Chapter 1571: Still Waters Run Deep
Outside the dense forest, the battle between the three overlords—Giant Sarcoma, Crimson Eye, and Silver Amor—and the several thousand Heavenly God puppets soon came to an end.
Once they had grasped the proper way to kill the puppets, all three overlords attacked without holding back and eliminated the Heavenly God puppets completely.
Given their abilities, which were close to that of half-step Lords, killing these puppets did not require a second attack.
Very soon, all the Heavenly God puppets were obliterated.
Outside the dense forest, not a single drop of flesh or blood was left—not even dregs. All that remained were traces of battle on the ground.
However, after killing all the puppets, the three overlords did not enter the forest immediately.
The forest was the Nine Gloom Vine's lair. No one knew how many traps he had laid here.
Moreover, the Nine Gloom Vine was—on record—the oldest living monster in the whole of the inner world. Nobody knew exactly how far back his history went since he had been alive for so long. That was also the main reason why Silver Armor and the other two overlords feared him and the consequences of going against him.
Right as they were hesitating, Crimson Eye suddenly spoke up.
"If we don't take action now, it'll be too late. Snake Lady has already used her life-saving move." From afar, he had seen the purple fog released by the Snake Lady and realized that she could not hold on any longer.
As soon as Crimson Eye said that, Silver Armor rushed into the dense forest in a flash.
The reason for his haste was that—like the four-faced individual—he had a very close relationship with the three-tailed snake lady.
In reality, the remaining three overlords were all aware of the complicated relationship between these three people.
This was also what the four-faced individual was most upset about in particular—that under such circumstances, the three-tailed snake lady had chosen Silver Armor instead of himself.
At this level of their relationship, the four-faced individual's issue was not actually about which of them the snake lady loved—it was that he could not let such humiliation go just like that.
Silver Armor rushed in to attempt to save the three-tailed snake lady not because he loved her devotedly, but because he knew he had to make a show of doing so.
On one hand, it was so that the three-tailed snake lady could see his actions and confirm that she had made the right choice. On the other hand, he wanted Giant Sarcoma and Crimson Eye to see that he was a reliable ally.
He knew very well that the Snake Lady had chosen him most probably not because he was more outstanding than the four-faced individual. Compared to a stalemate of 3v3, they could eliminate two opponents of the same level much faster if they were 4v2. This lady merely wanted to obtain more resources.
For them, to be able to hold the position of overlord, benefits were paramount over everything else. When necessary, they could put up a smiling front and even work together with enemies who had killed their families without batting an eyelid.
As for a friend with benefits whom he had few emotional ties to—there was no question that it would not affect Silver Armor's choices or decisions at all.
Silver Armor appeared to be hastily rushing into the Nine Gloom Vine's lair. In reality, however, he was fully on his guard, ready to mount a defense against the Nine Gloom Vine's traps at any moment.
As soon as Silver Armor set foot into the dense forest, the Nine Gloom Vine immediately launched an attack.
An opponent setting foot into the Nine Gloom Vine's territory was an opportunity that was extremely hard to come by. Naturally, he was not about to let such a chance to attack pass by so easily.
In practically an instant, the entire dense forest turned into a world of vines. Not only did the vines blot out the sky, they even covered every available inch of space.
From a third-person perspective, Silver Armor was like a skiff floating on a vast ocean, buffeted by the onslaught of merciless waves and the howling of wild winds at any given time. At any moment, the skiff might capsize, and be destroyed.
However, in actuality, Silver Armor showed no trace of fear. Every time he moved, it was with full confidence and no hint of worry at all about the attacks coming from the all-encompassing vines.
His figure slipped repeatedly through the sea of vines, evading them, and dodging the attacks as much as possible. Whatever attacks he could not hide from, he sent his spear into action and utterly eliminated them.
For a while, although it was hard for him to escape this region, he could protect himself and had nothing to worry about. He fell into a stalemate with the Nine Gloom Vine.
However, he was not anxious at all. As for whether or not the three-tailed snake lady would die, he was not overly concerned about the matter.
He had already gone through the motions of attempted rescue. Whether he could save her or not was mainly dependant on the Snake Lady's own luck.
Despite being under attack from countless vines, he was still advancing slowly and steadily.
At least to the eyes of any outsiders, he had put in the effort.
In reality, he had no intention of taking risks for the Snake Lady. He seemed to be advancing very slowly, but actually, he was waiting for his two allies to join him.
The Nine Gloom Vine was a veteran powerhouse, and they were fighting in his territory where he would certainly have the upper hand. However, as far as Silver Armor was concerned, no matter how powerful the Nine Gloom Vine's abilities were, he could not fight three people on his own.
Even though the Nine Gloom Vine was on his own territory, it was not really possible for him to single-handedly defend himself against the invasion of three powerhouses of the same level.
Silver Armor knew this, which was why he was not in a hurry at all.
Meanwhile, as he had anticipated, backup soon arrived.
After Silver Armor rushed into the dense forest on his own, Giant Sarcoma and Crimson Eye only hesitated for a brief moment before they entered the forest as well.
As soon as the two entered the battle, Silver Armor could clearly sense that the pressure on him was reduced significantly.
After all, the three of them were opponents of the same level. No matter how powerful the Nine Gloom Vine's abilities were, he had to divide his attention to fight the other two as well as Silver Armor.
However, before Silver Armor could rejoice, in the distance he heard the Nine Gloom Vine's voice.
"I can't believe the three of you showed up on my doorstep voluntarily. That's saved me a ton of effort!" The Nine Gloom Vine's voice sounded rather pleased. "Do you know, everyone in the world thinks that this dense forest is a lair I built for myself out of sheer boredom. However, not many know that this is actually my God Territory!"
What the Nine Gloom Vine said stunned almost everyone present.
At the same time, the forest's environment began changing rapidly at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Each one of the trees gradually turned into aged vines. Even the plants and flowers transformed themselves into thin, slender vines.
In the blink of an eye, the entire forest had turned into a world of nothing but vines.
All these vines were of different thicknesses and sizes; even some of their colors were different.
"Welcome to my Kingdom!"
The Nine Gloom Vine's voice came from all directions as if each vine were speaking.
"Only the God Territory of a lord-level powerhouse can be called a Kingdom. What kind of a Kingdom is this? Do you really consider yourself a Lord?!" Giant Sarcoma's mocking voice swiftly rippled through the entire area.
Beside it, Silver Armor and Crimson Eye laughed out loud.
It was not important whether it was funny or not. Right now, what they needed to do was to support each other.
"In a moment, all of you won't be laughing anymore," the Nine Gloom Vine's voice sounded slightly enraged.
As soon as he was done speaking, countless vines surged toward the three of them.
Some of these vines contained various sequence powers, while some were imbued with elemental truth. Practically every strike they made was on par with a ninth-rank Heavenly God's full-force attack.
Silver Armor and the other two did not fight the attacks head-on. Instead, they chose to use evasion as their main strategic response, figures dodging continuously and never staying still in one spot.
The display from the three of them was akin to three small skiffs floating on a turbulent ocean, in danger of being capsized at any moment…
Chapter 1572: The Fourth Face
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Deep in the dense forest, a stretch of purple fog that covered several kilometers blocked out all attempts to probe it.
This was the three-tailed snake lady's life-saving maneuver. It was her trump card, in which she had integrated a Pseudo-Dao Weapon and her own innate divine ability.
The minute she realized she was no match for her opponents, she had used this move very decisively.
The purple fog not only contained poison that anyone below the level of half-step Lord dared not simply come into contact with, but it also blocked out Divine Telekinesis, preventing any probing attempts.
What made the Nine Gloom Vine and the four-faced individual even more helpless was that whenever their attacks landed within the areas of purple fog, the attacks would be absorbed and the force offloaded.
After several trial attempts, the four-faced individual asked the Nine Gloom Vine to halt his repeated attacks entirely.
"There's no need to waste time on her anymore. Her technique is called Purple Cloud, and even half-step Lords might not be able to forcibly breach it. To make the Purple Cloud dissipate, apart from the Snake Lady deactivating it herself, the only other way would be to exhaust the Divine Power within her body."
The Nine Gloom Vine glanced at the four-faced individual after hearing this. If he had received this information earlier, the target he captured just now would certainly not have been the three-tailed snake lady.
However, he did not say anything. After all, the four-faced individual was the ally that he himself had chosen.
After abandoning the attacks on the three-tailed snake lady, he decided to focus all of his efforts entirely on Silver Armor and the other two.
"I'll separate the three of them and attack them in turn with you!" As soon as the Nine Gloom Vine finished speaking, he separated out a vine and wrapped it around the four-faced individual's arm.
The four-faced individual was startled. Just when he was about to struggle to free himself, he heard the Nine Gloom Vine's voice. "With this vine, I can share my field of view with you. You can even benefit from all the advantages in my God Territory."
As soon as the Nine Gloom Vine said that, the four-faced individual could clearly feel that his body had been imbued with definite benefits. He was lighter on his feet and more powerful than before. Even the flow of Divine Power in his body had accelerated significantly.
After taking a brief moment to be aware of himself, he could roughly feel that his abilities had elevated by twenty percent or so.
