Vol 3. Chapter 106: Despair
As black mana surged around Xiao, the magic spear suddenly split open into a gigantic maw and let out a horrifying roar like the wailing of ghosts and howling of demons. A terrifying black magic formation immediately took shape, and countless crystalline black blades condensed from mana bombarded the blond man ahead like a raging storm.
In an instant,
everything around Xue Tianao, including the remains of buildings and scorched trees, was reduced to ashes and annihilated into nothingness. After countless crystalline black blades pierced Xue Tianao’s body, they immediately erupted inside him, releasing vast amounts of corrosive energy that directly attempted to dissolve his body.
In the blink of an eye,
Xue Tianao was once again reduced to a blood-soaked figure. Excruciating pain assaulted the Child of Destiny like thousands upon thousands of vicious venomous snakes relentlessly gnawing at his internal organs, forcing a heart-rending howl from his throat.
“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!! You...... bastard!!”
However,
very soon, even his right to scream was taken away by Xiao, because, unsurprisingly, a crystal blade pierced straight through his throat......
And that wasn’t all.
After being blasted away by Xiao’s attack,
emerald light suddenly flashed as the cry of a gigantic bird [N O V E L I G H T] rang out. The enormous gray bird, surrounded by endless tornadoes, abruptly swept toward Xue Tianao from behind!
It dragged him directly into the raging winds, allowing countless wind blades to tear through the Child of Destiny’s body, instantly cutting him into a bloody mess......
And just as Xue Tianao began falling from the sky,
amidst the raging blizzard, a roaring snow wolf charged straight toward him, opened its enormous bloody maw, and brutally clamped its jaws around Xue Tianao.
Then,
Snow Devourer’s eyes suddenly contracted as dense Shadow of Silence Power gathered inside its mouth.
The next instant,
the Nihility Cannon erupted with a deafening roar, dealing yet another devastating blow to Xue Tianao at point-blank range......
“Rumble!!”
Crimson light flashed across the battlefield as furious karmic flames completely engulfed Xue Tianao, relentlessly burning every inch of skin on his body. The bone-piercing agony caused the Child of Destiny to struggle madly within the inferno.
Finally, as the power erupted even further, Xue Tianao, now resembling a piece of charcoal, was violently blasted backward and crashed into the scorched ground nearby.
“Cough, cough, cough!!”
Blood and pieces of internal organs once again sprayed from his mouth......
Seeing this, Xiao’s eyes narrowed slightly.
As for exactly how much stronger Xue Tianao had become after releasing threefold divine power and declaring that he would fight with everything he had, Xiao honestly couldn’t tell.
But one thing he could clearly feel was that this charred man before him possessed a tenacity and vitality even more terrifying than a cockroach.
Dozens of fatal wounds had failed to kill him.
And under the healing effects of divine power, those wounds rapidly regenerated. To Xiao, the current Xue Tianao seemed to have already turned into something resembling a punching bag.
However, obviously,
this wasn’t the result Xiao wanted.
Although continuously beating the hell out of this high-and-mighty Child of Destiny was quite enjoyable, his ultimate objective was still to eliminate him.
It was just that
the powerful regenerative ability Xue Tianao had gained after releasing his divine power had genuinely exceeded Xiao’s expectations.
‘Getting rid of him seems like it’ll take a little more time......’
And the barrier
had already begun developing cracks during the conflict......
Glancing from the corner of his eye at the裂 opening in the barrier above, Xiao gradually revealed a solemn expression.
Of course, what made him uneasy wasn’t the possibility of Xue Tianao’s subordinates coming to reinforce him.
Rather, it was because......
once their auras leaked out,
that lady would notice what was happening here......
If that happened......
Xiao narrowed his eyes slightly.
As the head of the Black Rose Family, Xiao was indeed extraordinarily powerful and intelligent. But he wasn’t someone capable of predicting everything.
The main reason his plan had proceeded so smoothly thus far was because he had prepared countless contingencies beforehand.
For example,
if Plan A didn’t work, there was Plan B.
If B failed, there was C.
If none of those worked, there were E, F, G, H......
Countless contingency plans allowed Xiao to deal with practically any unexpected situation.
What if the Child of Destiny was too tenacious? What if Lady Yumo discovered them?
No problem.
He still had contingency plans......
With a cold smile, the black mana surrounding Xiao once again converged toward his magic spear. Having received even more nourishment from his mana, the magic spear—Puls—began releasing waves of eerie, bloodcurdling laughter. Combined with the low growls of Snow Devourer and Deathwing beside him,
the atmosphere became unbearably oppressive.
