Chapter 549: Chapter 549
"Nourishment? Hahaha..." A trace of mockery shivered through Cassius's faint laugh.
He didn’t seem like he had taken Ice Spirit's bizarre words to heart at all. His gaze remained icy, showing not the slightest hint of surprise or panic.
"Is it not so?" Ice Spirit slowly raised his hand, and five-coloured violent ripples converged of their own accord around him. A dazzling, multicoloured domain spread from him, inexplicably resembling the Rainbow Light World once displayed by Blade Demon Garoro.
Of course, the two were different in nature. Boundless killing intent and razor sharpness had lurked beneath the Rainbow Light World's beauty, so fierce that a single glance felt as if it could blind one's eyes. However, the ripple domain before them felt beautiful yet eerie. It looked like a trap beneath a bed of blossoms.
Ice Spirit stood encircled by countless ripples, like a monarch of five colours. Each step he took made the ripples advance with him. He was like a man leading a moving, five-hued waterfall.
"The whole Eternal Archipelago, and the seas beyond it, has been under my control for centuries. I sensed you from the very moment you entered the storm belt. Your every movement has been under my watch..." Ice Spirit's voice held innate arrogance and scorn. "On this Eternal Island, I am no different from a deity. Do you intend to oppose a god?"
Ripples coiled and gathered behind him, forming a five-coloured ripple tree that kept soaring skyward. The giant tree stretched over a hundred metres tall, blotting out the sun and casting a vast shadow.
Blue, purple, and red motes of light drifted downward from the massive canopy. The falling lights were as lovely as scattered petals, captivating to the eye.
"God? Heh. Have you spent so long in this little corner staring at the sky from a well that your brain has rusted? Or has the Ripple Order on Eternal Island worshipped you so fanatically that you yourself have been brainwashed?"
Cassius had always despised fools who puffed themselves up without the strength to match. Whether it was Holy Fist Demon Phoenix he had just slain, or this self-named deity before him.
Ice Spirit grew angry. This was the first time in a thousand years anyone had defied his will. Such an insolent tone was intolerable!
"It seems you truly wish to become my nourishment! I—" His words cut off as he suddenly saw a face flicker before him like a phantom, growing rapidly larger. That face bore a fiendish grin with sixteen white teeth in neat rows.
Bloodthirsty eyes bore down on him with crushing force as two curved streaks of red seemed to flash through the air.
A torrent-like force slammed into Ice Spirit. The layered power burst like surging tides, as though it could sweep away a mountain.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang!
Roars echoed through the sky, and the earth quaked violently. Those nearby felt their feet go numb as they nearly toppled over. They quickly steadied themselves, staring in shock.
Neither the Ripple Order nor combat artists could see Cassius or Ice Spirit. They could only witness the colossal phantoms born of their power. The battlefield that was already shattered once was being ravaged again.
A titanic figure clad in heavy, fearsome armour planted its feet, towering like a black fortress. It spread its iron-gauntlet arms and seized the five-coloured ripple tree ahead. Its joints crackled as sharp metal edges scraped together.
Terrifying brute strength wrenched at the roots. Spider-web cracks spread around the Golem's feet. Soil geysered up like fountains, and the ground gradually sank.
The Golem's intent was clear; it wanted to uproot the ripple tree!
Naturally, the ripple tree didn’t stay passive and mounted an immediate defence. The vast crown shook violently, releasing petal-like fluff in a storm. All five colours cascaded down as a fearsome ripple waterfall that slammed down on the Golem's upper body.
Explosive impacts rang out. Supreme bone ring ripple power burst forth in full, carrying five distinct attributes and stacking fivefold lethality. This strike could obliterate a hill several hundred metres tall. Yet the Golem stood like a reef in the sea, an unyielding pillar amid the torrent. Its armour clanged as gold-red sparks burst forth in rings, bathing it in golden light.
Amazingly, the Golem raised its head within the waterfall. Two red lights flared beneath the serpentine helm. They even carried a hint of mockery.
"God? A god who cannot even break my armour? And you still want to use me as nourishment? You are the one about to become nourishment!" The Golem's thick arms flexed, almost doubling in size.
Pale white and black seams intertwined like two gigantic mottled pythons strangling their prey.
The five-coloured ripple tree shuddered as its vast roots snapped in unison. The enormous trunk was hoisted aloft.
Every ripple on the tree's crown converged into a five-coloured vortex. A golden spear shone as it was born from the vortex. Its tip radiated terrifying sharpness as it plummeted toward the Golem!
"What would I not dare? Next I'll seek out your true body and slay your original form, just as I now smash and grind you to pieces with a wave of my hand! Hahaha! I will indeed use you as nourishment!" The Golem's voice boomed like a grand bell. It swung the unsupported giant ripple tree and slammed it hard into the ground.
The crystal-like tree instantly burst into shards. A rain of five-coloured phosphorescence seemed to fall from the sky.
The ripple tree's last strike, the golden spear, now plummeted down. However, the towering Golem on the ground raised its palm. The iron palm met the spear tip head-on, sending great showers of sparks flying.
The Golem's giant hand ground forward bit by bit, pulverising the golden shaft.
Swish! ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ Novᴇl_Fire(.)net
It flicked its hand lightly, and the final golden fragment shot away. The Golem withdrew its right palm; the Qi-reinforced palm's centre bore a pit, but the spear had failed to pierce through the bone armour.
The golden spear condensed from five-coloured ripples had not harmed it.
