed them with ease.
Run!
That was their only option.
The survivors scattered in all directions. With only two monsters, how many could they kill if everyone fled?
"Pfft!" "Pfft!"
Both Violet Crystal Monsters spat out several divine gems. These were clearly from the people they had swallowed and killed.
"So these Violet Crystal Monsters can't refine divine gems. They have to spit them out," Linley thought to himself.
The two monsters' crimson eyes scanned the area, violet mist streaming from their nostrils. Their gaze locked onto Linley's fleeing group. "Roar!" A low, muffled sound came from them, and they immediately gave chase.
Like lightning!
Under the Violet Crystal Mountain Range's immense gravity, the two monsters moved like flashes of lightning, closing in on Linley's group at terrifying speed.
Linley, who had been keeping an eye on the monsters, was startled. "There are so many people, why are they fixated on us?" Having observed the monsters' fight with the mid-level and low-level gods, Linley knew these creatures were not to be trifled with!
Physical attacks and soul attacks were both ineffective.
"Ineffective just means the attacks aren't strong enough," Linley reasoned. "But even the combined attacks of those mid-level gods couldn't harm these monsters. If I strike, it probably won't work either."
"Boss, the two monsters are getting closer," Bebe said urgently.
"Don't worry about me," Olivier transmitted frantically. He was the slowest of the four, holding everyone back.
"Shut up!" Bebe growled, suddenly grabbing Olivier and hoisting him up. Bebe's speed immediately increased.
Linley and Delia also sped up.
But Linley's heart remained tense. "The monsters are still closing in." The two beasts, spewing violet mist, were sprinting at full speed. The distance between them and Linley's group shrank from fifty meters to forty, then thirty...
"Less than ten meters." Linley could even feel the hot breath from the Violet Crystal Monsters.
"Roar!"
Suddenly, one of the two monsters surged forward, leaping like a violet streak of light. In an instant, it landed ahead of Linley's group. The two monsters now blocked them from front and back.
Linley's group stopped, and Bebe set Olivier down.
"This isn't good," Delia said with a frown.
"Boss, we'll take one each," Bebe said, licking his lips.
"Alright," Linley nodded.
Both monsters fixed their gaze on Delia. One of them stammered in a low, halting voice: "High... high-level god... eat!" Then it lunged at Delia like a bolt of lightning.
Delia gripped her Gotes spear, bent her body like a drawn bow, and then hurled the spear with explosive force.
"Swoosh!"
The spear spun as it shot forward, reaching its limit in an instant, tearing cracks in space.
Wind Element Law—Dimensional Attack.
"Pfft!" The Gotes spear plunged into the Violet Crystal Monster's body. The monster fell from midair. The spear flew back to Delia's hand, leaving a hole in the monster's body.
"Sizzle..." The hole healed instantly, as if it had never been injured.
"Roar!" The monster roared in fury, and the other joined in.
Linley and Bebe exchanged glances. Almost simultaneously, they stomped the ground, their powerful bodies unleashing explosive force. They shot toward the two monsters like arrows. Linley's right fist, brimming with immense power, slammed into the Violet Crystal Monster.
The monster roared back, swiping its claws.
"Bam!" Linley's dragon-scale-covered right hand collided with the claw.
Linley and the monster rebounded like two colliding meteors, both thrown backward by the force. The monster landed, its crimson eyes wide with shock. Linley, however, stomped the ground the moment he landed and shot forward like a gust of wind.
"Haha!" Linley's dark golden eyes gleamed with excitement.
Since absorbing a drop of Sovereign's power to strengthen his body, Linley hadn't encountered an enemy whose body could match his.
Linley charged with the force of a thousand jun, his dragon claw forming a blade-hand, faint cyan light swirling around it. The blade-hand turned into countless afterimages, creating clear ripples in space. The Violet Crystal Monster roared and thrust its head spikes at Linley!
Linley's eyes widened, and he roared back—
"Pfft!" The blade-hand struck the head spike, snapping it clean off. The blade-hand continued down, slamming into the monster's skull.
Speed Essence—Mirage!
Linley was thrown back, while the monster was struck so hard that its front legs buckled, and it knelt with a "Bam!"
"Hard head spike," Linley muttered, looking at his right hand. Blood seeped from the dragon scales on his palm.
The Violet Crystal Monster was now fully enraged. "You... you will... die!" Its low, raspy voice came from its throat. The broken spike was slowly regenerating, but clearly, it didn't heal as quickly as the body.
"Looks like I underestimated you."
Linley flipped his hand, producing a heavy black mithril sword and a soft violet blood sword.
"Come on!" Linley stomped the ground and charged again. Olivier stood frozen, watching the scene. Linley and the Violet Crystal Monster were locked in a frenzied battle, crashing into each other like meteors. Bebe's fight with the other monster was equally wild and spectacular.
"They... they..."
Olivier turned to Delia. "Delia, when did Linley... when did he become like this?" Olivier didn't know what else to say.