Facing the ceaseless, driving rain, the braziers lining both sides of the great road still burned fiercely.
The thick curtain of rain obscured the view ahead, but a massive silhouette seed to be waiting on the road in the distance.
Bai Shi swung his arm, and a great gust of wind swept through, instantly dispersing the gloomy rain and dark clouds from the sky.
It was the classic Souls-like technique! He had cancelled the rain!
Alright, in reality, he had just used a divine beast's ability to alter the weather, taking control of the climate around the Divine Tower.
Once the rain vanished, the road ahead beca perfectly clear, and the figure appeared distinctly in Bai Shi's sight.
A "fatty" whose entire body seed to be covered in sagging skin, looking much like the Michelin Tire Man, was waiting in the middle of the bridge.
The figure was enormous.
Not only was its height astonishing, but its width was easily comparable to its height.
However, all that loose, bloated skin was not his own.
The powerful, muscular arms visible beneath his robes were proof that he wasn't truly fat.
Each and every fold of skin had been taken from other sacrificial victims who had been flayed.
He wore a robe stitched together from smooth pieces of skin, and his apron was adorned with seven flayed, stretched-out faces.
Without a doubt, this was a Godskin Noble, one who had once followed the Gloam-Eyed Queen.
The Godskin Nobles were the eldest of the Godskin, their status even higher than that of the Apostles.
Beyond that, their power was not to be underestimated.
They had, after all, once followed the Gloam-Eyed Queen, hunting gods across the Lands Between.
Although the identities of these gods remain unknown, any being called a god must have possessed formidable strength.
The Godskin Noble, seeing the rain that had concealed him vanish from the sky, was puzzled.
The rain in Liurnia was incessant. Why had it suddenly changed today?
Lifting its head, the Godskin Noble saw Bai Shi.
Upon spotting the outsider, the Godskin Noble didn't hesitate. Gripping its Godskin Stitcher, it began to walk forward, step by step.
The bloated skin on its body trembled with each step, and a thick, serpentine tail swayed behind it.
—
Watching the Godskin Noble approach, Bai Shi shook his head.
Bai Shi had no intention of taking this Godskin Noble's life.
After the Gloam-Eyed Queen was defeated, a large number of the Godskin had established a cooperative relationship with Ranni's house.
There was a Godskin Noble before Ranni's Divine Tower, and a Godskin Apostle at the bottom of Radahn's.
If these two instances were about hiding them away, placing them in deserted locations like the Divine Towers, then Rykard wasn't even putting on an act.
After all, Rykard was in open opposition to the Golden Order, so placing a Godskin Noble inside his volcano ant nothing to him.
And speaking of the Gloam Eye, lina also possessed it.
If she wished, she could easily rally all the Godskin Apostles and Nobles once more.
In any case, the Godskin could be considered friendly units.
Bai Shi spoke to the advancing Godskin Noble, his tone a command:
"I am not your enemy. Let
pass."
But the Godskin Noble did not respond, instead quickening its pace.
As the distance between them closed, the Godskin Noble bent its arm, raising the Godskin Stitcher before it.
The elegant rapier, with its celadon-green blade, thrust out again and again, stabbing relentlessly toward Bai Shi.
The swordsmanship of a noble was superior to that of an ordinary man.
The speed of the flurry was almost too fast for the naked eye to follow.
Considering the weapon's size, this was a terrifying feat.
However, Bai Shi remained untouched amidst the torrential storm of attacks.
Bai Shi weaved back and forth, the lightning-fast rapier only managing to pierce the afterimages he left behind.
Watching the nacing Godskin Noble, Bai Shi nodded.
Just as he thought. The power creep in the Land of Shadow was insane. *This* was the normal power level for the Lands Between.
Seeing the Godskin Noble's sharp and fierce swordplay, Bai Shi's interest was piqued.
Bai Shi curled a single finger, and as if flicking soone on the forehead, he flicked it at the incoming Godskin Stitcher.
A tempest of force collided with the rapier on the Godskin Noble's final sweeping strike, precisely launching it into the air.
Seeing that its stitcher was ineffective, the Godskin Noble suddenly thrust its belly forward.
With the motion, the sagging skin on its body inflated, popping out like an airbag.
A wave of black fla surged outward with the impact.
The flayed skin still retained its oils, making it soft and elastic, so such a move caused it no damage.
Bai Shi took a step back, not wanting the slick, flayed skin to touch him.
