The Soul Annihilation Needle Jason's mind without hindrance, then struck the Coiling Dragon Ring and vanished into nothingness; the scimitar clashed with Linley's dragon claws, producing a crisp sound, but both failed under Frost Chill's protection.
Wenna retreated quickly, only to see the phantom of the blue dragon, the divine beast Linley, appear, causing his speed to drop sharply.
As a powerful Sovereign's Emissary, he broke free from the talent "Dragon Roar" in just three seconds, but in that short time, the Blackstone Space and the Crystal Space had already recovered.
Jason and Linley joined forces to attack Wenna.
Jason did not use Arc Flash, but instead charged up his attack under the spatial repulsion of Linley's Blackstone Space.
Blackstone Space can not only affect the user and enemies, but also provide assistance to teammates! Jason admits that his Crystal Space is far inferior in this respect.
Wenna was not good at defense, and immediately found himself in danger when his first attack failed and he was caught in a pincer movement.
"Squeak!!" With a strange and shrill sound, the illusory image of the giant snake that had just disappeared became a real entity.
Ashcroft manifested its true form— the Nether Serpent!
Wenna attempted to create another clone to retreat, but was instantly killed by the turbulent currents within the Crystal Space; Jason revealed his Thunderwing Angel form during his charge, his Blood Blade colliding with the Sovereign Artifact, the curved blade, causing both of them to stagger backward; Linley took the lead, relying on the physical defense of the Sovereign Artifact to pounce directly, his dragon claws colliding with the curved blade, each punch landing squarely.
Just as Wenna was being overwhelmed, the enormous body of the Nether Serpent slithered and flew over.
Jason and Linley both tried to slow each other down, but found that the Crystal Space and the Blackstone Space had little effect on the Nether Serpent.
Jason seized the brief moment to return to Linley's aid, leaving a gash in Wenna's left shoulder; at that moment, the Nether Serpent arrived.
Ashcroft didn't make his body too large, as that would weaken his body's defenses. The Nether Serpent, only a little over a mile long, rammed its head towards Linley like a battering ram.
The three of them have just communicated through their divine senses and reached a consensus. "Jason and Linley have swapped the Sovereign Artifact!"
Not only did Jason give the Sovereign Artifact, but he also gave Linley his Soul Defense Divine Artifact, "Ink Soul".
Jason was initially quite confident that he could withstand the Nether Serpent's "Soul Annihilation" attack, since he had already absorbed the Azure Dragon Essence Blood. Although using that Highgod Artifact- level body required transformation, his talent "Azure Light" did not.
With the addition of the Soul Defense Divine Artifact and the Sovereign’s Might, even at the cost of the shattering of the Ink Soul, there's a high probability that it can withstand one of the Nether Serpent's innate divine abilities.
However, the Eight Great Clans will definitely target Linley with strong physical attacks, and it's highly likely they won't be able to stop him.
Jason then swapped the Sovereign Artifact with Linley.
Jason was even worried that the Nether Serpent might be too lucky and that "Soul Annihilation" would hit the gap in the Coiling Dragon Ring, so he specially borrowed Delisha's Soul Defense Divine Artifact for double insurance.
Linley barely avoided the Nether Serpent's impact under the repulsive force of the Blackstone Space. Although the Nether Serpent is a super divine beast, it is not actually good at speed, and can only avoid the influence of external forces to a certain extent by relying on its talent.
Jason went straight to meet the Nether Serpent.
Over the years, Jason has become quite familiar with the situation in the circle of the strong. He used to think that the Seven Star Fiend Soul Defense Divine Artifact, could destroy it.
It was later learned that it would take the Seven Star Fiend a very long time to destroy the Soul Defense Divine Artifact. Especially with the Sovereign’s Might, even a powerhouse of Ashcroft's level would have to rely on innate divine abilities or certain supernatural powers that cannot be used multiple times to destroy the Soul Defense Divine Artifact in a short time.
Given that the Nether Serpent had already used Soul Annihilation once, Jason confidently lunged at his opponent; while Linley met Wenna.
Pusluo and York Saint- Saint-Nair were clearly unable to unleash such powerful attacks again anytime soon. The Blackstone Space and the Crystal Space gradually stabilized, and the battlefield situation once again turned in Jason's favor.
Jason moved around constantly, aided by the Crystal Space, while the Nether Serpent swung its chain hammer at the end of its tail, attacking Jason repeatedly and occasionally launching sneak attacks on Pusluo and Linley.
