Chapter 296: Radiant Light Explosion: Defeat and Plunder, Erin Miller

「Rou！」

！！

Suddenly, an attacking breaking-through sound forced Pallas to concentrate and reinforce the Spiritual Energy barrier; immediately, a afterimage emitting dark red light, at extreme speed, rushed straight at its head.

The afterimage first successfully pierced the outermost barrier, but its speed suddenly dropped, its edge restrained, and thus the afterimage immediately revealed its true form…

It was the Spear of Fear.

However, just then.

Dong! Dong!

Wearing OriginalBody Power Armor, deploying his helmet, John strode with heavy steps, and even the Warrior Guard found it hard to catch his silhouette as he rushed to Pallas's front.

He gripped the Spear of Fear again with his right hand, using inertia to increase force, and continued thrusting toward Pallas's head.

Snap! Snap!

Finally, accompanied by a crisp cracking sound, the spear tip successfully pierced and shattered the Spiritual Energy barrier generated by a fallen deity.

！！

Seeing this.

Pallas hastily dodged; the spear tip grazed its left cheek at close range, barely avoiding the thrust, as well as John, this "mountain that can run".

The two sides crossed.

However, as they crossed, John abruptly stopped, turned, and then swung the Spear of Fear toward Pallas on his right side.

Bang!

The shaft of the Spear of Fear struck Pallas's waist; its immeasurable tonnage of force directly "flung" the fallen goddess away.

Boom!

Pallas's entire body was embedded into the right-side soil of the underground space, completely losing trace.

Meanwhile, Sparta and the Warrior Guard were equally not idle.

Utilizing Explosive Arrow Launchers, Plasma Cannons, Powered Spears, and various energy weapons, without waiting for John's personal order, they continued to exert the Sparta Corps' greatest strength in mutual cooperation, annihilating the remaining fallen deity's servants.

Before the Portal opened.

John knew he was one of Pallas's targets, so he personally led a guard unit to wage war on the ground as bait, and joined with the Sparta who had discovered this underground space, thereby drawing Pallas and its demonic main force out of the other space.

And Pallas…

Boooom!

This evil god released an earth-shaking, heaven-trembling Spiritual Energy wave, causing the underground space to become unable to maintain stability, beginning to gradually collapse.

Massive metal facilities, indiscriminate of friend or foe, fell from above and smashed into the battling sides.

Seeing this scene.

Sparta and the warriors deployed energy shields, while many fallen deity's servants possessing low-level demon Spiritual Energy also raised barriers for themselves and their "comrades".

However, John did not choose to deploy the OriginalBody Power Armor's shield; instead, he plunged the Spear of Fear into the soil beside his foot, knelt on one knee, and muttered something softly.

Afterwards…

Boooom!

A visible surge, emitting light like a supernova explosion and far surpassing the Spiritual Energy wave released by Pallas, rapidly expanded from John as its center, inversely pushing back all collapsing debris.

Wherever it reached, all fallen deity's servants, whether they had deployed barriers or were inside them, were "blown away" by this Spiritual Energy wave, leaving not even bones or ashes.

Above the ground.

Overlooking the rainforest from midair.

Within seconds, the ground began to "bulge", and dazzling light "escaped" outward from the cracks.

Finally.

The Spiritual Energy wave released by John, from bottom to top, lifted the surface soil and trees outward; the stellar-like brilliance also brought the rainforest, already deep into night, a brief daytime.

After everything returned to tranquility.

The underground space lacking top cover has now become a pit in the rainforest.

And in the pit.

Only John remained, along with a hundred Sparta and Warrior Guard, and that portal still in an open state.

At this moment, John stood up, firmly gripping the Spear of Fear with his right hand; following his gaze upward, he could see Pallas, its wings flapping, floating above the pit's rim.

Now, its exquisite visage showed surprise.

At the same time, its left arm, which should have been snow-white skin, suffered severe "burns", flowing with bluish-purple "luminescent" blood, and its right waist armor was also dented and deformed by the spear shaft.

"Fortunately", the armor was of the same grade as the Spear of Fear; otherwise, Pallas might have been violently bisected at the waist by John's blunt strike.

As for the left arm, it was scorched by the Spiritual Energy released by John; if not escaped in time, it would be completely "disfigured".

