Chapter 296: It Only Gets Worse
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The Demonic Blade Cosmos was undone as the tiny fragments of the machine avatar fell apart; however, I managed to retrieve the last core it had, which was only slightly cracked, but it still emanated a large quantity of cosmic energy.
Even if this was a simulation, it felt real enough within the world of the simulation, meaning that it could be used against it, right?
“Hahhh… It’s done,” I sighed in relief.
“Anna!” Zero One said. “It’s dead?”
“It is… But dammit, those machines won’t die yet, huh?!” I sighed. “Let’s go; we have to take them down until reinforcements arrive!”
“Yeah!” Wai Tian roared. “You’ll have to explain to me the tiger ears and tail later, though…”
“A-Ahahah…” I laughed slightly nervously. “Yeeaah…”
[The Heroic Cosmic Thrones {King of Steel} feels immense disappointment on its own Avatar and Champion after its prompt defeat.]
[The Heroic Cosmic Thrones {King of Steel} feels weakened after its connection to the avatar had been greatly weakened…]
[The Heroic Cosmic Thrones {King of Steel} existence is beginning to slowly fade; its story cannot completely sustain its causality requirements…]
Wait, is it dying?
Then my theory was right!
The machines might not have souls, but these machine constellations somehow have them, and they share it with their avatars.
This way, their avatars can have a Radiance of their own and gain cosmic power and tremendous abilities.
However, at the same time, they risk being hurt if their avatar happens to be struck with a soul-damaging attack.
Something they never expected to happen at all, most likely because if they had invaded other worlds before, none of them would be as strong as Bestia.
[The Heroic Cosmic Thrones {King of Steel} says that he will remember you.]
[The Heroic Cosmic Thrones {King of Steel} has fallen into a deep slumber.]
Wait, what?
So did it die or not?
Or maybe this is only something that happened in this scenario? This simulation…
Master is clearly stronger than me, so maybe she did the full job.
Hopefully…
“DESTROY. DESTROY. DESTROY.”
“ELIMINATE. ELIMINATE. ELIMINATE.”
“BEGINNING COMBINATION PROTOCOL.”
The machines began going crazy as we continued cutting through them; despite my mind thinking many things, there wasn’t even a moment of rest in this battle.
I constantly slashed them away with dozens of cutting attacks, bombarded them with explosions of burning light and darkness, and pulverized them with martial arts.
Yet they kept coming; that crack was only growing wider and wider, and there wasn’t much we could do to repair it or close it down!
One of the Avatars was gone, and the constellation also went to have an early hibernation.
But I am fairly sure there are two more, and-
“UNIFICIATION OF BODIES AND MINDS.”
“UNIFICATION!”
“UNIFICATION!”
“UNIFICATION!”
Ugh, won’t they stop screaming so loudly?
[The Cosmic Throne {Mechanical Librarian} says that their invasion is inevitable and that you should not fight back anymore.]
[The Cosmic Throne {Mother of Artificial Life} says the inferior living beings must be eradicated for her children to prosper.]
Ahh, these two are still alive, right!
“UNIFICATION!”
“UNIFICATION!”
“UNIFICATION!”
The machines continued screaming as their entire bodies started amassing and fusing together, their internal heat and electricity making their bodies melt together into gigantic metallic cocoons.
“What the hell is going on now?!” asked Wai Tian.
“They’re combining together?!” asked Yin Sheng. “We must destroy those things right away!”
“Quickly!” I agreed. “Aim at the cocoons!”
We charged forward, Fang Shuang leading the charge as his gigantic body crushed apart several machines at once. He used several techniques and most of his Skills all the time, combining them with his Holy Nether Essence, which he could not only generate over time but also combine with Ki to make him devastatingly strong.
His spear wasn’t made out of his metallic body anymore but was a summon, a manifestation of his very Soul he could invoke through the [Divine Martial Soul Weapon (S)] Skill, the weapon was as powerful as his Martial Soul itself, and it only grew stronger the more energy he fed to it.
CRASH! CRASH! CRASH! CRASH!
