Chapter 976: Chapter 976

As He Ao’s gaze landed on the Skeletal Giant, the creature that was continually "climbing" out of the ground also lifted its hand and brought it down toward He Ao.

Feeling the giant bone hand that moved like an illusion, almost instantaneously reaching out in front of him, even though He Ao had already leapt to the side the moment he saw the giant hand move, he barely avoided the massive palm.

The hand, several meters long and glowing with a ghostly green light, struck the concrete where He Ao had just been standing and the railing behind it, instantly flattening them and sending dust flying in all directions.

But the Skeletal Giant’s hand didn’t stop there; it rotated its palm and swiftly followed He Ao’s movements, coming at him again.

He Ao glanced at the Ruby in his hand, now having the chance to examine it closely.

The entire gemstone was in the shape of a regular octahedron, presenting a kind of bizarre polyhedral beauty, but clearly, it was not designed to be easily gripped—its edges were sharply defined where its facets met.

However, He Ao had no time to ponder these details at the moment. He carefully grasped the Ruby and leapt backward while yelling, "Magical command: slow down the agility of the giant creature!"

The vast bone palm slowed down for a moment, and He Ao took the opportunity to jump up and further increase the distance between them.

The Skeletal Giant’s hand struck a large billboard by the roadside, crushing it into a ball with a fierce grip, then lifted it and hurled it straight at He Ao.

He Ao dodged to the side. The metallic sphere, which had been crumpled into a ball, smashed into the building behind him, piercing right through and burrowing into the ground.

"The commands of the Ruby all require a price to be paid. How much life do you have left to offer for its commands? Your weapon is already broken. What will you rely on to fight me?"

The Skeletal Giant, towering dozens of meters tall, had by now completely emerged from the ground. It curved its body, with two eye sockets filled with ghostly green flames coldly watching He Ao.

He Ao looked down at the ground beneath the Skeletal Giant. After such a huge creature had crawled out, the ground below remained solid concrete, not some kind of void.

Clearly, the Skeletal Giant hadn’t come from underneath the ground, but from some sort of extraplanar space, with its exit being underground.

He raised his head, looking once more at the body of the Skeletal Giant.

Through his Divine Sense, he could see the massive energy circuit pulsing with faint fluctuations.

The energy foundation that constructed this body seemed unstable.

Vaguely, He Ao felt he could sense, through these unstable energies, the tenuous connection between the Skeletal Giant and some presence spreading in the endless expanse beyond time.

Is this the link between abyssal life and the Abyss?

Abyssal creatures can’t stray too far from the Abyss?

Is that why ordinary abyssal lifeforms, like the Hydra that parasitized Virrus, need a specific host to sustain themselves?

What’s the nature of this parasitism? A ritual to connect with the Abyss?

Is the host being parasitized essentially a type of expendable fleshly antenna?

Lesser and mindless abyssal life needs to parasitize to maintain its connection to the Abyss, whereas mightier abyssal beings, due to a strong enough link, can descend in their true form?

But even they can’t support the exertion of great strength far from the Abyss.

He Ao watched the flickering energy circuit of the Skeletal Giant.

That’s why the energy circuit of the entity before him, Wills, appeared so unstable—his strong state likely couldn’t last for long. Therefore, he didn’t use this form from the start.

"It seems you’ve discovered something you shouldn’t have. You’re very clever and appear to hold many secrets, Linen,"

the Skeletal Giant watched He Ao, "But that no longer matters. I have enough time to kill you."

It lifted its other bone hand, and its feet completely emerged from the ground. The bone columns scattered around surged upward, converging in his hands to form a huge bone club.

"It’s time to end this, Linen."

The Skeletal Giant reached out, gripping the club, several dozen meters in length, and swung it in a circle through the air before bringing it down toward He Ao on the ground.

The tip of the massive jade bone club tore through the air with a thunderous sonic boom, heading straight for He Ao.

He Ao held his breath, glanced around, and with a sudden crouch, leapt forward to the side.

Accompanying a resounding noise, the hefty bone club smashed into the abandoned building he was just standing behind. Then, the Skeletal Giant grabbed the end of the club and with a gentle swing, like mixing tofu with chopsticks, turned the entire building to rubble.

Flying dust and shattered concrete spread in all directions, while the bone club was already withdrawn from the ruins, coming down on He Ao once again.

