Chapter 210: The Monster Emperor

The fighting ceased for a moment due to Bluebird"s sudden emergence. Even Bluebird himself felt bashful taking part in the important battle. Previously, he had prepared several ways to dramatically appear before them. However, now that he actually stood in front of the fight between two inhuman people, he stuttered. All he could say was:

"Ermm... Excuse me, Sila. Do you need my help?"

Bluebird scolded himself inwardly. Why didn"t things go as he had planned? Was it because of the tense atmosphere emitting from Sila and Montra?

Montra opened his system window and found that Lost Ghost and Cheris were still alive. Thus, Bluebird"s previous statement must have meant he successfully made them fall into a state where they were incapable of fighting.

In fact, Montra had already added Bluebird to his list of people to be watched ever since he got the report about Bluebird singlehandedly killing the Star-Finishing Warlord. Never in his wildest dreams did he think that Bluebird could still subdue two warlords in a two-against-one situation. It seemed Bluebird was going to be given the honor of soaring to the top spot of his list of people that need to be eliminated.

G.o.d"s Realm Spear Art — Spear Throwing Mokkhasak.

Montra took action in the blink of an eye. Bluebird wasn"t that close to the fighters, so Sila couldn"t interrupt the attack in time.

When Montra"s spear was about to leave his hand and fly toward Bluebird terrifyingly fast, Sila immediately took offensive action. He leaped at Montra to put pressure on him, weakening the power Montra put into the spear.

—Dodge it!! Psychic Nest-Returning Bird won"t work on a physical attack!!

Asmodeus let off a cry of alarm.

However, Montra"s spear was too fast. The spear throw was one of his ultimate techniques. Its power was far more powerful than his other moves.

Bluebird originally planned to counter by using Psychic Nest-Returning Bird. However, the spear had already reached him before he could even take a breath. He panicked and tightly shut his eyes close.

In the instant when Bluebird was only a half-step away from visiting the underworld, Sila and Asmodeus did their best to save his life. Asmodeus controlled Bluebird"s magic power to thicken and partially solidify, reducing the speed of Montra"s spear for a split second. At the same time, Sila activated the skill he acquired from Illuminus.

Shield of Illuminus.

A barrier, which was exactly identical to Ramiel"s barrier, emerged around Bluebird, trapping the spear during the barrier"s creation process. It was a high-level technique that Sila unintentionally succeeded at. The spear was stuck inside the barrier, unable to move.

The distance between the tip of the spear and Bluebird"s chest was less than an inch. While everyone was thrilled by the result, Sila had already narrowed the distance and approached Montra who didn"t have a weapon in his hand.

Attribute of Fire — Solar Emanation.

This time, Sila didn"t have to be wary of Montra"s spear. Both his hands radiated intense heat. They caused Montra"s power to be weakened by thirty percent just by being in close proximity.

One claw aimed at Montra"s head while the other aimed at his heart.

Heavenly Dragon"s Spell — Reversed Holy Scale.

Montra cast Infernee"s magic for the first time. The Dragon Empress" magic spells mostly consisted of supporting spells while the offensive ones were rare. Her prominent point wasn"t destructive power but her ability to survive.

Reversed Holy Scale was a skill that enabled the user to, upon taking damage, move it to another part of the body. As such, it was close to impossible to kill Infernee even by attacking her heart.

Sila"s claws easily struck Montra"s head and heart. His hostile power seeped into Montra"s body.

"No... this is too easy," thought Sila.

In that second, he sensed his energy flowing through Montra"s body without him being able to control them. Both flows of heat ran their courses to Montra"s right arm and burned it instead of the vital spots he aimed for.

The pain on Montra"s arm should have been severely enormous. Even the toughest person would have at least flinched. However, Montra didn"t even furrow his brows. His left arm cut through the air and darted at Sila"s heart like a spear.

G.o.d"s Realm Spear Art — Spearless Longinus.

This was another move that Montra could use even without a spear. The difference between this move and Spear Dropping Eight Trigrams was that this move was short and simple, thus not suitable for defense. On the contrary, it was precise, fast, and powerful. In a sense, this move perfectly represented the simplicity of a spear.

Sila was reminded of Sanon"s warning that Montra couldn"t feel pain. Although the feeling of pain had already returned to Montra, it"s not like he had told Sila or Sanon. Nevertheless, Montra had mastered using Triple Sky Energy along with Martial Radiance Art. When he was using it, the feeling of pain wouldn"t affect Montra.

