The Chaos Storm protected her body.
Frieren, having no time to deploy further countermeasures, could only wrap herself in extreme fire-attribute mana.
Almost simultaneously, the Goddess of Rot dived downwards.
She crashed down with gravitational acceleration, her entire person transforming into a cannonball of impact.
At the critical moment, Frieren blocked with the Blasphemous Blade. A heavy bang of impact force transmitted through. But this was not the most critical part; at zero distance, the Scarlet Rot seeped through her cape and armor, causing the aspect of rot to climb onto her skin.
The erosion had begun.
Her main purification power had been used on the Aeonia Flower headpiece, so for now, she could only tough it out with her physical constitution.
This was exactly what the Goddess of Rot's insidious tactic aimed for.
It was an overt scheme, a chess exchange made with the mutual consent of both parties. If Frieren had hesitated for even a moment just now, the first explosion would have bypassed her to shroud Ranni, Melina, Millicent, Trina, and even the entire Haligtree. So she could only choose this option; she was burdened with rot now, but it was still salvageable.
Weapon Skill: Taker's Flames!
The first use of this skill caught the Goddess of Rot off guard, and she was hit squarely, feeling a rush of vitality being swiftly drawn away.
To think it was absorbed by the silver-haired girl before her—there was something wrong. Looking closely, the scarlet serpentine flesh entwined on the blade hissed and flicked its tongue, welcoming the robust vitality; the more, the better.
No, it absorbs life force.
To think such a sinister weapon existed in the world, comparable to the ruthlessness of Scarlet Rot.
Frieren, having slightly suppressed the erosion, could only adopt a dual-wielding stance with the Prince of Death's Staff in one hand and the Blasphemous Blade in the other. You dare pollute me? Then I will suck your blood.
Switch moves!
In the next moment, she raised a star-track-like sword qi with a blood-red sharp sword.
The Star-Lined Sword was used for the first time in this battle, and even Malenia was caught off guard and hit. The target of the sharp blade was not the body, but the wings on her back. The violent tearing wound caused her figure to pause, revealing a brief opening.
Sorcery: Comet Azur hit at point-blank range. The impact struck her chest head-on, blasting the body of rot away with a loud boom.
Such strong force, and it carried soul damage.
Without waiting for her to reset her stance, Frieren leaped lightly into mid-air. Clearly, her defenses were wide open and full of flaws, but her battle-hardened intuition warned her that she must dodge.
Light Speed Slash!
Golden figures, wielding Moonveil, unleashed a chain of slashes. Layer upon layer covered Malenia, and in an instant, fresh blood splattered.
It was simply too fast; there was no time to make an effective reaction at all.
Moreover, the afterimage clone attacks released by the silver-haired girl were accompanied by streams of light. The golden energy washed away the pollution, inflicting further injuries on the retreating Goddess of Rot until her vision was filled only with golden light.
Boom!
The final blow finally knocked the Goddess of Rot to the ground, interrupting the blooming that had been in progress. If not for Frieren's decisive serving of a combo, she likely would have followed up with another bloom.
The soul attack driven into her body prevented this fellow from instigating pollution moves for the time being.
Facts proved that the King of Promise's ability was very useful.
And unlike Radahn, who relied mainly on heavy, powerful cleaves, when Frieren used the Light Speed Slash clones, they would also utilize swordsmanship.
Thus, the fierce assault just now left wounds on the Goddess of Rot's neck, heart, and joints, letting a considerable amount of life breath escape. Of course, the fact that she didn't fall further proved that this was merely a shell; this was the process of the Valkyrie Malenia gradually moving toward death.
"I will give you a chance. If you change your mind now and suppress the Outer God with all your might alongside me, I will save you."
"Shameless boasting. You are finished; you cannot even save yourself."
The one speaking was the Outer God of Rot, accompanied by maniacal laughter. Its eyes were full of mockery because the skin of Frieren before it was rapidly showing signs of rot and ulceration.
The erosion was accelerating.