"Don't worry about the consumption of Divine Power; it doesn't matter even if you drain it. I can replenish your Divine Power twice based on the current amount of Divine Power within you. Just kill the others as fast as you can!"
Before the Nine Gloom Vine had even finished speaking, the four-faced individual charged.
The first target he chose was Crimson Eye.
…
In the vine-filled God Territory, Silver Armor and the other two very quickly sensed the changes.
"He's trying to separate us! He must want to divide and conquer." Crimson Eye was the first to sense the anomaly and hurriedly informed the other two immediately through voice transmission.
"As he wishes then!" Silver Armor had sufficient confidence in his abilities. "Both of them will keep dragging things out like this if the three of us stay together. The Snake Lady might not be able to hold out for too long on her end either."
Although he sounded as if he were worried about whether the three-tailed snake lady lived or died, in reality, he just did not want to waste more time prolonging matters.
"This is an opportunity for us too. We each have life-saving maneuvers anyway, and we can't be killed off that easily. Have someone fight the four-faced individual, then the remaining two can drain old Nine Gloom Vine's Divine Power faster. That old geezer has been alive for so long, his Divine Power probably far outstrips our own. It's not going to be easy to kill him," Giant Sarcoma agreed with Silver Armor's suggestion.
It was two against one, so Crimson Eye had no choice but to agree.
The three figures swiftly stopped resisting the Nine Gloom Vine's attempts to divide them; each of them went their separate ways.
Very soon, Crimson Eye sensed a wave of energy locking onto him.
In truth, he had anticipated that he would most probably be the first target of attack as soon as they were separated.
Of the four of them who had come to do battle, Silver Armor possessed the most powerful abilities, while Giant Sarcoma possessed the most techniques.
The weakest of them—the three-tailed snake lady—had been attacked as soon as the battle began. Therefore, since he was the second weakest, he naturally became the next target of attack.
"Do you really think that I'm a pushover?" Crimson Eye scoffed.
A moment later, a figure emerged from the dense world of vines, arriving not too far off from Crimson Eye. It was the four-faced individual. He was completely unaffected by the vines around, as if they did not sense his existence at all.
Crimson Eye did not waste time in idle talk. As soon as he saw the four-faced individual, he immediately launched his attack.
An infinite variety of colors fluctuated from the thousands of tiny eyes within his eyes. The next second, he and the four-faced individual simultaneously vanished on the spot.
Countless vines also lost their prey at the same time and fell still.
Far away, the Nine Gloom Vine could not help a startled exclamation.
He could sense that the pair had not actually vanished; instead, they had entered another dimension.
Although he had never fought Crimson Eye before, he had been studying his four opponents' techniques over the last few days and had a rough idea of what had transpired.
…
Under the black canopy of the heavens, the four-faced individual's figure appeared out of nowhere and hovered in the air.
He glanced over to his left and right briefly, then looked at his own body. After that, he raised his brows. "A spiritual dimension?"
At that moment, Crimson Eye's voice came from all directions.
Within the initially pitch-black void, countless multi-colored eyes of various sizes suddenly opened.
"Welcome to my God Territory—the Purgatory of Ten Directions!"
This was a special characteristic of Crimson Eye's God Territory—he could drag opponents into his God Territory if their spirits were weaker than his own.
The enemies who were pulled into this God Territory could only exist as spirit beings, and would completely lose the support of their physical bodies' strength.
That was why, although Crimson Eye's combined abilities were weakest among the six overlords, he had never really regarded the five other overlords as any match for himself if things really had to come down to a fight.
Just like Silver Armor's most powerful trait, which was that his body was almost indestructible, in Crimson Eye's God Territory, Crimson Eye could seal off his opponent's physical body so they could only fight as spirit beings.
To him, the four-faced individual was just like Silver Armor. They were both powerhouses who had powerful physical bodies.
These types of powerhouses could not even perform thirty percent of their abilities in his God Territory.
Crimson Eye felt sure that he would definitely win.
However, the four-faced individual did not panic at all. After ascertaining the environment he was in, he smirked and asked, "Do you know what each of my four faces corresponds to?"
Crimson Eye was slightly taken aback when he heard this question.
"My four faces each have their own names.
"I named my first face Ordinary. It's my normal condition; it's also my daily state.
"My second face, I named Spirit. In this condition, I can gather the Divine Power from all of my four states. The amount of my Divine Power and the speed of its flow will elevate fourfold.
"I named my third face Demon, which is a battle mode. In this state, my physical body's strength will be maximized.
"I named my fourth face Fae; it's also a battle mode. Up until now, this face is the one that I've used the least…
"Take a guess; what do you think my fourth face strengthens?"
Chapter 1573: Fae
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Without waiting for Crimson Eye to respond, the four-faced individual's head suddenly started turning. The face that was initially on the left turned ninety degrees, so it was now facing forward. The three initially closed eyes on that face also slowly began to open.
The moment all three eyes opened, the four-faced individual's body began undergoing an intense transformation.
The surface of his body swiftly started turning pale; even the armor he originally had on was transformed into a fluttering white robe. His muscular body began to elongate and become slender, while his figure of three-plus meters tall grew to over ten meters in height within a blink of an eye. Slender arms as fair and pale as jade rapidly sprouted from his back at a speed visible to the naked eye, dramatically increasing until finally stopping at sixteen arms.
A layer of faint white mist wreathed his body, enveloping it entirely and giving one an odd sense of indistinctness.
Noticing that the four-faced individual's form was beginning to change, Crimson Eye attacked without hesitation before his opponent's new form could stabilize.
The hundreds and thousands of eyes in the void lit up in all kinds of colors like a sky full of stars. An instant later, fierce rays of different-colored light shot out from every one of the eyes and rained down on the four-faced individual like a storm.
Countless powerful rays of light like arrows immediately engulfed the four-faced individual's form.
It was unclear whether it was because his form had not fully stabilized or because of some other reason, but the four-faced individual did not appear to have evaded this attack at all. He did not even manage to mount a defense before he was swallowed up by the countless powerful rays.
However, Crimson Eye was only elated for a brief moment upon seeing his opponent being thus engulfed.
Although he saw the countless attacks piercing through the four-faced individual's body, Crimson Eye knew that they had failed the minute the attacks encountered his opponent's form. The feel was completely different when an attack had successfully struck its target, compared to when it had failed to do so.
"That's as good as you've got?" Suddenly, a voice sounded in the void.
A white figure swiftly coalesced into being again. It was the four-faced individual.
Meanwhile, a short distance away, the figure that had been pierced through by countless fierce rays gradually distorted and faded. It had been a mere shadow after all.
"This is your territory. If your abilities in here are only of this standard, I confess I have my doubts as to how you got to your position as overlord," the white-robed four-faced individual mocked mercilessly.
"You'll find out right now how I got to this position." Very little emotion could be heard in Crimson Eye's voice.
However, as soon as he finished speaking, all the eyes in the entire space around them swiftly flared up again brightly.
Radiant light of various colors rapidly began to consolidate above each eye.
When the four-faced individual noticed this, he jeered, "It's the same technique, merely increased in quantity and just a bit faster. Don't you have anything new?"
"Don't worry—this maneuver certainly isn't the same as the last one. I think what you need to worry about most now is whether or not you'll die in this attack." At the same time that Crimson Eye's voice came through faintly, he launched his attack.
The attack appeared to be exactly the same as before. Indeed, it was also just as the four-faced individual said—the number of fierce rays had increased, and they were much faster.
However, the four-faced individual had his guard up this time.
He certainly did not think that Crimson Eye was merely trying to frighten him. This attack must have something else concealed within it.
He carefully evaded the furious onslaught of the fierce light rays. Before the four-faced individual could let out a sigh of relief, however, his expression suddenly changed slightly.
This was because he saw that after he had dodged the onslaught of all the light rays, the rays actually collided with the eyes opposite and were deflected back at an even faster speed.
He almost did not dodge in time, narrowly risking being turned into a sieve.
Every single one of the eyes in the void was still swiftly shooting out powerful rays one after the other. However, at the same time, all of the rays would be deflected back even faster after colliding with other eyes (the rays were not always deflected in a straight line; the motion trajectory was always changing.) When they collided with the eyes a second time, they were deflected even faster…
In a moment, the entire space was filled with various rays of different trajectories and speeds, to the point where it could even be called chaotic.
If Crimson Eye's first wave of attack was a rainstorm, then this second round was a full-on, torrential monsoon of epic proportions.
Almost all the fierce rays were shooting out at different angles and speeds; even the power of the attacks varied.
As time passed, the four-faced individual had even begun to lose his sense of being able to anticipate the trajectory of the rays. He could only rely on his body's instincts for dodging and mounting a defense.
However, given the speed and frequency of the attacks, the four-faced individual could not avoid overlooking some rays or being unable to dodge in time. In very short order, he was being continuously bombarded with the fierce rays.
'This can't go on, I'm too much of a sitting duck." As he dodged and countered the attacks, the four-faced individual was trying to think of a plan. He knew that if he continued being on the defensive, he would definitely lose. The longer this persisted, the more time would drag on, and the chances of him winning would only get slimmer.
After a moment of consideration, he lifted his gaze and shot a glance at the surrounding eyes. Swiftly, he came to a decision.
