Chapter 136: The Monster
“It’s useless! How can someone like you, who has had such a smooth life and is so favored by the Ancestor God, compete with someone like me, who has struggled through a thousand hardships to gain power?” Alexius relied on his shadow transformation to ignore Moore’s attacks. Simultaneously, he squeezed in counterattacks, using shadow-formed weapons to intermittently strike Moore. Wounds began to appear on Moore’s body. Each wound was imbued with the corrosive power of the shadow, emitting sizzling sounds.
The ice frost blade in Moore’s hand emitted a gentle glow, drawing power from the ocean of frost beneath his feet. This power slowly nourished and dissolved the shadow’s corrosion.
Moore remained silent. He concentrated on observing Alexius, searching for a pattern. He firmly believed that a Great Hero-tier supernatural being could not possess an unbound, invincible ability. All outward invincibility must have a complex, internal constraint!
“Foolish Alexius, accept the judgment of the frost!”
The instant Alexius swung his shadow weapon to attack, Moore did not retreat but charged forward. He endured the shadow weapon piercing his chest and used the ice frost blade to immediately cleave off Alexius’s weapon-wielding right arm!
“Ah!” Alexius cried out in pain. His right arm, along with the shadow weapon, was severed by Moore’s blade.
Moore, using his weapon-free hand, grabbed the severed arm and slowly pulled it out. The shadow weapon slowly emerged from his chest, emitting a sizzling sound.
“Your ability has been seen through, Alexius. The shadow transformation cannot grant infinite invincibility. Either there is a method to strike you on the same plane, or there is a moment when you exist in the same state as me!”
Moore tossed the severed arm and shadow weapon into the ice frost beast beneath him. The beast swallowed it in one gulp, emitting a chewing sound.
Shadow power condensed on Alexius’s body, and a new arm immediately regenerated, but the new arm withered instantly.
“When you attack me, you emerge from the shadow plane into the plane of reality. That is when I can strike you!” Moore brandished the ice frost blade, attacking continuously and densely.
His strength was immense, and his speed was blinding. Alexius could only maintain his shadow transformation, completely unable to defend himself. The right arm of the shadow-transformed Alexius continuously grew and withered, unable to fully regenerate.
Ace, the eagle, listened and observed. This was another rare secret! Alexius’s weakness was now known!
“What did you do, Moore!” Alexius asked, furious and frantic.
“Stop struggling, Alexius. Everything you suffer is the punishment you deserve! Traitor to your kin and desecrator, the frost will exact its vengeance upon you! Let this ocean of frost be your final grave!”
Moore did not answer Alexius. He never had the habit of explaining his abilities to others. The reason Alexius’s arm could not regenerate was because the ice frost beast had swallowed the soul essence of his arm.
This was the inherent ability of the quasi-Treasure Artifact, The Frost Blessing: Touch of Extreme Cold.
Any part touched by the Touch of Extreme Cold ability is permanently frozen and sealed by the frost. This seal is on the soul level. The arm, like Alexius’s, was permanently lost.
Unless the arm sealed by the Touch of Extreme Cold is unsealed, that part of the soul and body is lost forever, with no possibility of recovery, even through regeneration.
This was the power of fundamental rules. Being sealed by the Touch of Extreme Cold was not painful or damaging. It simply resulted in the complete and permanent absence of that part.
To use a loose analogy, it transformed the opponent from a two-armed being into a single-armed being, permanently incapable of re-evolving the second arm.
Moore Rona charged like a hurricane, delivering continuous, dense attacks. Time passed slowly. A faint gray-white light appeared in the east before dawn.
Ace, the eagle, narrowed his eyes, thinking. It seemed this quasi-Treasure Artifact, The Frost Blessing, possessed a sealing ability?
He had no time to analyze the runes he recorded. He could only wait until things settled down.
The power of both the frost and the shadow filled him with immense surprise, and the Spirit of the Book was so full of new knowledge it was almost bursting.
“Hold on a little longer, little fellow!” Ace, the eagle, said to the Spirit of the Book on his head.
The shadow figures and the Great Demon projection guarding Alexius were also driven to despair by the ice frost beasts. They struggled to kill one ice frost beast, only to see another rise up from the ocean of frost.
This endless supply of ice frost beasts had exhausted the strength of the two.
Bang!
The Great Demon projection’s wings were severed. It fell onto the ocean of frost, where the extreme cold wind blew over it, turning it into a permanent ice sculpture.
The shadow figure, fragmented and broken, was finally bitten by an ice frost beast. It dissolved into scattered shadows, returning to the pitch-black shadow behind Alexius.
“Alexius, your shadow transformation ability must also have a time limit! Let me witness your demise. The chilling wind will scatter your soul!”
Moore smiled victoriously. Ice frost wounds had already appeared on Alexius’s body. Moore clearly sensed Alexius’s strength diminishing.
At this moment, watching the rising sun, Moore felt certain of victory!
The hairless, rotting, cooked-meat dogs began to bite and merge with each other. A gigantic tumorous Monster gradually appeared. Like the Abyss, it was chaotic and disordered, radiating ill omens and bizarreness.
The moment the tumorous Monster appeared, the hearts of nearly everyone present sank. It was an ominous premonition.
This tumorous Monster was far more powerful than the one Ace and Daina first encountered. Countless dog heads and wailing human figures struggled to emerge from it, only to be pulled back inside.
It did not immediately attack the frost descendants charging on their beasts. Instead, it rampaged through the city, attacking ordinary residents. With every swing of its tentacles, a large number of residents died, and houses collapsed. The flesh, blood, and souls of the victims were absorbed into the tumor, making it even more ominous.
“This feeling of chaos and ill omen…” Dikens, riding a frost warthog, had just defeated the shadow figures of his family and sealed them with his beast. He suddenly felt a wave of nausea and terror.
He looked up at the tumorous Monster, feeling a chill crawl up his spine. His mind spun. It felt as if an unknowable presence was whispering near him.
“This thing… It’s like staring into the Abyss again.”
Dikens pulled his frost warthog backward. He had a premonition that they might lose this time!
“I will win! Alexius, I see through you. Kneel and accept your end! The extreme cold wind will scatter your soul!” Moore attacked Alexius with enthusiasm. He could clearly feel Alexius weakening.
Alexius gnashed his teeth, struggling. He no longer had the composure for verbal warfare, dedicating his entire being to resisting Moore’s offense.
Just a little more. Alexius looked despairingly at the gray-white light in the east. The number of dead Divine Descendants was still slightly short. Time was also slightly short. Just a little more, and the ritual would be completed.
“Why? Why is this always so difficult for me!” Alexius roared in despair inwardly. Moore answered him with an attack that was stronger than the last.
The tumorous Monster, having devoured a massive amount of flesh, blood, and souls, suddenly swelled up. Countless protrusions erupted from its body.
Each protrusion looked like an exposed brain. They struggled to climb out of the tumor and fell onto the cold ground, transforming into smaller tumorous Monsters!
The numerous smaller tumorous Monsters moved swiftly. They rampaged through the fortress, devouring every living thing, tearing at their flesh, and gnawing at their souls.
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