Chapter 430 - 290: Tyrannical (Part 2)

Akatos snorted, its gaze returning to the front as it rumbled in a deep Dragon Language,

"Qing Dou, you should know that the Power of the Jade Forest's Barrier comes from the myriad living beings within it. Now that most of them have fled, the Barrier's Power has waned. With only the Cyan Sky Nest beneath me, I can hold on for ten minutes at most."

"In those ten minutes, I will unleash the strongest legacy Soul Technique of the Jade Rock-Splitting Dragon clan. I will strip the entire forest of its Wood and Earth Elements to trigger a massive explosion that will engulf half the Insect Continent. When the time comes, I will secretly divert a portion of my Power to hurl you toward the Grudge Abyss at near-Emperor Level speed... Remember, after you return, do not take a single step out of Night Nether City. You must seize this chance to leave the Insect Continent!"

"The High Priest is after my Body and my Spiritual Energy. I will not let him succeed!"

"The process of stripping the Elements... I need twenty seconds."

"Ancestor Acatos..."

Qing Dou opened his mouth, about to say something.

"ROAR!!"

But then he saw Akatos let out a heaven-shaking roar. Its true Body, which had been inside the Cyan Sky Nest, shot into the sky before descending upon the earth of the Jade Forest.

Cracks split open in the void, revealing a multicolored brilliance within.

A massive amount of Spiritual Energy converged from all directions.

In an instant, Akatos became a luminous being composed entirely of Spiritual Energy.

But just then, something unexpected happened!

The pale green Barrier that had enveloped the Jade Forest for untold ages suddenly spiderwebbed with dense cracks.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!

A terrifying, surging Power continued to hammer a single point, and the cracks grew ever larger.

'Impossible... Why is the Barrier shattering ahead of schedule? They clearly haven't increased the intensity of their attacks!'

Qing Dou's gaze was like a hawk's. He whipped his head around to look in a certain direction within the Jade Forest, his expression turning grim.

Just seconds ago, Akatos had said the Barrier could hold for at least ten minutes.

But now, the Barrier was failing. It probably wouldn't even last ten seconds. Even a three-year-old could guess what that meant.

"Han Ning, I need you to deploy a Shield to protect Ancestor Akatos. I will be the final line of defense."

Qing Dou glanced sorrowfully at Akatos, who had already transformed into a pure Energy Body, and commanded the Jade Aurora Dragon and his other four Soul Beasts to form a defensive line.

"Understood." Receiving Han Ning's command, Suo Ling summoned his strongest combatant—a ferocious Giant Beast covered in black fur, an Abyss Beast—and positioned it behind the Jade Aurora Dragon.

Then, Suo Ling manipulated his own bloodline power, using the Abyss Beast's Dark Spiritual Energy to activate the Undead Jellyfish Shield.

The familiar ink-black smokescreen had just begun to rise.

An ugly insect claw, wrapped in red blood vessels and covered in tormented faces, shot forward with lightning speed, letting out a sharp shriek as it slammed viciously onto the billowing black smokescreen!

BANG!

An incomparably tyrannical Power instantly left a deep, inward-caving crater in the Shield—a Shield that even the Jade Aurora Dragon's attacks couldn't break.

A visible ring-shaped shockwave blasted outward in all directions. The rampaging currents destroyed the scenic Jade Forest, pulverizing everything as far as the eye could see into dust finer than sand!

"Heh, a member of the Dark Race?"

A soft chuckle sounded.

SPLAT!

Dark purple blood, tinged with faint black smoke, splattered across the ground.

WHOOSH~

Clutched in the hideous, blood-colored insect claw was a black-purple heart, still beating violently.

Along with a strange deflating sound,

the newly risen smokescreen instantly dissipated into wisps of smoke and vanished.

As the smokescreen cleared, the Abyss Beast's enormous Body lay prone on the ground as if it had suffered a devastating blow, its abdomen bleeding enough to fill a pond.

"Hiss... A single blow? It pierced the smokescreen in a single blow?"