Aside from his explosive and rapid blows, he summoned countless spectral, purple and black-colored beast-like demonic ghosts through his [One Hundred Dokkaebi Souls Summon (S)] Skill, trying to even the field against the machines even so slightly.
He was followed by Zero One, who blasted everything with her powerful and explosive beams, coming from her shoulders and also her hands and chest. The damage she had sustained was already regenerated fully through her [Mechanical Body Transformation (SS)] and her body’s natural self-repairing abilities, as she seemed to also be composed of nanobots, just like we are composed of cells that regrow and multiply.
“Take this! {Electromagnetic Energy Manipulation Arts}: {Photon Fist Barrage}!”
By combining what she had seen and learned from everyone else, she also unleashed her own set of techniques and arts, combining her [Electromagnetic Energy Manipulation Arts (SS)] and her [Instant Processing and Learning (SS)] Skills together to both imitate someone else's techniques and unleash her own using Electromagnetic Energy.
Shapeshifting her hands back, and as the machines surrounded her by the hundreds, she pushed her hands rapidly, unleashing devastating punches that were shaped by her own golden electrifying aura, vaporizing the machines as they were touched, while tearing into shreds anything that was behind them.
BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM! BAAAM!
As they blew up into pieces, right by her left side was Wai Tian, extending her transformation for longer and longer periods of time as she adapted to its powers constantly. Her white fur and golden aura constantly changed, her attacks unleashing explosions of white, silver, and golden Ki flames that burned at her foes.
At this point, she had already memorized how to use all her skills and used them with great ability, especially when fusing them together with her own martial arts. Roaring, she rushed against many foes at once, her claws growing to several times their original size, allowing her to tear her foes to pieces.
“{Claws of the Fiery Tigress}!”
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
Using the [Claws of the Fiery Tigress (S)] Skill, she took care of large quantities of foes that were in front of her with ease, combining them with her paw techniques and kicks; she was a devastating force to be reckoned with.
“RAAAARRRHHH!”
RUMBLE!
And then she unleashed her [Roar of Dominance (S)] Skill to intimidate foes and paralyze them temporarily; this even worked against machines, destabilizing their internal circuits and electromagnetic energies and making them malfunction, sometimes outright killing them, as they exploded.
“Get off my path! {Tempestuous Blazing Wild Charge}!”
CRAAASH!
And lastly, by using [Tempestuous Blazing Wild Charge (S)], she was able to deal with hundreds of machines when there was absolutely no place to move or attack, forcefully tearing through their bodies by covering her entire body on flames.
“Lady Anna, you must prioritize the cocoons!”
Yin Sheng rushed forward, quickly dividing into several shadow clones of himself, his appearance having changed as he looked more majestic, with many beautiful and fluffy tails, and covered by a large cloak of shadows.
“ELIMINATE!”
“EXTERMINATE!”
“STOP THEM!”
“PRIORITIZE UNIFICATION PROCESS!”
“Not on my watch!”
Yin Sheng jumped into the battle, swinging his tails down as a huge sea of darkness engulfed many foes at once, creating a {Black Shadow Domain} using the skill of the same name, which quickly transformed into dozens of huge shadow hands, grabbing and dragging the machines down.
“Begone.”
His movements became incredibly precise as he suddenly disappeared and reappeared at lightning speed, using the [Absolute Stealth: Surprise Attack (S)] Skill to turn invisible for a few seconds and then crush their bodies with a surprise, explosive attack.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
As almost one hundred machines exploded into pieces before his attacks, he quickly noticed larger machines approaching, resembling giants and dragons, yet he did not falter either.
“{Abyssal Shadow Fox Assassination Arts}: {Carnival of Shadows}”
Using [Abyssal Shadow Fox Assassination Arts (S)] Skill, he suddenly fused with his domain and expanded into an endless fog of black darkness, suddenly emerging as countless clones of himself attacked all enemies at once; the giant machines were cut through their entire bodies, attacked in every single angle Yin Sheng could find and abuse.
The result? Their mechanical bodies rapidly collapsed, one after another, with tremendous ease and without them even being able to fight back!
RUMBLE!
“That was amazing.” I couldn’t help but gasp.
Everyone is so strong; I’ve helped them grow well!
