Chapter 145: Instant-Killed?

Rumble—!

Muffled thunder rolled through the thick, heavy dark clouds.

That was not the might of the heavens.

That was the residual energy shockwave stirred up by the collision of powerhouses.

The sky had already turned into a tragic meat grinder.

Chen Guanyi's figure was as fast as a ghost, and every time the archaic longsword in his hand swung, it could leave a bone-deep wound on the Abyssal Demon Catfish's massive body.

But such a wound was merely an itch to the mountain-like giant beast.

"Old Chen! I've come to help you!"

A stalwart guild master wielding a giant axe roared and charged over.

His entire body burned with crimson-gold battle qi, and he himself was like a meteor soaring against the sky, fiercely slamming into one of the giant beast's tentacles.

However, that seemingly soft tentacle merely flicked casually.

Crack!

With a crisp sound.

That guild master, along with the battle qi on his body, was instantly blasted apart by the whip, turning into a mist of blood.

"Old Wang!"

Another mage guild master had crimson eyes; he chanted his final spell, transforming himself into a thunder spear that pierced heaven and earth.

"Beast! Go to hell!"

The thunder spear whizzed away, but it was casually coiled around by another tentacle and then fiercely squeezed.

The lightning light was extinguished.

One powerhouse after another, in the face of absolute power, were like moths flying into a flame.

They burned their lives, yet they could only leave one negligible scorched mark after another on the giant beast's body.

"Hahaha! Exhilarating!"

"This old man's life has been worth it!"

Another guild master laughed aloud in despair; he abandoned all defense, gathered his lifelong magic power at a single point, and chose the most tragic self-detonation.

Boom!

The small-scale energy explosion finally successfully blew off one of the giant beast's tentacles.

Dark green blood poured down from the sky like a waterfall.

The Abyssal Demon Catfish felt the pain and let out an angry hiss.

Its hundreds of tentacles whipped about frantically in the sky like madly dancing demonic snakes.

Every time they swung, a figure was blasted apart mid-air.

Chen Guanyi looked at the comrades falling endlessly around him, and a trace of grief finally appeared on his calm-as-ancient-wells face.

He knew that Simon City could no longer be defended.

"Old partners."

He took a deep breath, his voice not loud, yet it clearly passed into the ears of every survivor.

"It seems today is the day we bury our bones here."

"Being able to fight shoulder to shoulder with everyone is the greatest honor of my, Chen Guanyi's, life!"

"There is nothing more to say!"

A one-armed saber-wielder guild master grinned, revealing a mouthful of blood-stained white teeth.

"Come on! Let this beast see that not a single man in our Simon City is a coward!"

The next second, they burned their final vitality, transforming into the most dazzling streams of light as they charged together into that storm of death tentacles.

…

Above the clock tower.

Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf, expressionlessly chugging the last bottle of magic recovery potion in his space ring.

The alien beast army below continued to pour in endlessly from outside the city.

As if inexhaustible.

Under the siege of countless alien beasts, the entire clock tower had already begun to shake violently, collapsing at any moment.

[System Prompt: Underground Refuge No. 08 has been destroyed.]

[System Prompt: Underground Refuge No. 21 has been destroyed.]

The cold prompt tones continued to ring in his mind.

Out of forty-seven refuges, only the last twelve remained now.

Zhou Huai was very clear that the designer of this dungeon simply wanted all challengers to personally experience this kind of despair and helplessness as if the apocalypse had arrived.

But, sorry.

He truly couldn't empathize.

Not only could he not empathize.

His mood at this moment was actually quite good.

Thanks to these endless waves of alien beasts.

His Rank had successfully reached Level 30, smoothly completing the System's challenge quest.

The difficulty of this dungeon had far exceeded its proper scope.

Even with Gandalf as he was now, there was absolutely no possibility of clearing it.

Continuing to stay here no longer had any meaning.

But…

Zhou Huai thought of the Fat General who had used his life to block a fatal blow for him.

He thought of those eyes full of anticipation and entrustment before his death.

"Forget it."

"Consider it returning a favor to you."

Zhou Huai decided to use his very last mana bar to give it one more all-out fight.

Level 30—although he hadn't comprehended any new skills.

But the skill Ranks of [Thousand Mile Ice Seal] and [Geocentric Gravity Field] had both been upgraded.

[Thousand Mile Ice Seal] had reached LV3.

Its range was larger, its damage was higher, and its freezing effect was stronger.

[Geocentric Gravity Field] had reached LV2.

The gravity effect doubled directly from the original 10 times, reaching a terrifying 20 times!

For Gandalf, this was also quite a significant upgrade.

Looking at the new batch of alien beasts rushing to the bottom of the clock tower, Zhou Huai grinned.

He controlled Gandalf and leaped down from the crumbling top of the clock tower!

The alien beasts below, upon seeing this, immediately let out a chorus of excited hisses, baring their fangs and brandishing their claws as they prepared to tear this reckless mage limb from limb.

However, the next second.

The staff in Gandalf's hand suddenly lit up with a dazzling ice-blue light.

