Chapter 144: Witch, Stop Lying!
Continuously firing frost arrows consumes a significant amount of mana.
However, compared to ice spikes, the mana consumption of frost arrows is remarkably negligible.
Condensing a single ice spike requires about as much mana as conjuring over a hundred frost arrows; the true mana drain stems from the acceleration magic array utilized by the frost arrows.
Sumi Ao maintained a cold and rigid expression as she continuously targeted and fired upon the King of Daxishi.
Simultaneously, to prevent any sudden assaults from the King of Daxishi, she would, every few seconds, fire frost arrows into outrageous, improbable trajectories—angles where the King of Daxishi might potentially launch an explosive breakthrough.
These intervals were irregular, and the firing angles were completely randomized, entirely dependent on Sumi Ao's current mood.
This tactical maneuvering nearly startled the King of Daxishi out of his wits.
Initially, he attempted to find flaws within the Witch's attack patterns, or to seize an opportunity to unleash a sudden burst of offensive power, testing whether he could breach her defenses and capture the Witch.
Yet, had he actually attempted that just moments before, he likely would have collided directly with one of the Witch's frost arrows.
Thus, under the relentless barrage of Sumi Ao's frost arrows, the King of Daxishi's attempt to exhaust Sumi Ao's mana backfired, ending up exhausting himself instead.
The severe injuries he had sustained earlier were real. Even though he had consumed Lan Shaokong's heart, drawing upon its energy to rapidly repair his physique, very little of that remaining energy stayed within him.
Not to mention the two relentlessly entangled mutated monsters and the seemingly endless hordes of undying undead.
Furthermore, in order to obliterate Lan Shaokong moments ago, he had gathered all the surrounding blood from the corpses and condensed it into a single crimson spear.
This meant there was virtually no fresh blood left within the corpses of the undead besieging him; whatever remained was coagulated, corrupted, and uncontrollable. Consequently, if the King of Daxishi wished to rid himself of these troublesome undead, he had no choice but to literally shatter them to pieces.
It was utterly vexing.
In truth, none of the aforementioned troubles truly mattered to the King of Daxishi. The pivotal issue was that the damn mynah bird had bounced back, alive and kicking.
Hovering at a considerable altitude, the mynah circled high in the sky, pouring forth a torrent of filth and abuse.
"You piece of trash! Yes, I'm talking to you, calling yourself the King of Daxishi, putting on such a pathetic act!"
"You turtle's bastard, come up here and kill Lord Bird if you can! Can't hit me, can't hit me, can you? Let me drop a load on you!"
"I'm telling you, Lord Bird here—today, either you manage to kill Lord Bird, or Lord Bird gets to watch you get massacred!"
"Squawk, squawk, squawk! I saw it all clearly just now; your third leg got chopped right off, you dead eunuch, hermaphrodite, rotting-assed freak!"
"Don't you worry, Lord Bird will broadcast this to every single soul down here, so everyone knows what a eunuch you really are!"
"..."
Veins bulged visibly on the King of Daxishi's forehead.
Had anyone else hurled such curses at him, he wouldn't have felt the slightest irritation; at most, he would have cracked a grin, beaten the person to a pulp, and devoured them.
However, whether due to the mynah's particular vocal timbre or its infuriating pitch, hearing this foul language caused the blaze within his chest to burn ever more fiercely, nearly pushing him to lose his composure entirely.
If not for the Witch Sumi Ao's frost arrow onslaught, the undead devoid of any concept of living, and the two immortal mutated monsters, he would have prioritized slaughtering this mynah above all else.
Even reducing its bones to dust and scattering the ashes wouldn't suffice to vent the hatred in his heart.
The very instant his rage threatened to erupt, the King of Daxishi sensed something amiss and forcibly suppressed the fury within.
Yet, mere seconds of this hesitation were enough for several frost arrows to nearly pierce him.
No one knew that his ability to wield such terrifying combat prowess relied entirely on the blood within his veins.
Should even a single frost arrow strike him, freezing even a fraction of the blood inside his body would severely impair his strength.
Once his strength was diminished, his offensive power, speed, and reflexes would all plummet.
Should that happen, dodging the Witch's frost arrows would become utterly impossible.
Damn it all!
