Bodies were strewn everywhere, and Qi Suian’s face was etched with exhaustion.
He numbly tossed the corpses and Sacred Objects into the Tai Sui God’s Melting Furnace.
He had killed everyone from the Xuan Empire and used them as fuel.
As for the fact that the Sacred Objects could be studied? Qi Suian couldn’t be bothered with that now.
After dealing with this, he still had to rush to the past to handle the people from the Eternal United States.
So naturally, he aimed for a swift and decisive battle.
It was certainly a loss, since they could have all been converted into knowledge.
But it wasn’t a total loss; at least they could be used as fuel.
After temporarily disposing of the valuable corpses and Sacred Objects, he piloted the Tai Sui God toward the location of the Eternal United States.
The first thing that came into view was a massive cathedral desperately resisting a siege by the people of the Eternal United States.
Its size was more than three times what it had been when first summoned.
A sufficient number of zombies could strengthen the Mad Cathedral. The AI, having controlled the Mad Cathedral up to this point, had surely caused considerable carnage.
This naturally meant more zombies had been created.
However, the Mad Cathedral was ultimately limited. It had indeed been able to catch the enemy off guard at the start.
But as the battle wore on, its abilities and effects were inevitably figured out by the enemy.
Once its abilities and effects were known, countermeasures could be developed.
With the exception of Destructive Sacred Objects, methods could be found to counter and target both native Sacred Objects and Puzzle Sacred Objects.
Even a skill-based fighter like Sharp would be neutralized if they encountered someone who could nullify Magic.
And for someone like Feng Yu, who stacked all his attributes, armor penetration and true damage could still kill him. Qi Suian had even used a parasite on him.
So even though the Mad Cathedral was an SSS-rank module and, due to its composition, somewhat resembled a Puzzle Sacred Object, it was ultimately just a set of modules.
Fortunately, Qi Suian had arrived.
He might not have been much use alone, but with the Tai Sui God, the AI could free up its processing power and threads.
Qi Suian landed on the inverted cross of the Mad Cathedral.
"The Iron Armor Man..." Fred, Legion Commander of the Eternal United States’ covert unit, the Fifth Hunting Squad, watched Qi Suian with a chilling gaze.
Compared to the Seventh Execution Chamber, the members of the Fifth Hunting Squad were a sharp blade active on the battlefield.
When it came to slaughter, they were more experienced than the Seventh Execution Chamber.
However, the moment Legion Commander Fred saw Qi Suian, he understood one thing.
Feng Yu, the Xuan Empire’s Duke Feng, along with the soldiers he led, had all died at Qi Suian’s hands.
Hordes of zombies surged out from the Mad Cathedral.
Qi Suian’s arrival gave the Mad Cathedral a backbone. The zombies pounced, bit, and killed.
But in terms of strength, there was still a significant gap between them and the members of the Fifth Hunting Squad.
After all, the zombies couldn’t use Sacred Objects, but their enemies could.
"You’re strong. Even Feng Yu died at your hands."
"But killing Feng Yu couldn’t have been easy for you."
"I wonder if you still have what it takes to kill me." Though Fred said this, he had already activated all the abilities of his Puzzle Sacred Object, the Dragon Slayer Bloodline.
In an instant, heavy armor covered his entire body, and a massive Dragon-slaying Giant Spear appeared in his hand.
At his current weight, no mount could possibly carry him into a charge.
So, he could only charge forward on his own.
With every step he took during his charge, the aura of power around him intensified.
The terrifying killing intent of one who dared to hunt the dragons at the top of the food chain actually materialized around his body.
’Another head-on collision. I hate being this reckless.’
Qi Suian sighed and could only increase the dosage of his death potion.
At the same time, the Enchantment Array inside his body released life elements. The effect was a simple life extension, allowing him to live for five minutes and thirty seconds instead of just five.
"AI, you keep control of the Mad Cathedral. I’ll take care of this tin can."
After speaking, Qi Suian had the Tai Sui God execute a diving charge.
’So what if it’s a charge? As if I don’t know how to do that.’
’It’s just a matter of who’s tougher.’
Qi Suian’s own body wasn’t as sturdy as his opponent’s, but his opponent wasn’t as durable as he was.
During the diving charge, the Evil Dragon and Evil Tiger circled around him, adding to Qi Suian’s damage output.
CLANG!!!
The two lumps of iron smashed into each other. The Tai Sui God was instantly reduced to a crumpled mess.
His opponent didn’t fare well either. The Dragon-slaying Giant Spear was instantly wrecked, and the heavy armor on his body was in tatters.
But its Defense was truly formidable. Qi Suian managed to get the Tai Sui God back in shape using its transformation module.
Meanwhile, the heavy armor and spear on Fred’s body also began to writhe like living things as they started to regenerate.
In terms of efficiency, however, it couldn’t compare to the Tai Sui God.
So, before he could recover, Qi Suian sent the Tai Sui God charging forward, aiming a stomp right at his opponent’s neck.
It was just that simple and brutal. If that stomp landed, even if Fred didn’t die, he would be half-dead.
"Save the Legion Commander!"
Fred wasn’t alone, but the previous scene had unfolded too quickly for anyone to react.
