Chapter 850: Death-Soul Chix
No blood flowed. Skin, muscle, bone, and organs writhed like a mass of worms, rapidly re-fusing and regenerating as new cells were born, sealing the wound in seconds.
This was the result of Orion’s Siren Regeneration, a skill that granted him superhuman healing. As long as his head and heart were not dealt a fatal blow, he was effectively immortal.
The attack had, at least, allowed Orion to get a look at his opponent: a shadowy figure shrouded in black mist. It had a humanoid body, powerfully built and as tall as Orion himself.
Within the shadow, Orion could make out a stiff, dead face—or rather, a cold, human-like mask. Behind the mask, two motes of lifeless green ghostfire burned for eyes. They stared at Orion, glinting with a cold light.
At that mont, Orion’s figure flashed. With two consecutive leaps, he was high in the air. In the spot where he had just been, another massive scythe blade materialized from the void, slicing toward where his neck had been.
It missed.
"A terrifying healing ability, and sothing like teleportation. Interesting. But you..."
As the shadow figure spoke, the Flesh Golem at the center of the arena let out a furious roar. A new, even more grueso scythe flew out on the end of a chain, striking directly at the shadow. The figure was clearly within the Golem’s attack range.
The Golem’s assault was too sudden, too fast. The shadow figure had no ti to parry or dodge.
And yet, when the scythe passed through its body, it was like slicing through empty air. The shadow stood in its original spot, completely unhard. However, as the scythe swung back around for another pass, the shadow figure flickered, teleporting to a higher position and out of the Flesh Golem’s reach. The Golem threw its head back and roared at the figure but did not attack again.
So it’s a restricted, peak-Archlord level Flesh Golem, Orion concluded. In that brief exchange, he had gathered his first piece of intelligence. The Golem’s purpose was to guard the teleporter and to indiscriminately attack any enemy who entered its limited domain.
Next was the shadow figure. In dodging the Golem, it had displayed two abilities. One was a form of phasing, allowing it to ignore physical attacks. The other was teleportation. Either one would have been a problem. Both together made Orion’s brow twitch.
So this is the strength of a peak-tier Archlord? This is certainly a challenge.
In truth, Orion had an opportunity to attack when the shadow figure was being targeted by the Golem. But he had chosen not to. Firstly, his waist wound was still in the final stages of healing. It wasn’t that it wasn’t functional, but using Instant Impact put imnse strain on the body. He worried that using the skill before he was fully healed would aggravate the injury, which would be a costly mistake. Secondly, he wanted to use the opportunity to gather more intelligence on his opponent.
The phasing and teleportation were his reward.
The Flesh Golem’s attack had also dissipated the mist surrounding the figure, revealing its true form.
"Is that... a puppet?" Orion wondered aloud.
The being was emaciated, its body wrapped in tight leather armor. Its withered skin was covered in a dense network of mystic runes.
As Orion gazed at them, he had the strange sensation of facing and comprehending Death itself. It was as if the runes held so profound truth that he could see and be shocked by, but whose essence he could not yet grasp. The figure dragged a huge, dark red, rust-stained scythe, undoubtedly the source of the phantom blades that had attacked him.
"A puppet?" the figure scoffed. "Oh, no, no, no. Though we are opponents, please do not insult us with such a comparison. How can such a low-class thing be compared to the soul-form of our Death-Soul race?"
The figure let out a low chuckle and teleported, closing the distance to Orion.
Orion’s pupils flickered with a mixture of confusion, caution, and a sliver of opportunity. "The Death-Soul race?" he asked, his confusion genuine. He had truly never heard of them.
"Allow
to introduce myself. I am Chix, Marquis of the Death-Souls. After this duel, perhaps we can be friends. Until then, you have my apologies!"
As he finished speaking, rings of runes began to rise from under Marquis Chix’s feet, ultimately forming a sacred, pagoda-shaped formation.
The array took shape, and with another low laugh, Chix teleported directly in front of Orion, his scythe swinging down at Orion’s head. Simultaneously, a translucent, illusory pagoda materialized above Orion, pressing down on him like a mountain.
Boom!
Orion’s body dissipated. It was not his physical form, but an afterimage. The instant Chix had teleported, Orion had already used Instant Impact to move.
Their brief conversation had not been for the sake of conversation. Chix had used the introduction to distract Orion while secretly preparing his arcane formation. Orion, anwhile, had used that sa mont to finish healing, bringing his body back to its peak state.
"I am Orion, King of the Giants. A pleasure to et you."
Orion raised his trident, Fla of Will. A fire ignited at its tip, blazing with a heat that mirrored his own searing, endless battle spirit.
At the sa ti, the Eightfold Spear Barrage materialized in the void, surrounding both him and Marquis Chix. While his opponent had been talking, Orion had been recovering—and preparing his own attack.
"As expected. Anyone who can participate in this duel is a force to be reckoned with." Sensing Orion’s fighting spirit, Chix chuckled and raised his scythe, his own aura rising to et the challenge.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The blood-red spider spears of the barrage suddenly ignited with crimson flas. With a shudder, they launched themselves at Chix like a shower of fiery teors.
Faced with such a dense attack, Chix simply smirked. The pagoda-shaped formation enveloped him completely. As the rain of spears struck the formation, they were wreathed in black smoke and, like icicles dropped into boiling water, dissolved into nothingness.
Seeing his attack fail, Orion showed no disappointnt on his face. This was just the beginning, the first probe.
Within the Eightfold Spear Barrage, more spears were continuing to form. This ti, however, Orion imbued them not only with fire, but also with his lightning power.
Crackling spears of lightning appeared, and the Eightfold Spear Barrage transford into a deadly electric net, closing in around his enemy.
Marquis Chix looked up. Seeing this, his face grew grim for the first ti.
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