Chapter 422: Confrontation, the Huge Screech

The offensives of both sides intersected in an instant.

Dozens of dagger-shaped shadow feathers, projected like daggers, shot directly toward Jier like dense raindrops; the Full-coverage Armor on his body was as good as nothing, pierced and penetrated through by the thin yet powerful dagger-shaped feathers.

Jier's limbs, including the places where the feathers grazed his skull, were severely damaged, either sliced open entirely or cut off directly.

Fortunately, when these shadow-like dagger-shaped feathers faced the Hunting Sword filled with Sun God Divine Power, they were dispersed and dissolved by the Sun God Divine Power upon merely approaching it.

This was what preserved the safety of Jier's torso.

At the same moment, the Life Energy within Jier's body automatically replaced the large amount of skin, Blood Vessels, and muscle that had been severed, and even the thinner bones that had been cut, forcibly sticking his scarred limbs back together.

Because the speed at the moment the two sides' offensives intersected was too fast, Jier did not even have time to feel pain before his own offensive struck the Great Bird God.

Sss—

It was less that Jier was holding the axe to swing and slash, and more that the axe was driving Jier to kill toward the Great Bird God; the blue, interlocking canine-toothed fluorescent axe blade slashed directly into the neck of the Great Bird God's massive body.

The neck, composed of Divine Power and shadows, tried to resist, but it was useless; the thin Divine Power could not compare to the Dwarf's God of Strength at all. With one axe strike, the Great Bird God's Divine Power bird head was directly severed.

Jier even crashed his whole body through the Great Bird God's shadow body. During this process, the Sun God Divine Power possessed by the Hunting Sword blocking in front of him performed a great service; the sun is simply the natural nemesis of shadows. The Great Bird God's body dissolved directly upon contact with the Sun God Divine Power on the Long Sword, and after being hit by Jier, more than half of its body was shattered.

"Urgh!" After crashing through the god's body, Jier spun a few times and fell heavily to the ground. Only then did intense pain surge through his whole body, but he gritted his teeth and, regardless of anything else, exerted himself to fling the Yueshui head on his right hand.

Once the Yueshui head left his hand, it spun at high speed, turning into a blue whirlwind; after cutting back and forth a few times, it tore the Great Bird God's broad wings, which were comparable to walls, into fragments.

The bird head severed by the axe still wanted to open its mouth to launch some kind of attack, but the axe accurately noticed this, paused instantly in mid-air, and then shot straight toward the Great Bird God's Divine Power head.

But the god's attack was launched a bit faster. Its only remaining head opened its bird beak in the air, making the appearance of screeching. The next moment, a spherical, pitch-black Shadow Impact expanded from the center of the Great Bird God's Divine Power head.

The Yueshui head was closest and was directly affected, but the blue axe blade remained intact within the Shadow Impact; only the wooden Two-handed Axe handle was torn and shattered by this Shadow Impact.

Subsequently, the spherical Shadow Impact expanded rapidly. As soon as it touched the ground, the turf was torn to shreds in large swaths by the immense impact force, and all the soil on the surface was flipped and thrown away.

Jier was hit by the impact immediately after; he had crouched on the ground in advance and stuck his Long Sword into the ground in reverse.

The Shadow Impact arrived, and the white light on the sword flared, weakening the power of this move. Therefore, it was just a massive force pushing against Jier from the front, wanting to push Jier up and throw him away. But Jier gripped the sword hilt tightly with both arms and remained motionless. The broken armor parts on his body vibrated and swayed back and forth under the impact force, emitting intense clanging sounds. His cloak was pulled hard behind him by the force, stretched into a flag pointing straight back, but in the end, this new cloak was of high quality, and after the impact, it was not damaged in the slightest.

Afterward, the spherical Shadow Impact continued to expand outward, sweeping across this entire open space in the forest, flipping and lifting tons of turf and soil high into the air, only to fall again like rain or hail.

The tall trees nearby swayed slightly because of this Shadow Impact, but these large trees had been rooted here for countless years, and such power could only make them sway a little.

After a few breaths, the forest clearing returned to calm.

