Chapter 495: Are You Trying to Rebel?

Shuten-dōji flew into a rage, swinging his Spiked Club with all his might and smashing it toward Caesar with a dark red glow.

This strike was extremely fast and immense in power, sealing off all possible dodging positions for him.

He couldn't dodge it.

Yet Caesar, sitting on the throne, didn't even move.

Just as the Spiked Club was about to strike, tens of thousands of Soldier Beetles suddenly appeared, piling up into a thick wall of insects in front of Caesar.

"Boom!"

The Spiked Club slammed into the insect wall.

The several thousand Soldier Beetles in the very front were instantly smashed into powder, with black juices and shattered shells splashing everywhere.

The immense force transmitted outward, causing the entire insect wall to explode and shatter along with them.

Tens of thousands of Soldier Beetles were wiped out by just a single strike like that.

Zhou Huai didn't feel any heartache.

Let alone tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands would be the same.

These past few days, the hatching speed of his Soldier Beetles had multiplied several times over, and he already had over three million in his hands, with thirteen of them alone being at the Hell-level BOSS Rank.

This minor loss was nothing.

Zhou Huai's gaze turned icy as he raised his hand and pointed at Shuten-dōji in the distance.

"Buzz, buzz, buzz——"

Nearly one hundred thousand Soldier Beetles surged out from around him, rushing toward Shuten-dōji from all directions.

Shuten-dōji opened his large mouth disdainfully and took a fierce breath, causing his chest to swell accordingly.

"Roar——!"

A dark red shockwave mixed with the smell of alcohol was spewed out, sweeping toward the insect swarm.

At that moment, blue runes lit up on the shells of nearly ten thousand Soldier Beetles within the swarm.

The energy from their bodies converged, propping up a blue energy shield in front of the insect swarm.

"Rumble——!"

The shockwave crashed into the shield, which shattered after holding out for just a single second.

Those nearly ten thousand Soldier Beetles that activated the skill were also reduced to ashes, and the remaining might of the shockwave killed another tens of thousands.

In the blink of an eye, the one-hundred-thousand-strong Insect Tide lost twenty thousand.

However, even though the remaining Soldier Beetles were all injured, their speed became even faster.

With red light flashing in their eyes, they continued to pounce toward Shuten-dōji.

"Boom!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The first Soldier Beetle crashed into Shuten-dōji and self-detonated.

Immediately following that, the second, the third…

Dense explosions occurred one after another, the sounds of the blasts merging into a giant wave as the firelight illuminated the night sky.

Chong Wenguma, standing on the shoulder of the Ōtengu, also revealed a look of astonishment on his face upon seeing this scene.

He had never seen such a tactic of using weak creatures to carry out suicide attacks.

This was no longer simple manipulation of insects.

This was practically a moving disaster.

The explosions lasted for half a minute.

As the smoke and dust cleared, Shuten-dōji was still standing, but his entire body's skin was charred black, covered in wounds and oozing dark red blood, and even one of the horns on his head had snapped off.

"Roar——！！!"

He roared in agony.

Being injured by a group of bugs was a tremendous humiliation to him.

His eyes turned blood-red as he stared dead ahead at Caesar in the air.

No longer paying attention to the insect swarm, he kicked off hard with his body, transforming into a streak of red light as he charged toward Caesar.

He opened his giant mouth, and a dark purple energy sphere rapidly formed inside.

"Die!"

The next second, a dark purple pillar of energy exceeding ten meters in diameter shot out from his mouth, instantly crossing a distance of a thousand meters to blast toward the black throne.

This strike was too fast; Zhou Huai didn't have time to issue an order.

"Rumble——！！!"

With a loud crash, the black throne composed of Soldier Beetles was instantly vaporized by the energy beam, and Caesar was also engulfed by the energy.

He flew backward out of the firelight, plunging down into Fuji City below, smashing through dozens of high-rise buildings, and only stopping after gouging out a trench hundreds of meters long among the complex of buildings.

Smoke and dust filled the air, making it temporarily impossible to see his condition.

High above in the sky.

Chong Wenguma looked at the destroyed neighborhood, then glanced at the distant golden giant cocoon, a faint smile appearing on his face.

It seemed he had overestimated him.

He thought he was some big shot, but it turned out to be nothing much after all.

Kalen, who was still entangled in fierce combat with the Ōtengu, caught a glimpse out of the corner of his eye of Caesar being engulfed by the energy beam, and his heart sank heavily.

Dammit.

Could this guy Ever-changing Star Lord really kick the bucket just like that?

He wasn't doing much better at the moment.

