Translator: Nyoi-Bo Studio Editor: Nyoi-Bo Studio
Needless to say, he couldn’t just do away with these people. Humans had never been a particularly durable species; all it would take was a wound the size of a plate, yet the consequences of taking a human life and the resulting chain reaction would be far too severe.
In the end, these people were just his employees, not his personal slaves.
In the time it took Gao Peng to think, Da Zi and Dumby had arrived and, under his orders, gone off to provide aid at the last two gates.
Unlike the eastern gate, with its horde of water monsters, the western gate was plagued by a host of monsters that resembled six-legged turtles, with polished black shells that were covered in antler-like horns. Their tough, round craniums sported three eyes—one on each side of the head and one dead center between the eyebrows.
Every single one of these antlered six-legged turtles was as big as a dinner table, their gaping maws filled with teeth. Even their tongues were covered in teeth, giving them an especially fearsome appearance.
“All members of the third unit, replace the second unit! Don’t let these creatures in! Their brains are nothing but mush. There’s no need to be afraid!” yelled the large, tan man in charge of protecting the western gate as he fired off a round of bullets.
The bullets hit a turtle shell with a metallic clang.
Even though there were many antlered six-legged turtles, these monsters didn’t seem to be highly intelligent, for they rushed towards the western gate as one after being attracted by the noise. As the western gate was only so big, only a handful of monsters could attack it at the same time.
At the forefront stood thirty Crimson Bloodlust Apes, their mighty figures covered from head to toe in armor, each nearing ten feet tall.
In each ape’s left hand was a high-energy ballistic shield; in their right hands, they bore a trident forged from the purest steel. To other apes, they appeared to be savage and courageous warriors.
An antlered six-legged turtle reared its head, intending to cut an ape into pieces, but was met with a great strike from a ballistic shield, followed by a fierce, lightning-quick stab of a trident straight through its skull. So tremendous was the blow that three sizable holes bloomed in the creature’s skull in an instant.
“Ho ho ho!”
The ape laughed in satisfaction.
Even though most of the antlered six-legged turtles were barred from entering, accidents happened. One of them slipped under the ballistic shields and took a huge bite out of one of the ape’s feet, separating a chunk of flesh and skin, causing blood to spurt everywhere and bare the tendons to the air. Had the ape not pulled his foot back the instant the turtle struck, it wouldn’t have been merely a flesh wound—his foot would’ve been crunched to the bone.
A low rumble began to sound from above. A flash of purple lightning streaked through the darkening sky, leaving a trail of light that lingered.
As purple light soared through the sky, a gigantic Thunder Worm descended from the heavens. With a crackle, as if numerous purple whips were being wielded by a thunder god, a series of booms was released—
The sounds of explosions merged into one as the Thunder Worm cried out continuously, creating a web of electricity.
The web of purple electricity crackled and exploded non-stop as bolts of lightning struck the onyx-antlered shells of the six-legged turtles, causing the antlers to crumble into shards. A bolt of lightning struck one of the turtle’s shells, creating a crack as wide as a man’s thumb from which a burnt odor emerged.
Da Zi’s control of its powers had much improved; such a move would’ve been impossible for it in the past. Before, it would’ve just opened its jaws and let loose a streak of lightning as wide as a bowl, not lacking in power, but wasteful in its excess.
All the antlered six-legged turtles within a thousand feet of the gate were destroyed by the web of electricity; a good half of them lost the will to fight immediately.
Da Zi dove downwards in the next instant, propelled by golden wings as thin as a cicada’s and as sharp as knives.
With the slightest stir of its wings, small ripples appeared in the air, cleaving the antlered six-legged turtles at the forefront into two. One shocked turtle fell to the side, causing another, with its shell broken open like a lidless gourd, to spill its pale innards on the floor.
However, these antlered six-legged turtles proved to be ferocious, as they didn’t run after being attacked. They merely glared at Da Zi and dashed towards it.
But a turtle couldn’t jump high, no matter how hard it tried. They could only hop a couple feet off the ground. With their necks stretched as far as possible, like springs, they could only snap their teeth at thin air.
Behind this horde of turtles lay an unusually enormous turtle. It looked like an enlarged version of the other turtles, albeit with some differences in the details.
For example, there weren’t antlers that riddled its shell, but coiled bull horns the color of ink.
Even lying down, it was ten feet tall; the cracks in its enormous shell were engraved with white markings. With each breath, it blew out white steam; its moss-green eyes were centered with slitted pupils.
After it spotted Da Zi swooping down, the giant turtle quickly retreated within its tough shell.
The wings on Da Zi’s back pressed downwards, hard, as it puffed out his chest, forcibly turning its body in a corkscrew motion up into the sky. A ball of viscous purple lightning gathered noiselessly at the tip of its tail, then was thrown as hard as a baseball pitch!
Fwoop!
An arc of purple electricity pierced the sky and seeped through the cracks in the giant turtle’s shell. A tremor ran through the giant turtle as its tail popped out from its shell.
Although the defenses of the turtle’s shell were high, beneath the cracks, it was mere flesh and blood. Even though it could retreat into a hole, the hole itself wouldn’t vanish.
In the following moment, Da Zi leaped into the sky, the wings on its back thrumming madly, tuning into a certain frequency.
Hummm— His wings thrummed madly, ceaselessly humming…
Da Zi’s special ability, “Wings of Thunder,” allowed Da Zi to ride the thunder.
The low, relentless rumbles of the thunder cut through. Its main target, the giant turtle, was unable to bear the noise and showed itself, yet the thunder echoed within the chambers of its shell!
“Caw!” A shriek of fury left Da Zi’s throat.
The ball of saturated purple lightning beneath Da Zi’s body exploded and dispersed rapidly in all directions.
Outside the halo of light, frenzied, menacing, deep purple threads of lightning spawned haphazardly, forming a ring of lightning spikes at the outermost circle of the halo. The resulting Lord-tier aura, with its awe-inducing power, instantly suppressed all the monsters.
Most of the antlered six-legged turtles began running around in a daze on the spot; some even turned their aggression upon their own comrades.
At this sight, the security guards at the western gate were shocked into speechlessness.
The horde of antlered six-legged turtles outside had descended into chaos. Some of the turtles at the periphery were even turning to run away.
“It’s a Lord-tier beast, the Southern Sky’s Lord-tier beast!”
The employees at the western gate began to whoop and holler in celebration. Some even screamed to the sky, as if releasing all their pent-up fear.
And it wasn’t only at the western gate. At the northern and southern gates, too, one could hear the cheers of the Southern Sky’s men. It was the fierce joy of survival that overtook them.
