Like coiling dragons, Zhang’s soul devouring flames wrapped around Diyu Ding Zhe as he let out a furious roar. In a flash, Diyu Ding Zhe’s body dove into the sea of shadows below disappearing from sight causing Zhang to frown as he rose up higher into the air.
“This might be a tad tricky.” Zhang said with a sigh after his target disappeared without a trace.
“Guess I'll just have to change targets.” He muttered shortly after as he waved his hand and conjured hundreds of crystal swords once again, sending them piercing through the air toward Reverend Dark Moon whose attention was now focused upon where Diyu Ding Zhe had been.
“Tch, where did this bastard come from… How are those black flames capable of burning away essence like the greatest devourer’s shadows…” Reverend Dark Moon clicked his tongue as he caught sight of Zhang’s incoming attack from the corner of his eye, quickly performing a few hand signs which in turn made the Reaper’s Coffin return to his side.
“You think you can just ignore?” Yuying said as a sea of bones swept toward Reverend Dark Moon.
With an onslaught of bones coming from one side and a barrage of crystal swords arriving from another, Reverend Dark Moon found himself cornered without an means of evading. But of course the battle was far from over and things have only begun.
Reaching out and grabbing hold of the reaper’s coffin with one hand while withdrawing a mysterious looking yellow colored talisman from his interspatial ring with the other, Reverend Dark Moon quickly sped into the metallic coffin.
If one was paying close attention they would have noticed that Reverend Dark Moon had stuck the mysterious yellow colored talisman in his hand into the gap between where the coffin and its lid met, preventing it from completely closing.
“Smart! If he had allowed that coffin to completely shut then he would have been trapped inside without any means to escape since those coffins can only be opened from the outside.” Yuying said as she noticed what Reverend Dark Moon had done moments before the reaper’s coffin was bombarded by bones and crystal swords.
Soon enough the sound of shattering crystal could be heard while a white cloud of pulverized bone drifted to the wind. Yuying’s sea of bones had moved at such high speeds that the moment they impacted against the nearly indestructible Reaper’s Coffin, they had unsteadily grounded themselves into fine powder, the same occurred for Zhang’s crystal swords.
Against any other opponent, Reverend Dark Moon wouldn't have to worry about defense since he could simply hide within the Reaper’s Coffin and use it as a shield, however against a princess of the Underworld such as Yuying, such a thing was not possible.
“If you want to hide in there, then let me help you stay in there forever!” Yuying yelled as she withdrew a pitch black talisman which shot out of her hand after she performed a series of handsigns, causing a dozen or so strange looking runes to appear on the talisman.
Moments later, Yuying’s black colored talisman could be seen stuck to the lid of the Reaper’s Coffin and a dozen or so crimson colored runes could also be seen swimming about across the coffin’s surface.
As if they were predators who were seeking out prey, the dozen or so crimson colored runes quickly closed in on Reverend Dark Moon’s yellowed talisman talisman. Before long, the corners of the yellow talisman became singed as if an invisible flame had brushed up against it.
“Open!” Reverend Dark Moon’s voice could be heard once nearly half of his yellow talisman was turned into cinders.
“Open!” Reverend Dark Moon’a roar could be heard once more as a loud bang could be heard emanating from within the Reaper’s Coffin.
After a series of three continuous banging sounds, the lid of the Reaper’s Coffin had burst open.
“Die!” Zhang’s thundering shout echoed into everyone’s ears as a massive sword that stretched dozens of feet from its hilt to its top could be seen levitating beside him. With a wave of Zhang’s hand and a point of his finger, the massive sword shot downward at breathtaking speeds.
While no one was paying attention, Zhang's had recalled all of the mithril lances that were embedded into the ground and returned them to their original liquid form, afterward with a single thought all of the thousands of mithril landed were combined into a massive sword.
Seeing Zhang’s massive mithril sword quickly approaching him, Reverend Dark Moon’s pupils shrank as a hint of panic could be seen within them.
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Against such a massive sword constructed entirely out of mithril, Reverend Dark Moon had no means to defend himself, even dodging this sword was something easier said than done due to how quickly the sword was moving and how close Reverend Dark Moon was from it. This was also without taking account of how much energy Reverend Dark Moon had expended trying to free himself from within the Reaper’s Coffin, currently he was in no shape to escape from Zhang’s attack.
“You think I can be done in like this!?” Reverend Dark Moon roared as the Reaper’s Coffin flipped downward revealing its bottom side to the massive mithril sword.
A flash of a second later a loud metallic ringing sound could be heard as the massive mithiril sword collided with the backside of the Reaper’s Coffin, sending it plummeting toward the ground. Like a falling star, the Reaper’s coffin smashed into the ground, creating a large crater and many snaking cracks to surface while the massive mithril sword stabbed itself into the ground not too far away, creating a small ravine.
Shrouded by a curtain of dust, Reverend Dark Moon pushed the Reaper’s Coffin off of himself moments before he spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.
“Th-ank you…” A hoarse and ancient sounding voice crept into Reverend Dark Moon’s ear.
“What!? Who said that?” Reverend Dark Moon asked as his gaze wandered about trying to locate the source of the hoarse voice.
Despite being unable to locate where the hoarse sounding voice was coming from or who it belonged to, Reverend Dark Moon could feel the hairs on his body stand on end. Despite regaining some powers and becoming a full saint, Reverend Dark Moon couldn't help but feel an indescribable sensation of fear seep into his very core. Even facing Zhang, Reverend Dark Moon did not feel such an overwhelming sense of fear.