Sila had just used the skill to protect Bluebird"s life. In an emergency, he didn"t have time nor composure to use any skills to protect himself. In addition, although Illuminus could easily block Montra"s attack, it wasn"t his real arm. Therefore, he had difficulty moving it, unlike his real ones.

In the moment of crisis, Sila decided to activate the ultimate skill that had once saved his life.

Racial Skill — Way of Slime.

Sila"s body shrunk as he transformed into a slime the size of a soccer ball. Then, he contracted himself into a size of an orange. With his body becoming smaller, Montra"s killing move missed its target in a way that no one could have expected.

In the slime form, Sila couldn"t use Illuminus nor Five-Attributed Cloud Qi. As a result, he had to be creative. He stopped contracting and instead enlarged his body, b.u.mping against Montra. It was a move that, not to mention Montra, even Sila himself didn"t think it was possible.

Way of Slime — Genesis Punch.

Since it was his first time performing this kind of movement in his slime form, the power behind Sila"s move was significantly lower than usual. However, its strength was compensated by the skill Monster Heir. Moreover, as it was a slime-race skill which specialized in killing dragons, just seventy percent of Genesis Punch"s power was enough to threaten Montra"s life.

Montra"s body was rapidly cracking. It was a terrible sight. The devastating force in the Genesis Punch scattered all over his body so even Reversed Holy Scale wouldn"t be helpful. Montra immediately clad his body with magic reinforcement to slow down the rate of the damage done to him. His pure white clothing was now completely dyed red.

Sila"s protection around Bluebird vanished, followed by the Heavenly Dragon Spear dropping on the street.

Montra"s vision was flashing red rapidly. Genesis Punch was so powerful. Even though it was only seventy percent, the damage was severe because Montra took the attack directly without thinking about defense.

He was going to die in a matter of seconds. There was no time for him to pick up the spear. Hence, Montra decided to use his secret move.

G.o.d"s Realm Spear Art — Spear Pulling Gáe Bulg.

The spear flew backward from Bluebird"s feet to Montra"s hand. During its course, It also destroyed everything in its path.

Sila transformed back into a human form as he observed Montra"s secret move while feeling alarmed. If the spear wasn"t stuck in the barrier, Montra could have pulled it back anytime to kill him. Sila had thought that he was relatively safe while the spear wasn"t in Montra"s hand, but it seems he was wrong.

On the surface, Sila had a higher chance of winning. However, the fact remained that Montra was stronger and possessed more skills. In addition, Montra could use most of his skills proficiently, unlike him.

Once the spear returned to Montra"s hand, he transformed it into a mage staff in order to increase his magic power. What if his Dragon Domain and Reversed Holy Scale couldn"t keep up with the damage? He just had to use another healing spell.

Heavenly Dragon"s Spell — Sacred Heal.

This spell was one of Infernee"s most powerful and instantaneous healing spells. Its downside was that it affected everyone within a large-scale radius regardless of them being his allies or his foes. Therefore, Montra didn"t use it when he had an advantage.

Montra"s wounds vanished, along with everyone"s health points being instantly refilled.

Just now, Sila saw Montra didn"t have a weapon in his hand so he stepped back to recover his strength in order to prepare for any incoming changes instead of taking a risk and continuing attacking with his remaining strength. Regretfully, he just missed his best chance to kill Montra.

Suddenly, an arrow with a red piece of fabric tied around its tail stabbed the ground next to Montra"s feet. It was Shuran"s signal telling him that the enemy"s reinforcement had arrived.

Although Montra had predicted that the enemy"s reinforcement would eventually come, it came much sooner than his estimation. The nearest ally of the Wicked Union should have taken at least three hours to get to Grea City, but barely an hour had pa.s.sed since the first battle broke out.

Montra b.u.mped the tail of his mage staff against the ground and fired a firework to burst in the sky; it was his signal for withdrawal.

Running from the battlefield didn"t mean losing a war; it was a respectable tactic. In fact, the generals who can"t make such a decision are the ones who aren"t suited to lead. Montra discarded his personal grudge and retreated to where Ramiel and Trick Master had gathered.

Ramiel had already deactivated all the barriers except for the giant one. For the record, Montra had been casting a spell ever since he noticed Shuran"s signal. Although Infernee"s offensive spell he was casting held disastrous power, the time required for casting it was longer than most high-tier spells. Even Montra, who possessed the Incantation Shortening skill with a high level, had to spend more than twenty seconds to complete it.

"O, Great Infernee, the angelic and benevolent Dragon Empress. Please shine thy rainbow lights upon mine enemies, purging the souls of those who have strayed from the one true path. Soul-Purging Seven Rays."

