Upon sensing his approach, the swimming fish devils circled all around him. Their malice obvious, Tianyi started bombarding the fish devils with lightning bullets. The fish-shaped devils scattered like schools of the animal they so resembled. Even so, many of Tianyi’s bullets gouged holes in their bodies.
On the first level, it was practically certain death if a devil received one of the lightning bullets, but even the weakest devils on the sixth floor needed tens of bullets before dying. The fish devils circling the Abyss Lord’s starfish palace were the cream of the crop. They took hundreds of bullets, but would they obediently sit there and just take it?
The answer was, naturally, no.
The fish devils swarmed the UFO’s metallic body. They slammed into it from all sides, pivoting and altering its balance. They opened their jaws, mouths full of sharp teeth, and bit the armor. After multiple attempts, grooves soon started appearing on the outer shell. Countless devils fell to the ground and decomposed into devilish energy, but the rate of killing could not exceed the number of attacks. It was only a matter of time before they tore the UFO’s armor apart and attacked its inner frame.
“Well, it was already good that the mobile ship mode could last until now,” Tianyi said aloud to no one in particular.
The UFO spun and turned into a spin slicer of death. It moved in a circular motion with tremendous force. If the devils survived their bodies being sawed apart, they were pushed kilometers away. Tianyi’s intent was not to kill them but to make space.
Something whirred from within the UFO. The shell armor of the machine split apart to reveal the internal components. It wasn’t wires but another layer. The parts shifted until a mechanical humanoid appeared, and the shell that split apart reorganized itself into a ring with countless barrels pointing outward on its back.
UFO Mobile Suit Mode.
The barrels shot out streams of lightning, which formed a domain. Any devil within it would feel a constant electric stream and its body being paralyzed. The mecha punched forward. Lightning shrouded the metal fist and, in a single blow, punched through a devil that resembled an oarfish. The devil roared in pain, but Tianyi wasn’t done. The excess lightning pierced into the devil’s body and pulverized everything.
When the mecha pulled its fist back, the giant oarfish devil plummeted to the ground, dead.
The remaining devils stared warily at the upright mecha. Although the mobile ship mode of the UFO constantly barraged them with lightning bullets, it was a minor inconvenience at best to those with thick hides or armor. Even the devils who did not possess such defenses were not fearful, as they all had their ways of evading. It was only when it transformed into its mobile suit mode that these devils halted their actions.
The oarfish devil wasn’t just big; it was one of the leaders of the school of fish devils. Not only that, it possessed one of the greatest defenses among all the devils present. Now, the invader had killed it with one punch. The other devils couldn’t help but be wary. After all, if the pristine humanoid could kill the oarfish in one punch, it could kill the toughest of them with a few more punches at most.
The standoff didn’t last long. They ordered their minions to swarm the UFO. Although weaker, these devils who followed an Abyss Lord weren’t low in intelligence. They did not want to serve as cannon fodder. Unfortunately, these higher devils could dominate their will and force them.
Devils swarmed the UFO. Tianyi didn’t fret. The circles that covered the mechanical body of the UFO lit up. Electric spikes emerged from the circles with crackles. The UFO now looked like a humanoid hedgehog of steel and lightning.
Whenever the devils neared, the UFO would wave its arms or kick its legs, impaling any devils in its way. Like when Tianyi killed the oarfish devil, the spikes would inject devastating lightning into the devils’ bodies, killing them almost instantly.
The devil leaders wanted to use the cannon fodder to tire Tianyi down before moving in for the kill at his weakest. They didn’t know that Tianyi had near-limitless power, even with a Realm Core, but that didn’t mean Tianyi had to play by their rules. He took the initiative.
Naturally, the devils wanted to dodge, but the mechanical body of the UFO was deceptively swift. After all, those who majored in the Law of Lightning and focused on movement boasted speed comparable to the Law of Light. It would not be an exaggeration to say Tianyi appeared in front of the leaders in a flash.
The one Tianyi focused on was a devil that resembled an eel but with ninety-nine heads. The devil reminded him of a hydra and an electric eel, which was what piqued his interest.
Once again, the UFO punched forward. It struck the eel, but like Earth eels, its body was incredibly soft, which allowed it to weather Tianyi’s punch. That was secondary. The mucus-like coating on the body prevented Tianyi’s lightning from unleashing its full effect on the devil. It couldn’t completely neutralize it, but it was enough to prevent substantial damage.
Upon seeing this, Tianyi changed his tactics. The UFO reached out with both hands and grabbed the devil by its heads. They wanted to slip out with the mucus-like coating, but the UFO’s fingers all released tiny needles of lightning that pierced the mucus and entered their necks, creating a solid grip.
You might be reading a pirated copy. Look for the official release to support the author.
The UFO pulled. Black blood instantly flowed out of the ripped necks. Tianyi didn’t continue the action for long. Countless devils had reached him and were attacking. The mobile suit mode had frailer defenses than the mobile ship mode. Were it not for the lightning field it emitted, the UFO would have sustained damage.
So Tianyi chose to disengage. He could kill the hydra-eel devil, but it would take a long time. Simply put, it was a bad matchup.
