Chapter 34: 33. Shockwaves (Three updates today)

33. Shockwaves (Three updates today)

The earth-element arrow transformed from a high-quality diamond was sharp and carried heavy momentum; although it could not break through the dense scales, the giant snake still shook its head.

Zoe found a high vantage point, and another earth-element arrow hovered in her palm.

A few strands of chestnut hair peeking from the edge of her helmet fluttered slightly. Her whole body trembled—perhaps from nervousness, perhaps from fear—but she did not avert her gaze, her red pupils staring intently at the giant snake.

The giant snake’s interest in Zoe was far greater than in Li Ang; once attacked by the girl, it immediately shifted its direction.

Zoe’s gaze crossed the raised, crowned snake head and looked toward Li Ang, their eyes meeting.

Li Ang saw her worry and her effort to overcome fear, nodded at her, and tossed up an opal.

He raised his hand, ignited the wind element within the opal, and released a wind-attribute Shaman spell with 4th-tier magnitude magic. This operation is called "up-tier casting," allowing a spell of the Mortal realm to possess properties of the Transcendent realm—meaning the magic could shape matter and alter its form.

Elemental Shock!

The pale cyan wind-element energy, carrying a whirlwind, slammed into the giant snake’s head with a booming sound. A standard 2nd-tier shock would likely only produce a strong gust, but in the Transcendent realm, this mass of wind was as tough as steel.

Using a diamond with 1st-tier magic can significantly boost the power of an elemental arrow, and a 4th-tier Elemental Shock combined with a 4th-tier material like an opal, even if it cannot qualitatively transform into the Excellent stage, has a very high superposition of magic power, so the attack consists of more than one wave.

Boom, boom, boom, boom!

High-intensity wind elements continuously created wind-pressure explosions that impacted the giant snake’s body.

Although its smooth, magnificent scales deflected most of the impact, the nature of the wind allowed the minute shock forces to penetrate the gaps, squeezing golden blood out from between the scales and spraying it into the air in patches.

"Hiss—! Gaa—!"

The pain incited the giant snake’s fury. It turned its head toward Li Ang, and the gem atop its head began to flicker continuously again.

Zoe projected another earth-element arrow; the snake’s head swayed from the impact, and it stopped charging its energy, turning its head back to look at Zoe once more.

Good.

Li Ang praised her in his heart.

In many games, there is a playstyle called "kiting," which, as the name suggests, relies on attracting a monster’s aggro while preventing it from hitting you.

If one person finds it difficult to complete, there are also situations where multiple people control the aggro.

In Nubis, when dealing with monsters of low intelligence, adventurers also do this.

Entering the heart of the island this time, he had intended to include Zoe as a combat unit from the start. Even if she lacked experience, everyone has a first time.

If she could not execute the tactics, Li Ang would simply pay a higher price to achieve the goal.

He was very happy she had succeeded, especially after having talked about so many other things and being inexplicably influenced by those ruins.

Of course, the fact that the Star Soul’s combat intelligence was still in its infancy was also a key factor.

Having summoned two elements, continuously released spells, and unleashed a wind-element shock, Li Ang’s magic reserves were already more than half depleted.

With Zoe helping to distract it, he could afford to use a bit more with peace of mind.

Spiritual Manipulation activated; the gem colossus unleashed a storm at close range, drawing the giant snake’s attention, while Li Ang took the opportunity to slip over to where the elemental beast and the Divine Rock Guard were fighting.

Utilizing the opal, he condensed a wind-element arrow and threw it directly.

The elemental arrow dragged a cyan spiral tail of wind, like a spindle, piercing directly into the Guard’s body, rotating and exploding inside it, exhausting the last shred of magic power it relied upon.

Once a summoned creature is eliminated, a large portion of the Earth Snake’s combat power is dismantled.

The gem elemental beast used all four limbs to run like a cheetah and leaped onto the ancient snake’s back, forming a pincer attack with the gem giant, one on the left and one on the right.

This time, if Li Ang attacked with wind elements again, the Earth Snake would be unable to guard against it.

The armor of the two summoned creatures was also his spell ammunition.

The whirlwind raged again, and the surrounded Earth Snake roared in pain. It slammed its body onto its own mountain-like remains, shaking off countless shining gems, and rolled its long body, dragging a golden trail mixed with iridescence.

The giant snake collapsed to the ground. Just as Li Ang was about to intensify his attack, it suddenly reared its head, the light shining from its scales rapidly dimming as the energy within surged toward the top of its head. At this moment, the red, blue, and green gems emitted their brightest light yet.

The snake-head crown slammed into the ground, the impact point instantly shattering into spiderweb-like cracks, and then, a shockwave radiated outward with the giant snake as the center. Dust, mud, stones, and gems on the surface all flew up and fell back down as the shockwave passed.

After the shockwave swept through, the deeper layers of the ground seemed to have been damaged as well; the entire ground developed cracks and began to shake continuously.

