Chapter 140: The Death Mist Cavern (7)
Several brilliant spears of light shot toward the boss, only to be smashed to pieces by its fists, one by one.
The beams of light exploding from the spears made zero impression upon impact.
Moll, who had been trampled underfoot for quite a while, jabbed the boss right between the legs with his spiked club. Although the entity possessed no such anatomy, Moll still delivered one vicious, heavy stomp for good measure.
The boss itself was left wondering why the creature beneath its heel still refused to die.
"I'll castrate you, you ugly piece of shit," Moll muttered energetically, delivering yet another jab.
Six walls of light enclosed the boss—this was Li Mei’s Holy Light Barrier.
Dense light elemental energy filled the space, yet the boss simply stomped its foot and charged straight through!
Its speed was so immense that, among those present, virtually no one except Zhao Tianhe could track its trajectory, though even if he had seen it coming, there was little he could do.
Boom!
The boss’s pitch-black iron fist stopped half a meter in front of Li Mei, the terrifying, immense force fracturing the barrier with web-like cracks...
Tian Xie lunged forward once more to intervene, only to be swatted away by a single punch from the boss.
However, the boss abandoned its continued assault on Li Mei’s barrier, drawn instead by a massive wave of intense heat hurtling down from above.
Meslamtaea Impact, Shrine of Heat!
The boss crouched, gathering its strength, and the entire ground exploded as it leaped into the sky, meeting the scorching spearhead with a direct, uncompromising punch!
Amidst a violent flash of fire, the boss was blasted crashing back down to the earth, while Meslamtaea spun and flew back to Ereshkigal’s side.
A giant hand composed entirely of light materialized out of thin air, smashing the just-risen boss back into the ground with a single blow!
This was Xellos’s seventh-tier spell, Hand of Judgement.
Yet the next moment, the ground exploded once more. The boss actually used one hand to prop up against the Hand of Judgement while raining down heavy blows with the other, shattering the seventh-tier spell with innumerable cracks...
Seizing the opportunity, Tian Xie lunged forward, his right arm swelling grotesquely as he slammed a heavy blow into the boss's back.
Artoria also unleashed her utmost power, thrusting her sword straight through its body!
Li Mei’s Holy Light Barrier enveloped it once more.
Yet the boss remained unfazed. It kicked out at Tian Xie's deformed right arm, snapping it cleanly in two.
Simultaneously, it threw a punch toward Artoria’s face. Though she managed to raise her arms to block it, the force sent her flying backward, forcing her blade to withdraw from the boss’s torso.
Finally, with one final strike, it shattered Xellos’s spell entirely!
"Curses are ineffective? No..." Zhao Tianhe watched the boss's reaction from a distance, continuing to cast curses while observing the subtle changes. "Its movements are indeed a fraction slower. The curses aren't ineffective; they're being offset."
Through careful observation, Zhao Tianhe finally began to unravel the secret.
The black mist on the surface of the boss's body was actually an energy source that was actively burning, and every time it took damage, this mist grew slightly weaker. Conversely, during intense physical exertion, the mist multiplied significantly.
Not only did this black mist drastically augment its physical strength, but it also neutralized various magical and physical assaults. Of course, Artoria and Ereshkigal’s full-burst attacks were still powerful enough to surpass its damage reduction and inflict genuine wounds.
A seventh-tier spell would also have full effect if it landed squarely, but the boss moved far too quickly, forcing Xellos and the others to rely on more flexible but lower-damage spells.
"In other words, as long as we weaken the black mist, we can reliably reduce its attack potency and movement speed." With these words, the Jeweled Sword materialized in Zhao Tianhe's right hand.
"Eat this! Curse Gatling!" Zhao Tianhe shouted, immediately commencing the casting of first-tier Curse Resistance Reduction at a rate of one hundred spells per second!
Although each individual curse could weaken less than 0.01% of the total black mist, what happened when a hundred were cast at once? Couple that with frequently triggered spell-casting multiplicities and super-spell premonitions, and the rate of weakening scaled exponentially!
As for why he used curses? The answer was simple: only curses, locked on via sensory perception and applied instantly, could keep pace with this monster's speed.
No matter how fast you moved, as long as you couldn't outpace Zhao Tianhe's perception speed, you could not escape his curses!
Seeing the black mist on the boss's body gradually grow fainter, Tian Xie and Artoria found themselves no longer casually beaten back, the three of them engaging in a chaotic melee within Li Mei’s Holy Light Barrier.
At the same time, Moll, having scrambled back to his feet, re-entered the fray.
"Hahahaha, feeling cocky now, aren't you?!" Moll brandished his spiked club, striking the boss squarely on the backside.
This scoundrel's fighting style matched his personal character—utterly base, perpetually targeting his opponents' lower regions.
The besieged boss seemed to finally be provoked into a genuine fury by this blow, whirling around and landing a punch right on Moll's abdomen.
However, the boss's punch power had been plummeting rapidly ever since Zhao Tianhe initiated his curses. Moll did not go flying from the impact this time; instead, he stubbornly braced his frame, his boots plowing two deep trenches into the earth...
"Heh, you're all tapped out, you idiot!" Moll triumphantly swallowed a mouthful of blood, raising his weapon to charge once more. Yet the moment he lifted his foot, another immense surge of force erupted from his stomach!
"Pleh-wahhhhh~~~~!"