From beginning to end, Pallas knew that humans suddenly launched a second encirclement, the offensive unusually fierce, annihilating the Ghost-faced Beast it regarded as a toy; its ulterior purpose was to deliberately complete a sacrifice, enabling it to come to the real universe.

It also knew John was "bait".

Initially, one could say everything was within its calculations; after all, Pallas needed to step into the real universe and personally act to attempt to corrupt John.

Although entering the real universe would drastically reduce its power, far less than being "like a fish in water" in the other space, Pallas still believed it could overwhelm John.

In contrast, Artemis…

It had some interest in that sister who had lost her divine power, but not much, because corrupting Artemis could not bring it pleasure at all.

Furthermore, having lost divine power, Artemis was in an "insulated" state regarding the other space, so Pallas also did not deliberately track it.

Unexpectedly.

That sister, already reduced to "waste", actually had the ability to blow up its "divine domain"; moreover, it could not overpower John and nearly fell victim to John's sudden release of violent Spiritual Energy.

Moreover, this Spiritual Energy is inseparably linked to that man who denies divinity.

It had intended to finish corrupting John, and even all of Pulton, before that man arrived in Pulton, and then quickly escape back to the other space.

After all, that man possesses the ability to completely "erase" beings from alternate dimensions, and it has already spread rapidly among evil gods and demons.

Now it seems its plan has miscalculated…

At this moment, taking advantage of Parasu's momentary doubt about the "God" of life, John, standing at the bottom of the pit, kneels, gathers energy, then makes a jump in place.

"Step!"

This charged jump flips the pit's soil again; John also uses his own body as a projectile, shooting straight toward the Parasu hovering at the top.

!

"Boom!"

A distracted Parasu fails to dodge, its neck seized by John's left hand; the impact also shakes off a mass of feathers from its wings, sending both of them uncontrolled as they fly away.

After soaring several hundred meters away,

it crashes with a "Boom!" and falls back onto the damp ground.

In the rainforest.

Standing firm, John still grips Parasu's neck tightly with his left hand, and his expression remains the same cold indifference as before.

No mercy, no hesitation; Parasu, writhing in pain, cannot react.

"Ka‑ba!"

John's left hand squeezes with full force, crushing Parasu's neck.

And, recalling his father's teaching, he naturally does not forget to "finish the blow."

"Puff!"

At the same moment his left hand crushes Parasu's neck, his right hand thrusts forward with a Spear of Fear, piercing armor and flesh, then piercing Parasu's entire chest.

!!!

Parasu's eyes widen; lifted by John's single hand, it struggles even more, its legs kicking away from the ground.

It seems that physical attacks that would kill ordinary beings do not completely disable Parasu; it still has enough strength to hiss:

"No! No! No! You hypocrite! You are clearly a god! Don't…! Don't!"

These words are not addressed to John, but seem to be confronting John's father.

The struggle intensifies.

"Roar!"

Accompanied by a beast‑like howl, Parasu's flawless beautiful face begins to deform, its body swelling, skin covered by gradually changing colored scales, its legs turning into hooves of a bull or a goat.

It is in this form that Parasu's true face appears.

Nevertheless, even though their sizes are equal, John's strength still surpasses Parasu's.

He first draws the Spear of Fear, then with his left hand applies another force, toppling it to the ground.

The moment Parasu lies on the ground, John again pierces Parasu's abdomen with the Spear of Fear, pinning the evil god in place, then lifts his right leg…

Seeing the magnetic boot soles drawing nearer, Parasu immediately shouts, "John! You are a god! You should belong to me…!"

But a crisp "Boom~" cracks, cutting off the words it was about to say.

Mainly because its head is smashed directly by John's right foot, fluorescent blood and brain tissue splatter outward.

Without a mouth, it naturally cannot speak any more.

This final kick finally silences Parasu completely; its body rapidly rots, turning into foul black water, leaving only a twisted skeletal remains.

At this moment.

A report comes through the comms from a support staff: "Commander, all the teleportation gates scattered everywhere have closed, the rampaging demons are now few."

Hearing this, John draws the Spear of Fear, looks down at the bones beside his foot and orders: "Maintain the current state, and dispatch dedicated technicians to the area where I am located."