Zoe shouted to Li Ang: "She says, together, destruction!"

The Earth Snake slammed into the ground again, spreading a new shockwave. This time it seemed a bit stronger, and the dust and gems were carried by the force to fly outward for a distance.

And the shaking of the ground had already made it difficult for anyone to stand steady.

Li Ang glanced at the giant snake’s panel again; this was likely its other special skill, [Magnitude Escalation].

[Special Attack: Magnitude Escalation (Weakened)]

[Induces resonance between magic and the earth, triggering an earthquake. Because energy is accumulated within the ground, every shock-induced tremor becomes stronger, until it becomes a massive earthquake capable of destroying a civilization. Due to its initial rebirth, the starting point and escalation speed of the magnitude are slower, but it will eventually climb to the peak.]

Li Ang saw that due to the shaking of the ground, the hollow at the heart of the island was vaguely being rattled. It harbored hatred and wanted to trigger an earthquake that would destroy the entire Satus Island, taking Li Ang and Zoe down with it.

Soon, the giant snake reared its head again, accumulating power, preparing to slam out a third shockwave.

Li Ang used a spell, guiding a gale to sweep around the giant snake.

Its movement was slightly delayed, but it still successfully slammed into the ground.

The third vibration caused everything on the surface—mud and stones—to spray like bullets, hitting Li Ang’s boots and making a metallic sound like a rainstorm hitting leaves. Instantly, the greaves, which possessed the power of the water-flow phalanx at the front, were covered in dents.

Zoe was wearing wasteland beast-hide boots, which had good defense against cutting but were useless against blunt force; the impact of the stones made her yelp.

The third earthquake following the shockwave began, directly shaking the remains of the ancient snake. This shaking caused the ground to begin tearing apart significantly, so the ancient snake’s body also developed cracks.

The entire glazed canopy of the island’s heart hollow also began to shake amidst the tremors, and many crystals fell from above.

"Go! Kill it with everything you've got!"

"Okay!"

Zoe gripped the Sword of Wind Breath tightly. Her small face was very tense, and she knew that the current situation allowed for no negligence.

Li Ang rapidly performed spell-weaving, his whole body bathed in flickering spell-runes as he cast an augmentation on himself.

This was his strongest enhancement support spell: 7th-tier spell—Spiritual Activation.

The subject’s entire spirituality, including their equipment, would be amplified. Reaction speed, magic reserves, magic output, muscle power, and equipment strength would all increase by approximately two tiers. Although it could not transcend realms, it would allow someone at the peak of their realm to exert doubled power.

The vast majority of powerhouses use their own spirituality to draw upon magic, and there are very few means to influence the spirituality of the human body itself. Only a spellcaster like Li Ang, who has immersed himself for many years and has an understanding of the Dao of spirituality, could summarize this spell.

It is a support skill that cannot be found anywhere else in the entire airspace, and this is the foundation of his standing as the strongest support in the Heavenly Team.

After the effect ends, there are aftereffects such as physical fatigue and decreased magic control due to spiritual exhaustion, so he does not use it lightly.

After being augmented, his magic reserves were expanded, and his whole body felt as if it were being washed by a clear stream. This was the sensation of new atmospheric magic surging toward him as his body readjusted its control over magic following the growth of his spirituality.

Because every facet of a sentient being’s complex spirituality is amplified, the speed of physical and mental recovery is also significantly enhanced, and even the speed of thought accelerates.

After his magic reserves increased, he aimed at Zoe, who had already drawn her sword and was slashing toward the giant snake, and cast a Spiritual Activation on her as well.

The wind currents entwined around the Sword of Wind Breath in the girl’s hand instantly became a gale. The bursting wind blades caused the snake scales to crackle. Under the influence of Spiritual Activation, this treasure seemed to awaken slightly toward its original realm, and the wind it controlled directly crossed the boundary.

A few drops of golden snake blood splashed onto Zoe’s face. The scalding temperature made her furrow her brows, but she did not act delicate and wipe it off; instead, she gritted her teeth and planted her feet firmly.

Relying on her enhanced arm, waist, and leg strength, she gripped the sword with both hands and slashed out with a strike that gathered all her strength, moving from her legs to her waist and then to her arms. At the same time, all the wind around her gathered together to push the blade.

Snap!

After an extremely crisp, explosive sound, the golden snake scales, already fragile from Li Ang’s repeated attacks, shattered instantly. Snake blood sprayed out, dispersed by the gale, and the tiny golden blood droplets congealed into small particles in the air, shrouding the girl in a curtain of golden light.

Li Ang drove the two summoned beasts to pounce; their bodies covered the giant snake’s wounds, and then the wind-attribute gems on their bodies erupted with turbulence one after another.

Following the wounds, the turbulence caused massive damage, but the giant snake, having decided to perish together, exerted all its strength to slam out a fourth attack.