Chapter 973: Arduous Battle

However, now was not the time for Donald to feel remorse. The magic storm above might have been gotten rid of, but the frenzied Abyssal Demons were still wrecking havoc. He had to bring the team from the Rotterdam into the battle soon. While the metallurgists who were rescued by the rest of the Alchemy Colossuses had not recovered from their trauma, they had no choice but to put themselves together to enter the battle with the Abyssal Demons.

Actually, the threat posed by those Abyssal Demons was rather limited. The real deal was Lord Devourer Gol which had a great appetite. Devouring was not its only ability.

Lord Devourer was merely at the peak of the Legendary-realm. Lin Li could sense that it had not stepped into the Sanctuary-realm. However, no one knew how many demons it had absorbed over the thousands of years it had been living in the Well of the Sun. It was possible that it had devoured the treasures from the palace as well. The accumulated power from all of the things it had devoured had to be an unthinkable danger.

Furthermore, according to Lin Li’s guesses, the magic gears and traps in the Well of the Sun had to be dysfunctional due to Lord Devourer. The countless magic gears and traps meant that there had to be at least 100,000 mana sources. Their combined power would be terrifying.

If one were to compare Lord Devourer and the tender Elemental Wyrm Xiao Hua, the former would definitely have much more power than the latter. Hence, although it had not entered the Sanctuary-realm, its massive power made it possible for it to compete against Sanctuary powerhouses. After all, a real Sanctuary powerhouse would not have such a great amount of energy. What set them apart would only be the comprehension of these abilities.

While it cast its destructive spells, Lord Devourer opened its enormous mouth, and sucked at the expedition. It was clear that it had the intention to devour all of them.

The expedition was a scrumptious feast to the Lord Devourer. The team was made up of a dozen Legendary powerhouses. If it could devour the expedition, Lord Devourer would have a high chance to barge into the Sanctuary-realm.

The people from the expedition immediately felt the great force of attraction tugging at them the very moment it opened its mouth. This was especially so for the Alchemy Colossuses from the Rotterdam that were at the front line. They started to move with the force. The metallurgists within them could not help but become anxious when they thought of the sight of their teammates who were swallowed by Lord Devourer. They immediately fought against the force at their fullest capacity.

By reason, if the Alchemy Colossuses that had huge and heavy bodies had trouble withstanding the force exerted by Lord Devourer, it would be extremely easy for the rest of the people in the team to be swallowed by it. However, the Holy Light Knights on the flanks of the expedition were able to resist it with their battle formation that connected them all together as they formed the Light Domain.

Unlike them, the Alchemy Colossuses were unable to form such a delicate and seamless battle formation. Their huge and heavy bodies seemed to turn them into targets for devouring.

After noticing this situation, Donald immediately thought of a solution. That was to recreate the scene when they were rescuing the other Alchemy Colossuses. He let all the Alchemy Colossuses from the Rotterdam connect to one another with the help of chains. Although this hindered their mobility, it played a part against the strength of Lord Devourer. It was as though they were playing the tug-of-war with Lord Devourer.

“GRRR!” Lord Devourer sucked at the expedition, but only Abyssal Demons entered its mouth. The taste of the demons which it had long been sick and tired of enraged it. After a long growl, the sky darkened immediately. The golden glow of light within the palace became a faint glow that seemed like it would be extinguished at any time.

At the same time, the Abyssal Demons that were surrounding the expedition appeared to be deeply agonized. They shrieked as their bodies started to inflate like a balloon quickly. The mana waves on their bodies seemed to be rising at a shocking speed as well.

It was obvious that eating was not only the talent of Lord Devourer. The monster knew to transfer mana into the Abyssal Demons to forcefully raise their power. In the blink of an eye, those Abyssal Demons that were in the Legendary-level were raised to their next level. Those that were not in the Legendary-level rose to the peak of level-19 as well. There were also demons that exploded because they could not withstand the energy within them.

There were a few thousand Abyssal Demons in this region now. This included hundreds of demons in the Legendary-realm. Their progress in energy could only show how massive the powers of Lord Devourer were.

Of course, the forced power increase was not the Holy Light baptism Lin Li gave to the people from the Brilliance Shrine. It was an unnatural transmission of energy from Lord Devourer to the demons. It was brutal enough to burst demons; for demons which had yet to explode from the transmission, there would not be any good results waiting for them, either. If they were not eaten by Lord Devourer in the future, their lives would not last long, either.

Yet, to Lord Devourer, these demons were only its food that it had long been sick and tired of. It paid no attention to their lives at all. Transferring mana to these demons to use them as baits for more delicious food was what that mattered more.

Very soon, the Abyssal Demons that had their power raised stopped screaming in agony. They pounced towards the expedition with violent mana. All they wanted to do was to vent the energy within their bodies. To the expedition, however, it was not anything great.

Those Skinning Walkers that originally thrived on speed became faster. It was difficult to notice their movements with the naked eye. The Black Iron Demonic Apes that had a strong build acquired more strength and increased in height. All of their punches had enough strength to send an Alchemy Colossus flying. The other Abyssal Demons were the same. Each of their abilities were raised by multiple folds, and they had incredibly strong bodies and mana.

