novelraw Chapter 83: Egg of Causality, Arm of the Ancient Dragon
Chapter 83: Egg of Causality, Arm of the Ancient Dragon
"Night falls… blood drowns the land… humanity prostrates… the stars align… terror, terror, terror absolute… This is when the apocalypse descends…"
An ancient, cryptic song was gently chanted, its voices layered and overlapping as if sung by many, like a church choir, ethereal and dreamlike, yet also like a prayer from the depths of hell.
All the Stitched Demons who heard it kept their heads bowed low, not daring to make the slightest sound, as if standing on the edge of the eternal abyss, trembling with fear.
Dong! Dong! Dong!
At the center of the altar, a great Flesh Ball made from countless chunks of flesh and blood was enshrined. It emitted a faint, bloody glow, with numerous blood-colored tendrils extending from below, burrowing into the ground to connect with the core of the sacrificial ritual.
It continuously sucked in the vast, tainted spirituality converted from the flesh and blood supplied by the ritual, pulsing like a heart, an invisible accompaniment.
And the song emanated from the figure standing before it.
A giant, ten feet tall, stood before the Flesh Ball. Unlike ordinary Stitched Demons, his features were not deformed or grotesque, but rather somewhat handsome.
His eyes were closed, his thoughts unknown.
His body was fitted with eight enormous demonic beast arms.From top to bottom, they were the Storm Giant Arm wreathed in wind blades, the Ancient Treant Arm like a century-old tree, the Merman Arm with flowing water, and the Magma Demon Arm with lava flowing through its veins. His lower body was also spliced from some unknown demonic beast, with strong and powerful legs.
His body was covered and entangled in countless tendon-like, blood-colored, arm-shaped ribbons, forming a bizarre and grotesque suit of Blood-colored War Armor. Four Blood-colored Masks were attached to it, and the song was coming from these faces.
If not for its overly bizarre appearance, just hearing the sound would probably lead many to believe it was a church choir.
These were the top-tier limbs he had retained after more than a decade of constant hunting and frequent replacement of extraordinary demonic beast bodies.
Each one contained immense, extraordinary power.
From a distance, he looked like a Hell Asura.
He was the leader of the Stitched Demons. As for his human name, it had long been forgotten, and there was no need for a new one.
For it represented the origin of all Stitched Demons.
This title was born because of him.
"The stars… the apocalypse…"
The faces on the Stitched Demon Leader's armor continued to hum the ancient song. This was what he had seen on the stone walls of the abandoned temple where he found the Thousand-Faced Great Demon Heart Core, and he had recorded it.
Unfortunately, due to the erosion of long ages, the once-glorious temple walls were already dilapidated and weathered, causing more than half of the content to be lost.
'But thinking about it, how could the temple of a great being decay so quickly, and coincidentally be missing some key content? It's obvious it was erased by an unknown existence.
'
'Most likely it's something from the Old Era. It really involves too much.
If it were to be leaked, it would cause a huge upheaval. Gods would no longer be gods, and as the song says, certain fellows would break out of their ancient cages and return to reality.
It's unimaginable that humanity is actually…'
The Stitched Demon Leader murmured softly, slowly extending one of his hands, his gaze filled with infatuation, wanting to touch the bloody Flesh Ball before him.
However, just as his fingertip was about to make contact, it suddenly stopped.
Because cracks abruptly split open on the giant Flesh Ball, and one eyeball after another emerged, constantly turning to gaze around. A terrifying pressure radiated out from it, sweeping in all directions and stirring up a sky full of sand and dust.
Boom!
The terrifying pressure forced all the Stitched Demons to their knees, trembling. For a moment, they had no idea what had happened.
The Stitched Demon Leader's gaze turned indifferent. An eye opened on the back of his head, and he looked at a Stitched Demon beside him, saying flatly:
"Someone is intercepting the Stitched Demons collecting sacrifices."
"Ah…"
The Stitched Demon, which was spliced with rat claws, was stunned.
Overcome with fear, it stammered, "That… Leader… I… I don't know, I didn't leak any information…"
"I know you didn't."
The Rat-Claw Stitched Demon breathed a sigh of relief, but in the next moment, it heard the leader's cold voice:
"But I'm very angry right now."
As his voice fell, the blood-colored ribbons on the Stitched Demon Leader's body suddenly shot out like venomous snakes, seizing it and throwing it to the Flesh Ball at the center of the altar.