"Law Enactment: Prohibition of Giant Weaponry"

Clutching the Ruby, He Ao rolled again to dodge the incoming bone club.

Almost at the instant his words were spoken, the giant Skeletal Giant swinging the bone club slowed down for a moment; it seemed as if it briefly lost control over its own club, as if there was another Consciousness within its body struggling for control, trying to make it give up using the weapon.

He Ao coughed, wiping the fresh blood from his mouth.

The ability of the Ruby was simple: ’enact laws.’ This law was not about changing physical rules but altering the collective cognition of living beings, thereby affecting their behavior through influencing their fundamental cognition.

Therefore, this Extraordinary Item was effective only on living things, and living beings could resist the ’distorted cognition’ created by the Ruby through their own willpower, but the Ruby’s law would still influence the actions of living beings.

However, Wills was not wrong; the deployment of the Ruby’s ability required a price proportional to both the strength and number of lives covered by the law and the scope of the law itself. Sacrifices could be offered to pay this price, but without sacrifices, the user themself had to pay.

Prohibitory laws were much stronger than weakening laws, but likewise, the price paid was also much greater.

And as He Ao stood, the eerie green glow within him still flickered and surged, continuously consuming his Life force.

Wills could not hold out for long, but He Ao could not hold out much longer either; he might not even outlast Wills.

"You can’t affect me with this."

After a brief struggle, Wills overcame the distorted cognition in his mind and swung the bone club at He Ao again.

But now, his swing was far less swift, his agility and speed reduced by more than half.

Clearly, his willpower was not as strong as He Ao’s.

But even weakened, the force with which the club was swung was far from insignificant; He Ao moved his body, dodging the attack with a slide to the side once again.

As the thick bone club shattered the row of abandoned buildings behind him, He Ao reached the area near where he had originally stood.

Sensing the weakening of the bone club, Wills let go of one massive skeletal hand and lifted the other towards He Ao. From his palm, orderly bone spikes spread out and burst forth like a violent downpour towards He Ao.

He Ao glanced up at the bone needle rain in the sky, then at the brass cane that had been first plunged into the ground, suddenly speeding up. Amid the urgent sounds of bone needles piercing the ground, he reached the brass cane, pulled it out, and rolled behind the circular building next to it.

Following the Skeletal Giant’s earlier destruction, most of the surrounding buildings had been directly turned into ruins, leaving only the one closest to the Skeletal Giant still standing.

He Ao looked up at the empty ruins and the clear streets around him. Eve had driven away the old-fashioned luxury car He Ao had been by when the battle started, otherwise, it would be a pile of scrap metal by now.

The Skeletal Giant behind him lifted its hand again, preparing another volley of bone needles, while He Ao looked at the Ruby and the brass cane in his hands.

The brass cane was actually a weapon Linen had prepared for himself; it was only covered with a layer of brass, with sturdy alloy inside.

But this alloy was not very strong, barely touching C-level standards, far inferior to the Hawk Claw Knife, which was why He Ao had not used it.

However, He Ao now focused on the gem setting at the top of the brass cane.

In the Federation, canes are a common decorative item and tool amongst the old-fashioned elite. When it comes to high society, setting gems, Gold, or even crafting a cane entirely out of gold was quite normal.

When Linen originally had this brass cane made, the craftsman had prepared a gem for it, but he had taken it out, leaving only a hidden clasp.

This clasp now came in handy for He Ao; without it, he would have had to find some wire to tie the Ruby together. Although he could reinforce it with Divine Sense to use it, it just wouldn’t look as good.

He Ao glanced at the Ruby in his hand and then directly snapped it into the clasp.

The size of the Ruby and the cane’s original setting were incompatible, so He Ao forcefully twisted it before the Ruby was firmly and completely set in place.

He looked at the sharp edges of the Ruby, gripped the cane, waved it around, and produced a sharp sonic boom.

Hopefully, that would be enough.

Although Extraordinary Items of support nature generally lack offensive capabilities, as long as their Level is high enough, they possess significant hardness.

Speeding bone spikes pierced the ring-shaped building, creating massive holes in the sturdy cement.

He Ao quickly withdrew, darted to the side, and took cover behind the circular structure, shielding himself from the Skeletal Giant’s blood behind him.

He held his mouth and coughed lightly, then looked down at the fresh blood in his palm and the eerie green glow spreading within it, taking a deep breath.

The entire world seemed to fall silent at that moment.

