Chapter 66: Techniques for Dealing with Giant Creatures

Chapter 66: Techniques for Dealing with Giant Creatures

Inside the ruins filled with seawater and half fused with the spirit world, Klein, clad in black full-body armor, stood at the central hall’s doorway. Within stood the half-devoured blue-green serpent and the old priest whose abdomen bulged high.

The latter’s skin was gray-black, as though it had been wind-dried for ages. His eyes flashed with blue-green light as he stared fixedly at the “visitor” wearing the pitch-black crown, as if thinking where he should bite first.

Without hesitation, without delay, Klein reached his right hand into his own body and took out a small brown translucent bottle.

Then, extending his left palm forward, he swiftly unscrewed the cap and casually flicked the Biological Poison Bottle toward a corner of the hall.

This environment was half on the seabed. Aside from the holy fire that burned undead and evil things, no flame could exist here. That restricted two important abilities of Klein’s Magician Sequence, so he could only maximize his other advantages from the very beginning.

At the same time that he threw out the Biological Poison Bottle, the glove on his left palm rapidly turned resplendent, as though reflecting direct midday sunlight.

The swaying seawater around him became dyed gold, spreading outward layer after layer.

This was the Priest of Light ability within Creeping Hunger: Purifying Halo!

The old priest, who had eaten part of Sea God Kalvetua’s body raw, naturally would not politely and chivalrously watch Klein make battle preparations. The blue-green light in his eyes abruptly brightened, and his bulging abdomen rose even higher.

“Wooo!”

An ethereal yet shrill voice came from within his body, instantly covering the entire ruin.

The sound was like the soul of a nightingale singing—beautiful and pleasant, graceful and quiet, yet also icy enough to pierce the heart.

Klein froze in place. All his thoughts seemed like waves struck by extreme cold, solidifying in his mind in a single instant.

The old priest’s body swelled abruptly, like Kalvetua resurrected, or a giant that had walked out of myth and legend.

Beneath his torn robe, slick blue-green tentacles drilled out one after another. They were wrapped in silver-white lightning as they extended swiftly, dancing in midair, lashing toward the stupefied Klein.

Sizzle!

Silver-white light erupted. Klein flew backward, crashing heavily beside the doorway. The black full-body armor over him dimmed at once, cracking in several places, while the cane in his hand was unconsciously thrown far away.

Because his mind was abnormally calm, almost frozen, he had no thought of using a Paper Figurine Substitute and forcibly endured the blow.

If not for the Black Emperor card and Azik’s copper whistle simultaneously reinforcing his spirit body, then with his essence at only Sequence 6, that strike would absolutely have heavily injured him, and perhaps even killed him outright.

The tentacles surged over again, slapping downward.

Klein, who had been “woken” by the electricity, rolled nimbly and barely dodged them.

He glanced at the opponent’s size, then immediately turned and ran out the door—without hesitation, without reluctance, with firm and decisive resolve.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

Klein half flew and half ran, looking as though he were fleeing for his life. The old priest’s blue-green tentacles, wrapped in silver-white lightning, chased behind him, trying to drag him back into the hall. Yet again and again, Klein shook them off with nimble turns, agile movements, and timely rolls.

Seeing that he could not get what he wanted, the old priest’s abdomen swelled once more, and that clear, ghostly voice once again echoed through the ruins.

But this time, Klein was prepared. Although his body stiffened and froze, he became soaked by seawater and turned into a pile of soggy paper.

The old priest finally moved. Taking heavy but rapid steps, he tried to pursue the enemy.

His huge body rushed to the doorway. His huge body struck, with a loud bang, the collapsed ceiling and wall!

This entrance had originally been able to allow an enormous creature like Kalvetua to pass through. But because of the previous collapse of the ruins and the Sea God’s madness before death, the place had caved in. The doorway had been buried until it was only about two meters tall and one meter wide. The old priest, whose mental state was clearly abnormal, rammed into it directly and almost got himself stuck.

Klein, who had been waiting precisely for this chance, immediately stopped and turned around.

He half closed his eyes, straightened his back, and spread his arms.

A brilliant pillar of light entwined with faint golden flames descended from above, striking the old priest directly.

The scraps of robe hanging from the old man’s body ignited at once. His gray-black skin and flesh fell off in chunks, dissolving and evaporating inside the pure radiance.

Only then did Klein finally see what was strange about the priest’s abdomen.

It was swollen severely. Several areas were particularly obvious, forming the overall outline of two eyes and a mouth.

It looked as though a person were hiding inside the old priest’s belly, pressing his face against it and trying to crawl out.

Bang!

The old priest exerted force through his legs, which were covered in scorched serpent hide, and crashed straight out of the collapsed doorway, sending stone fragments flying and seawater surging.

He finally escaped the pillar of light, but his body was covered in hideous wounds left by falling flesh. Even the “face” on his abdomen showed obvious signs of melting.

Thud, thud, thud! Blue-green tentacles flew and danced around the old priest, carrying silver-white lightning as they lashed at Klein from every direction. Meanwhile, the “face” on his abdomen cooperated, from time to time releasing that sound that made a spirit body fall “quiet.”

Klein sprinted, rolled, and circled calmly, keeping the enemy occupied. When the priest moved left, he went right; when the priest rushed forward, he retreated. It was like a wild dance for two.

During that process, Klein relied on Paper Figurine Substitutes again and again to endure that ethereal yet icy shriek. From time to time, he also released a howl of his own, using a Wraith’s shriek to stimulate the old priest and forcibly interrupt him before the “face” on his abdomen could make a sound.