Fixating on Sumi Ao's frigid gaze, he had no choice but to endure it for now.
"Gather up all that flesh and blood!"
The Undead Queen had noticed the shattered flesh of Lan Shaokong. Taking advantage of the King of Daxishi being driven back by Her Grace the Witch, she immediately instructed the elite undead to collect these remains.
The moment the flesh arrived, the Undead Queen began devouring it voraciously.
Simultaneously, she did not forget Lin Henian and the mutated monster that had hunted him down. Both men had transformed into the undead, and both bore heavy responsibilities.
To maximize their success rate in completing their tasks, the Undead Queen summoned the pair to eat alongside her.
Compared to other members of the undead, these two had only recently been converted.
Consuming this flesh would allow for far superior digestion.
Sure enough, after consuming merely a few chunks, an intensely terrifying aura erupted from their bodies, including the Undead Queen herself.
Even Lin Henian and the mutated monster that had pursued him recovered a fraction of their sentience.
"I am Lin Henian..."
Lin Henian stared at the flesh in his hands, "tears" threatening to spill.
Yet, after waiting for a long while without shedding a single tear, he recalled that he was already dead.
"I am Cheng Kui... King of Daxishi, damn you!"
Crimson light flowed within the eyes of the undead mutated monster. The portion of Lan Shaokong's flesh handed to him turned to ash in the blink of an eye, the energy contained within entirely absorbed by him instantaneously.
"I need more."
Cheng Kui glanced toward the Undead Queen.
The Undead Queen returned Cheng Kui's look and pointed toward the newly collected remains of Lan Shaokong nearby.
Showing no hesitation, Cheng Kui strode over and absorbed every last ounce of energy contained within the dozen or so pounds of frozen flesh.
Standing at a distance, Lin Henian watched the scene with deep envy, yet he dared not utter a word of complaint.
Though they were both undead, he could sense that this Cheng Kui had grown even stronger and more terrifying.
The Undead Queen was exceedingly pleased.
She now possessed two additional high-ranking undead of similar caliber—especially Cheng Kui, who outmatched even her in raw strength.
"Digest this portion of power, then carry out Her Grace's commands."
The Undead Queen instructed.
There were not many fragments of Lan Shaokong's flesh left from subsequent deliveries, so the Undead Queen distributed the remainder among her other elite undead. These were her veteran subordinates whom she had been reluctant to throw directly onto the battlefield.
After all, throwing them into the fray at this juncture would simply mean being reduced to a pulp by a single punch from the King of Daxishi.
"You lot!"
The King of Daxishi caught sight of the scene unfolding here.
He was consumed by extreme fury; heaven only knew how powerful these undead might become after consuming Lan Shaokong's flesh.
Having so many fearless undead already made things troublesome enough; should they grow any stronger and genuinely manage to pin him down, whether he could continue dodging the Witch's frost arrows would become a serious problem.
Yet, before his anger could escalate further, Sumi Ao's frost arrows sealed off his vectors of approach, rendering him completely incapable of closing the distance to these undead.
"You piece of trash, aren't you mad? Are you itching to throw a tantrum? Go ahead and jump if you've got the balls."
"Jump on your grave!"
"..."
The King of Daxishi felt a sudden, inexplicable surge of rage flooding his mind.
Go to hell!
He unleashed a direct assault aimed squarely at the mynah.
With a squawk, the mynah shot straight up into the clouds, deftly evading the strike.
"You piece of trash, still not convinced? You wingless freak, how dare you swing at Lord Bird!"
Damn it all, that nearly scared the feathers off him; he had almost suffered heavy injuries again.
Gazing at the crater blasted into the clouds by the King of Daxishi, the mynah let loose a torrent of abuse, stoking the King's irritation higher and higher. Several times, the distraction caused him to miss his footing and nearly sustain injuries.
Just how did this Witch manage to raise such a despicable mynah?
The King of Daxishi desperately wanted to ask.
However, even if he were to ask, Sumi Ao would offer no reply.
When faced with strangers—especially one as savage as the King of Daxishi—Sumi Ao felt only fear.
In truth, Sumi Ao also found the mynah exceptionally noisy.
