Returning to the Mysterious Era-Chapter 660 - Good Lad, Thats Plenty Arrogant!
Screech!
A raptor's screech rang out from the Golem's massive body, steeped in arrogance, dominance, and savagery. As if in answer, Blood Vulture Dominator Fist's surging energy and Will resonated, unleashing a cry that shook the universe. It was in the same style and bore the same frenzy, yet it was a little different from the aura of the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist that Cassius revealed.
Less dominance, more killing!
Different practitioners naturally displayed different traits and strengths within the same Southern Dipper fist art. Compared to Cassius, Blood Vulture Dominator Fist was more bloodthirsty, since he had annihilated a quarter of the dark creature tribes.
On the other hand, Cassius was more domineering and commanding. Who could say whether it was due to temperament or because he was the master of the Golem Sect.
In short, the two Red Falcon screeches echoed to each other across the distance.
Blood Vulture Dominator Fist and Cassius needed no prior acquaintance. The instant their Southern Dipper arts flared, they acknowledged each other and reached the strongest agreement.
Join forces, and make Totem King Kassares fall!
"Let me lend you a hand..." Cassius's thunderous Will echoed in the clouds, spreading ever farther with time.
"Good!!!"
Atop a peak, the Blood Vulture's eyes burned crimson. He fell into a basic opening stance of the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist, arms and body like a scarlet raptor about to take flight.
Surging Qi cascaded like a torrential waterfall, draping the entire peak below in a veil of blood.
"Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill..."
He stomped down once, and a condensed phantom of a blood raptor flared upon him. It was smaller than before, yet vivid with life. Scaled talons dug into the summit and crimson hawk eyes locked on the Totem King as blood-red wings unfurled inch by inch.
"Going all in at last, Blood Vulture." Totem King Kassares thrust out his right arm, reaching back to seize the resplendent golden tree behind him. The glassy scepter slammed into the earth with a thud, cracking the ground. Terrifying forces surged madly over the bronze gargoyle's body like stacked tsunamis.
Kassares grew utterly solemn, for Blood Vulture was about to go all out. Blood Vulture's Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill was his signature move, with a glorious record. In ancient, chaotic times, he had slain the Ultimate Dark Form, Black Croc Zelong, with a single Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill. Even Totem King Kassares dared not belittle his technique.
The move had three stages. If the foe manages to evade the first, a fiercer second stage would come. But beyond that, there was a third stage that had never yet been displayed. If any stage pierced through, even an Ultimate Dark Form would suffer grievous, near-untreatable wounds, including the Totem King!
"After this, your remaining strength likely won't suffice to summon the Blood Vulture King. Have you given up on mutual destruction? Do you think you and that Southern Dipper junior can kill me together?"
Profound runes flickered like fireflies over the bronze gargoyle. It stood sheathed in silver light, right hand gripping a golden tree scepter and an archaic shield hovering before its left.
On the distant peak, the wind howled.
Blood Vulture said nothing. He simply snapped his head up. A raptor swelled in his pupils, then soared forth!
"First Stage!!!"
Whoosh... Boom!!!
The black peak collapsed instantly from the backlash of triggering Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill. That terrifying starting force turned wholly into the raptor's slingshot momentum. Moreover, the crimson Qi surging from his body became a jet engine of acceleration. That was the core of Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill!
Speed!
The raptor's foremost talon was like a sharp blade cleaving with dazzling red light. The first stage was about speed plus an unstoppable edge!
Kassares's fearsome Will was razor-sharp. Right as the peak collapsed, he unfurled the golden domain of the golden tree. That claw that could slice everything came charging in right at that split-second expansion.
"Ultimate Totem, Savage Will!"
A huge totem outline blazed on the gargoyle's chest. A rhinoceros behemoth with a mane like steel needles charged forth, its two outrageous tusks piercing the clouds.
"Roar!!"
As the terrible roar burst, a red streak cleaved heaven from earth, skimming across the massive body of the Savage Will totem. A straight blood-red rainbow sliced through the air.
Dong, dong, dong...
The crimson light pierced not only the Savage Will but a string of black mountains beyond. Its destructive power was utterly staggering.
Rumble...
Some peaks split down the middle, others collapsed by a third, and the weaker ones straight up burst apart. The Blood Rainbow plunged deep into the earth's strata, forcing crimson magma to gurgle up!
At the origin of calamity, the Totem King turned toward the freshly released Savage Will. The instant the Totem King's eyes fell on it, the Savage Will's body detonated as if waiting to be seen!
Two huge silver broken horns slammed into the earth. Their cross-sections were glass-smooth after getting sheared through extreme sharpness.
A twisting spiral force visibly spread across the body, warping it with crackling strain. Unable to withstand any more, it crumbled bit by bit.
One strike, and an ultimate totem destroyed. It was cleaner than the Netherworld Dragon King totem's end. There were not even scraps left. Even if it had been a living Ultimate Dark Form, its end wouldn't be much better than the totem's. At best, they would have suffered a massive loss and would be clinging to life like a lamb awaiting slaughter.
The Totem King glanced at the bronze shield hovering before it. A diagonal claw-mark had scored it deeply. Its core strength lay in the three Totem Powers, but it had to use ultimate totems to convert the Totem Powers into combat ability.
Thus, each of the Totem King's ultimate totems was comparable to an Ultimate Dark Form!
It was only lacking the immortable, indestructible trait. Yet before the Southern Dipper lineage, having or lacking that made little difference. In front of Blood Vulture who just used Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill, even if Savage Will had been a living Ultimate Dark Form, the end would still be instant death.
