Chapter 45: The Choice
The rapidly spinning fist churned a tornado, even pulling in blue-green lightning, but facing such a dangerous attack, Haier Mu showed no intention of dodging whatsoever.
At this moment, the Demon Lord knew that the being before it was the most formidable life-or-death enemy it had ever faced, and the most unique sovereign-level powerhouse it had ever seen. Haier Mu had traveled to countless worlds, fought and killed tens of thousands of experts from different races, but only this steel giant before it could directly block its [Star's Blaze].
Facing such an existence, anger and hatred were no longer relevant. As a powerhouse who had also transcended its own life form, Haier Mu knew that being able to engage in a life-and-death struggle with such an opponent was the rarest and most exhilarating thing possible. Since becoming a Great Lord, it had been a long time since it had felt joy from battle. Now, although the demon seemed recklessly pouncing at Joshua, deep within its heart was an extraordinary calm.
It had grasped the key to victory.
Boom! A sound like a steel plate being pierced rang out. Haier Mu allowed the four rapidly spinning iron fists to smash solidly into its body. The solidified psionic body was immediately torn apart by the spiral fists carrying high heat and high voltage. Such a smooth outcome even stunned the warrior who had thrown the four punches for a brief moment, but then he realized something was wrong! The enemy wasn't shattered by his fists—it had split itself apart *before* being hit!
Then, as expected, accompanied by the triumphant hiss of the Thousand-Eyed Serpent, countless energy fragments that seemed to have been shattered by the spiral iron fists recondensed in midair. They transformed into countless fine bone-spike cannons floating in the air, then streaked like meteors in an arc to the warrior's back and sides!
Floating Bone Cannons! At the tips of these bone spikes, hollow muzzles gathered intensely powerful energy light. This was Haier Mu's last reserve of energy. It aimed at the warrior's sides and the blind spots behind him, targeting the left side of the body previously damaged by [Star's Blaze], intending to destroy Joshua's body from its most vulnerable point!
The Demon Lord had already seen that the warrior's body was incredibly tough, making ordinary attacks extremely difficult to inflict damage. Therefore, it had to choose a vital point to break through. Under the detection of the Legendary Eye Demon's [Omniscient Eye], Haier Mu already knew all the energy nodes and weaknesses across Joshua's entire body. But knowing where the weakness was didn't mean it could be hit. The warrior had four arms, easily capable of blocking attacks from all directions—front, back, left, and right. So, to land a solid hit, something had to be sacrificed to lure the opponent into abandoning defense.
And the demon unhesitatingly chose to use itself as bait. It wanted a mutual destruction with the warrior. At that moment, as the bone cannons gathered energy and spewed out blue-gold blazing ion beams, its psionic body, massive enough to coil around a mountain, crashed down towards Joshua like an avalanche. This berserk power, utterly indifferent to its own injuries, was something even the warrior couldn't block. The entire colossal body wrapped itself around the giant god, temporarily and forcibly pinning Joshua in place!
Crude and simple, yet exceptionally effective. This was the combat method Haier Mu had honed over centuries of slaughter in the Abyss, returning to basics. Although it didn't understand techniques or tactical theories, Haier Mu could always grasp the core of the matter directly: use every possible method to harm one's enemy as much as possible.
And now, the warrior was in danger.
Theoretically, anyone would be almost certain to die this time—body bound, unable to move for several seconds, forced to let the enemy attack his weakness. For an ordinary person, such a crisis would mean waiting helplessly for death.
But in an instant, several methods flashed through Joshua's mind. Whether shrinking his body to dodge the ion beams, or shifting his internal vital structures to 'open holes' in his steel body, letting these beams 'hit' him, he could resolve this crisis. However, he didn't want to do that.
Facing the Demon Lord's utterly decisive self-sacrificing strike, the warrior felt admiration for this courage. Even the most vile enemy or beast possesses some glimmer worthy of praise. So this time, Joshua chose to face it head-on.
Without retracting the four arms still relentlessly pounding and piercing the Thousand-Eyed Serpent's body, in the instant before countless fine, concentrated ion beams struck, Joshua's body swelled and contracted, bringing forth flashes of lightning. Violent energy fluctuations surged out like a gale. These wind structures, transmitted through the atmosphere in an extremely complex high-frequency form, created countless chaotic and minute gaseous structures. Some were like convex lenses, others like concave mirrors. Stabilized by the Steel Force, these atmospheric mirrors, refracting and projecting each other, covered every inch of the warrior's body.
Atmospheric Armor! Before the gaseous armor, now blurred by high-speed vibration, the seemingly ferocious powerful rays were instantly refracted by countless tiny mirror fragments into numerous scattered, dim lights. They were refracted to the ground, instantly turning the entire earth into a sea of fire. The rays scattering towards the sky even formed a brilliant rainbow on the toxic steam permeating the air, radiating gorgeous colors.
No good, continuing like this means losing! Haier Mu also knew the situation was dire, but now, it was no longer the demon binding the warrior. The sound of tearing flesh was heard. Joshua's two thick arms on one side stopped pounding the enemy, trying to break free. Instead, like two long blades, they plunged deep into the Thousand-Eyed Serpent's psionic body, firmly anchoring the Demon Lord in place! At the same time, the warrior's other two arms were raised high, like two massive hammers gathering momentum, ready to smash the struggling giant serpent into pulp, driving it into the earth's crust!
Seeing things had come to this, the Thousand-Eyed Serpent immediately let out a sharp shriek. Accompanied by this shriek, all the bone cannons floating in midair instantly transformed into sharp spears, then flew unhesitatingly towards Joshua's location. The powerful gale from several times the speed of sound whipped up spiral storms in the air, like miniature tornadoes. Wind and lightning flickered amidst the blurred, chaotic currents, and rocks caught in the storm were instantly pulverized into dust!
If Joshua continued to hold onto Haier Mu now, he would certainly be pierced by these suicidal bone-spike spears. But if he let go, it would be like releasing a tiger back to the mountains. The chance to severely wound a Legendary was incredibly rare. After escaping, Haier Mu would not continue a life-or-death struggle. It would inevitably retreat directly, waiting for reinforcements to arrive before deciding the outcome with the warrior.
And at this moment of choice, at the edge of the sky, above the distant firmament, two completely different and powerful auras suddenly appeared.
"Who dares to invade the Sixth Abyss!" A deep voice roared as if from across a world. Solidified chaotic power pierced through space, seemingly about to descend upon this world from afar.
"I sense it—the Dragon Slayer of the Mycroft Continent, you dare to come to the Abyss! You are courting death!"
A long, sacred dragon's roar echoed across the sky. Accompanied by thunder, fire, and lightning blooming in the heavens, a massive dragon-head emblem appeared upon the clouds!