Free Web NovelChapter 200: Chapter 196: Sweep 2
Phoenix cowered behind a stone pillar. The blood-red light from the Token in his hand flashed erratically as the Spell he chanted grew more and more frantic.
Suddenly, he snapped his head up, looking at the cocoon on top of the altar.
The writhing threads on the cocoon’s surface slowed for a moment.
Ecstasy spread across Phoenix’s face.
"It worked! The Blood Sacrifice Order is taking effect! It’s listening to me—"
He didn’t get to finish.
A fissure suddenly split open in the center of the cocoon.
Within the fissure, there were no eyes, no mouth—only a deep, swirling, dark red void.
Then, a main Tentacle, ten times thicker than the other threads and so dark it was nearly black, slowly extended outward.
The tip of the Tentacle split open, revealing rows upon rows of continuously writhing, sharp teeth inside.
It "looked" at Phoenix.
The ecstasy on Phoenix’s face froze instantly, replaced by incredulous terror.
"No... This isn’t right... This is different from what the records said... It... It’s not under control... It’s—"
Before he could finish his thought.
The main Tentacle shot out, as fast as a bolt of black lightning.
Phoenix tried to dodge, but he had stood too close to communicate with the Blood Sacrifice Order, and there was no cover around him.
The Tentacle instantly wrapped around his waist.
"AHHH!!!"
Phoenix let out a bloodcurdling scream, like a pig being slaughtered.
The protective blood-red light around his body extinguished with a "PFFT," and his seemingly fine Deep Red Inner Armor was crushed like paper.
The Tentacle tightened, and Phoenix’s waist visibly buckled and caved in.
The sound of his bones shattering was a dense crackle, like a string of firecrackers.
He frantically waved the Blood Sacrifice Order in his hand, trying to smash it against the Tentacle.
But as soon as he raised his arm, another, thinner thread wrapped around it.
"CRACK!"
His arm bent at an unnatural angle, and the Blood Sacrifice Order flew from his grasp, landing with a "CLANG" a few meters away.
Phoenix’s eyes bulged as he stared at the Token, a hoarse rattle coming from his throat.
The Tentacle dragged him back into the cocoon.
The humanoid silhouettes on the cocoon’s surface writhed violently. A gruesome, crunching sound, enough to set one’s teeth on edge, could be faintly heard from within.
A few seconds later, the sound stopped.
An empty Deep Red Long Robe was spat out from the cocoon’s fissure, fluttering gently to the ground.
For a moment, the cavern fell deathly silent.
Then, an even greater panic erupted.
"Phoenix... is dead?!"
"The leader of the Deep Red group is dead!"
"Run! Run for your lives!"
Among the Withered Council members, the leader in the gray robe snapped his head up, two points of ghostly fire flickering under his hood.
He glanced at the cocoon on the altar, then at Ian standing by the entrance.
A hoarse voice rang out, "We’ll fight our way out. That kid at the entrance—if he gets in the way, kill him!"
Five or six gray-robed men turned in unison and charged toward the stone door.
The man in the lead was two meters tall with a large frame, wielding a Bone Saber as wide as a door panel.
He rushed at the very front, his Bone Saber held high. Grayish-black Death Qi coiled around the blade as he brought it down on Ian’s head.
"Get out of the way!"
The wind from the slash tore through the air with a ghost-like shriek.
Ian raised his right hand and made a grasping motion.
A Gravity Collapse Ball, the size of a walnut with light collapsing inward, formed in an instant.
’Go.’
The Collapse Ball flew out silently, colliding with the Bone Saber.
The gray-robed man sneered, his Bone Saber’s momentum unabated, intending to smash both the ball and the man to pieces.
But the moment the blade touched the Collapse Ball.
HUM!
Space distorted as an invisible, immense force seized the Bone Saber.
The gray-robed man felt as if his saber had plunged into thick glue. Its speed dropped sharply, and the blade began to bend and warp inward.
"What the hell is this thing?!"
His expression changed, and he tried to pull his saber back and retreat.
Too late.
The Collapse Ball burst with a "POP."
This was the rebound after collapsing inward to its absolute limit.
A transparent shockwave erupted.