He shook both his arms, and two long swords suddenly materialized in his hands.
At the same time, the sixteen arms on his back all wielded a long sword in each hand.
A moment later, eighteen arms brandished their swords and struck. Countless white sword gleams formed in the void in an instant, and their number was certainly no less than that of the fierce rays.
However, the moment the sword gleams formed, they were not directed at the powerful rays shooting out from the eyes. Instead, they shot straight toward the eyes that filled the void.
Crimson Eye had made an error of judgment. He thought that the four-faced individual would use this maneuver to counter the fierce rays; he had not expected that the four-faced individual would stubbornly field the onslaught of the rays and directly attack the eyes in the void.
The next second, white sword gleams flashed as they shot out, piercing through the eyes one by one and making them explode.
The void was immediately filled with Crimson Eye's furious shrieks. It had never crossed his mind that the attack power of the four-faced individual's sword gleams would surpass what he had expected.
Within the time it took for a breath, most of the eyes in the voice had been damaged. Less than one-fifth of them were still perfectly fine.
"You're an abyssal monster, but you actually cultivated a fairy-type method. You're an utter embarrassment to the Abyss!" Crimson Eye's enraged voice could be heard; he clearly did not sound as confident as before.
"Why do you think I named this face of mine Fae? This face was consolidated by refining a fairy-type sword cultivator. This state is the best for suppressing Abyssal energy."
The four-faced individual's white robe was fluttering at the moment, his entire body wreathed in white mist. If one did not look at his head, he really did have the charm of a fairy.
"I'm not afraid of telling you the truth either—I intentionally cultivated this form. It's my trump card against you overlords. As for you, you're fortunate enough to become my first hunting target."
As soon as he finished speaking, the countless white sword gleams in front of the four-faced individual's body consolidated again, dense as a sky full of stars on a clear summer night…
Chapter 1574: The Second Battle
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
In the Nine Gloom Vine's God Territory, countless vines blotted out the heavens.
The entire dimension appeared to be an ocean completely made out of vines.
Within it, a figure traveled at high speed.
This was a silver figure. If one were to see it at close range, the figure was actually very tall and broad, fully over three meters tall. However, he was very agile, freely moving through the all-encompassing vines with complete ease.
Every step he took—every movement he made, even—he could dodge the assault of the surrounding vines with the highest level of agility.
Even though he occasionally ran into trouble because he could not evade the attacks, he still could snap the vines with his palms immediately and kill them, thus extricating himself in time.
Perhaps other people might have considered the Nine Gloom Vine's type of attack to be extremely troublesome. However, given that he was the king of close-range combat, Silver Armor feared this sort of close-quarter fighting the least. No matter how many vines there were, how frequent the attacks, or how strange the angles, to him, evasive maneuvers were instinctual to his body.
He even felt that none of these attacks would score a hit on him at all, even if he were to close his eyes.
Giant Sarcoma, on the other hand, was not as fortunate as Silver Armor.
Unlike Silver Armor, he chose to counter the attacks by fighting them.
However many vines attacked him, he would extend the same number of tentacles to combat them.
There was no reason other than his Movement Skill was universally acknowledged to be very weak.
He had never thought about improving upon this point. This was because from the very beginning until the day he rose to his position as one of the six overlords, he had never needed to use his Movement Skill to aid him.
In all his battles, he basically overwhelmed his opponents.
His opponents usually did not even have a chance to escape, so he did not even need to pursue them.
In reality, even if he were to fight an opponent on par with the Nine Gloom Vine, he would still never consider remedying his lack of Movement Skill.
This was because all he needed was a thought, and the number of his tentacles would certainly not be any less than the number of vines that the Nine Gloom Vine sent out.
It was just that this was utterly unnecessary at the moment.
This was the Nine Gloom Vine's God Territory, so a similar maneuver would consume far less of the Nine Gloom Vine's Divine Power. Giant Sarcoma did not want to drain his Divine Power here. It was just not worth it.
The battle between the three of them went into a stalemate for a long time. Suddenly, however, the three of them experienced a slight moment of emotion.
The reason for this was that they sensed the four-faced individual's aura had returned, but not that of Crimson Eye.
"Crimson Eye's been killed?!" The red in Silver Armor's eyes briefly faded, as if he had never expected something like this to happen.
From far away, Giant Sarcoma was rather shocked as well. "So quick?! It's been less than ten minutes!"
However, he got over it very quickly. Ten minutes might have passed in the outside world, but due to the special nature of Crimson Eye's God Territory, two people fighting on a psychic level might have already crossed swords hundreds upon thousands of times.
The most shocked of all was the three-tailed snake lady still hiding in the purple fog.
Although she was hiding in the purple fog and could not be detected by the outside world, she could very clearly sense whatever was happening out there. Naturally, she also sensed the disappearance of Crimson Eye's aura.
As the four-faced individual's lover, she knew that his close-range combat abilities were powerful—perhaps not that much weaker than Silver Armor. What she had not anticipated was that Crimson Eye, who should theoretically have been able to suppress the four-faced individual, turned out to be the first to be defeated by the four-faced individual instead.
"That fellow has never been willing to tell me what secrets his four faces hide. From the looks of it, one of those faces is equipped with a powerful psychic technique—one that's no weaker than Crimson Eye's!"
Both of them had been bedmates for years. Although they were not married, the three-tailed snake lady thought she already knew the four-faced individual very well. Never had she anticipated that his abilities would far surpass her expectations.
She was even to the point where she suspected she might be in the wrong camp the moment Crimson Eye's aura vanished.
She had chosen to side Silver Armor because, for one, the chances of winning were higher when it was four against two. For another, she knew Silver Amor very well and was fully confident in his abilities.
Now it seemed that her other lover, the four-faced individual, possessed abilities that were in no way weaker than Silver Armor's own.
However, this uncertainty only surfaced for a moment before the three-tailed snake lady firmly snuffed it out.
She knew that she no longer had the chance for a second choice.
With Silver Armor, as long as Nine Gloom and Four Face were killed, she would still be able to get a share of the spoils. However, if she changed her mind now, even if she helped the four-faced individual to defeat Silver Armor and the rest, she might still be killed by the four-faced individual and the Nine Gloom Vine in the end. They might just see her as a threat.
Since she had already made a stand, all she could do was to bite the bullet and tough it out to the end.
After making up her mind, the three-tailed snake lady continued hiding like a turtle in its shell. She watched the goings-on in the outside world, waiting patiently for an opportunity to attack.
Meanwhile, on the vine-filled battlefield, something unforeseen happened again very quickly.
After killing his first prey, the four-faced individual locked onto his second target immediately.
Although he did not sense any energy locking onto him, Giant Sarcoma guessed that he would be the four-faced individual's next target.
This had occurred to him the moment he sensed Crimson Eye's aura dissipating.
The reason for this was that Silver Armor's close-range combat abilities were extremely good, while his defensive capabilities were the best among the six overlords. The four-faced individual, who was also a close-range combat powerhouse, would be at a complete disadvantage fighting Silver Armor, let alone trying to defeat him.
While the three-tailed snake lady remained in hiding, the only possible target could be Giant Sarcoma himself.
However, Giant Sarcoma was fearless. For one, fear was not an innate emotion that he possessed; for another, he did not believe that the four-faced individual could actually kill him.
It did not take very long for the four-faced individual to wend his way through the many layers of vines and appear not too far away in front of Giant Sarcoma.
The moment he appeared, Giant Sarcoma attacked without hesitation.
Countless tentacles extended in a frenzy, surging toward the four-faced individual.
The four-faced individual seemed very much at ease as he evaded the tentacles. "It seems you came prepared. You knew I'd come."
"From your point of view, if you had chosen Silver Armor, it would be difficult to decide on the winner or loser within such a short time. Naturally, I became the better choice," Giant Sarcoma's voice seemed to be squeezed out from wriggling flesh, "However, I don't think you chose correctly."
"Based on what? This flabby, limp attack technique?" The four-faced individual jeered, smirking.
"My flabby, limp attack technique might be able to kill you." The minute Giant Sarcoma finished speaking, the front part of his countless tentacles suddenly began dividing.
One became two, two became four, four became eight…
The number of tentacles increased exponentially in an instant.
Since the four-faced individual was caught off guard, dozens of tentacles rapidly came into contact with his body.
He wanted to struggle but discovered that the tentacles were stuck to him like sticky candy. Not only that, as his movements were now restricted, more and more tentacles began to attach themselves to him.
The Nine Gloom Vine—who had all along been using vines to interfere with Giant Sarcoma and help the four-faced individual—had not expected that Giant Sarcoma would suddenly pull off such a maneuver. By the time the Nine Gloom Vine came to the four-faced individual's aid, he was already a fraction too late.
In a blink of an eye, the four-faced individual was smothered in countless tentacles, turning into a wriggling mass of flesh…
Chapter 1575: Stalling Tactic
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Countless tentacles wrapped around the four-faced individual in a tight, impenetrable cocoon, forming a huge fleshy tumor in midair.
However, this was not the end of things yet. The layers of tentacles on the tumor's surface continued to increase. They further enveloping the tumor, which was growing at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Meanwhile, inside the tumor where the outside world could not see, all external energy and light sources were completely blocked. The interior was an infinite sea of darkness.