Time passed second by second. The mad old priest’s hands, which had been hanging unmoving at his sides, suddenly lifted and pressed against his own abdomen.

With a pull of his arms, he forcefully tore the outline of a mouth open into a wound.

Blue-green pus gushed out from within, and dense, sharp teeth grew along the tear.

Another roar emerged. The seawater around them poured backward into that mouth, forming the terrifying vortex Kalvetua had once created.

Klein, dressed as the Black Emperor, was sucked toward it. The lightning-wrapped tentacles dancing around them all withdrew, about to embrace him into the priest’s body.

Klein did not panic. The glove on his left palm quickly became as though forged from pure gold.

Floating in midair, he fixed his eyes on the face upon the old priest’s abdomen and the seawater vortex below it. Two dazzling bolts of lightning abruptly lit up within his pupils.

Interrogator. Mental Pierce!

The old priest suddenly stiffened. The face on his abdomen wrinkled tightly, and the vortex emitting terrifying suction collapsed in an instant.

Amid the reversed waves, Klein lowered his body and moved like a fish through the weak points of the force, dodging one wildly waving blue-green tentacle after another.

Amid flickering silver-white lightning, he rushed to the old priest’s side. At some unknown point, the glove on his hand had turned pale, stained with a faint greenish hue.

The muscles of Klein’s back bulged. His fists hammered out wildly, landing heavily on the old priest’s thigh near the knee.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Cold air radiated from his fists. He beat the old priest until flesh flew, until a thin layer of frost covered the opponent’s right leg, until even the surrounding seawater froze solid.

This was a Living Corpse’s mastery over ice!

Amid the old priest’s screams, the tentacles lashed back like whips. Silver-white light illuminated the entire ruin.

At that moment, Klein was not greedy. He stopped in time and rolled backward repeatedly, evading the frenzied attacks that smashed stone slabs and charred them black.

He stood again and seized the chance while the old priest was still stiff in place. The glove on his left palm once more bloomed with sunlight-like radiance.

Klein straightened his body and assumed the posture of praising the sun.

A thick, pure pillar of holy light descended once more, enveloping the enormous old priest.

Klein saw the enemy’s gray-black flesh rapidly collapse. He saw the skin of the face on the priest’s abdomen melt, revealing what lay within.

Inside the old priest’s abdomen, the heart, stomach, intestines, and other organs had been kneaded together haphazardly, forming the face of a sea serpent.

Kalvetua actually still has a trace of spiritual residue… A demigod’s will is far stronger than I imagined… Klein rolled again, dodging a blue-green tentacle thrown at him like a long spear.

The tentacles, wrapped in lightning, were melted through by the holy pillar of light. They pierced into the ground, twitching, twisting, and writhing.

The pure pillar of light quickly dissipated, and the sinister serpent face on the old priest’s abdomen stubbornly opened its mouth again.

At that instant, the old priest himself bent his waist and abdomen, releasing a series of violent coughs. The serpent face’s efforts stopped abruptly.

The Biological Poison Bottle had finally taken effect!

Klein did not let this opportunity slip by. Once again, he stood straight, spread his arms, and embraced the “sun.”

A pillar of light carrying numerous golden flames illuminated the area. The old priest’s figure first hunched over, then shrank, as though he were evaporating. After a shrill scream, the serpent face on his abdomen completely dissolved and vanished.

When the light faded, the old priest had returned to his original size. His bones were nearly melted, and lumps of gray-black flesh hung from him.

His aura rapidly dimmed. His spirit was collapsing at high speed.

Klein rushed over. Relying on his own Wraith state, he directly began spirit channeling.

He needed to confirm whether this old priest had committed grave sins.

He believed that he had to hold this line. It was both his own will and a guard against corruption and madness.

In an instant, he saw scene after scene. They were all scenes of this old priest presiding over live sacrifices.

Klein no longer hesitated. He extended his left palm and let the long-starved glove taste its feast.

Flesh, spirituality, and white bone rapidly surged into the hideous mouth that split open in his palm. Points of blue-green light separated out, mixed with faint traces of deep black.

Through the spirit channeling just now, Klein confirmed that in life, the old priest had been a Soul Assurer. His potion formula and Beyonder materials had all come from the Church of the God of Combat in the Feysac Empire. When he became a Sea God Guard, he had already lost his reason and knew only to obey commands. After Kalvetua’s death, driven by instinctive desire, he gnawed at the flesh and blood of the deity he worshiped. In the end, conflicting characteristics twisted him into a monster.

Just as Creeping Hunger was feasting, all the Beyonder characteristics on the ground suddenly surged, transforming into a hurricane that swept toward the hall and entered the now-straight white fang.

Klein looked over and saw that Kalvetua’s remaining body had completely collapsed, resembling rotten sludge, while the fang that had absorbed all the Beyonder characteristics here had turned into a short scepter, silently standing against the half-toppled pillar.

At the top of the white scepter, tiny blue-green “gemstones” were embedded one after another. Some among them were stained with deep black, and others with the light of dawn.

Seeing that Creeping Hunger had satisfied its appetite, Klein hurried into the hall and cautiously approached the scepter.

Before he truly touched it, layered, illusory prayers rang in his ears. Before his eyes, hallucinations appeared: one believer after another prostrating themselves in prayer, and rebels weeping without end because the divine statue had shattered on its own.