By the time they did, the two had already smashed into lumps of iron, and Qi Suian was back on his feet, going for the kill.
Fred indeed had his men, but Qi Suian had zombies on his side.
Even if they couldn’t defeat the Fifth Hunting Squad, they could at least stall them.
But that brief delay was all Fred needed to react. He scrambled aside, dodging Qi Suian’s fatal stomp.
After dodging, he naturally thought of counter-attacking, but unfortunately for him, Qi Suian had anticipated his move.
Before Fred could counter, Qi Suian landed a critical hit.
’A fight doesn’t have to be flashy. As long as it kills the enemy, it works. If not, severely wounding them is fine too.’
’That’s why dirty fighting tactics have their place.’
That critical kick made Fred double over on the spot.
The instinctive reaction to excruciating pain was quite effective.
But such moves were useless against Qi Suian. After all, he was only a humanoid creature, not a human.
After the critical hit, his assault moved upward. Without hesitation, he jabbed at the kidneys, struck the throat, gouged the eyes, sliced the ears, and stabbed at the temples.
It was a shame his opponent’s mouth wasn’t open, or Qi Suian would have torn out his tongue as well.
This smooth combo left Fred mostly incapacitated.
But it also allowed him to recover a sliver of his strength.
For Fred, the most damaging blow had been Qi Suian’s kick to the groin.
The rest was all secondary damage; it was tolerable.
So, once the pain from the initial critical hit subsided, he recovered quickly.
Even though he couldn’t see or hear, he could still pinpoint Qi Suian’s position and attack based on pure instinct.
But one step behind, always behind.
His condition had deteriorated drastically. Even if he could regenerate and heal, he needed time.
In the current situation, he had no chance.
However, a desperate, all-or-nothing struggle might give him a chance to win.
"Dragon Slaying Skill: Dragon Slaying Curse!"
On the damaged Dragon-slaying Giant Spear, the phantom head of a Western Dragon appeared, its killing intent coalescing to form the dragon’s body.
At the same time, his crack-riddled heavy armor began to look as if it were aging.
This was Fred’s final attack.
Whether the enemy died or not, he himself would die from using it.
The massive body of the Western Dragon rushed toward Qi Suian, opened its giant maw, and took a huge bite out of him.
Qi Suian was, of course, bitten squarely.
The entire process, from activation to impact, was so fast that neither Qi Suian nor the Tai Sui God could react.
After being bitten, Qi Suian felt no pain or discomfort.
However, Qi Suian didn’t believe for a second that his opponent was just bluffing.
Just as he expected, he could feel his internal organs failing and his cells undergoing some kind of change.
And so... he decisively allowed himself to die and initiated a death-reforging.
’Since it’s a curse, it must be dangerous. The best way to deal with it is to purge it completely.’
After reviving, Qi Suian noticed that Fred was no longer moving.
It was clearly a mutual destruction ability.
But to prevent the possibility of him faking his death, Qi Suian unhesitatingly finished off the corpse.
He hacked him directly into eighteen pieces.
’If he can still come back from this, next time I’ll have to grind his bones to dust.’
The main issue was that his Floating Cannons weren’t with him; otherwise, he would have had a more reliable way to finish the job, ensuring not even a corpse was left.
After Fred’s death, the morale of the Fifth Hunting Squad didn’t collapse. Instead, their will to fight surged even higher.
Shouting slogans of revenge for their Legion Commander, they actually managed to tear through the defensive line formed by the zombies and charged toward Qi Suian.
"Bring it on! I’ll take every last one of you! You’re all going into my Melting Furnace as fuel!!!" Qi Suian roared and charged, throwing the Evil Dragon with his left hand and the Evil Tiger with his right.
In close combat, he hacked left and right, transforming into a battlefield meat grinder. Anyone who got near him was either gravely wounded or instantly killed.
-----------------
Nalan You felt only endless exhaustion.
Yet he numbly used the Forbidden Sacred Object, the Destiny Spear, to continuously block the terrifying, shadowy things that were shifting from rays of light into a storm.
He didn’t know how many times he had swung the Destiny Spear, but he knew he had to hold on.
’No, I can’t go on like this.’
’Otherwise, I’ll be worn down to death.’ The thought surfaced amidst Nalan You’s exhaustion.
But as he scanned his surroundings, a bitter smile crept onto his face.
He didn’t even know where the enemy was. The attacks were coming from the sky, a place he couldn’t possibly reach.
As for using the Destiny Spear to attack? He could, but the consequence would be his own death.
After all, he needed the Destiny Spear to ’kill’ the attacks aimed at him. Without the Destiny Spear’s protection, he would surely die.
’So, I have to find the enemy.’ A sharp glint flashed in Nalan You’s eyes.
He wasn’t sure if it was an illusion, but after he changed his mindset, much of his fatigue seemed to vanish.
’The attacks are coming from the sky, so the Iron Armor Man is most likely in the sky as well.’
’My only chance is to kill the Iron Armor Man in a single strike. Only then might I be able to stop his assault.’
’Therefore, I need to pinpoint his location.’ A flood of thoughts appeared in Nalan You’s mind.
The collision of these thoughts quickly formed a plan that might just be feasible.
It was only a possibility because he had no real confidence in it.
After all, the enemy’s offensive was truly powerful.