"Ahhhhhhh…"
The outer wall of the Flesh Ball was suddenly torn apart, and numerous bloody arms reached out from within, grabbing the Rat-Claw Stitched Demon and pulling it directly into the flesh. Soon, horrifying chewing sounds and miserable screams echoed out, causing all the Stitched Demons to bow even lower, almost prostrating themselves on the ground.
At this moment, thick clouds drifted over, obscuring the moonlight and dimming the world.
Crack, crack…
As the chewing sound faded, another eye pattern on the ground lit up, and the Flesh Ball seemed to have grown slightly larger.
More blood-colored root tendrils extended from it, hanging down to the ground, translucent and sparkling. They looked like…
Blood vessels!
"The Egg of Causality needs more sacrifices to bear more…"
The Stitched Demon Leader murmured to himself, then said to the other Stitched Demons:
"I don't care if there's a traitor among you.
Go and bring me more Beast Tamer hearts, more extraordinary lifeform hearts and brain marrow as sacrifices. If it's not enough, then use your own to fill the quota…"
"As you command!"
The Stitched Demons looked terrified.
Naturally, they dared not resist, or even have an opinion.
Because after undergoing the conversion ritual, they had already lost the ability to resist.
The leader could kill them with a single thought.
Especially when a Stitched Demon reached the peak of the Commander Rank, it would go inexplicably berserk, eventually melting into a pool of blood that was collected by the leader.
The official reason was the intensifying corruption of the Ancient God and not being fed enough flesh and blood, but they weren't fools. They knew there was something more to it, but in the face of an absolute power gap, they didn't even dare to feel resentment.
Even if they were just pawns to the Stitched Demon Leader, they yearned to live.
After all, as long as the leader advanced to the Morning Star Rank, they could try to attack some weaker cities, harvest vast amounts of flesh and limbs, and obtain a long life.
This unrealistic ambition drove them ever forward.
Just as this group of Stitched Demons was about to set off, snowflakes suddenly began to fall from the sky, stunning all of them:
"Does it even snow in the Desert Ant Mound Mystic Realm?"
Although the desert terrain had extreme temperature differences between day and night, the Desert Ant Mound Mystic Realm was ultimately born from the influence of that powerful Primordial Variant Species and its group of servitors, so its meteorological environment was essentially fixed.
A Stitched Demon curiously reached out to touch a snowflake, a translucent hexagonal crystal reflecting the bright moonlight.
"Why isn't it melting…" The Stitched Demon was stunned for a moment, then shouted, "Watch out, it's an ene—"
Before it could finish, the snowflake in its hand erupted with cold air, enveloping it and instantly freezing it into an ice sculpture, its expression still frozen in terror, never imagining death would come so suddenly.
"Retreat!"
"Don't touch the snowflakes!"
"…"
The snowfall covered a huge area. Even though the Stitched Demons retreated quickly, a dozen unlucky ones were frozen solid.
With a series of cracking sounds, they instantly shattered, turning into a pile of ice dust on the ground.
"What the hell is this thing?"
This scene threw all the Stitched Demons into chaos.
They hurriedly used their Limb Grafting Technique to drive away the snowstorm, but this only attracted the snowflakes to approach faster, forcing them to flee in all directions.
Even though they knew the attack was coming from within the clouds, their abilities were completely unable to strike at high altitudes, not to mention that this thick cloud covered a diameter of several hundred meters.
"A bunch of wastes!"
The Stitched Demon Leader looked at the snowstorm approaching the altar and snorted coldly. The Storm Giant Arm among his eight arms lifted, and the surrounding airflow suddenly accelerated.
Limb Grafting Technique—Storm Dragon Fist!
The Storm Giant was a servant of the ancient Lord of Storms, the Storm King Dragon, an ancient lifeform whose every move was a storm disaster. Although the Storm King Dragon was no longer in the ecosystem, and had even been gone for a long, long time.
But their bloodline had been transformed, inheriting this spiritual gift and turning it into a unique Racial Skill. Those with a strong bloodline would even show signs of draconic transformation.
Yet now, this power had been stolen by the Stitched Demon.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The Stitched Demon Leader threw a punch, which transformed into a nearly tangible hurricane.
The terrifying wind speed instantly shredded the goose-feather snow. Without pausing, it carried a wind scythe capable of easily slicing through flesh and shot straight towards the thick clouds in the sky.
