Before the Tranquil Tree King could make a move, Hila launched a preemptive attack. A flash of red light appeared in her eyes, and bursts of death energy, already brewing like the ocean, shot out, containing an aura of destruction and sealing off all of the Tranquil Tree King's evasive angles.
Suppressing his astonishment, the Tranquil Tree King unleashed a burst of green light, his powerful martial arts aura erupting like a supernova, emitting a thick ring of pale green light waves. The approaching death energy froze in mid-air and shattered one after another, but more death energy surged down, continuously filling the gap.
The Power of the Dead, amplified by the Remnant Soul Terminus, increased in intensity, multiplying the erosion. Although the Tranquil Tree King's protective shield blocked the bombardment of death energy, some red energy remained on it, constantly eroding the thickness of his martial arts aura. The tainted aura rapidly lost its activity, turning into starlight and dissipating into the universe.
"This ability possesses offensive attributes such as impact, erosion, weakening of vitality, and mental attacks, and it also seems to have some kind of killing technique that involves stacking marks. If the body is hit, it might not be good..."
With a thought, the Tranquil Tree King channeled more power into his protective aura. He also used his Tree King authority to summon the roots of the World Tree, which swirled rapidly, forming a whirlwind that shattered the incoming death energy.
Without pausing, he bent his knees and suddenly pushed off, unleashing a shockwave of energy behind him. He shot out like a cannonball, transforming into a streak of light as he charged toward Hila, leaving behind a trail of afterimages.
"Come!"
Hila's eyes flashed fiercely, and a surge of reddish-black energy suddenly erupted from her body, then rapidly rolled back, covering her body layer by layer, instantly solidifying. The death energy seemed to have turned into some kind of gelatinous substance, and she transformed into a small reddish-black giant, five or six meters tall.
At the same time, dense and intricate silver-gray patterns covered the little giant's body, making it look quite mysterious.
The little giant's body outline was exactly the same as Hila's original form, but its face had no facial features, only a pair of eye holes burning with white light.
The next moment, the green meteor slammed into the little giant's abdomen, sending her flying like a red and green ray, crashing through dozens of starships and leaving a trail of smoke and fire in its wake.
Thump thump thump--
A barrage of green fist shadows rained down, striking the little giant like a storm, unleashing a barrage of Ora Ora. However, her red and black body was incredibly resilient; only ripples appeared on her surface, showing no signs of shattering.
Suddenly, the fist shadow vanished, and the little giant caught the Tranquil Tree King's fist with both hands, his wrists sinking.
BOOM!!
The powerful force created a flowing ripple pattern on the little giant's body, traveling from his palm to his back, and then bursting out of his body, spreading a green energy shockwave into the space behind him, shattering hundreds of warships in the vicinity.
"Martial artists are invincible in close combat? I don't believe it!"
A surge of intense fighting spirit erupted, and the red-black giant slammed his headbutt into the crown of the Tranquil Tree King. The shockwave traveled through their bodies, producing a loud clang and a picture book, as the Iron-Headed Boys had a friendly meeting.
Immediately afterward, the little giant released the Tranquil Tree King, clenched his fist, and in the blink of an eye, countless red lights flashed. Hundreds of fist imprints burning with red flames suddenly appeared on the Tranquil Tree King's protective aura, and a huge propulsive force erupted, instantly sending him flying.
In this form, Hila surprisingly managed to repel the Tranquil Tree King in close combat once!
"... interesting."
The Tranquil Tree King, who was flying backward, immediately stopped and rubbed his head, which felt a little stuffy. He was unharmed elsewhere and was somewhat surprised by Hila's close combat skills.
After their exchange, he discovered that the little giant's physical resilience was frighteningly exaggerated, and his strength was extremely high. If it weren't for the lack of martial arts aura, he would have thought he was fighting a Peak Beyond Grade A martial artist.
"Again!"
Hila raised her hand and beckoned, her fighting spirit palpable.
Although she excels at mid-to-long-range attacks, her greatest preference remains fierce close-quarters combat.