Following this silence was the thunderous sound of the giant bone club tearing through the night sky.

The pure white colossal club came crashing down the middle of the ancient circular building, slicing through it like a knife through cake, cutting it "open" from the center.

At the very moment the bone club swung, He Ao flipped to his feet, raising the staff in his hands with the ruby-set tip downwards. He jumped straight onto the top of the circular building and then, using it as a springboard, leaped towards the Skeletal Giant behind the structure.

The Skeletal Giant opened its ferocious Giant Mouth, its cold voice laughing.

In fact, it feared He Ao evading the most, as its strength would not last long. Delays were unfavorable to it, so it had taken advantage of the moment just past to clear the surrounding buildings as much as possible, destroying any place He Ao could possibly hide.

In a head-to-head fight, it was much stronger than He Ao.

And in the blink of an eye as He Ao charged, it abruptly lifted its other free hand, slapping towards He Ao.

But its palm found only air at that moment.

He Ao’s body appeared on the other side as if by Flash, then he stepped lightly on the hand that missed, using it to propel himself forward, seemingly going on the offensive again.

The Skeletal Giant swiftly swung its hand backward in defense,

But He Ao had somersaulted and landed on the roof of the bisected circular building nearby, once again holding the brass staff, eyeing his opponent.

"Are you playing with me?!"

The Skeletal Giant lowered its head, fiercely raising the bone club, swinging it to the side, and smashing the half of the building where He Ao stood to rubble.

And as it made its move, He Ao also jumped again, raising the staff and charging straight towards the Skeletal Giant. This time, he leapt higher, getting even closer to the Skeletal Giant than before.

This time, the empty hand slapped again, and numerous bone spikes erupted from the palm’s center, assaulting the spot where He Ao was.

He Ao’s body somersaulted in the sky, passing through the densest area of the bone spikes as if by Flash, his body flickering like a gust of wind through the thick spikes.

Even though he avoided the central bone spikes, the peripheral ones still grazed the Elderly’s body,

Each of these spikes carried sharp barbs that easily sliced across his already scarred body as they brushed by him, leaving trails of blood.

At the same time, He Ao deflected the bone spikes with his staff, angling his body, altering his flight direction, flying towards the remaining half of a nearby building.

But upon landing, he staggered, almost falling over. The eerie green glow on his body had intensified, and blood now covered him.

Then he looked up at the massive Skeletal Giant, seemingly hesitating for a moment, then took a half-step backward, contemplating escape deeper into the city.

The Skeletal Giant raised the bone club again, destroying the remaining building, then lifted the club high, smashing it towards He Ao to the side.

And in that instant, He Ao also jumped nearly simultaneously.

This time He Ao jumped much higher than before. His bloodied, aged body held up the gem-fitted staff high against the dim night sky, charging straight towards the Skeletal Giant’s chest.

The Skeletal Giant swung ferociously, and countless bone spikes shot out from its palm.

He Ao’s body arduously dodged the bone spikes like a gust, leaving fresh streaks of blood, charging once more at the Skeletal Giant’s hand.

This time, the hand came down empty again, and He Ao, still like a Flash, stood on the back of the giant skeletal-hand.

That was the sound of the massive heart, within the giant ribcage, pounding like thunder.

This time, the heart was very close.

At that moment, the Skeletal Giant also looked down at the Elderly beneath it, watching the continued leaping motion.

This time, it didn’t know whether the Elderly’s move was a feint or genuine, whether he intended to run or to advance.

If the goal was to flee, the bone club already raised behind would be enough to blockade the escape route and kill the opponent.

But if the intent was to launch a final assault, it would need to draw its hand back to its chest to block the Elderly, which could also fatally wound him.

When He Ao first attacked, it thought the Elderly before it had reached the end of his rope and was making a last-ditch effort.

But after several such ’mockings,’ it realized that this tugging back and forth was also a way to Delay and strive for an opportunity.

Now the height at which the Elderly stood was sufficient; he could use it to jump far away, hiding deep within the city.

If the Elderly escaped this time, it might never have a chance to kill him again.

In an extremely short moment, it made a decision, swiftly lifted the bone club in its hands, blocking the space behind the Elderly, while its palm flipped, attempting to seize the opportunity to grab him.

And at that moment, He Ao’s body finally completed the jump.

The elderly figure, without any hesitation, held the magic staff high and charged straight for the violently pulsating flesh heart.