Once time dragged on, even the strongest physical constitution would be hollowed out by Scarlet Rot. Now, the Soul Cinder King had to digest the Scarlet Rot energy she had just absorbed while simultaneously suppressing the erosion within her body; she was in a dilemma.
Moreover, she had to control the range of the battle to prevent the pollution from escaping. It was a pile of trouble.
Putting oneself in her shoes, it was simply despair.
However, Frieren calmly cast buffs on herself: Flame, Grant Me Strength, Golden Vow, and Oath of Vengeance. She forcibly engaged in a tug-of-war standoff with the Scarlet Rot in her body, determined to drag this out.
The Goddess of Rot did not take the opportunity to attack because her intuition told her that would be more dangerous.
Once she attempted to interrupt, she might be sneak-attacked by some other unseen move. To be safe, she should fight a delaying action.
Time stood on her side.
"Frieren, we have fought several times, from the swamps of Caelid to the Haligtree. Let the gratitude and grievances end thoroughly today."
As soon as the voice fell, her wings shook off countless Rot Butterflies. Their protective escort actually caused her wounds to heal.
At this moment, the aura of this body was superior; she had adapted even more. The Empyrean of the Rot Order and the Outer God merged rapidly, seemingly indistinguishable from each other, which also meant her combat power had ascended to another level.
She was already a veritable God walking among men.
Rotten Sword!
The power of scarlet lingered on the sharp edge. Accompanied by Malenia's body sprinting in unison, she sliced open a white stream of light. Simultaneously, the pollution of Scarlet Rot bloomed, and the cold light surged violently.
With a ping, Frieren blocked horizontally with her sword. At the same time, Taker's Flames and Chaos Fire bloomed together, released from her staves—
Sword qi collided with raging flames.
The two sides exploded into a mushroom cloud with a boom, the rising energy tearing at the Haligtree room.
A smear appeared in the smoke and dust. An Ice Lightning Spear stabbed out, and the ultra-high frequency flickering prosthetic blade cut, slashing the caster to pieces with the momentum. No! It was an ice sculpture; Frieren's real body was directly above.
Rock Blade!
A heavy cleave struck from top to bottom, making the Goddess of Rot stumble. It wasn't over yet; in the next moment, dual staves unleashed Sorcery: Carian Slicer, instantly carving out countless lights of blades.
Crackling sounds rose and fell, completely suppressing her into retreat.
Finally, in a moment of slack, the Goddess of Rot knelt on one knee, falling into a stiffened state. Frieren instantly switched to her close-combat weapon with the highest reinforcement level, the Dark Moon Greatsword, and chopped with full force onto the enemy's chest. Frost overflowed, and the sword edge surged.
Then, with a dong, she kicked her flying a great distance.
Before she could stand up, Frieren switched back to the Blasphemous Blade, holding it high with both hands. Raging lava sped forth with a whoosh. It not only dispelled a portion of the Scarlet Rot but also replenished a portion of Frieren's vitality.
Seeing the situation was bad, the Goddess of Rot hurriedly shook her wings to maintain distance. What was happening? Why had the enemy become stronger?
"Stupid. It is you who became weaker. Your swordsmanship is too far from Malenia's."
Frieren spoke the Outer God's thoughts in a single sentence. The latter's face twisted, furious and unstoppable, gripping the longsword in her hand, poised to strike.
Impossible.
She had to let this arrogant Soul Cinder King witness her swordsmanship.
More importantly, her conservative fighting just now had conversely allowed her flaws to be caught repeatedly for blood sucking. Even the Outer God of Rot had to abandon the idea of a delaying battle. Sure enough, once a person became timid and conservative, they couldn't adapt to high-intensity combat. She had her own pride, too.
She would crush this fellow frontally.
The Goddess of Rot soared into the air, held up by the long wind and clustered with butterflies, once again facing the target from high above.
Frieren waited in full battle array.
Her intuition was sounding alarms crazily; what followed would be extremely dangerous and not to be underestimated.
