Chapter 858: The Fall of Anton!

Even a Sword God could not imprison it, for binding Mateka was utterly futile, because... no matter how peerless the swordsmanship, it could do nothing against a body as colossal as Anton's, nor against energy so unimaginably vast.

And the two of them were, in truth, one and the same.

At this moment, a crowd of people stood huddled behind Nalan Hongwu's computer, gazing at the screen where that scorched, black expanse of earth stretched out.

Nalan Hongwu unclasped the sword at his waist with a single finger, and in the eyes of all onlookers, a narrow, bone-chilling flash of frost-laden light was reflected.

His white hair danced along with his black robe, as an icy, flowing radiance pierced the void like flying snow, and a pure, flawless sword intent transformed into five divine swords, hovering suspended behind him.

The thunderous wheel of light revolved grandly, and in Zong Wu's hand, the thunder-sword shone like jade; his eyes were softly closed, and within the darkness, wisps of lightning drifted out like fine needles, illuminating his entire form until his hair seemed woven of lightning and his body cast in blue jade.

The sound of rumbling thunder shook the earth!

Boom—!

Amidst a world-shaking roar, the ground shattered, and within the darkness, a pair of terrifying eyes ignited as a fearsome demon slowly rose to its feet.

That formidable physique was such that even molten lava could not harm it in the slightest.

The array of the Sword God, the Heavenly Emperor, and the Immortal. This scene was akin to a war among the gods!

(Note: Di Shitian is another name for Shi Tiandi, which is why the Asura's second awakening is translated as Heavenly Emperor)

The three of them stood in the positions of the Three Talents, surrounding Mateka in the center.

At this time, Mateka crossed its arms over its chest and floated in mid-air, while its customary ancient staff drifted behind it like a shadow.

Like an eternal deity, it looked down from on high, scrutinizing the frail insects before it who dared to offend its majesty.

Yet in the blink of an eye, it vanished from the spot, and in the next instant, a terrifying gale struck viciously from behind Nalan Hongwu!

Without any warning, even though Nalan Hongwu's powerful sword force was spread all around, this punch struck like a massive cannon, slamming violently into the small of Nalan Hongwu's back!

Crack!

With an explosive bang, the air itself burst apart, and Nalan Hongwu was sent flying backward like a cannonball!

And in the very next moment, fast as flowing light, a blue radiance flashed once more behind Nalan Hongwu!

"Watch out!"

Even the onlookers could not help but cry out in alarm; it was too fast, happening in a split second, giving absolutely no time to react!

But at that exact moment, Nalan Hongwu steadied his mind and body in mid-air, his hand pressing onto his sword hilt; on the ground behind him, dust kicked up as a swirling breeze inexplicably appeared.

Almost at the exact moment Mateka struck, a flash of sword light whirled around, carrying a piercing shriek of steel—a sword fast to the ultimate degree, where even the afterimages vanished!

Rip!

Mateka instantly retreated several steps, and only the dust swirling on the ground, along with a faint bloody scratch upon its arm, could prove that Nalan Hongwu had just drawn his sword.

"So fast!"

"It hit!"

Halting its footsteps, Mateka vanished once more, and in the next breath, it had already appeared right in front of Zong Wu!

The moment the fist was about to strike Zong Wu's chest, thunderous light soared into the sky, as if carving deep, indelible furrows into space itself!

"Hit again!" Though it was a mutual injury, in this flash of flint and steel, an attack that brooked not a single error—even hitting just once—was enough to make everyone watch with thumping hearts.

Yet now, it had happened twice in a row.

Across the entirety of the Black Volcano, upon this earth billowing with thick smoke, only flashes of blue energy light could be seen as fist met sword and fist met claw, all clashing in the blink of an eye.

Fast, so terrifyingly fast it made one's heart turn cold!

Across the whole screen, only the flashing of swords and the roaring of thunder could be seen; it appeared chaotic, but in truth, every single strike was fast to the limit and exquisite to perfection!

And right at that moment, suddenly, across the surrounding earth, a massive teleportation array lit up, and countless pulsating, giant eggs were teleported to the area.

The surrounding insect eggs suddenly burst open, and the countless monsters born from them surged like a tide toward these adventurers who dared to invade this place!

"Suppress the Hatchery!" Zong Wu roared, commanding the battle even as he fought hard against the volcano.

Just as these monsters lunged forward, with a wave of a hand, molten lava began to flow beneath their feet.

And Mateka was mingled right in the midst of these monsters.

These monsters absolutely had to be killed, but while attacking them, the slightest carelessness would result in striking that energy shield instead.

If that happened, in the next moment, everyone would face a fatal blow from which there was no hiding!

The staff of one of the magical monsters struck the ground, and instantly, the magma beneath erupted like a volcano!

Once again, the area where everyone could set foot was reduced, until a single glance showed there was almost nowhere left to stand.

Compounded by the attacks of these powerful monsters and Mateka, they were pushed nearly to a dead end!

What drove them to absolute despair was that at this moment, Mateka's speed could no longer be described as merely fast; it was a speed that surpassed time and space itself, instantly leaving everyone without any power to strike back!

"It's over..." Even the onlookers watched with breathless dread, "Is the raid going to blow up again?"

"What's going on over at the Hatchery?"

