Chapter 386: Put Your Best Foot Forward
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Molocchus, who was known for its sly nature, had actually fought with Baiyi only because it had been stalling for time.
Its aim all along had been to complete the complicated Teleportation Formation. This formation is so difficult to construct that even those adept at magic still need time to complete it. Despite using its thick black ma.s.s of muscles to inscribe the runes and glyphs of the formation onto itself, Molocchus still spent a lot of time to create the formation.
The Abyss Lord never intended to have a life-or-death battle with Baiyi. Why do that when it had yet to master its new body? Its smartest play was to retreat. The banter it made, including the offer it made to Baiyi for an alliance, was all a ruse to stall for time with which to complete the formation. As soon as the formation was completed, Molocchus Rewrote the Law of Power to allow the use of worldy energy, causing the formation to start up.
Moments after, it fled the scene, right under the Fifth Walker’s nose.
“Now sh*t really has. .h.i.t the fan,” Baiyi mumbled in a low voice, staring at the spot where Molocchus had vanished. “Once that demon has had enough time to absorb the Holy Power in its new body, as well as learn to control the Laws of Power it wields, the next time we see it, it really will have become a G.o.d of evil.”
“This is catastrophic! I suggest we dive straight into the Abyss and slay that demon, p.r.o.nto!” The Devil Walker exclaimed.
“How do you expect me to defeat it on its turf?” Baiyi asked flatly. He was not happy with the turn of events. He knew that if he had kept the War G.o.d’s Sword, instead of giving it to Attie, he may have been able to defeat the Abyss Lord right there and then.
Suddenly, Baiyi heard Attie’s voice.
‘Uh… am I starting to hallucinate now?’
He looked down, and there Attie was, waving as hard as she could to attract his attention. “Master? Maaaaaster!”
“How did you even get here?” Baiyi began to descend. His Black Meatball form dissipated before he landed beside the little girl. Then, he lifted her by her armpits.
“Put me down!” Attie grumbled, a little sourly. She took out a black cylindrical object, which turned out to be the hilt of the War G.o.d’s Sword, and said, “Master, you should have this!”
‘Why should I have it? You should use it because you’re a lonely, single woman! What…don’t you know how to use it? Hold on, is it just me or do my words sound like they could mean something else? d.a.m.n it; words matter!’
“It’s Lord War G.o.d! He instructed me to pa.s.s this to you, and it’s also Lord War G.o.d who sent me here!” The Kitty-cat Maid exclaimed proudly. Baiyi was not sure what exactly she was proud of.
“The…War G.o.d?” Baiyi asked. ‘Did the War G.o.d do something to Attie while I was fighting that Abyss Lord?!’
“Uh huh!” Attie nodded in excitement and raised the hilt for Baiyi. “The War G.o.d even spoke to me! He asked me to pa.s.s you the sword and a message.”
Baiyi scanned Attie with his psychic energy and discovered that her Power Mark — which had been lying dormant for a long time — had been reactivated; in other words, the War G.o.d’s special blessing on her had been restored once more. Now, Attie would be protected from harm by divine means. Furthermore, her combat prowess had improved.
If not for the car-ear hairband she was wearing, one would think she had become as formidable as she was when she was the King of Steppe!
Now that her Power Mark had been reactivated, it was no surprise that the War G.o.d commanded her through it. She was probably excited because the War G.o.d had acknowledged her once more.
As though able to read Baiyi’s thoughts, Attie said, “I knew that I made the right choice taking you as my master! Lord War G.o.d has never spoken to me directly before today!”
“Oh… You’re actually happy because of something this trivial?” Baiyi muttered. “So, what was his message?”
Attie replied, “Put your best foot forward.”
‘What was that?’ Baiyi was dumbfounded. ‘Why don’t G.o.ds ever make things clear and obvious?’
Suddenly, a tear appeared on the s.p.a.ce behind Baiyi. He quickly grabbed the War G.o.d’s Sword and put Attie down behind him, then he speedily spun around, gazing at the tear in s.p.a.ce, which had appeared in the same spot the monster had vanished. Something huge and black pushed its way out of the tear.
