Chapter 479: Clash Of Giants
Upon the flat soil at the top of the golden mountain, a hundred-meter spider crab rested, fulfilling its duty as a Guardian.
The sheer power it radiated scared off potential foes, allowing it to live a blissful life.
BOOM!
However, the peacefulness was abruptly shattered by a thunderous explosion from behind.
Clicking its claws, the colossal spider crab moved its ten legs, turning.
Before it, a war deity of shimmering gold hovered in the air, bearing the same number of limbs as the Guardian.
Recognizing that it had just been challenged to a duel, the spider crab let out a defiant screech, charging forward.
The God of War did the same.
Meanwhile, Michael, who rested in a meditative position under his technique, was mentally controlling the war deity like a mecha on whom he had fully transferred his consciousness over.
Without the immediate threat of death, and with the squad protecting his physical body, he instantly grasped several things when he activated God of War.
The description had not been a lie. In order to summon it, he was required to reach a certain threshold of madness.
With his wounds recovered and his mind rested, the technique wasn’t able to channel as much power as before, reducing the presence of the God of War to something less imposing than before and decreasing the number of its arms.
However, that wasn’t inherently a bad thing.
Rather than looming for kilometers, its stature was lowered to a hundred meters, shrinking the necessary spiritual energy needed to sustain it.
Furthermore, having ten arms was more favorable than a hundred. It was already demanding enough to smoothly use ten limbs at the same time. Attempting to control ten times that amount would only overwhelm him.
Instead of an unmanageable technique that would drain Michael’s reserves in a flash, the war deity had become a weapon that was more straightforward to use and could engage in open battle for longer than a mere minute.
Of course, as Michael gained more experience with time, he would push the God of War further. For now, he had struck the perfect balance that granted him the maximum amount of benefits.
"Let’s test just how powerful this Supreme technique is." He mused, controlling the body of the war deity.
At first, the sensation was odd. His current form didn’t possess legs, robbing him of the ability to feel the ground beneath him.
Though it paled in comparison to having ten arms, mental threads that hadn’t been there before connected to his mind, giving him equal access to all of them.
Striking aimlessly could have created an opening for his foe, plus he wanted to prolong the battle if possible. When the spider crab swung at him with one of its legs, Michael raised a golden shield he carried in one hand, blocking.
The impact was brutal, sending a deafening shockwave and shoving the war deity backwards.
Michael discovered he was unable to feel any pain.
His impression was that he was a rock that had been struck by a powerful blow. A rock was incapable of feelings... The only thing that mattered was whether it remained whole or not.
Nodding mentally, he retaliated. Responding to the Guardian’s attack, he raised one of his left arms and struck with the axe he carried.
The spider crab was shocked. The applied force was much heavier than expected. Under the impact, its exoskeleton shattered, and the leg was severed.
A second was all the Guardian needed to recover. Its body shimmered, the core underneath blazing, restoring the lost limb.
"Good." Michael smiled mentally. "We wouldn’t want this to end too soon, would we?"
The two colossal entities clashed.
God of War slashed with its ten limbs simultaneously, while the Guardian used its legs to both parry and attack.
Subtle tremors rippled across the golden mountain, intensifying with each passing second.
Neither Michael nor the Guardian was willing to give up.
Meanwhile, the squad protected Michael’s physical body. All gazed at the scene with admiration.
"Fuck it all up!" Devil yelled with a maniacal grin.
"Put the Guardian in its place!" Angel shouted with a bashful expression, using both hands to amplify her voice.
"Is he actually about to win?" Persephone’s eyes narrowed with piqued curiosity.
Michael had only just become an Absolute Lord, yet he was about to accomplish something even she wasn’t sure she could do herself?
Nicole didn’t answer immediately.
"From what I am seeing, the technique he is using has a very good ratio of spiritual usage. It’s certainly of a high rank... But the battle can’t be won by relying on just that. Michael’s movements are becoming more refined in real time. He really possesses monstrous adaptability."
Considering that she was the strongest Supreme Lord, her praise carried heavy implications.
"I might have to up my game." Nicole smiled faintly. "Otherwise, I might not be the strongest for much longer..."
The duel continued, the two challengers matching each other strike for strike.
Sadly, even Michael’s improved spiritual reserves were bound to run out at some point.
When he realized he was close to running out of steam, he increased his aggressiveness, aiming to overwhelm the Guardian.
Having gotten used to the rhythm of the battle, the spider crab was momentarily taken aback, giving Michael the opening he needed.
Raising half of his weapons high, he brought them down in a violent storm of devastation, mangling the body of the Guardian.
The reckless attack exposed the illusion’s core but failed to deliver the fatal strike.
One would think that with the failure of his gamble, Michael had lost.
But the Guardian had been too focused on the God of War to notice the others from Michael’s squad.
Ember didn’t miss her chance and charged at blinding speed.
She snatched the core right out of its place, killing the creature on the spot.
Letting out a pained shriek, the Guardian’s body shattered into light particles.
Tired but content with his progress in the technique’s mastery, Michael dispelled the war deity and regained control over his physical body.
With a smile he gazed at the system’s quest.
[Killed Guardians: 1/100]
"One down." He chuckled and glanced at the sky.
"Ninety-nine more to go."
