Chapter 41: What a Coincidence, So Am I
When Sukrash awakened from the chaos and stood up, pulling his unconscious disciple out from the rubble, the battle that had been raging on the Mycroft Continent had temporarily come to an end.
At this moment, the once lush pine forest had been completely cleared by the aftermath of the battle between two Ultimate-rank powerhouses. Countless ancient trees, centuries or even millennia old, were no sturdier than fragile dog-tail grass in the face of a force capable of tearing apart mountains and severing rivers.
The same went for the Gold-rank knight.
Patting his apprentice's face to confirm that he was indeed unconscious and wouldn't wake up anytime soon, Sukrash sighed softly: "Forget it, passing out is probably for the best."
At least he wouldn't have to think about how to deal with this situation.
After confirming that he hadn't lost any body parts and that his student wasn't dead, the old adventurer, relieved of a great burden, cautiously turned his head and carefully observed the banks of the Maize Unfrozen River not far away.
—He hadn't heard any sounds of battle since he passed out. Could it be that the two Ultimate-rank powerhouses had already left?
The knight thought to himself, but the scene before him made him freeze in shock.
Flowing out from the Great Aias Mountains, the Maize Unfrozen River stretched for thousands of miles, vast and mighty, capable of carrying dozens of giant ships sailing side by side. It was the economic lifeline of the entire four northern territories, and it was precisely through this river that the Moldova Territory had grown wealthy. But now, this broad river had been severed by a giant pit, its downstream completely dried up. This perfectly circular pit, over a kilometer in radius and resembling a small amber, was embedded in the earth, and the surging river water was pouring into it, gradually filling it up.
This was the aftermath of a full-force battle between two Ultimate-rank powerhouses. Sukrash wasn't surprised at all; he had seen big scenes before. Back in the day, he had even followed an Ultimate-rank powerhouse to hunt down an evil dragon. That battle had collapsed several mountains, turning a towering mountain range into a basin. But what truly amazed this experienced old adventurer was the enormous sphere, a hundred meters tall, located by the riverbank.
This sphere was entirely black, perfectly smooth, with no patterns or protrusions. It emitted a soothing, inviting wave of energy and immense life force. Sukrash racked his brains trying to identify it, but he simply couldn't figure out what it was.
Yet a subconscious warning told him that although this thing looked extremely benign, it was actually very dangerous!
Shifting his gaze, the knight suddenly noticed a massive creature walking in another forest not far away. The next moment, a thirty-meter-tall giant beast stepped out of the woods and appeared before him.
It was a mammoth elephant at the Silver Peak rank, on the verge of reaching the Gold realm. This mammoth, like him, had apparently been hiding in the forest during the battle between the two Ultimate-rank powerhouses, too afraid to come out. But now, attracted by the immense life force emanating from the black sphere, it was slowly approaching it step by step.
Danger!
Sukrash instinctively wanted to shout out a warning to this beast, whose life force was even more abundant than his own. But the words caught in his throat as he remembered that magical beasts didn't understand the common tongue, and there was no need to expose his position for the sake of a wild animal. So he shut his mouth and watched the situation unfold cautiously.
The mammoth elephant, naturally unaware that it was being observed, strode steadily toward the giant black sphere. But when it reached about two hundred meters from the sphere and was about to stop for a closer look, a thick, grotesque tentacle covered in barbs and suckers suddenly shot out from the sphere and coiled around the giant beast's body!
"ROAR!!!"
It managed only a single roar, because the tens-of-meter-long tentacle had already tightened, crushing the mammoth elephant into a pulp. The countless suckers on the tentacle opened, revealing mouths resembling those of lampreys, which rapidly devoured the giant beast's flesh and blood. In just a few seconds, it had consumed everything, skin and bones alike.
"Gulp." Sukrash swallowed hard, a strong urge to flee surging within him. Although he still had no idea what this sphere was, the knight knew for sure that it was definitely related to that Ultimate-rank powerhouse from the Plague Evil Cult! Such a dangerous thing was impossible for him to handle alone. He had to leave quickly, head to the foot of Mount Modess to inform the leader and other factions, and get everyone to come up with a plan together!
Just as Sukrash was about to hoist his apprentice onto his back and hurry away from this dangerous place, two dazzling points of light suddenly appeared in the sky.
