At the same moment Starlight shouted, Xia Duo struggled out of Po Kong’s arms on the steps and looked in horror at Po Kong, who had collapsed beside her.
The clothing on Po Kong’s back had been shredded by that sharp claw. Several shocking gashes were deeply embedded in his spine, and blood was gushing out like a spring, quickly soaking Xia Duo’s hands as she touched him.
Even without the enhancement of battle qi, Po Kong’s body—which he took such pride in—had failed to withstand even a single strike from Taros. If that claw had gone any deeper, it might have torn his body in two.
Yet, under his protection, Xia Duo had miraculously remained unharmed, feeling only a bit dizzy from the impact.
“Xia Duo... are you... okay?” Po Kong gritted his teeth against the agonizing pain and struggled to push himself up, his eyes filled with concern as he looked at her.
“You... you idiot! Why are you worrying about others at a time like this? I’m fine!” Xia Duo shouted at him anxiously, her voice a mix of reproach and worry.
“If you’re fine... that’s good! Protecting a lady is a man’s duty... and... don’t underestimate me!”
Upon hearing Xia Duo’s answer, Po Kong forced a smile onto his grime-streaked face as he wobbled to his feet, though blood involuntarily seeped from the corner of his mouth.
Despite being heavily wounded while off-guard, Po Kong seemed to have been ignited with an unprecedented fighting spirit. He violently tore off his tattered shirt, revealing muscles as hard as steel.
Simultaneously, pale yellow battle qi quickly swirled around his body, wrapping him tightly like a layer of armor. Even those massive wounds were temporarily stanched by the pressure of his contracting muscles.
However, by the time he stood back up, Taros’s figure had already vanished. None of the four present understood how he had appeared or how he had disappeared.
“Po Kong, don’t move! We’re coming over to check on you right now!”
Seeing that Po Kong could still manage to stand, Starlight felt a slight wave of relief. After exchanging a look with Moen, the two of them immediately sped up toward the altar.
Although they still couldn’t tell where Taros would appear next, the current priority was to regroup and treat Po Kong’s injuries as quickly as possible.
As Starlight ran, his mind raced with thoughts, but he never expected that massive black figure to eerily reappear just a few steps away from him. Bone claws swung, carrying terrifying force as they smashed toward him and Moen.
At such a close distance, Starlight couldn’t react in time. He could only watch as the bone claws approached, unable to even make a sound in his throat.
Fortunately, Moen reacted swiftly. She summoned a tough root from the ground and gave it a sharp tug, pulling Starlight back a few stumbling steps. This allowed them to narrowly avoid the lethal strike of the bone claw.
After missing the hit, Taros’s massive body instantly vanished into the air again, leaving Starlight pale and breathless with lingering fear.
All four were intimidated by these attacks that came without any warning. As the seconds ticked by, the light in the hall grew increasingly dim.
Just as Starlight felt it was impossible to move forward, he heard Xia Duo shout to them from the distance.
“I just saw him emerge directly from a cloud of black mist! Be careful of the places where the mist is still rising!”
Xia Duo’s words weren’t just a random guess. Among the group, her five senses were the sharpest. Even though Taros’s figure didn’t leak a trace of presence, she had still managed to spot a clue.
While she couldn’t be certain of this judgment, she chose to trust her intuition.
Starlight snapped out of his shock upon hearing this, his gaze sweeping over the thin black mist floating in the air.
A faint mist had permeated this massive room from the very beginning, and in the dim environment, it was almost impossible to see clearly.
At first, Starlight had assumed it was just a byproduct of the dark elements gathered by the magic formation and the presence of the undead creatures, so he hadn’t paid it much mind. But after Xia Duo’s reminder, he noticed the mist’s abnormality.
Under normal circumstances, such a thin mist shouldn't be dispersed in such a pattern.
If Starlight remembered correctly, before Taros released those black snakes, the mist in the hall—if it existed at all—shouldn't have been as dense as it was now.
“This is likely the ability of that so-called God of Darkness—being able to turn into darkness and exist everywhere. Hmph... what a crude and simple method.”
Noah’s voice suddenly rang in Starlight’s mind, his tone carrying a trace of undetectable disdain.
Starlight was startled to hear him. “Noah, you’ve been awake this whole time! I haven’t heard your voice in so long, I thought something had gone wrong. Why? Are you dissatisfied with the current situation?”
He didn’t understand Noah’s attitude. Usually, if he was in danger, Noah would be the first to warn him.
But now, even though they were clearly on the defensive, Noah seemed completely unconcerned, even going so far as to mock Taros.
“Dissatisfied? Not really. It’s just that this fellow calling himself the God of Darkness is far too weak, and his intelligence doesn't seem very high either. Haven’t you noticed?” Noah’s tone was full of mockery.
“But speaking of which, this guy’s luck is truly abysmal. The soul that was summoned back was already fragmented, the resurrection formation he meticulously prepared was destroyed by you uninvited guests, and even that physical shell is full of flaws. In this state, can he really be considered a deity?”
“The reason you can’t track his movements is that his only advantage lies in his soul level. He’s using the power of his soul to mask all of his fluctuations, creating this illusion of coming and going without a trace.”
“With his current state and power, let alone a god, he wouldn't even be considered outstanding among those at the Saint Rank. He’s nothing more than a paper tiger, all show and no substance. Don’t you think I should ridicule him?”
After listening to Noah’s calm analysis, Starlight gradually began to feel at ease.
Noah was absolutely right. If Taros truly still possessed the power of a god, the four of them couldn't have fought him for so long, let alone wounded him.
The opponent would likely only need to breathe lightly to render them all incapable of fighting.
“I understand what you’re saying, but we still can’t detect his form. Just because we dodged his first two attacks doesn’t mean we can keep it up. We’re still very vulnerable!” Starlight asked with concern.
“Heh, the four of you alone indeed can’t do it, but don’t you have me? Although I don’t have a body right now, it isn't difficult to help out using you as a medium. Little Star, calm down and get ready to coordinate with me.”
After saying that, Noah fell silent, seemingly preparing something.
Starlight didn’t quite understand what he meant by “coordinate,” but he settled his mind and focused his breathing.
This conversation in his conscious space seemed long, but in reality, only a few seconds had passed—a unique advantage granted by their soul link.
From Moen’s perspective, Starlight had simply been stunned by Taros’s attack and had frozen in place for a brief moment.
But in those few seconds, Taros’s figure appeared again, this time targeting the two by the altar.
Under Xia Duo’s careful observation, the two of them also spotted the omen of the attack at the last moment. Po Kong narrowly raised his shield to block the strike from the bone claw. Although the massive force nearly knocked the shield from his hand, he didn’t suffer further injury.
Just as they were highly focused and prepared to deal with the next mysterious attack, Starlight, who had been silent for several seconds, suddenly opened his eyes.
If anyone had been watching closely, they would have noticed that one of Starlight’s pupils had turned pure white, looking exactly like Carlos, and an unparalleled, powerful aura erupted from his body.
With his body as the center, a circle of invisible ripples quickly undulated outward, sweeping through every inch of the underground hall in the blink of an eye.
This wasn’t a ripple containing any elemental power, but a pure soul ripple—a move released through Starlight’s body, drawing upon the profound foundation of Noah’s Saint Rank soul.
Rate on N.U.
