I Can Devour Monsters' SSS Talents

Chapter 705: The Sacrifice Ritual Begins

Faint streams of energy separated from the bodies of some of them; streams that did not spread into the air, but instead moved toward the central part of the ritual.

Lian noticed the change from a distance.

’Has his plan started?’

He activated [ True Sequence ].

The energy flows became visible to him, but what he was seeing was different from ordinary mana.

This isn’t just mana.

For a moment, he looked at a Withered that was still alive, but its face was gradually losing its original features.

’He’s separating something from their existence.’

Lian had seen the prisoners’ memories before, he knew those creatures had identities and pasts before becoming Withered.

And now, White Oblivion was apparently targeting those very things.

Damn it.

His gaze returned to Roderick.

’If he really intends to kill Hollow Sun, I can’t let this ritual be completed.’

He was about to move, but before he could even take his first step, the Forsaken Apostate’s huge sword came down in front of him.

The stone ground split a short distance away.

Lian took one step back without hurry and looked at the knight.

"As long as my master’s command remains, you shall not pass." The Apostate’s deep voice came from behind his helmet.

Young Vorhelm looked at the blade for a moment and then raised his head.

"Then I guess I’ll have to keep bothering you."

And at that moment, One moved.

[ Fault Hand ]

One of One’s six hands of destruction struck the ground.

A narrow but deep crack moved from the eastern side of the plateau toward Vesperis.

The Twin-Oath Inquisitor slowly lowered his head, looked at the broken ground for a fraction of a second, and then moved to the left.

But One had been waiting for that reaction, and his second hand came down.

[ Collapse Hand ]

The damaged section of the stone ground beneath Vesperis collapsed.

The creature with two swords was forced to jump off the ground to maintain his balance, and at that exact moment, Two approached him from the right.

One of the wolf’s eight eyes turned golden.

[ Bone Mountain ]

Huge bone structures rose from the damaged ground and limited Vesperis’s landing path.

The Inquisitor turned his head slightly and then raised his right sword, gray and red flames moved along the blade.

The first slash broke one of the bone pillars.

But before he could make a second attack, One moved one of his healthier hands toward the swordsman’s arm.

At that moment, a semi-transparent shadow separated from Vesperis’s body.

[ Preceding Echo ]

The shadow performed the Inquisitor’s next movement slightly earlier than his real body, forcing the enemy to deal with the first version of the attack before the real strike arrived.

The shadow’s blue sword moved toward One from below, and the ant blocked the strike with one of his hands.

But a moment later, the real Vesperis followed the same path, and this time, the blade changed its angle at the last moment.

The edge of the sword struck One’s injured hand, and the sound of part of the ant’s natural armor breaking was heard.

One immediately pulled his hand back.

But the Inquisitor did not get another chance to counterattack.

Two raised his head, and another of his eyes turned golden.

[ Skyless Howl ]

The Skyless Howl echoed across the battlefield.

A compressed wave of mana struck the area around Vesperis and disturbed the energy flow in his semi-transparent echo for a moment.

The Inquisitor immediately retreated and turned his red sword toward the wolf.

But the wolf moved out of the attack’s path before it struck, even so, his movements were not as fast as they had been at the beginning of the previous battle. The injury to his side had not fully healed yet, and every sudden change of direction placed new pressure on his body.

Even the Bone Minstrel’s music could not immediately remove all his injuries.

Vesperis noticed this, instead of chasing One, he changed the direction of his blue sword toward Two.

The wolf was forced to retreat again.

And with two short steps, the Inquisitor took a position between One and Two that allowed him to keep an eye on both of them.

Lian watched the battle from farther away.

’His shadow attacks before his real body.’

’So it shows his next movement...’

But when he saw Vesperis change the blade’s angle to get past One’s defense, he corrected his conclusion.

’No, it only reveals the initial path.’

’After that, he can still adjust his strike.’

This difference was important.

If One and Two defended themselves only based on the shadow’s movement, the Inquisitor could deliver the real strike from a different angle.

Lian gave a short order.

’One, keep your distance. Don’t let him get within range of your injured hands.’

’Two, when the shadow attacks, keep your eyes on his real body.’

At the same time, the sound of another impact came from the central part of the plateau, and the Forsaken Apostate and Three had entered battle.

[ Ossuary Gravefield ]

The graveyard of bones formed in front of the Apostate.