The Bone Saber "SNAPPED" in two.
The webbing between the gray-robed man’s thumb and forefinger split open, blood gushing out. The shockwave threw him back three steps.
Just as he regained his footing, an invisible, intangible thread pierced his Sea of Spirit.
"Ah!" As if struck by lightning, the gray-robed man let out a wretched howl.
But Ian was already upon him.
His right hand, fingers held together, glowed with a Jade-like Radiance beneath the skin. It was like an iron awl, stabbing straight for the man’s chest.
The gray-robed man roared, his left hand clenched into a fist, wreathed in Death Qi, and he threw a punch to meet the attack head-on.
"BANG!"
Fist met palm.
The expression on the gray-robed man’s face instantly froze.
He felt as if his fist had smashed into a piece of red-hot steel.
No, it was harder and hotter than steel.
The excruciating pain of shattering bone shot up his arm. The Death Qi, struck by the radiance from Ian’s body, hissed and dissipated like snow in boiling water.
Meanwhile, Ian’s palm, its momentum unbroken, plunged into his chest with a "SQUELCH."
His five fingers locked onto the man’s ribs, and with a sharp tug—
"CRUNCH!"
The sternum shattered, and the heart was crushed.
The gray-robed man’s eyes widened. He glanced down at the bloody hole in his chest, then looked back up at Ian.
"You... you’re not Level One..."
A gurgle escaped his throat as he coughed up a mouthful of black blood and fell backward.
"Captain!"
The gray-robed men behind him cried out in alarm.
’Their captain, a Peak of Liquidation expert specializing in Death Witchcraft and close combat, had his heart torn out in a single exchange?’
"All of you, together! Kill him!"
The remaining four gray-robed men, their eyes bloodshot, charged forward at once.
One threw three grayish-black Corrosive Rays straight at Ian’s face.
Another slammed his hands on the ground, which cracked open with a "CRACK." Seven or eight pale Bone Hands erupted from the earth, reaching for Ian’s legs.
A third chanted an incantation, and a ghastly green Ghost Head materialized above him, opening its mouth to spew a foul-smelling Poisonous Fog.
The last one circled to the side, clutching a poison-coated Bone Spike, waiting for an opportunity to launch a sneak attack.
Ian’s eyes were ice-cold.
[Crystal Energy Barrier] fully deployed. Seventy-two Floating Crystal Guards whizzed out, half of them weaving into a shield wall before him, while the other half swarmed toward the Bone Hands and Poisonous Fog like a hive of bees.
"BANG! BANG! BANG!"
The Bone Hands were shattered on impact with the Crystal Guards. The Poisonous Fog struck the Crystal Guard shield, corroding it with a "HISS," but it couldn’t break through right away.
As for Ian, he pushed off the ground and, instead of retreating, advanced, charging between the three Corrosive Rays.
[Mimicry] activated!
His body’s color and texture instantly assimilated with the surrounding environment. The three rays grazed past his body and struck the stone door behind him, etching three deep pits into it.
Ian’s true form appeared to the left of the gray-robed man who had spewed the Poisonous Fog.
He held the index and middle fingers of his right hand together. At their tips, a point of purple-white light, compressed to its absolute limit, flared to life.
It was not simply a frosty white, nor was it pure, intense heat.
Within the purple-white light were two extreme energies: icy cold and scorching heat.
They madly intertwined, rotated, and annihilated each other in a spiral, emitting a faint "CRACKLE" as if ice and fire were tearing at one another.
[Frost Ash Beam: Ice and Fire Spiral]!
A pale violet beam, intertwined in a triangular formation, tore through the air with a piercing shriek, shooting toward the gray-robed man’s chest and abdomen!
The gray-robed man was aghast and tried to dodge, but Ian had appeared too suddenly.
He only had time to turn his head before the pale violet beam struck his chest.
"PFFT!"
The instant it hit, the Ice and Fire Energy erupted simultaneously!
At his chest, extreme cold instantly froze flesh and bone, forming a bowl-sized hole of ice with edges covered in thick white frost.
At the same time, scorching heat vaporized and carbonized the flesh, creating a charred black cavity.