The hydra-eel devil also specialized in lightning. Greater than its output of lightning was its resistance to lightning. Had Tianyi used any of the other elemental laws, he would have had a much easier time defeating this devil. And the hydra-eel devil had many heads. Just like the Lernaean Hydra from the Herakles System, it could regrow its heads easily. The number didn’t increase but stayed at a stable ninety-nine, and Tianyi had the confidence to outlast it, which was why he kept it for the final opponent.
Tianyi thought that the Abyss Lord would not take action until he defeated every one of the devils guarding the starfish palace, but when the remaining devils dwindled to less than ten percent, a beam shot out from within the palace, vaporizing the devils in its way. The UFO had taken swift action, but its arm was still engulfed by the beam. In the end, several of the outlets malfunctioned and could not release the lightning spikes anymore, but Tianyi didn’t care that much. It was but one of many functions.
He focused his attention on the figure that flew out of the center of the starfish palace. He looked like a British gentleman with a monocle on one side, but he exuded an aura that sent shivers down the spine. Tianyi was sure he had never felt the aura before, but it reminded him of someone.
“Rude violator. Kneel and beg for forgiveness, and I will pardon you of your crimes,” the devil said.
Tianyi decided to test the devil. A mechanical voice replied to the devil’s question. “I didn’t expect you to have so many identities, Dantalion.”
The devil stilled. Finally, his face twisted into a mask of wrath. His eyes became like those of a goat, and his teeth sharpened with multiple layers like a shark. “How dare you speak that name!”
Was I wrong? Tianyi thought. Judging by the reaction, this unknown devil knew Duke Dantalion and had an antagonistic relationship. However, it could all be an act for all he knew. Dantalion wasn’t known as a liar and trickster for no reason.
The UFO mecha readied itself. The devil showed such hostility, so talks were definitely not possible.
The devil’s body slowly faded away, as if it were nothing more than an illusion. “I will pry where you met that scoundrel and all the information you have on him from your mouth once I have broken your spirit. So says Decarabia!”
At least Tianyi had a name for the devil: the sixty-ninth devil of Solomon, known as Marquis Decarabia. Known to appear in the form of a star, the devil marquis possessed knowledge of various plants, herbs, and stones and could control a myriad of animals, with birds being his preferred target.
Tianyi suspected that the legends were inaccurate or that a new-generation devil had taken Decarabia’s name after hearing about it.
What he originally thought was a strange biological palace wasn’t a palace at all. The starfish shifted and floated in the air, leaving behind a deep imprint on the ground. Eyes opened on each leg, perfectly spaced between the center and the tip of each arm. The center opened to reveal spiraling rows of teeth. Human-like hands covered its entire body; only the distance and size compared to the overall body made them seem like fine hairs.
The many hands stretched toward the UFO. Even within the angel and just an orb, Tianyi felt the hair on his body rise from the scene. The UFO mecha held out its palm, and a barrier of lightning formed. The hands continued moving forward, clashing against the lightning barrier. They were burnt into charcoal, but they immediately regenerated and continued striking.
The hands grew, trying to maneuver around the barrier, but they would always somehow strike the barrier. This was an application of magnetism. It bordered on the Law of Earth and the Law of Metal, but it created an attractive force that could be applied through contact. Had Decarabia not attacked the barrier first, Tianyi would not have been able to force this effect onto him.
Decarabia did not show any panic at Tianyi’s usage of magnetism. Although it seemed he was only doing one thing, he was actually performing an insidious trick.
Tianyi soon discovered an anomaly. The rate of encroachment of the devilish energy had increased. Another downside of the mobile suit mode compared to the mobile ship mode was that the inner frame was exposed, allowing the devilish energy to encroach on the Realm Core more easily. Still, the rate of devilish energy penetrating the body was far higher than before. This situation only happened after Tianyi engaged the Abyss Lord.
He carefully scanned the UFO angel. Although nothing seemed to have changed, he noticed an invisible layer of mycelium covering his creation. It wasn’t just the colorless nature of the fungi that had prevented Tianyi from noticing it at first, but also the thinness. It would not be incorrect to say the thickness had to be measured in atoms.
Such thinness could hide it from even a divinity’s senses if they weren’t careful. Conversely, it also had a huge weakness.
Electricity arced all over the UFO’s body, instantly destroying the mycelium without even leaving a hint of ash.
Marquis Decarabia was not surprised by this. He wanted to influence Tianyi more before he noticed, but since it was exposed, he no longer had that intention. While attacking the lightning barrier, he increased the number of spores and their power.
Soon, visible fungi grew on the UFO’s body. The electric layer could no longer destroy them. Since that was the case, Tianyi increased the output. The electric shroud became a lightning shroud. The UFO became a lightning star in the sixth level of the Nine Hells Abyss, radiating light for hundreds of kilometers.
“Hmph, expend your energy. I don’t believe a mere angel like you can hold on forever!” Marquis Decarabia said. Yes, he had already ascertained the true nature of the UFO. He didn’t believe it was a tool of the Almighty but that someone had salvaged and repurposed it. Now, he played a war of attrition, confident in his endurance.
Marquis Decarabia was destined to suffer a shock.
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