Game World: I Can Share Talents

Chapter 391 - 23: I Elbow Strike All Who Are Strong (Part 2)

"That Demon! Your Majesty has beaten him to his knees!"

"Invincible! Absolutely invincible!"

The Qinghui Guard, seeing this, instinctively began their formulaic cheers. When this group of Purity People, who had followed Westheid through countless campaigns, first started cheering for him, he was quite pleased. But over time, he had come to understand what these guys were really like.

When things were going well, they were the first to celebrate, popping champagne like there was no tomorrow.

But at the first sign of a setback, they were the first to act like the world was ending, masters of doom and gloom.

Westheid’s ears had long grown calloused from their praises. Far more than the admiration of the already-subjugated Purity People, he coveted the worship of the Royal Court Elves... This was crucial, a matter concerning his grand plan to conquer the Royal Court.

Thus, from the very beginning, Westheid had singled out the Master of Decay as a soft target, intending to crush him decisively and use him as a stepping stone.

Unleashing his full power, all his Talents flaring, the pale gold light of the [Rune of Music] shone brilliantly on his arm, causing Westheid’s strength to surge! To soar! To explode!

So what if he was a Celestial God’s Shadow? So what if he was a Divine Life form?!

All tangible things in the Mortal World are bound by the Laws under this sky. The [Demon Form] Talent might grant the Master of Decay 80% damage reduction, but he still had to take the other twenty percent.

’I’ll just brute-force it! Have a taste of what raw stats can do!’

An endless flurry of blows, a sudden squall of attacks—the first phase of their clash ended with Westheid’s complete domination.

Now was his time to execute, having seized an opening in the Master of Decay’s defense.

"Enough!"

An enraged roar carried the voice of the Master of Decay. The Bone Demon King could not bear such humiliation from a mere mortal and finally gathered his strength to break free from Westheid’s grasp.

Skidding back a long way, the Master of Decay said in a deep voice:

"My brethren, return. Offer your flesh and blood to me once more."

He simply raised his hand, and a spear that seemed forged from a coalesced Dark Star appeared in his grasp.

The Master of Decay plunged the spear into the earth. Then, a purplish-black mist erupted from the ground, like the roars and clamor of telluric fire, long dormant, finally unleashed.

Space was stripped away, the Domain contracted, and the mist blanketing the City in the Lake, along with all the Bone Demons, rapidly reversed course, converging until they all entered the Master of Decay’s body.

The twilight mist around the Demon grew more solid, nearly enveloping the Master of Decay completely. When he emerged from the mist again, his form was even larger. Black wind filled his tattered robes, causing them to howl.

The Divine Weapon formed from the mist shimmered with a sinister, cruel light.

"Tsk, tsk, tsk. You’ve sucked all your minions back into yourself? This taboo art of wantonly merging and separating souls... Don’t tell me Emperor Qianlu learned it from you?"

Westheid remarked with a click of his tongue.

"Him? Hmph! That fellow wouldn’t be satisfied with such a simple and crude Technique. He merely drew inspiration from us carnivorous clans."

The Master of Decay snorted coldly and said:

"I had intended to save this as a trump card for my struggles against other Demons. I never thought I’d have to use it here."

’Huh? So Demons aren’t all lovey-dovey with each other, either. Then again, that’s within my expectations.’ The cataclysm of the Demon’s Frenzy Banquet wasn’t a situation where all the Celestial God’s Shadows worked together. If that had been the case, it wouldn’t have been a mere disaster, because the Central Royal Court wouldn’t have stood a chance. It would have been wiped out in an instant.

The people of the Royal Court would have been met with the rule of Demons—which, in a way, would have been fine. After all, the Order established by Demons is still a form of Order. Aside from a few heaven-defying Demons who were particularly depraved, most were simple tyrants. Mortals could still survive by switching their allegiance.

But if the Demons fought amongst themselves, starting wars and chaos, then the people would truly suffer.

While Duke Qinghui was still mulling over the Master of Decay’s words, the latter swung his Blade Spear without warning. Westheid reacted instantly, parrying the Blade Spear with Shadow-Born. The shockwave from the clash of weapons erupted in a ripple-like pattern, spreading across the entire City in the Lake.

