At this moment, Ed had already used the vines that Spread his body to lift Cuiske off the ground, like grabbing a defenseless wild beast.
He had completely stripped away all thirty-four types of Aberration plants, and now, apart from the [ Plundering Weeping Willow ] used to sustain his life, there were no other Aberration plants left on Cuiske's body.
Without the Aberration plants that had been plundered and Grafting, Cuiske's strength was instantly diminished, going from being stronger than Ed at his peak to being slightly weaker.
Without the cooperation of those Aberration plants, Cuiske's ability to locate and mark enemies, which he developed after obtaining the True Blood, also weakened.
Ed lifted Cuiske and raised his hand to unleash the Devouring ability originating from Rosalind.
Cuiske's power can be divided into two parts: one part originates from the plant system, and the other part originates from Grand Duke Adelaide, a vampire.
It's quite a coincidence--
Ed also possesses powers derived from the plant system and the vampire grand duke.
Therefore, identifying the specific category is the best way to absorb information.
As soon as he raised his right hand, an uncontrollable surge of muscle pain and soreness welled up inside him.
Given Ed's rank and strength, overcoming this pain should have been effortless.
But at this moment, Ed felt that his right hand had become a burden to his body, and an unbearable pain was Spread throughout his body along his skin, muscles, and bones.
He instantly gave the command to die, while looking at his right arm.
Unlike the withering of actively dying, Ed's right hand had begun to ulcerate, with huge green blisters swelling on its surface.
Seeing this, Ed casually flicked his right arm, and the rotting and withering arm was severed and flew away.
Ed casually pushed Cuiske into the knee-deep lake water and looked back at Adelaide, who was attacking him.
Previously, it was either Ed looking up at Adelaide, or Adelaide cursing Ed with her ethereal giant eye.
This was the first time he had ever looked directly into the eyes of this vampire grand duke.
The Grand Duke's eyes were filled with dark purple Psionic Energy; with just one glance, he sensed that the person before him was extraordinary.
Even though he had anticipated this, at this moment he still felt he couldn't see through the boy in front of him.
But there was one thing he was certain of--
The young man Tree Worship Church had his most obvious physical feature: the half-crown sapling growing upwards from his eye sockets.
" Absolute Punishment!"
Adelaide's voice was deep, yet it seemed to penetrate the soul.
The moment the words left his mouth, a dark color settled over the sapling in Ed's eyes.
Unlike the tender green when the plant system is dominant, the crimson when the animal system is dominant, the deep blue when the Psionic Energy system is dominant, and the brass color when the inanimate system is dominant.
From Ed's perspective, the Little Green seemed to have its saturation reduced to the lowest possible level; the color had completely disappeared, leaving only a few slightly different, monotonous shades of gray.
Meanwhile, the tips of the Little Green branches and the edges of the tender leaves began to wither and rot rapidly.
Adelaide's core ability is to apply debuffs, or in this world's parlance, poison and curses.
As is well known, the wider the scope of application of the power of curses, the weaker their power becomes.
Conversely, when Adelaide limited the scope of Absolute Punishment to Little Green, who was even smaller than Ed, his curse became incredibly powerful.
"Cough!"
Ed stumbled and lost his balance, then vomited a mouthful of black blood.
That was a sign that the Little Green that had been living alongside him was beginning to rot, and the Little Green plant was rooted in his eye socket, its roots spreading throughout his entire body; the two were fused together and could not be separated.
If Little Green is cursed to death by Adelaide, Ed will surely die with her.
The panel in front of me flickered between light and dark, like a game system that had encountered a bug.
Finally, after dimming again, the familiar light green border did not light up once more.
It sounds a bit funny, but Ed can hear Little Green coughing in his head right now.
However, this is also good news, as it at least shows that the World Tree sapling, which it depended on for survival, did not die, although only temporarily.
"I said, can you still hold on?"
Ed asked his partner in his mind.
"Able."
Little Green, busy coughing, responded:
"Everything... is proceeding... according to... your 'that' plan..."
"Good."
Ed wiped the black blood from the corner of his mouth. His only remaining left arm hung limply in front of him, and his upper jaw was slightly closed, his sharp teeth rapidly aging and falling out.
Even so, Ed remained standing in place, crimson dragon scales gleaming on his arms.
Although his scales looked dull and malnourished, his single remaining eye still revealed a resolute determination when it looked at Adelaide.
Adelaide looked at Ed as if he were a lone wolf at the end of its rope.
On the distant lakeshore, Xilǐ'er, mounted on his warhorse, watched this spectacular scene with a slight smile playing on his lips, his hands clasped in front of him.
"Smack!"
As if celebrating the climax of the play, the metal gauntlets clinked together lightly, producing a not-so-loud clapping sound.
The sound dissipated completely after only five steps, but it was an exception for one person on the battlefield at that moment:
Margaret.
The crisp sound of clapping seemed to echo in the spider's soul, like the church bells that rang during services when I was a child.
In that fading echo that resonated with the soul, Margaret's string of reason also emitted a barely perceptible snapping sound.
The two remaining eyes looked towards the battlefield, but their gaze wasn't fixed on the boy who was about to kill Cuiske but was severely injured by his father's gaze; rather...
His own lord, Grand Duke Adelaide.
What am I doing?
A sense of panic welled up inside Margaret.
She watched as her eyes locked onto her father, feeling her arms rise and her spider legs gathering strength.
What am I doing?
No!
cannot!
She wanted to speak, to resist that control and Domination, and to remind her father.
However, it was all in vain.
Her taut spider legs were released in an instant, and Margaret's bladed arms, which had long since Alienation to resemble those of a mantis, swung towards Adelaide.
A dull, purplish-black eye suddenly opened from behind Adelaide's head, instantly locking onto Margaret, who was attacking her.
Looking into her eyes, filled with regret, Adelaide let out a low growl that was both angry and tinged with despair:
Didn't I tell you not to eat it?!
His answer was Margaret's tearful eyes.
"Clatter."
Seeing Xilǐ'er collapse on his mount's back, the Immortal King on the shore knew his last chance had come.
He took a step forward, and when his foot landed, he appeared to Adelaide's left.
The twilight-like blade of light in his hand had already materialized, seemingly capable of cleaving through the barriers of time and extending this beautiful moment into eternity.