Whoosh~
A long, resounding whale call nearly echoed across the entire plane. This whale, far larger than any Hysilens had summoned before, loomed like a mountain, its colossal shadow instantly darkening the sky overhead.
Arthur and Demon Axe froze, stunned by the sight. An ocean-like surge of divine power erupted from Hysilens, wave after wave surging upward to continue solidifying the whale's colossal form. Sensing this overwhelming power, Demon Axe blurted out, "No way! What the hell is this thing?!"
"Is this girl a True god?!"
If Hysilens had been on the sea, condensing such a massive whale from the seawater would have been extraordinary but not entirely unbelievable. But here, far from any sea, she was creating matter from nothing using her divine power alone—an utterly absurd feat!
A moment later, Arthur echoed in stunned confusion, "What is that?! Are you saying my original duel opponent was a True god?"
No matter how astonished the two were, Hysilens's whale had already fully materialized. This attack could no longer be described as a meteor strike; it was as if the entire sky had come crashing down.
The whale opened its jaws, a gaping maw that seemed capable of swallowing the world, and lunged toward the Plague Lord on the ground. The Plague Lord, however, neither dodged nor flinched—or perhaps his colossal size simply rendered evasion impossible.
The Plague Lord raised his scythe and grinned... or at least, Hysilens thought he might be grinning, though the creature's face was too small to make out clearly without straining her eyes.
In any case, the massive scythe struck the whale's flank as the great beast clamped its jaws around the Plague Lord's body. Both attacks were seemingly ordinary strikes, devoid of any special effects, yet their power was anything but ordinary.
Squelch—
BOOM—!!!
The scythe's strike sliced through nearly half the whale's body in a single blow. Within seconds, the once deep blue creature was turning dark green from the wound outward, the transformation visible to the naked eye.
The latter was the sound of the Whale biting down on the Plague Lord. The shockwave alone unleashed a violent gale that swept outward in all directions. Even the mushrooms that had fled kilometers away from Hysilens and her group were caught by the gale and hurled into the sky.
Within a ten-kilometer radius, everything exposed above the ground was uprooted and torn away.
Amidst the raging winds, Hysilens stood motionless, her eyes narrowed slightly as she crossed her arms. Completely unaffected by the tempest, only the waist-length hair behind her swayed in the gale.
Beside her, Arthur, having fully unleashed the power of the Demon Axe, was similarly unaffected by the shockwave. He crouched slightly, even leaning into the gale, before lunging forward with a thunderous BOOM, launching himself like a cannonball.
With no flourish or wasted motion, Arthur swung the Demon Axe, aiming straight for the joint of one of the Plague Lord's legs.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!!!
Then came a series of dense, earth-shattering explosions. Crimson flames erupted beneath Arthur's axe, blooming like a miniature sun on the battlefield.
Without the Demon Axe's protection, the aftershock of this strike would have been enough to kill Arthur himself. As expected, one of the Plague Lord's six legs was cleanly severed by Arthur's blade.
"I did it!" Arthur couldn't help but whisper triumphantly.
But at that moment, just a meter away from Arthur, a gash suddenly opened in the Plague Lord's massive body, and a chilling, malevolent laugh echoed from within.
"Heh heh heh~"
The sight was horrifying, like a mouth had suddenly grown on the Plague Lord's thigh. The Demon Axe urgently warned, "Watch out!"
However, Arthur had poured nearly all his strength into that single strike. Now, with his old power spent and new strength yet to replenish, he couldn't dodge. Then... he saw a verdant, slimy tongue extend from the newly formed mouth, slither toward the Demon Axe's blade, and lick it with a wet slurp.
For a few seconds, the world seemed to fall silent. Then, the Demon Axe erupted in a hysterical shriek: "Holy shit!!!!"
"No, you... Bleagh!"
"My eyes!!!"
"Save me!"
"Arthur! Good brother, can you use your clothes to wipe me? I'm about to puke!"