After the Great Bird God used up its move, this bird head composed of shadow Divine Power still wanted to fly away in mid-air, but it was then caught up by the blue axe that had spun and flown back again. The axe, with only the blade remaining, did not smash the Great Bird God's Divine Power head in one blow, but instead split it open and pulled and dragged at the power inside, attempting to absorb and imprison its remaining essential power into the blue axe.

The Monster and Magic Beast heads on the axe blade were calling out excitedly, appearing as if they were singing loudly; they seemed to be welcoming a new cellmate to join.

But things were not that simple. The Great Bird God was a god after all; upon discovering that the axe was absorbing and devouring this part of its Divine Power body, it directly detonated this Divine Power head.

Boom—

An explosion occurred that was intense but had a far smaller range of influence than the spherical Shadow Impact just now.

During the explosion, a ball of extremely pitch-black explosion energy even appeared in mid-air, but after the brief and rapid explosion, the Yueshui head's axe blade merely fell to the ground, seemingly without any damage.

It was just that the Monster and Magic Beast head emblems on the axe blade all became listless; one could not tell if they were sad they couldn't have a new partner, or if their power had been lost too much in the explosion just now?

Jier was in pain all over at this moment, so much so that his teeth were about to shatter. But he tried moving his hands and feet and found that they were not only flexibly controllable but also full of strength. His body had just been severely damaged, but apart from the pain, there was no other effect?

Therefore, Jier hurriedly took out the Elven Metal Shield from behind him, handed the Long Sword from his left hand to his right, left shield and right sword, exerted force with both legs to kick off the ground, and headed straight for the Great Bird God Wood Carving that had been lying on the ground.

He had not expected that the Great Bird God, who had seemed to be bullied by his words all along, would be so difficult to deal with. Wasn't it said that it had been sealed by the Hunting God Church for many years and had no strength left? Wasn't it said that the believers it had been developing recently were all being continuously wiped out by the Hunting God Church?

How could it still have so much power?

Hunting God Church! Are you people professional or not?

You have caused me such misery tonight!

Jier complained in his heart, but his handiwork was not slow. He rushed forward two steps, bent his waist and lowered his body, and slashed down with one sword. He didn't want any abilities today; defeating this arrogant, ancient, primitive, backward, noisy, untrustworthy, and unfaithful hateful god was the greatest achievement!

Swish—

He slashed at empty air with his sword. It turned out that the Bird-shaped Wood Carving that had been on the ground the whole time had come alive, turning into a real bird, flapping its wings to fly up, and nimbly dodging Jier's sword.

"Caw! You hateful mortal! Today is the day of your death—"

The nimble wooden bird circled in mid-air, clamoring loudly as it flew.

Jier whistled. The Tianxuecao, which had been hiding in the distance, finally shook the mud splashed on its body, tore open the Muan leather strap tied to the Long Spear, and ran quickly toward its master.

The battle just now had frightened it, but once its master summoned it, the brave prairie horse Tianxuecao still exerted itself to run toward its master.

After Jier finished whistling, he pointed his hand fiercely at the Great Bird God flying chaotically in the air and mocked, "Why aren't you using your previous moves now? Oh, you used up all the Divine Power you worked so hard to accumulate all at once, right? Ha, watch how I use an Arrow to shoot you down!"

After speaking, he jumped on the spot, Jier let the Tianxuecao running toward him pass, and as his body fell, he landed right on the Muan.

Casually hanging the Shield behind his back and returning the Long Sword to its sheath but leaving some of the blade exposed to provide illumination, Jier turned and took a Hunting Bow and several Arrows from the Weapon Rack on the horse's back.

Holding the bow in his left hand, he pinched an Arrow with his right hand and placed it on the Bowstring, hooked the Bowstring with his thumb, and without even aiming, he pushed the bow and pulled the string to shoot!

"Caw caw! I am no stupid ordinary bird; you cannot hit me—caw!"

The Great Bird God had not finished its mocking words before it was hit by an arrow, which made it feel incredible. One must know that this was night, the moonlight in the sky was limited, and the only illumination at this moment was the white Divine Power light provided by the Long Sword at Jier's waist, and that thing could only illuminate a range of seven or eight meters around.