The sparkling coming from the Dragon Head Staff looked brilliant yet terrifying. The devastating areof-effect spell which would wipe out the caster"s enemies with consecutive seven rays of light was about to unleash its might.

Sila figured out the reason why Ramiel had deactivated the barriers. Of course, Montra wanted everyone to be attacked by his spell without the barriers blocking it.

He activated Illuminus"s skill, though he did it quite late. Three out of the seven rays of light had already poured down on everyone when the skill showed its effect.

Armor of Illuminus.

A barrier covered the entire area everyone was, perfectly blocking the remaining rays of light. For the record, Sila had acc.u.mulated a few minutes of time he could use both Illuminus"s skills. It seemed the system was kind enough to count the time he had spent in the Desert of Death.

Sila quickly examined the damage Montra"s spell had done to his teammates. It seemed everybody was heavily injured. If he had used the skill just a moment later, someone might have died. Cross was one such person, having used his own body to protect Varee and received twice the damage.

Varee quickly took out a potion and urged Cross to drink it, her face clearly showing that she was worried about him.

In that instant, the darkness shrouded Sila"s heart again. Even he himself didn"t understand why.

Deep down in his heart, he wanted to be there, injured, replacing Cross. The more he looked at how concerned Varee was, the dimmer the light in his eyes became.

If anyone were to know Sila"s current feelings, they would think that he was selfish. Cross risked his life for Varee, so it was natural that she would care for his safety.

Even though his name was Sila, Sila wasn"t a stone.

He is a human, not a deity. He has emotions of thirst, desire, longing, and greed like everyone else.

It seemed, deep in his heart, not only had the warmth of the star"s light made the stone feel like it wanted to float up and stay right beside her, but the small river was also able to scour the stone"s apathetic heart. He only realized the importance of the river when he was about to lose her.

At long last, the dark being that had been pacified within Sila"s mind finally awakened. Sila"s eyes looked so heartless that they were fearful. His Dark Self that he had successfully subdued in the Cave of Immortals started to create a ripple.

Sila"s mind was severely stirred twice in just one hour. It knew it wouldn"t get such a rare opportunity again. As Sila lost his calmness and his negativity reached its peak, it began to slowly a.s.similate with Sila"s body without letting him know. It waited patiently for the right moment that it could unleash its power and destroy every single thing in its path.

Cheris and Lost Ghost noticed the retreating signal as well. The barriers trapping them vanished when Ramiel deactivated them, so they rushed to where Montra was. Soon, they all exited the giant barrier together.

Sila leaped forward, following them. He felt that his negativity was too much for him to bear. He needed to violently release it, or his mind would explode otherwise. Sila tried to forget everything and focused solely on the task of killing Montra.

Bluebird quickly followed behind. He felt worried seeing Sila punching the magic barrier upsettingly while showing grim expression. He didn"t understand what caused Sila to suddenly become furious.

Each person has their own ways of expressing their anger. For Sila, his way was to try to be expressionless and cut himself away from the surroundings.

Attribute of Metal — Metal Stomp.

Sila kicked the barrier several times but none of them worked. The size of the barrier was too big and the power running through it was too much for his Metal Stomp to penetrate.

"Err... How about letting me try...?" Bluebird tried to give Sila a hand. However, Sila wasn"t in the mood to listen to everyone. He aimed all of his negative feelings and attention at Montra. At this moment, nothing was important to him except for Montra"s demise.

—Step back!

Asmodeus warned Bluebird. Concurrently, Sebastian did the same.

"Mister Blue! Please get away from Mister Sila immediately!!"

Everyone turned their gazes to Sila. He was emitting some kind of unseen, mysterious power. With the intuition of an escapee sensing danger, Bluebird quickly made a retreat.

Sila eyes flashed golden.

Evil G.o.d"s Essence — Transcendent Qi Reinforcement.

Sila clad his right fist with qi reinforcement. The power contained in his fist was far too powerful for his body, so his skin continued to peel off and the bones underneath were cracking, before constantly getting regenerated with the same power. Great pain ran through his arm and reached his brain, pushing him to the verge of insanity, but his hatred was too much for him to lose consciousness.

His right fist crashed against the barrier, totally shattering it in one hit. Ramiel blankly looked at the results with disbelief.

The armies from both sides paused and looked at Sila with different reasons.

The Heavenly Dragon Guild"s members were waiting for Montra"s next order while feeling terrified by this lone player. They didn"t dare to move.

As for the Royal Armament Guild"s members, along with their powerhouses, no one approached Sila because of the sudden change in the atmosphere. Strangely, Sila came to a stop after he had destroyed the barrier; he just stood there motionless, looking at his feet.

