Chapter 715

Too bad there's no such thing: as the first human in history to use a "Fatal Cockshot" on a female deity, your name will be etched into the annals.

Effect: When directly inflicting physical harm on a target of male gender or possessing the corresponding organs, it causes unbearable pain equivalent in intensity and location to a "Fatal Cockshot."

Advanced Path: None.

Hidden Trait (No Equipment Required): Due to fear of your attack method, female deities who oppose you are most likely to target you first.

…

What the fuck?!!

Looking at the bottom of the Jade Valley, the Wealth Goddess lay writhing with legs clenched, screaming in agony; the weary young man who barely crawled to the valley's edge couldn't help but shudder violently.

Though he had long known Li Ang was not "ordinary," this vicious, brutal kick still startled him badly—and when Li Ang mounted the Wealth Goddess and began pummeling her, he couldn't stop gasping in shock.

I didn't… I just had a few drinks. Why the hell did he suddenly start riding a deity and beating her? Oh god, that punch! His nose is crooked! Ugh… I don't get it. I really don't get it.

And it wasn't just the weary young man on the mountaintop who didn't understand this scene—the giant crocodile, summoned by the 【Wish-Scale】 covenant and pacing at the bottom of the Jade Valley, was equally stunned.

The Underworld has been unsettled lately; some troublesome big shot is due to be sent in, so the Lords have ordered their subordinates to stay put, and none of them have fed in a long time.

So when he heard the Caller's call, he sneaked out hoping to snatch a quick meal, taste the heart of a sinner, and make up for the meals he'd missed.

But though there was indeed a heart of sin, its owner turned out to be the Wealth Goddess—this woman was only a step or two below the Lords of the Underworld; he was no match for her. He'd barely approached when she roared at him, and if he hadn't retreated, he'd have been beaten senseless.

Just as he was forced to abandon his snack—and even the Caller who summoned him had been nearly killed by the enraged Wealth Goddess—a human who smelled pathetically weak staggered over, knocked the Wealth Goddess down, and mounted her to brutally beat her!

This… this isn't right.

Watching the "weak" Cleaner riding the Wealth Goddess, bloodied her face, the Crocodile God, Ampu—a deity of mediocre strength and even worse intellect—felt his tiny brain reach total shutdown, instinctively wanting to flee.

But since the 【Wish-Scale】 was still embedded in Emma's chest and the covenant hadn't been completed, he couldn't leave the vicinity. He forced himself to shrink his body down to half a man's length and hid in the shadowed corner of the execution platform, staring blankly as Li Ang continued his relentless assault.

After landing thirty or forty punches while riding the Wealth Goddess, Li Ang, his head swimming from drink, finally realized how absurdly tough her body was.

Though the 【Immortal in Wine】 granted him invulnerability, it didn't reduce her physical defense—his full-force punches barely broke her nose, inflicted no real damage, and even left his knuckles aching from the snake scales on her face.

This won't do. I need a proper weapon…

Since he was looking for a weapon, Li Ang naturally remembered Emma's stiletto.

But after glancing at Emma, clutching her chest and staring at him in shock, he feared pulling the blade might cause further injury. So, flushed from drink, he abandoned the idea and turned toward the execution platform… and the dazed crocodile below.

"…"

"???"

After locking eyes with the bewildered Crocodile God, Li Ang looked at the creature's sharp teeth and his eyes lit up with sudden understanding. He rose, grabbed the Wealth Goddess's ankle, and dragged her toward the shadow beneath the platform…

…

I…

I was beaten?

I was beaten by a mortal?

After Li Ang's assault ended, the utterly dazed Wealth Goddess finally understood what had happened—she had been knocked down by a mortal, mounted, and brutally beaten!

No! No!! This is impossible!!

Though her head still throbbed from repeated blows, her nose still bled, and her groin still ached, she could not accept such an insane reality.

"No!"

Regaining control of her body, the Wealth Goddess violently struggled, kicked free of Li Ang's grip on her ankle, pushed herself up, and seized a handful of shell coins as she roared:

"This can't be! I absolutely—"

"Crash!"

A massive crocodile, covered in bluish-black scales, slammed onto the Wealth Goddess's face, silencing her roar and forcing out a startled grunt.

Seizing the moment as she fell again, Li Ang—who had found his weapon—lifted the panicked Crocodile God, belly-up, armored back-down, and slammed him down with brutal force!

"Boom!!!"

Far heavier than the previous impact, the Crocodile God's impenetrable carapace cracked the Jade Valley's solid ground, burying half the Wealth Goddess's head in the earth!

"…"

This is a goddamn death sentence. If I'd known this would happen, I should've stayed put in the Underworld!

As the Wealth Goddess lay silent from the blows, the Crocodile God, gripped by Li Ang's hands on his neck and spine, being smashed like a stone into the ground, was already regretting why he'd ever come out.

When the reckless Cleaner approached, he hadn't failed to resist.

But every bite, every tail-sweep—when it struck the man—only produced strange colored bubbles, causing no damage at all. Meanwhile, the man swung his arm and backhanded him with a palm still smeared in goddess-blood!

This is just insane…

Worse than being slapped by a human was this: though his face was struck, it didn't hurt much—but between his legs, it hurt. Terribly. Excruciatingly. As if someone had kicked him right there.

Instinctively squeezing his short legs together, the desperate crocodile twisted his neck and bit down again on Li Ang's head—only to be met not with flesh, but a mouthful of colored foam, and Li Ang's raised palm.

"Don't hit! Don't hit!"

Faced with this bizarre phantom pain, the unlucky crocodile chose obedience at once, shutting his eyes, curling up, and obediently playing the role of "skull-cracker," smashing the Wealth Goddess's head as Li Ang swung him down.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!"