Boom!
The moment it reached the clouds, a massive ice shield dozens of meters wide appeared. The collision created a violent explosion, and the terrifying shockwave spread out in all directions as a ring of air.
Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!
The fierce wind blew, and the huge cloud layer was directly dispersed, revealing a man in white riding a peak Commander Rank creature, the Ice Demon White Lion. He floated in mid-air, looking down at the Stitched Demon Leader on the ground with a grave expression.
He hadn't expected that even though he was constantly changing his position, preparing to destroy the altar first, the enemy had instantly locked onto his position within the clouds.
If he hadn't made the Ice Demon White Lion use the Extreme Freeze Ice Wall in time, he might have been severely injured.
This guy was far more terrifying than the rumors suggested. At least in terms of perception, he was no less than a Morning Star Rank existence.
The Stitched Demon Leader looked at the Beast Tamer who was facing a great enemy and sneered:
"Human, are you here to offer yourself up as a sacrifice?"The man in white shot back a sarcastic retort without hesitation: "I'm just here to send a failure who abandoned his human dignity and pride, and turned into a monster, on his way."
"What does the light of day know of the depths of night? You are merely a lucky one favored by fate.
I was not so fortunate, but it doesn't matter. Everything I want, I will take with my own hands."
The Stitched Demon Leader said with an indifferent gaze, once again using the Storm Dragon Fist.
However, the well-prepared Ice Demon White Lion dodged it by flying, while simultaneously using Frost Breath, showering the sky with ice crystals.
The air temperature dropped abruptly, and a thick layer of ice covered everything it passed.
The terrified Stitched Demons turned and fled, but many were still frozen into ice shards on the ground.
The ice crystals formed a storm, roaring towards the altar!
However, facing this attack, the Stitched Demon Leader's Storm Giant Arm did not strike again.
Instead, he crossed his arms with an arrogant attitude, and the pair of arms belonging to the Magma Demon swung, their fists crashing together.
Bang!
Like a volcanic eruption, scorching magma burst forth, instantly sweeping out.
It collided with the ice crystals, melting them into water, which then poured onto the magma and evaporated into a large cloud of steam, obscuring vision.
However, the magma was also stopped, and it began to solidify into a pillar made of a large amount of hardened magma, standing tall in mid-air.
"That was close…"
Before the man in white could breathe a sigh of relief, he saw the magma pillar move. A glance through the dispersing steam revealed that the Stitched Demon Leader on the ground had grabbed it with six arms and was swinging it horizontally.
If Lu Yu were here, he would probably think he was watching Sun Wukong from Journey to the West swing his enlarged golden-hooped staff, sweeping through the heavenly soldiers with unstoppable force!
This is bad!
This time, however, he had no time to dodge. He and the Ice Demon White Lion were hit together, their figures falling like a meteor, crashing into the earth and creating a huge crater.
"If you can fly, I'll just swat you down."
The Stitched Demon Leader said flatly.
The pair of arms belonging to the treant formed a mysterious hand seal, condensing ancient runes that shimmered with green light. They formed a magic array that instantly spread out a large number of tree roots, which turned into countless wooden hands, swarming towards the middle-aged man.
High-tier Stitching Technique—Tree Sea Hand!
The power originating from the peace-loving Ancient Treants had, at this moment, become the claws and teeth of the Stitched Demon, helping him devour everything.
The moment the middle-aged man landed, he had already summoned his other ice-type pet beasts to form an ice wall with the Ice Demon White Lion.
However, faced with the terrifying sea of trees, it was instantly shattered. The weaker Gold Rank Pet Beasts were sent flying, and the remaining tree roots reached for him.
Death was at his doorstep.
Rumble!
Just as he was despairing, a deafening thunderclap echoed in his ears.
A purple lightning javelin streaked across the sky and fell, striking the sea of trees. It instantly exploded, erupting into countless electric currents that annihilated it!
"Bai Mingyi, aren't you from the Ice Lion School? How come you're even braver than the Fire Snake School, daring to challenge a top-tier Stitched Demon all by yourself? Do you really think you're a savior!"
As a laid-back voice rang out, a man in a black leather jacket riding a Black Leopard with a lightning mark on its forehead appeared.
He sported a cool blue and purple broom-head hairstyle, looking like a delinquent biker. He gave his head a flamboyant toss and said with a smile:
"See, when it comes to the critical moment, it's still up to me to save you!"