The Lord Devourer that had raised the power of the Abyssal Demons did not wait for its demons to send the delicacies to it, either. It continued to cast powerful spells against the expedition mercilessly. Those Legendary-level spells that showered the team would suffice to destroy a city instantaneously. No powerhouse in the peak of the Legendary-level would have the ability to withstand them. Their impact was even stronger than the combined attacks from the horde of Corpse Dragons.

The doomsday-like scene and the terrifying magic storm stunned everyone. Archbishop Martin, Donald, and the rest shifted their gazes to Lin Li. They thought that only a Sanctuary powerhouse like Lin Li would have the ability to resolve such a terrifying problem.

And Lin Li did not disappoint them. He exerted a mysterious wave at the Sanctuary-level. The energy was not tyrannical, but it seemed inaccessible like the sky of stars. Then, Lin Li raised the Holy Light in his hands, and brought a blinding ray of light into the mess that was created by the magic storm. Instantly, the space trembled, and it was as though a sun rose where the light shone. Layers of light dispersed the magic storm immediately.

After dispersing the magic storm, Lin Li teleported before Lord Devourer from the defended region.

Instead of feeling fear, the Lord Devourer became excited knowing that his enemy was a Sanctuary powerhouse. While it could only enter the Sanctuary-realm after eating many beings at the peak of the Legendary-realm, Lord Devourer knew that a single Sanctuary powerhouse would bring him into the Sanctuary-realm.

Although Lord Devourer was merely at the peak of the Legendary-realm, the powers accumulated within its body through the years of devouring its prey and other items gave it immense powers comparable to that of real Sanctuary powerhouses. What it lacked was the mastery of those.

The Lord Devourer did not hesitate when it saw Lin Li appearing in front of it. It opened its mouth immediately, and used an immense force to surround Lin Li’s body. It was as though Lord Devourer was ready to absorb the stars in the sky.

However, Lin Li was not keen to enter the belly of Lord Devourer like the Monkey King[1]. He understood that Lord Devourer was not dependent on biological digestion, but rather a law that could help it disintegrate all sorts of materials. Despite being a Sanctuary powerhouse, Lin Li did not have the guts to test whether he had the ability to resist such a law.

Hence, Lin Li activated his Space Robe, and teleported behind Lord Devourer. He used the Holy Light to concretize a white light, and threw it at the Lord Devourer.

BAM! There was a sound of explosion, and the enormous Lord Devourer was thrown five to six meters away from its original spot. However, it seemed to be uninjured by the attack.

Although Lin Li did not use any magic in this attack, the impact of the debris of the stars already surpassed spells in the Legendary-level. Yet, for it to leave zero injuries on Lord Devourer, it meant the beast had to have a defense capability even more powerful than the ancient wyrms.

Of course, this was not out of Lin Li’s expectations. He expected the beast to use all of the energy it had accumulated over time on defense. It was one of the reasons why it could have the ability to challenge a Sanctuary powerhouse. The energy it had absorbed over the years had turned into a crystal that no Sanctuary powerhouse would be able to break with a single attack.

Although Lin Li had experience battling Lord Devourer when he was at the Well of the Sun in the Endless World, there was always a difference between the fictional and real world. Despite the two worlds being similar to each other, Lin Li was a Hunter in the Endless World. It was a game that could allow him to tap on the system to fight against his enemy. Now that he was a mage in Anril, the only power for him to use was his own.

Although it was uninjured after being bashed by Lin Li, the action infuriated Lord Devourer. It stabilized its swollen body, and turned its gigantic head around. It opened its mouth, but did not mobilize the suction force. This time, it splattered a huge amount of magic towards Lin Li. It was like tide water surging towards him.

Yet, the frightening tide of magic merely engulfed Lin Li’s shadow. Lin Li activated his Space Robe, and teleported to the side of Lord Devourer. He created a Solar Sphere with the laws of light and darkness, and dropped it on the body of Lord Devourer. It exploded instantaneously and sent Lord Devourer tumbling away.

While Lord Devourer seemed to be at the losing end, it was merely appearances. It did not seem to be suffering from any injury. Its freakish defense mechanism would certainly induce a headache even in gods.

Lin Li felt the danger as well. He teleported to another location around the monster, and watched as a giant hand that was made of mana appeared from the void. It made a grabbing action where Lin Li was previously standing at.

Lin Li’s inability to defeat Lord Devourer despite being a Sanctuary powerhouse spawned fear within Archbishop Martin and Donald and the rest of the expedition. However, since Lin Li had helped to attract its attention, it gave the rest time to focus on the other Abyssal Demons.

Although these Abyssal Demons had their power forcefully raised by Lord Devourer, they weren’t a great threat to the expedition. To eliminate the Abyssal Demons in the shortest amount of time, the expedition transited from defense to launching their attacks onto the Abyssal Demons wholeheartedly. This was especially so for the Legendary powerhouses. They left the team, and charged into the crowd of Abyssal Demons like tigers entering a herd of sheep, and used powerful spells and slew the demons relentlessly.

Connoris waved the Eternal Frost Blade to create empty space to devour the lives of the Abyssal Demons. Norfeller used his Heaven’s Wrath and bolted within the group of Abyssal Demons, leaving behind bodies that were sliced in two.

[1] A character in the Chinese classic, Journey to the West.