White smoke sizzled from the edges, giving off the burnt smell of cooked meat.
Ice and fire, freezing and incineration—two completely opposite types of damage exploded on the same body at the same time!
The gray-robed man’s body shuddered violently. He opened his mouth but made no sound.
He looked down at the ice-rimmed hole in his chest, his eyes filled with blank disbelief.
Then, he fell down, stiff as a board.
To the side, the gray-robed man with the Bone Spike who had been planning a sneak attack saw that Ian’s back was to him. A vicious glint flashed in his eyes as he viciously stabbed the Bone Spike toward Ian’s heart.
But he had only thrust the Bone Spike halfway.
From the shadows at his feet, a jet-black claw suddenly shot out.
"Gaa!"
Gaga’s claws dug viciously into his ankle.
"Ah!" the gray-robed man screamed, looking down.
The fist-sized Gaga emerged from the shadows. With a flap of its wings, a dozen Wind Blades, so solid they had a bluish tint, flew straight at the man’s face.
The gray-robed man hastily raised his arms to block, swinging his Bone Spike wildly.
"PFFT! PFFT! PFFT!"
The Wind Blades cut through his protective Death Qi, leaving a dozen wounds deep enough to show bone. Blood sprayed everywhere.
In that brief delay.
Ian had already turned. He made a grasping motion with his right hand, and a Gravity Collapse Ball slammed into the man’s chest at point-blank range.
"HUM!"
The gray-robed man’s body stiffened. His chest caved inward—ribs, organs, and spine were crushed into a single mass by an immense, invisible force.
His eyes bulged, and he spat out a spray of blood mixed with chunks of his internal organs before falling backward.
The two remaining gray-robed men—the one who had fired the Corrosive Rays and the one who had summoned the Bone Hands.
Seeing two more of their comrades die in the blink of an eye, they were scared out of their wits.
"Run!"
The two turned and tried to flee deeper into the cavern.
But from the depths of the cavern, the tide of threads was already surging toward them.
Several blood-red threads shot out with a "SWOOSH" and wrapped around their ankles.
"No!"
The two screamed, struggling desperately and unleashing Witchcraft to attack the threads.
But it was no use.
The threads were completely unafraid of Death Energy. On the contrary, like leeches that had scented blood, they began to swarm and entangle them even more.
"Help! He—"
The cries were cut short.
The two were dragged into the tide of threads, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
From the moment the Withered Council’s leader attacked to the complete annihilation of all six members, less than twenty breaths of time had passed.
Everyone still alive in the cavern was completely dumbfounded.
Hogan and Catherine of Shadow Moon Tower stared with their mouths agape, wide enough to fit an egg.
The members of the smaller factions felt their legs trembling uncontrollably.
The few remaining Wizards from the Deep Red Royal Court, their faces as pale as ghosts, huddled in a corner, not even daring to breathe loudly.
’Ian... all by himself, killed the Withered Council’s entire squad?’
’And several of them were experts at the Liquid Stage?’
’That bizarre pale violet beam actually had both freezing and incinerating effects at the same time?!’
’How is that even possible?!’
’Is that a fucking Level One Wizard?!’
Ian flicked the blood from his hand and looked up at the cavern.
The tide of threads was still spreading, having already covered more than half of the cavern.
The only ones still alive were eight or nine people from Shadow Moon, five from Deep Red, and two or three from the smaller factions—less than twenty in total.
Everyone was crowded by the stone door, but no one dared to rush toward Ian anymore.
They looked at Ian, then back at the pursuing threads, their faces etched with despair.
"Ian..." Hogan’s throat was dry as he spoke with difficulty.
Ian glanced at him but said nothing.
He stepped aside, clearing the path.
As if granted a royal pardon, Hogan immediately led his people in a charge for the exit.
Seeing this, the people from Deep Red and the smaller factions also scrambled to squeeze their way out.
Ian watched them run past him, his expression calm.
He didn’t move to intercept them. ’The repercussions of killing them all would be too great.’
Just as the last person squeezed through the gap in the door.
Inside the cavern, the thick main Tentacle suddenly turned, aiming toward the stone door.
It locked directly onto Ian.