As Bai Shi was forced back, the Godskin Noble's body inflated again, and its entire form began to float in the air.
The next mont, the grotesquely bloated body of the Godskin Noble ca crashing down toward Bai Shi.
Bai Shi retreated again, dodging the Noble's devastating body slam.
The Godskin Noble's robes were now spread out before Bai Shi, wobbling like jelly.
Seeing the garnts made from flayed skin up close, Bai Shi could even make out the fine textures on the flesh.
The skin used to make these clothes was all immaculately smooth.
If it were on a living person, such skin would naturally be quite fine.
Unfortunately, knowing that all this skin had been peeled from people, its smoothness and delicacy only inspired revulsion.
To be frank, it was rather disgusting to look at.
Bai Shi suddenly lost the desire to continue playing around with the Godskin Noble.
Bai Shi reactivated his moonlight mark, causing the dark moon to manifest before the Godskin Noble.
"If you don't want to die, stop obstructing ."
Seeing the dark moon, the Godskin Noble was visibly stunned for a mont.
But after a brief hesitation, it attacked again.
With a wave of its left hand, the god-slaying Black Fla of the Gloam-Eyed Queen spread across the ground, closing in on Bai Shi.
Bai Shi raised an eyebrow.
The Godskin Noble reacted to the moonlight mark, but it didn't stop?
What a strange response.
Does it no longer obey Ranni? No, that can't be right. Then why is it still guarding the Divine Tower?
And it won't say a word, won't explain the situation.
Why is it that all these characters love to play the silent master, insisting on getting a beating before they're happy?
This ti, however, the Godskin Noble was not to bla.
Ranni's order to him had been to seal the bridge to the Divine Tower.
"Absolutely, under no circumstances, is anyone but
to reach the Divine Tower!"
Thus, even if Bai Shi revealed the moonlight mark, the Godskin Noble would not grant him passage.
And Ranni... she had naturally forgotten about this little detail.
But even if she had rembered, she wouldn't have bothered to inform it.
After all, there was no way the Godskin Noble could stop Bai Shi.
The Godskin Noble used the black flas to shroud its body and once again inflated its suit of human skin.
Its body beca rounder and rounder until it turned onto its side, beginning to roll toward Bai Shi like a tire.
Watching the Godskin Noble, now using its wheel-rolling attack, erge from the black flas, Bai Shi couldn't help but complain internally.
What was old man Miyazaki thinking when he ca up with this move?
With this attack and appearance, he'd better watch out for the Michelin Tire Man invading him as a red phantom for copyright infringent.
Watching the charging Godskin Noble, Bai Shi summoned the Ruins Greatsword, a weapon he hadn't used in a long ti.
Among the weapons in Bai Shi's arsenal, the Ruins Greatsword truly didn't rank very high.
Although it was a legendary weapon, that was only because its history was more famous than others.
In terms of sheer power, whether in physical damage or gravity manipulation, the Starscourge Greatsword, enhanced to
9, completely crushed it.
As for its other aspects, it was too ugly and lacked any fun factor, so it couldn't even serve as a toy.
Its only outstanding feature was that it was sufficiently thick and heavy, like a shield.
Watching the Godskin Noble roll toward him at high speed, Bai Shi gripped the heavy Ruins Greatsword with both hands.
Taking aim at the Godskin Noble, Bai Shi turned sideways and raised the greatsword.
The Godskin Noble continued its roll, charging toward Bai Shi with ferocious montum.
Its imnse weight made the sturdy bridge tremble slightly, causing pebbles and dust to dance on the ground.
Bai Shi held his position until the Godskin Noble was right in front of him.
A smile touched Bai Shi's lips. With both hands, he swung the long-prepared Ruins Greatsword, twisting his body to bat it at the Godskin Noble.
"Ho run!"
The Godskin Noble's bulging belly was struck by the massive greatsword, caving in deeply.
The colossal force from the Ruins Greatsword transferred into the Godskin Noble's body.
It abruptly realized that the power it had been building up with its continuous rolling was now utterly laughable.
The next mont, its heavy body was sent flying backward at a speed countless tis faster than its approach.
Bai Shi casually propped the Ruins Greatsword on his shoulder and started walking toward the spot where the Godskin Noble would land.
That single hit had sent the Godskin Noble flying. Luckily, it didn't knock it off the bridge, or it would have gone out of bounds.