After years of relentless challenges against Black Star, only to be repeatedly humiliated, Hila has developed a kind of pleasure from being beaten. She not only enjoys being punched, but also enjoys punching others in the same way Black Star punched her. Aurora has taken no shortage of punches from her over the past ten years.
Because the Power of the Dead contains the inherited abilities of its former master, Nigos, Hila doesn't need to bury herself in developing her abilities to understand how to use many superpowers. After reaching the Peak Beyond Grade A, she unlocked many new skills, one of which is transforming into a red and black giant, and it is also her core ability.
Hila usually controls death energy by releasing it externally, but now she can condense and compress it within her body, transforming herself into another form called "Death God Liberation," which is one of Nigos's main combat methods.
This skill has multiple transformation stages, becoming stronger as you progress. However, each stronger stage requires reaching a sufficient energy level to unlock. The ultimate "God of the Dead" requires an energy level of Ona or more. Hila has not yet met this requirement and has only unlocked the "Spirit Burial" stage, which is when she transforms into the red and black giant.
Upon entering the "Death God Liberation" state, Hela achieves a higher degree of fusion with the Netherland Dimension, activating a new specialization. The more and higher-quality the Heroic Spirits within the Netherland, the more buffs she receives, with effects similar to [Proof of Leadership]. This is one of the reasons for Hila's explosive increase in combat power.
At the same time, because her transformed body is highly condensed death energy, her abilities and characteristics still remain. Even if physical attacks are used, they will still inflict mental damage and corrosive power. Moreover, just touching her body will cause outsiders to lose their life force.
Their eyes met in mid-air, sparks flying, and the next moment they moved simultaneously. The two figures, one red and one green, collided again with a deafening roar, their fists striking each other with flesh, the aftershocks scattering and disrupting the battlefield.
"Tsk tsk, how scary."
Han Xiao stayed at the base to watch the battle. As he watched the fierce fight on the screen, he couldn't help but grin.
He had tried Hila in this form, and her melee abilities were indeed impressive. Combined with her regenerative abilities, she was incredibly tanky, making her a top-tier fighter.
In his view, even with this move, Hila was still far from enough to defeat the Tranquil Tree King in its war form. Before his advancement, even if he could easily defeat the Tranquil Tree King in a one-on-one fight, he wouldn't be able to do anything to it for a while. Hila's combat power was far weaker than before his advancement, and it was impossible for her to defeat the Tranquil Tree King on her own.
However, given her disgustingly fleshy appearance, she won't be beaten into a pulp by the Tranquil Tree King anytime soon.
Han Xiao stopped looking at the two large, rubbing lumps of flesh and turned his gaze to another battlefield.
Anchor Tree King and Hyperion are old rivals. Enemies meeting are bound to be furious, and they are engaged in a fierce battle. The two Mechanical Deity ' enormous bodies roll and crush across the battlefield, shattering starships one after another.
Besides the two, there were several other Mechanical Deity on the battlefield. Due to their enormous size, they were all the most eye-catching and handsome figures in the Beyond Grade A battlefield.
As for Old Dragon, after successfully "losing weight," he has escaped the fate of being a target and is now chasing after a World Tree Army leader, wildly throwing magic at him. He has made great progress and fully demonstrated the benefits of having an ancestor.
Others like Manison and Kasuyi have all found their opponents and are locked in fierce battles. Meanwhile, golden light occasionally shoots out from the field; that's Aurora precisely healing her teammates. Her control over the situation is much more effortless than it was more than ten years ago, and her success rate is also higher, showing that the special training is quite effective.
After several rounds of Sanctuary Revival, the number of top-tier powerhouses on both sides of the Three Universal Civilizations has increased considerably. However, the World Tree Tree's Ten Executors, high-level Sacred Tree Envoy, Thirteen Ancestral Spirits, and military leaders are not to be underestimated. Nevertheless, neither side has deployed all of their top-tier powerhouses to the battlefield at this time. The World Tree did not send all its experts to participate in this probing attack, and the Three Universal Civilizations also kept a group of Revived and newly born Beyond Grade A warriors hidden away. Although the Three Universal Civilizations are outnumbered, their strength has increased, so they have not suffered any losses and have temporarily maintained a stalemate.
"Fording about to make his move?"