Yet the Great Bird God's bird-shaped wooden body was flying nimbly in mid-air at this moment! Not to mention how hard it was to shoot a target only the size of a palm—it wasn't easy to hit even in the daytime, and this was night! The Bird-shaped Wood Carving also had a black-gray surface color; just using one's eyes to identify its flight trajectory was almost impossible.

Even Elves would find it difficult to hit the target in one shot in this environment.

"Impossible!" The Great Bird God, having been hit hard by an arrow, plummeted to the ground in mid-air. It floundered in the turf and soil on the ground, trying to fly up, but at this moment, another arrow shot over.

The Great Bird God had almost never seen Jier practice archery, so it never expected that this hateful fellow Jier would be so accurate at shooting arrows, much more formidable than the previous mortal it had favored.

"Hateful liar! Deceiver! Despicable mortal! Unfaithful one!"

The Great Bird God's wooden legs kicked, narrowly dodging an arrow that had been fiercely stuck into the ground. Its wooden bird beak opened and closed continuously; while dodging, it still had the energy to curse Jier for holding back a trick.

Jier did not speak. He let the Tianxuecao trot at a steady pace, while he himself continuously placed one Arrow after another on the Bowstring, then continuously drew the bow and shot arrows.

At such a close distance, the force didn't need to be too great; shooting speed was more important. One arrow after another, he almost exerted all the skills he had learned from the old Hunters last winter.

Whoosh—thwip, one arrow stuck into the mud.

Whoosh—pop! One arrow shot through a wing of the Great Bird God Wood Carving.

Whoosh—thwip, another arrow was dodged by the Great Bird God.

Whoosh—clang! This arrow, however, was blocked by a layer of shadow power swung out by the Great Bird God flapping its wings.

The thin layer of shadow was exceptionally sturdy; arrows could not pierce through this thing. The Great Bird Deity hurriedly jumped a few times on the ground with its legs and hid behind this shadow.

"I will make you regret this! You insignificant mortal!" the Great Bird Deity was still clamoring.

Jier spoke up and shouted: "If an insignificant mortal can make you this miserable, then you are nothing more than on the same level as us mortals, aren't you?"

After saying this, Jier only used one leg to nudge the horse's flank, making Tianxuecao turn while trotting to adjust his shooting direction, letting the shooting path avoid that sturdy shadow.

But the Great Bird Deity was faster at gathering Divine Power to perform its abilities. It flapped its wings once more, and beside the previous Shadow Wall, it set up a new Shadow Wall, causing the two to connect and form a ninety-degree angle.

Jier could not find a good angle and reluctantly fired an arrow, but it returned without success; the arrow could not pierce through the seemingly thin little piece of pitch-black shadow. So he pulled the bowstring of his Hunting Bow to the limit, disregarding the strain on the bow limbs, and released an arrow at full draw.

Swoosh—Clang!

It still could not pierce through the Shadow Wall.

The Great Bird Deity worked hard to recover its Divine Power and adopted a turtle tactic, successively setting up five small Shadow Walls around itself, which happened to form a square shape, like a small house, covering it entirely on the messy ground.

Although arrows could not penetrate this thin Shadow Wall, the sounds inside could still be heard.

"Mortal Jier, squawk squawk squawk! It is you who forced me; today will finally be your death day! What a pity, a pity that you cannot respectfully offer me your loyalty, offer me your respect; you do not respect me! You never say thank you! I helped you so much! Squawk! Squawk!"

Seeing that he could not pierce through the Shadow Wall, Jier gradually stopped his horse. He heard the complaints of the Great Bird Deity inside the Shadow Small House, snorted, and responded: "Then have you ever respected me? I have also helped you so much; it seems you have never said thank you either?"

"I am a Deity!! A Deity!!" The Great Bird Deity's voice became irritable and high-pitched, appearing extremely emotionally agitated.

Jier, however, was extremely cold and calm; he stared tightly at that Shadow Small House: "So what? Can a Deity just tower above humans? Oh, I might not have made myself clear, Buduolibuduolobuyika, it's hard to say for other Deities, but you, an ancient, poor, primitive Deity who is being chased and hunted by the Hunting God Church and is on the verge of dissipating."