Yet, seeing the mynah mock the King of Daxishi with such tireless dedication, enduring it temporarily was of little consequence.
Sumi Ao recalled that within the game, undead magic featured spells capable of detonating corpses. It was a pity this was reality, and her undead magic derived entirely from *Blood Magic*, a grimoire devoid of corpse-detonation spells.
Even if such spells existed, she no longer had the opportunity to learn them; she had no idea where the mutated eagle had taken her spellbook.
What a terrible pity.
Otherwise, simply relying on the multitude of undead swarming around the King of Daxishi, detonating them all at once might have been enough to blow the bastard to kingdom come.
Even if a single explosion failed to kill him, detonating them a few more times would surely spell certain death for the King of Daxishi!
Right!
Perhaps this method was worth a try.
A brand-new strategy formed within Sumi Ao's mind, and she immediately issued an order to the undead: "Entangle him!"
Instantly, the undead closing in on the King of Daxishi shifted their combat stance, transitioning from aggressive attacks to frantic attempts to pin the King of Daxishi in place.
However, the King of Daxishi's offensive was intensely brutal; any undead that dared approach was instantly shattered.
As the battle dragged on, the King of Daxishi gradually began to feel the pressure.
His physical stamina was depleting at an accelerating rate.
The energy replenished by consuming Lan Shaokong's heart was simply far too meager.
Even worse, the undead had been created by the Witch Sumi Ao, yet they were commanded not by Sumi Ao herself, but by the Undead Queen—a dynamic entirely contrary to the King of Daxishi's expectations.
This discrepancy was precisely why his attempt to exhaust Sumi Ao had backfired into exhausting himself.
Before he realized it, the King of Daxishi had stumbled into a desperate predicament.
He felt a rage unlike anything he had ever experienced before.
If he were defeated in a one-on-one duel suppressed by someone of Lan Shaokong's caliber, the King of Daxishi would harbor not a single complaint.
Instead, he was being pinned down by an army of animated corpses, unable to launch even a single counterattack against the Witch's assault. This realization caused the fury in his heart to accumulate with compounding intensity.
Just how many corpses had he blasted to pieces?
The King of Daxishi hadn't kept count.
Nor was he able to.
Because if these corpses were not completely pulverized, they would simply pick themselves up and charge again, never halting until utterly destroyed.
Some corpses, reduced to mere torsos, still dragged themselves forward with unwavering tenacity.
If only to sink their teeth into his flesh.
He had to force a breakthrough!
Once again, the King of Daxishi unfurled his bizarre domain, accelerating his speed and multiplying his strength.
"Die!"
Throwing caution to the wind, he collided head-on with a mutated monster.
The mutated monster fought with ferocious savagery, but the very instant of impact, a vast torrent of blood inside the monster's body grew violent, lost its equilibrium, and violently exploded.
Simultaneously, the second mutated monster lunged forward, sinking its teeth viciously into the King of Daxishi's back and tearing away a chunk of flesh.
Enduring the pain, the King of Daxishi threw a punch that obliterated the mutated monster before him.
Ordinarily, such measures would be unnecessary.
However, simply killing this mutated monster would only result in the Witch converting it into an undead creature, creating an even greater nuisance.
Therefore, even at the cost of sustaining further injuries, eliminating these two mutated monsters had to take precedence.
"Argh!"
A delayed cry of agony finally escaped the King of Daxishi's lips.
He grabbed a few nearby undead to shield himself from the incoming frost arrows fired by Sumi Ao, then whipped around to grab the mutated monster attempting a second bite, slamming it heavily into a snowdrift.
Immediately afterward, concentrated blood energy surged directly into the mutated monster's body, triggering an instantaneous internal explosion that tore the beast apart.
This style of combat involved a direct loss of his foundational essence.
Yet, losing merely this fraction was a price he could afford to pay.
Conversely, remaining trapped and worn down in this war of attrition would spell true disaster.
"Now, it's your turn."
Gazing directly at Sumi Ao, the King of Daxishi erupted with explosive force, blasting apart the wave of undead that had just swarmed toward him.
In the blink of an eye, the ground was littered with shattered chunks of flesh—a scene more hellish than hell itself.
At least a thousand undead were obliterated in this single outburst by the King of Daxishi.