After being pounded relentlessly until his upper body was driven deep into the ground, the Wealth Goddess—unable to accept the loss of her power and overwhelmed by blood rushing to her head—finally snapped back to clarity.

…

This damned insect is different from all others.

Watching Li Ang raise the curled-up crocodile again and slam it toward her forehead, though her heart still resisted, the Wealth Goddess finally, reluctantly, accepted the truth.

No matter how he did it, he had truly negated… even nullified her power, and inflicted upon her a humiliation no god should endure.

But fortunately, this strange immunity hadn't appeared on the two troublesome Level-One Cleaners—it had manifested in this pitifully weak insect.

This insect's body was far too frail; even with his mysterious ability, he couldn't inflict real damage on her. Meanwhile, the two Cleaners capable of harming her were already incapacitated.

One had lost seventy percent of his bones and lay like mud on the mountaintop; the other had been pierced through the heart by her blade and pinned to the execution platform—moving even a finger was a luxury.

What came next was simple.

After taking another blow to the forehead, feeling the feeble force of a child's punch, the Wealth Goddess, lying in the crater, couldn't help but smile faintly.

"Is that all?" She crushed a handful of shell coins, then raised her left hand and, with brute force she'd bought somewhere, easily caught the descending "skull-cracker," snatched the curled crocodile away, and tossed him aside.

"I admit—you surprised me."

Having shaken off her frenzy over the loss of her power, the Wealth Goddess stood, brushed off the dirt on her body, and smiled at Li Ang:

"Your ability is indeed strange—but merely negating damage won't kill a true deity!"

"…"

"Come here."

Her smile grew brighter, yet her eyes held no warmth. The Wealth Goddess beckoned to Li Ang, who instinctively stepped back two paces, her voice soft yet chilling:

"Stand before me. I want to see what exactly you are."

No sooner had the Wealth Goddess finished speaking than Li Ang felt the world blur—suddenly, she stood before him… or rather, he stood before her.

"Just as I suspected."

Looking at the ground beneath Li Ang's feet, the Wealth Goddess's smile widened.

"My power cannot affect you—but it still works perfectly on everything else around you… am I right?"

"…"

"Also, I suggest you stop making unnecessary moves."

She sidestepped Li Ang's punch, crushed another handful of shell coins, narrowed her long snake eyes, and explained calmly:

"I just spent a few shell coins to buy a temporary boost in speed."

"It's useless against your two companions—but against you? Perfect. Your ability negates my damage, but it can't let you match my speed… am I correct?"

"…"

"Looks like I guessed right again… Hmm? You want to buy some speed too?"

Watching Li Ang stop attacking and instead pull out two shell coins and crush them, the Wealth Goddess shook her head:

"Do as you like. But your wealth is far less than mine—and to catch me, crushing a few shell coins won't be nearly enough."

After delivering this unsympathetic warning, she smiled:

"Next hypothesis: when you charged down from the mountain, you kept drinking. Can I assume your ability requires heavy alcohol consumption to activate?"

?!!

"I guessed right again!"

Seeing Li Ang's sudden shock, the small patch of her face unshielded by scales flushed with excited red. She snapped her fingers—and the entire Jade Valley brightened.

"Triple sunlight—enough to make you sweat, but not burn you. It'll help you sober up faster."

Pointing to the two extra suns now blazing above, the Wealth Goddess, feeling she was closing in on the truth, pressed her rapidly pounding heart and said eagerly:

"I'm curious—what happens to your ability after you sober up? Does it vanish entirely… or… Huh?"

The world before her grew slightly blurry. She rubbed her eyes instinctively—then stared, bewildered, as everything grew even more blurred.

"I… I'm…"

"Your body is dying."

Having secretly crushed every shell coin in his hand, confirmed he could buy nothing more, and remained silent through the entire chapter—even without inner monologue—Li Ang spoke flatly:

"Your skin will slowly turn pale, but your eyes will grow redder, drier, and begin to bleed. Your forehead and nails will turn bluish-purple. Your heart will race faster, your blood will surge wildly—but your strength will fade, your fatigue will deepen…"

"You… you're lying!"

The Wealth Goddess tensed, gritting her teeth:

"I'm a deity! How could you possibly—"

"And your soul."

Li Ang said calmly and unhurriedly:

"The transformation will affect your body and then your consciousness, causing your soul-flame to flicker uncontrollably, becoming anxious, panicked, irritable, unable to focus, until you lose awareness—and your soul and body briefly separate..."

"You're lying! I'm not even..."

"Look, it's already begun."

After interrupting the Goddess of Wealth, Li Ang pointed at her faintly bluish nails and slowed his speech:

"You have the ability to discern truth from falsehood—you know whether I'm lying, you just refuse to admit it."

"Moreover, the thing that turned you into this involves the very foundation of this world. I once exchanged a secret containing its existence for the Water-Bearer Art with the Water-Bearer Director."

"All humans who have ever encountered it are either already dead, or will die on some future day—none have escaped, and you won't be an exception."

"You... you..."

As the world before her grew increasingly blurred and Li Ang's described symptoms unfolded one after another, the Goddess of Wealth gritted her teeth:

"When you struck... attacked me, you tampered with something, didn't you?"

"Damn it! Are you carrying a numbered anomaly? Is it... is it the 【Flesh of Evil Scent】 that emptied the Blood Hell? Or... or the 【Fallen God Flower】 that melted the Ten Thousand Celestial Cicadas?"

"..."

Heh.

Li Ang, completely unaware of what she was referring to, said nothing, but gave her a cryptic smile, then secretly pressed the mirror-button hidden in his mouth with the base of his tongue.

Quick! Widen the mirror-world passage—I'm starting to feel short of breath too!

(End of Chapter)