Vol 3. Chapter 105: Xiao’s Thoughts
He had released threefold divine power and activated two Eighth-Tier puppets to assist him in battle.
Under such circumstances, Xue Tianao believed himself to be practically invincible. Even ‘Red Spider Lily,’ publicly acknowledged as the most powerful and terrifying Demon King-class existence in the world, couldn’t possibly defeat him in this state!
Before today,
Xue Tianao had firmly believed this without the slightest doubt.
He had originally thought that even against an Eighth-Tier human powerhouse—even one at the Peak Eighth Tier—victory would still be firmly within his grasp.
However, throughout his battle with Xiao, that confidence had been shattered piece by piece. Those powerful skills he had once taken such pride in had all become utterly useless against the Duke of the Black Rose Family, easily countered one after another. Even the high-tier items he had exchanged from the System were destroyed before he could use them, the moment he took them out of his spatial ring.
As for the powerful magic spells he had previously learned, he hadn’t even been given a chance to chant them.
Because from beginning to end, all he had done was get beaten and cough up blood......
He couldn’t even finish more than a few sentences, let alone chant an entire magic incantation.
Naturally, passively taking a beating wasn’t Xue Tianao’s style. Several minutes earlier, after being continuously suppressed, Xue Tianao had sacrificed the divine artifact ‘Axe of Helheis’ and unleashed his most offensive skill—‘Judgment of Salvation.’
Under Xue Tianao’s expectant gaze, dazzling golden energy transformed into a breathtaking golden holy sword.
However, just as Xue Tianao was about to unleash the divine-power holy sword, Xiao’s endless black fog immediately engulfed and swallowed him. Before the holy sword could even display its might, Xue Tianao unconsciously lost it within Xiao’s overwhelming sea of black fog.
In the end, this skill—which Xue Tianao could only use a handful of times and required sacrificing a divine artifact as its price—was interrupted before it could even be released, just like countless ultimate moves before it.
‘Fuck! Why does that bastard interrupt my skills every single time!!’
Xue Tianao couldn’t help roaring frantically inside his heart.
And as though seeing through Xue Tianao’s confusion, Xiao instantly flashed in front of him and coldly glanced at the ridiculously pathetic blond man before him.
“You think? Everyone’s going to patiently let you ‘finish your cast’?”
Lady Yumo might have the patience,
but
he certainly didn’t.
He had absolutely no interest in voluntarily taking the ‘protagonist’s’ ultimate move head-on.
Ultimate moves and the like—
were obviously meant to be interrupted......
Casting Xue Tianao a contemptuous glance, Xiao effortlessly dodged his slash and a blast from a golden energy cannon, then drove a fist directly into the Child of Destiny’s face.
Blood exploded from Xue Tianao’s nose as more than a dozen teeth scattered through the air......
Once again severely wounded, Xue Tianao no longer possessed even the slightest trace of an emperor’s dignity. In an utterly miserable state, he crashed into the ruins and sent clouds of dust billowing into the air.
“Pfft......”
Blood continuously poured from Xue Tianao’s mouth.
At this moment, none of his previous high spirits or overwhelming confidence remained.
Fear and unease wrapped tightly around Xue Tianao like black serpents crawling out of an abyss. Under that indescribable pressure, he nearly found himself unable to breathe......
As he struggled to climb back to his feet, Xue Tianao’s peripheral vision unconsciously drifted toward the other two battlefields nearby.
Although he was unwilling to admit it, Xue Tianao had already realized that with his own strength, he was incapable of defeating the Duke of the Black Rose Family before him......
It seemed that his only hope lay with those two Eighth-Tier puppets.
They were existences modified by the System, after all?!
Perhaps,
they might be able to create a miracle?
At that thought, a tiny flame of hope ignited within Xue Tianao’s heart.
However, the instant the situations on the other two battlefields entered his eyes, that newly ignited flame of hope was mercilessly extinguished......
‘No...... How could...... How could this happen......’
At this very moment,
under Xue Tianao’s nearly despairing gaze, violent wind pressure suddenly surged around Deathwing. Against the backdrop of emerald light, tens of thousands of razor-sharp wind blades erupted with a terrifying momentum capable of severing everything in their path.
In an instant, they shattered the Eighth-Tier puppet’s protective barrier and violently sliced its body into hundreds of pieces......
The other puppet wasn’t faring any better.
The alchemical puppet, which had been flying through the air at tremendous speed, was suddenly caught between the jaws of the wolf-type Abyss Demon.
Violent crimson Shadow of Silence Power coated the enormous wolf’s teeth, allowing them to brutally bite straight through the puppet’s steel body.
And as Snow Devourer destroyed its energy core, the puppet was completely reduced to scrap.
