Chapter 85: Chapter85-The Chessboard of the Gods
Chapter 85: Chapter85-The Chessboard of the Gods
A black rune, emanating an eerie aura, shot out from the Necrostaff.
It struck the assassin's forehead with lightning speed, much to his astonishment.
The assassin's body jolted, and a faint black mist rose from him.
He had entered a state of silence! Despite the level suppression, the silence effect on the assassin was brief, lasting only a moment.
However, his previously unstoppable attack hesitated significantly at this critical juncture.
A flicker of murderous intent shone in John's eyes.
This was the moment he had been waiting for.
With a thought, the Bloodthirsty Blade's previously closed eerie eye suddenly snapped open, its crimson pupil bursting with blinding blood light.
"Blood Rage!"
John's pupils instantly turned crimson, his aura surged explosively.
Enveloped in dense blood energy, powerful waves of vitality emanated from him, creating tumultuous air currents.
At this moment, under the boost of Blood Rage, John's strength attribute soared to an astonishing 2000 points.
Such terrifying power was rare even among gold-tier warriors.
"Boom!"
The ground beneath John exploded as he turned abruptly.
The Bloodthirsty Blade traced a bloody arc through the sky, slashing ferociously towards the horrified assassin.
"Swoosh!"
Blood light flashed.
The air seemed to freeze.
The assassin's body stiffened, statue-like, standing still.
A crimson line slowly emerged across his neck.
The assassin slowly raised his hand to his neck in shock, seemingly unable to believe what was happening before him.
Then, his head slid off his neck, and blood gushed from the wound like a fountain.
The blood aura surrounding John slowly dissipated.
Shaking off the blood from his longsword, his gaze was as calm as still water.
With a thud, the assassin's headless body fell straight to the ground, emitting a dull sound.
Everyone present shivered inwardly.
Their gazes towards John were as if they were looking at a monster.
A bronze-tier defeating a platinum-tier!
Was this man a demon reincarnate?
John exhaled deeply.
To the onlookers, it all happened in the blink of an eye.
But only John knew the truth; defeating the platinum-tier assassin had nearly exhausted all his tricks.
It was only because the assassin had been overconfident and careless that he had managed to slay him with a single strike.
Without the silencing skill from the Necrostaff, John wouldn't have dared to take such a risk.
Two dense orbs of bloodlight, visible only to John, drifted up from the assassin's corpse.
One flowed into John's body, and the other merged with the Bloodthirsty Blade.
["Blood Absorption" activated, you gain 7 points of strength!]
After absorbing the assassin's life force, the Bloodthirsty Blade seemed to regain some of its power.
Although it remained iron-tier, both strength and spirit attributes increased to 20 points, gaining an additional 5 points each.
The life force extracted, the assassin's body turned to bones in the blink of an eye.
John stepped forward, collecting everything on the assassin's body into his pouch.
After all, these were all valuable assets!
Watching John unhesitantly loot the body, Venomous Serpent fell silent for a moment before a twisted smile crept onto his face.
Pointing at John, he laughed, "Worthy of being from Hidden Stars, truly extraordinary. It's geniuses like you that I enjoy the most."
Then, Venomous Serpent's smile abruptly vanished, his eyes suddenly blazing with a ferocious killing intent.
His voice, as if emerging from the depths of hell, chillingly said, "It's only killing geniuses like you that truly brings me pleasure!"
As his voice faded, Venomous Serpent's body erupted in a blinding green glow.
Countless serpents, as if responding to a call, frenziedly surged towards Venomous Serpent, quickly merging into his body.
Old Dog and Gold Flash's expressions shifted, sensing trouble.
Both launched their attacks at Venomous Serpent with full force.
However, their strikes, upon touching the poison mist, seemed to vanish without a trace, utterly ineffective.
As more snakes merged with the mist, Venomous Serpent's body began to twist and contort unnaturally, as if boneless.
His skeleton cracked audibly, muscles bulging in irregular patterns.
In just a few breaths, Venomous Serpent's previously frail frame swelled several times over, transforming into a towering five to six-meter tall monster, muscles knotted, composed of countless merging serpents! Fear was evident in many onlookers' eyes.
Now massive, Venomous Serpent's eyes turned brown, his cheeks covered in dense scales, and his muscles writhed like worms, causing onlookers' skin to crawl.
His aura had increased exponentially.
Gold Flash and Old Dog looked visibly distressed.
They were already struggling against Venomous Serpent; after his transformation and power surge, it seemed unlikely they could continue to hold him off.