"Ugh—!"
It was clear the Demon Axe had truly lost its mind. As the first axe ever created, it simply lacked the ability to vomit. Yet Arthur could clearly see the eyeball on the axe blade bulging outward, the white of the eye now filled with blood vessels. Combined with the Demon Axe's incessant retching, it was obvious it was in excruciating pain.
Perhaps centuries of being sealed as an axe hadn't been as devastating as this single lick.
The Plague Lord chuckled, "Rage, you smell so good!"
The Demon Axe snarled, "Are you fucking sick! I swear to god—ugh!"
"You're so clever," the Plague Lord replied. "How did you know I'm sick?"
The Demon Axe exploded, "I'll fuck your mother!!!"
Arthur didn't linger. With a swift leap backward, he returned to Hysilens' side. Together, they showed solemn expressions as they observed the Plague Lord's current state.
Their attacks had already proven effective. Arthur had successfully severed one of the Plague Lord's legs, while Hysilens' Whale had nearly torn away a third of its body.
Normally, if a human were to lose a third of their body, they would be beyond dead. Yet the Plague Lord stood there, grinning foolishly as if nothing had happened. From its wound, countless fibrous strands were sprouting, and small green bubbles were rapidly forming—it was regenerating at an astonishing rate.
As for the whale that had attacked the Plague Lord, it had turned completely dark green and crashed to the ground with a thunderous boom, its belly facing upward. Hysilens was gradually losing control of the creature.
In short, the Plague Lord possessed an exceptionally thick health bar, and as a demon, it would simply respawn in the Abyss even if killed. This was why, long ago, when the Rage Lord invaded the Material Plane, the Sun God and other True Gods chose not to kill it after defeating it, but instead sealed it away, transforming it into the Demon Axe.
Given these circumstances, engaging the Plague Lord in battle didn't seem like a particularly wise decision. After all, Hysilens possessed the Century Gate—why not simply leave this place?
The problem was that the Plague Lord now knew the coordinates of the Material Plane. If it could pull Hysilens and the others from the Material Plane once, it could do so again. Hysilens was even more terrified that this creature might decide to travel to the Material Plane itself.
Fortunately, the Plague Lord seemed to have no inherent interest in the Material Plane. From beginning to end, it only wanted the Rage Lord. Lost in thought, Hysilens couldn't help but glance at Arthur beside her. He had just taken off his shirt and was using it like a rag to scrub the Demon Axe vigorously.
The Demon Axe's eyeball swiveled. "Here! Here! And here too! Wipe them all! Hurry, hurry!"
In truth, since the Demon Axe was constantly burning, the Plague Lord couldn't have left any saliva or anything similar on it. But the Demon Axe suffered from severe mental fastidiousness, and that single lick had left it utterly mortified.
Then, as if sensing Hysilens' gaze, the Demon Axe's eyeball turned to face her. "Wait a minute! You're not thinking about something really terrifying, are you?!"
For example, Hysilens could simply abandon the Demon Axe here and leave with Arthur. Right now, this seemed like the simplest and quickest solution.
Seeing Hysilens remain silent, the Demon Axe immediately panicked. "No, wait! Beautiful True God sister! I'm a good demon, and Arthur is my sworn brother—Heaven and Earth bear witness!"
The Demon Axe's eyeball swiveled to Arthur. "Sworn brother, you wouldn't abandon me, would you?!"
Since Arthur was unaware of the Century Gate's existence, he naturally replied, "Of course not!"
After all, the Demon Axe was a crucial combat asset. Abandoning it now would be tantamount to suicide. Of course, if Arthur knew about the Century Gate, he likely would have chosen to abandon it without hesitation.
Hearing this, the Demon Axe felt like it was about to cry. "Arthur, I knew I hadn't misjudged you! You're truly my brother, even though we don't share the same parents!"
Witnessing this scene, Hysilens couldn't help but chuckle. The Demon Axe was undeniably a living treasure—utterly hilarious. Fine, I won't abandon this goofball.