As a half deity, Zhang’s power vastly outstripped Reverend Dark Moon’s by a great degree, but thanks to the Reaper’s Coffin, Diyu Ding Zhe and his strange body enhancing techniques, Reverend Dark Moon was able to hold his own without feeling completely oppressed. However the instant this ancient and hoarse voice made its way into his ear, Reverend Dark Moon felt an indomitable power envelope his being.
Thoughts filled with despair and hopelessness began to surface within Reverend Dark Moon’s mind as a eerie chill crept up his spine causing him to completely forget about the half deity looming up above in the night sky.
“Day dreaming during a fight? Has he gone mad?” Zhang questioned in his mind as he pointed toward Reverend Dark Moon, releasing a torrent of crimson colored lightning from his finger tips.
Snaking toward Reverend Dark Moon, the crimson lightning split apart into dozens of dazzling branches as it quickly descended. Like a barrage of arrows, the crimson lightning not only smashed into Reverend Dark Moon it also pelted the area around in a beautiful display of lights.
Struck by Zhang’s crimson lightning, Reverend Dark Moon was sent tumbling a dozen or so feet across the ground. Covered in wounds while streams of smoke rose from his body, Reverend Dark Moon was reduced to a pitiful state of being. Before he could stabilize his condition or even push himself up from the ground, a dozen or so skeletal hands had shot up from the ground and latched themselves onto his arms and legs, slowly dragging him into the darkness that currently shrouded the land.
One must remember the current battlefield was still covered by Diyu Ding Zhe’s eerie shadow, meaning everyone was within his field of influence, be it they realized it or not.
“Wha-what is the meaning of this!? I am your master! Unhand me! Release me this instant!” Reverend Dark Moon roared as he attempted to struggle free from the skeletal hands.
“Master?” The same hoarse and ancient voice that had spoken in Reverend Dark Moon’s mind moments ago asked in a ridiculing tone that was paired with a hint of disdain.
As the ancient voice belonging to Diyu Ding Zhe spoke, numerous skeletal hands continued to spring out from the shadows, latching themselves onto Reverend Dark Moon, digging into his clothes, skin and flesh.
Although he did not have a full understanding of what was currently happening between Reverend Dark Moon and Diyu Ding Zhe, Zhang knew that he had to intervene or put an end to things now or else something catastrophic would occur.
Waving his hand, Zhang recalled all of his mithril javelins, causing them to float in mid air around him. With a thought, Zhang then turned all of the thousands of javelins into blobs of liquid metal before quickly reshaping them into a sea of incomparably sharp looking daggers. Waving his hand yet again, Zhang began to wrapping himself within a cloak of crimson lightning that coiled about from all across his body to his fingertips.
“Do you think I’ll let you intervene as you please?” Diyu Ding Zhe’s voice suddenly rang in Zhang’s mind, slightly disorienting his sense.
Before Zhang could act, the enormous shadow that was enveloping the land began to quickly grow larger and larger, doubling in size by the second while a faint sound of rattling bones slowly filled the air.
From within the dark and seemingly bottomless shadow, a sea of skeletal hands and death crept up and swept forward, toward Sky Cliff City as blazing speeds, causing furrows to appear on Zhang’s brow.
“Ling, Lingqi, Ai, Yuying, protect the city! I will try to put an end to things as quickly as possible.” Zhang’s voice rang in the ears of the four beauties causing them to refocus their attention toward Sky Cliff City.
Perhaps Diyu Ding Zhe’s techniques were the same techniques that Yuying had regularly employ or perhaps her techniques were based off of Diyu Ding Zhe’s, what was about to happen to Sky Cliff City bore a striking resemblance to a few particular cities that had once stood in Yuying’s way when during the conquest of the Rainbow Rock Province and the Black Vine Province.
Clicking her tongue, Yuying sped across the sky toward Sky Cliff City while gliding on top of her own sea of bones. Upon closer inspection, while both Yuying and Diyu Ding Zhe held command over an innumerable amount of bones, there were quite a few distinct differences between the respective masses of bone.
In contrast to the bones under Yuying’s control, Diyu Ding Zhe’s were much fewer in number. While they lacked in quantity, Diyu Ding Zhe’s bones had roughly double the number of runes etched onto them then Yuying’s bones. From that alone one could say they held double the potential. Another thing was, not only did they hold double the number of runes, they were also glossy and jadelike, which of course served as proof to that Diyu Ding Zhe’s bones had all once belonged to powerful cultivators.
“Do not allow him to reach the city!’ Ling shouted as the air around her was wrung dry of water and a barrage of ice shards were sent flying toward Diyu Ding Zhe’s endless wave of skeletal hands.
Not long after Ling acted, Yuying’s sea of bones reshaped itself into the form of a massive dragon with eerie glowing orbs in what appeared to be it’s eye sockets. Filling the air with a wrathful roar from it’s non existent lungs, the massive bone dragon lashed out with it’s claws, smashing into Diyu Ding Zhe’s attack.
Ai could also be seen utlizing her Black Thorn Whip to strike Diyu Ding Zhe’s bone attack, however in such a battle, both she and Lingqi were somewhat unsuited to participate.
Ai’s monstrous strength was best used in one on one combat, while Lingqi’s poisons had little effect upon the numerous saint level bones that Diyu Ding Zhe employed.
Sadly since two of the beauties were unable to do a thing to Diyu Ding Zhe’s sea of skeletal hands, the efforts that the two remaining beauties had expended proved to be slightly lacking.