Apocalyptic Era: Starting from picking up a Bishoujo
Chapter 552 - 518 VS Great Demon Xuanwu 1

Chapter 552: 518 VS Great Demon Xuanwu 1

An immeasurable amount of water erupted explosively from beneath the ground, shattering the vast Abandoned Evangelical Institute like a toy house sent skyward by explosives.

The spectacular scene reminded me of the geysers in volcanic areas that I once saw on a television science program. Although not as massive as what is happening now, it similarly burst forth suddenly from underground. We, like ants caught in its turmoil, were swept away.

Everyone in the courtyard was sent soaring by the overflowing "fountain," while below, I caught sight of the culprit behind it all.

It was a gigantic monster, beyond what one could ever see in a world shaped by common knowledge, as if flown out from a mythological realm.

Its body stretched at least a hundred meters long, composed entirely of black water, resembling the legendary dragon that stirs clouds and summons rain. Upon its back was a pentagonal array radiating a haunting blue light, like a vast shield.

A mysterious female referred to it as the "Great Demon Xuanwu."

This gigantic monster turned out to be the creature that the Water Navy Xuanwu became after falling into darkness as the Great Demon during the Doomsday Era, and was the target I had once intended to challenge in a future hunt?

The appearance of the Great Demon Xuanwu here was as shocking as its manner of arriving. I had considered hunting it, using its flesh and blood as medicine to fully restore Mazao’s soul. However, its arrival was far too sudden, leaving me completely unprepared. I felt like an ancient hunter planning a mammoth hunt, who hadn’t yet had a chance to sharpen his spear when the mammoth unexpectedly fell from the sky and crashed into his straw hut.

The wandering spirit mentioned that the Great Demon Xuanwu might be hunting the remnants of Tai Sui. Whether or not the mysterious female is No. 7, her connection as Tai Sui’s closest aide during life is undoubtedly accurate, and she is likely part of the remnants now being wanted by the Evangelical Institute.

The keyword "Tai Sui remnants" seems to link the two together. But is there a causal relationship between the appearance of the Great Demon Xuanwu and the mysterious female?

There’s no time to ponder; the Great Demon Xuanwu below is definitely targeting us. It raised its massive head, formed from black water, with only a vague outline and no indication of where it was looking. Still, I could sense its focus locked onto both me and the mysterious female.

It opened its huge mouth and emitted a roaring howl. The Abandoned Evangelical Institute was already completely submerged in water, which boiled violently in response to its roar, transforming into a torrent and sweeping toward us.

The mysterious female hurriedly escaped into a chaotic, turbulent space-time just as she had dodged my attack last time, while I immediately summoned flames to launch a counterattack below.

The immense stream of flame surged downward like molten iron poured at a steel mill, capable of evaporating the lake below completely, the released light banishing all darkness from the area. Yet, against the Great Demon Xuanwu’s blow, my flames didn’t prove as formidable as they appeared. In the clash, the fire was shattered as if smoke striking steel.

Comparing water to steel may be hard to grasp, but the "solidity" of the water released by the Great Demon Xuanwu was beyond comparison to worldly steel. The Water Navy Xuanwu once controlled the same black water. Its blackness was due to extreme density, exhibiting non-Newtonian fluid properties like silt, possessing both "hardness" and "fluidity," two contradictory characteristics.

The black water of the Great Demon Xuanwu vastly surpassed that of the Water Navy Xuanwu, yet merely having high density wouldn’t easily defeat my flames.

As I predicted, the Great Demon Xuanwu had an overwhelming elemental advantage over me.

It was as if a hidden judge had ruled that the Vermilion Bird Inheritor must lose to the Xuanwu Inheritor; my defeat was so decisive.

The wandering spirit and Tan Xiang, thrown into mid-air, were within the range of the enemy’s attack. At this critical moment, instead of using my power to defend myself, I formed two fiery giant hands to forcefully push them away.

These two, especially the wandering spirit, mustn’t die here. If they are to die, it should be after consuming the Three-Life Stone Powder; otherwise, this journey to the Abandoned Evangelical Institute would be in vain.

With my push, they were teleported beyond the Great Demon Xuanwu’s attack range, while I was directly hit by the black water, shattering my body and soul.

Fortunately, the strike didn’t harm my True Spirit. This stands as my notable inherent advantage, for any opponent’s first encounter with me, they often don’t realize that the key to killing me is damaging my True Spirit; even if they know it, they may not have the ability to do so.

