1017 Attack [3]
The Third Calamity’s eruption was the start of absolute chaos.
Terrifying suction force from the earth pulled the vitality of all things into it, and in return, it gave birth to flora dyed red in the blood of those who contributed to its growth.
The only safe spaces in Holy Light Star now were the high in the sky and deep underground, as these locations were outside the force’s reach.
Nevertheless, this wasn’t something widely known, and not many were able to capitalize on it.
The only plus side was that the Nox Worshippers were also being affected by it, yet their regeneration abilities made it far less of a threat to them.
The geniuses on Holy Light Star would have to do everything in their power to escape, lest they die true deaths in the mystic realm!
***
On the other hand, on Damien’s side, it was like the vitality calamity didn’t exist at all.
Damien’s sword was like a flurry of light. Mirage swung out with ferocity it had hidden for many years, sending gashes and ruptures of space flying across the lands as it slashed into Huo Xuan’s armored skin.
However, whether it was Bladeless, Dance of the Void, Horizon Break, or any other move designed to chip away at the enemy without paying attention to their defense, they couldn’t penetrate the armor!
Bang!
‘This is insane!’ Damien thought to himself as he twisted his body and dodged Huo Xuan’s massive claw.
‘His strength is around the same as mine, but his defense is at least at the level of a High Commander! I can’t pierce it!’
“Human, take my move!” Huo Xuan shouted, swiping his claw through the air.
Bzzzzzt!
Pshhhhhh!
Countless holes were burned through Damien’s body before he had the chance to move.
“Khh…!” He hissed in pain as he teleported out of the trap and charged at Huo Xuan again.
As he approached…
BANG!
Huo Xuan clapped his palms together and generated a terrifying air burst that pushed against Damien and sent him backward towards the laser field.
Damien wanted to teleport away again, but Huo Xuan was already coming at him.
He changed his plan immediately, twisting his body in the air as Huo Xuan arrived before him and latching his calves around the man’s head.
He slammed his body backward, empowering himself with mana and flipping Huo Xuan over him into his own cage!
“Foolish human, my own mana cannot hurt me!” He exclaimed mockingly as the laser field vanished behind him.
“When did I ever say it could?” Damien responded with the same cockiness as he appeared above Huo Xuan.
‘Void Sword Art Fifth Form: Dimensional Severance’
Shiiiiing!
The thin black line that sliced the dimension itself slammed into Huo Xuan.
Skreeeeeee!
Sparks flew from the section of Huo Xuan’s body that was hit, but Dimensional Severence couldn’t cut through him.
Instead, after it made it roughly an inch into Huo Xuan’s defense, he managed to cover himself in his own mana and use a strange phasing technique similar to teleportation.
With no target, the black sword light sliced into the ground and created a several-kilometer-long gash before dispersing.
Damien grinned.
“You’re quite good,” he said.
“And you’re not so bad yourself!” Huo Xuan responded.
Damien didn’t know what technique the enemy used to escape, but since he knew it existed, he wouldn’t allow it to work again.
Damien and Huo Xuan charged at each other without a hint of mana surrounding their bodies.
BANG!
Their fists clashed heavily, sending shockwaves spreading through the earth and breaking its integrity.
Crack!
Damien’s bones shattered instantly, and even Huo Xuan felt the impact reverberating through his body.
Damien didn’t waste any time, using his free hand to punch out again, this time with far more intention.
‘Seven Stars Encircling The Moon’
3 Life Stars, 3 Death Stars, and one Elemental Star surrounded a moon of Spacetime in a chaotic orbit. As Damien’s fist slammed forward, their paths destabilized fiercely until—
BOOOOOOOM!
—the final impact totally disrupted their peace. They crashed against each other in distorted bursts that combined into a huge flash of mana that enveloped both Damien and Huo Xuan.
Bang!
Whoosh!
Huo Xuan’s body flew out from the explosion, riddled with small cuts and bruises, and Damien followed with the speed of a racing comet.
BANG!
Suddenly, another huge noise rang out from nearby.
Another body flew out of an explosive cloud, belonging to Huo Dong. Su Ren chased after him with both blades drawn and covered in mysterious clouds of grey mana.
Compared to Huo Xuan, Huo Dong’s wounds were more severe. There was a simple reason behind it. While Su Ren also couldn’t pierce the enemy’s armor, his unique mana was directly opposed to regeneration and other healing-like elements.
Every inch-thick cut he made could draw blood, even if it was in small amounts.
Nevertheless, both Nox were still in relatively good shape, but the longer the battle continued, the more disadvantaged they would be.
Su Ren slashed his black blade powerfully and followed with an intricate and elegant stab of the white blade.
Huo Dong was pushed further and further back without any opportunity to attack, which meant he couldn’t do a single thing to Su Ren, just as the latter could to him!
Su Ren was confident that enough of the same would eventually kill the enemy, and he was constantly watching for an opportunity to end the fight early.
His swords flurried enough to change the weather, and he entered a hyper-focused state where nothing existed except him and the enemy.
“Su Ren, watch out!”
Damien’s voice awakened him, and he instantly spread his awareness.
His eyes widened. He rapidly broke his flow and shifted his body to the side, pushing his foot into Huo Dong’s side heavily.
BOOM!
The Nox Worshipper was shot to the side by the force, just in time to evade the worst-case scenario.
“Phew…”
Damien let out a breath of relief.
Before he and Su Ren had noticed, they’d fought back to where they started, the same place where Pandora and her junior sisters were taking care of the weaker Nox Worshippers that had come to attack them!
Just then, Su Ren almost drove Huo Dong into the crowd of four Prismatic Sun Holy Land geniuses, but he was luckily able to save it.
The problem was, could Damien do the same?!
He twisted his body to avoid Huo Xuan’s claws, which were now infused with the terrifying corruptive force of Nox Laws.
Every time the claws scratched Damien’s skin, they entered his blood like a virus and fought directly against the energy of Transcendent Regeneration.
Damien couldn’t interfere in that collision, and until he removed the virus, he had to be careful about getting injured.
‘Dammit, what is the Void Physique doing?!’ He wondered inwardly, slamming Freya’s trigger thousands of times.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Countless mana bullets blasted against Huo Xuan’s body and pushed him away.
In that single instant, Damien consciously controlled his Void Mana to eliminate the inner scourge and checked on Pandora’s position.
‘I need to drive him away from here. If he keeps the momentum, we’ll end up over there soon enough, and she’ll die without a word.’
Damien frowned as he flared his mana and prepared to re-enter combat, when abruptly…
Huo Xuan grinned.
“Human, let’s do something fun!”
BANG!
He crashed his foot against the ground, widening the cracks that already existed.
“Are we pretending to be gorillas? What’s the fun part?” Damien asked back, warily watching the man’s movements.
“Hmm, let’s find out!”
Huo Xuan roared and sent his foot powerfully into the ground one more time.
BANG!
RUMBLE!
The ground shook.
Damien’s eyes widened as he looked down.
‘Holy sh— it’s hollow?!’
As Damien had the thought, the massive cracks in the earth suddenly turned to gashes, and a several-meter-long portion of it came loose.
Finally…
BOOOOOOOOM!
The earth collapsed, dragging those surface dwellers into its maw.