“Phew. Good thing my teleportation spell worked. That b.l.o.o.d.y Hope really was a f**king pain in my a.r.s.e! Wait till I learn how to — wait a sec! What the h.e.l.l is this place?” The Abyss Lord’s large, bug-like eyes widened, and its gaze s.h.i.+fted to Baiyi, who was standing close by.
In horror, the Abyss Lord cried, “How the f**k did I come back here??!?”
Realization soon dawned on the erudite Abyss Lord. It became livid and bellowed, “That stupid War G.o.d’s playing bias again! That wretched G.o.d of s.p.a.ce! He cheated! He hijacked my spell!”
Understanding dawned on Baiyi; the War G.o.d’s message now made sense to him. The G.o.d was implying that it would deliver the monster back to him for another round of battle.
As the G.o.d of s.p.a.ce, it was pretty easy for the War G.o.d to hijack the Abyss Lord’s teleportation spell, sending it back to where it had just fled from. Baiyi wondered how the War G.o.d, who was not there in person, knew what had transpired, prompting it to covertly help him at the right time?
However, that was not important to him now. ‘Its time to play.’
“Go hide somewhere nearby, and run away when you get the chance,” Baiyi said, patting Attie’s head, then he soared into the air and flew towards the Abyss Lord. He landed in front of the monster and smirked. “Yo! I didn’t know we would meet this soon. Funny, huh…”
Saying so, a black sphere, which resembled a meatball, encased Baiyi.
“Deplorable! Deceitful! Despicable!” The Abyss Lord shouted in frustration. “Don’t you dare think I’m scared of you!! In fact, taste my fury!”
The pitcher plant-like meat helmet on the monster’s head suddenly opened wide, revealing its huge bug-like eyes. Green beams shot out from both eyes.
Baiyi easily evaded the beams before chuckling. “My, my. Green light? You should change your t.i.tle to ‘ Lord of Forgiveness 1 ‘!”
Despite Baiyi’s jovial disposition, four formations suddenly appeared behind him. Ice, Fire, Electric, and Light offensive spells shot out of the formations, headed towards Molocchus.
In a bid to stop the attacks, the Abyss Lord hurriedly Rewrote the Law of Power once more, and in an instant, the four spells hurtling towards it dissipated into thin air. The monster’s green beams also dissipated into thin air.
Upon seeing his spells dissipate, Baiyi switched to using Void Energy. Two black formations appeared above his hands, which he had pointed at the monster, and Voidspears began to shoot out of both; it was as though he was shooting an a.s.sault rifle. The black spears struck the monster’s s.h.i.+eld, which it had conjured with Holy Power, leaving ripples on its surface.
“You’re using that? B-but I thought the amount of energy you can use is limited! Or, have you completely forgone Mia’s welfare?” The Archmage asked in surprise. This particular Void secret spell was the Archmage’s invention; he had named it ‘Complaint Message on the Arrow’— a name he had plagiarized from someone else’s work.
The spell bombarded its target with Voidspears, but it consumed a lot of energy. Even though Laeticia was supporting Mia, there should still have been no way for Baiyi to use the spell, except he really had forgone Mia’s wellbeing.
“Did you forget the War G.o.d’s message?” Baiyi replied without stopping the Voidspear bombardment. “Put my best foot forward, right? And you know what? I feel even better than the best!”
The War G.o.d’s message was not mere encouragement. Before Baiyi began to fight, he felt weird, as though a lock within him had disappeared. Immediately after that, he felt his full power — which included his energy still trapped in the Void — course through his bones. He could feel no limit to his powers.
At that very moment, Baiyi felt completely invincible!
“I admit that your s.h.i.+eld is pretty strong, but how well it can hold up against this?” Baiyi said, and a large, round formation appeared behind him and quickly began to expand. At the same time, another formation appeared below Molocchus, trapping the Abyss Lord in place.
“Justice rains from above!” Baiyi yelled.
A large and thick pillar of black light shot out of the formation below the Abyss Lord, completely engulfing it. The black pillar of light pierced through the stratosphere in a matter of seconds. From afar, it seemed as though the sky was being held up by a black pillar rising up from the ground. Some would even think it was a tear in the realm, which exposed the void beyond it.
As Baiyi’s power was no longer limited, he saw no need to use his fists. He settled for using his full power with wild abandon!
