Chapter 621: Chapter 621
Simone looked at Cassius's back, his gaze tinged with confusion. "S-sect Master..."
For at the moment, Cassius no longer radiated a domineering, forceful Qi but a majestic, regal, and strangely holy aura. He looked like a sacred statue enshrined in a cathedral. An inexplicable urge to prostrate himself welled up in Simone's heart.
He took a deep breath, slowly unclenching his fists. His tension and unease faded away. Sometimes, a person's very presence could have the effect of a stabilizing anchor. In Simone's mind, even if Cassius was splitting his focus from dragging down Black Rain Manor with one hand, he was still invincible!
Suddenly, formidable figures streaked in from three directions. From the east, west, and south came the Gate Organization's three deputy leaders, a giant bat face formed by the Blood of Immortality, and a fusion of three Moon God statues.
Different, yet equally mighty powers were all converging on one spot. However, their target advanced leisurely, wreathed in sacred white steam. If any other expert in the world were the target of the auras of these three forces, he would likely be frozen on the spot under the crushing pressure.
Yet Cassius moved exactly as he pleased, every gesture relaxed and effortless. He seemed to completely ignore them and their attacks.
"He split most of the energy from his body and is grappling with the even more terrifying main body of Black Rain Manor. He still dares to belittle us with only some leftover energy? Golem Sect's master, you will surely pay the price for your arrogance!"
Holy Fist Evil Heart sped through the air, taking in the scene by the Baptism Chapel with a glance.
A fierce raptor stood entirely aflame on top of the meteorite. Its spike-covered wings stretched toward the sky, feathers melding into the giant hand. It was clearly a manifestation of Cassius's Dominator Fist energy. He had split off most of his Qi to keep tugging at Black Rain Manor's main body in the sky. Thus, only a small portion of Qi was being used to face the combined might of all the top factions. It looked like a reckless gamble doomed to fail.
In storybooks, every final villain seemed to stand alone in arrogant defiance of a united hero party. After many twists, they would then be defeated, becoming stepping stones for the hero. Right now, Holy Fist Evil Heart felt that the Gate Organization, the Eclipse Society, the Blood Race and other "evil" forces had become the righteous hero party bent on crusading against the ultimate villain Cassius. They had even assumed the classic encircling formation.
The sense of déjà-vu made Holy Fist Evil Heart momentarily dazed. The predicament the Golem Sect's master faced ought to have befallen the Gate Organization. After all, they had once been the ultimate villains all righteous forces had to confront. They were a terrifying power so great that even a combined assault by the world might not suffice to defeat them.
Yet, they had been seamlessly replaced by the Golem Sect's master. He was now the final boss awaiting everyone's challenge. There was an instinctive psychological gap in status and strength.
Holy Fist Evil Heart growled, and he suddenly accelerated straight toward Cassius. "Attack together."
The other two Gate Organization deputy leaders appeared like the wind on the buildings to either side. The three drove forward like a trident, their extreme combat artist Qi merging into one. The atmosphere rippled as though the air was boiling.
Three figures charged from the east. Holy Fist Evil Heart led the way, occupying the First General King’s body. His face was cruel and indifferent, with black fissures tearing the air around him. It was as though invisible claws were rending the atmosphere.
Behind Holy Fist Evil Heart, the black-robed figure let both arms hang. Only a pair of silver hands with frightening Qi brewing in his palms showed. To the right, a one-armed deputy leader gripped a blade that emitted a buzzing sound like swarming bees.
Holy Fist Evil Heart's eyes turned jet-black, and he entered a special state.
"Evil Domain of Stillness, All Things Halt."
In an instant, everything around him turned black-and-white and slowed. Sound and light were muted, and only the enemy's figure remained. He fixed his gaze on Cassius and slashed out with one palm.
The space filled with black fissures, like a sword cutting the air.
A palm thrust at a vital point. The other two deputy leaders' fierce attacks followed his in Holy Fist Evil Heart's slow-motion world. One blasted the air away with a silver palm, while the other swung his blade in a swift arc, seeking to sever Cassius's head.
Cassius stood motionless, seemingly obtuse to the oncoming danger. It looked as though he would be shredded into minced meat by the raging strikes.
Holy Fist Evil Heart's heart jolted. Somehow, Cassius had turned his head to meet his gaze within his halted Evil Domain. An instant later, Cassius appeared in front of him like a stop-motion jump frame.
His whole body was taut as he hurled a punch.
A fist wrapped in white air currents met the silver palm. However, there was no stalemate. It instantly smashed through.
A faint crisp cry of a bird rang out as a white bird flashed to the right side.
The furious eyes of the deputy leader wielding the blade widened as his black robe billowed.
The Evil Domain collapsed as two figures were hurled away, throwing up blood. They spun and tumbled into the neighboring buildings. Their Qi crumbled away just like the collapsed walls.
On the chapel's eastern side, Holy Fist Evil Heart hovered in midair, one hand poised in a cleaving strike. The black fissures beneath his palm had formed a longsword. But its sharp tip was being lightly pinched between two fingers.
The fissures on the tip spread like dense roots trying to extend through the air but they were blocked by the two fingers. They could neither pry open nor cut through, as if meeting layered walls of iron. Only a tooth-grating scrape sounded, sharp yet powerless.