A part of Westheid’s arm, which was covered in pale gold Runes, immediately cracked. The Sword Spear forged from Glowing Radiance dissipated on the spot. Only Shadow-Born, relying on its own indestructible property, held firm in the block.

Seeing this, Duke Qinghui laughed heartily. "Hah! Now this is getting interesting. How much stronger did you get? Are you on my level now?"

"You whelp of a Holy Spirit! Don’t get too cocky! This is my true form! To show you how seriously I’m taking this, I will tear off your skin and smear your flesh and blood over the surface of every one of my bones!"

The Master of Decay described the barbaric customs of the Cannibal Bone Demons in a cold tone, a thought chilling enough to make one’s blood run cold.

"Good, good, good! Then let’s fight! If you can do it, what does it matter if I offer this body for you to devour? But if I win, don’t blame me for devouring you whole!"

Westheid trembled with excitement from head to toe. His Majesty the Knight King was no fraud who sought fame under false pretenses; he truly possessed the most precious quality of a Yonglan Knight: to rejoice at the sound of battle, and to grow stronger when facing a powerful foe!

’I’ll elbow strike anyone who’s strong!’

’Of course, if they’re too strong, I’ll regain my senses. That’s not being a coward; it’s avoiding a pointless sacrifice.’

Before letting the hot-blooded excitement go completely to his head, Westheid didn’t forget to turn and give orders to the Royal Court Alliance Army:

"Don’t just stand there! Go and liberate the other Cities in the Lake. This Demon and I still have a long fight ahead of us."

The Master of Decay occupied four of the Cities in the Lake. All of them were crucial hubs adjacent to the Central Royal Court, as well as nodes for the final act of the Grand Ensemble. The goal of this expedition was to reclaim these nodes. Once the Grand Ensemble could be restored in these locations, it would be a complete victory, and the Tuners would take over the battle.

With that said, Duke Qinghui and the Demon began the second, furious round of their battle.

The battle that erupted between them tore the earth asunder, swept through mountains, evaporated lakes, and filled river valleys.

Everywhere they went, a natural disaster raged. All techniques and schemes became meaningless. There was only a pure contest of power, a battle of attrition. It was, in a way, the simplest and purest form of combat.

A full-power battle between those at the Legendary Celestial Rank was already absurdly exaggerated. Generally, shattering mountains and splitting the earth was about the extent of it, since attacks were concentrated on a single point, with only the aftershocks spilling out at most.

But for beings like Westheid and the Master of Decay, who were approaching the level of Demigods, even the aftershocks from a simple raise of their hands or feet were utterly terrifying.

Westheid didn’t even need to win this fight. Having absorbed all his Bone Demon minions, the Master of Decay no longer had any forces capable of stopping the Royal Court Alliance Army. As long as they liberated the Cities in the Lake and realigned the nodes, the Grand Law Officer would lead the waiting rear guard into battle, displaying the true power of the Thousand Laws Royal Court.

At that point, victory would be within their grasp.

But winning like that was clearly not what Westheid wanted. He didn’t just want to win; he wanted to win beautifully, to win completely, to let everyone witness his greatness.

And so, within sight of the Royal Court Alliance Army, the battle between Westheid and the Master of Decay grew ever more intense. Even though the latter had played all his trump cards, as a bottom-tier Celestial God’s Shadow facing a Westheid who had the full support of the Ancient Demon, the Master of Extinction, he was still made to feel the meaning of a difference in raw stats.

With every clash, the colossal Bone Demon would be struck by a vicious elbow from the man.

"DONG—"

"DONG—"

"DONG—"

Ultimately, the Master of Decay had no way to sustain himself and was no match for Westheid’s endurance. After several days and nights of continuous battle, he finally began to show signs of weakness.

And Westheid finally seized his chance to execute, laughing wildly:

"Is that all you’ve got? Is that really all you’ve got?!"

He tore off its arms and legs, shattered its structural Armor, and lopped off its crowned head. Then, he fanned the Shadow-Born Fire, the embers piercing the Demon’s chest and hollowing out all its Spirituality. Finally, Westheid finished it by making the Skeleton Giant implode, bringing his performance of violent aesthetics to its zenith.

"PSHHHH—"

A series of detonations echoed from the Skeleton Giant’s body. It twisted violently, and despite being made of nothing but bone, its body swelled and cracked as if it were alive, before finally exploding into a torrential downpour of iron dust that was swept into the air.