Chapter 26: Infernal Demon God, Ba Shi

"Eat my explosive fireball!"

Amidst the melee between the two armies, Rona of the Red Lotus Guild raised her staff. A massive fireball descended from the sky, instantly incinerating nearly a hundred soldiers of the Allied Forces. The Chosen Ones on the opposing side were not to be outdone, unleashing a barrage of various spells in a frantic bombardment.

On the periphery of the battlefield, Mo Xuanyu led a cavalry regiment in a charge toward the heart of the enemy formation. The Allied cavalry attempted to wheel their horses around to block them, but they were no match for the impact of over two hundred transcendent cavalrymen. Like eggs striking a stone, they were slaughtered and trampled, their ranks shattered.

Led by Mo Xuanyu, the transcendent cavalry cut through the battlefield as if it were empty, reaching the vicinity of the Allied officers in the blink of an eye and separating them from the main army. His white military uniform became a harbinger of death; wherever he passed, the Allied soldiers broke in terror.

"Protect Eric! Don't let them flank us!"

Seeing this, some of the Chosen Ones in the Allied camp immediately turned back to defend, as Eric, the commander-in-chief, could not afford to fall. Charging into the enemy formation was a perilous maneuver; while it could quickly crush a formation, a moment of carelessness would see one submerged by attacks from all sides.

A sudden magical arrow struck Mo Xuanyu’s warhorse, killing it instantly. Before the Chosen One who fired the arrow could celebrate, Mo Xuanyu stepped off the dying horse, pounced like a falcon, and arrived before him in an instant, drawing his Nightmare Moon Blade in mid-air.

"What—!" Before the Chosen One could finish his sentence, his head soared high into the air.

"Lord Mola, look out!" Fals, who was being besieged by Chosen Ones in the distance, suddenly shouted.

Behind Mo Xuanyu, Ring Snake held a long sword, silently stabbing toward his back. As if he had eyes in the back of his head, Mo Xuanyu spun in place, parried the sword with his blade, and delivered a Spartan kick to Ring Snake’s chest!

"Boom!" The immense explosive force distorted Ring Snake’s facial expression.

[Demon Vestments (Footwear)]
[Equipment Effect: Agility +3, Leg Explosive Power +50%!]

For Ring Snake, whose physique attribute was relatively low, that kick almost sent him to the afterlife.

"Your reaction speed… you can hardly be called human." Ring Snake crawled up from a pile of fallen soldiers, wiping blood and bile from the corner of his mouth.

Mo Xuanyu ignored him. After ordering Fals to take over command, he raised his Nightmare Moon Blade and charged at Ring Snake once more. Members of the Black Snake Guild arrived as reinforcements to intercept him. Two melee combatants worked with practiced synergy, one with a sword and one with a shield, blocking his blade. Not far away, two mages bombarded him with wind blades and fireballs.

Had Mo Xuanyu not purchased new equipment, bringing his Agility to 20, he would never have been able to react to so many attacks and would have been blasted to bits long ago.

In the heat of battle, Mo Xuanyu suddenly called out coldly, "Wolf, take out those two mages!"

As if by telepathy, Mo Xiao’s figure moved like a phantom across the battlefield, slipping behind the mages and leaping into the air. Before the battle, Mo Xuanyu had given him a spare green-grade long sword he had kept instead of selling to the Truth Merchant. Thus, Mo Xiao was able to dual-wield, reaping the lives of both mages instantly and giving them no time to react.

With the two mages dead, the pressure on Mo Xuanyu eased significantly. He side-stepped a sword strike, then swung his Nightmare Moon Blade in a horizontal slash, utilizing the corrosion property of the weapon to shatter the enemy's shield. Just as the blade was about to touch the shield-bearer, Mo Xuanyu suddenly withdrew his strike and rolled away, dodging another sword attack from behind.

Ring Snake was puzzled. "Why can you always guess the direction of my attacks?"

He did not know, of course, that he had long been marked by [Blood and Carnage]. As long as Ring Snake remained in this world, Mo Xuanyu would know his coordinates at all times.

"Guild Leader, he's too strong!" The Chosen One holding the remains of his shield was drenched in cold sweat, clearly traumatized by Mo Xuanyu’s previous strike.

"This battle cannot be lost," Ring Snake said, his tone indifferent. A long snake crawled out of his sleeve, opened its mouth, and spat out a black scroll.

Sensing danger, Mo Xuanyu lunged forward with explosive speed and severed Ring Snake’s hands. Yet, the man only offered a cold smile. "Too late, the curse has already been activated..."

Rumble!!

The entire plain shuddered. Mo Xuanyu moved to decapitate Ring Snake, but the earth beneath their feet erupted, and a massive snake head emerged, swallowing Ring Snake whole.

"W-what is that?!"

The shocking sight left Fals and the Chosen Ones in the distance dumbstruck, momentarily forgetting to fight. Only the members of the Black Snake Guild knew this was the ultimate trump card of Ring Snake, a melee summoner-type Chosen One.

