Death… And Me

Chapter 4444: Monsters

The Predator approaching this time was a Zaf Serpent, a Godly Creature that relied entirely on overwhelming acceleration speed and constriction rather than venom. Its enormous body was covered in countless scars earned throughout its long life, while one of its eyes had long since been destroyed. Much like the Dreadfang Alpha Wolf from before, it was clear this serpent had survived countless battles to reach its current level.

Roan observed the creature through the airplane’s camera before glancing at Lukay. ”You mentioned there could be more than one Predator nearby. Do you think there could be more than the wolf and serpent?”

Lukay thought for a moment before answering. ”Hard to say. Compare the scars on both Predators. It’s not guaranteed, but you can usually make a reasonable guess. If most of the wounds match injuries that only wolves or serpents would inflict, then they were probably fighting members of each other’s species. If you notice completely different kinds of scars, then other Predator races are likely sharing this area.”

Roan immediately enlarged the camera’s image. The serpent was already rushing toward them, but there was no urgency in his movements as he compared the wounds covering both creatures.

”You’re right,” he eventually said. ”It’s fairly easy to tell. Judging from the scars, either these are the only two Predators around, or there are another two nearby—one more Dreadfang Alpha Wolf and another Zaf Serpent. Most of those injuries couldn’t have been caused by anything else.”

The airplane’s hatch opened.

Without another word, the twins’ group jumped into the skies, Lukay following closely behind.

”This is a good opportunity,” Roan said calmly. ”We’ll show you our second method.”

The Zaf Serpent burst out of the forest below almost at the same instant. Unlike the wolf, whose greatest advantage was agility, the serpent specialized in pure acceleration. Its gigantic body coiled against the treetops like a compressed spring before launching itself upward at astonishing speed.

It sacrificed maneuverability for that explosive burst of power, but when it came to charging in a straight line, even the wolf couldn’t compare.

Its lone eye immediately locked onto Celis.

Celis had yet to test his Godly Transformation since arriving in the Celestial Plane, and in his massive Cedar form, he naturally stood out as the largest target.

The serpent struck without hesitation.

Its colossal body wrapped around Celis’s trunk in an instant before tightening with terrifying force.

*CRAAACK!*

The sound of splintering wood echoed through the skies.

Yet the serpent had barely begun constricting before countless tiny thorns and vines suddenly sprouted from Celis’s bark.

*Pift! Pift! Pift! Pift!*

The sharp thorns pierced into the serpent’s scales all across its body. None of the wounds were particularly deep, but the continuous stinging pain only made the Predator tighten its coils even harder.

The cracking noises immediately became louder.

”We have to help him!” Lukay exclaimed, his lightning surging around his core as he shot forward.

Kentucky intercepted him before he could get close.

”Relax,” he said with complete confidence. ”Just watch.”

At that very moment, Rean and Roan flew to opposite sides of the Cedar.

Their consciousness connected to the System almost simultaneously.

[Yin Yang Sanctuary]

[Activate?]

’Yes.’

Instantly, an invisible sphere spanning two hundred meters spread around Celis, completely erasing every trace of Godly Pressure within its range.

The effect was immediate.

The invisible burden weighing down Celis vanished as though it had never existed. At the same time, the Godly Pressure reinforcing the serpent’s own body disappeared as well.

Inside the twins’ group’s mind, a familiar countdown began.

[120... 119... 118...]

”Now it’s my turn.”

The countless vines and thorns already embedded throughout the serpent’s body pulsed simultaneously.

’Energy Draining!’

Because they had pierced directly into the Predator’s flesh, there was no faster way to drain both its Godly Energy and Life Energy.

*HISSSSSSS!*

The serpent immediately sensed its strength pouring away.

Its constricting power weakened almost at once as its Godly Energy flowed relentlessly into Celis. Realizing something had gone terribly wrong, it abandoned any thought of crushing its prey and desperately tried to retreat.

”Where are you going, oversized worm?”

Celis’s voice echoed through the sky as the vines and thorns anchored inside the serpent suddenly acted like countless hooks, tearing painfully into its flesh as they pulled against its retreat.

The Zaf Serpent thrashed violently.

It was still a Godly Predator, however. Even while continuously losing strength, its sheer physical power far surpassed Celis’s own. After only a brief struggle, it managed to rip itself away from the embedded vines and thorns.

Or rather...

That was exactly what Celis wanted it to think.