"Yes, Commander."

——————————

…

Not long ago.

【Detection of a high‑rank demon, Parasu Athena, whose physical body is weakened by John's physical attack and the host's Spiritual Energy illumination, allowing a loot of 25,000 points.】

Inside the private cabin of the Courage Anthem, seated behind a desk, Sui Bian appears to be signing various documents but is actually "watching" the border star‑sector battle; a system reminder sounds in his mind.

He immediately replies: 'Loot.'

【Deduct 25,000 points; host remaining points: 144,200.】

Looting…

The target attempts to resist…

Resistance ineffective…

Loot complete; host has obtained all of the high‑rank demon Parasu Athena's Spiritual Energy.】

The system voice ends.

A wave of Spiritual Energy emitting a faint blue glow rapidly fills and envelops Sui Bian, causing his slightly longer hair to rise slowly, and his uniform's collar and cuffs to flutter as if in wind.

"…"

Seeing this "abnormal" scene, the two artificial intelligences on either side of the desk, their cybernetic faces showing no surprise or confusion,

mainly because they have long been accustomed to such oddities.

Soon.

The Spiritual Energy wave gradually turns pale gold, then "dissipates" into Sui Bian's body; shortly after, the private cabin returns to quiet.

Looting complete.

Sui Bian feels a surge of power throughout his body, his overall strength stepping onto a brand‑new level.

He relaxes slightly.

He raised his left hand to tidy his somewhat messy hair, while the Red Queen's pupils flashed red light several times, and she spoke to report:

"Chairman, the overall situation in Burtun has been completely brought under control, and the Kirahani tribe of the Cholera Border Fortress Star Region is also about to be thoroughly eradicated."

"Alright, notify all department heads to begin cleanup work." Sui Bian commanded.

"Yes."

The conversation ended.

Only then did Sui Bian focus his attention on the previous "Spiritual Energy Plunder."

Just now, the system's statement "being bathed in the host's Spiritual Energy" actually referred to him assisting his second son in releasing a Spiritual Energy burst, thereby severely burning Pallus's left arm.

Then came the consumed points.

At first, Sui Bian inferred that plundering Pallus at peak condition would certainly require a large number of points, and the prerequisite for direct plunder was that his Spiritual Level must overwhelm the target about to be plundered in order to carry out the plunder.

Regarding the prerequisite, Sui Bian knew he absolutely overwhelms Pallus; otherwise, the other side would only dare make small moves in the dark.

However, 25,000 points…

Initially, when plundering the intermediate demon Samuel at peak condition, the points consumed were 15,000, while Pallus, having been crippled physically by John and with his Spiritual Energy suppressed by him, still required 25,000 points despite being in a weakened state.

If it were Pallus at peak condition, the required points might easily exceed 100,000.

This is enough to prove how great the gap is between intermediate demons and high-level ones.

Yet that Samuel caused millions of humans to permanently lose their lives, while Pallus sacrificed millions of ghost-faced beasts; the casualty figures for the human side have not yet been tallied, but according to current trends, they should not exceed ten thousand.

A moment of silence passed.

Sui Bian raised his head and looked at the Red Queen, asking: "How are the two Maralians doing?"

"One is emotionally stable and voluntarily cooperates with Director Kennedy and Director Buleiya for inspection, also providing much information and data about their people."

"The other is severely injured, still unconscious to this day, remaining in a coma; local medical staff and researchers are attempting to use the information and data they have to administer simple treatment."

"Alright." Sui Bian nodded lightly, saying nothing more.

Having dealt with the evil god Pallus and temporarily stalled the "progress" of the alien space's invasion of the universe, his focus will shift to the Maralians.

Especially the one called the Great Ancestor, who possesses the abilities of "precognition" and "foresight," Erinmil.

Although his youngest Original Body son, Shengjilesi, likewise possesses a certain degree of "foresight" ability, his age cannot compare to that of Erinmil, who has lived tens of thousands of years, for the galactic history it holds, the distribution of various alien forces, and its research on alien space, etc., are all worth acquiring.

Thinking of these.

Sui Bian looked toward the right side of the desk and asked: "White Queen, how much longer until the fleet reaches Burtun?"

"Estimated seven hours."

(End of Chapter)