Chapter 656: Encounter Again

The putrid stench of the swamp burst into bubbles at Rod's feet.

Beneath the rising green toxic mist of the spell, spiked magical chains suddenly burst from the earth, spiraling up from ankles and wrists all the way to thighs and upper arms.

The Moon Shadow replicas had clearly inherited their original's combat experience.

They seized that brief moment of stagnation.

The Silver-Scaled Serpentfolk's venomous long spear, the Earth Crystal folk's rune-etched great axe, the troll's raised massive iron club, and the devastating spells of a host of Star Spirit replica bodies all came surging in at once.

They came with extreme speed, clearly organized and designed.

Rod had only just snapped the magical chains on his hands when spells and weapons were already smashing into his face.

"Aha."

Boom!!!

The screeching friction of magic, the violent shuddering of the ground, dust surging like a tidal wave.

Fire tongues, ice cones, sandstorm, lightning paid no heed to the vanguard, all arriving the instant the weapons struck, instantly kicking up a tremendous amount of dust.

The Star Spirit Young Lady Hayley's spell had just torn apart a massive beetle vanguard.

She turned her head sharply, and upon seeing the scene could not help but show a worried expression.

But then again.

The law of smoke means no damage.

The next moment.

The shadow corpses of the Silver-Scaled Serpentfolk, Earth Crystal folk, and troll were torn to shreds, blasting out of the smoke like a shotgun.

Either splatting against the withered ancient trees, or deliberately directed to slam into the spellcasting Moon Shadow Star Spirit folk.

Boom! *2

Two explosions rang out simultaneously.

Ultra-high-power 【Repulsion】 interspersed with ice crystals from the Ice Blade Domain sprayed out to both sides.

The instant the smoke dispersed, two unlucky souls were directly riddled through by tiny ice crystal shards, dead beyond dead.

And Rod, who had revealed his form, took not a single wound within the ultra-high-defense Dragon Scale Art.

A sudden gust of wind rose, lifting hair and the hem of his clothes; even with a plain, unremarkable face, this man radiated overwhelming dominance.

"Rod!"

Hayley didn't know why, but seeing this scene she just couldn't help crying out in delighted surprise.

Right after that she suddenly froze.

She couldn't shake the feeling that right now she was a bit like the succubus Tally by Rod's side.

That girl always shouted and called out at moments like this.

I-I am not that kind of girl, okay!

She immediately shut her mouth as if she'd swallowed a fly.

Fwip—

A searing flame ray passed by her side, precisely piercing through a spider-arcanid that had somehow gotten behind them.

This spider-arcanid was pitch-black all over, clearly possessing a stealth skill, and had been nearly perfectly hidden among the mist and bushes.

The fist-thick flame ray melted through its skull, and the raised pitch-black spear drooped weakly down.

Hayley broke out in a cold sweat on the spot.

"A mid-stage Tier 8 ambush"

If not for that flame ray, her protective shield might have already been broken.

"Watch your back."

"Oh, oh."

She couldn't help feeling a bit ashamed; she was, after all, a captain at high-stage Tier 7.

How did she act like a raw recruit in front of this man?

Boom!!!

Suddenly, a violent tremor came from the ground.

The dust Rod had scattered came surging back, rising up like ripples on a water surface.

The trembling did not cease; instead it came rhythmically, and the earth began to convulse in regular spasms.

An earthquake?

No, those were footsteps.

Rod turned his head to look; beyond the height of the withered trees in the mist, around seven meters up, a pair of intensely killing-intent-filled deep blue pupils appeared.

A giant.

And a giant with four arms, no less!

Its rough skin was covered in thick, hard armor, and its dense footsteps brought a fierce charge like a siege ram.

"Tch"

Rod clicked his tongue.

The blue-white soul mist billowing from behind him rapidly swelled and rose.

In an extremely short time, a towering bronze dragon war soul as massive as a mountain ridge finished coalescing.