That chain mace was Ashcroft's Sovereign Artifact, an offensive Sovereign Artifact.
According to historical records, Ashcroft was a being born shortly after the creation of the world, and was a powerful being of the same era as the Azure Dragon. However, he failed in the struggle for the Sovereign Spark and could only serve one Sovereign, becoming the Sovereign's Emissary.
As a super divine beast with the attribute of death, its soul defense and physical strength are strong enough, so it naturally chose this Sovereign Artifact that suits it.
Jason dared not use his Blood Blade to clash head-on with the Sovereign Artifact, and could only find an opening to attack the snake's body. However, the Nether Serpent's ability to deflect force not only allowed it to avoid the effects of "domain-type" attacks, but also greatly weakened Jason's direct attacks. Furthermore, the Nether Serpent's physical strength was at the level of Highgod Artifact, so Jason's attacks could at most only shatter flesh and skin, and could not even destroy bones.
The battle was intense. Although they had the home advantage, they were facing established powerhouses from various dimensions.
To Jason's relief, after Linley used the Sovereign’s Might to make up for his Divine Power deficiency, he was only slightly at a disadvantage against Wenna and did not show any signs of defeat.
Jason was still persisting, while Linley's Sovereign’s Might was almost dissipating—among the six, only Linley's Sovereign’s Might was mismatched, so its consumption rate was naturally faster than the others.
Taking advantage of this opportunity, York Saint-Nair, in his Crimson Sun Unicorn form, retreated slightly before charging forward with all his might. His Sovereign Artifact was defensive, and Jason and the other two were not very skilled in soul attacks, he could charge forward without restraint.
Pusluo, in his Volcano Giant form, met the attack head-on, but was forced back by the force of the blow— Pusluo was still somewhat inferior to his opponent in terms of Profound Mysteries understanding.
Just as Pusluo was being held back by York Saint- Saint-Nair, the giant head of the Nether Serpent suddenly raised, and Wenna pointed at Linley's location from a distance, briefly locking the space around Linley.
Wenna has also done some research on the Wind Element Wind Space.
Linley did not wait for the Sovereign’s Might to dissipate, but directly used another drop of the Light Element Sovereign’s Might. The Azure Dragon Shadow appeared behind him, and the dragon's eyes looked at the Nether Serpent, which was about the same size as him.
"Hmph, a death throes." Ashcroft sneered inwardly. The Nether Serpent and the Azure Dragon were of equal rank; the Dragon Roar's roar could indeed temporarily slow him down, but Soul Annihilation would not!
Despite the Nether Serpent's stiff movements, the transparent needle of Soul Annihilation flew towards Linley unaffected.
Linley's Soul Ocean emitted countless golden threads, but they could not harm Soul Annihilation in the slightest. As it approached the shield of "Ink Soul," Azure Light appeared, and the fine needles manifested by Soul Annihilation dissipated slightly, but still crashed into the semi-transparent shield without hesitation.
With a brief pause, a tiny hole was pierced in the Ink Soul, and most of the needle dissipated; at this moment, the Soul Stone in Linley's mind emitted a purplish-black light, and the nearly worn-out needle, with only a small amount of energy left, collided with Linley's sword-shaped soul.
"Uh!" Linley snorted coldly, but ultimately endured it.
"He had a Soul Defense Divine Artifact!" Ashcroft transmitted telepathically, "But I've already destroyed it. Wenna, you deal with Jason, I'll kill Linley!"
Just then, Ashcroft saw Jason's figure flying rapidly towards him.
He knew this was because the effects of the Dragon Roar's roar hadn't dissipated yet. Having just used "Soul Annihilation," he didn't have the strength to quickly break free from the Dragon Roar's roar's influence, "In such a short time, he can only manage one strike at most; he'll be fine."
Ashcroft is very confident in his physical strength.
However, a sense of foreboding suddenly arose in his mind. "No, I'm alright, aren't I?--"
However, he had no other way to quickly break free from this state, as Dragon Roar was, after all, a top-tier divine power on par with Soul Annihilation.
Ashcroft could only watch as Jason, whose eyes held an eerie light, cleaved his own head with a single blow. Because of the slowed time, the pain of piercing skin and severing bones didn't even have time to reach his mind before his soul was severed from his Divine Spark status.
Ashcroft, the Nether Serpent born at the dawn of creation and who participated in the struggle for the Sovereign Spark, died at the hands of Jason was only a little over three thousand years old.