Thinking about the force he'd just used, Bai Shi suddenly worried, *Did I just kill it in one hit?*
It seed... entirely possible...
Soon, Bai Shi arrived at the Godskin Noble's landing spot.
The Godskin Noble was in a wretched state, its elegant, noble air completely gone.
The robe stitched from skin had been torn to shreds, bursting open.
The faces on its apron were mostly ripped apart by the imnse force, each one twisted into a grotesque mask.
Even the purple decorative gem on its chest had been shattered to pieces.
Despite the devastating blow, the Godskin Noble hadn't died on the spot.
However, its current condition could hardly be called good.
The Godskin Noble's body was splayed on the ground in a helpless heap, like a boneless creature.
Bai Shi's ho run had delivered a massive impact, shattering nearly every bone in its body.
Just in ti, a Black Fla's Protection had ignited on its body, reducing the physical damage it took.
The inflated robe had indeed functioned like an airbag, absorbing a majority of the force.
Combined with the resilience of its serpentine body from the Aspects of the Crucible, the Godskin Noble had barely managed to cling to life.
Seeing the half-dead Godskin Noble, Bai Shi scratched his hair.
He really forgot to hold back...
It was mainly the pose. When you're set up like that, you instinctively want to hit any incoming object with all your might.
Oh well, as long as it wasn't dead, it was fine.
Seeing Bai Shi approach, the Godskin Noble grew tense and began to heal its injuries with all its might.
Its muscles writhed and squird, twisting its broken bones back into place.
The life force of the Crucible was continuously stimulated, forcefully knitting its skeleton back together as its wounds rapidly healed.
The Godskin Noble managed to get back on its feet just before Bai Shi reached it.
Seeing the Noble, with its arms still trembling, raise its weapon toward him again, Bai Shi couldn't help but feel moved.
Such dedication. Even in this state, it was still thinking about a fight.
Godskin Noble, you have no need to face an enemy you can't possibly defeat!
Faced with the Godskin Noble's determination to resist to the end, Bai Shi planned to just knock it out and leave it here.
Just then, Bai Shi suddenly rembered the Sleep Pots he had never used.
He had originally gathered St. Trina's Lilies to craft Sleep Pots specifically for dealing with the Godskin Apostles and Nobles.
But he had leveled up so quickly that he no longer needed Sleep Pots to fight them.
Plus, now that he had St. Trina's Torch, the pots were even more useless.
If he didn't use them for so special kind of hypnotic play in the future, he'd never get rid of these Sleep Pots.
In that case, this was the perfect opportunity to see if the Godskin Noble was still weak to sleep.
Go on, I choose you to be the first victim of hypnosis!
Bai Shi pulled out a Sleep Pot and tossed it at the Godskin Noble before him.
It hits the target, and the weaker the target's condition, the better the effect. Wasn't this just like a Poké Ball?
The Godskin Noble's rapier thrust out, precisely shattering the Sleep Pot in mid-air.
But a cloud of deep purple smoke billowed out, instantly blanketing its face.
The Godskin Noble imdiately held its breath, but it was too late.
The deep purple gas enveloped its entire body; it wasn't sothing that could be blocked just by holding one's breath.
The Godskin Noble ignited its Black Fla, lightly scorching itself.
The searing pain restored a tiny sliver of its lucidity.
However, St. Trina's hypnosis wasn't a simple matter of making one feel drowsy.
It was a power originating from an Empyrean's other half, a dangerous ability that forced one into a deep, heavy slumber.
If St. Trina were to unleash this power herself, one would likely never wake up, falling into an eternal sleep.
Gradually, the Godskin Noble lost its will to resist and sat down on the ground.
Its head drooped, and just like that, it fell fast asleep.
Seeing that the Godskin Noble had truly fallen asleep, Bai Shi nodded.
It seed the power of the Sleep Pots was still quite potent. Even a formidable Godskin Noble went down in one hit.
Bai Shi left the slumbering Godskin Noble behind and walked toward the Divine Tower.
The Godskin Noble wasn't so cute girl. Hypnotic play was out; getting left behind was more his style.
Except, after being left this ti, Bai Shi wouldn't be coming back.
Bai Shi pushed open the great doors of the Divine Tower of Liurnia and rode the lift all the way to the top.
Finally, at the pinnacle of the Divine Tower, Bai Shi saw the charred corpse and the Cursemark of Death that Ranni had left behind.
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