Exchanging determined glances, they saw the resolve in each other's eyes.
Without hesitation, they charged at Venomous Serpent again, ready to sacrifice themselves to keep him at bay.
"Two ants who don't know their place," Venomous Serpent sneered, his muscular arms bulging.
Then, with a terrifying whoosh and unstoppable force, his massive hands swung towards Old Dog and Gold Flash.
Gold Flash and Old Dog, not daring to be complacent, darted swiftly to evade.
But just as they narrowly avoided Venomous Serpent's assault and had no time to catch their breath, peculiar bulges suddenly swelled on Venomous Serpent's bizarre arms.
"Pop!"
"Pop!"
Immediately after, the bulges burst open, and two pythons, formed from the fusion of smaller snakes, shot out, aiming straight for the duo.
This sudden turn of events caught Gold Flash and Old Dog somewhat off guard.
Despite their efforts to dodge, the pythons exploded before making contact, dispersing into numerous smaller snakes and raining down on them, swiftly engulfing both in a serpent deluge.
"Old Dog, Gold Flash!"
Silver Tear shouted in distress.
Hearing this, Dark Fox glanced towards their direction, her eyes filled with concern.
"Still worried about others? You should take care of yourself first!"
Femme Fatale sneered, flicking her wrist lightly, and her thorn-whip transformed into a blur of shadows, swiftly lashing towards Dark Fox.
Dark Fox frowned, her graceful figure leaping and shifting position.
She managed to evade several strikes, but eventually, Femme Fatale's whip connected with her body.
"Bang!"
A burst of blood blossomed on her shoulder.
Dark Fox was sent flying backwards, crashing to the ground.
"Cough, cough!"
She coughed up several mouthfuls of blood, the gruesome wound on her shoulder shocking to behold, almost too horrific for eyes.
It seemed Femme Fatale's whip had been poisoned.
Dark Fox's complexion turned pale, feeling an overwhelming weakness throughout her body.
She attempted to stand several times, but each attempt ended in failure.
A trace of bitterness appeared in Dark Fox's eyes.
The gap between them was ultimately too vast.
Watching the advantage he had painstakingly built up being overturned in an instant, John clenched his fists, his nails digging into his flesh, a profound sense of powerlessness surging in his heart.
Even with his remarkable talents, before reaching full strength, he remained vulnerable.
Venomous Serpent scoffed, "On the battlefield, absolute strength dictates victory. Even if everyone here dies, as long as the two of us remain, you stand no chance. All your struggles are futile and won't alter the outcome."
With those words, Venomous Serpent stomped on the ground fiercely.
The earth shattered, sending clods of soil flying.
His figure then transformed into a missile, hurtling towards John with fierce momentum.
Albertus, who had just slain a diamond-tier awakener, turned around to witness this scene and roared, "Venomous Serpent, how dare you!"
John was a genius he had managed to recruit using the Fairfax Token.
Albertus could not stand by and watch his protege die before having the chance to flourish.
However, Venomous Serpent ignored him, continuing his charge towards John.
Everyone attempting to block his path was reduced to mush.
The status of heir to the Fairfax House might deter others, but it held no sway over the Dusk Sect.
Biting his lip, Albertus's storage ring glowed.
Without even looking, he hastily retrieved something from it and threw it towards John's location with all his might.
Dark Fox, sensing John's imminent danger, found herself in a critical, time-pressured situation.
A look of determination flashed in her eyes, as if she had made a resolute decision.
A mysterious aura filled with darkness, destruction, and silence seemed to quietly awaken within Dark Fox.
Dark lines spread rapidly from her heart, her pupils swiftly darkening.
Meanwhile, a vastly sacred and profound aura began to stir within Seraphina as well.
The two seemed to notice each other's changes, their gazes meeting inadvertently.
One's eyes shone with a brilliant Gold Flash, exuding an inviolable sanctity, while the other's were as dark as night, void of life and filled with silence.
On the other side, facing the charging Venomous Serpent, John clenched his teeth, his eyes flashing with madness.
Faint bloodlight began to emerge again on his longsword.
The last thing John wanted was to wait passively for death.
…
In the Contract Space, Yina, who had been sleeping in a bubble of colorful mist, suddenly opened her eyes.
Her magnificent, multicolored eyes sparkled with surprise as she murmured to herself, "The God's Chosen of life and destruction have appeared together, and there seems to be an aura of twilight and some peculiar beings… These folks sure move fast. Do I need to intervene? It looks like he's struggling to hold on."
In the sky of the Contract Space, a Gold Flash flickered subtly.