Huge bone structures rose from beneath the ground and blocked three paths of the knight’s advance.

The Apostate moved his sword from the right. The blade passed through the first structure, and the upper part of the bones broke apart, sending broken pieces scattering around.

But before the knight could continue his attack, Three approached from the left.

His huge jaws opened.

The Apostate moved one of his lower wings to defend himself, and the sound of a heavy impact echoed across the battlefield.

Three was pushed back, but he managed to tear several damaged feathers from the wing, he landed farther away and raised his head.

"Are you still hiding behind your wings?"

The knight did not answer and raised his sword.

But just before the blade came down, a purple flow moved toward the damaged part of his shoulder.

Four.

Corrosion Poison once again entered through the cracks in the armor, and at the same time, another flow of Mana Disruption Poison spread around the wings on the right side.

The Apostate immediately noticed the threat, this time, he did not try to repel all the poisons with mana pressure alone.

Instead, he placed one of his damaged wings in front of his shoulder as protection and scattered a large part of the poisonous flow with a movement of his sword.

Lian noticed the change in his tactics.

’He learned from the previous attack.’

The Apostate was no longer allowing the poisons to enter his armor easily through the same path.

But his movement had a cost.

When the damaged wing was being used to protect his shoulder, it could not block Three’s attacks at the same time.

The Dreadmaw Sovereign did not miss this opportunity either.

[ Crimson Decree ]

The Crimson Decree struck the knight from the left.

The Apostate defended himself with his sword, but the pressure of the attack forced him to take half a step back.

Three raised his head with satisfaction.

"Much better, at least you’ve learned when to retreat."

But the knight lowered his sword, and at that moment, a huge pressure came down from above onto the central part of the battlefield.

[ Atlas’ Burden of Heaven ]

The stone ground beneath Three sank.

The bone structures around him cracked, and parts of the ground collapsed under the pressure.

The Dreadmaw Sovereign bent one knee for a moment but immediately pressed his limbs harder against the ground.

"Do you think a little pressure is enough to bring me to my knees?!"

Four’s voice echoed in Lian’s mind through the Colony connection.

’Technically, my lord, that idiot really did fall to one knee for a moment.’

Despite the situation of the battle, Lian could not stop himself from giving a short smile.

It’s better if Three doesn’t hear that one.

But at that moment, the Apostate brought his sword down from above.

Seeing the path of the blade, Three immediately moved his body backward, and the sword struck the ground.

A deep crack passed through the bone structures, and several ancient pillars broke farther away.

If Dreadmaw had reacted even a moment later, the strike would have hit his body directly.

The Dreadmaw Sovereign landed at a safer distance and looked at the crack in the ground for a moment. Then he growled in a low voice.

"Very well. Perhaps you have a little more power than I thought."

Lian slowly breathed out.

At least he finally admitted it.

But the situation of the battle was still difficult.

Despite his previous injuries, the Forsaken Apostate had managed to hold back Three and Four’s attacks for a while.

Vesperis was also putting pressure on One and Two on the eastern side.

And behind both of them, White Oblivion was continuing the sacrifice ritual without the slightest interruption.

Young Vorhelm looked toward the northern cliff for a moment.

’We’re only wasting time like this.’

He needed to change the situation, and a few moments later, an opportunity appeared.

To avoid the combined attack from One and Two, Vesperis retreated toward the eastern section.

At the same time, Three used Ossuary Gravefield and Crimson Decree to force the Apostate several steps westward.

Four also focused a new flow of poison on the damaged part of the knight’s armor.

The distance between the two servants increased, and the stone path leading to the northern cliff remained clear for a few seconds.

Lian noticed it.

Finally.

Without giving another order, he activated [ Thunder Ashen Step ].

His body moved away from its previous position.

Then two huge black dragon wings opened behind his body and carried him toward the north at an incredible speed.

The Forsaken Apostate immediately turned his head.

But at that moment, Three attacked him from the left side.

The knight was forced to change the direction of his sword to defend himself.

Vesperis also noticed Lian’s movement.

But One broke the stone ground in front of him with [ Fault Hand ], and Two limited his path of pursuit from the other side.

The distance between Lian and White Oblivion decreased in a very short time.

Roderick was still standing beside the cliff, he had not even turned his head.

Lian appeared only a few steps away from him and raised his right hand.

[ Glacial Reaper Claw ]