Lord of Prayer - Chapter 377 - 247: Insidious and Cunning

·

·

“What the hell?”

On the rooftop, Zhou Chen couldn’t help but cry out in astonishment when he saw the punch Yao Hu had just thrown.

He saw in it the technique of “Rock-Breaking Force” and a shadow of “Flame Burst.”

’Yao Hu shouldn’t know Rock-Breaking Force… Hiss… Don’t tell me he learned it just by watching me use it a few times?’

Zhou Chen was shaken. He relied on a cheat system to learn Martial Arts Skills, basically just copying them. But Yao Hu…

The man had clearly learned it after only a few glances, then adapted it to his own style. And when he unleashed it with a physique that far surpassed others of the same tier, its destructive power alone was four, or even five, times stronger than Zhou Chen’s own Rock-Breaking Force.

It was terrifying.

He had to admit, Yao Hu’s mastery of techniques, application of Essence, and control over his Power were all far beyond anyone else from the Sword Forging Competition.

There were countless Ascenders in the world, and no shortage of people who could be called geniuses. But Yao Hu’s talent could no longer be described with a word like “prodigy.” “Monster” was more fitting. It was as if God himself was chasing after him, spoon-feeding him talent. Few could ever hope to compare.

Having just advanced to Tier Three, Yao Hu was already displaying a combat strength ten times greater than before. He was completely overwhelming the demonized Natas, each punch blasting a terrifying, gaping hole through the Demon’s body. He was like a Vajra Warrior equipped with an Annihilation Light Cannon System—impossibly powerful.

But Zhou Chen narrowed his eyes, sensing something was wrong.

Father Natas, the man now calling himself Satan, wasn’t just passively defending against Yao Hu’s attacks. He was frequently striking back, probing and learning about his own abilities mid-fight. Sometimes, he would unleash Skills that even Yao Hu was unwilling to face head-on.

In reality, Natas was no King of Hell, Satan. He merely possessed a similar Power. To be more specific, he was a cheap imitation that happened to look the part. But the Power he wielded—a Power derived from the seven Original Sins of humanity—was not to be underestimated.

This kind of Power was extremely dangerous to any human. As long as one possessed reason, there was a chance their inner desires could be amplified, which was a fatal weakness in battle.

In the arena, the ground was a cratered wasteland.

Yao Hu pushed his power and speed to their absolute limits, intending to crush Natas with sheer brute force.

Suddenly, his Magnetic Gloves activated. The magnetic field spun, and a violent Thunder Magnetic Light condensed and focused into a single beam, like a high-pressure water jet. It sliced effortlessly across the Demon’s body, cutting it in two. The wound was as smooth as a mirror.

His Vajra-Transformed, scorching Iron Fist arrived a moment later. The rampaging Power surging through his muscles erupted with a deafening BOOM, and the Demon’s head was instantly obliterated by the devastating force.

However, the lower half of its body melted into a viscous black ooze that surged backward, putting distance between it and Yao Hu. Then, it boiled violently and reformed into a complete Demon body once more.

Its jet-black dragon wings flapped, kicking up a gale. Every gust of wind was like a sharp blade, carving dense slash marks into the ground.

Yao Hu didn’t even try to dodge. His entire body underwent the Vajra Transformation, and he let the countless wind blades slice over him as he shot forward against the gale. He raised his fist and smashed it toward Natas’s head.

Natas retreated explosively to buy himself time to react. With a muffled THUD, his sharp, snake-scaled claws barely managed to block Yao Hu’s fist. A violent shockwave erupted from the point of impact.

In the next second, the snake scales covering Natas’s arm exploded. The brutal power carried by the Fist Force traveled up his limb from the point of contact. With a BANG, his right arm blew apart, and the impact even sent several cracks spiderwebbing across his torso.

Suddenly, a sharp pain shot through Yao Hu’s fist. He glanced down and saw that a chunk of flesh was missing from his scorching, Vajra-Transformed fist. Judging by the shape of the wound, something had bitten it off.

He frowned, stepped forward, and threw a straight punch.

Natas’s right arm was still regenerating, and it hastily raised its left arm to defend itself. But Yao Hu’s punch was like a slippery fish, unpredictably changing its angle. It grazed past the palm and shot straight for its head.

A shockwave spread out as Natas’s head was once again annihilated. Yet, its body could still move on its own, evading Yao Hu’s pursuit while simultaneously regenerating its shattered head and right arm.

And in that last instant, Yao Hu had seen it clearly—a slit had opened in the palm of Natas’s hand, revealing a maw lined with sharp, serrated teeth.

’Gluttony…’ Yao Hu instantly identified the Original Sin that the maw represented, but he still didn’t know the Skill’s effect.

Realizing it had been discovered, Natas let out a low, strange laugh. It raised its arm to block Yao Hu’s incoming punch, then threw a punch of its own back at him.

Yao Hu was slightly surprised. He dodged the punch with incredible reflexes, then threw a hook, once again blasting the creature’s head into dust.

Natas’s body scrambled to create distance, settling into a boxing stance.

The stance looked familiar to Yao Hu.

’I see. After the Maw of Gluttony consumes a piece of flesh, it can acquire some of the victim’s abilities from the fragments.’

Yao Hu recognized the boxing stance as identical to the one he had learned years ago, and from this, he deduced the Ability of the Maw of Gluttony.

He decisively pressed his attack.

Before the man he was today, that old boxing stance was laughably weak. It would have been better if Natas hadn’t used it. The moment it did, Yao Hu’s eyes saw nothing but openings—an endless sea of fatal flaws.