The Ōtengu opposite him was ridiculously fast; every gale whipped up by the flapping of its wings was like a sharp knife.

Kalen's body was already covered in wounds deep enough to expose bone, and golden blood continuously seeped out, staining his charred skin even more mottled.

The Rank gap was simply too vast.

He couldn't even defeat the Shikigami summoned by the opponent.

Not to mention Chong Wenguma, who had been standing high above in the sky from beginning to end, watching with cold indifference.

If Ever-changing Star Lord really died, then he and Polina would probably have to forfeit their lives here today as well.

Just as Kalen was extremely anxious in his heart and even beginning to plot how to break through the encirclement with Polina.

"Rumble——"

In that flattened wasteland in the distance, a figure slowly stood up from the dust-filled sky.

He patted the dust off his body, and aside from his black trench coat becoming somewhat tattered, he was actually completely unscathed.

It was precisely Caesar.

With Zhou Huai's consciousness inside Caesar's body, he also sneered inwardly.

An SSS-Class Professional was an SSS-Class Professional after all.

Even if his Rank was still low right now, that terrifying all-attribute growth bonus was no joke.

Although he was only Rank 26 now, purely in terms of various bodily attributes, he was already not much worse than an SS-Rank Professional over Rank 50.

In certain aspects, he was even superior.

For Shuten-dōji to want to instantly kill him with just that move from earlier was simply wishful thinking.

High above in the sky.

Shuten-dōji's pair of violent golden slit pupils first froze in a daze after seeing Caesar's figure stand back up.

Immediately afterward, that astonishment was replaced by an even more intense excitement and bloodlust.

He let out a heaven-shaking, wild laugh, the laughter filled with the joy of encountering a powerful prey.

He raised the huge Spiked Club in his hand once again, dark red demonic Qi surging wildly around his body, clearly preparing to launch the next, even more ferocious attack.

However, just as he raised the Spiked Club, his movements suddenly stiffened.

"Roar…?"

Shuten-dōji let out a painful and confused low growl as his huge ghostly claws uncontrollably lifted, fiercely scratching toward his own head.

The sharp nails scraped harsh sounds against his hard skull, stirring up chains of sparks.

The skill he wanted to activate was inexplicably interrupted by himself right in the middle of channeling.

Seeing this, Zhou Huai in the distance revealed a cold sneer on his face.

Did you really think that the hundreds of thousands of Soldier Beetles I released earlier were just as simple as playing self-detonation games with you?

Under the cover of the explosions, right inside Shuten-dōji's body at this moment, there were at least a full hundred microscopic Alien Parasites crazily interfering with its consciousness.

There was no help for it.

Who told this guy's body to be so massive; it was simply a perfect parasitic breeding ground.

"Roar! Roar!!"

Shuten-dōji clutched his head, howling in agony in the air.

He could feel that inside his body, countless little bugs were crawling around randomly, biting his nerves, making it completely impossible for him to concentrate.

This excruciating pain and irritability stemming from the depths of his Soul plunged him into complete fury.

Chong Wenguma frowned tightly.

"Shuten-dōji!"

"What are you daydreaming about?"

"Why aren't you quickly killing that Insect Master!"

Hearing Chong Wenguma's commanding tone.

Shuten-dōji, who was already furious and irritable due to the interference of the Parasites inside his body, seemed to have found an outlet for release.

He suddenly raised his head, his blood-red eyes staring dead at his nominal "master".

An unprecedented ferocity and rebellion burst forth from his body with a boom.

"Roar——！！!"

A roar filled with endless anger resounded through the clouds.

The next second.

Shuten-dōji's massive body forcefully kicked off the ground, transforming his entire person into a dark red cannonball that shot up into the sky.

The Spiked Club in his hand whipped up a sky full of bloody light.

The target, however, was not Caesar in the distance.

But rather that old man who had been giving orders!

"Hmm?!"

Chong Wenguma's expression changed drastically.

He had never dreamed in his wildest dreams that his most powerful Shikigami would actually turn its blade against him!

This scene happened far too suddenly, and was far too preposterous.

He didn't even have time to make any effective defense.

He could only watch helplessly as that huge Spiked Club carrying destructive power rapidly magnified within his pupils.

"How dare you——!"

"Bang!!!"

Chong Wenguma's angry roar was completely cut off by a muffled, loud crash.

His transcendent and immortal-like figure was just like a golf ball struck away at high speed.

With a single club strike from Shuten-dōji, he was solidly batted flying right off the shoulder of the Ōtengu.

Cutting a tragic parabola through the air, he disappeared into the distant horizon.