Chapter 125: A Fearsome Onslaught
Mid-sentence, Joseph suddenly felt as if someone had grabbed his throat. He couldn’t make a single sound anymore.
Then, the mark branded on his shoulder began to drain his life force.
Joseph looked at Justin with sheer terror on his face. He wanted to speak, but no sound came out.
"You can’t do this to me," Joseph said in despair, staring at his own arm, which had become thin and bony. Then he closed his eyes for good.
Justin looked down at Joseph, now dead, and said in a cold voice: "The moment you tried to abandon me, your fate was already sealed."
As soon as he finished speaking, a terrifying surge of power burst out from Justin.
His stats—strength, speed, endurance, senses—all started shooting up across the board.
After nearly doubling his entire set of attributes, Justin shouted with joy: "I finally got the full [Resonance Amplification] Talent! Hahaha! So the complete version of [Resonance Amplification] doesn’t need blood to temper the body anymore. I just have to devour Eldritch creatures, and I can keep getting stronger."
"This isn’t an S-Tier Talent—this is an SS-Tier Talent!"
Justin waved his arms excitedly. He grabbed one of the Eldritch Entities surrounding him and swallowed it whole.
The creature’s body was instantly squeezed into a ball by an invisible force and slipped right into Justin’s mouth.
A warm current surged from Justin’s chest, spread through his limbs, and made him feel cozy.
The energy he had lost from falling into the water was instantly restored. Even more, Justin could clearly feel his strength slowly increasing.
It really could boost his stats.
Justin looked around at the remaining Eldritch Entities with excitement.
The creatures that had been ready to attack him now backed away as if they had seen a plague.
"Trying to run? Too late!" Justin laughed. He kicked up water and shot through it like a torpedo, straight into the middle of the Eldritch Entities.
He kept devouring them one after another, and his body began to change without him even noticing.
His skin was no longer soft and smooth—scales started growing on it.
His face was no longer pale and handsome—fangs and a long snout appeared.
By the time Justin swallowed the last Eldritch Entity, he had completely lost all human features.
Then a sharp warning sound rang out.
[Detected: Host has fully Eldritch-ified. All system permissions granted to the host will be immediately revoked.]
[All items in the host’s system backpack will be reclaimed by the system.]
[Your system connection has been terminated...]
Hearing this, Justin, who had been laughing wildly just moments before, suddenly froze.
"I lost my system permissions?"
"I still have my consciousness. Why are you abandoning me?" Justin muttered to himself.
The moment he realized he no longer had the system or his Survivor status, panic set in.
"No! You can’t do this to me! I still need to surpass Kevin on the leaderboard! I still need to become the strongest Survivor! You can’t disqualify me!" Justin was completely enraged, continuously slapping the waves.
It wasn’t until he accidentally caught a glimpse of his own arm—covered in scales, his once smooth fingers now twisted and ugly—that he finally calmed down.
He looked down at the surface of the sea. In the reflection, he saw a monster staring back at him.
Justin felt completely hopeless.
"No!"
Meanwhile, thousands of kilometers away, on Sky Island.
A bolt of lightning struck down. Draven and his boomerang appeared at the same time in the plaza.
He was naked. His face was still swollen from drowning and suffocation.
Did I just die?
Confused, Draven immediately checked his system backpack.
Sure enough, two resurrection items had been used up.
He clenched his fists. His face was twisted with anger. "Kevin, this isn’t over."
At that moment, Sindra walked up slowly, a mocking smile on her face. "Oh? Did our Lone Wolf lose? Want me to help you get your revenge before Kingston finds out? My price isn’t high—just one round with me, and I’ll help you out."
Draven’s face twisted with disgust. "Get lost, you freak."
On the other side, on Darius’s island.
The magic circle that had summoned the black knight Aaron flickered with light again.
The black knight Aaron, along with his armor, appeared once more in the center of the circle.
Aaron stumbled. His steps were weak. He fell to his knees with a thud.
He gasped for air, his face full of fear. "That explosion just now could have blown up a mountain. Where did he get so much explosives?"
The black knight Aaron put on his armor, smoothed his hair, and turned to walk deeper into the island.
Just then, Darius had already received news of his defeat.
The moment they met, they started arguing.
Darius didn’t hold back. He pointed at Aaron’s nose and yelled, "You damn fool! Didn’t you always say you were unbeatable in the [Second Sea Area]? You’ve only been out a few days, and you’ve already been sent back?"
