Chapter 66: A Name Is Enough
Without reading the subsequent explanation, Joshua simply closed the system.
"This monster's name is the Wasteland Predator."
After explaining to the people beside him, he took a step forward, moving closer to the bow of the ship. The tentacles, covered in sharp teeth and composed of countless crystal fragments, sensed the human before them and began to assault the Time Vessel's barrier with even greater frenzy.
The massive black tentacles, a full two meters thick, struck with the force of a dozen-ton heavy hammer with each blow. Both the rain and the air were torn apart by this brute strength. Translucent shockwaves, carried by the curtain of rain, spread dozens of meters outward, a silent roar like thunder.
If not for the Time Vessel's barrier, they would have easily torn apart the ark's hull and slaughtered every crew member in half a second.
"You know this monster?"
Loranda was the first to ask. He wasn't surprised by this; the Radcliffe Family had been enemies of the Wild Gods for generations and was intimately familiar with the minions of the Famine Evil God. "So, how do we deal with this thing?"
"I don't know," Joshua shook his head. "I only know its name."
But that was enough.
Before he finished speaking, his black coat billowed without wind. A scorching aura radiated from the warrior's body. Joshua raised his right hand, watching the endless black tentacles madly batter the ark's barrier before him.
The powerless Time Vessel couldn't dodge. Under the relentless assault, the hexagonal white barrier gradually dimmed, seeming about to shatter. But the warrior ignored it, a faint smile appearing on his face instead. "At least I know what I'm killing."
With that, he punched the air with tremendous force.
On his right arm, forged as if from steel, powerful muscles bulged. Black-red Battle Qi surged and churned around Joshua's right fist, finally condensing into a ripple of black energy.
As he thrust his fist forward, accompanied by the sharp howl of air torn apart by immense force, the black ripple spread from the warrior's fist. In an instant, the torrential rain vanished, and the raging waves of the Black Sea calmed. The entire world seemed to tremble like ripples in water. Amidst the dense mass of black tentacles that had covered the front half of the Time Vessel, a massive hole twenty meters in diameter suddenly appeared. Beyond it, the black mist and churning sea waves were also pierced by an invisible force, creating a vacuum channel hundreds of meters long. At the end of this channel, a hideous monster was frantically trying to flee.
This cone-shaped monster was composed of layers of red-black flesh, dozens of meters tall. Its massive body, resembling a lighthouse, was covered in yellowish-brown, distorted eyeballs. Its torso was similar to an octopus, and its tentacles shimmered with a crystalline quality. The giant octopus-like monster spewed black crystal dust, polluting the surrounding sea like ink.
Thanks to the black mist, the monster had been well-hidden, undetected even by Robzek. But such concealment was laughable to Joshua, who possessed the Azure Orb. The warrior saw through its position at a glance.
It was trying to escape, but the black ripple instantly struck its body. The monster convulsed and spasmed wildly, as if crushed by a giant hammer. Its ferocious head and sucker-like mouthparts visibly deformed. The red-black flesh was flattened to the extreme, then completely turned into pulp. An instant later, bursts of red-black shredded flesh and powder exploded from its body, a massive fist-shaped hole appearing in its torso.
The mutilated body froze in place. The black ripple spread, and illusory flames ignited on the monster. All remaining crystal tentacles collapsed in that instant. The power connecting each crystal fragment was completely shattered by a stronger force.
The flames of Battle Qi burned fiercely in the seawater. Soon, the Wasteland Predator, resembling an octopus, was reduced to ashes amidst the endless rising steam, completely dissipating with the wind and waves.
"...Terrifying Glory Force."
Beside him, Faina frowned slightly, instinctively shielding Hill behind her. Her draconic instincts sent a shiver down her spine. The blue-haired Dragon Girl stared at Joshua's back, muttering to herself, "A Gold High-rank magical beast, defeated in a single blow..."
Before she finished, the straightforward Faina gently shook her head and fell silent. Azure electric flames flickered around her—clearly, the warrior's aura had forced her protective instincts to surface. She took a deep breath, suppressing the crackling electricity back into her body.
Beside her, Sa Ya also took a step back. The moment the black killing intent surged from Joshua's body, the High Sister had seen deep, ink-like despair and hatred. The residual soul fragments of countless slaughtered monsters were bound within that man's body, becoming the source of his power. Among them were the agonized wails of dozens of dragons—no wonder Faina felt instinctive fear.
Sa Ya knew those were Joshua's past slain opponents, not his own emotions. But even so, the High Sister felt uneasy.
She silently watched the warrior's sculpted back—who could guarantee that this man, as hard as steel, wouldn't be influenced by these emotions?
Unlike the High Sister's worry, Robzek and the others didn't think that far. Though equally amazed by Joshua's strength, they simply admired the warrior's power. As fellow Ultimate-rank experts, the silver-haired Paladin understood better what this blow represented—such condensed Battle Qi and destructive Glory Force. If it were just destructive power, he might have already been surpassed by Joshua.
After throwing this punch, the warrior carefully sensed the changes in his internal power.