It was not only his sense of sight; the four-faced individual could clearly feel that all his five senses were gradually being stripped away.
Countless sticky tentacles assaulted his body from places in the dark that he could not see.
However, although he was gradually being deprived of his five senses, the four-faced individual still possessed an instinct for danger. His body still continued to rely on this instinct to dodge frantically and defend itself.
The first time his body failed to evade in time and the sticky tentacles plastered themselves to him, the four-faced individual was shocked.
His senses were almost entirely numbed, but he could clearly feel that these things were consuming his Divine Power at high speed.
Although he swiftly managed to struggle free from the tentacles' entanglement, all-pervasive, sticky tentacles rapidly glued themselves to him a second and a third time. Even if they only twined around him for a second before being shaken off, they would take some Divine Power with them each time.
'This can't go on. These things will completely consume my Divine Power sooner or later.'
Sensing that his body was losing Divine Power far more rapidly than before, the four-faced individual realized that the longer he dragged things out, the higher the chance that he would lose the battle.
Although he had some trump cards that he did not wish other people to find out about, this was already a life-or-death situation. If he did not use his trump cards, he might never have a chance to use them in the future.
Once he considered this, he hesitated no longer.
His head suddenly turned. The face that was initially on the right turned ninety degrees so that it now faced forward. The single initially closed eye on that face also slowly opened.
Within that single eye, a faint golden flame blossomed.
The moment the eye opened, the Divine Power within the four-faced individual's entire body began surging violently, and the amount of Divine Power started increasing sharply as well.
Ten percent!
Twenty percent!
Thirty percent!
…
Double!
Triple!
…
The four-faced individual's Divine Power stopped going up only after it had increased to four times its original amount.
The golden Divine Power no longer merely enveloped his entire body. It even seeped out from within him like flames, extending fully to one meter beyond his physical body
His form resembled a fiercely burning golden flame.
In an instant, the initially dark interior of the tumor was illuminated completely.
On the crimson walls of flesh surrounding him, the four-faced individual saw countless thin, flesh-colored tentacles covered with viscous mucus. These tentacles were not as tough and keen as the ones Giant Sarcoma had released earlier. Their texture was more like sludge.
"What a disgusting technique," the four-faced individual could not help ridiculing out loud.
As he spoke, he attacked like lightning.
Eyeing the all-encompassing mass of tentacles that were coming at him, he abruptly drew a deep breath. The next second, he opened his mouth and blew.
Endless golden flames spurted from his mouth immediately. Within the blink of an eye, they had spread through the entire space inside the tumor.
The moment the flesh-colored tentacles came into the slightest contact with the flames, they swiftly turned to ash and disintegrated.
The enveloping mass of flesh-colored tentacles vanished like snow rapidly melting under the scorching sun.
Very soon, the golden flames spread to the inner walls of the tumor. The walls also disintegrated as if they had been corroded by acid. They turned into puddles of green water that dribbled down, releasing an extremely putrid stench of decay…
Not long later, several holes burned through the layers of tentacles that made up the tumor. A golden figure exited in a flash through one of the holes.
"Tsk tsk, does this count as using your trump card?" Giant Sarcoma's wriggling-flesh voice sounded immediately. "I anticipated that this tactic wouldn't be able to detain you; I only thought of draining your Divine Power a bit more. I never expected you to be so decisive and use your trump card right away."
"If you hadn't used this tactic, you might have been able to live a little longer," the four-faced individual snorted with a cold laugh.
He did not bother continuing to waste words on his opponent. Once more, he opened his mouth and took another deep breath, spitting out yet more golden flames again.
An all-encompassing wave of golden fire surged toward Giant Sarcoma like a tsunami…
"Dragon Flame?!" Giant Sarcoma exclaimed.
Naturally, he recognized that this was the Dragon Flame of a True Dragon, which would burn everything in its path.
He immediately realized how the four-faced individual had managed to get out of the tumor.
The real Dragon Flame was the nemesis of almost all Abyssal techniques.
Giant Sarcoma speculated that the four-faced individual was able to spit out Dragon Flame because he must have devoured a True Dragon. The four-faced individual had then borrowed the power of the True Dragon's bloodline and inherited memory, then simulated it by integrating fire elemental truth. This flame came with some characteristics of Dragon Flame, but it could not be counted as a true Dragon Flame. In terms of power, there was still a gap.
In the face of a tactic that was fairly suppressing to his own technique, Giant Sarcoma did not panic at all.
He was very certain that the four-faced individual must have drained a considerable amount of the Divine Power in his body since he had fought Crimson Eye earlier. Giant Sarcoma was very also sure that the four-faced individual's hyped-up flame mode would not last for very long. It was not possible to sustain spurting Dragon Flame to cover such a large area for too long a time.
After ascertaining these points, Giant Sarcoma soon came up with a countermeasure. In one word—stall!
All he had to do was stall for long enough, and the four-faced individual would stop spitting out Dragon Flame sooner or later. Eventually, the four-faced individual would also come out of his hyped-up state.
Moreover, if Giant Sarcoma could drag things out sufficiently, Silver Armor might directly fight Nine Gloom and help Giant Sarcoma get rid of these entangling vines.
Not only that, once Giant Sarcoma and Silver Amor managed to keep the four-faced individual and Nine Gloom embroiled, the three-tailed snake lady would have the opportunity to escape and rejoin the battle.
Therefore, no matter what, the Stalling Tactic was the most beneficial plan for him now.
Watching the golden ocean of fire that was surging toward him, Giant Sarcoma did not dodge. He knew very well that, with his speed, he would be unable to evade, so he did not bother at all.
Countless tentacles extended furiously. Very soon, a swamp had consolidated in front of him.
Giant waves rose quickly from within the swamp and swept with no less momentum toward the ocean of Dragon Flame.
Although Giant Sarcoma was not well-versed in water elemental truth, he had mastered soil elemental truth and was an expert in Mud Tactics. On some level, it could be considered a type of suppression for fire elemental truth.
The only thing was that the incineration power of the fire elemental truth with Dragon Flame characteristics was more overwhelming. The flames swallowed the giant mud waves one after another.
However, Giant Sarcoma had clearly made up his mind to keep dragging things out with the four-faced individual in this manner.
He also did not switch to any other techniques. Instead, he continued to exert Divine Power, creating giant mud waves to battle the four-faced individual over and over again…
Both parties went into a stalemate for some time.
Giant Sarcoma became calmer as things went on. This was what he desired most. The longer he could stall this battle, the more beneficial it would be to him.
Meanwhile, on the other side, the four-faced individual could not help frowning…
Chapter 1576: To Show My Gratitude, I Shall Eat You!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Apart from the one regular face that could be used long-term, the four-faced individual's remaining three faces had a time limit when they were activated.
The handful of individuals who knew about his four modes had more or less guessed that this was the case. However, they thought the reason for this restriction was that activating different modes would put a heavy burden on the four-faced individual's physical body and spirit.
Meanwhile, the four-faced individual was the only one who knew that this was not the case.
In reality, each of his faces was an entirely different personality.
The dominant personality was his regular face, which maintained the balance between the other three personalities.
At present, his four personalities could maintain a state of equilibrium mainly because of this regular dominant character.
However, every time he changed a face, he needed to let that particular personality out.
Although the dominant personality's consciousness was still in control for a short period after the face had changed, as time went by, the second personality would become increasingly awake. It would then begin to fight for the dominant personality's main position.
After a specific duration had been exceeded, this second personality that had been let out would be completely awakened. There was a high chance of it suppressing the dominant personality and taking over control of the body,
Some might think that this was a mere change of personality and did not matter since it could be changed again in the future.
The problem was, as soon as the four-faced individual's dominant character lost control of his body, the current equilibrium between the several personalities would be completely destroyed. The second personality which had usurped the dominant personality's place would soon devour the other personalities and take sole control of the body.
This was because only by completely taking control of the four-faced individual's entire body could the four-faced individual's physical body and spirit begin their transformation into the new personality. They would turn into an individual independent consciousness, perfectly integrating with the physical body to create an entirely new being.
Simply put, the four-faced individual would cease to exist. He would be replaced by a completely different monster.
The four-faced individual had never told anyone about this risk.
He had never disclosed a word of this even to the person he was most intimate with, who shared his bed.
After all, such a secret was connected to his own life and death. It could be easily used against him if he told anyone about it.
Giant Sarcoma's Stall Tactic on the battlefield caused the four-faced individual some anxiety.
He was using Dragon Flame, which was an extremely draining technique. He initially thought to get this battle over with as soon as he could, but he was stopped by Giant Sarcoma's layers of mud. The battle became a stalemate.
Within half an hour, he changed to the second face. The dominant personality was currently exhausted, significantly shortening the duration by which it could suppress the second personality.
He had no choice but to end this battle swiftly, or the consequences would not bear thinking about.
After spurting Dragon Flame for over ten minutes, he was still unable to gain any headway. This caused him to think even more anxiously about his subsequent strategy.
'If this doesn't work, I have no choice but to use that move!'
After only a short moment of being irresolute, the four-faced individual swiftly made his final decision.