A giant black snake burrowed out from the ground, crushing countless soldiers beneath it. Its body was five meters wide and nearly fifty meters long! This was no creature of this world!

"Retreat! The Guild Leader’s summon doesn't distinguish between friend and foe, don't say we didn't warn you!" After leaving this message in the chat channel, the Black Snake Guild members turned and fled, leaving the bewildered soldiers behind.

The great snake stretched its body, its tail sweeping out like an iron whip with a deafening sonic boom.

*Bang! Bang! Bang!*

Hundreds of soldiers were reduced to blood mist, and severed limbs rained down like a crimson storm. Some Chosen Ones who failed to react were killed instantly, a testament to the creature's terrifying power. Mo Xuanyu glanced over; these Chosen Ones were from the Allied side—it seemed this monster truly cared nothing for its own allies.

For the moment, the Chosen Ones of the Allied camp chose to retreat, leaving the battlefield to the giant snake. Mo Xuanyu pulled back to Mo Xiao’s side, his gaze grave. He attempted to activate his title skill, and it succeeded.

[You have obtained partial information about the target.]
[Hell Demon Ba Shi (Avatar)]
[Strength: 20 (World Limit)]
[Agility: 20]
[Physique: 20]
[Intelligence: 20]
[Charisma: 0]
[Luck: 0]
[Due to the target's excessively high soul rank, the skill panel cannot be inspected.]

...

"This is troublesome." Mo Xuanyu gripped his blade tightly and took a deep breath, his black hair damp at the temples. As a human, to face a demon from hell at such close range without feeling dread or fear would be a lie. Even Mo Xuanyu, who was always ice-cold in battle, felt his heart pounding.

Excitement and fear intertwined, causing his blood to boil. The giant snake’s crimson pupils swept slowly over the tens of thousands of soldiers on the battlefield, viscous saliva dripping from its maw, looking as if it had a ravenous appetite.

The surrounding soldiers were already paralyzed with terror, dropping their weapons and weeping as they prayed to God. Even the battle-hardened Fals felt his legs go weak, and his warhorse knelt on the ground, bowing before the hellish demon. This was the primal fear of giants embedded in the genes of all living beings, a sense of powerlessness filling every heart.

Ring Snake was truly worthy of being the leader of the Black Snake Guild, capable of summoning such a monster within this world. Even the Sun King would likely find this difficult to handle.

Mo Xuanyu couldn't help but reflect that it was fortunate this world had a maximum attribute cap; otherwise, there was no telling how absurd Ba Shi's stats might have been. A score of 20 was the limit of the world, not the limit of Ba Shi, and this was merely an avatar!

Within the Red Lotus Guild, the healer hid behind a heavy tank, swallowing hard, her voice trembling. "Guild Leader... h-how are we supposed to fight this? Should we just avoid it?"

Rona the mage shook her head immediately. "We can't run. We must complete this mission, or we'll drop to a T4 guild after this world, and we can forget about surviving in the Sacred Geometry."

"Rona is right. We must cooperate with Mola and the others; that’s the only hope for victory!" Guild Leader Chi Ming spoke in the chat channel, rallying the Chosen Ones.

The Chosen Ones gathered their courage, most trying to hypnotize themselves into thinking it was just a group raid on a boss. "Damn it, it's just a big snake! Watch me run it over!" A lighthearted Chosen One cracked a joke, which helped ease the tension.

Rona, the strongest mage in the Kingdom Army camp, chose to strike first. She raised her staff, gathering a massive fireball over eight meters in diameter. Her brother, Luo Yan, cast wind magic to enchant the fireball, which then hurled itself toward the giant snake. Other rogue mages followed suit, unleashing their most powerful spells.

Then, a shocking scene unfolded.

The giant snake, Ba Shi, glanced at the incoming fireballs with indifference, then swiped its tail, physically smashing the fireballs and the subsequent magical attacks into nothingness!

*Yes... it smashed them!*

Gusts of wind carried sparks across the grass. The soldiers turned and fled, their will to fight shattered. Rona and the other Chosen Ones broke into a cold sweat, their scalps tingling. The gap in strength was so vast that they couldn't even break its defense!

The Chosen Ones’ resolve wavered again.

"Lord Mola!" Fals suddenly shouted. All eyes turned to the figure who had somehow leaped onto the giant snake's head. Mo Xuanyu gripped his blade with both hands and thrust it down into Ba Shi’s eye!

*Squelch!*

The blade struggled as it pierced the eye membrane and sank into the eyeball.

"Hiss-!" Ba Shi went into a frenzy, thrashing its head to throw Mo Xuanyu off. But Mo Xuanyu held onto the hilt tightly, using the momentum to scramble onto its head.

"Rona! Support Captain Mola with another fireball!" Chi Ming shouted. Rona exerted all her strength to conjure another massive fireball, and the other Chosen Ones followed, throwing everything they had.