Chapter 1234 Dulgun vs Puppet Demon
Dulgun arrived before an enormous black cauldron floating in the void. She had over a hundred people behind them, all in rank 11 but from different paths. She was still dressed regally, and the serpent-shaped staff in her hands accentuated her noble aura.
"The Barbarian King's wife?" said a cold but tired voice. "Why are you here?"
"My name is Dulgun, and you know that," she stated calmly. "I'm here to ask you to surrender and follow me peacefully."
The void was momentarily quiet before the Puppet Demon stated: "It seems the Barbarian King did not come. Go away. I don't have time to waste on you."
Dulgun remained calm, and she did not utter another word. She raised her staff to release a red light that enveloped the people behind her: [War God's Blessing]. These cultivators' aura suddenly increased significantly; to be precise, their strength rose by 3-fold. There were a few individuals whose strengths were on par with 7-fold, and they immediately reached the peak of the Empyrean Realm.
Dulgun's men roared as they sensed the power coursing through their veins. They loved going on missions with the queen because they could fight all out without worrying about their lives. Dulgun waved her staff again, this time releasing a white light. For the second blessing, she removed these men's sense of pain so they could fight without any concerns or restraint.
An elderly man dressed in a black robe, heavy bags under his eyes, scattered white hair, and a pair of creepy eyes appeared before the group. "What's the meaning of this?" the Puppet Demon asked.
"Attack," Dulgun said as an explanation, and her men did not hesitate. The fastest of them condensed a bolt of lightning in his palm before throwing it at the Puppet Demon. A warrior clad in black armor that covered it from head to toe appeared before the demon and cut off the lightning bolt with its long sword.
The Puppet Demon had received the message loud and clear. With a thought, he summoned an army of millions of puppets that looked exactly like the first warrior. This puppet legion was perfectly aligned like a well-trained military. As soon as they appeared, they activated an array that blessed all their strength to the commander or the first warrior who protected their master.
The Commander Puppet's long blade released a dark light before slashing toward Dulgun. Her men came before her to erect a shield, but something unexpected occurred. The slash disappeared, and when it reappeared, it had already hit someone called the Fire Ash Empyrean, cutting her body and soul into a hundred percent.
However, the Fire Ash Empyrean did not scream in pain, nor did her eyes show any despair at the fact she was instantly killed. On the contrary, her eyes contained this obvious smirk, and it did not take long for the Puppet Demon to know why.
[Life Goddess Blessing]
Dulgun expertly used her Blessing Dao by releasing a green light from her staff that returned the Fire Ash Empyrean to her peak state; anyone who looked at her would not know she was someone who had died less than a second ago. Her soldiers roared in excitement before rushing toward the opponent.
Although they were heavily outnumbered, these men did not care and fought as if they were protecting their families. The word defense did not exist in their vocabulary, as they used one powerful attack after another. And every time they were severely injured, a green light would descend from the sky to return them to their peak state.
'There were rumors that the Barbarian King's wife was behind his operation. However, who would have thought she was so capable,' the Puppet Demon thought. However, little did he know how stupid his thoughts were. Dulgun was an Everlasting Empyrean, and only talented individuals can achieve such a thing. As such, he should have immediately taken her seriously after laying eyes on her.
'It's probably best for me to end this fight as soon as possible in case the Barbarian King is not far from here,' he thought. If there was one person all the leaders of the Lawless Zone hated to fight the most, it would definitely be the Barbarian King. The brute was extremely powerful, but on top of that, he was essentially unkillable. No attack worked on him, and underhanded methods like poison or assassination were also useless.
As the Puppet Demon was deciding on his next move, Dulgun had already chosen her next move.
[Affliction: Non-Flesh Life Curse]
Her Dao did not only allow her to give people blessings but also afflictions or curses. For this fight, she used an affliction that targeted non-flesh creatures like puppets. Her staff released a brown light that enveloped the void, and as soon as it passed through the puppets, a startling change occurred.
Many of the puppets melted, releasing a decaying odor. A few survived, but their aura was drastically weaker, and their bodies seemed to have turned rusty, thus limiting their mobility or other abilities.
'Daman it," cursed the Puppet Demon, preparing to do something. However, he greatly underestimated his opponent, thus losing the momentum of this battle. The Fire Ash Empyrean and the Thunder Piercing Empyrean used a Thunder-Flame Tornado Attack, killing the commander and most of the surviving puppets.
The demon immediately tried to summon more of his creation, but his face contorted as he realized Dulgun had used her Dao Will to block the surrounding space, cutting access to most of his legions. The demon then calmly watched as a group of attacks rushed toward him.
He could tell these attacks were not enough to kill him but severely injured him so he could be captured. 'Do you think I'm helpless without my puppets?' he thought with a sneer. Unfortunately, these people did not know that he was the ultimate puppet.
The Puppet Demon calmly raised his left hand, and it turned into a shield that was tall enough to reach above his head. The shield blocked these hundreds of attacks, and then, he went on the offensive.
[Myriad Dao Core: Space]
The Puppet Demon's heart, which he had replaced with a unique puppet core, activated; a rune representing space flashed on the core, and the demon's right hand turned into a sword.
[Dimension Slash]
The demon created two slashes. The first targeted the space blockage that prevented his access to his puppets, and the other directly targeted Dulgun. However, she ignored the attack and focused on ensuring the opponent remained isolated. Meanwhile, two of her men appeared before her and released all the blood in their bodies to form a cocoon that protected them.
The blood cocoon was effective, allowing Dulgun to focus on her opponent. She used another affliction targeting puppets, but the demon was unaffected for two reasons. Firstly, he teleported away and activated the Curse Rune from his core. Dulgun countered by using a Domain Technique, changing the surroundings into a dark universe composed of curses.
The Puppet Demon opened his mouth to fire a light beam that purified this entire domain in a matter of seconds. However, Dulgun previous attack was only to buy time for her real trump card:
[The War God Descend]
An intimidating spirit appeared before everyone. He was almost as tall as Mongke and muscular, too. However, he was not as big as Mongke, and his body was more streamlined. The spirit had pants and boots but not a shirt. It looked at one of Dulgun's men and showed contempt. However, in the end, the spirit entered its chosen vessel.
The War God Vessel was a Dao Ruler with a special Inner World designed to receive the power of the War God Spirit. As soon as the vessel fused with the spirit, his eyes turned golden, and his aura became fierce.
The vessel raised his hand to condense an ax. Then, it moved so fast that the Puppet Demon could barely perceive him. The vessel slammed its ax on its opponent with unparalleled force and terror. The demon reacted swiftly, turning his core to the Gold Rune and the Defense Rune.
The Puppet Demon's arms turned golden as he crossed them, with a thin but potent shield surrounding them. However, this was useless. The ax shattered his left arm as it contained a brilliant skill that targeted a person's weakness. The Puppet Demon barely saved his right arm by using the half-hearted Indestructible Rune he's been working on. However, the arm was still cracked and on the verge of being useless.
"This vessel truly cannot contain my power," said the War God Spirit in a voice that contained echo. He raised his ax for a second attack. The Puppet Demon activated his Space Rune to exchange places with one of his puppet debris that survived the previous battle.
However, to his horror, he discovered his opponent was still before him, and the ax was rapidly lowering toward his head. Despair enveloped his mind as it was too late for him to move.
Clink! The sounds of metal clashing echoed in the void.