However, we can’t relax, not in the middle of this battle, even less when those two other Constellations are still planning something devious.
As they all fought, I constantly moved across the skies, using Cloud Step in combination with my two wings to maneuver myself across the skies.
I swung Gram and the axe-sword at the same time, cleaving apart and slashing my foes. Light, darkness, and even the power of Uroboros emerged with each one of my blows.
“STOP. STOP. STOP. STOP.”
The machines tried to stop my relentless charge, only meeting with my blades, as I combined their abilities and powers together and unleashed part of my {Radiance}, the condensed fusion of my Traits and abilities.
“{Thousand Blades}: {Demonic Blade of Gluttony}”
SLAAASH!
A single slash was unleashed as my Aura erupted, resembling the ferocious and hungry hisses of enormous crimson snakes, which quickly divided into dozens of slashes through Thousand Blades miraculous effects.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
This caused my Aura to split into dozens after dozens of crimson snakes, slashing at the same time as tearing and devouring my foes, feeding me a part of their energies, which I had to constantly regain due to how my curses and abilities drained it all.
After all, this powerful technique required tons of Ki and was also created by combining it with the axe-sword techniques that cost even more Mana (Ki for now)!
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
“SHAAAHHH!”
As my army of Aura Snakes of Gluttony advanced forward, I kept summoning Undead Machines to battle, and they weren’t any average Undead either, but Holy Herculean Undead, reinforced with tremendous physical power and also with holy abilities, they became bigger and stronger looking than when alive.
“Charge! Don’t stop!”
We were drawing closer and closer to the three metallic cocoons that were constantly glowing and releasing steam everywhere.
Closer…
And closer!
I’ll change this ending, even if it is just an illusion, even if it’s just a trial.
I want to see their child happy, and I don’t want him to be harmed either.
Whatever happened that ended taking him away from them…
I bet it was because of these machines!
I’ll eliminate them before they can even be born.
I have to show her; I have to show master my resolve.
“HAAAH!”
With a furious roar, I leaped into the skies, reaching the nearest cocoon, and unleashing almost a hundred crimson snake heads out of my aura, so gigantic in size it seemed as if I had a huge hydra with me.
Violet, Snow, and the Death Apostles and other demons were with me too; their relentless charge and the buffs I granted them proved to be useful, as they broke into the area surrounding the cocoons with me.
The snakes of my aura tore through everything, biting it and devouring it with hunger.
CRUNCH! CRUNCH! CRUNCH!
“Aim! Neberius!” I called the two. “Turn into swords!”
“Y-Yeah!”
“CRAAH!”
The leopard-like demon and the crow-like demon immediately turned into swords through the power of the Purgatory Realm Skill. Aim became a thunderous golden katana, and Neberius became a black shadow-imbued two-handed sword.
“Perfect!”
I held the two blades using the multiple snake heads of my aura, which had emerged, fusing with the combined aura generated from all the buffs of my equipment; I even used them as hands anyway—dozens of hands.
Then, I combined the effects of [Thunder Queen] with [Spectral Body], temporarily becoming a mass of spectral thunder as I held all my swords together.
And like a calamity of my own, I unleashed a dance of swords of all colors and elements.
“{Divine and Demonic Dance of a Thousand Blades}”
Like a spinning storm of slashing attacks, demonic flames, holy light, darkness, thunder, and shadows engulfed everything; the gigantic metallic cocoon was cut apart.
SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH! SLASH!
For a moment, as I cut down the cocoon, I saw it; there was a creature, a gigantic insect-like machine monstrosity growing inside.
But I didn’t even let it be born!
The accumulated energy of all the slashes detonated, disintegrating it.
BOOOM!
“Two more to go and-”
Crack, crack…!
[The Cosmic Throne {Mechanical Librarian} tells you to properly greet their new prototypes.]
Crack…!
[The Cosmic Throne {Mother of Artificial Life} says that if it wasn’t for you, they would have never been able to create these new, much more powerful models.]
CRACK!
[Both Constellations wish your demise!]
CRASH!
The two other cocoons shattered as monsters emerged from them.
Monsters with Radiances and Cosmic Energy.
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