The Gold-rank knight's gaze sharpened as he looked toward the horizon. Two specks of light—one silver, one black-gold—trailed long ribbons of light, hurtling from afar like falling stars. While Sukrash was still wondering what they were, they descended from the sky at a speed surpassing sound, faster than anyone could react, and shot straight toward the black sphere!
Countless black tentacles rose from the sphere, seemingly trying to swat down the two lights, but they were utterly ineffective. The silver and black-gold lights were unstoppable, cutting through everything. The tentacles that could easily crush a mammoth elephant were as thin and laughable as strands of hair before them, instantly sliced into countless pieces as the lights broke through effortlessly.
Just over ten seconds after the two lights plunged into the black sphere and vanished, the delayed sonic booms and shockwaves reached the forest ruins. The poor knight apprentice, lying on the ground, was startled awake by the sudden deafening noise, only to be knocked unconscious again by the blast. Sukrash, relying on his Gold-rank physique, withstood the impact, but his face was filled with confusion and bewilderment.
"What... was that?"
Meanwhile, in the Plague World.
Joshua, gripping his giant sword and great axe, split the barrier of the world with two beams of silver and black-gold light, passing through the passage left by He Er La Si to enter the Plague World.
"Master, this is the first time you've actively called for me!"
A cheerful girl's voice came from the silver greatsword. She sounded as if she were moved to tears, emphasizing: "The first time!"
And from the black great axe, a boy's voice, not entirely calm, followed: "I never thought I'd actually get to be used..."
"You've traveled a long way; it must have been hard."
The warrior smiled faintly at their sentiments.
At this moment, holding the two Divine Mechanisms, the warrior's aura was climbing steadily, reaching a level far beyond that of an ordinary Ultimate-rank. The silver and black-gold light of the giant sword and great axe were gradually assimilated and obscured by an increasingly bright black-red radiance. Until finally, Joshua himself transformed into a dim sun standing upon the earth!
Divine Mechanisms were powerful weapons crafted from a portion of the bones of a Radcliffe Family member's body. Although they possessed self-awareness, they were still considered a part of the wielder's body.
Grasping the Divine Mechanisms was equivalent to completing this missing part. Now, as a truly complete entity, Joshua looked up at the expressionless He Er La Si. The high-temperature life radiation, like the surface of the sun, spread in all directions with the warrior's breath and the rise and fall of his chest, completely evaporating the Plague World for hundreds of meters around, leaving only wisps of smoke drifting away. A terrifying hot wind howled toward the edges of the world, causing all the fungal strains along the way to wither and shrink.
"Got your weapons, have you?" Watching this scene, the cult's High Priest murmured softly. "With this aura, you live up to your reputation."
A cold gaze and a blazing gaze met in the void.
The moment they locked eyes, the battle began anew.
So, the next instant, a storm erupted, thunderous sounds sweeping across all directions. The warrior's figure vanished in an instant, leaving only a long vacuum corridor in the air, with visible ripples spreading outward. A cold, sharp silver sword light broke through thousands of meters and all obstacles, slashing straight toward He Er La Si!
The cult High Priest merely narrowed his eyes and saw a giant sword coming straight at him. The terrifying force, wrapped in a tsunami-like momentum and storm, seemed capable of easily splitting a mountain in two.
But the cult High Priest was no weakling either. He had experienced countless battles and fought many different Ultimate-rank powerhouses. Faced with the warrior's fierce giant sword strike, He Er La Si chose to evade for the moment. With a flicker of his aura, he used instant teleportation to dodge the blow. Then, countless black mists coalesced in midair, condensing in his hand into a simple gray staff.
At the end of the day, He Er La Si's primary profession was still a priest, not a pure melee combatant.
Facing Joshua at this moment, he could no longer hold back. Gripping his weapon tightly, the seemingly plain and unadorned staff was suddenly covered in dense, intricate runes. Circles of blasphemous arrays spread outward from its center, locking onto the warrior.
Boom!
Now, only a few meters separated He Er La Si and Joshua. A powerful life force, mixed with the Plague Evil God's blasphemous divine arts, converged at the staff's focal point, then transformed into a destructive beam the size of a fist, capable of piercing through anything in the world, shooting straight toward the center of the warrior's chest.
At such close range, no one could dodge!
