Apocalypse: Master of Soul Beasts

Chapter 31: Chapter 31 Annihilation_1

”The first ability of this Ancient Demon is...”

”Erasure (SS-level): Its attacks are intensified with highly pure Demonic Qi. For ten seconds, any material its attack touches will be directly annihilated under the influence of the Mysterious Power, ignoring levels and defense tools.”

”That’s the full power of this Ancient Demon.”

As soon as the immature voice finished speaking, Wen Yu fell into deep thought.

The Ancient Demon before him was strong, or rather, the entire Ancient Demon Tribe was strong. Without any skill enhancements, their basic attributes could match his own in his combat state; indeed, every Ancient Demon was like this! In the whole world, how many hidden professions of the Soul Master level could there be? Only a few. The most terrifying thing was that the skills of the Ancient Demons were too strong. With every level increase, they would acquire a skill that was A-Class or higher. The higher their level, the stronger their abilities became. This level of power growth was a heavy burden on all humankind. The Ancient Demon before him possessed an incredibly powerful skill, Erasure. It was a skill that completely ignored level differences, allowing an Ancient Demon to instantly kill a Level 10 professionist with a single strike. There were very few skills that could achieve such an effect.

”So, let’s get started then,” that juvenile voice echoed.

At the same time, the Ancient Demon opposite him moved.

The Ancient Demon seemed to have been asleep for some time, as it first stretched its body, producing a series of crackling noises. Then, a Black Light flickered across its body before slowly merging with it and disappearing.

”Be careful, that’s Erasure activated. Once the ten seconds have passed, this ability will be ineffective for a short period of time.”

Before the voice had even faded, the Ancient Demon opposite him was already rushing towards Wen Yu at lightning speed. Although it had lost its consciousness, the Ancient Demon’s combat instinct told it that these ten seconds would be the watershed moment for victory or defeat. It could not afford to waste even a second.

The Ancient Demon’s physical attributes were comparable to Wen Yu’s. In his combat state, Wen Yu was fast enough to keep up with the Ancient Demon.

Seeing the Ancient Demon approach, Wen Yu quickly retreated. With a firm push from both feet, he backed up more than five meters. This retreat bought Wen Yu an extra half-second.

Just as Wen Yu regained his footing, the Ancient Demon’s figure was already upon him.

A whistling sound cut through the air as one of the Ancient Demon’s two left arms swung a fist at Wen Yu. Its other left arm, five fingers spread wide, exploited its height advantage to bring a palm strike down on Wen Yu. Simultaneously, its long tail fiercely stabbed towards him from the right.

It was an instantaneous attack from three directions, and with Black Light flickering on them, Wen Yu felt an immense danger rushing towards him in that very instant.

There was no defending against it; if struck, the outcome would be inevitable annihilation.

Wen Yu’s year of combat experience from his past life in the apocalypse now proved invaluable. Although the Ancient Demon’s combat instincts were strong, how could mere instinct, unless honed to the absolute peak, compare to experience forged in countless life-and-death battles?

Wen Yu swiftly sidestepped the descending claw. Then, he brought his battle saber down hard on the Ancient Demon’s incoming left fist. The tremendous force parried the Ancient Demon’s punch. Seizing the opportunity, his left hand shot out and grabbed the base of the rapidly approaching tail, a section not covered by the Black Light. Then, putting his whole body into it, he heaved and flung the Ancient Demon away.

Immediately after, Wen Yu turned and fled at high speed.

Because Wen Yu had discovered a critical issue: his Soul Strike was completely ineffective against this Ancient Demon. This was Wen Yu’s oversight. As a puppet, how could it even possess a soul? According to Wen Yu’s original plan, the excruciating pain and damage from Soul Strike should have been enough to finish off this Ancient Demon with just a few dozen blows. Moreover, the agony inflicted by Soul Strike was enough to render anyone with a weak will into a defenseless target, capable only of taking hits without retaliating. Unfortunately, since the Ancient Demon was immune to Soul Strike, his plan was rendered completely useless. Relying solely on his F-Class battle saber, it would take far too long to inflict significant damage on the Ancient Demon. The scales covering the Ancient Demon’s body were clearly not just for show.

In this situation, Wen Yu’s only option was to flee, survive Erasure’s ten-second duration, and then engage the Ancient Demon in close combat. When both combatants had roughly equal physical attributes and no active skills, the fight would be decided by combat experience or sheer desperation. In these aspects, Wen Yu was not lacking in the slightest.

The Ancient Demon, thrown to the ground, immediately pushed itself back up. Watching Wen Yu retreat further and further, its lifeless eyes showed no flicker of emotion. It then broke into a run, its sturdy legs rapidly closing the distance to Wen Yu.

In terms of raw speed, Wen Yu was actually slightly faster than the Ancient Demon. Unfortunately, the arena’s limited space meant that by the eighth second, the Ancient Demon had closed in on Wen Yu.

The Ancient Demon attacked first with its tail. The sharp-tipped tail whistled through the air as it stabbed swiftly towards Wen Yu.

As Wen Yu saw the attack approach, he immediately sidestepped the Ancient Demon’s tail. Simultaneously, he slashed out with the steel saber in his hand, striking the Ancient Demon’s chest. A strong resistance met his blade. Seeing the Ancient Demon begin to lift its arm, Wen Yu didn’t dare try to match its defensive power. He quickly retreated, narrowly dodging the Ancient Demon’s follow-up attack.

”The damage is too superficial,” Wen Yu sighed in frustration, looking at the wound on the Ancient Demon’s body. That last strike only managed to shatter a few scales, leaving a shallow, bloody gash on its chest. Judging by the wound, it would heal very quickly.

”DING! Ten seconds are up! Congratulations, little guy, your chances of winning have now risen to twenty percent!” The juvenile voice once again echoed directly in Wen Yu’s mind. Wen Yu finally breathed a sigh of relief.

”Thank you so much,” Wen Yu sincerely thanked this mysterious entity. If it hadn’t revealed the Ancient Demon’s skill, Wen Yu would have undoubtedly tried to test the Ancient Demon’s strength. He would have suffered severe injuries at best, or been instantly killed if hit in a vital spot at worst. There was no way he could have withstood the Ancient Demon’s attack.

”No need for thanks. Oh, and a friendly reminder: the Ancient Demon’s Erasure skill will take another 30 minutes before it can be activated again. Give it your all, young man!”

Seeing that the greatest hurdle was overcome, Wen Yu knew it was time for him to fight with everything he had.

Moreover, Wen Yu also understood that the twenty percent chance of victory mentioned earlier by the juvenile voice wasn’t far off. The greatest challenge wasn’t that his weapon lacked the power to critically wound the Ancient Demon. While the steel saber wasn’t exceptionally sharp, it could at least inflict some damage on the Ancient Demon. The real problem was that the Ancient Demon had too many ways to attack—four claws, a tail, two legs, and even sharp teeth—while he only had a single steel saber.