"[Forbidden Spell: Thousand Mile Ice Seal!]"

Hum—!!!

The ultimate chill swept madly in all directions centering around Gandalf like a silent avalanche!

The range of LV3 Thousand Mile Ice Seal was at least three times its original!

Wherever it passed, everything froze!

Whether it was ordinary demonic wolves or thick-skinned elite-Rank bosses, in front of this cold current, they were instantly sealed by a layer of thick, solid ice, turning into lifelike ice sculptures.

Gandalf's figure landed lightly on top of an ice sculpture's head.

Without a moment's pause, he stepped on those ferocious alien beast ice sculptures and sprinted madly toward the direction of the battlefield in the sky.

At this moment, the situation in the sky had been completely suppressed by the Abyssal Demon Catfish.

Of the team of dozens of top powerhouses originally, only a sparse few including Chen Guanyi remained now, still stubbornly holding on.

Calamity-level and Hell-level bosses only differed by one difficulty tier.

But the gap in strength even exceeded the chasm between S-Class Professionals and SS-Rank Professionals.

But this time, there is still me!

Zhou Huai's gaze was as cold and sharp as a blade.

I haven't even settled the score with you for that blast you hit me with earlier!

Seeing that the distance was about right, Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf to stop and began to chant.

"[Forbidden Spell: Geocentric Gravity Field!]"

"[Arcane Dual Derivation!]"

"[Forbidden Spell: Geocentric Gravity Field!]"

You think being in the sky makes you great?

Get down for this old man!

Hum—! Hum—!

Two invisible, supremely heavy force fields stacked together, suddenly shrouding the Abyssal Demon Catfish in the sky!

A terrifying gravity of forty times descended instantly!

"Roar—!!!"

The Abyssal Demon Catfish let out a painful and angry roar.

Its massive, mountain-like body could no longer maintain suspension, uncontrollably plummeting rapidly from high altitude!

Boom—!!!!

Its huge body smashed fiercely into Simon City; the earth trembled violently, and countless buildings collapsed with a roar.

Only then did Zhou Huai see the full health points of the Abyssal Demon Catfish for the first time.

He couldn't help but freeze.

[Abyssal Demon Catfish · Kraken LV40 (Hell-level BOSS)]

[Health Points: 7589312 / 8481701]

Good grief!

8 million health points!

This was the boss with the most health points Zhou Huai had ever seen.

So, Chen Guanyi and this group of top powerhouses fought to the death in the sky for so long.

And they just gave this boss a light scratch?

Zhou Huai's mouth twitched uncontrollably.

Viewed this way, the past rumor that Chen Guanyi perished together with a Hell-level BOSS.

Was very likely beautified by later generations.

The true situation was probably that Elder Chen Guanyi self-detonated.

The Abyssal Demon Catfish had a slightly dirty hem.

Zhou Huai did not delay any longer, taking advantage of the time before the boss reacted from the dizziness of the fall.

He poured out all of his forbidden spells that were currently off cooldown all at once.

"[Forbidden Spell: Meteor Fire Rain!]"

"[Forbidden Spell: Thousand Mile Ice Seal!]"

"[Forbidden Spell: Blazing Blade Storm!]"

For a time, flames, frost, and wind blades—three destructive powers—completely submerged the Abyssal Demon Catfish's massive body.

However, after a series of world-destroying skill bombardments, Zhou Huai went to look at the boss's health bar again.

[Health Points: 699312 / 8481701]

Zhou Huai's eyes lit up upon seeing this!

There's a chance!

I can still scratch it down.

Next, if I continue to grind down its health, I might really be able to butcher it!

At this moment, the Abyssal Demon Catfish's massive body struggled violently on the ground.

Its hundreds of tentacles whipped frantically at everything around it like frenzied giant pythons.

The entire Simon City shook violently along with it.

It was thoroughly enraged.

A mere ant actually dared to drag it down from the sky!

What an utter and shameful humiliation!

"Roar—!!!!"

It let out a roar seemingly from the nethermost abyss.

All the tentacles on its body suddenly tightened, pointing straight up toward the sky in unison!

Zhou Huai couldn't help but freeze.

Because he saw the Abyssal Demon Catfish roar, its health points.

Suddenly surged from over 8 million to over 20 million.

"What… is this situation?"

The next second, a dark purple halo that could not be described with language suddenly spread toward the entire city centering around it!

Wherever the halo passed, space warped and all things were annihilated.

Zhou Huai's pupils constricted sharply, and alarm bells rang loudly in his heart.

He wanted to dodge, but found that his body seemed to be imprisoned by an invisible force, unable to move at all.

By the time he reacted.

The world before his eyes had been completely swallowed by that deep dark purple.

…

Imperial Capital Academy, Myriad Manifestations Trial Building, Eleventh Floor.

The light in front of the teleportation gate flashed.

Gandalf's figure appeared within the noisy and bustling lobby.

Around him were students coming and going with varied expressions.

Zhou Huai controlled Gandalf, stunned in place, still not quite recovering his senses.

Only then did he belatedly realize.

Holy shit.

Was I… instant-killed?