Whether the Great Demon Xuanwu before me could accomplish this remains uncertain, but I didn’t take it lightly. In the next moment, to further safeguard against impacting the wandering spirit and Tan Xiang, I reformed my Fire Element body over thirty kilometers away.

This could already be considered a distance beyond conventional battlefields, yet for human gods and Great Demons, it’s still within normal striking range. Even if the distance increased tenfold, I couldn’t escape the target lock of an adversary at this level. I saw Great Demon Xuanwu immediately leap into the air; despite its gigantic body, its movements were terrifyingly fast.

Logically, the larger the body, the more "slow-moving" it seems. Especially at the size of Great Demon Xuanwu, any movement would appear in slow motion. It’s not because the body is cumbersome. An adult human walks at roughly 1.5 meters per second; at the same speed, a giant taller than 100 meters would take over a minute to cover the same length as its height. The giant isn’t actually slow; it’s just a visual illusion.

Therefore, in some sci-fi movies I’ve watched, when depicting giant monsters advancing, they often make them appear slow, whereas their actual progress could possibly be faster than human transport vehicles.

As for the agility of Great Demon Xuanwu, it’s simply unlike a gigantic monster; instead, it’s like a beast of normal size has burst into a micro landscape. In the blink of an eye, it exploded with a speed over a thousand times the speed of sound, spanning this distance of over thirty thousand meters.

What concept measures a monster taller than 100 meters moving at a speed over a thousand times the speed of sound? Its movement itself could be termed a super cataclysm, generating terrifying storms and shockwaves as if they weren’t occurring on Earth.

If it maintained this speed across all cities in a country, it could flatten the country; and if it visited all countries on Earth in the same manner, human civilization would be doomed.

Meanwhile, a beast of the same level is currently hunting Little Bowl at another place in the Doomsday Land.

The enormous maw of the Doomsday Demon lunged at me.

Simultaneously, without hesitation, I drew out the Furnace Slag Long Sword, stabbing it into my chest and instantly transitioning from the Second Fire Element Form to the Third Light Form. Immediately, I unleashed all my power at Great Demon Xuanwu, transforming into a humanoid sun, charging towards it.

The next moment, as if an egg collided with a brick, the Third Form Light Body shattered without suspense.

This form posed nearly no threat to Great Demon Xuanwu, like a burning cigarette flicked into an ashtray filled with water, extinguished instantly.

Thus, I gauged the power disparity between myself and the opponent.

In terms of sheer force, the Third Form Light Body is about as strong as Great Demon Xuanwu; meaning the opponent is on a similar dimensional level as Huang Quan and Ming Zhuo. Though I can now contend with the latter two, I was swiftly defeated in confrontation with this one, restrained far too thoroughly.

This reminded me of past battles with Water Navy Xuanwu; even then, without accessing the Great Impermanence Domain, I was not rendered as powerless as now. Indeed, towards the battle’s end, my Flame Light Cannon could still match Water Navy Xuanwu’s black water cannon.

Yet, that wasn’t due to weaker restraints than now, merely because back then I had vast potential to unleash. With the continued strengthening in battle, even as one is restrained, there’s a chance to break free with greater power, eventually securing victory through persistence.

But now it’s different; I have no further potential to release.

Once again, I regrouped my body, appearing far behind Great Demon Xuanwu, directly in Third Form Light Body. Then, I raised my right hand, which transformed into a long sword shape, and swung it with all my strength.

A flaming Sword Qi dozens of meters long flew towards Great Demon Xuanwu. If it took this lethal attack head-on unprepared, even the former Huang Quan would perish on the spot.

The target of the flaming Sword Qi was the ethereal blue pentagonal glowing array on Great Demon Xuanwu’s back, resembling a shield. Since it was so obvious, maybe it’s a weak point.

Though I thought this way, the thing seemed merely decorative. The flaming Sword Qi passed through it as if through a phantom and then impacted Great Demon Xuanwu’s body.

It was as futile as a clay ox entering the sea, merely evaporating a bit of Great Demon Xuanwu’s water body. Also, Great Demon Xuanwu’s combat style didn’t seem to differ in body postures front or back. A powerful black water cannon blasted directly from its back, once again scattering my soul.

Neither this nor that worked; it seems I’m trapped in a battle with no likelihood of victory.