"It looks like they don't have enough damage output over there..." Su Tianji returned after watching from the side for a while.

Energy, the Hatchery, and the Infected Hatchery were all of paramount importance in reducing the power of Mateka (Anton) inside the volcano.

A failure to suppress the Energy would provide an incredibly horrific amount of power to all the monsters in the volcano; at that point, even a god would fall at the hands of a mere minor monster in the volcano!

Though the Hatchery was secondary, it could by no means be ignored.

Once any of the other four suppression teams made a mistake, what it caused for the volcano team was nothing short of a disaster!

Boom—!

A punch thrown out seemed to exceed the limits of a god's reactions, and Zong Wu was smashed heavily into the molten lava; had it not been for the lightning light protecting his body, he would have been turned to ashes in that single instant!

And almost simultaneously, all three people on the screen flew backward, as if all three had been attacked at the exact same moment.

Never mind attacking the BOSS, they did not even have the gap to attack the minor monsters!

"What do we do?!"

A drop of cold sweat fell.

"We can't even beat it like this...?"

"In this situation, no one can save it, right..."

"Let me!" Right at this moment, Nalan Hongwu's furious roar resounded.

Amidst the heavy blow that had nearly knocked him unconscious, he forced his consciousness awake; in his mind, countless scenes and countless ways of the sword flashed past in an instant.

From "Wind and Cloud," he came to know the Twenty-Third Sword...

From Nameless, he attained the Heavenly Sword...

From the elegance of that sword beneath the full moon, he learned that the sword is a continuous surpassing of one's own limits.

Only within Mount Fangcun, under the tutelage of the Sage, did he begin to fully comprehend.

Originally, after his breakthrough, it was as if the sword had already been formed into a blade, possessing the look a divine sword should have, yet there were still a few impurities permeating within, unable to be easily cast out.

But in this heart-stopping battle, it was like a divine sword undergoing a thousand tempers and a hundred refinements, quenched by fire and water!

"Hah—!" The swordsmanship he had learned in the past seemed, at this very moment, to truly fuse together into a perfect whole, and that final trace of impurity was finally washed away.

Trapped in a desperate plight where he was battered so fiercely he could barely strike back, the five divine swords strapped to his back suddenly soared into the air of their own accord!

The very next instant, ten thousand blades erupted in unison!

"The Divine Sword Technique?!"

"He hasn't given up, has he?!" Everyone knew that under a multi-stage assault, if even a few stray strikes accidentally hit Mateka's energy shield, it wouldn't just be him—the entire party would be beyond saving, even by the gods themselves!

Yet every spectator witnessed each blade pierce through the chests of the monsters with flawless, absolute precision, as if guided by the hand of a deity, executing the feat without a single hair's breadth of error!

"My god...!"

"Hurry up and suppress the Hatchery, Volcano has been saved!"

The spectators in the back hurriedly passed the message along.

"Pick up the pace!" Nalan Hongwu bellowed, and just as Mateka lunged in for the attack, the final few swords flew back like streaks of lightning!

Swish! Swish! Swish!

Every single one plunged straight into Mateka's spine!

Almost simultaneously, the entire darkened space exploded outward.

Wave Eye of the Dark Sky!

The colossal area of effect unleashed itself in an explosive burst at the exact microsecond Mateka's energy shield dropped during his attack!

"Pfft—!" Vomiting a violent mouthful of blood, he vanished from the spot once more a split second later.

Right at that moment, thunder shook the world as an immensely colossal deity, forged entirely from pure lightning, abruptly descended!

"You... have slowed down!" The moment Mateka struck, a look of sheer horror suddenly washed over his face, for he saw that at the exact same instant, the colossal Thunder God let out a roaring cry, and a deluge of lightning swallowed him whole!

"Divine Sword Technique: Flash Cut!"

"Judgment!"

The three-pronged assault arrived instantaneously, almost at the exact same moment!

In the next second, across everyone's screens:

"Black Volcano Clear!"

"We beat it?!"

"We actually beat it?!"

With Mateka dead, nothing remained to stand in the way of these adventurers; even though lava erupted all around them, what did it matter to these people who had been baptized through endless catastrophes?

Everyone converged upon the deepest chambers of Anton's body, right at the heart.

Blades plunged deep!

The next moment, that massive, pulsing heart was riddled with a thousand holes as blood gushed out like torrential rain; golden thunder and violent energy rampaged wildly inside his body until the heart abruptly burst apart!

From the deck of the Noble Sky, looking out into the distance, that incomparably massive, primordial behemoth seemed broken under an unbearable weight, violently vomiting a torrent of scorching magma, convulsing and struggling, until finally, with a mournful wail that echoed through the heavens and the earth, the colossal tortoise head slumped limply into the great ocean, the lava on the volcano gradually cooled, and amidst the vast sea, it transformed into a massive... dead black volcano.

This terrifying beast, whose power could scarcely be matched even by divine might, had finally fallen right here under the desperate struggle of a band of incomparably powerful adventurers!

With their own hands and by their own strength, they had personally annihilated this terrifying natural disaster!

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Note: In the original version, clearing Volcano for the first time required typing out words, but for the sake of gameplay, the attributes of each energy orb were explicitly written on them in giant characters, whereas the system version... is more subtle, waiting for the players to discover it themselves.

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