In that instant, Ethan felt his heart give a violent jolt.
His heart surged within his chest, pumping scalding blood through every vein in his body. Muscle fibers tightened to their absolute limit, and his bones emitted a series of dense popping sounds. From his spine to his knuckles, every bone was stretching, compressing, and stretching again.
At the same time, his vision changed. Everything around him slowed down.
Every speck of dust floating in the air became clearly visible. In the distance, the movements of the Amons warriors charging with their battle-axes looked as if they were submerged in thick resin. Even the savage expressions on their faces were frozen in mid-air.
As for the wounds he had just inflicted on himself, they healed rapidly thanks to the massive increase in his physical constitution.
After stowing the Holy Beast's corpse into his ring, Ethan kicked off the ground.
Boom!
A massive crater exploded into the earth as Ethan transformed into a blur, charging straight toward the nearest Holy Beast.
"This feeling... it's incredible!"
The ground flew back beneath his feet. The Amons warriors along his path couldn't even catch a glimpse of his shadow; they only felt a gale sweep past them, knocking them off balance.
That Holy Beast had just finished devouring three hundred slaves and was preparing to find the next squad of golems.
Hundreds of giant wooden stakes with razor-sharp tips erupted from the ground. These waist-thick trunks drove through soil and rubble, slamming into the Holy Beast's neck from various angles.
Three of them plunged into the soft flesh of its lower jaw, and two dark green teeth were sent flying from the impact.
The Holy Beast let out a muffled roar, its massive body knocked off course by the collision. It whipped its body around, turning its eyeless head toward Ethan.
The tentacles around its mouth twitched violently in the air, catching the scent of the tiny creature charging toward it. Its four-lobed maw swung open once more, dark green teeth shimmering with a cold light under the sun as it lunged to bite Ethan.
Ethan abruptly changed direction.
His body pulled a sharp right angle in the middle of his high-speed sprint. The Holy Beast's massive maw snapped shut just behind his back, the shockwave of the colliding teeth whipping up a gale that sent dirt and rubble flying in every direction.
He tapped his toe against the ground, changing direction again to circle around to the middle of the Holy Beast's flank.
Dozens of Giant Wood Spikes erupted from the earth, stabbing into the dark brown skin of the beast's side. The skin indented under the pressure but failed to puncture.
Stung by the pain, the Holy Beast's massive body performed a violent roll. Its dark brown tail lashed out from the side with a whistling howl, compressing the air until it shrieked with sonic booms.
Ethan pushed off the ground, leaping into the air. The tail swept beneath his feet, the sheer wind pressure carving countless fine cracks into the surface of his Wood Armor.
He twisted his waist in mid-air and pressed his hands down again. Another dozens of wooden stakes shot from the ground, striking the exact same spot as before.
Finally, an incredibly tiny crack appeared on the Holy Beast's hide. Even though the crack was only as thick as a finger, it was enough.
"Heh. If it bleeds, it can die."
This time, Ethan didn't dodge.
The Holy Beast's maw descended from above, its four lobes opened to their limit. Dark green teeth began to close in from the top, bottom, left, and right simultaneously.
Ethan stood his ground, watching the massive mouth draw closer. The slime between the gaps in its teeth shimmered with an oily luster in the sunlight.
The moment the maw closed, a brilliant emerald light exploded from Ethan's body. Dozens of wooden stakes, each as thick as a man's waist, materialized around him and shot outward.
The stakes slammed into the Holy Beast's four-lobed mouth. The dark green teeth collided with the wood, producing a cacophony of splintering sounds. Teeth shattered, wood chips flew, and pale green blood erupted from the gums.
The Holy Beast let out a muffled roar from deep within its throat. Its maw instinctively tried to snap shut to crush the tiny thing inside. But the stakes came one after another, like a never-ending tide, pouring frantically from Ethan's body.
Some stakes drove into the upper jaw, piercing soft tissue and stabbing deep into the nasal cavity. Others plunged into the base of the tongue, boring through muscle to emerge from the lower jaw. Some were crushed by the teeth, but the fragments, wood chips, and blood continued to churn within the massive mouth.
By the seventh second, the Holy Beast's upper jaw was completely perforated. A stake had driven through the base of the skull and into the cranial cavity. By the ninth second, the Holy Beast's left eye socket exploded from the inside out as a stake emerged from the socket, pushing out fragments of the eyeball.
By the eleventh second, the Holy Beast's struggles began to weaken. Its massive body convulsed, its tail feebly lashed the ground, and the four-lobed maw finally loosened slightly.
By the thirteenth second, a thick wooden stake burst through the very center of the Holy Beast's head. The tip of the stake was coated in pale green brain matter and bone fragments, shimmering with a viscous luster under the sun.
The Holy Beast's massive form collapsed with a thunderous crash. Its four-lobed maw hung open limply, dark green teeth matted with wood chips and shredded flesh.
【Life Energy +371,924. Current Life Energy: 641,842.】
Ethan crawled out of the Holy Beast's mouth, his body covered in pale green slime and dark red blood. He stood at the edge of the jagged hole in the beast's skull, vines emerging from his feet to pry the wound open even wider.
"Tch. A bit less than the last one."
The previous Holy Beast had given over four hundred thousand, while this one only gave three hundred and seventy thousand. Of course, it was still far better than the pittance he got from hunting Amons warriors.
Ethan jumped down from the skull, vines automatically weaving into a cushion beneath his feet to absorb the impact.
Just as he regained his footing and prepared to find his next target, he suddenly froze. A terrifying aura was approaching from the side.
The aura was moving incredibly fast and made no attempt to hide itself. Ethan whipped his head around, his right hand already raised as emerald light gathered in his palm.
It was an insect. The insect was barely half a meter long, its body a dark purple with dense silver runes flowing across its carapace. Its six wings vibrated at high speed, emitting a piercing hum. Its compound eyes were blood-red, and its mouthparts were needle-shaped, disproportionately long.
If Ethan hadn't sensed the aura of the Wizard world emanating from it, he would have hurled the wooden stake in his hand the moment they met.
The insect tilted its head, its blood-red compound eyes locking onto Ethan. "Heh heh heh, you're quite strong, young man."
Its voice sounded like fingernails scraping against a bone plate—sharp and grating.
"This saves me some trouble. Take this."
As the insect spoke, a palm-sized crystal drifted out from a gap in its carapace. The crystal was transparent, with a pale blue glow flowing inside. Deep within the light, fine runic patterns could be seen slowly rotating.
Ethan reached out and caught it. The crystal felt slightly cool to the touch, its surface as smooth as polished jade.
"My Lord, what is this?"
"Heh heh heh. You can activate it by inputting mana. It will increase your speed by thirty percent. It'll save you from being killed by these natives because you're too slow. Heh heh heh."
With those words, the insect's six wings vibrated simultaneously. Its dark purple form became a blur as it lunged toward the corpse of the Holy Beast behind Ethan.
Rate on N.U.