But Joshua had no intention of dodging. He didn't evade or avoid; he merely shifted his chest slightly to let the beam avoid his heart. Then, he allowed this incredibly condensed, terrifying impact to pierce through his right chest cavity, obliterating his lungs and ribs into nothingness. After enduring this blow, the warrior forced his way upstream, flying straight toward He Er La Si.
The air exploded with thunderous sounds. The black-gold great axe swept horizontally, trailing a dim stream of light. Its high-frequency vibrating blade, even before enhancement, could slice through the tough carapace of an Ultimate-rank Wild God. Now that it had become a Sacred Artifact, its power had multiplied several times over. It struck the cult High Priest's waist, cleanly cutting him in half. His spine and pelvis shattered like hot knife through butter.
But if Joshua was unafraid of pain, how could He Er La Si be a weakling? Just as the great axe severed his spinal column at the waist, the High Priest swung his staff. The top of the staff, which had looked like an ordinary gray wooden rod, suddenly extended a rapidly flowing energy blade. The pale, annihilating light sword thrust without hesitation toward the warrior's head!
The light blade cut through the air, fleeting and silent. For most lifeforms, the brain was an even more critical weak point than the heart. To kill an opponent with abundant life force, destroying the brain was crucial.
Based on his observations, He Er La Si noted that Joshua had two particularly bright energy nodes on his body: the heart and the brain. Unlike ordinary organs and flesh, energy nodes could not be rapidly regenerated, no matter how abundant one's life force. If he could destroy these two points, victory would be within reach.
But just as the light blade touched the frontal bone, breaking through the surface flesh and about to shred the warrior's brain, Joshua suddenly let out a roar.
Boom!
Accompanied by an enormous sonic wave that was impossible to identify, the black-red life force violently boiled, covering Joshua's entire body like a blood-colored armor. This armor was illusory, as if it could vanish at any moment, but it firmly resisted the advance of the cruel, annihilating light blade, wedging it right in the center of his forehead!
In the next instant, having just brushed past death, Joshua's expression remained unchanged. Black-red energy patterns flowed along his arms. Life force, mixed with vast battle qi, frantically drove his entire body's power. Then, with a movement of his giant sword and great axe, the silver and black-gold light surged, slashing toward He Er La Si before him!
Instantly, the air was completely torn apart. Within hundreds of meters, everything was slashed into a vacuum. The fierce sword light and axe blade, merely as residual waves, shattered countless towering fungal pillars thousands of meters away. They also stirred up endless, swirling electric arcs and plasma. The terrifying killing intent alone caused all flying insects in the entire Plague World to instantly stop flapping their wings and fall to the ground. All other insects scurried back into their nests, trembling in fear!
He Er La Si's entire body was instantly slashed into a cloud of ash. The high-temperature slashes incinerated all his flesh and blood in an instant.
Such was the heart-pounding nature of close-quarters combat between Ultimate-rank powerhouses. In just a hundredth of a second, the warrior's chest was pierced, and his brain was nearly shredded. Meanwhile, He Er La Si lost his legs, and his body was subsequently slashed into nothingness.
But Joshua showed no sign of relaxation. Frowning, he quickly retreated to heal his wounds. The warrior was well aware that his opponent couldn't die so easily.
And a moment later, a slightly surprised voice echoed through the Plague World.
"Killed me once already, and so quickly at that."
With these words, He Er La Si's body, which Joshua had slashed into ash, began to rapidly regenerate within layers of surging black mist. Countless particles of dust and matter, as if reversing time, reshaped the cult High Priest's body in a thousandth of a second.
He Er La Si stood in the void, flexing his wrists, and shook his head as he spoke: "I'm different from you, Joshua. I have no energy nodes, which means I have no vital points. Even if you reduce me to ashes, you can't kill me until my life force is exhausted. You can only..."
But before he could finish, He Er La Si noticed that Joshua didn't seem discouraged by this news.
On the contrary... was he smiling?
"Endless regeneration? Worthy of being the incarnation of life, you certainly live up to your reputation. But... what a coincidence."
Taking a deep breath, Joshua tightened his grip on his weapons. He felt an endless surge of life force spreading through his bones, muscles, and organs. The divine patterns representing battle and slaughter were gradually spreading.
A wild grin spread across the warrior's lips.
What a coincidence.
So am I.