The black knight Aaron, being pointed at and cursed, completely dropped his gentlemanly act. He shot back, "Bullshit! Darius, you old turtle! The intel you gave me was fake. Kevin’s strength is in the top tier even in the [Second Sea Area]."
Darius rolled his eyes. The wrinkles on his face twisted together. "Stop making excuses. Don’t try to cover up your incompetence. Mr. Kingston has already sent us a second claim for compensation. I don’t care what method you use, you must bring Ms. Nova back alive."
Darius waved his hand behind him. Six priests of [The Eye of Tarot] slowly walked forward.
Seeing this, the black knight Aaron frowned. "What are you doing?"
"Helping you, of course." Darius took a deep breath to calm himself, then said coldly, "Since you and Draven can’t handle Kevin and his group, I’ve decided to go along with the six priests."
He paused for a moment. "Mr. Kingston will also send more men. Next time, we can only succeed. We cannot fail."
The black knight Aaron clenched his fists tightly.
His veins bulged on his forehead. His face was full of murderous intent. "I don’t care if Ms. Nova lives or dies. Next time, I only want Kevin dead."
Inside the Evil God hall at the center of Sky Island.
Sindra walked slowly into the center of the hall in high heels.
She wrapped her arms around Kingston’s neck and whispered, "Master, your body is still as strong as ever."
"Get away from me now, unless you want to die!" Kingston roared, barely holding back his anger.
Sindra giggled softly, tossed out a boomerang, and explained, "The Lone Wolf has already marked Ms. Nova. My most honored master, I think you’ll be interested in him."
Kingston picked up the boomerang. On its smooth blade, images of Nova began to appear one after another.
Kingston stared at Nova with a obsessed look, a wide grin spreading across his face. "It seems Draven’s mission wasn’t a complete failure. With this boomerang as a marker, the evil god Pelosi might be able to establish a mental connection with Ms. Nova ahead of time."
Kingston raised his hand and threw the boomerang directly into the altar at the center of the hall.
It turned out that this pair of boomerangs could not only lock onto and track enemies, but also leave a tracking mark on the target through the blade.
A blood-red light began to glow in the center of the altar.
A powerful will suddenly descended, firmly locking onto Nova’s mark on the boomerang.
"A perfect body. You have done well. I will guide you to her location. Bring her to the altar as soon as possible."
As soon as the voice finished speaking, the boomerang vanished without a trace. In its place, a brand new S-Tier boomerang appeared.
Kingston picked up the S-Tier weapon and tested it in his hand. "Lucky Draven. Even I don’t have many decent S-Tier items."
He tossed the S-Tier boomerang to Sindra and said coldly, "[The Eye of Tarot] will send more men. Give this weapon to Draven. The two of you will move together. You must bring Ms. Nova back."
While the two forces were plotting to capture Nova, Kevin and his group’s rest period was coming to an end.
During the last two days, Kevin and the others did not start any new hunts.
It was a rare moment of peace, so they all enjoyed some leisurely time.
Over these two days, Kevin spent a lot of time alone with his girls.
Although the "Daddy" Cannon wasn’t big, it had plenty of rooms.
In just two days, aside from Raphael and Stephanie, Kevin had slept in almost every girl’s bed.
Watching the girls’ Affection levels rise steadily, Kevin was already looking forward to what would happen when their Affection reached over five hundred and they were upgraded to Silver-tier [Covenant-bearers].
Nighttime. On the deck of the "Daddy" Cannon.
The evening breeze brushed through Kevin’s and Nova’s hair.
They stood side by side, leaning against the railing, enjoying the view around them.
"After tomorrow, we’ll have to face the days of being attacked by Eldritch Entities again." Nova let out a soft sigh, unable to hide the bitterness in her voice. "Kevin, you said my Talent ability is powerful. But I’ve tried many ways, and I haven’t been able to develop it to the level you described."
Hearing this, Nova looked uneasy. "Am I really that strong?"
Kevin smiled and gently patted Nova on the forehead. "We’ve only been on this terrifying sea for a month. What’s the rush?"
Nova buried her head in Kevin’s chest.
As Kevin comforted Nova, he gazed up at the night sky, feeling puzzled.
The truth was, Kevin himself didn’t know why.
In his past life, he hadn’t had much interaction with Nova.
As far as he knew, Nova was already incredibly powerful the moment she appeared.
Although Nova was still strong in this life, she was still far from the "Cantor" Kevin remembered.
Nova’s power was definitely not limited to what she had now.
There must be some key element missing, something even I don’t know about.
Kevin thought to himself, Should I ask Lilith about this?
...