Terrifying!
Sumi Ao felt as though she could barely maintain her icy facade.
The sudden, frantic rampage of the King of Daxishi caught Sumi Ao off guard, forcing her to temporarily halt her barrage of frost arrows.
Tracking the King of Daxishi's movements had become entirely impossible.
"Squawk, squawk, squawk! Rotten-assed hermaphrodite, have you gone completely mad?!"
The mynah shrieked at the top of its lungs, though this only served to fuel the King of Daxishi's boiling rage.
"Hold him off."
Seeing the King of Daxishi shifting targets and lunging toward Sumi Ao with erratic movements, the Undead Queen immediately issued an order to all remaining undead in her vicinity.
Lin Henian and Cheng Kui, the two undead wielding highly toxic hallucinogenic agents, vanished in an instant.
Melting into the ranks of the undead, they lurged in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Unlike her previous retreat, the Undead Queen was the first to hurl herself forward, blocking the path of the King of Daxishi.
"Get lost!"
With a single blow, the King of Daxishi batted the Undead Queen away, vanishing once more in a blur of motion. After a few rapid flickers that swept away vast swathes of undead, he finally materialized directly in front of Sumi Ao.
Ke-he-he-he!
A malicious grin spread across the King of Daxishi's face as he thrust out a hand, intent on torturing Sumi Ao to death.
Ten paces. That was the distance separating them now, and victory felt entirely within the King of Daxishi's grasp.
At such close quarters, even if Sumi Ao unleashed another frost arrow, he felt not a shred of fear.
He caught the flash of undisguised terror deep within Sumi Ao's eyes—a fear that sent a thrill of excitement through him.
So you like shooting frost arrows, do you? So you like playing wheel-game tactics with your undead? So you thought you could pick up scraps because His Majesty was heavily injured?!
However, the moment his hand pushed forward, the King of Daxishi sensed something was deeply wrong. There was no freezing cold ahead; instead, waves of searing heat assaulted him.
Boom!
A giant fireball exceeding two meters in diameter materialized directly in front of Sumi Ao, detonating with earth-shattering force.
The King of Daxishi's eyes widened in shock as he violently threw his body sideways to alter his trajectory.
Damn it all! He had thought himself ruthless enough, but Sumi Ao proved even more unhinged. To detonate a fireball at such point-blank range—was she attempting mutual destruction just to force him back?
Yet this was his sole opportunity to close the distance to Sumi Ao; abandoning it now was entirely out of the question.
Condense!
The King of Daxishi materialized a layer of hardened armor woven from blood to absorb the explosion of the giant fireball.
In a fraction of a second, the King of Daxishi experienced what it meant to suffer 90% burns over his entire body, accompanied by structural damage to his internal organs.
These were mere trifles. With the circulation of blood within his body, a single breath was all it took to mend the wounds.
The Witch amounted to nothing more than this.
Landing on the ground, the King of Daxishi tilted his body, rocketing forward from the left flank toward Sumi Ao like a cannonball.
Only five paces remained; no magic, no matter how potent, could halt him now.
Die!
The King of Daxishi wore a visage of savage distortion, resembling a terrifying demon crawling straight out of the abyss.
Sumi Ao was genuinely frightened. Just as the King of Daxishi had surmised, under these circumstances, she had no time to deploy magic, nor even the fraction of a second required to twist a spatial magic array for defense.
Her sole recourse was instinctual: she whipped out her umbrella-sword, channeling mana through it as if she had rehearsed the motion ten thousand times over, drawing the blade and slashing forward in a single fluid motion.
A flash of crossed trajectories, and Sumi Ao materialized a few paces away from the King of Daxishi.
The King of Daxishi abruptly halted his frantic charge.
Not only had he failed to capture Sumi Ao, but his attempt to infiltrate and manipulate the blood within Sumi Ao's body had also met with complete failure. Just how formidable was this Witch's true strength?
Was the terror reflected in her eyes nothing more than an elaborate deception?
What horrified the King of Daxishi far more was that the very arm he had used to lunge for Sumi Ao had been cleanly severed by a single sword stroke, tumbling into the snowy earth below.
He attempted to summon it back using his blood connection, but the severed limb felt as though it had been permanently severed from his being, impossible to reattach.