"Chen Yuxiao, you're in your thirties, don't you feel ashamed dressing so gaudily?" Bai Mingyi's first words upon getting up were to criticize his attire.
Chen Yuxiao's face stiffened. He was already regretting saving this guy.
After knowing him for over a decade, he was still so old-fashioned.
Though this guy was good-looking.
Back in school, he was immediately taken a fancy to by the daughter of the Ice Lion School's dean, and even got an Ice Demon White Lion as a bonus. A true winner in life.
To prevent Bai Mingyi from continuing to nag, Chen Yuxiao quickly changed the subject:
"Enough talk, let's deal with this guy first!"
"Just the two of you?"
The Stitched Demon Leader's tone was indifferent. Even with one more lightning-type Beast Tamer, it wouldn't be a difficult problem for him to solve.
It just meant two more sacrifices.
"Of course, we're not enough, but…" Chen Yuxiao chuckled, "what if we add them?"
As his voice fell, a slight tremor came from the ground.
At first, it was just a faint vibration, but it quickly grew into trembling sand, as if a great army was approaching.
The Stitched Demon Leader also seemed to sense something.
He looked into the distance, a trace of disbelief on his face, and murmured:
"How is that possible…"
At the boundary where the yellow sand met the sky, figures suddenly appeared.
Azure Wolves sprinting, Giant Snakes slithering, Eagles spreading their wings in flight, giant Steel Earthworms burrowing their way over…
One by one, Beast Tamers stood or crawled on their pet beasts.
Some were from Adventure Groups, some from Schools, and some were Lone Practitioners. Their strengths varied, from powerful Gold Beast Tamers to ordinary Silver Beast Tamers.
But at this moment, the goal of these hundreds of Beast Tamers was remarkably unified, and that was…
The altar!
"How are there so many human Beast Tamers?"
"Is the Special Division here to exterminate us?"
Faced with such a mighty formation, even the Stitched Demons couldn't help but panic, their faces filled with terror.
Don't be fooled by their arrogance when hunting humans; they were essentially a disorderly mob.
They always picked off stragglers and even resorted to sneak attacks.
If they were to face a human Beast Tamer Legion on a direct battlefield, the outcome would be uncertain.
Chen Yuxiao looked at the astonished Stitched Demon Leader and said with a smile:
"Sorry, we humans are best at righteous group beatings!"
Shameless!
His expression was too shameless!
Bai Mingyi fought the urge to slap this smug guy and asked curiously:
"When did you get such an amazing network?"
As far as he knew, although his childhood friend had a cheerful personality, his social connections weren't great due to his overly flamboyant nature. How could he suddenly command such a response?
"Of course, they were captivated by my handsomeness…" Chen Yuxiao tossed his broom-head hair and was about to boast, but he couldn't stand the other's piercing gaze and threw up his hands:
"How did you find this place?"
"I encountered a purple Mist Raven that delivered a message, saying someone set a trap to sacrifice us…" Bai Mingyi said, then came to a realization, "Could it be…"
"That's right, we were all led here by the mysterious person behind that Mist Raven!" A wild smile stretched across Chen Yuxiao's lips.
"Although I don't know what this guy's purpose is, I've got my eyes on the bounty for wiping out the 【Wings of Flesh and Blood】!"
Bai Mingyi nodded. The most important thing now was to deal with the Stitched Demon Leader and prevent the sacrificial ritual from succeeding.
A large number of Beast Tamers arrived, forming a standoff with the Stitched Demons.
"Damn Stitched Demons!"
"My Ah Yu, he was only twenty, and he died here just like that…"
"My younger brother was ambushed by these bastards on his first adventure!"
Among them were many whose relatives, friends, or lovers had been killed for their hearts as sacrifices.
Thus, as soon as they received the message from the Mist Raven, they rushed over. At this moment, they looked at the altar with tears streaming down their faces, the fire of revenge burning in their eyes.
With a new Beast Tamer with Transformed Spirituality, there were now three top-tier experts below the Morning Star Rank, numerically crushing the Stitched Demons.
Chen Yuxiao looked at the silent Stitched Demon Leader and, using his numerical advantage, shouted, "Surrender, Ah Jie! You're surrounded by Beast Tamers!"
Bai Mingyi covered his face with his hand and couldn't help but move a little distance away.
It was too embarrassing.