Hysilens turned her gaze back to the Plague Lord. As her divine power surged forth, this time, instead of a single whale, a dense swarm of fish materialized around her.
Each of these fish was ten meters long, and there were well over a thousand of them. Seeing this, the Plague Lord continued to chuckle, "Switching tactics? No problem. I'll just stand here and let you all have your fun!"
From the start of the battle, the Plague Lord had maintained a leisurely demeanor, never attempting to interrupt Hysilens or Arthur's attacks. In another sense, however, the Plague Lord had been attacking relentlessly, never letting up.
Anyone within its vicinity, regardless of their strength, would gradually fall ill. The Plague Lord, therefore, had no need to rush. Let the enemies strategize, let them prepare their ultimate moves—it was all the same to him. And with its own near-impenetrable defenses, the Plague Lord actually relished the enemies' procrastination.
Hysilens, of course, was acutely aware of this. Though she was not human, her true form being a mass of water, she too was slowly succumbing to the Plague Lord's influence. It was akin to perfectly clear water gradually becoming contaminated with bacteria over time.
However, Hysilens could certainly withstand the Plague Lord's influence for much longer than an ordinary person. Viruses that would be fatal to humans merely made the water slightly cloudy, and she could even purify herself, expelling the tainted water—though this would take time, time she didn't have in the heat of battle.
As the aerial fish swarm coalesced, Hysilens waved her hand. Like arrows loosed from a bow, the fish surged forward in a dazzling meteor shower, hurtling toward the Plague Lord.
Arthur charged forward once more, axe raised high, rushing toward the Plague Lord. The Demon Axe, clinging to his shoulder, repeatedly urged, "Buddy, be careful this time! Don't let it lick me again!"
In truth, Hysilens could have engaged in close combat, but after witnessing the earlier scene, she abandoned the idea. Instead, she decided to rely on her Authority as the God of the Ocean for ranged attacks. She genuinely couldn't bring herself to approach the Plague Lord—he was just too disgusting.
The fish swarm crashed down upon the Plague Lord, while Arthur danced across its body, striking once and immediately retreating, never overextending himself.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Deafening explosions echoed relentlessly. The Plague Lord wasn't merely standing there taking a beating; it swung its massive scythe at Hysilens. The moment the scythe drew near, she felt a wave of nausea, like a traveler after a long, bumpy bus ride.
Hysilens immediately leaped into the air, landing squarely on the back of a celestial fish. She crouched low, steadying herself as the fish swiftly ascended, soaring into the heavens.
While dodging the scythe, Hysilens left behind dense clusters of water droplets in her wake. These droplets gradually expanded, transforming into swarms of fish that rained down upon the Plague Lord below.
In moments, Hysilens had circled the Plague Lord. If anyone had looked up at that moment, they would have seen the entire sky swarming with fish, pouring down from all directions to bombard the Plague Lord at its center.
Even the Demon Axe couldn't help but marvel, "This is insane! What a spectacle!"
Demon Axe turned to Arthur. "Buddy, even if we manage to escape this place with my full assistance, I doubt you could defeat this girl. Tsk, tsk, tsk... Your dream of becoming King of the Northern Territory might just slip through your fingers."
Arthur took it in stride. "Well, we've got to survive first, right?"
Pfft!
Just then, one of the fish in the sky seemed to pierce something. The Plague Lord's body let out a hissing sound, like air escaping a punctured tire. "Oh ho? Little ones, you seem to have punctured my stomach pouch..." the Plague Lord rasped.
As he spoke, the Plague Lord's body began to shrink visibly. Simultaneously, a dark green gas erupted from his core, spewing outward in all directions.
Without hesitation, Hysilens retreated, putting as much distance as possible between herself and the creature. She didn't know what the gas was, but she wasn't about to let even a speck of it touch her!
However, Arthur and Demon Axe, who were closer, weren't so fortunate.