Chapter 497 - 245: Armor Warrior
A faint smile appeared on King Chonghou’s face.
Ever since they were children, Prince Zi Gui, as the Crown Prince, had suppressed him at every turn. Even when King Chonghou could have done better, he was forced to be modest and humble, never daring to cross the line.
But now, the tide had turned. The ambitions he had suppressed for so many years could finally be unleashed.
He now held the moral high ground and commanded elite troops and powerful generals. Facing his brother, who had nothing but a handful of routed soldiers, victory was practically guaranteed.
Zhao Rui, who had been listening from the side, was left speechless. He couldn’t believe he had stumbled right into a rebellion in the Great Shang—well, perhaps it was more of a coup to "restore order."
This put him in an awkward position.
He had initially acted in self-defense and to save others, but if he were to intervene now, wouldn’t he be meddling in the internal affairs of the Great Shang?
His every move from this point on could affect the future relationship between the Great Shang and Central State.
’Damn it!’
Zhao Rui cursed internally.
"Chonghou, I misjudged you! I am heartbroken."
Prince Zi Gui slowly closed his eyes, his voice filled with endless desolation.
"I believe I treated you well. I gave you command of your own army, allowed you to lead it independently, and granted you the glory of being second only to me..."
"Silence!"
"Tell that to the lands of the Great Shang! Tell that to the soldiers present here! You are debauched and extravagant. You only granted me military authority because you were too incompetent to expand our territory yourself..."
"And now you’ve killed my top general for no reason and imprisoned us. How dare you stand there and put on this pathetic act? Today, only one of us will walk away alive."
Things had reached a point of no return. Having taken this step, King Chonghou was prepared for a final, decisive battle.
"Good. Very good! In that case, I will have to trouble all of you."
The corners of Prince Zi Gui’s mouth curled into a strange, unsettling smile.
The moment he finished speaking, the Wupeng Great Witch Venerable behind him suddenly raised a hand and slashed it across the sky. A spatial rift immediately tore open above their forces.
The rift looked as though it had been sliced open with a blade. It gradually widened, and as it expanded, a sky-shattering roar erupted from within.
"ROAR!"
The roar shook the entire battlefield. On King Chonghou’s side, everyone’s expression changed in shock.
Even Zhao Rui was horrified.
"A Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worm!"
It was the same type of behemoth that had appeared in the Realm of Space before Gui Xu and Blue Star merged—the very same kind that had swallowed him and Mo Ling’Er.
These creatures could absorb Spiritual Qi and withstand the extreme environment of the void. They were terrifyingly powerful.
Mo Ling’Er instinctively moved closer to Zhao Rui. "How did they lure these things here?" she asked. "Are they insane?"
With the disappearance of the Realm of Space, these World-Space Beasts should have vanished from the Blue Star World entirely.
But somehow, this group had found a way to summon a Void Beast.
"I think these Exotic Beasts are being controlled,"
Zhao Rui said with a frown. A powerful, draconic roar echoed from the void, and soon after, an enormous head poked out of the rift.
The beast opened its massive jaw, revealing rows of teeth denser and more numerous than a shark’s.
Mo Ling’Er drew a sharp breath. Thank goodness they were so small. Had they been any bigger, the beast wouldn’t have just swallowed them whole—it would have torn them to pieces.
While the two were still staring in astonishment, the Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worm finished crawling out. Its body was like that of a giant grub, but with four ferocious limbs and a long, whip-like tail.
Standing on its head was a person clad in strange attire, something that resembled a suit of lightweight, mechanical Armor.
To be more specific, it looked a bit like the Holy Clothes worn by a Saint Warrior.
The person wore a mask, and the slight curve of the chest plate suggested they were female.
"ROAR!"
The Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worm roared, leaped from the void, and landed solidly beside Prince Zi Gui’s main army.
After it emerged, the roaring from the rift continued. A total of five more Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worms crawled out from the void.
Each of these Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worms also had a fully armored person standing on its head.
With the appearance of the six Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worms, the Flying Beasts among Prince Zi Gui’s forces grew agitated and restless.
The warriors on their backs scrambled to calm them, but the agitation was nearly impossible to suppress.
Clearly, the Flying Beasts had an instinctual fear of the Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worms.
"Did you think you had me cornered? Hahaha! I never wanted to resort to this, but you forced my hand."
Prince Zi Gui said, staring coldly at King Chonghou.
King Chonghou’s face turned grim. Just as he was about to speak, the female Armor Warrior on the opposing Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worm spoke, her voice like a mechanical tremor carrying across the distance. "What are you waiting for? Kill them!"
As her command fell, the six Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worms twisted their massive bodies, their claws tearing small rifts in space as they charged toward King Chonghou’s army.
"Charge! Charge! Charge!"
There was no retreat at this point. King Chonghou roared, and his soldiers formed up, breaking into battalions and surging toward the enemy Exotic Beasts and warriors.
The two armies instantly clashed in a chaotic melee.
The Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worms opened their massive maws, creating a powerful vortex that began to suck in King Chonghou’s soldiers.
The ordinary soldiers were powerless to resist and were pulled into their bellies one after another.
Seeing this, Mo Wuji hastily led his troops to execute an Array Divine Technique. They formed battle arrays resembling Divine Bird Totems to resist the suction from the Exotic Beasts.
At the same time, the soldiers’ Combined Attack Skill allowed them to unleash power far exceeding their individual capabilities. Their attacks manifested as streaks of light that slammed into the Nine-Orifice Soul-Devouring Worms, making the beasts roar in pain.