Chapter 502: Lord of the Skull Throne

Sinuoli removed the Divine Cup of Valaya from his waist and poured it over his head; the peeling and indentations on the surface of the stone statue miraculously repaired themselves under the lingering green light. He shouted his challenge loudly; against Karanak, who possessed profound Authority, he had to adjust himself to his peak state.

"Ha, ha!"

The three-headed hound was not having an easy time either; the burden of unleashing that soul-targeting impact, which was sufficient to injure a Demigod, was clearly immense. Its lowest head hung down, lolling out a crimson tongue and panting with difficulty.

Its thick neck twisted in an uncanny, multi-directional way; the right head stared at the second-generation Slann not far away, who were trembling as they reached the critical node of the awakening ritual, while the left head scanned Sinuoli and the Temple Guard Regiment with a predatory gaze.

Wary of its ability to traverse space, the Dwarf dared not act rashly; on the localized battlefield of the pyramid steps, time was on his side. The number of Flesh Hounds summoned temporarily from the void was also limited, and the most elite Stargazing Chamber guards in all of Lustria would soon be able to banish them all.

"Woof!"

Khorne's beloved hound did not lack a sense for war; its head possessing spatial power barked hoarsely, and it was not hard to tell from those blood-weeping dog eyes that it had squeezed out all its Authority for one final struggle.

Knowing that short-range spatial leaps could not shake off a stone statue that could command the Storm, Karanak changed the usage of its Authority—Sinuoli's body tightened, and a boundless, immense force generated in the space, pinning him in place while simultaneously squeezing him incessantly.

"Woof, woof!"

The barking finally carried a note of triumph and lightness; as the hunting hound of the Lord of Skulls, only individuals who could not be finished off even by Bloodthirsters leading armies were worthy of being hunted by Karanak.

"Cough, cough! Haa..."

At the same instant, Sinuoli guessed what had happened; he had poured his entire strength into opening his mouth to resist the binding, but as one word after another was spat out, the Oath Authority transformed into a Word Spirit Spell, and the stone statue's body began to move with difficulty.

Beneath the throne sat a giant god who stood between heaven and earth; His tone betrayed neither joy nor anger, yet the unquestionable majesty it revealed, even across the barrier of realms, still struck at everyone's heart like a heavy hammer.

Feeling its lock upon him and its abyssal, hellish, tyrannical divine power, Sinuoli's smile remained unchanged, though he heaved a long sigh in his heart. His refusal to join the Blood God's command was based on the belief that He would not disregard the barrier of realms to strike by force—even if He did strike, the target should be the remains of Keluoka, not a mere little Dwarf.

For powerful warriors who have tempered their flesh and martial arts to the extreme and sleep in their armor, their sea of consciousness lacks training and protection; without even needing contact, a single soul impact is enough to turn them into a madman or even a hollow shell.

With his energy full and all his means at his disposal, he believed he had a significant chance of holding out, but now, compared to begging for mercy, it seemed more heroic to die than to have come all this way for nothing.

"That is a pity."

"Never-ending, are you? I'll see, I'll see just how much you can reverse!"

Karanak's idea was certainly not wrong, but it did not hold the advantage in direct collisions between Authorities. Spatial power was too profound; regardless of whether it was innate or due to some other fortuitous encounter, a beast like it could only grasp the surface.

Only Karanak's right head remained, breathing its last; amidst a near-whimpering sound, milky-white filaments of light spread across its entire body. Wherever they passed, the lacerated body became as good as new—this looked like simple healing, but in reality, it was retrieving the past from the River of Time.

"Is it over here?"

"Hoo!"

"Bang!"

Sinuoli forced out his final strength, swinging his Warhammer with both hands to smash down again and again; the threads of time were as difficult to grasp as flowing sand, but Karanak held on through several blows before finally drooping its last head.

Sinuoli gasped for air and cast a Valaya Ritual upon himself; the violent contact with the Old One landing pad exceeded his damage-bearing limit, and the Divine Descent state was forced to end.

The appearance of their master drove the Chaos Daemons of Khorne into a complete frenzy; some Bloodthirsters looked at Sinuoli with a hint of envy. He had deigned to recruit him personally; after Daemonhood, his future would naturally be limitless.

Squinting his eyes, through the rift he could see a sky filled with jagged cracks, shrouded by a blood-red setting sun. As the rift gradually stabilized, a blood-stained Brass Throne adorned with various skulls manifested.

In past campaigns, by traversing the void to reach blind spots while simultaneously interfering with the activation of defensive magic, a light claw-swipe could turn a mage capable of burning the heavens and boiling the seas into blood tofu.

Watching the hound's body gradually disintegrate in silence, Sinuoli finally let out a long breath. The level-up injected a new surge of power into his exhausted body; just as he was about to regroup and return to the fight, he discovered that Karanak had actually transformed into shards of light, gradually forming a new Chaos Rift in front of the Ritual Vortex.

He launched himself like a locomotive, sprinting onto the platform and tackling the big dog mid-section like a rugby player. To avoid any further complications, Sinuoli gritted his teeth and, without slowing down, locked onto Karanak and charged out over the railing at the top of the pyramid!

"Woof~ woo~"

Propping himself up with his Warhammer, Sinuoli prepared to finish off this troublesome dog; the experience required for each level increased exponentially, but the weakened Greater Keeper of Secrets was also counted as a Greater Daemon, and now he was only a hair's breadth away from the max level.

"Dare to hurt my dog! You have guts."

"Blood for the Blood God, skulls for the Skull Throne!"

"Victory! Glory belongs to us!"

"Break for me!!"

"Pfft, pfft!"

"I cannot comply."

The impact of rolling all the way down made Sinuoli's chest ache with every breath, but his refusal remained resolute. He had no reason to become a killing machine dominated by madness and rage.

"Boom!"

"Boom, boom! Pfft!"

Digging its claws into the ground and running at high speed, Karanak seemed to have already touched Sinuoli's rough outer skin and the thick fat beneath. This spatial imprisonment was a new killing move it had comprehended; no one in the Mortal World had ever broken free from it.

"Still have breath? Because you are heavier than me, you fell harder?"

The Old One's pyramid of Itza was extremely steep; the man and the dog rolled down from the intermediate platforms and steps, the sound of collisions between stone and stone, and flesh and stone, ringing out the entire way.

"I said, this cannot trap me!"

Sinuoli did not dare to gamble on whether Karanak had any final defensive measures; accompanied by a heaven-shaking roar, he once again poured out everything he had. The word "Break" transformed into a tangible sound wave, completely destroying the spatial imprisonment!

The head, covered by a spiked winged helmet, shook slightly, and then the large hand encased in a brass gauntlet casually picked up a skull at its feet. Khorne raised his hand to examine it, seemingly recalling who had offered it to the Skull Throne.

"You, know—I favor powerful warriors. I give you a chance; chant my name, and follow me into battle."

Leaving no room for the mortal to discern or ponder, He braced the armrests and rose to his full height, twisted his waist and hips, and threw his hand out; the Chaos Rift fluctuated under the unbearable strain, and immediately after, a great blood-colored star sprayed straight out from within!