Even Lan Shaokong had never managed to achieve such a feat.
Something was fundamentally wrong with that blade.
"Argh!"
The King of Daxishi emitted a shriek of agonizing pain.
This marked the first time he had ever unleashed a cry of anguish so piercing it tore at his soul.
From the stump of his right arm, a bizarre, malicious energy was burrowing its way into his body. Vaguely, the King of Daxishi could hear the screeching laughter of an insane woman.
"Give me your body! Hand over your body, I want revenge!"
What kind of unholy monstrosity was this?!
Acting with decisive ruthlessness, the King of Daxishi sacrificed another portion of his blood essence, forcefully purging the bizarre energy from his system.
Boom!
Right at that moment, another colossal fireball came screaming toward him.
Forcing down the urge to retrieve his severed arm, the King of Daxishi watched with gritted teeth as the giant fireball reduced his discarded limb to ashes.
"Witch..."
The King of Daxishi gnashed his teeth in hatred.
A liar!
This Witch was a goddamned liar!
Noticing the surrounding undead swarming back in for the kill, the King of Daxishi charged directly into their midst, carving a bloody path in a desperate bid to blast his way out and escape.
According to his original plan, he intended to exhaust the Witch Sumi Ao's mana reserves, only for the strategy to backfire into consuming his own.
Because of this, the King of Daxishi had been forced to expend his essence to launch a surprise assault straight to the Witch's doorstep, believing that once there, he could manipulate her at will.
After all, Sumi Ao was exceptionally young and merely a spellcaster; even if she possessed a degree of close-combat capability, he should have been able to dispatch her effortlessly.
Not to mention the look of genuine panic and terror that had flickered in Sumi Ao's eyes.
Such terror was a look the King of Daxishi had witnessed countless times before—utterly familiar and entirely impossible to fake.
Yet, never in his wildest dreams had he anticipated that this Witch was an absolute fraud, and that her close-quarters combat prowess far exceeded his worst estimations. Her burst speed had even surpassed his own.
In a single exchange, he had lost an arm.
This, no doubt, had been her true objective all along; everything prior had been nothing more than an elaborate facade.
The most absurd part of it all was that the Witch Sumi Ao, who was currently continuing to hurl colossal fireballs at him, still wore a face painted with undisguised terror.
If you're truly that terrified, would you mind throwing your fireballs a little slower and a little smaller, for crying out loud?!
Damn it!
Unable to afford any further distractions, the King of Daxishi resolved to utilize the cover of the undead to break out of the battlefield.
He would etch this humiliation deep into his memory!
He would return it tenfold someday.
However, a scene even more spine-chilling unfolded before his eyes.
Sumi Ao hurled her fireballs with complete disregard for the undead swarming around him to pin him down—a completely indiscriminate attack designed solely to ensure he remained trapped right where he was.
"Dammit, I've run into a raving madwoman!"
The King of Daxishi cursed aloud.
Up in the sky, the mynah had perched itself upon a towering tree, abruptly halting its torrent of abuse directed at the King of Daxishi.
It wasn't that it lacked the desire to continue hurling insults; rather, seeing Her Grace Sumi Ao in this particular state struck a deep chord of terror within it.
It vividly remembered the slaughter of the Fire God Base's leader; things had looked precisely like this back then.
Should it curse too loudly and annoy Her Grace Sumi Ao into tossing a giant blue fireball its way, its goose would be thoroughly cooked.
Right, Her Grace Sumi Ao hadn't even unleashed her giant blue fireball yet.
"Fly further away, fly further away!"
The mynah beat its wings, retreating hastily toward the horizon.
Spotted the golden-winged giant eagle and the grey giant eagle overhead, it shrieked at them to follow suit and distance themselves as far as possible.
Meanwhile, Sun Rong, Chu Zeke, Yu Feng, and Guo Yixing were also rushing toward the battlefield. Catching sight of them, the mynah immediately intercepted the group, ordering them to turn around and flee as far away as they possibly could.
During the recent period of relative tranquility, the mynah had watched Sumi Ao routinely toss tiny blue fireballs into her spatial magic storage day after day.
Compared to the past, the destructive potential of the tiny blue fireballs Sumi Ao stashed away had grown exponentially with each passing day.