The dense silver mana surrounding its body abruptly dissipated, and the puppet turned into nothing more than a heap of useless metal hanging limply from Snow Devourer’s jaws......
“D-Damn it......”
Seeing this, Xue Tianao couldn’t help cursing aloud.
How......
How could things have turned out like this......
Just thinking about the two Eighth-Tier puppets he had painstakingly obtained being blown apart by Demon King-class existences before they could do a damn thing made him furious.
If he had known this would happen, he would’ve exchanged his points for something else!
The despair and regret within Xue Tianao’s heart grew increasingly intense.
However,
he clearly had no time to indulge in regret now, because Xiao’s attack was already rapidly enlarging within his vision.
?!
“Rumble!”
Accompanied by an earth-shaking explosion, countless summoned beasts constructed from black fog violently tore apart the divine power protecting Xue Tianao’s body before frantically biting and tearing into his flesh, forcing the Child of Destiny to let out one miserable scream after another.
And that wasn’t the end.
Just as Xue Tianao swung his sword and cut apart the twenty hideous summoned beasts,
Xiao’s magic formation had already finished taking shape.
A pitch-black mana cannon instantly blasted toward him. Unsurprisingly, the protective barrier Xue Tianao had only just reconstructed was shattered on impact, while the beam carrying the power of death brutally pierced straight through his abdomen, causing him to spit out yet another mouthful of blood.
This time, countless fragments of internal organs were already mixed into the blood.
“Damn it...... Damn it...... Damn it......”
Panting heavily as he struggled back to his feet, Xue Tianao stared fixedly at Xiao floating in midair with eyes overflowing with resentment.
Hatred and confusion continuously welled up inside him. After glancing at the Demon King-class existences closing in from both sides with overwhelming momentum, the Child of Destiny couldn’t help asking,
“Why......”
The blond man’s voice was filled with accusation, his gaze stabbing toward Xiao again and again like a sharp sword.
“Why? You’re obviously human, so why are you joining forces with Abyss Demons? And...... and why do you keep trying to kill me...... I’m the Child of Destiny! I’m someone who can bring peace and tranquility to this world! If I die...... this world will descend into chaos, and sooner or later, it’ll be destroyed by the Abyss Demons! When that happens, your entire Black Rose Family won’t escape destruction either! What you’re doing is foolish...... Why...... Why would you do something so stupid...... You’re betraying your fellow humans......”
Panting continuously,
Xue Tianao kept questioning Xiao,
seemingly activating the so-called ‘protagonist’s’ unique skill—
the power of talking his opponent to death.
However, Xiao remained completely unmoved by Xue Tianao’s words. He even couldn’t help revealing a mocking smile.
‘Why?’
Did that even need to be asked......
‘Because I want to protect the person most important to me.’
Recalling that melodious voice filled with affection, Xiao remained silent, yet answered Xue Tianao’s question inside his heart without the slightest hesitation.
Xiao felt nothing but disdain for Xue Tianao’s self-righteous ideas.
The people of the Black Rose Family had practically grown up within the Great Winter Forest. To them, Lady Yumo and those little Demon King-class ancestors living in the central region of the forest were perhaps their true companions.
As for humans?
Whenever they thought about those human factions that had repeatedly persecuted them or their ancestors, the members of the Black Rose Family could hardly muster any goodwill toward them.
The one who saved their lives was Lady Yumo.
The one who taught them knowledge was Lady Yumo.
The one who gave them love and care was Lady Yumo.
......
......
Compared with the human world, where people devoured one another without even spitting out the bones, Xiao believed that the vast majority of the Black Rose Family would choose Lady Yumo, even if doing so meant betraying their so-called fellow humans.
Besides, that lady and the Demon King-class Abyss Demons weren’t nearly as cruel and bloodthirsty as the Asumos Church portrayed them.
Xiao was certain that Lady Yumo would never destroy this world.
Rather, in Xiao’s view, if Lady Yumo and the Abyss Demon hordes under her control were properly utilized, they might actually bring lasting peace to this world—
even if that peace existed beneath the deterrence of overwhelming terror.
As for the Child of Destiny?
Even if he really could eradicate the Abyss Demons,
Xiao still didn’t believe that someone like him could bring any so-called ‘peace’ to the world.
No longer bothering with Xue Tianao’s verbal barrage, Xiao unceremoniously raised the magic spear in his hand.
Under Xue Tianao’s horrified gaze, he thrust the spear straight into Xue Tianao’s mouth and sliced off his tongue, forcibly putting an end to the Child of Destiny’s speech.
At the same time,
Limo’s razor-sharp claws and Liyu’s bladed wings swept toward Xue Tianao’s back with an overwhelming aura of destruction and killing intent that plunged one into despair.
‘World peace or whatever? I don’t care about that. I only hope that Lady Yumo can always remain by our side......’
So,
go die.