Chapter 48: Giant Monster
At the very front of the beast tide was a group of enormous magical insects. These giant monsters, one to two meters in length and resembling armored beetles, had hard carapaces and massive horns. They vibrated their wings, flying close to the ground at high speed, kicking up clouds of dust.
Facing a black-armored warrior charging toward them with a spear in one hand and a sword in the other, the magical insects showed no intention of dodging—not only had they long lost their sanity due to berserk transformation, but even without it, these bugs had little brainpower to speak of. Besides, no creature had ever dared to face their charge head-on. Surely, this time would be no exception.
Indeed, there was no exception.
Because no enemy had ever survived a warrior's charge.
*Whoosh—*
As he sprinted at full speed, the warrior's body trembled. The metal armor vibrated, producing a clanging sound like steel colliding. At this moment, Joshua, in full eruption, had every muscle tensed and knotted, as powerful as a bowstring pulled taut. Countless veins and blood vessels bulged across his robust frame, and his entire body swelled a full size, completely filling the interior of his armor.
If he hadn't been wearing a specially selected heavy armor but instead an ordinary military cuirass grabbed at random, it would undoubtedly have been shattered by Joshua's overwhelming strength. But even so, the warrior felt a sense of restraint. Endless power, channeled through the breathing technique, flooded his entire body, accumulating like a dam holding back a flood. The berserk destructive urge made him want to shatter everything in sight.
Facing these ignorant insects that dared to confront him head-on, Joshua had no intention of yielding. He took a breath, then raised his lance. This two-meter-long weapon was forged from crystal steel that dwarves had hammered a hundred times, with layers of flowing iron patterns spiraling around it.
Berserk magical insects?
Just mere experience points!
"Die!"
With a loud shout, his aura surged. The warrior's originally tensed muscles suddenly snapped open. Then, with a sound like a bursting eardrum, Joshua used the explosive power of his physical body, with the tip of his lance as the apex, to race across the ground like a meteor, instantly closing the remaining dozen meters.
The earth beneath his feet was torn apart as if a wild dragon had swept through, leaving a massive trench. Countless spiderweb-like cracks rapidly spread, shaking the roots of many black giant trees nearby. With a series of booming crashes, countless huge trees fell around this section of the Black Forest.
Facing the line of magical insects now right in front of him, Joshua's eyes were as cold as steel. He extended his arm, and the spear tip blurred into countless afterimages, then converged back into a single point. He thrust forward, wind howling, battle qi spilling everywhere. The sharp spear tip pierced the atmosphere, producing a continuous series of explosions.
*Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!!!!!*
Before the swarm of insects could react, the steel lance slammed into the lead magical insect. With a sound like crushing an egg—*crack*—the sharp tip pierced through the creature's mouthparts and body, shredding its air sacs and internal organs. Then, its body and the surrounding air were torn apart by a crimson light. Battle qi exploded, engulfing the nearby magical insects in a violent blast. Their wings were covered in dust and shredded flesh, immediately slowing them down.
Without giving them a chance to recover, the silver-white sword light and the flashing spear thrusts didn't stop, leaving countless trails of light. Joshua swung his incredibly sharp divine mechanism and lance, killing these magical insects one by one—the ones whose horns had already begun to crystallize. Their hard carapaces were easily split in two or pierced with large holes, their foul-smelling internal organs spilling out in a gush.
Without bothering to chase down the remaining magical insects that had been blasted far away, the warrior, after dealing with the enemies in front of him, continued his charge according to his own rhythm, breaking through the encirclement of magical beasts.
"See, Ying? Look."
He even had the leisure to talk to his weapon. At the same time, only a few scattered berserk beasts remained ahead and to the sides. Thick saliva dripped from the corners of their mouths, ignoring Joshua's armor, already soaked in the blood of magical beasts, as they lunged at the warrior, intent on biting to death this being that emitted an aura so repulsive to chaos monsters.