He had never intended to overpower the serpent directly. Instead, he simply allowed his vines and thorns to continue growing outward as the serpent forced its way free. In the blink of an eye, they spread across its enormous body once again, tangling around it while the Energy Draining never stopped for even a moment.

The serpent writhed furiously through the skies, dragging Celis along with every violent movement.

In its desperation to escape...

It completely forgot about everyone else.

Rean, Roan, and Kentucky moved at the same time.

The instant the serpent’s attention focused entirely on escaping Celis, Rean, Roan, and Kentucky struck.

Crimson lightning flashed across both sides of the battlefield as the twins disappeared simultaneously. One trail shone with brilliant light, the other with deep darkness. Although those two opposing powers coexisted peacefully inside their bodies, the moment their swords and scythes reached the serpent, Light Crimson Lightning and Dark Crimson Lightning violently rejected one another, unleashing their true destructive force.

Kentucky was no slower.

Already in his Godly Transformation, his own version of the technique erupted with the image of a brilliant white sun and a pitch-black star behind him. His bloodline roared through every feather as bright and dark flames engulfed his wings.

’Red Death and Life, Seventh Form, Crimson Sun and Moon Obliteration!’

’Final Art - Sky Sovereign’s Twin Eclipse!’

*KABRUMMMMM!!!*

*BOOOOM!!!*

The Zaf Serpent never even had the opportunity to defend itself.

Already restrained by Celis’s draining vines, its body was engulfed by the explosions before it could react. Scales, flesh, and shattered bones scattered through the air as Light and Dark Elements rampaged across its enormous body, dismantling it piece by piece.

Lukay remained motionless.

His attention wasn’t on the dying serpent anymore but on the attacks themselves.

’That combination...’

He instantly recognized what had happened.

Separately, each technique was already absurdly powerful for Middle Stage Aura Gods. Yet when the three attacks collided against the same target, they amplified each other in a way that simply shouldn’t have been possible. The resulting destructive force had unquestionably reached the level of a Middle—perhaps even a Late Stage—Zone God’s full-powered attack.

And these monsters were still only Middle Stage Aura Gods!

”Ouch... ouch... ouch...”

Celis’s complaint finally broke the silence.

Because the explosions had occurred while his vines were still wrapped around the serpent, countless branches remained connected to the battlefield. Rean’s and Roan’s Elements, together with Kentucky’s blazing attack, surged backward through those vines, burning and corroding them all the way to Celis’s trunk.

Fortunately, Celis had long grown accustomed to both Light and Dark Elements. The pain only lasted a few moments before he calmly severed every affected vine and thorn himself. They detached one after another, making him resemble a lizard casually abandoning its tail.

Roan paid little attention to Celis’s grumbling. As soon as the explosions faded, he descended toward the serpent’s corpse, his Crystal Void Scythe splitting open its skull with practiced precision before pulling out another Godly Predator Crystal.

”Another one,” he said while storing it away. ”Only 158 left.”

Rean soon joined him, looking over the ruined remains of the serpent.

”Sure enough,” he commented. ”Being limited to controlling only fifty percent of our energy outside our bodies really reduces the power of our techniques.”

Roan nodded in agreement. ”We also can’t use Domains, Spatial Powers, or Laws yet. Considering all those limitations, the result wasn’t too bad.”

Kentucky had already returned to his Minokawa form by then, stretching his wings a little before sighing.

”My Sky Sovereign’s Twin Eclipse still consumes far too much of my bloodline. I deliberately held back, so in the end I probably only increased the overall power of our combined attack by roughly one stage.”

”That’s enough,” Roan replied. ”There’s no reason to exhaust your bloodline and leave yourself crippled for weeks. How long until you recover what you spent?”

Kentucky thought for a moment before answering, ”One day should be enough. I can still fight normally—I just won’t be using Sky Sovereign’s Twin Eclipse again until then.”

”Good.”

Lukay listened quietly to the entire discussion.

They were calmly talking about fighting while restricted to half of their external power, without Domains, Spatial Powers, or Laws, as though those limitations were merely a minor inconvenience.

Only then did he remember something that should have been obvious from the very beginning.

Aura Gods could only control fifty percent of their energy outside their bodies.

Yet despite carrying such an overwhelming handicap...

The twins’ group had completely overwhelmed a Godly Predator without giving it even the slightest chance to fight back.

’Monsters...’