Cassius slowly raised his head. The white steam on his face formed the deep contours of a mask with avian and human features. The mask's mouth moved as he spoke. "A very creative move. You at least have some talent compared with the Gate Organization's other deputy leaders. A pity that it is ultimately wasted. You'll never amount to much..."
A waterbird's steel beak bit down, shattering the black fissure-sword Holy Fist Evil Heart had formed like a biscuit.
The black debris was still falling through the air when a palm thrust met Holy Fist Evil Heart's driving fist. A loud crash rang out as a dark figure spat blood and slammed into the buildings. Cassius gently withdrew his hand and set it by his side emotionlessly, neither happy nor sad.
In his current state, he could only exert energy below the Dominator Fist realm so he could not slaughter the trio in one crushing blow. What Cassius had just displayed was in fact the same extreme combat artist level as Evil Heart and the others. However, since it was driven by the principles of an entirely different tier, it produced a terrifying outburst.
"If I was at full strength, one punch would have scattered them..."
Cassius lowered his head, looking at his well-defined knuckles as he stood in front of the Baptism Chapel. White vapor flowed over them, and a faint birdsong whistled through at his ear, carrying a sacred tenor. The domineering desire in his heart faded and he no longer regretted not killing the trio with one blow.
A trace of holiness welled naturally within.
Cassius suddenly turned and threw a punch at the giant statue rushing from the south. A waterbird spread its wings as it glided forth.
The Moon God statue's twelve arms shot out, ferociously gripping the wings in a brutal contest of strength. Grinding creaks sounded as gold-red sparks sprayed.
"A centipede really doesn't die easily," Cassius murmured as his eyes narrowed. He had sensed the Moon God's will inside the statue. It was a broken intent with an intense desire to resurrect.
No doubt the Moon God had come to Black Rain Manor seeking great benefit. Unfortunately, Cassius was also involved in the manor affair. The Moon God's plan would amount to nothing, and it would even lose all it had. Its three hard-won Moon God statues would most likely be destroyed here.
The white waterbird flapped, its wings slicing like steel blades. Two arms of the giant Moon God statue suddenly shattered in midair. Its whole body fell back wildly, plowing a trench in the ground.
Suddenly, a roar and a great gust came from behind Cassius. He snorted coldly, raised an arm, and slowly pushed outward. The motion was graceful and composed, yet the power it contained was brutally lethal.
Bang-bang-bang-bang-bang-bang...
The arc traced by Cassius's right hand was smooth; wherever it passed, explosions popped like firecrackers.
A giant bat face smashed into his Thorn Feather armor, making Cassius stagger slightly. The eastern ground had cracked at least a hundred meters, with black mud gushing out.
A blood-soaked maw emitted a deafening roar. A vast torrent of blood spewed upward, spreading corrosively in all directions. It seemed about to form a bizarre domain to trap Cassius.
"True Progenitor of Blood Yumila? You escaped your cage?"
Cassius stamped down as the shadow of a white bird shadow swept past, devouring and vaporizing all the corrosive blood. Thorn Feather Force was the ultimate terror in this regard; that so-called deadly blood was nothing before it. Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel★fire.net
He raised his hands, and another series of explosions occurred.
Boom-boom-boom-boom...
Blood splattered, shockwaves flew, and the ground trembled. Cassius slowly retracted his fists. The giant bat face in front of him was now peppered with holes as its entire body was destroyed. Its nearly roaring visage froze stiff and collapsed to the ground the next second.
A black boot slowly parted a pool of blood. A pained bat face surfaced in the blood, twisting as it crawled to gather farther off. The Blood of Immortality was re-coalescing into a body.
"Come at me together, feeble monsters. Use every method and means to wound me, to make me bleed. If you can do it, that is... heh..."
Though Cassius clearly mocked them, his face was expressionless. Though his words dripped with sarcasm, his posture was elegant and poised. It was an eerie contradiction, yet it carried a majestic, holy grandeur.
Southern Dipper Waterbird Fist required a vast amount of nourishment. Only then could the Heart of the Holy Fist absorb nutrients and grow.
Cassius's current situation was just enough. He could defeat foes in one hit, yet couldn't kill them outright. He could crush a single force alone, but the combined power of three gave him a hint of pressure. His fists were most free when it battled at this stage. Any stronger would be mindless steamrolling, and any weaker risked defeat. It was perfect, and quite fitting.
The white figure stood alone on the chapel grounds with well-defined hands hanging slightly as the waterbird phantom behind slowly spread its wings.
Low laughter rippled out from him.
But the ground in all three directions around the chapel burst upward. The three Gate Organization deputy leaders blurred into overlapping afterimages, bursting from the ruins to pounce on Cassius.
The Moon God statue's remaining ten arms slammed the ground, causing its giant body to blast up like a massive falling meteor. The moonlight above it shone as brilliantly as a star.
The bat face on the ground shot skyward, then shattered into countless twisted visages of human faces, forming a sweeping river of blood.
The air warped, the ground trembled, and danger arrived in an instant. Only one person stood on the open ground, murmuring quietly.
"It seems you're still incapable of hurting me..."