He spurted Dragon Flame continuously while both hands began to perform lightning-fast, complicated hand seals.
A moment later, several strange figures emerged from his back and struggled free. This continued until the ninth figure emerged, then stopped.
Once the nine figures took their place resolutely behind the four-faced individual, they looked startlingly like the current four-faced individual's single eye mode—exactly the same, in fact. It was as if they were clones from the same mold.
At that point, the four-faced individual had also finally stopped spouting Dragon Flame.
From far away, Giant Sarcoma had been distractedly observing the four-faced individual's movements. When he saw him releasing the "clones", he knew that the four-faced individual was truly pulling out the big guns now.
Although Giant Sarcoma felt some degree of panic, at the same time, he became even more certain of his previous speculation.
'This fellow is pulling out the big guns in such a hurry—seems like my guess was right. He definitely can't maintain this mode for too long!
'As long as I can hold on and stall further, I can definitely defeat him sooner or later!'
Clearly, Giant Sarcoma had planned to use his Stall Tactic to the very end.
Although he had a counter-strategy, he did not dare underestimate the four-faced individual's tactics in the least.
In the air, the four-faced individual's ten figures stood proudly and condescendingly gazed in Giant Sarcoma's direction.
A second later, several figures spread their ten fingers, and whip-like golden rays shot from their fingertips.
Countless golden whips intersected, turning into a giant net that hurtled toward Giant Sarcoma.
Giant Sarcoma immediately gave a secret, dismayed exclamation and extended countless tentacles right away to defend himself.
Each of the golden whips was imbued with the strange characteristics of Dragon Flame. Giant Sarcoma's tentacles merely had to touch them to be charred to cinders.
After a few rounds of enduring the pain, Giant Sarcoma soon gave up using his tentacles to resist directly. Instead, he summoned forth giant, muddy hands from the void which struck at the giant web of golden whips.
As soon as the battle hit a stalemate, a few figures next to the four-faced individual joined the battlefield.
Four figures blocked all the escape routes outside the giant golden net of whips. They spat tsunami-like Dragon Flame at Giant Sarcoma from four different directions…
Almost every breath of flame was as powerful as the Dragon Flame the four-faced individual had spat out earlier himself.
Giant Sarcoma was immediately shocked.
This wave of attacks came from every direction. There was practically no way he could escape.
If he were to mount a head-on defense, the drain on his Divine Power would be countless times more than previously.
When he saw that the Dragon Flame tsunami from all four directions was about to swallow him up, Giant Sarcoma bit the bullet and charged toward the net of golden whips that was above his head.
When his large fleshy form was about to collide with the net, his body transformed into a pool of liquified fat. He slipped through the holes in the net easily and escaped.
The four-faced individual and the far-off Nine Gloom Vine were stunned when they saw what happened.
Evidently, both of them had never expected that Giant Sarcoma's extremely solid-looking body could turn into liquid form within the blink of an eye.
Although the four-faced individual had no idea how Giant Sarcoma would escape, he had made preparations in advance for this possible eventuality.
His true form flickered and immediately appeared in the air directly above Giant Sarcoma's head.
Before Giant Sarcoma could breathe a sigh of relief at escaping the Dragon Flame, he heard the four-faced individual's voice from above his head.
"I'd already made preparations in case you escaped!"
As soon as the four-faced individual finished speaking, Giant Sarcoma saw him shoot both his palms forward, and a golden shockwave blasted out.
"Get back in there!"
Giant Sarcoma was completely unable to dodge this attack. He was directly hit by the shockwave and his form was sent tumbling downward.
At that moment, several clones cooperated in perfect synchronization to remove the net made of whips, letting Giant Sarcoma fall into the sea of flame.
The minute Giant Sarcoma's body was swallowed up in the golden sea of fire, the four-faced individual's true form and remaining clones inhaled deeply at almost the same time. They then spat endless streams of golden Dragon Flame below…
This massive inferno burned for close to half an hour.
Only when the four-faced individual could vaguely feel that he could no longer control his second personality did he finally remove it. He resumed his regular form with relief.
Amid the sea of flame, Giant Sarcoma's life force had utterly dissipated more than ten minutes ago.
The four-faced individual kept on forcibly spitting Dragon Flame for over ten minutes because he was afraid that Giant Sarcoma might not be completely dead.
However, he could basically be sure that Giant Sarcoma was now deceased.
No living being could stop themselves from groaning and fighting back while they were being incinerated by Dragon Flame.
After dispersing all his clones, the four-faced individual patiently waited for the flames and smoke to dissipate.
A good long while later, the remaining flames burned out completely and the smoke gradually thinned out as well.
Within the deep pit burned into the ground by the fire, the four-faced individual saw a completely charred black sphere.
He cautiously went nearer. He could even smell the reek of scorched flesh, as well as an extremely putrid reek of decay that made one gag.
The four-faced individual stopped in his tracks when he was some ten meters away from the charred sphere. He did not go any closer.
Instead, he spread five fingers and extended several threads of Divine Power to touch the incinerated sphere from a distance.
As the Divine Power brushed against the scorched sphere, the four-faced individual was finally able to see its structure. It was made up of layers wrapped upon layers, like those of an onion.
He peeled off the layers of the "onion" quickly with Divine Power. He wanted to see if Giant Sarcoma had been totally destroyed by the flames.
As he peeled off the charred layers, he could soon see that the innermost structure had been utterly incinerated into powder.
Clearly, Giant Sarcoma was so dead he could not be any further deceased than he was at present.
The four-faced individual retracted his Divine Power only after ascertaining this and exhaled a long sigh of relief.
However, a peculiar thing happened right at that moment.
A blood-colored tentacle suddenly broke through the ground beneath the four-faced individual's feet. The tip of the tentacle divided like tree roots and extended like forked lightning, worming its way into the four-faced individual's mouth, eyes, and nose…
The four-faced individual could clearly feel a strange power rapidly occupying his physical body.
"Get out!"
The four-faced individual harnessed all the Divine Power within his body in an attempt to free himself from Giant Sarcoma's latest defensive maneuver. However, he was only able to stop Giant Sarcoma for one to two seconds. The takeover of his body continued.
He could clearly sense that at the rate his physical body was being occupied, it would take five minutes at most to make him lose control of his body altogether.
Once he realized this, he made a determined effort.
"You forced me to do this!"
The next second, the four-faced individual's head suddenly turned. The face that was initially at his back slowly rotated 180 degrees so that it now faced forward.
It was a face that was malevolent beyond compare. All three of its eyes were pitch-black, without any trace of whites. There were even two large, blood-red horns on its forehead.
The second he opened his eyes, the muscles all over his body started to began to swell and knot, turning red. Wisps of black mist began to seep out of his pores as well.
He lowered his head to glance at the current state of his body. The long-horned four-faced individual stretched out a massive hand tipped with black, sharp claws and grabbed the tentacle that was connected to his eyes, nose, and the ground. He then pulled hard.
One hand kept pulling upward, while his other hand shoved the tentacle into his mouth. He began chewing hard.
"Four Face, you lunatic!" A dismal howl soon came from under the ground.
The Long-horned Man suddenly grinned. "Four Face? He's not here anymore. I should thank you for allowing me to gain total control of this physical body.
"If it hadn't been for that final push of yours, that Four Face fellow wouldn't have let me out. If you hadn't fought him and utterly weakened his consciousness, I would never have been able to take control of him so easily.
"To show my gratitude, I shall eat you!"
As he spoke, he continued to devour Giant Sarcoma.
Very soon, Giant Sarcoma's dismal howls became weaker and weaker. Eventually, the sounds died away completely…
Chapter 1577: You Tricked Me!
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
From far away, the Nine Gloom Vine witnessed the entire battle between the four-faced individual and Giant Sarcoma. He also heard what the four-faced individual said to Giant Sarcoma at the very end.
Although he was not completely sure how the four-faced individual's change of mode worked, the Nine Gloom Vine was still able to make a guess about several things.
He patiently waited for the four-faced individual to pull every inch of Giant Sarcoma from under the ground and finish devouring him completely before using voice transmission to ask him a question.
"Four Face, are you a friend or a foe now?"
The long-horned four-faced individual turned his head and looked in the direction where Nine Gloom Vine was, far away. He grinned.
"Four Face is Four Face, I'm me. I'm not interested in your fight!"
"If they get hold of the castellan's seal, whether you're Four Face or not, they'll attack you sooner or later." The Nine Gloom Vine did not want to give up. He still wanted to try and get the four-faced individual on his side.
After all, if the four-faced individual left just like that, the Nine Gloom Vine would have to fight two enemies on his own after this—Silver Armor and the three-tailed snake lady.
"If that day really comes, I'll kill them myself." The long-horned four-faced individual remained unmoved.
"Alright then." The Nine Gloom Vine fell silent for a moment. In the end, he did not say very much more. "If you wish to leave, then leave."
If he lost an ally, so be it. At this time, he did not want to offend someone who was even more powerful than the four-faced individual. The best thing to do was to let him go.
Seeing the God Territory's exit rapidly materializing not far away, the long-horned four-faced individual did not bother wasting any more words. His form wended its way through and departed.