Despair
crashed down upon Xue Tianao’s shoulders like several Mount Everests at once, leaving him completely unable to breathe.
At this point, after enduring endless agony, Xue Tianao had practically turned into a hideous evil ghost that had crawled straight out of hell.
With his combat power completely suppressed, he had been passively beaten from beginning to end. And after the two Demon King-class Abyss Demons smashed apart his alchemical puppets, leaving him trapped in a one-versus-three battle, all he could do was continue taking the beating.
Although the enhancement of divine power granted him extraordinary regeneration and vitality,
the pain caused by his injuries wasn’t reduced in the slightest......
During just the previous three minutes of fighting, he had lost his head five times, had his limbs severed twenty times, and had his chest and abdomen torn open more than thirty times each.
Even more outrageously, his ‘Little Aotian,’ which had finally been reborn under the enhancement of divine power, had been destroyed a full forty-eight times under the enemy’s relentless bombardment......
The excruciating agony had even made Xue Tianao feel the urge to simply end everything once and for all.
But
he quickly shook his head frantically, throwing that thought out of his mind.
‘No, no! I can’t die...... It took me so much effort to reach where I am today...... It can’t end like this...... I’m the person chosen by destiny in this world. There must...... there must be some way to turn defeat into victory......’
Xue Tianao continued encouraging himself inwardly.
At the same time,
his peripheral vision unconsciously swept toward the location of the major military stronghold in the south.
There,
he still had the weapon he relied upon most—
ten Mana Fission Bombs!
The existence of this final trump card gave Xue Tianao a sliver of hope.
Now that the Duke of the Black Rose Family’s barrier had cracked, his mana signal could escape. Once the mana military fortress received his signal, it would automatically launch the Mana Fission Bombs toward Skyvault—or, more precisely, toward the Imperial Palace!
No matter how powerful the Duke of the Black Rose Family and those two Demon King-class existences were, ten Mana Fission Bombs would definitely annihilate them!
And as for himself?
With divine power reinforcing him, perhaps he could survive!
After all, his vitality could currently be considered the only thing he had worth boasting about.
Those subordinates loyal to him, the diplomatic delegations from various nations, and even the innocent civilians would undoubtedly be caught in the explosion as well.
None of them would survive.
But
there was nothing he could do about that.
After all,
he was the Child of Destiny, the man destined to save the world.
If I die here, this world will never see another tomorrow.
So, for the sake of this world, they’ll simply have to sacrifice themselves......
Having made his decision, Xue Tianao’s eyes suddenly contracted as he sent a signal toward the distant military base.
At that moment, a cruel smile unconsciously appeared on his face......
......
......
Unfortunately,
that smile quickly froze.
Because Xue Tianao discovered, to his disbelief, that after he sent the signal, the military fortress gave absolutely no response.
The anticipated sight of the Mana Fission Bombs being launched never appeared either.
Xue Tianao’s expression abruptly changed, and he stared toward the southern military fortress, unwilling to accept reality.
?!!
‘What...... happened...... over there now?’
On the other side, seemingly seeing through Xue Tianao’s thoughts and intentions, Xiao smiled indifferently.
“Those ten fission bombs? Don’t bother hoping for them. We’ve already blown that shitty fortress to kingdom come. Since we knew your trump card was there, why would we possibly leave it intact?”
?!!
Hearing this, the smile on Xue Tianao’s face vanished completely, replaced by utter disbelief.
“No...... Impossible......”
Without the Mana Fission Bombs......
how...... how was he supposed to fight this?!
No!
There was still hope!
Once Luokefei, the Grand General protecting the nation, noticed what was happening here, he would definitely come to help?!
And Olivia and the others would bring reinforcements!
As long as he held out a little longer, there was still hope!
Xue Tianao continued desperately repeating those thoughts inside his head.
However,
Xiao’s next words once again caused Xue Tianao’s expression to change drastically.
The hope he had barely managed to create through desperate self-hypnosis instantly vanished, and his entire being seemed to be dragged into an endless abyss......
“Don’t bother counting on that harem of yours either. After I told them about the conversation between you and Miss Yu last night, they were completely disappointed in you. And with the Abyss Demons invading now, they have no time to worry about you anyway. By now, they’ve probably already escaped Skyvault.”
“You...... you...... What did you say?”
“As for Luokefei? He’s probably having enough trouble just keeping himself alive.”
Xue Tianao: ??!!!