One after another, thin, long tentacles covered with metallic barbs rose from the ground, growing among the stone forest like man-eating plants.
They were aimed at the [Ground] and waved repeatedly at the speed of sonic booms.
[Ground] He remained standing in place, raising his arms to block the oncoming attacks.
He secretly sneered to himself.
"I've reached the point of resorting to repetitive tactics, [Life]... Prepare to face my judgment once more!"
But as the force of the blows increased, [Ground]' s expression gradually became serious.
Click...
A series of cracking sounds emanated from his body—the sound of rocks breaking!
A powerful punch slammed into the ground, and a hard diamond rose up, temporarily blocking the attack.
He then took the opportunity to retreat.
Immediately, his keen intuition made him turn around and see a giant crocodile covered in metallic scales, its jaws wide open, lunging at him.
He raised his arm to defend himself, and his sharp teeth left several bite marks on the surface of his arm.
He quickly raised his other fist and smashed it into pieces with a single punch.
[Ground] He frowned as he looked at the teeth marks left by the other person, then touched his face, feeling a sharp pain coming from it.
"The cells continuously damage my surface; although the damage is very subtle, it can still have a significant impact."
"Looks like we need to finish this quickly."
A tentacle shot up from the ground and wrapped around his wrist, and various ferocious monsters immediately appeared around him, roaring as they surged toward the [Ground].
He stood silently in [Ground], as if everything around him had been slowed down, with each monster slowly surging towards him from the air.
He neither dodged nor defended himself; he simply stood there quietly with his eyes closed.
When he opened his eyes again, two enormous meteorites pierced through the clouds, hurtling downwards with intense flames.
Thump--!!!
A meteorite the size of Mount Tai crashed into the blood mist and the monsters made of Hela cells.
The devastating flames and kinetic energy swept everything away, and the already dying Aidan was thrown out.
After everything calmed down, Aidan, with one hand protecting the pixelated heart that represented her soul, used the other hand to push herself up from the ground with great difficulty.
Although he appeared to be unharmed, his nearly depleted health bar foreshadowed his predicament.
"Boss... Boss!"
When Aidan saw that everything around him was now just desolation, with no trace of blood mist, he panicked.
He staggered to his feet, his eyes scanning the flat ground left by the bombing.
His chest heaved more and more, and his hand gripping the knife trembled uncontrollably.
On the cloudless ground, there was no sign of Hela; only the figure still standing in the center, slowly walking towards [Ground]...
Golden runes spread again, sweeping past Aidan's feet, and stone pillars rose from the ground, surrounding him and blocking all his escape routes.
" Aidan, you really disappoint me... I thought five years would be enough time for you to figure things out."
"But you remain stubbornly ignorant and continue down this path."
The [Ground], carrying the oppressive aura of the [Five Calamities], approached Aidan step by step, each step feeling as if it were treading on Aidan's heart.
As Aidan retreated, she waved her hand, summoning several pixelated spears that pierced her opponent.
[Ground] With just a wave of his hand, the spear aimed at him shattered into pieces.
"I don't understand what [Life] can really bring you..."
Aidan summoned the Gaster Blaster again to bombard the enemy, but the enemy simply raised a stone pillar to completely block it.
"The two of you will ultimately not walk the same path; you might even end up on opposite sides..."
You don't understand!
Aidan let out a low growl and thrust his dagger at his opponent.
The latter dodged the attack with a sideways movement of his head, and with a gentle downward flick of his hand, a powerful gravitational pull pressed Aidan firmly to the ground.
[Ground], standing before him, looking down at him, "Although I am very grateful to you, I also very much want to let you go."
"But I, who represent justice, cannot do this."
A rock cube covered in golden runes appeared in his palm, aimed at Aidan.
I'm sorry...
A gentle breeze blew by, softly ruffling their hair.
Click--
A barely audible trigger click came from behind, as faint as a pin dropping.
[Ground] My vigilance instantly spiked to the extreme! I hurriedly turned around to look.
A bullet formed by the Power of Deconstruction pierced through layers of stone pillars, leaving a regular circle, and surged straight towards the [Ground].
It all happened so suddenly that he had no way to escape and could only raise the cube in his hand and defend himself with all his might!
The Power of Deconstruction permeates the body!
A terrified Aidan slowly raised his head, only to be blinded by the sunlight filtering through his body on the [Ground].
The [Ground] stood shakily in place, its outstretched right hand, meant for defense, seemingly vanished.
He struggled to raise his left hand and reach for the right side of his body.
But the place was empty; all that could be felt was the dripping golden blood.
The stone pillars held up by the power of the [Ground] began to crumble, and a petite girl dressed entirely in white, holding a pistol with a red-hot muzzle, jogged toward them.
Looking at his left hand, now stained golden, and then at Hela who had walked up to him, [Ground]' s eyes showed disbelief.
thump--
He could no longer support his mutilated body and staggered to his knees, but he still managed to lift his head and look at the culprit who had killed him.
"I never expected this... I completely don't understand... why you possess such a powerful weapon... and yet, while you're on the ground, I can't sense your presence..."
Hela gently blew on the hot muzzle of the gun, then opened her mouth without saying anything. Inside, a Xing Lan gemstone necklace lay quietly on Hela tongue.
"This can conceal my presence. I actually hid it a long time ago, just to see if this gem could hide from your detection."
Hela removed the necklace from her mouth and slowly explained.
"Once I realized it was possible, I buried myself in the ground, giving you a good opportunity to shoot me."
In fact, Hela was a bit too overconfident this time, after all, the [Ground] defense capabilities are obvious to all.
He withstood a real knife strike from Aidan and was still alive and kicking.
So Hela poured almost all of her Power of the Source into the gun and fired it.
Fortunately, the desired goal was achieved, otherwise Hela would have been truly helpless.
"I see... I underestimated you..." [Ground] gave a self-deprecating smile, then looked at Aidan with difficulty.
He spoke with almost all his might, his voice hoarse.
" Aidan... Xiaojie... Beibei and Shasha... how are the three of them...?"
Aidan paused, lowered her eyes, and slowly answered.
"They are all doing very well. I bought them several houses, and they are all able to support themselves."
All three of them got into very good high schools, and Shasha was even admitted to a polytechnic university through a special admission program.
"I see..." A genuine smile of relief appeared on the [Ground].
"Very good..."
After he finished speaking, he seemed to have shed all his burdens, and his body slumped down limply.
The glint in his eyes slowly faded...