But their strength was far too weak. Joshua merely swung his lance, piercing their heads and hearts one by one, flinging them all away. The remaining ones were swept aside with a single sword stroke, their bodies cut in half.
A slight smile curled at the corner of his mouth, hidden beneath his helmet. "You see? Dual-wielding—it really is useful."
*This isn't 'dual-wielding' being useful! It's only useful because Master you're doing it! How could an ordinary person simultaneously wield two different weapons to this level!*
Opening his mouth to speak, but with a churning heart, the spirit within the divine mechanism remained silent, unsure of what to say. Joshua, however, took the silence as agreement, let out a hearty laugh, and continued charging toward the center of the Black Forest.
Meanwhile, the black light pillar that had previously pierced through the clouds and torn at the high sky once again transformed, just as before, into countless specks of chaotic mana. Along with the reappearing sunlight, it fell like snowflakes, distributing power to all the berserk magical beasts in the forest.
"The opening time is getting more frequent. I need to get there and destroy it quickly."
Silently calculating the duration of this spatial-temporal channel opening, Joshua didn't slow his pace, drawing closer to the center of the Black Forest.
He could feel the Azure Orb pendant on his chest continuously releasing a steady stream of power, restoring his stamina. After these chaos magical beasts had completely fallen, killing them also yielded feedback from the orb. Though not as much as from wild gods, it was enough to sustain Joshua's consumption.
To conserve energy for the upcoming battle with the gold-rank magical beast, the warrior had so far refrained from using any battle qi skills. He relied entirely on his past life's killing techniques and martial arts experience to operate his internal organs, muscles, and bones, unleashing the hidden tremendous force within the human body. It had to be said, a gold-rank warrior was truly a being that had stepped into the transcendent realm. Unlike his past life's mortal body, this physical form was terrifyingly powerful—no matter how much he erupted, he couldn't seem to reach the limit of his strength.
Now, the Black Forest was filled with chaotic mana so dense it was almost miasmic. The black-purple mist eroded the order force on Joshua's body, while the biting cold and fierce wind rapidly drained his stamina. Along the way, the warrior had slain at least five or six hundred powerful monsters above mid-silver rank, with countless lower-level ones. If not for the Azure Orb allowing Joshua to sustain himself through battle, he would never have been able to kill so many magical beasts to reach this point.
"Master, wait. There's high energy ahead..."
As he weaved through the underbrush, crimson battle qi enveloping his entire body, propelling the warrior forward at high speed, Ying suddenly issued a urgent warning, echoing in Joshua's mind.
But before she could finish, a thunderous roar erupted!
*Rumble rumble rumble rumble—!!*
The ground ahead suddenly collapsed, producing a series of explosive sounds. Shadows flickered, and a massive monster burst forth from the dirt and rubble underground. Its dozen-meter-long body carried a gust of foul wind as it lunged at Joshua in a bizarre posture, its speed as swift as lightning.
At the same time, a strange force swept over him, enveloping him like light. Instantly, Joshua felt his movements slow considerably, as if his entire body were bound, every action difficult, as if moving through glue.
With a powerful enemy charging ahead and his body bound by a strange force, in the nick of time, Joshua didn't dodge or retreat. He simply raised his lance and thrust it fiercely toward the vulnerable belly of the lunging monster. The air exploded, and the mere wind pressure kicked up the surrounding dust. He seemed to be launching a suicidal attack, completely disregarding his own life.
*Thud! Splatter!*
Two sounds rang out simultaneously. Hit by the giant monster's charge, Joshua was sent flying backward, covering at least several dozen meters. He slammed violently into a tree, sending countless leaves fluttering down. The accumulated snow also collapsed entirely, burying the warrior. Meanwhile, the giant insectoid monster's belly had taken the full force of his counterattack. The two-meter-long knight's lance sank in up to the hilt, completely embedded in its body, with milky white tinged with blue-green 'blood' seeping out continuously.