As his experience points increased, the killing intent carried the Wasteland Predator's soul fragments back into his body. The power of the Chaos Monster was gradually converted by the Azure Orb and his Battle Qi into streams of pure life energy, strengthening his physique and Battle Qi.
Perhaps this was the truth behind 'experience points'?
Not thinking too much, Joshua surveyed the area around the ark. The crystal dust in the waves, no longer under the master's control, began to sink to the seabed. Amidst the joyful shouts of the crew in the cabin, he could feel the ark's internal power system gradually reviving. Without the interference of the crystal dust, it would soon be able to restart.
However, the black mist still floated on the turbulent sea surface, unable to be blown away by the howling wind.
The eerie aura did not dissipate with the Wasteland Predator's death.
"There might be more enemies."
Loranda noticed this too. He walked to the ship's railing, squinting as he used Holy Light to pierce the black mist and observe the surroundings. Soon, the Paladin frowned. "Indeed."
He raised his hand, pointing to a sea area on the ark's front left. "Look there."
Following Loranda's prompt, everyone looked at the sea surface not far away. Amidst the black mist, the sea churned with giant waves. Between the waves and the mist, faint dark shadows appeared. Many strangely shaped fins, like blades, cut through the sea surface, forming conspicuous trails amidst the storm and waves.
These sea beasts swam exceptionally fast. In just a few seconds, they had approached the Time Vessel.
"This mist is too troublesome."
Seeing this, Robzek said in a deep voice. Then, the energy nodes on his body were all lit up by Holy Light. The Paladin extended his hand, silver light as dazzling as the sun condensing at his fingertips. He casually waved, and five silver beams of Holy Light shot from his fingertips towards the surrounding black mist.
Like butter meeting a hot knife, the thick black mist on the sea surface rapidly melted like ice in summer. The five silver beams of Holy Light, instead of dissipating after leaving his body, became even more solid. They filtered through the endless black mist, broadening everyone's field of vision.
"Good heavens, how many are there?"
Without the black mist blocking his view, Hill scanned the sea before him. His purple pupils contracted slightly. The Elf youth looked at the scene, somewhat troubled. "How are we supposed to continue sailing now?"
Centered on the Time Vessel, within a sea area of several square kilometers, countless erect giant fins broke through the waves, speeding towards the ark like arrows. Thousands of sea beasts were visible on the surface alone, and beneath the surface, countless lurking dark shadows were swimming rapidly. As a Marine Druid familiar with sea beasts, Hill could determine that over thirty thousand sea beasts and giant fish of different species were charging aggressively towards the Time Vessel.
With such terrifying numbers and massive bodies exceeding ten meters, even relying solely on impact, the sea beasts could make the ark unable to move an inch.
"What are they trying to do?"
Robzek had already sensed something was wrong. He spoke solemnly, "First, they disable the ark, then they surround it with sea beasts. This doesn't seem like the coordination of wild animals."
"There must be some entity commanding them from behind." Sa Ya could also see that this couldn't be explained by the instinctive attack of Corrupted Sea Beasts.
"Of course, and that entity's goal is to buy time." Joshua looked up at the sky. Faint thunder could be heard from above, but the black mist in the air blocked all lightning and thunder. His expression was unreadable in the darkness, only his low, clear voice echoing on the deck. "I sense three powerful Chaos Monsters approaching rapidly, close to the Ultimate-rank... Robzek, are those the monsters you encountered last time?"
The silver-haired Paladin focused his mind to sense the aura from afar, then nodded seriously. "Yes, it's them. They've managed to get this close under the cover of the black mist. There's no way to avoid them now."
As he spoke, he turned to look at the warrior, then froze. "Wait, Joshua, what are you planning to do?"
"While the enemy isn't all here yet, I'm going to take out the one releasing the black mist above us."
The warrior's body was wreathed in black-red Battle Qi flames. The scorching temperature spread, even burning the ark's deck red. The pouring rain evaporated into steam long before it could touch his body.
Joshua's crimson eyes scanned the black mist and clouds in the sky, as if searching for something. Soon, his gaze fixed on a target. "I'll be right back."
BOOM!!!
Before his words faded, Joshua stomped heavily. The deck beneath him collapsed a layer. With a teeth-grinding screech, his entire body shot into the sky, piercing through the mist in seconds and disappearing into the pitch-black clouds.
The people on the deck had to activate their energy and use spells to withstand the sonic boom impact from the warrior breaking the atmosphere. The entire Time Vessel ark also tilted forward slightly. A large, dark hole appeared in its thick deck, with radiating cracks spreading from its center.
"This guy... he's really direct."
Dispelling the Battle Qi around him, Loranda smiled wryly. He believed the warrior's words—there must be an enemy in the sky releasing the black mist and spying on them. But Joshua's combat method of just charging out without any explanation was hard to get used to.
Black, however, looked accustomed to it. She looked up at the huge hole in the mist left by her master's departure, pursed her lips, and clenched her fists secretly.
The look Joshua had given her before leaving seemed to say, 'Work hard.' The Black Dragon girl naturally wouldn't disappoint her master's expectations.