Chapter 3008: Storm King

Was this the legendary Starburst Abandon-Treatment Slash?

Fine as a hair, it flashed past in an instant.

Aside from its sheer brightness, the strike brewed within the storm of the Dark Tide actually seemed rather low-key.

But that was only on the surface. As the targeted party, Fu Qian felt a genuine surge of excitement in that moment.

The opponent had indeed hit their target, striking a theoretically vital spot.

And while he wasn't surprised by Excellency Blasphemy Monarch's decisive and ruthless nature, he hadn't deliberately tried to dodge.

Honestly, the Blasphemy Monarch's performance so far had been entirely too absurd. Whipping up two "Deities" out of thin air in such a short time had left Fu Qian rather curious.

Having already tested his damage resistance on the Dragon King, Fu Qian was inclined to test the damage output this time.

The conclusion was that the attack power was equally impressive. Aside from its lack of intelligence, it was overall arguably even more absurd than the Father's Amnion he had encountered previously.

The spot on his chest that had been hit was far from a simple hole.

It was as if a star had directly detonated inside him. An endless storm of destruction spread outward, obliterating all of his original structural makeup.

Seemingly familiar? Even with the resilience of the Mechanical King of the Abandoned Prison, he felt a trace of pressure in that moment.

Not that Fu Qian was paying attention to his Health Bar—he was far more interested in the way his health was being drained.

This kind of destruction was simply too pure. Among the old veterans, whose methods were generally somewhat underhanded, it almost felt like a breath of fresh air.

The key was that he seemed to have encountered a similar breath of fresh air recently—in Lanphilai.

Yes, Excellency Half-Art.

During the battle for the Third Cause back then, a third person had indeed appeared and launched the first attack.

Given that the attack manifested similarly to lightning, combined with the encounter on Lily's side, he guessed there was a significant possibility it was the Night Watchers' New God, Excellency Half-Art.

But as he had evaluated at the time, that power had far surpassed the concept of lightning. It was brimming with pure frenzy and destruction.

Just like now.

The Blasphemy Monarch couldn't have possibly fabricated an Excellency Half-Art, could they? Theoretically, the real person wasn't far away.

Imagining such a scene, even Fu Qian found it ridiculous.

But to insist that such a pure power of a Deity was identical purely by coincidence seemed a bit of a stretch.

"And who might this be?" he asked.

If you don't understand, ask. To find out exactly who was fabricated, just asking the creator was enough.

"You're actually concerned about that?"

Seemingly not expecting to succeed so easily, the Blasphemy Monarch found Fu Qian's reaction completely incomprehensible.

"Yeah. They give me a feeling somewhat like Excellency Half-Art from the outside, but I feel the possibility is slim," Fu Qian said.

"But to say it isn't him... the impression is undeniably similar. Two people shouldn't be sitting on the same Divine Station, right?"

Fu Qian genuinely continued his casual chatter, completely ignoring the eye of the storm that had already expanded to the size of a fist on his chest.

Even the eye of the storm itself seemed to corroborate his words, fine snakes of electricity already ravaging its edges.

"Your feeling is correct. It is indeed not Half-Art... though they do share similarities."

Anyone could see that Professor Fu was fishing for intelligence. In all fairness, the Blasphemy Monarch had no obligation whatsoever to answer.

The reason they still answered was simple—Professor Fu's question was also an open scheme.

Completely disregarding his own injuries, he was chatting away while enduring the tearing force of the storm. Regardless of his mindset, every word the Blasphemy Monarch spent answering the question would indeed cause their opponent to suffer an extra degree of damage.

Faced with such a situation, do you refuse to answer and force the other party to give up and deal with their injuries, or do you trade intelligence for an advantage?

The Blasphemy Monarch had already answered with their actual actions.

After all, it was a highly profitable trade with zero cost. The opponent wasn't even asking for intelligence related to himself.

...

It really was two different people? Things were getting more and more interesting.

Although he couldn't rule out the suspicion that the Blasphemy Monarch was spouting nonsense, Fu Qian still naturally continued his deductions based on the obtained intelligence.

First, the Blasphemy Monarch's words almost reconfirmed that the poor soul caught in the crossfire in Lanphilai was indeed Half-Art.

Then the entity they had fabricated just now was a completely different individual who wielded a similar power?

Two Half-Arts coexisting at such a close distance might be eerie, but two higher entities with similar capabilities coexisting also seemed somewhat unreasonable.

"So, how should this one be addressed?"

Fu Qian didn't stand on ceremony, continuing to satisfy his curiosity.

"Unfortunately, I don't know either... Perhaps you could call them the Storm King."

The Blasphemy Monarch's answer could be considered slightly bizarre.

As an old veteran, they actually didn't recognize the character they had fabricated with their own hands?

Logically speaking, even a New God should have some sort of title.

But it was precisely such an unreasonable answer that raised its credibility by a few notches—

In his field of vision, the character who had just launched the attack was no longer deliberately hiding.

Emerging from the undercurrent, they openly locked onto his position while keeping a vigilant eye on the King of the Abandoned Prison's movements.

As for their overall appearance, it was hard to even compare them to the Dragon King from before; they could only be described as abstract.

Large and small, every part of them consisted of layers of nested rings, which ultimately converged into the shape of a living storm. Just a single glance was enough to plunge one's mind into disarray.

Even the properties of the rings varied. Darting electrical arcs, surging flames, and thick lines of blood mixed together like violently stirred noodles of three different colors—Three Faces?

This overly classic trio of elements easily reminded Fu Qian of a certain ability he had acquired through Insight.

And it was precisely during his time in Lanphilai...

So the one fighting him for the Third Cause last time was this entity?

It truly didn't look like the Blasphemy Monarch was lying. The Storm King and Half-Art were not the same person.

Calmly verifying this against the scene in his memory, the Emblem of rings nested within rings surfaced in Fu Qian's mind once again.

Now things seemed a bit more reasonable. In fact, if their capabilities hadn't overlapped, the situation back then would have been abnormal.

Back in Lanphilai, he had deliberately exposed the situation to the Night Watchers to have them help strike the grass to startle the snake.

But during the final contest, Half-Art's performance had still been somewhat astonishing.

Not only had he quickly sensed the standoff between Fu Qian and the "Storm King," but he was even able to directly intervene from a distance.

Now, this excessively outstanding performance seemed to have an explanation—the similarity in abilities between Half-Art and the Storm King was indeed very high, which was why he could easily sense and even track it.

As for why the similarity was so high?

Normally, this question would indeed be difficult to answer, but the Blasphemy Monarch's hesitation in naming them seemed to prove that one of his speculations back then had been correct.

That was: the opponent was indeed a higher entity, but was inherently a chaotic three-in-one product. And one of those three likely originated from a Divine Path similar to Excellency Half-Art's.

Only this would result in the special circumstance of similar yet coexisting capabilities.

And because it was neither an old veteran nor a New God, the Blasphemy Monarch had been so unsure of how to address it.