However, during this time, he was also observing this group of newly arrived Beast Tamers, trying to figure out where the mysterious person who used the Mist Raven to deliver the message was hiding.
And what was his purpose?
Faced with these aggressive Beast Tamers, many Stitched Demons already had thoughts of retreating. If they were caught, they would definitely be torn to pieces.
If not for the fact that their lives were controlled by the leader, they would have probably already turned and fled.
"Leader, maybe we should retreat for now…"
An Elite Rank Stitched Demon couldn't help but speak up, but before it could finish, its head was crushed.
A mix of red and white matter splattered everywhere, and its corpse was thrown to the Flesh Ball to be devoured.
The silent Stitched Demon Leader glanced at a certain corner, then looked at the crowd, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly as he said slowly:
"Although I don't know who's playing tricks, you've indeed gathered everyone together, which saves me a lot of trouble.
In that case, I will accept this great gift. Use your flesh and blood as the sacrifice for my ascension to Overlord!"
"Arrogant!"
A cold snort came from among the Beast Tamers.
However, the Stitched Demon Leader didn't speak. He just opened his eight arms, each forming a hand seal.
A vast amount of spirituality instantly erupted, turning into a small, blood-colored pillar of light that shot into the sky.
The Stitched Demon Leader's body began to aberrate, its flesh and blood rapidly proliferating.
At a speed visible to the naked eye, he transformed into a giant, twenty-meter-tall monster, half-human, half-snake.
It had no face, which was shrouded in a black fog from which countless dark vipers emerged, flicking their tongues.
It had eight huge arms, and its lower body was a massive snake tail that slammed against the ground, causing a level four earthquake on the gobi.
"Super-tier Transformation Stitching Technique—Eight-Armed Titan Snake-Man!"
An extraordinary construct created from immense extraordinary spirituality!
"This is trouble!"
Seeing this, Bai Mingyi and the others' faces turned ugly.
They could already foresee a bitter battle ahead.
Has that mysterious person appeared yet?
……………………………………
Meanwhile, on the other side, Lu Yu, walking through the dark underground limestone cave, couldn't help but sigh as he watched the fine sand continuously fall due to the vibrations:
"The battle up there is really intense!"
At this moment, he was in the underground limestone cave directly beneath the altar.
The first step of his plan was to take away the firewood from under the cauldron, reducing the sacrifices. The second step, naturally, was to make the tigers devour the wolf!
Since the Stitched Demon Leader wanted to kill lone Beast Tamers to collect hearts, Lu Yu wouldn't let him have his way.
He directly notified these Beast Tamers to gather.
Even if not everyone believed him, as long as more than eighty percent gathered, they could avoid casualties and put immense pressure on the Stitched Demon's side.
However, the result was even better than he expected. Fueled by hatred, a large number of Beast Tamers gathered.
And because their numbers were large enough to ensure safety, it attracted even more Beast Tamers to join.
Whether for profit, ideals, or future safety, they didn't want to sit by and watch an Overlord Monster with human intelligence be born.
And Lu Yu didn't join the battlefield above, not because he was a coward.
Anyone who has played LOL or MOBA-type games understands that no matter how well you kill in the early game or how many kills you get, a few mistakes can easily throw away your advantage, or even lead to defeat.
Because in the end, this is a tower-pushing game.
And because Lu Yu's own level and equipment were too poor, even with the Overlord Cub, Little Spider, he could at most fight against a peak Elite.
Participating in a battle at the Commander Rank, or even the Transformed Spirituality level, would be pure suicide.
But if he wanted to get the biggest profit, the best way was…
To steal the crystal!
Although it was underground in the desert, there was still groundwater.
The limestone cave was quite damp and covered in moss.
After navigating the winding passages, Lu Yu soon arrived at the deepest part and saw a shocking scene.
Countless blood-colored root tendrils extended from the rock above, converging and covering the entire ground, connected to a giant embryo. These root tendrils, like blood vessels, were inserted into it, transporting dark red blood and injecting it inside.
At the same time, the interior of the embryo emitted a faint golden glow. The two intertwined, creating a strange black-gold luster, and it made a strong and powerful sound like a beating heart.
It looked both sacred and profane!
Lu Yu looked at the big guy in front of him, his mouth splitting into a grin as he smiled:
"Found you!"
A 6,400-character chapter, almost 40,000 characters in total. Continuing to ask for monthly tickets