“Now's my chance!”
Taros suddenly let out a world-shaking roar. Lunging forward, He threw a heavy, powerful punch that tore through the air.
After batting aside the gust of wind from the punch, He followed up with a sweeping roundhouse kick, which struck Po Kong-Mars’s arms like a heavy iron hammer.
He expected this strike to shatter Po Kong-Mars’s arms, removing one of the nuisances from the fight.
However, to His surprise, Po Kong-Mars withstood the force of the iron-like kick with staggering strength and clamped his arms tightly around the leg, pinning it against his chest.
“Heh... If I didn't show a weakness, how could I catch such a big fish?!”
Blood trickled from the corner of Po Kong-Mars’s mouth, but his face was split by a wild and cunning grin.
At the critical moment, he had switched back to his defensive earth-element battle qi specifically to trap Taros’s movements, making the previous opening a deliberate lure.
Just as Taros tried to twist His body to fling Po Kong-Mars away, He realized His other foot was also immobilized.
Looking down, He saw that a thick layer of frost had covered the ground at some point, freezing His other foot solid.
On the other side, a mass of vines suddenly burst from the ground, rapidly climbing up from the frozen area to bind Taros’s thigh to the cracked ice, leaving Him unable to move.
“Insignificant tricks! Is this the best you could come up with?! You...!”
Taros’s roar was cut short as a dark green arrow streaked toward Him, arriving right before His eyes.
Seeing the terrifying wooden arrow so close, Taros was struck with horror and hurriedly raised His hands to protect His head.
If He were hit in the head, even His powerful body wouldn't be able to withstand it.
This was the terrifying aspect of the Sacred Wood Arrows; not only was their destructive power incredible, but they required no battle qi to fire, making them silent and nearly impossible to defend against.
Although Taros blocked His face in time, the wooden arrow suddenly changed its trajectory just before impact. It traced a bizarre arc in the air, skillfully bypassing His thick arms to plunge straight into His defenseless chest.
“Aaaaaaaahhhhh!!!!”
The moment the arrowhead pierced His chest, a shrill, agonizing wail erupted from Taros’s wide mouth.
He suddenly exploded with immense power, kicking Po Kong-Mars aside. Even the vines tightly bound around Him snapped in that instant, scattering across the floor.
But Taros ignored everything else, using His hands to frantically tear at the wound in His chest, desperate to pull out the wooden arrow.
Yet the Sacred Wood Arrow was like a bee's stinger; the more He struggled to pull it out, the deeper the arrowhead sank into His chest.
The Power of Nature radiating from the tip felt like the most potent poison, causing Him unbearable agony.
Seeing that the arrow couldn't be removed, Taros gritted His teeth. Enduring the intense pain, He drove His sharp nails deep into His own chest and ripped away a large chunk of flesh that was seething with black energy.
With that action, the weakness previously hidden by His flesh was completely exposed—the red sphere, still impaled by the broken blade, was flickering with a crimson light like a beating heart.
“Now, Po Kong-Mars, do it!”
By then, Starlight had taken advantage of the opening to reach Taros, leaping onto His shoulder.
He pushed himself to the limit, using every ounce of his power to freeze Taros’s struggling hands while shouting to Po Kong-Mars.
“Beautifully done, Little Star! This round is ours!”
Hearing the call, the golden flames on Po Kong-Mars’s body flared up again, rapidly converging onto his right arm.
In that moment, his arm, wreathed in golden flames, seemed to transform into a majestic dragon claw. With the momentum of a thunderbolt, he swung it toward Taros’s exposed weak point.
“No! No! Let go of me!”
Taros was consumed by terror, struggling desperately to dodge the strike, but His body was held fast by Starlight and Moen. He could only watch as the golden fist drew closer and closer.
Boom!
With a deafening explosion, Po Kong-Mars’s heavy punch landed precisely on the broken blade embedded in the red sphere. The recently repaired sphere shattered once again under the massive force.
The brilliant golden light flooded into the red sphere along the broken blade like a deluge, rapidly eroding every corner within.
Taros attempted to gather mana to seal the breach, but under the searing heat of the golden flames, the mana He condensed was instantly vaporized.
“Impossible! Impossible! I am the Ancient God of Darkness... Taros... How could I... be defeated by a bunch of... lowly ants like you?!”
As the red sphere continued to disintegrate under the onslaught of the golden battle qi, Taros’s voice was filled with resentment and fear.
By this point, He had completely lost control over the body, and even His hard-won soul form was on the verge of vanishing under the erosion of multiple injuries.
With a crisp, final sound of shattering, the red sphere failed to withstand the surging power and exploded into a cloud of flying debris.
Taros’s massive body collapsed and slowly dissolved within the raging golden flames, eventually turning into ash and drifting away into nothingness.
At that moment, Po Kong-Mars used up his last bit of strength and fell backward. As the golden flames on his right side faded, they revealed an arm that was mangled and bloody.
“Moen! Quickly! Help Po Kong-Mars!”
After falling from Taros’s massive body, Starlight rushed to Po Kong-Mars’s side and caught him.
Upon seeing Po Kong-Mars’s injuries, he was overcome with anxiety and immediately shouted toward the two women.
“How... how could he be hurt this badly?!”
When Moen rushed over and began to examine Po Kong-Mars, she was horrified by the terrifying wounds covering his body.
His right arm went without saying, but even the skin across his entire body was seeping with blood, tinting his fair complexion with a faint crimson hue.
It was a miracle that he had managed to hold on until now without falling unconscious.
Thanks to Moen’s timely treatment, Po Kong-Mars’s arm was saved, and the fine wounds over his body began to gradually improve.
“Haha... we actually did it! Does this count as defeating a god? ...Cough, cough... Xia Duo, what are you doing! That hurts!”
Despite his severe injuries, Po Kong-Mars couldn't hide his excitement. He forced himself up into a sitting position with a smile on his face, enduring the sharp pain.
But before he could fully sit up, he was forced back down by Xia Duo. The sudden jolt of pain made him hiss through his teeth.
“Just lie down and rest! If you hadn't used such a dangerous move so recklessly, you wouldn't be hurt this badly!”
Xia Duo glared at him fiercely before turning away, her beautiful blue eyes shimmering with a complex light.
Seeing that she seemed to be in a bad mood, Po Kong-Mars could only shut his mouth sheepishly and say no more.
Rate on N.U.