This time, completely caught off guard, Moll was struck bent double, emitting a strange shriek as he was sent hurtling through the air. A deep, pitch-black fist print was branded directly across his belly...
Meanwhile, the black mist had vanished entirely from the boss's right arm.
"Look out! It still has a trump card!" Zhao Tianhe warned hurriedly.
His warning came a fraction too late. Artoria and Tian Xie were sent flying by a punch and a kick, respectively.
Artoria’s holy sword Excalibur, along with Tian Xie's chest, were each marked with that same pitch-black fist print capable of autonomously detonating its stored power.
The boss itself erupted in a surge of black vapor, then shattered the Holy Light Barrier and charged directly toward Zhao Tianhe!
Though the source of curse-type magic was notoriously difficult to perceive, the boss could still sense the lingering aura of dark elements emanating from Zhao Tianhe.
A few Garula spirits attempting to block its path were instantly torn to shreds, dense black mist billowing from the boss's form.
In truth, it could have triggered a much more intense burning effect to counteract Zhao Tianhe's curse suppression, but it had deliberately feigned weakness earlier in order to sniff out the identity of the person suppressing it.
Yet, even if it could slaughter the Garula spirits, breaking through the final line of defense was no easy task.
A roaring heat wave shook the souls of all present as the scorching spear struck the boss once more.
This blow was not easily brushed aside, forcing the boss to meet it with a full-powered counterpunch.
Zhao Tianhe stood atop the back of a Garula spirit, his expression entirely unchanged, continuously casting curses.
Xellos seized the fleeting moment of the boss's stagnation, deploying a third Hand of Judgement to block its advance.
Artoria unleashed her maximum power, her holy sword piercing the boss's body once again!
Tian Xie lunged forward, locking his arms tightly around the boss's left arm and head!
"Die." Zhao Tianhe switched spells, casting Mage Hand while simultaneously summoning countless pseudo-Heshuan swords to materialize around him.
Zhao Tianhe himself did not know the Sword Flight technique; the reason he had been able to wield the pseudo-Pure Yang sword previously was because he had overwritten it with memory data extracted from within the blade itself, achieving a one-time skill execution akin to how Emiya Shirou once projected Heracles's Nine Lives.
And now, he was using the humble first-tier spell Mage Hand to manipulate the pseudo-Heshuan swords.
Mage Hand merely conjured an invisible force-field appendage, possessing the physical strength roughly equivalent to an ordinary human with a strength stat of 5, but it was more than enough to wield a sword.
Bound and restrained on all sides, the boss was thus pierced by hundreds of swords imbued with demon-slaying holy power cast by Zhao Tianhe!
The boss struggled frantically, black mist churning violently across its entire body as the potent dark energy eroded the pseudo-Heshuan swords until they completely fractured and dissolved.
Yet, while contending with the rain of swords, it could simultaneously do nothing to shake off the physical constraints of the others.
The destructive power unleashed by Artoria’s holy sword far surpassed the pseudo-Heshuan blades, and Tian Xie opened his jaws wide to spew a bizarre, corrosive gas!
By the time the pseudo-Heshuan swords had entirely dissipated, the boss finally whipped around, driving Artoria and Tian Xie back with a combined punch and kick!
Thick black mist enveloped its entire frame, causing its power to skyrocket. Artoria’s magical armor was breached, while Tian Xie's right arm and left leg were shattered.
Simultaneously, Xellos's third Hand of Judgement was instantly pulverized!
"It's going all-out now..." Zhao Tianhe could see that the boss's physical form beneath the black mist was rapidly shrinking; it was burning its own life essence!
"I won't give it the chance." Ereshkigal raised her hand with serene composure, summoning every single spear-gate simultaneously.
The shaft of Meslamtaea ignited with soul-flames unlike anything seen before!
The next instant, the spearhead collided with a fist once more, driving the boss deep into the earth.
Ereshkigal then activated her mystic code, reigniting the spear shaft with a renewed surge of fire!
No sooner had the boss crawled back out from the ground than the roaring, burning spearhead struck again!
It raised its right arm, still intending to gather the black mist onto its fist to take the blow head-on.
However, a spiked club struck it squarely on the backside.
"Rooaaargh~~~~~!" For reasons unknown, the boss whirled around as if it had lost its mind, throwing a furious punch!
Amidst a frenzied roar, Moll's chest was pierced clean through, the terrifying force exploding within his torso and tearing him apart limb from limb!
Meanwhile, the blazing spearhead drove straight ahead, piercing completely through the boss's body. Amidst a violent series of explosions, the boss was pinned firmly to the ground by the massive spear...
"What the hell! It's dead?!" Zhao Tianhe stared at Moll's dismembered remains, suddenly feeling a twinge of pity.
Yet, a horrifying spectacle unfolded.
Moll's severed arms suddenly twitched, his upper torso dragging itself across the ground to gather his scattered large body parts, directly reattaching them to his frame before seamlessly restoring himself.
During the process, his legs even continued to kick and twitch independently on the ground, seemingly trying to stand back up on their own.
The sight reminded Zhao Tianhe of a decapitated cockroach scurrying around blindly...
No, given that level of vitality, comparing him to a cockroach was an insult; even tardigrades would likely have to concede defeat!
On the other side, the boss had already risen to its feet. It yanked Meslamtaea from its chest, engaging Artoria and Tian Xie in battle once more.
With Xellos and Li Mei providing support and debuffs, the boss could no longer stir up any major waves, steadily suppressed and worn down until it finally perished.