"Five-attribute peak ripples looks devastating, but in truth the power is scattered. There is neither circulation nor resonance. It seems inferior to building a single attribute to the extreme..."
The Golem offered its assessment, then reverted to human form. Cassius shifted from his battle-hungry Killer Persona back to his calmer Main Persona. His mind swiftly completed an analysis.
This Ultimate Dark Form of the Eternal Archipelago was likely a paper tiger. It looked strong on the outside but was hollow within. Otherwise, its true body would have appeared outright and wiped out every intruder present.
Instead, it had used the Ripple Order's leader Ice Spirit to spout nonsense, telling Cassius to leave by claiming it was a god that fully ruled Eternal Island. It was merely trying to prop up a frightening facade.
However, one glance told Cassius that beneath that ferocious tiger skin lay nothing but an empty skeleton, devoid of real flesh. If this Ultimate Dark Form were truly in good shape, it would not have secluded itself on this small island for millennia.
Clearly, its condition was very poor. Even after a thousand years of recuperation, it still could not appear openly. It could only hide here, playing false god to a flock of mind-controlled Ripple Masters.
Cassius realised in an instant that this might be a once-in-a-lifetime chance. If it was handled well, the Golem's Covert Martial Arts Qi Embodiment stage might reach 100%. An Ultimate Dark Form's life vibration energy was of unquestionable quality.
"All personnel, rest! Heal what needs healing, restore your Qi, get yourselves into peak condition, then enter the ruins." Cassius's voice reverberated through the air.
Countless combat artists of the Covert Martial Arts realm and the newly surrendered Black Rain Manor marked-ones all heard him. Likewise, the remaining Ripple Masters heard as well.
When they saw their leader Ice Spirit fall, they roared in fury and charged Cassius.
A gigantic palm imprint swept forward. The terrifying Qi that appeared in an instant was like congealed glue, pinning every Ripple Master in place. They were like flies trapped in yellow amber.
The palm struck, causing the ground to crack and mud to gush up. From above, a hundred-metre-long palm print had appeared on the field. Every Ripple Master within it had been crushed to paste by irresistible force.
They were like mosquitoes swatted by a human. Elite-level, Bloodthirsty-level, or Master-level—it mattered not. There was no distinction under Cassius's palm as they were all squashed like ants. The ordinary-level had not even been qualified to join the fight.
Cassius slowly withdrew his glowing white right hand with a cold expression. He had annihilated the Ripple Order with a single palm. He was indeed growing ever stronger...
Cassius strode straight toward the depths of Eternal Island. "Let's move. Walk while recovering."
Now, at last, no external force could hinder his steps. Only the dangers of the ancient ruins remained for him to resolve. Behind him, many combat artists and Hellsing members watched that lone, powerful black figure in silence. For a moment, they were speechless. Exchanging glances, they saw shock mirrored in each other's eyes.
They shook their heads as they followed silently.
On the Black Rain Manor side, many felt immense relief, especially the double agents who had not yet betrayed him. Cassius had wiped out the Ripple Order with one palm... Wiping them out would hardly be harder. At most he would need two or three more palms.
After a few moves, only Tyrant Black Dragon and Ripple Master Monchi might survive intact.
"Such terrifying strength..." Ripple Master Monchi's eyes gleamed as he watched Cassius. "Perhaps this operation can truly succeed... At the very least, the success rate has risen from under ten percent to over fifty. Let us hope we can destroy paradise this time!"
He clenched his fists, gritted his teeth, and marched after them.
On Eternal Island, beneath the towering mother tree.
A tremendous crash rang out as the ripple mother tree snapped halfway!
A meteoric figure shot up and landed upon the jagged, rough cross-section. A Golem phantom materialised and an iron hand swept across the stump, grinding the surface smooth like a millstone. The massive phantom vanished, and Cassius sat cross-legged on the stump.
He inhaled and exhaled, twin vortices of air swirling at his nostrils as his strength returned bit by bit. Every cell in his body brimmed with saturated Qi. Half an hour later, the pale air vortex above slowly dissipated.
"Move out!" Cassius leapt down and streaked into the distance.
Swish, swish, swish, swish...
The combat artists and Hellsing members set off immediately, turning into black after-images that leapt over the rugged terrain. Though the land was perilous, they moved as if they were on level ground.
After five minutes, the main force halted before a deep gorge. Dense trees and shrubbery framed a deeply sunken ten-meter-wide black fissure. Peering over the edge, they saw a brook flowing east to west below. Gravel flats and jutting rocks lined the brook's banks.
"It seems we must go down...”
The silhouettes leapt down without hesitation. Some glided straight down and some clung to the rock wall and descended rapidly, while some zig-zagged in Z-shaped hops. The bolder experts simply free-fell like cannonballs.
Each smashed a pit on landing, then climbed out.
Two minutes later, they found a monument in a twenty-meter-wide section of the gorge. The broken black stone tablet was covered in weathered, blurry characters and symbols. Its shapes and meanings were impossible to discern.
Cassius stamped once, and the ground around the stone tablet shook violently. He closed his eyes, feeling the tremor's echo and after-shocks.
Moments later, he opened his eyes and nodded slowly. "The ancient ruins are beneath us."
At the same time, deep within the subterranean ruins, in an unknown place... a desiccated corpse sat cross-legged in boundless darkness. Its hands were folded before its chest, utterly motionless. It seemed to have lingered in this chaos silently until death.
From somewhere, a hazy waterbird call sounded, only to vanish the next instant as though it had never existed.
Its withered fingers seemed to twitch ever so slightly...