Outside the God Territory, the Nine Gloom Vine's sliver of consciousness watched the long-horned four-faced individual swiftly leaving the dense forest area where he himself was. He could not help sighing softly.
He could sense that the long-horned four-faced individual was eager to leave. He also guessed that the long-horned four-faced individual might be facing some issues with his form since he had just taken over the four-faced individual's body. At one point, Giant Sarcoma had considered whether or not he should seize the opportunity and dispose of the long-horned four-faced individual. However, he chose to abandon the idea in the end.
There was no reason other than it was not a simple task to kill the long-horned four-faced individual despite his unstable state. Moreover, the Nine Gloom Vine had two other powerful enemies in his lair at the moment.
Compared with a future threat, getting rid of the current threat that faced him was the most important thing.
Seeing that, in the God Territory filled with vines, there remained only the three-tailed snake lady—who was still hiding in the Purple Cloud—and Silver Armor, who was slowly making his way toward him, the Nine Gloom Vine very quickly came to a decision.
His form, which had transformed into tens of thousands of giant boa constrictors, rapidly retreated from the Purple Cloud and directly targeted Silver Armor.
The three-tailed snake lady, who had been watching the outside world closely, felt slightly relieved only after this. She had not dared to lift her head the entire time as the Nine Gloom Vine had been keeping track of her from the sidelines. She knew that he would definitely attack her at lightning speed if she made even the slightest movement.
Even though he had left, the three-tailed snake lady did not recklessly show herself just yet.
She was afraid that her opponent had not gone very far and might turn back to deal with her.
"Giant Sarcoma's aura is clearly gone; he must have been killed. The four-faced individual's aura became very strange earlier—even unfamiliar—and vanished after that. I wonder if he died alongside Giant Sarcoma."
In this vine-infested world, all sensing techniques, including Divine Telekinesis detection, were all severely curbed by Nine Gloom's vines. Everyone could only vaguely sense whether or not an aura was present, as well as battle fluctuations.
The three-tailed snake lady could only determine who else was left on the battlefield through auras. As for those whose auras had disappeared, she was unable to tell if they had left the God Territory or if they had been killed.
"The only ones left on the battlefield now are Nine Gloom, Silver Armor, and myself. If Silver Armor's been killed by that old wretch Nine Gloom…"
The three-tailed snake lady's brow furrowed tightly. She had never expected the initial four against two, sure-win scenario would turn out like this.
She had also never imagined that Four Face, whom she had been sleeping with for years, possessed the ability to kill two powerhouses—Giant Sarcoma and Crimson Eye—on his own.
The three-tailed snake lady's thoughts drifted for a while, but very soon, she came back to her senses. Patiently, she waited for an opportunity to exit the Purple Cloud.
Not long later, she sensed intense battle fluctuations from a distance.
She guessed that Nine Gloom and Silver Armor might have begun fighting.
"That old wretch Nine Gloom is completely ignoring me now?!"
Although she was somewhat infuriated, the three-tailed snake lady also felt slightly happy.
This happiness was because Nine Gloom had not chosen to forcibly disperse the Purple Cloud and kill her before Silver Armor could arrive.
However, after some consideration, she could understand why Nine Gloom had made such a choice.
After all, Silver Amor's abilities were powerful. Instead of spending such a lot of effort to breach the Purple Cloud's defenses, Nine Gloom would rather stay in prime condition to fight Silver Amor.
"You'll pay the price for underestimating me!" A ferocious gleam flashed through the three-tailed snake lady's eyes.
Only after sensing that the distant battle fluctuations had continued for a while did the three-tailed snake lady quietly appear from the Purple Cloud.
However, the very moment she moved, vines surged out from all directions and lashed toward her.
The three-tailed snake lady was stunned at first. Her initial reaction was to think that the Nine Gloom Vine had returned. However, she soon realized that this was not the case. He was merely controlling the vines from a distance to attack her.
"So you want to imprison me here to prevent me from meeting up with Silver Armor?!" The three-tailed snake lady narrowed her eyes slightly and immediately guessed Nine Gloom's battle strategy.
No matter what, he definitely did not wish to fight two enemies alone.
After all, Silver Armor's abilities were very strong. In a battle between powerhouses, the slightest difference could cause one to lose, much less one more person interfering from the sidelines.
Once she had considered this, the three-tailed snake lady decisively retracted the Purple Cloud. After making sure of where the distant battle fluctuations were, she charged in that direction, dodging the attacks of the all-encompassing vines with everything she had.
As soon as she moved, out of nowhere, she suddenly felt an intense sense of danger.
The next instant, she felt a vine twining around one of her snake tails. She frantically tried to free herself, but realized that the moment she stopped, more vines tangled themselves around her.
She turned her head to look, but discovered that there were no vines at all in the areas where she had been entangled. She used Divine Telekinesis to scan and realized then that those vines were actually threads that were 10,000 times thinner than a hair.
At that moment, a familiar voice came from behind her, "You've decided to come out at last!"
When she heard the voice, the three-tailed snake lady's facial expression underwent a dramatic change.
She turned her head. A giant boa constrictor created from countless vines was looking at her in a condescending manner.
She also sensed that the distant battle fluctuations had now vanished completely.
"Nine Gloom! You tricked me?!"
"How could I lure you out of that cloud of purple fog if I didn't use some tricks?" Nine Gloom's tone was calm.
"So I've been your target since the very beginning?!" The three-tailed snake lady came to a sudden realization.
"You could say that." Nine Gloom did not deny it.
"So you pretended to fight Silver Armor, letting me think that you couldn't fight me at the same time to lure me out of the Purple Cloud. You even attacked me on purpose on the pretense of forcing me back into the Purple Cloud, so I would have a sense of urgency to meet up with Silver Armor and retract the Purple Cloud without hesitation… What a great trick!" The three-tailed snake lady said resentfully. She had now completely understood what sort of trick the Nine Gloom Vine had played on her.
"Unfortunately, you figured it out a bit too late."
As soon as the Nine Gloom Vine finished, countless threads invisible to the naked eye had already enveloped the three-tailed snake lady, forming a giant, white cocoon. A moment later, the cocoon suddenly changed shape, as if a towel were being wrung by a huge, invisible hand.
At that moment, purplish-red drops began to spread over the white cocoon. In the beginning, it looked like purplish-red flower petals were falling on a piece of white cloth. However, the entire cloth turned purplish-red very quickly.
Purplish-red liquid even began to seep out onto the cocoon's surface….
Chapter 1578 - The Title Nine Gloom
Upon sensing Giant Sarcoma and Four Face's auras vanish one after the other, Silver Armor began to be rather anxious.
He felt the urge to break through the obstructing layers of vines and directly confront the Nine Gloom Vine for the final battle.
He knew that if things dragged out any further, the three-tailed snake lady might be killed.
It was not that he harbored any particular feelings for the three-tailed snake lady, but he knew that Nine Gloom was extremely powerful. Silver Armor was not confident that he would be able to win. He hoped that the three-tailed snake lady could survive and join forces to fight the enemy with him.
As his thoughts drifted, intense battle fluctuations suddenly came from a distance.
'That direction—isn't that the direction the Nine Gloom Vine was guarding…' Silver Amor paused his steps for a moment as he hurried toward where the Nine Gloom Vine was guarding, 'Don't tell me the three-tailed snake lady has escaped?!'
In the entire God Territory, right now only the three of them remained—the Nine Gloom Vine, the three-tailed snake lady, and himself.
He had not encountered any enemies, so the battle happening now could only be between the Nine Gloom Vine and the three-tailed snake lady.
As soon as he realized this, Silver Armor hesitated no longer. He turned and broke through the vine layers, charging in the direction of the battle fluctuations. He wanted to reunite with the three-tailed snake lady before she was killed.
However, before very long, the intense battle fluctuations suddenly stopped.
Silver Armor's heart skipped a beat.
'The three-tailed snake lady has been killed?!'
The three-tailed snake lady's abilities were the weakest among the six overlords. This weakness was not just in regards to her overall abilities but also every other aspect. Without her two powerful lovers, Four Face and Silver Armor, she would not have otherwise been able to take her place as one of the six overlords, given her level of ability.
In all honesty, Silver Armor was not surprised that she had been killed by the Nine Gloom Vine in such a short time. It was just that the battle fluctuations had stopped rather suddenly.
'No, that's not right—the Snake Lady's aura hasn't dissipated yet!' Silver Armor reacted immediately after a brief moment of astonishment.
However, another wave of intense energy fluctuations came from another direction almost simultaneously.
That other direction was where the Nine Gloom Vine had been since the beginning.
Although Silver Armor had not entirely figured out what exactly was going on, he turned without hesitation in the direction of this new wave of energy fluctuations and began forcing his way through.
With a sense of urgency, he charged toward the energy fluctuations, evading the vines that were obstructing him in every direction.
He sensed that the three-tailed snake lady's aura only began to plummet and weaken after the last round of energy shockwaves.
'The battle fluctuations that lasted for over ten minutes wasn't the battle between Nine Gloom and the Snake Lady. It's this one, the latest round of energy shockwaves!'
After a moment's consideration, he was roughly able to hazard a guess at what had happened just now.