Once those stored blue fireballs were finally unleashed...
Hiss...
It simply dared not imagine the consequences.
Though Sun Rong, Chu Zeke, Yu Feng, and Guo Yixing remained oblivious to the specific circumstances, since the order came from the mynah—which equated to a direct command from Her Grace the Witch—they executed it without a moment's hesitation.
The Undead Queen, previously battered into a heavy injury by the King of Daxishi, dragged herself back to her feet.
Catching sight of the mynah fleeing into the distance alongside the mutated giant eagles, a flicker of confusion crossed her mind.
Nevertheless, as an undead bound by absolute obedience, she had received Her Grace's direct command to annihilate the King of Daxishi, prompting her to resume commanding the undead hordes in their suicidal charges.
"Witch, don't push your luck! Let me go, and we'll call it even for everything that happened here today!"
The King of Daxishi bellowed from amidst the sea of undead.
To avoid hindering his mobility, he had hastily condensed a temporary right arm fashioned entirely from blood.
Naturally, this compromised his overall speed, and the lethal force he could project had plummeted significantly.
Even so, the endless waves of undead surging toward him were still being slaughtered in droves by the King of Daxishi.
Sumi Ao acted as though she were entirely deaf to the King of Daxishi's proclamations.
Had she not practiced her swordsmanship day in and day out...
Had this umbrella-sword not previously slain Chi Wanning, imbuing it with bizarre attributes that happened to counter the King of Daxishi...
She would have long since been slain by the King of Daxishi.
What brought Sumi Ao even greater relief was the realization that she had not remained holed up inside her villa, having instead mustered the courage to step out onto the battlefield.
Otherwise, once the battle between the cannibals and the Four Seas Base had concluded, the King of Daxishi would have devoured Lan Shaokong to grow even stronger before hunting down her villa—would she have stood a single chance of survival then?
"Kill him."
Sumi Ao swung her umbrella-sword, attempting to manifest another fireball, only to experience a sudden shock as the conjured flames sputtered into existence as a pitiful spark before instantly dissipating.
This was...
Her mana reserves had bottomed out.
Sumi Ao froze momentarily, a clear look of astonishment washing over her features.
Of course. Between the continuous casting of the Resurrection of the Dead, the sustained output of frost arrows, and the eruption of colossal fireballs amidst such extreme sub-zero conditions, her mana had depleted at an accelerated rate without her consciously realizing it.
She could no longer continue manifesting fireballs for offensive strikes...
Persisting in burning through her remaining mana would cause the protective barrier of mana coating her entire body to dissipate.
Unlike these superhuman ability-users, she lacked natural resistance; stripped of the protective aura of mana enveloping her skin, she would freeze to death within moments under these brutal, arctic conditions.
Clutching her umbrella-sword tightly, Sumi Ao temporarily ceased her offensive spells, the expression of terror on her face growing even more pronounced.
What should she do now?
"Hahahaha! Witch, where are your spells now?"
The King of Daxishi grinned broadly, shattering several undead lunging at him before offering a cold sneer: "Has your mana run completely dry?"
"Ke-he-he-he! Or perhaps you're attempting to deceive this King once more?"
"Let me tell you, this King won't fall for your tricks twice!"
For no other reason than this:
The instant the King of Daxishi noticed Sumi Ao's inability to manifest her fireballs, he had immediately attempted to manipulate the blood within Sumi Ao's body, only to find absolutely no response whatsoever.
Damn it!
This Witch was trying to pull another fast one on him!
With a mocking scoff, the King of Daxishi resumed his wide, sweeping assaults, tearing ruthlessly through the remaining ranks of charging undead.
Following the relentless combat and devastating mana bombardments, only a little over two thousand undead remained standing across the entire battlefield.
Though many among them retained elite undead characteristics, he only needed to pulverize a few more hundred to carve a clear path of escape from this place.
He was desperately curious to see what other tricks the Witch Sumi Ao had left up her sleeve.
Suddenly, a familiar figure materialized directly in the center of the undead horde.
Overflowing with unyielding resentment, the figure strode forward with heavy steps, uttering a raspy, eerie query: "King of Daxishi, do you remember me?"