Chapter 27: Battle Against a Seventh-Rank Monster and Atheron

The next moment.

A massive shadow rose beneath the glow of spirituality.

Its two hind limbs were covered in brown warts, piled into two fleshy mounds pressed together like a colossal skirt of meat.

Its forelimbs had become slender, elongated scythes, clutching elongated crystal shards whose densely packed vertical scales could induce trypophobia.

Its eyeballs had completely detached from its face, hanging in the air like its two mouthparts, suspended by fleshy tentacles.

Siti screamed in panic.

Luo De frowned, repulsed by the grotesque sight before him.

Even more despairing, behind this seventh-rank monster stood a dozen fifth-rank peak monsters.

kang—

The scythe claw struck downward.

Falshad’s spell shield immediately showed signs of cracking.

He was also shaken by the immense force, blood trickling steadily from his lips, his steadfast eyes now filled with resignation to death.

“Go! While I can still hold out! Take Kalist to the nearest tribe! They will avenge me!”

“Falshad!”

Kalist slammed her fist hard against the ground.

Wild magic surged from her bracelet, spreading and flowing through her body, leaving her entire spirituality in an unstable state.

“You’re triggering spiritual detonation? No! Kalist!”

“No one can defeat an elf—no one! Flee, human. Elves need no mercy or retreat. Carry our story across the entire continent.”

The monstrous creature swung its scythe claw again; the spell shield teetered on the brink of collapse.

On the other side of the spell shield loomed the ferocious, grotesque monster.

The scene was chaotic and hopeless.

Tally grabbed Luo De’s arm, her eyes asking—should she activate [Flicker] and flee?

“No.”

[Sacrificial Sword] suddenly erupted with lightning.

Luo De’s body flashed with spiritual light; a circle of buffs instantly activated.

A seventh-rank monster.

Even less oppressive than Isabella’s sixth-rank peak pressure.

How could he possibly flee from such a perfect training battle?

ping!

The spell shield shattered like glass.

Kalist lunged forward—but a tremendous force struck the back of her neck, hurling her backward.

In her peripheral vision, she saw Falshad already beneath the massive scythe claw, eyes bulging with agony.

“Human!!!”

Boom!

Luo De stomped hard.

[Steel Vine Charge]!

Four steel vines burst from the ground.

The descending scythe claw was thrust high upward.

The fleshy skirt around its legs was not pierced, only pinning the creature’s body in place.

But compared to the colossal meat-skirt, the steel vines were pitifully small.

“Human sir?” Falshad turned, stunned.

“Get out of my way! Don’t interfere!”

Powerful spiritual light gathered, grew, and finally formed a colossal spiritual sword reaching straight toward the sky.

It slashed down fiercely!

The ceiling’s earthen wall was carved with a deep sword scar!

Luo De’s strongest attack—[Giant Slash].

Puff!

The monster shrieked in agony.

One scythe claw was severed and fell to the ground.

Several fifth-rank monsters behind it were sliced cleanly in half.

Poisonous blood nearly soaked him entirely.

Luo De did not pause.

He immediately unleashed [Atheron’s Flash].

Three swords in an instant!

A sword art named after a kingdom could never be simple.

If the Snow Hill Evening News of Windstorm City made a ranking of “Most Practiced Spiritual Arts in Atheron Kingdom,” [Atheron’s Flash] would undoubtedly rank first.

Thus, countless scholars had studied this sword art.

Some called the level of three strikes in one instant [Triple Flash]; each additional strike added another “flash.”

A ninth-rank general of the kingdom could strike twelve times in an instant, earning him the title “Godspeed Sword.”

Three blood trails appeared instantly, spurting poison upward.

“Not enough!”

Luo De forcibly activated his spirituality and unleashed [Atheron’s Flash] again.

Still [Triple Flash] level!

“Not enough! Not enough!”

He ducked to avoid the scythe claw, but poison sprayed from the mouthparts coated his face.

Yet this did nothing to stop Luo De from activating his spirituality again.

Still [Triple Flash]!

“Faster! Faster!”

Tally [Flickered] into the rear ranks of low-rank monsters, entangling them with her deformed limbs and magical blades.

She could not let these inferior creatures hinder Luo De.

Sharp, stinging spiritual energy struck again; she turned to see four bloody blooms instantly bursting across the monster’s face.

Watching her master’s berserk combat style,

Tally’s eyes grew hazy.

“Ugh… don’t make me wet while I’m fighting…”

Sword winds kept slashing.

The crystal veins on the cave walls were swiftly severed by razor-sharp spirituality.

Luo De was brutally refining his sword art by trading blows.

Falshad, his face stinging from the cuts, watched in stunned silence.

“Good heavens, did you see that, Kalist? He’s fighting a seventh-rank with only fifth-rank spiritual reserves—where does he get so much spirituality to use spiritual sword arts so frequently?!”

“I’m not blind.”

Kalist watched the mad battle between monster and human with a complex expression.

“While fighting, he’s continuously absorbing spirituality. His stamina and vigor are so immense he could fight endlessly.”

“Most importantly, the monster’s poison barely affects him! Good heavens, do humans have such high poison resistance?!”

“Perhaps he carries a treasure that enhances poison resistance—this would greatly reduce his spiritual drain.”

Siti flew over, urgently saying:

“Are you still chatting here? Go help them!”

“Don’t rush, Wingcrystal. He can handle it.”

Kalist frowned.

She had used two detoxification spells with poor results; forcing a stronger spell might kill her instantly.

Falshad raised his staff.

He cast protective spells over Luo De and Tally.

“Don’t cast on the succubus!”

“Don’t be like that—they saved us.”

Another colossal spiritual sword slashed down.

The entire mine trembled.

Luo De suddenly threw his head back and laughed loudly, leaping high into the air.

His two hearts pumped to their limit; steam rose from his body.

Five swirling blades followed instantly, shredding the remaining scythe claw to pieces!

But he was slammed backward by a mouthpart strike, embedded into the cave wall.

“Awesome!”

He immediately crawled out from within.

The disturbed soil scattered everywhere.

Auras flared again on the blade—this time, six sword beams!

【Six Flash】!

“Aetheron’s Flash”

Falshad was utterly stunned. “Have you ever heard of a fifth-rank achieving 【Six Flash】?”

“Never.”

Karist was reluctant to admit it.

But the threshold of this famed continent-wide sword art stood right here—anyone who could step across it was no ordinary person.

The sword beams’ power had broken past the previous tier; the beast’s head was nearly severed into a fanned-out petal.

It was not yet dead.

But it seemed to feel fear, and fled backward.

Falshad activated his magical barrier in advance, blocking the beast.

“Die!”

Luo De chased after it while gathering spiritual energy.

【Giant Slash】 was a sword art that grew stronger through prolonged accumulation of spiritual energy.

Boom—

The spiritual energy greatsword blazed with unprecedented brilliance, then descended from above.

The ground and the cave walls above violently split open!

The beast was cleaved cleanly in two!

Along with Falshad’s magical barrier and the fifth-rank beast behind it, both shattered.

Dust settled.

“Stunning, human sir!”

“You are the strongest fifth-rank I have ever seen!”

Falshad applauded.

(End of Chapter)