'That old wretch Nine Gloom is really such a schemer!'
When he sensed the three-tailed snake lady's aura dissipating, Silver Armor immediately felt that the pressure on him had significantly increased.
A two-against-one battle had now entirely become a one-on-one.
Although the three-tailed snake lady's abilities were nothing to shout about, if she were still alive, she could at least still assist from the sidelines. Even if she could only cause minimal disruption, Silver Armor's chances of winning would increase significantly.
However, he had no choice but to go one-on-one now.
…
After setting up a plan to get rid of the three-tailed snake lady, the pressure on the Nine Gloom Vine from losing an ally eased slightly.
In reality, he had come up with a new one-against-two scheme the moment Four Face departed. He had also swiftly come up with a plan to trick the three-tailed snake lady, taking into consideration every possible move that she might make.
In the end, out of all the possibilities, the three-tailed snake lady had finally chosen the one that benefited Nine Gloom the most and lost her life on the spot.
"Now there's only you left…"
The Nine Gloom Vine's countless vines converged into a giant boa constrictor. Lifting his head high, he looked across the distance at the faraway Silver Armor.
The next moment, the giant boa disintegrated and transformed into tens of thousands of tiny snakes which burrowed into the sea of vines.
Almost at the same time, the vines in the entire God Territory began stirring wildly.
At that very instant, the vines around Silver Armor seemed to go berserk. The intensity and frequency of their attacks began to increase significantly. Even the trajectory of their attacks began to become manic and strange, making it very difficult for anyone to predict.
Silver Armor found himself in an awkward situation, but only for a moment. After that, he settled into the new tempo of battle.
This sudden change out of nowhere did not put pressure on Silver Armor at all. Instead, it had an increasingly steadying effect on him.
There was no other reason beyond knowing that the Nine Gloom Vine was going to attack soon.
In reality, he had been rather worried in the beginning, in case the Nine Gloom Vine went head-to-head right away without doing any probing. After all, this was the Nine Gloom Vine's territory. If he were to attack head-on, Silver Armor would be at a complete disadvantage.
Fortunately, the Nine Gloom Vine chose a more cautious opening gambit.
On the one hand, he used the vines as a means of suppression, taking advantage of the vines' sheer numbers and frequency of attack to make Silver Armor reveal his weakness. On the other, he was also draining the Divine Power within Silver Armor's body.
However, from this, Silver Armor deduced another piece of information—the Nine Gloom Vine was already lurking nearby.
This was because the Nine Gloom Vine had to be in closer proximity before he could launch a fatal attack the minute Silver Armor revealed his weakness.
In reality, the Nine Gloom Vine was intentionally conveying that message to increase pressure on Silver Armor.
As far as the Nine Gloom Vine was concerned, this was his territory. In his God Territory, the drain on his Divine Power was much slower. Therefore, the longer this battle dragged on, Silver Armor would be at a greater disadvantage. The more psychological pressure Silver Armor felt, the more chances of him revealing his weakness
…
On his end, Silver Armor was aware of this point as well.
However, he did not panic. He maintained the tempo of battle without revealing any weakness at all.
This state of affairs went on for over half an hour.
Suddenly, the Black Dragon Spear in Silver Armor's hand vibrated. In the void, circle upon circle of black ripples began to spread like waves.
These circles of ripples were like sharp blades. In every area they passed through, the vines would be sliced into countless pieces.
The speed at which the waves were spreading was extremely fast. In practically an instant, they had spread to a radius of several hundred kilometers.
At that moment, Silver Armor did not pause at all. Suddenly, he jabbed forward with his spear and pointed in the air in a random direction.
Suddenly, a black shockwave shot out from the tip of the spear wildly, swallowing up the surrounding region within a radius of several hundred kilometers.
If one's eyes were good enough to follow the speed of Silver Armor's move, they would be able to see that within the area of attack in his field of vision, vines like tiny snakes were swallowed up by the waves.
All these tiny snakes did not seem to be affected by the slashing of the black ripples. Impressively, they were still in the form that the Nine Gloom Vine had split into earlier.
The moment the black shockwave swallowed up the tiny snakes, Silver Armor swiftly performed a hand seal. The red spark in his eyes blazed to full strength in an instant.
A giant black dragon materialized into concrete form above his head within a blink of an eye.
Almost the very instant its form consolidated, the giant dragon's gaze locked onto a certain area swallowed up by the shockwave. With practically no hesitation, it opened its mouth and spat forth endless black Dragon Flames, engulfing the entire area again…
Chapter 1579 - Nine Gloom Versus Silver Armor
"Got him!"
Silver Armor clearly sensed that his attack had not failed.
Just when he was about to continue pursuing the Nine Gloom Vine further, his danger instincts suddenly sensed an intense threat. Rapidly, he made a decisive retreat the moment his toes touched the ground.
The instant he moved, countless black vines turned into tens of thousands of thorns that penetrated right through the spot where he had been standing earlier. They resembled a giant black crystal flower in bloom.
Although he had anticipated that his combination attack would not kill off the Nine Gloom Vine right away, Silver Armor still felt that it might do some injury to his opponent. However, from the looks of things, he had underestimated Nine Gloom; his combination attack did not appear to have done any concrete damage to the Nine Gloom Vine at all.
The giant crystal flower's prickly leaves consolidated into a giant face as Silver Armor's attack failed. It was the impressive face that had greeted the four-faced individual previously.
"You lived up to your name, Silver Armor. If you had used that combination of attacks outside my God Territory, you might actually have severely injured me.
"However, you're in my God Territory now, so you have no choice but to submit to my rules of the game. Under these rules of mine, you'd better just admit that you're soundly beaten!"
As soon as the huge face finished speaking, it disintegrated instantly, turning into countless black vines.
Right as Silver Armor was about to dodge, he noticed that the vines did not charge at him. Instead, their forms were rapidly changing at a speed visible the naked eye could barely follow, transforming one by one into monsters of different shapes and sizes.
There were humans, Protoss, Bug Tribe monsters, as well as Abyssal creatures…
Each of them had an aura almost as powerful as a ninth-rank Heavenly God.
Dozens of them had auras that were very close to overlord-rank.
There were even a number whose auras were clearly no weaker than those of the six overlords.
As he glanced over the monsters with the most powerful auras, the red glow in Silver Armor's eyes flickered slightly.
He was familiar with at least half of them.
Each of those powerhouses had been formidable individuals in the inner world's history who had once laid claim to the position of overlord.
What disturbed Silver Armor's state of mind even more was that he saw the newly-defeated three-tailed snake lady, Crimson Eye, and Giant Sarcoma. Their auras were almost the same as when they had been alive.
"So this is the trump card that you've been concealing all this time?!" Silver Armor forcibly suppressed just how shocked he was. He now had a rough idea of the kind of ability that the Nine Gloom Vine possessed.
"Do you think my name—Nine Gloom—is merely an empty reputation?" The Nine Gloom Vine's slightly cynical voice drifted through flatly, "Nine Gloom is my title!"
The flame burning in Silver Armor's eyes flickered again when he heard that.
Naturally, he was well aware of what a title was.
As one progressed along the path of cultivation, one would obtain a corresponding title when they had achieved some specific condition.
Different titles came with different effects. Some directly endowed the individual with a god rule, a sequence, or perhaps a divine ability. Some might allow one to comprehend a certain true meaning heavenly rule, and some would even produce some unique effects…
The title Nine Gloom evidently gave the Nine Gloom Vine a certain special divine ability or sequence power that allowed him to revive and control dead powerhouses with some specific technique.
To Silver Armor, this sort of ability was a bit of a riddle.
After all, the Nine Gloom Vine's ability was by no means inferior to his own. Given that there were several powerhouses on par with Crimson Eye and Giant Sarcoma, his chances of winning were rather slim.
However, Silver Armor knew very well that he had already witnessed his opponent's biggest trump card, and the Nine Gloom Vine was not likely to leave him alive. Right now, Silver Armor no longer had any way of escape; he could only fight to the death.
At this point in his considerations, Silver Armor had absolutely no intention of fleeing. Seeing that there was a horde of monsters swarming his way, he advanced to meet them immediately.
Like a violent storm, the Black Dragon Spear in his hand stabbed forward, swiftly impaling one monster after another.
These consecutive kills looked easy, but in his mind, Silver Armor felt increasingly concerned.
Before attacking, he had been trusting to luck. He thought Nine Gloom might have merely simulated the forms and auras of those deceased individuals. By nature, these simulated beings were still clones of the Nine Gloom Vine and did not possess their original abilities.
However, it took only the first wave of impact for him to know that he had made a serious error.
These monsters were not simulated beings; they possessed battle wills of their own. Not only were their auras the same as when they were alive, but they were also practically able to replicate perfectly the abilities and strength that they had before.
Naturally, the Nine Gloom Vine sensed Silver Armor's probing.
"It looks like you've already discovered they've almost entirely been able to replicate their abilities from when they were still alive. However, did you know that my title's ability is very simple to use? All I need to do is to obtain part of the deceased's body before their soul completely dissipates. With that, I can 'revive' them perfectly.