Amid a soul-shaking thunderous roar, the great dragon and the multi-armed giant crashed into each other.

Boom!!!

The giant and the great dragon both shuddered, shaking out a sky-filling mist and dust haze.

The clash of titans from the Second Epoch continues to this day.

Just as in that year's ending, the stone chips and rubble on the multi-armed giant's body were crazily cracking apart and scattering, its decline fully revealed.

But Rod's bronze dragon was ultimately a battle soul that possessed only ramming force.

The next moment.

The stones on the multi-armed giant's surface suddenly swelled up, turning into dense clusters of bursting tumors.

Boom!!!

The tumors exploded with a roar, and the flames and debris that spewed forth pierced through the bronze dragon battle soul's soul mist in an instant.

The battle soul let out an unwilling, miserable howl of fury, toppling backward, barely able to maintain its form.

The multi-armed giant threw back its head and roared, displaying a victorious posture.

Rod twisted his body and punched, blasting a certain Star Spirit mage's head apart.

"A giant, huh."

The Slime black sword shot out from inside his wrist.

Rod caught the sword and gave it a flick; the pitch-black sword-light was chillingly cold, and a massive amount of spiritual energy gathered and completed in the instant of the swing.

【Giant-Slash】 + 【Six Flashes】!

Six giant sword-lights flashed across the multi-armed giant's body in a single instant, and its roar simultaneously cut off short.

Crash—

The giant's stone-block body tilted, revealing the cut, then collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Once again, dust billowed.

Taking advantage of the momentum, it crushed quite a few Moon Shadow replicas to death.

Rod sheathed his sword; violent arcs of electricity danced, and he once again charged into the Moon Shadow replicas.

A frenzied slaughter.

The killing never ceased.

Interestingly, the Ke Yin skill 【Infinite Brute Force】 of 【Brutal Ke Yin】 was also slowly rising amid this lifeless slaughter.

【Infinite Brute Force: 26%->32%】

Roughly half an hour later.

The Moon Shadow replicas were finally cleared out completely.

Hayley's magic power was nearly exhausted; her face pale, she sat down on the rocks on the ground.

The cracked mud-bed was covered in charred gullies and frozen ice spikes.

A mixture of blood and shadow pooled in the low-lying areas into dark-purple puddles.

Rod stepped on a puddle with a crack, breaking it, and came to her side.

"Are you all right?"

Hayley showed a weak, bitter smile, glanced at this man whose aura was terrifyingly steady, and said: "Can't compare with you; I almost ran out of magic power."

The mist was still continuously eroding magic power.

The Star Spirit Young Lady had first spent a large amount of magic power dealing with 【Miss Lu Ka's Manic Eye】, and before she could recover, she immediately had to deal with high-intensity combat; running out was normal.

Rod was afraid she would really pass out on the spot.

He went over, wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and 【Green Vine Mutual Healing】 began to take effect.

A shy flush flickered across Hayley's face; somewhat unwilling to accept Rod's intimacy, she gently pushed him away:

"I-I, um, I'm all sweaty."

"At a time like this, why are you bothering about that?"

Rod laughed, paid no heed to her resistance, and pulled her firmly into his embrace.

"Mm-mmph."

Hayley, an old maid, let out a cute sound that didn't match her age.

The man's body was warm and toasty, the heat making her a bit dizzy.

Just as she was thinking she could finally rest properly, two desolate screams rang out from within the forest.

Very quickly.

A large white cloud cluster burst through the mist with a whoosh.

Two familiar figures frantically fleeing atop it also burst into the two's field of vision.

A Star Spirit mage missing a calf and blind in one eye, the padding on her chest having fallen away so that the fabric over her chest was hollow.

A panicked, bloodshot-eyed, elegant and beautiful cloud elf.

The four pairs of eyes met.

"Medlin!"

"Hayley!"

"Rod!"

"."

(End of this chapter)