The shattered rock around the formation rose into the air, as though gravity no longer affected them. Power pulses emanated from the black pillar of light, rattling the s.p.a.ce around it. The pulses were so intense that they soon formed a huge cyclone. Rocks, sand, and dust were both sucked into the fierce cyclone, causing it to grow at a horrifying rate; soon, if one looked at it from afar, they would think it was a gigantic mushroom cloud.
It as though a nuclear bomb had been detonated.
As soon as the Abyss Lord saw the formation appear below it, it summoned as much Holy Power as it could into its s.h.i.+eld. When the black pillar of light shot up from the formation, the Abyss Lord fell to the ground and curled itself into a fetal position, desperately trying its best to restore the part of its s.h.i.+eld which the black light had damaged.
Molocchus knew that this spell was enough to deal it critical damage!
At the same time, within Mars — the realm just beside Marle — a figure observed the black pillar of light from a black chapel.
The black chapel was an office for the Church’s Judiciary Court division of Mars. Just moments before, the Chief Judge of the court had noticed something outside and hurriedly got out of his seat, his gaze fixed on the faraway black pillar of light, which seemed as though it would tear the sky from the earth.
“What is this profanity? This perversion…” He mumbled in a quiet voice. Suddenly, cracking sounds rang out from behind him. The Chief Judge hurriedly turned around and saw a long row of angel statues cracking, all on their own. Shattered rocks poured down like rain from the statues.
These statues of angels formed a circle around the statue of the Church’s one true G.o.d. This person wore a long robe and seemed to be bathed in light. However, his face was hidden by a long, draping hood. This statue was the Inquisitors’ portrayal of the Church’s G.o.d. The hood covering the statue’s face was made because the Inquisitors themselves always kept their face and ident.i.ty hidden for the sake of the Church.
This statue did not crumble as the statues of angels had. It stood as firmly as before. However, from within the statue’s hood, two streams of black liquid dripped down, forming a black line on the statue. More black liquid dripped downward, and soon, the statue, which was previously white, was completely covered in it, becoming pitch black.
“This is defilement!” The Chief Judge muttered. He held the Church’s scripture in one hand and began to murmur sacred prayers under his breath, then he used his other hand to deploy his men to rush towards the black pillar.
In another location, the Wise Mad King had gotten back on his feet. He caressed the coa.r.s.e surface of the dagger General Gru had returned to him, but his gaze was fixed on the black pillar of light in the distance. A maniacal grin appeared on his face. “Hahahahahahah! So a monster of this caliber is what I have been fighting! Hahahahahaha! I am a brave knight who has been battling this leviathan for so long! Ahahahahha! Hahahahahahahahaha!”
At the temporary abode of the displaced fairies of Eom Village, Nydore walked close to Mr. Bear and whispered, “Mr. Bear, what’s that black pillar of light? Who’s doing this? Is that what humans can do?”
Mr. Bear shook its head sideways; it still had not regained the ability to talk. A low cry escaped from its mouth, but no one knew whether that was an answer to Nydore’s question or a confession of ignorance.
It was Laeticia who answered Nydore. “That is Mr. Hope’s power. It’s fearsome… and familiar.”
“Wha—? It is so terrifying!” Mia exclaimed. A thought flashed through her head, and she began to rub her chest in confusion. “My body’s fine, though. Did Mr. Hope become this powerful on his own?”
Within the black pillar of light, the Abyss Lord could feel its reserves of Holy Power rapidly depleting. If the black light continued to surge out of the formation below it, Molocchus knew that its Holy Power would run out completely!
But how? How could its enemy maintain such an extreme outpour of energy, without taking a breather? Was there no end to his powers? Was there anyone who could really use such ma.s.sive amounts of power over a long period of time?
Panicking, the Abyss Lord rewrote the Law of Power once again to allow the use of worldly energy. Its eyes widened, and sinister beams of green light shot of them. Molocchus hoped they would disrupt Baiyi’s magic.
However, Baiyi did not make any attempt to evade the beams. Just when the beams were about to hit him, black mist appeared right in front of them. The beams could only make ripples on the black mist surrounding him.
Baiyi had taken a leaf out of the Abyss Lord’s book and used Void Energy to s.h.i.+eld himself!