"Of course, this sort of 'revival' comes with restrictions—they can't leave my God Territory. However, that's not much of an issue. All I need to do is to drag my opponent into my God Territory. "
Perhaps because he felt sure that he would win or because of some other reason, the Nine Gloom Vine started becoming talkative.
"It's unfortunate that something happened to that brat Four Face, so he managed to escape my God Territory in advance. Initially, I considered getting rid of all of you, then killing him as well so that I could live in peace forever!"
The Nine Gloom Vine disclosed what he really had in mind. In reality, if he had not felt that Four Face's condition was somewhat peculiar, he would have certainly killed him right away.
Their so-called alliance had been formed solely because of benefits. As soon as these benefits had been achieved, one naturally did not have to be concerned about any falling out between both parties. To Nine Gloom, this was completely normal.
It was only at this moment that Silver Armor found out Four Face was not dead.
Previously, he had sensed Four Face's aura vanish, so he had assumed all along that Four Face had died in battle.
Now, after hearing what Nine Gloom said, Silver Armor realized that Four Face had successfully escaped from the God Territory. He could not help feeling a surge of envy. He even regretted having gotten himself into this predicament.
If he had known previously that the Nine Gloom Vine had this sort of ability, he definitely would not have chosen to become enemies with him. However, he had entirely no choice now.
While dodging the attacks from the monster horde, Silver Armor was swiftly trying to come up with countermeasures.
Given the number and abilities of the monsters that the Nine Gloom Vine had summoned, it was basically impossible to kill all of them. Silver Armor even had doubts about whether his Divine Power would be enough to kill one-third of them.
Therefore, the key to resolving the problem still lay in the Nine Gloom Vine's true form.
As soon as he killed the Nine Gloom Vine, who was the source, the Nine Gloom Vine's God Territory would automatically collapse. These 'revenants' that he had created would also naturally disappear.
Now the biggest problem was how to bypass these 'revenants' and kill the Nine Gloom Vine.
Furthermore, Silver Armor had to kill the Nine Gloom Vine within an extremely short timeframe, or these 'revenants' would soon surround him again.
Silver Armor could not help sinking into deep thought…
Chapter 1580: Showing All Trump Cards
In the God Territory, time ticked on in minutes and seconds.
The number of 'revenants' that the Nine Gloom Vine created decreased rapidly as Silver Armor massacred them. However, this did not decrease the pressure on Silver Armor very much at all.
The 'revenants' he slaughtered were all those whose abilities were far below his own. He would basically kill them instantly, then immediately extricate himself and retreat.
As for those powerhouses whose abilities were either close to overlord-rank or who were genuine overlord-rank powerhouses, he did not go head-to-head with them at all. He evaded them as much as he could. Those whom he really could not avoid, he would retreat from, even if they preferred to force him into a confrontation. The reason was that he knew very well he would be caught up in the fighting, and by then, there would be even more overlord-rank enemies appearing.
This battle was a fight to the death.
If the Nine Gloom Vine managed to seize an opportunity, Silver Armor knew that he himself would come to a tragic end.
From the moment the Nine Gloom Vine summoned forth these 'revenants', the battle was no longer a fair fight of one against one. The scales of victory were tipped in Nine Gloom's favor; the Nine Gloom Vine had no cause for concern at all in that respect.
However, Silver Armor did not abandon the struggle.
He was like an elusive mudfish—despite being trapped in a bog, it never allowed itself to be caught, and thus have its weaknesses revealed.
Nine Gloom was in no hurry at all. To him, Silver Armor was already trapped like a rat in a cage. No matter what, Silver Armor would not be able to escape from Nine Gloom's God Territory. It was only a matter of time before his weaknesses revealed themselves.
The Nine Gloom Vine did not even bother concealing himself anymore. Instead, he let the 'revenants' serve as a blockade between himself and Silver Armor. He watched the fight from a close range of less than 100 meters from the battlefield; it did not seem like he was planning to fight at all.
Even though he saw Silver Armor attempting several times to break out from being besieged in order to fight the Nine Gloom Vine's true form, the Nine Gloom Vine did not move from his place at all.
In reality, he was intentionally staying at such close range so Silver Armor would think he had a chance.
The Nine Gloom Vine enjoyed watching his prey repeatedly struggle and fail. He would give them a glimmer of hope, but that hope itself was a chasm of despair one was doomed never to cross.
As time ticked on, Nine Gloom could clearly sense that Silver Armor's Divine Power output was decreasing and weakening. He also knew that Silver Armor would not last for long under such a high-powered assault.
Ten minutes went by rapidly. Suddenly, Silver Armor broke through the ranks of opponents that besieged him and began madly fighting his way to where the Nine Gloom Vine's true form was.
Although Silver Armor had given his all in this berserk attack, his speed was obviously considerably slower than when he was at his peak.
However, he seemed to be even more determined this time, doing his best to avoid whatever attacks he could. Those that he could not avoid, he faced head-on.
A mocking smile appeared on Nine Gloom's giant face. He could clearly see that Silver Armor's armor was beginning to show traces of cracks.
He guessed that this was probably why Silver Armor was suddenly roused to action—he could not hold on for much longer.
"Since you seem so eager to die, I'll grant your wish." A ruthless gleam flashed through Nine Gloom's eyes. His opponent was in a hurry to advance—the perfect opportunity for slaughtering his target
Simultaneously, as the Nine Gloom Vine manipulated the revenants to bar the way in front of him, he also controlled the revenants that Silver Armor had bypassed so that they silently cut off his retreat.
It was unclear whether it was because Silver Armor had discovered that he had enemies behind him and also surrounding him, or because of some other reason entirely, but he was extraordinarily determined this time. He advanced with unusually resolute steps.
Under Nine Gloom's manipulation, Crimson Eye, Giant Sarcoma, and a few overlord-rank powerhouses stationed themselves as the last line of defense.
Previously, Silver Armor had refused to go head-to-head with those revenants that were close to overlord-rank. This time, however, he did not back down at all when faced with these few true overlord-rank powerhouses such as Crimson Eye and Giant Sarcoma.
He tried his best to dodge the assaults from the few of them while attempting to break free from their blockade.
Those attacks that he could not evade, he faced head-on, unwilling to give up any opportunity that would allow him to advance.
Even though his defense capabilities were practically the most powerful among the six overlords, he could not afford to have several overlord-rank powerhouses join forces to attack him.
In merely the time it took for several breaths, the cracks on his silver armor were increasing and also becoming larger. However, he paid no heed to them at all, as if he had become obsessed with wanting to break free from these revenants' blockade and fight Nine Gloom. He did not care about the consequences at all.
The smirk on Nine Gloom's face grew broader when he saw that Silver Armor seemed to have become possessed. The way he saw it, the more Silver Armor behaved like that, the closer he was to death.
Under the combined suppression of Crimson Eye, Giant Sarcoma, and the other overlords, more and more cracks began to appear on Silver Armor's body. Very soon, there was practically not a single spot that was whole and unbroken. He no longer looked like the commanding, awe-inspiring silver-armored god of battle from before; instead, he looked more like a porcelain vessel that had been knocked about. Although he had not yet completely fallen apart, he was riddled with wounds all over and was on the verge of collapse.
There were several times when Nine Gloom even thought that Silver Armor's body would crumble completely if he were attacked just once more.
However, the toughness of Silver Armor's body was still beyond what Nine Gloom had expected.
After going head-to-head for more than a dozen attacks, Silver Armor's suit of armor had still not fallen apart. However, the cracks were thicker and more numerous, making his body seem all the more ruined.
However, in this final round of direct clashes, he managed to forcibly break through the final line of defense.
The grin on Nine Gloom's huge face was malevolent. At the very last moment, he had intentionally manipulated Giant Sarcoma and the others to lower their defenses.
He had no reason for this other than Silver Armor was already on his last legs and was no longer a threat anymore. Moreover, rather than Silver Armor being killed outside the line of defense, Nine Gloom wanted to crush his opponent's very last sliver of hope himself.
'I see you want to break through the lines of defense and fight me head-on. Very well, I'll give you the chance to break through and fight me face-to-face so I can crush your very last hope!'
Watching Silver Armor charge at him with his battered body after breaking through the defending line, the aura of Nine Gloom's entire body instantly soared to its peak. Countless vines rose like a tsunami and surged toward Silver Armor.
Silver Armor's body of over three meters in height seemed unbelievably small right now. He was like a tiny skiff in a universe of infinite vines.
The flash of silver merely lasted for a moment before it was entirely swallowed up by the sea of vines.
Nine Gloom could very obviously sense that the very instant Silver Armor was completely devoured, his suit of silver armor finally fell apart completely.
Before Nine Gloom could celebrate his victory, a terrifying wave of heat suddenly began spreading within the depths of the encompassing vines.
It was like a nuclear warhead exploding. A surge of extreme heat instantly radiated outward, spreading like a wave. Wherever it passed, all the vines in that area were immediately scorched black.
Even Nine Gloom's true form was affected. He felt a wave of terrifyingly high heat spreading through his body and his skin began carbonizing at a visible speed. The heat was like a toxin, even invading the inner parts of his body. Wherever the heat passed, that area would be scorched to cinders.
Furthermore, Nine Gloom could clearly sense that the source of this extreme heat came from where Silver Armor's body had disintegrated.