Han Xiao shifted his gaze to Fording, who was hiding in the fleet and waiting for Fording, and narrowed his eyes.
Although the souls of all the enemies were bound by the World Tree, preventing the Soul-Switching Device from effectively transferring their souls, it was still very powerful.
As expected, Han Xiao watching for a while, Fording in the scene finally took out the Soul-Switching Device, took a deep breath, and activated this Universal Treasure.
The next moment, the souls of the crew members inside the World Tree starship were instantly torn to pieces, and they died on the spot, leaving no one alive on the ship.
The number of World Tree warships experiencing this phenomenon is in the tens of thousands, and they continue to spread outwards.
"Huh? What's going on?!"
The Tranquil Tree King's expression changed as he sensed the anomaly through their shared mental connection.
The strange thing about the Soul-Switching Device is that it leaves no trace. In the eyes of the Tranquil Tree King, the sudden deaths of large numbers of World Tree crew members without warning, and the source of the attack could not be found, but it was definitely the work of the enemy.
Although it was unknown what special weapon the enemy had used, the fact that the sudden deaths were concentrated in one area was clearly not a coincidence, and the World Tree Fleet immediately began to adjust its course to avoid this area.
This method, though clumsy, is indeed effective. The Soul-Switching Device does not have Infinite range. Although it can cover planets, its range is relatively small on the scale of interstellar warfare. Of course, Fording, the user, is not a fixed turret; as long as he moves around the battlefield, he can kill more enemies.
Tranquil Tree King was naturally unaware of these circumstances. After observing the soldiers' sudden deaths and taking a look at the current situation of the Beyond Grade A battle, he felt quite solemn.
"This probing is enough; it's time to withdraw."
Although the most troublesome Black Star has not yet appeared, the Tranquil Tree King has already begun to consider retreating.
He thought this probing attack would give him the upper hand in terms of individual strength, but the situation turned out to be quite bad. This civilization, which he considered prey, was very tenacious. It seemed that even if he conquered their territory, he would not be able to defeat them easily.
This was not the main attack. If things had gone well, Tranquil Tree King wouldn't have minded switching to exchanging pieces. But the situation wasn't as expected, and he felt there was no need to continue the fight.
The Tranquil Tree King's eyes narrowed, and his strength suddenly erupted. His fist glowed with a dazzling green cross-shaped light, and with lightning speed, it slammed into Hila's abdomen.
Bang!
Impact halo bursts forth!
The two were locked in a fierce battle when this powerful punch suddenly broke the stalemate. Hila was blasted away, and at the same time, the World Tree beside the Tranquil Tree King flung out, sending Hila flying even further, crashing into a row of starships like a meteor.
Instead of giving chase, the Tranquil Tree King turned and retreated. The other World Tree powerhouses received the order and retreated in unison, leaving only the Anchor Tree King and a group of Mechanic Class powerhouses' Dominion to cover the rear.
Although he could Dead Sea in a short time, the difference in their strength wasn't so easy to bridge. If he wanted to leave, Hila couldn't stop him.
"Chase!"
Kasuyi shouted in the mental network, and the people fighting immediately gave Pursuit.
Hila finally managed to stop herself, and when she looked up, she found that the Tranquil Tree King was already far away. She immediately chased after him, but the distance between them continued to widen.
She couldn't help but release her mental energy and shout:
"Don't run! Keep fighting with me!"
The Tranquil Tree King ignored her completely, darting through the area where the two fleets were clashing, getting closer and closer to his own main camp, leaving her with only his ever-receding the Sight of Father's Back.
Just then, Dilron, who had already materialized, suddenly appeared on the battlefield, looked at the figure of the Tranquil Tree King from afar, and let out a disdainful sneer:
"No way, you call yourself king? You're a useless piece of trash who fled in disarray. You don't even deserve to be the most useless martial artist."
The words had barely left his mouth.
The Tranquil Tree King suddenly stopped fleeing, his face showing surprise and doubt.
What's going on... It was just a sarcastic remark, but with my temperament, I inexplicably stopped and couldn't help but want to turn around and beat this damn jerk to a pulp?!
Is this some kind of mind control, similar to the power of words?!