Chapter 55: The Beast's Privilege (Third Watch, Ten Thousand)

"This evil shall be destroyed by me."

Calm words, clenched lips, dragon pupils locked onto the opponent—this was a resolve Li En had never felt before.

Upon the silver Courage Sword, a pale silver radiance was once again layered on.

Will transformed into power; the knight's Holy Art of Strength fully reinforced his body.

It was time to end this chain of tragedy. The victim became the perpetrator, the perpetrator became a living corpse—such an ending he truly could not bring himself to like.

"I promised those children."

"For the sake of those children, shouldn't you let their mother go?" The woman was still smiling.

". Yes, but you are not her. You are merely a corpse that has occupied her shell. Stop laughing, monster." Words spoken in utter calm—anger he had never known before.

That loving, gentle smile does not belong to a monster like you!

"How cruel—I am clearly Maria." If a smile could raise her hunting success rate and make her opponent drop their guard, why not use it?

She liked to smile, and she always would.

A grotesque monster, draped in human skin, mimicking human speech with hollow lies.

"Clang!"

This time, in the blink of an eye, the Hero's Sword had already pierced through her arm.

Li En's charge sent an arm crashing to the ground.

Maria showed a look of surprise. Unlike her previous human form, her true face revealed skin and flesh far stronger than that of an ordinary Horned Disciple.

But before that sword, was she still this fragile?

She glanced at the wound near her shoulder; a faint flame still lingered on it, causing her some discomfort.

A threat, but not a great one. In terms of "quantity," the gap between them was far too vast.

She drew a finger across her shoulder, and the shoulder wreathed in dragonfire dropped away.

She merely twitched her left shoulder; her left arm twisted and shook in turn, and flesh regeneration was completed in an instant.

". Truly impressive, truly impressive—so this is a sword master?" She even showed off her intact left hand to her opponent.

Yet even at this moment, her smile remained unchanged.

She took the initiative to attack.

Her right hand shot out in a fist, seemingly slow but truly fast—a completely unrefined punch, like a laughable "turtle fist" flailing about.

"Boom!"

Yet Li En instinctively slid aside, then watched as that slender fist directly smashed through a rock wall.

Cold sweat soaked through Li En's vest. In that instant, he had not seen the opponent's movement at all; only his instinct to evade death had let him dodge.

Pure strength, an unsolvable disparity in stats—this was the gap of at least several times in bodily toughness alone.

A beast's physical hardware, far beyond that of ordinary humans, was merely its most basic ability. If that strike had landed on Li En, even his armor likely could not have withstood it, and he would have been smashed straight into the rock wall.

"If you're talking such a big game, then don't dodge."

The smiling words, however, came from behind.

Strength brings speed. With a body of this caliber, and no need to consider expenditure or injury, how could her speed possibly be slow?

In that instant, the scent of death had already reached him from the back of his neck.

"Collapsing Sword. Realm Breaker!"

Without the slightest hesitation, Li En gripped his sword with both hands, and like a knight in armor holding his blade, violently thrust it down into the ground.

The holy power throughout his body erupted violently, forming a sphere of holy-force explosion centered on the blade.

"Boom!" A sphere of light roughly one and a half meters in radius detonated directly around Li En.

The timing of the explosion was just right—Maria, who had already reached Li En's back, was blasted away.

Li En gasped for breath, turned his head, and saw the monster visibly recovering from her "burns" at a speed plain to the eye.

This too was within expectations.

"But it really is a little exasperating—this level of vitality."

Li En sighed, and at the same time switched to the Hill Giant Gloves; his strength jumped directly from 13 to 18.

Considering the diminishing marginal returns of stats once they reach a certain level, his true strength might have multiplied several times over.

The moment he put them on, Li En felt intense discomfort and dizziness—this was not equipment he could use for long.

But facing an opponent like this, taking risks was unavoidable.

"Don't come over!" Seeing Li En take a hit, his companions seemed to want to help.

Though he had clearly taken a hit, Li En shouted down Dimon and Talia, who had tried to assist.

"Keep lighting that thing—that's the greatest help you can give."

The cave's incense smell was growing heavier; just as Maria had said, it seemed to have no effect at all?

Impossible—not a single word from a beast can be trusted!

Li En's dragon eyes had already observed that one of the small heads on her body was yawning.

If even the "beast's" very origin was taking effect, how could a half-beast that inherited the factor be completely unaffected?