"Are you really worthy of towering above humans?"

After Jier finished speaking, no response from the Great Bird Deity could be heard from inside the Shadow Small House. Jier even suspected whether he had been too harsh just now and had angered this Great Bird Deity to death?

Can a Deity be angered to death by a mortal's words?

Can they?

Jier was not sure, but he vaguely felt that something was wrong.

The next moment, a loud screech came from the Shadow Small House from the Great Bird Deity: "Squawk!"

This sound was too loud, making Jier's ears even buzz.

"What are you doing? Gone crazy, or trying to scare me away?" Jier tentatively asked loudly.

But the Great Bird Deity did not answer. After a short moment, there was another extremely loud screech: "Squawk—"

Jier drew his bow and fired another arrow, but it was useless. He vaguely felt something was wrong; his right hand returned the arrow held between his fingers to the quiver and quietly pressed onto the Heart Fire Magic Dagger at his waist.

'Perhaps I must use it to decide the outcome.'

Jier thought to himself.

At the same time, the Great Bird Deity once again let out an extremely loud screech inside the Shadow Small House: "Squawk————"

In the Refugee camp far away, across the Huitou Forest and the wilderness in the Valley, everyone was awakened.

Those who had fallen asleep early rushed out of their temporary tents, turning their heads left and right, looking for the crow-like creature screeching in the middle of the night. And the people who had not slept at all pointed toward the direction of the Huitou Forest and discussed it heatedly.

They could tell the sound was coming from the direction of the Huitou Forest, but what kind of thing could make such a loud sound?

How big must that bird be?

"Could it be a bird-type Magic Beast?"

"Don't scare yourself. I heard from the villagers that after the Dwarfs repelled a Magic Beast a few decades ago, there haven't been any Magic Beasts around here for how many years. You could say there's a tiny possibility of Magic Beasts appearing after the Dwarfs left, but now that the Dwarfs are still here, where would there be any Magic Beasts?"

"That's true, that's true! But this sound?"

"Let's wait and see, let's wait and see. If it really doesn't work, we can only have Mr. Bafuer contact the Dwarfs here. The Huitou Forest is their place; that should be managed by them."

In Torito Village, following the sound of the extremely loud crow-like screeches coming over, many households of Villagers who had already rested relit their precious Oil Lamps.

The heads of each Farmer family took Torches and Oil Lamps and walked out of their homes, meeting on the street in anxiety and asking each other about the situation. Everyone could not come to a conclusion, so one by one they went together to the homes of several elders in the Cunzi.

While walking, they could still hear the crow-like screeches that were loud enough to reach the village. The sound came from far away in the west, but it was clearly not a sound made in the Refugee camp. Everyone gathered in the courtyards of the elders' homes and discussed and guessed.

But it was only discussion and guessing. Asking them to send people out to investigate in the middle of the night was something no one was willing to do.

The gate of the Dwarf Treasure Mine.

Several Dwarfs tried to stand in a higher place, looking toward the west where the huge crow-like screeching came from.

"Is it the camp of those outsider Humans? Or the Huitou Forest? Could it be coming from the mountains?"

"The Huitou Forest, right? Who is on duty in the tunnels of the Huitou Forest today? Ken or Aoda?"

"Are you confused? Or did you inhale too much toxic gas while mining? We are leaving in a few days; who still cares about things in the Huitou Forest? There is nothing there, except for the surveillance tunnels everyone dug. Besides, who still values those old duty rosters?"

"That's right, even the most important mining rosters in the mine are not being managed. Everyone is busy packing their luggage, either trading things they can't take with Humans, or secretly finding a place to bury them, or hiding them in some corner of the mine. Who still cares about things in the Huitou Forest?"

"That's true."

"'Iron Fist' is here, let's ask him about the situation."

The old Dwarf 'Iron Fist' received the urgent news and only then came up from the deep level of the mine by the automatic lift. He couldn't hear the outside world's sounds at the bottom of the mine at all. When he received the news, he was still puzzled: what was this about a huge, loud crow-like screech?

At this moment, after arriving at the mine gate, he finally understood what his subordinates meant by the huge, loud crow-like screech.

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? (End of this chapter)