Super Memory, Fist Technique, Martial Techniques, all of his powers had converged at this moment, stretched to their utmost limit.

The Skeletal Giant moved swiftly to block with its hand, but it was already too late.

The radiant Ruby, like a streak of light, effortlessly shattered the breastbone blocking its way and pierced through the Skeletal Giant’s chest, stabbing into the enormous, throbbing heart and then pierced the entire heart, bursting out from the giant’s back.

It smashed into the ruins below.

At that instant, the giant flesh heart deflated as quickly as a punctured ball, and the Skeletal Giant, standing tens of meters tall, collapsed rapidly like a structure bereft of its foundation, disintegrating, its bones scattering on the ground like raindrops.

And not far away, in a crater, He Ao pushed away the architectural stones that had slid to the ground and staggered out from the ruins.

He lifted his head and surveyed the surroundings, within a radius of hundreds of meters, not a single building remained intact—only a vast expanse of desolate ruins.

Feeling the silence of the mark in his mind.

The Elderly got to his feet unsteadily, holding the brass staff, and stepped toward the pile of bones that had collapsed in front of him.

In the very last moment just now, he had used Ease Thought to alter Wills’ choice.

Although he couldn’t accurately understand the foreign-like thoughts in Wills’ mind, after several attempts, he had ’guessed’ the probable meaning of some thoughts in Wills’ mind.

Just as he reached the pile of bones, an arm suddenly shot out from within, then slowly brushed aside the surrounding bones under He Ao’s gaze, revealing a face covered in blood.

"You have many secrets,"

Wills climbed unsteadily out from the pile, sitting down amidst the ruins; he looked down at his human body and fleshly palms, then turned to He Ao with a tired smile, "Perhaps only you can change this. To be honest, I really liked this city, liked the life within it."

Then he lifted his hand, reaching toward He Ao, a bit of greenish glow gathering at the center of the bones, "Although I cannot vote for you, I do have a gift for you, and I hope you can fulfill what you promised in the end."

His figure slowly became transparent, fading away.

He Ao stepped forward, looking at the nearly transparent figure, and extended his hand to receive the greenish glow.

The dim illusion looked up at him, opened its mouth, and finally, his lips curled into a smile before he completely vanished.

The greenish glow that floated in the dark night fell into He Ao’s palm and absorbed the greenish light within him, merging together.

He Ao looked down at the spot where the illusion had completely disappeared and brought the glow to his brass staff.

The lustrous glow swiftly enveloped the entire staff and the Ruby on it, then turned into deep and intricate patterns that seeped into the depths of the staff.

Eventually, the light began to dim and disappear, as if it had completely merged with the brass staff, yet upon close inspection, one could barely make out some jade-like fine patterns spreading on the staff.

Even the form of the brass staff seemed to have slightly changed, appearing more majestic, cold, and sacred, naturally inspiring a sense of submission.

The rough clasp He Ao had forcefully twisted onto the gem mutated, branching out to wrap around the entire Ruby, forming a simple yet sacred clasp that fixed the gem in place.

He Ao stretched out his hand toward the Ruby, the clasp at the top of the staff automatically loosened, allowing him to easily remove the ruby.

Without the Ruby, the clasp at the top of the brass staff grew rapidly like vines, forming a golden orb at the tip covered in intricate patterns, the subtle lines connecting to resemble a crown.

Then He Ao gripped the top of the staff and gently lifted it.

In that instant, the patterns on the staff spawned a substance as pure as beautiful jade, extending and finally condensing into a golden longsword with a bony jade structure, the top that He Ao gripped transforming into the golden hilt.

He Ao then loosened his grip, and the sword once again retracted into the form of a staff; he approached it with the Ruby, and the orb at the very top again naturally became a clasp, securing the entire gem.

This staff now had a name of its own, ’Authority.’

Feeling the messages coming from within the staff, He Ao gripped the staff and looked down at the spot where Wills’ illusion had vanished.

There laid an old key, seemingly one for a roller shutter lock.

Wills’ Soul Shadow also completely disappeared at this moment.

He Ao bent down, picked up the key from the ground, and looked up at the gunfire in the distance.

In the east side of the command center, Corvey’s ambush battle had yet to end.

Accompanied by an aged and hoarse voice, the Elderly rose slowly, staff in hand, and walked toward the outskirts of the ruins.