"Sila, are you okay?" Varee felt worried and asked. She was about to run to check on him but was interrupted by Cross, who sensed danger.

"Don"t go yet. Something is wrong."

"Don"t stop me!" Varee pushed Cross out of her way. Simultaneously, Sila"s body began to move.

Subtly, Sila"s hair color changed from dark brown to jet black. His body was shivering like he was crying. It wasn"t until he raised his head that everyone could see that he wasn"t crying, but laughing.

"Ahahaha. Finally! Finally! To use your full strength when you are in no state to be able to control your emotions... you are such a fool, Sila. Ahahahaha."

Sila continued to laugh while ridiculing his own foolishness.

"Sila, you really are stupid. You couldn"t properly utilize even half of what you had. All good things are wasted on you. If you don"t know how to use them, I will do it for you. Think of it as a celebration for my awakening. I will do all those things you didn"t dare to."

Everyone looked at each other. It seemed to them that Sila had gone insane. He suddenly talked to himself. Some even mocked and pitied him.

For the record, the one controlling Sila"s body right now was his Dark Self—Dark Psychic Corrosion. His Dark Self was a ma.s.s of negative energies, secretly molding a form and ultimately becoming his other persona; the persona which had a polar-opposite disposition and personality to Sila.

He wasn"t naive, wasn"t bound by morals, didn"t just go with the flow, didn"t give a d.a.m.n about others, and would never allow himself to be a p.a.w.n walking on the path that others had drawn for him.

"Seal Mamon, Seal Lookhin, Seal Illuminus."

Illuminus, Mamon, and Lookhin were absorbed into the Mechanical Evil G.o.d"s Protection, though Mamon"s soul body was kicked out.

"d.a.m.n! Your Hidden Gift showed its effect at such a bad time," Mamon exclaimed upsettingly.

Sila disdainfully looked at Mamon"s soul. If someone were to make eye contact with him, they would surely realize that he wasn"t Sila.

"This body belongs to us. You are a nuisance."

Sila quit giving Mamon his attention as if Mamon wasn"t worthy of it. Everyone wanted to ask Sila what was happening but the atmosphere around him told them that they could die instantly if they approached him.

"Study it well, Sila. This is the method to use what we have in the most efficient way."

Sila raised his head, looking at the moon. The full moon would come in three nights so the moon tonight was relatively bright. However, it gradually lost its light as if someone covered it with a black curtain. Soon, it was completely swallowed by the darkness.

"Eternal Onyx."

There were abrupt changes happening on Sila. His wuxia clothing shrunk in order to prioritize mobility and the gears symbol behind his back were spinning non-stop. At that moment, Sila was no longer Sila.

In the future, someone would define what happened to him as a "Mutation."

His black hair stretched further down to his back and both of his hands transformed into silver mechanical claws which looked futuristic yet magical. As he opened his right palm, a blue crystal blade extended from the middle of it. His eyes shone bright red, resembling priceless refined rubies. Two horns were materialized over his head, which Mamon could recognize instantly since they were the symbol of the devil prince from the world of devils. Then, a giant pair of black wings consisting of onyx-colored feathers spread from his back, illuminating charmingly under the darkness in the moonless night.

Sila ascended thirty meters from the street and looked down on everyone as if they were nothing but trash.

"Your baby bird had limited imagination. She could only think of normal insects," Sila muttered to himself.

Sila waved his hand once, and the black mist created from Dark Psychic Corrosion flew and covered the swarm of wasps Lookhin had previously summoned. Once they came into contact with the black mist, they fell onto the ground and stayed motionless.

"What happened?" One of the Heavenly Dragon Guild"s members asked while others didn"t dare to make a sound.

Slash—!!

His head was sent flying before he was aware of the attack.

To be honest, he was rather fortunate to be the first to die, because he wouldn"t get to see the h.e.l.l that was unleashed just moments later.

The creatures in front of them were clearly not insects... or at least the insects they knew about. What stood in front of them were mysterious creatures with bodies that consisted of several hard sh.e.l.ls neatly connecting to each other. They had four scythe-like arms that looked sharp and lethal, and two st.u.r.dy legs for standing firmly. Presently, they were five of them, though their numbers would increase in the near future.

Sila laughed crazily while the otherworldly insects began to wreak havoc throughout Grea City.

Now that all of his morals had been stripped away and the monster inside had awakened, he would bring fear and a never-ending nightmare to every player in Monster Soul.

A certain nightmare called Sila, the Monster Emperor.