It's just that her beast factor may have grown so abundant it overflowed; even if part of it went dormant, it wouldn't affect her internal actions. As long as the activity of her factor could be slowed, her strength could be reduced—and that alone was worth it.

Talia in the rear would also be Maria's greatest threat.

An assassin is most alarming when they have not yet struck. Once a true opening appeared, Talia would not let it slip.

Could that wooden sword truly not kill her? Judging from how one of the child heads kept staring at Talia, it really wasn't certain.

"Continue."

And in the rear, he did not let the close-combat Dimon help either.

Besides the fact that his abilities truly weren't up to a battlefield of this level, he had another use.

"The Docklands will be better tomorrow, but there is no place here for a serial killer like you."

"We will rebuild the orphanage and find better mothers for the children. This time, we will also build a school for them."

"Eliminate her, and the children of the Docklands can sleep in peace!"

Though somewhat ridiculous, Dimon was indeed mocking the opponent while loudly cheering Li En on.

But even stranger, as the words fell, a pale red light covered Li En's body and hands.

Li En's physique and strength each increased by one point, and his muscles became even more imposing.

He even found that the edge of his own sword had become sharper, and his chest felt like it was burning fiercely, with inexplicable rage reaching its peak.

【Soul Technique: Born a Man, I Am Honored (Mutated Origin Stone): Shout out the obsession and rage of your heart to fully strengthen your body; your roar and your body will possess the possibility of tearing through all defenses.】

【Note: Your roar is an area of effect; those who agree with your philosophy will receive a certain degree of enhancement.】

A fierce, aggressive soul, which could not place Dimon on the front lines due to his insufficient strength, instead became a priority buff provider.

At the same time, a beam of light fell upon Li En. Although the effect on minor wounds was poor, on the battlefield, having healing or not made all the difference.

"The key point is whether I can hold her off." Li En made his resolve; this time, it would still be a head-on clash to test each other's strength.

Li En raised his sword, preparing once again the familiar Armor-Eroding Strike.

But this time, it was Maria who attacked first.

"Clang!"

Her movement was like a phantom, impossible to track; a brass knuckle collided with the blade Li En used to block.

But this time, Li En was only knocked back, his sword deflected, without falling directly to the ground.

The power of the Transcendent level had been drawn closer.

At this mere level now, there was a chance of victory.

Her physical hardware was very strong, her vitality absurd, but just as the data stated, she had undergone no actual combat training and possessed no Transcendent professional rank.

Then, how much could such powerful hardware actually exert? With such weak fighting skills, her straightforward approach was not difficult to handle.

Strong regeneration ability? Just kill her a few more times.

"You've gotten stronger again. Why do you keep pestering me when there are so many other villains?"

Words had already been confirmed to be meaningless to Li En and his group.

Thus, she chose to shut up.

Confirming a life-threatening crisis, the beast's survival instinct activated further.

Sharp horns grew on Maria's forehead, the tiny eyes of the infants on her body lit up one by one, strange patterns appeared across her entire body, and the situation became increasingly bizarre.

"Be careful!"

In that moment, Li En was on high alert.

Did Maria, once an ordinary human, truly possess no Transcendent abilities? Not necessarily.

If a beast were merely stronger in body and unkillable, it would not be so terrifying.

"A beast is a child of the world; it often possesses unique world authorities—or rather, privileges. Its descendants and beast packs, if the beast blood concentration is high, have a certain probability of using this weakened version of the authority."

This was not research data from the Cult, or rather, the Hilda family was not worthy of possessing data of this caliber.

But those delicate characters were specifically left as a warning for Li En; how could he not take them seriously?

Yet, he would soon understand what "authority" meant, and what an "Administrator Player" was.

No matter how well-prepared you are, facing someone who cheats and opens permissions, you will still suffer.

"Please stand firm; do not fall." Maria's sudden words made Li En pause.

But the next moment, he understood.

"Boom!"

He suddenly fell to the ground—no, he fell directly onto the ceiling of the cave.

"Ah!" Falling as well were Dimon and Talia.

Their preparations were interrupted; they were merely tightly bound to the ceiling.

They tried to struggle, but felt themselves bound even tighter.

"This beast is known as the Great Pillar that controls the sky and the Sea Boundary."

"Does it mean the sky can become the sea, and the sea can become the sky? Is this gravity?! How can there be such an absurd power?"

Looking at Maria, who seemed to be standing on the "ceiling," looking down at them upside down, Li En was somewhat stunned.

With this, unable even to stand steadily, how could they fight?

(End of Chapter)