For Taros, the only thing he lacked right now was a bit of time. Once he perfectly fused with that skeleton, even Saint Rank powerhouses of this era would be easily trampled under his feet.
But Starlight and the others clearly wouldn't give him that chance. The moment his soul phantom touched the skeleton, Starlight and Po Kong had already charged in front of him.
With the help of Moen's Nature's Blessing, the strength and recovery capabilities of both men had undergone a qualitative leap. Even Starlight, a mage, felt as though he could smash solid rock with a single punch.
Po Kong was the first to strike. He transformed his weapon back into a greatsword and leapt into the air like a bolt of lightning. The massive blade carried the momentum of a thousand thunders as it slammed violently toward the black skeleton.
Previously, his attacks couldn't directly hit Taros while he was still in a soul state, but the skeleton was a different story.
If they could successfully destroy this shell, then the remaining soul alone wouldn't be able to cause much of a stir.
Taros, of course, would not let him have his way. With a wave of his soul phantom's hand, the exceptionally thick arms of the black skeleton rose instantly, steadily blocking Po Kong's full-strength strike.
A deafening boom echoed at the point where the blade met the bone. Starlight could even clearly see sparks erupting from the point of contact.
However, after taking such a heavy blow, the skeleton didn't even have a scratch on it. Its strength was truly astonishing.
At the same time, Starlight quickly closed in on Taros. He aimed for Taros's vulnerable soul form, taking advantage of the moment he was controlling the skeleton to thrust a brilliant light spear directly at the soul phantom.
Against soul-based creatures, light magic was undoubtedly the most effective countermeasure. Even the soul of Taros, a former ancient god, could not escape this law.
Just before the light spear could pierce the target, Taros decisively abandoned control of the skeleton and retreated. He quickly condensed two pitch-black Shadow Spheres in mid-air and hurled them at Starlight and Po Kong.
“That move again! Little Star, watch out!” Po Kong recognized the rapidly approaching Shadow Spheres at a glance. In his alarm, he kicked the unmanned skeleton away and lunged toward Starlight.
As for the Shadow Sphere spell, Starlight had spent quite a bit of time researching how to deal with it after successfully analyzing it. After some experimentation, he had found the most effective method.
Generally speaking, to neutralize dark elements of this concentration with other magic, one would need at least Saint Rank strength. However, for Starlight, it wasn't particularly difficult.
Because his affinity for dark elements was also exceptionally high, he only needed to find the same mana frequency as those two Shadow Spheres to deflect them with minimal effort.
This was the natural advantage of possessing multi-elemental affinity. If you couldn't suppress them with quantity, then assimilate them.
In the current environment, the dark elements gathered by the magic formation were practically inexhaustible. Since Taros could utilize them, there was no reason Starlight couldn't.
As for the staggering mass attached to the Shadow Spheres, that problem would be left to Po Kong to solve.
The moment the two converged, the greatsword in Po Kong's hand changed form again, turning into a strangely shaped round shield. Its odd curves made it look more like a half-finished product.
Starlight then sent the gathered dark elements onto that shield with a specific vibration.
Upon contact with the dark elements, the shield instantly turned pitch black, perfectly filling in the original curves of the shield's surface and emitting the same vibrations as the incoming Shadow Spheres.
Seeing the change in the shield, Po Kong immediately turned sideways, resolutely positioning the round shield in front of the two of them.
The two incoming Shadow Spheres followed close behind, slamming violently into the black shield.
At the moment of contact, Taros's Shadow Spheres resonated with the dark elements of the same frequency, triggering a powerful oscillation. Black ripples surged across the shield's surface, but they failed to penetrate it in the slightest.
With a forceful push from Po Kong, the two Shadow Spheres seemed to turn into giant ping-pong balls, elegantly bouncing off along the shield's curves and flying into the distance.
At the same time, the incredible power carried by the Shadow Spheres still gave the two a significant shock, forcing them back a dozen meters before they could steady their footing.
The deflected Shadow Spheres lost none of their power, punching a massive hole directly through the ceiling above. The surrounding rock began to rapidly weather away under the force.
Seeing that two mere ants had actually deflected his signature magic unharmed—paying only the price of being pushed back a short distance—Taros looked at the two with some confusion.
As an Ancient God of Darkness from the primordial era, Taros naturally knew what kind of effect his magic should have, but he completely failed to understand the current situation.
In his era, all contests were direct confrontations of power against power. Only the beings with the greatest strength could stand at the peak of the world.
And now, countless years later, his specialty had been easily handled by two ants who hadn't even reached Saint Rank. Even though he was currently in an extremely weakened state, this still seemed inconceivable.
Refusing to believe it, he even forgot to protect his own shell. With a wave of his massive hand in the void, several Shadow Spheres appeared out of thin air and flew toward the two.
But without exception, those Shadow Spheres still failed to touch the two in the slightest, instead causing massive destruction to the surrounding walls and floor.
This time, Po Kong seemed to have gained a thorough understanding of the Shadow Spheres' power. Retreating only a few steps, he easily neutralized each of these terrifying spells.
“Interesting... I remember now. You're the two rats who escaped back then... I must praise you for being able to withstand my attacks.”
Seeing his offensive was ineffective, Taros stopped his movements and spoke thoughtfully while looking at them.
“That goes without saying! You're just an old antique who crawled out of who-knows-where—you should just stay in your coffin!” Hearing Taros's murmur, Po Kong showed his face from behind the large shield and shouted loudly without any reservation, his tone full of provocation.
Even Starlight, standing behind him, spoke up: “Isn't it a great honor for an ant to be remembered by a deity? Your magic is too direct, and its weaknesses are far too obvious!”
Hearing Starlight's words, Taros's soul form looked carefully at the large shield in Po Kong's hand and let out a meaningful exclamation.
“Hmm... So that's how it is. A fine idea, truly. But you don't actually think that, as the God of Darkness, I only know this one spell, do you?”
“Of course not! Since you are the great Lord Taros, the God of Darkness, surely you've already guessed what we plan to do?” Po Kong said, actually breaking into a grin.
His sudden smile couldn't help but cause a wave of unease in the nearby Taros, but he immediately realized where the problem lay.
Why hadn't those two elves made any move until now? Where were they?
Taros's soul form suddenly whipped around, only to find that Moen and her sister had disappeared from their original positions at some point. His attention had been completely captured by the two who had deflected his magic, and he hadn't noticed their movements at all.
“Could it be... You shameless scoundrels!” Infuriated, Taros let out a deafening roar and spun around, lunging toward the skeleton shell lying nearby.
However, his reaction was a step too slow. An arrow like a bolt of emerald lightning pierced the air, passing with unerring precision through a tiny gap between the skeleton's ribs and striking the brilliant red sphere in its chest.
In an instant, the sphere was covered in a dense network of cracks. Immediately following that, an endless torrent of energy surged out from the skeleton like a flood through a broken dam, dissipating uncontrollably in all directions.
“No! My body!” Taros shrieked piercingly, desperately throwing himself at the skeleton in an attempt to wrap his soul form tightly around the red sphere to slow the loss of energy.
Accompanied by his skin-crawling screams, the figures of Moen and her sister slowly manifested nearby. Moen was resting her hands on her sister's shoulders, still panting slightly.
Back when the Shadow Spheres were wreaking havoc, the sisters had hidden their presence. While Starlight and Po Kong drew Taros's full attention, Moen had poured her condensed natural energy into her sister's longbow, together planning this strike aimed directly at the vital point.
Rate on N.U.