Whether it was Qing Dou, Han Ning watching intently from Night Nether City, or the now-puppet-like Suo Ling, three pairs of pupils—each a different color and shape—constricted violently at the same time!

The High Priest, floating quietly in mid-air, had his face, which had been shrouded in shadow, suddenly twist and transform into that of a bald, middle-aged man with unnatural-looking skin.

He wore a bizarre smile. The Flying Armor in front of him casually tossed the black heart behind it.

The giant Blood Boiling Silkworm that always followed him instinctively opened its fang-filled mouth and swallowed the heart. It chewed a few times, and black-purple blood spurted from the bursting heart, splashing across a large patch of the cratered ground.

Qing Dou's expression was grave as he commanded his five Soul Beasts, creating a standoff with the High Priest before them.

"Akatos, a long period of peace has unknowingly dulled your vigilance. I remember the you of the past, the Green Dragon renowned throughout the Insect Continent for its sharp wits and composure..."

The High Priest seemed to pay Qing Dou no mind at all. He let out a harsh cry like a screech owl and landed silently on the back of the blood-red Sky-Splitting Instant Butterfly. With his free left hand, he pointed vaguely toward the sky.

In an instant, the sky above the Jade Forest was plunged into a terrifying, crimson daylight.

"Barry... It's you!" Akatos, still rapidly drawing the Elements from the Jade Forest and gathering Power for its ultimate Soul Technique, let out a roar of absolute fury.

"Heh heh heh..."

Hearing Akatos's furious roar, the High Priest couldn't help but reveal a strange smile.

He also noticed something was amiss with Akatos. Though he appeared calm and nonchalant on the surface, a deep-seated fear flashed in the depths of his eyes. He immediately raised his right hand, extended a sharp fingertip, and jabbed it viciously into his own brain, churning it around.

This series of actions happened in a flash. When the High Priest withdrew his finger, more than a dozen thick, long, pitch-black worms writhed in the palm of his hand.

From the void, a giant, pale head suddenly emerged. It had only ghastly white irises and no pupils. Its mouth was sewn tightly shut with black thread, and its scalp was bald.

"SSSS~~"

The moment the head saw the arm, a greedy expression appeared on its ugly face. It tore open the threads sewing its lips shut, ignoring the purple blood that gushed out, and swallowed the High Priest's arm along with the dozen or so worms in one gulp.

"Gyeheheh~ Hee hee hee~"

As the arm and worms were swallowed, the withered, severed stump of the head's neck began to rapidly sprout deep-purple flesh and sinew.

"Barry... the Eye of Fear... You're Night Nether City's Knight of Fear—Barry!"

Qing Dou had clearly remembered something. His expression became one of utter shock as he stared at the growing deep-purple figure, his voice beginning to tremble uncontrollably.

"Barry, die!"

An enraged dragon's roar tore through the clouds. An endless torrent of Elemental Power erupted with Akatos at its center!

Countless arc-shaped cracks bloomed in the void, revealing the multicolored brilliance within.

The astonishing destructive force actually tore through the surface layer of space, creating rifts to Subspace in the real world!

A pillar of blue-black light shot into the sky, transforming into a hemispherical shockwave of Energy that spread out in all directions at dozens of times the speed of sound.

"Heh heh, you can't die. Your physical Body, your everything, is mine! Qing Xuan, devour your Soul Beast and your descendant!"

The High Priest's shrill cry echoed amidst the roaring tide of Energy.

A colossal head that seemed to connect heaven and earth suddenly appeared. It stared with a greedy gaze at the continent-destroying shockwave of Energy, opened its monstrous maw, and took a bite.

BOOM!!!

WHOOSH~~~

A wave of world-spinning dizziness washed over him.

In Night Nether City, Han Ning, who had been sitting on a long bench, shot to his feet. Focus gradually returned to his once-vacant eyes.

The Subordinate Insect implanted in Suo Ling's brain was completely dead.

The last image Suo Ling transmitted was of that terrifying head swallowing the ultimate Soul Technique unleashed by Akatos.

And in the process, Suo Ling and his Soul Beasts had all been vaporized by the escaping Energy.