Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
“What is this monster? Why hasn’t anyone ever heard of it?” a trainer on the city walls asked rather gravely.
“I’m not sure, but I know that we’ve never heard of it or where it came from.”
“It started attacking the base city almost immediately. Looks like it isn’t too fond of humans. We need to exterminate it!” said another trainer coldly.
The trainers on top of the city walls were humans, after all. They weren’t going to waste time thinking about why this creature was attacking their city.
Gao Peng knew exactly why the creature was attacking, but he chose to stay silent instead of embarrassing the Chang’an military.
A ring of ethereal light emanated from the Nuclear Ruler and slowly rippled outwards. Every single tree that the light touched snapped like a twig. The ring of light petered out a few hundred yards away from the city walls. Fortunately, it seemed as though the recently evolved Nuclear Ruler hadn’t fully grasped the extent of its own power.
The Nuclear Ruler paused for a second before lowering its raised arm and proceeding to advance rather nonchalantly.
The Golden Eagle wasn’t going to stand idly by. With a flap of its massive wings, every feather on its wings started glowing brightly. Intricate markings could be seen weaving and curling their way across the eagle.
The sky was now positively blinding. Every feather on the eagle was a lance of golden light, hovering over the Nuclear Ruler like the Sword of Damocles.
A quick flicker, and the next moment—
Like a mythical waterfall, a deluge of light rained on the Nuclear Ruler with devastating force.
Rumble.
The force of the attack reduced the area to rubble and whipped up a huge cloud of dust that streams of residual light leaked through.
“Is it dead?”
“It should be.”
The trainers on the city walls chattered lightly among themselves.
Gao Peng squinted a little, then tapped Dumby on the thigh.
“Go and slow him down. Try to avoid direct contact if you can.”
Even though the Nuclear Ruler had indeed seen an explosive growth in its level and grade, there was still a limit to how much it could grow. Gao Peng had originally planned to capture an Ice-type familiar before taking on the Desert Ruler, so it was a shame…
Nothing ever went as he intended.
He understood. That was just how life worked.
The radiation of the nuclear core had been so deadly that the Desert Ruler had been forced to evolve just to survive. While this evolution might have increased its battle power immensely for a short time, it had also sapped a considerable amount of energy from the Desert Ruler. The Desert Ruler was in no shape to engage in a war of wearing each other down.
It was like an army being cut off from their rations.
Right by the edges of the city walls were a group of young teenagers.
“Hey, beansprout. That creature down there looks pretty scary. Do you think your dad’s familiar can take him on?”
“Don’t call me that!” said a skinny boy at the back of the group. “Hmph. My dad’s Golden Deity is invincible. He’ll take care of that beast with no problems!”
The skinny boy was pretty good looking. He was young, but he had great features. His eyes were clear, and he had a great smile.
“Huang, that guy over that is sending in his familiar.” A pimply-faced youth jabbed his finger repeatedly at Gao Peng.
Gao Peng was deployed right in the center of the of the city walls, a location that gave him the widest field of vision—and also drew the most attention from the crowd below.
Another lad with a mole on his brow sneered, “He’s probably going in to finish what your dad started and steal all the credit.”
“It’s okay. My dad is too generous to fight that man for credit,” Huang Quan said rather pompously.
Gao Peng, who appeared to have heard them, turned around to shoot them a quick glance.
They instantly fell silent while steadfastly trying to avoid his gaze.
Only after Gao Peng turned away did someone pipe up, although somewhat hesitantly. “He looked so fierce. I thought he was coming over to kick our a*ses.”
“Who’s that? Why does he look so familiar?” Mole Lad wondered aloud.
“He looks like the Salted Fishman!” another teenager exclaimed loudly.
“What? The Salted Fishman?! I have his trading card in my bag!” The Salted Fishman had quite the reputation among these youth. Since Gao Peng was originally from Chang’an, he was always a source of pride for these locals.
Huang Quan muttered rather nastily under his breath about how the Salted Fishman was all talk and could never beat his father in a straight fight.
“You’re sending in your familiar now?” asked an officer quizzically.
“If not now, when?” Gao Peng was speechless.
As the dust cleared, the Nuclear Ruler could be seen standing in the same spot, seemingly unscathed. It craned its neck lightly to peer at the microscopic cracks on its chest before blowing lightly over them. The wound started bubbling like mercury.
All of a sudden, it could feel its movements slowing down, as though it was being restrained by an invisible force.
Rooted to the ground, the creature slowly turned its head around, only to see a shadowy figure in black robes rapidly closing in on it. Two orbs of white flames could be seen flickering in the depths of its attacker’s hood.
Dumby raised its right arm and clenched its fist in the Nuclear Ruler’s direction.
A small ball of white flames seeped slowly into the ground.
Immediately, the ground underneath the Nuclear Ruler started trembling violently.
Rumble. Rumble. Rumble.
Hordes of skeletons erupted from the ground to the surface.
“Roar! Roar! Roar!!” The skeletal remains of a 100-foot-long centipede roared majestically as it unleashed a putrefying wave of decay.
“That was the Elder King Centipede that was slain by the Golden Deity six months ago!” someone on the castle wall exclaimed.
The earth beneath Chang’an City was teeming with skeletal remains due to its history of successfully repelling waves of hostile creatures before. Once these creatures were stripped of everything useful, they were thrown into a huge pyre, and any remains left were buried in the land around the city.
The weaker creatures were usually burned to ash. Only the bones of the strong remained.
These bones now came pouring out of the earth like an army of angry ants.
The witnesses on the wall couldn’t help but feel chills run down their spines. This wasn’t their first time seeing the undead summoned, but it was their first time seeing it in such a high volume.
It was an unstoppable tide of ghouls.
Dumby walked slowly towards the Nuclear Ruler. Ghouls parted like the Red Sea, creating a path for it. They nodded their heads in deference as it passed, like a vassal would to his liege.
Huang Quan was beside himself now. My dad is being completely upstaged by this no-name, but damn if that guy doesn’t look incredibly cool right now!
I’m so jealous!
On the wall stood a dark-skinned behemoth of a man. His eyes narrowed. This was his chance!
“Golden Deity, now is the time! Wing Slash! Take its head!”