"Even after ten thousand years of war of attrition, your power remains so strong. You haven't changed a bit, Blood Vulture. You're still the same you..."
A strange expression crept over the bronze statue-like face. It was clearly not smiling, yet somehow it seemed like a smile.
"Just like this, just like this...The stronger you are, the more worthy it is that I end this eternal duel! When that time comes, I'll devour your corpse and truly evolve! You must feel it too, Blood Vulture! Our standoff is more than battle! It's an entanglement of fate! Once either kills the other, the victor gains unprecedented ascension. I've awaited this day for so long..." Totem King Kassares's Will radiated forth. Branches of the golden tree in his hand grew and bloomed, exuding a glassy glow.
"You..."
"Second Stage!!!"
A Blood Rainbow shot out from the magma pit. This one was faster and fiercer as it lanced through the World of Calamity. A terrifying raptor cry shook the skies.
Whoosh, ting! BANG BANG BANG!
The hurtling crimson glow slammed into the bronze shield. Kassares's feet immediately rose from the ground as the incredible force of the blow sent him skidding back. His vast body gouged massive furrows into the ground.
Rumble...
The gargoyle's back crushed mountain after mountain, sending rubble falling like rain. He thrust out a hand and the golden tree blazed with radiant light.
Ting! Whoosh!
Blood-colored light flashed for an instant, and it was suddenly behind the Totem King. The bronze shield before him, the golden light membrane on his body, and the silver armor all shuddered violently.
When he looked down, an irregular hole gaped in the bronze shield. However, only the golden light membrane on his body was shattered, and only a scratch marred the silver power armor.
"Not enough... Still not enough! Since your Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill Second Stage cannot penetrate my three layers, then even the third won't kill me, nor seriously wound me. Your only threat is that mutual-destruction move. Otherwise, you simply cannot..."
But at that moment, the Totem King realized something and snapped his head toward another battlefield amid distant towering mountains.
Blood Vulture had held most of his attention, so it was only at this moment that he could spare a moment to check. There, he saw rubble where once a mountain range stood. From above, one would see that the vast black mountain region, which had once held a million peaks, now had a huge space leveled flat!
The hordes of mountain giants, tainted by the Totem King's aura and energy, had fallen over each other to block and besiege their opponent. However, it had been useless. Instead, that sprinting figure had carved his way forward!
His feet forced magma to rise, flattening mountains and rivers as the Golem thundered through the battlefield.
"Don't forget about me, Kassares! I'm your opponent too! Hahahaha!" Cassius's laughter was sharp and grating beneath the silver helmet, with a tone of strange arrogance and savagery.
The Golem chuckled, whirled, and seized a charging mountain giant in a steel arm. Then, it casually pulled outward.
Rip!
The stone giant split in two and collapsed. Its intact head fell free, only to be caught midair by a silver armored hand.
He slowly turned to look at Kassares.
"Look, does this head resemble the one on your shoulders?"
Golem Cassius hefted a mountain giant's head identical to Totem King Kassares's, grinning ferociously. His blood-red eyes were fixed on the Totem King's true head. His fingers tightened slightly, and the stone effigy exploded into rocks and dirt. It was as if the head exploding was the one upon the Totem King's neck.
"Arrogant wretch!"
Profound runes across the Totem King blazed as his Will surged.
"Good lad, that's plenty arrogant!" From a distant giant peak, Blood Vulture threw his head back in an uproarious laugh, sounding utterly exhilarated. "To practice the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist is to be arrogant and domineering!
"Brutality, bloodlust, ruthlessness—you must have them all, and to perfection! Your killing intent's far too light, kid. In my day, I butchered tens of thousands of dark creature tribes in the World of Calamity. Behold my killing aura..."
A terrifying crimson glow flared around Blood Vulture. It was not the color of Qi, but an unimaginably dense intangible killing intent, laced with the wails of countless dying beings. The third stage of Blood Rainbow Piercing Kill condensed this explosive killing intent into a tangible weapon. The weight of having slaughtered a quarter of the world's dark creature tribes in the dark era turned his killing intent into a weapon of ultimate dread and despair.
One strike would pierce the foe's Will!
Most of Totem King Kassares's attention was on Blood Vulture, since he was the greatest current threat. As for Cassius, though Kassares sensed oddities like an Ultimate Dark Form's body and a faint Holy Fist Will beneath the Dominator Fist aura, he was still no match for one of the three Southern Dipper experts, Blood Vulture, who once stood at the Dominator Fist's peak!
In the distance, Blood Vulture's overwhelming Qi stained half the sky red. A massive blood raptor was being condensed to form the third piercing strike!
The Totem King slowly raised his golden tree scepter. The Power of Bronze and the Power of Silver upon him slowly melded together. At the same time, one vast ultimate totem after another lit upon the bronze gargoyle's body. These totems were about to step forth from him for the final moment of battle!
Just then, at his flank, a cold voice rang out.
"It seems like I've been underestimated. I haven't felt this kind of being ignored for a very long time... How hateful."
Standing amid rubble, the grim silver Golem slowly raised both hands. Gauntlets gleaming with a terrifying radiance slid over the steel handguards.
This was not for defense, but for a rending, annihilating offense!
This was the Thorn Sonic Death Armament! It had once severed Xiadu's true body when he forcefully returned from the Gate of Heaven!
"Looks like I'll have to make you remember me in a firm and indelible way. Until thinking of me brings you memories of pain down to the marrow... I think I'll leave quite the impression that way."