In an instant, a white afterimage flew past rapidly. Carrying the blade edge of the prosthetic hand and the power of Rot together, it slashed diagonally downward to the side. So fast, but she still reacted, her movements preceding her brain.
The silver-haired girl dodged with a light tap under her feet, an effortless displacement.
The Goddess of Rot above did not get discouraged. Almost simultaneously, another afterimage flickered, followed closely by a second one—a dual-stage continuous attack.
Dodge again.
While Frieren avoided it, the second afterimage actually turned back, killing its way towards her again with a third afterimage. This round of cross-attacks was a declaration from the Grim Reaper—
However, she simply leaped lightly, allowing the blade edge to graze past a hair's breadth from her throat.
The afterimage seemed unwilling to give up and delivered another returning thrust, but this time it was caught by Frieren. With a ping, she blocked it and directly dispersed it. Such a fast, terrifying reaction, but it also made the Goddess of Rot burn with anger.
She could only take action personally.
While the Rot Butterflies fluttered, her wings vibrated, driving her graceful figure to slash out moonlight-like radiance like a dance step.
But the silver-haired girl repeated her old trick, dodging step by step like a lotus blooming.
The two crossed past each other with a whoosh, their figures overlapping and separating within the wind of rot. The Outer God, having sprinted a large distance to the other end, was stunned. Eyes widening, she turned her head to look at the unharmed Frieren from afar; she couldn't believe it.
Wouldn't believing it be equivalent to admitting defeat?
Unfortunately, Frieren coldly spoke the truth: "Too late. Your swordsmanship has improved, and you learned quickly, but not faster than my adaptation."
"When you fought me with the technique of advancing to retreat, I had already seen through you."
Simple words, yet they told the most terrifying fact.
Even for the famous Soul Cinder King, daring to speak like this would be considered shameless boasting. However, all the actions just now proved one thing: she wasn't wrong. She had done it all.
She adapted to Malenia's swordsmanship within a short time, kept up with the rhythm of the moves, and then found opportunities to counterattack.
How terrifying.
As if to verify Frieren's words, the Prince of Death's Staff suddenly burst with Ghostflame, smashing a torrent toward the enemy in one go. The Goddess of Rot dodged and maneuvered, yet she could not shake the attack that tracked her relentlessly.
She threw out sword qi, but it played right into Frieren's hands—it was a teleport!
The moment she appeared in the air, she delivered a heavy chop with Sorcery: Carian Greatsword, and the Goddess of Rot was not vague either, immediately moving sideways.
Boom!
It landed beside her, missing by a hair's breadth. The hit location cracked open a gully, deep and bottomless.
The enemy's strength exceeded estimates.
Before she could think, a wave of gravity fluctuation actually locked her movements. Even a dignified God had to waver for the energy of this moment, her figure pausing.
This was a fatal error. Almost simultaneously, Frieren's gravity magic rose further, changing from locking to summoning? Summoning what? Naturally, a meteor from afar.
Accompanied by a rumbling sound, thick smoke pierced the long sky.
A colossal meteorite aimed at Elphael, Brace of the Haligtree. It had dived all the way from the Altus Plateau.
Witnessed by all.
The people of the entire Royal Capital saw it. The power of the world's number one gravity magic, symbolizing the Soul Cinder King, crashed toward the Consecrated Snowfield.
So Frieren's target was the Haligtree.
Godfrey stood with arms crossed at the highest point of the palace, his gaze sharp and his expression severe. Although the power of Grace was constantly blessing him, it couldn't change the vigilance of his battle instincts; the enemy was exaggerated.
He had been heavily injured and near death during his campaigns outside the Lands Between, but that was without Grace. At this moment, although he was regaining the blessing as the First Lord and constantly returning to his peak, he still felt his hair stand on end. Not simple; the so-called Soul Cinder King was more powerful than predicted.
The Royal Capital was shocked from top to bottom, watching the meteor cut through the long sky.
Whoosh!
Naturally, Messmer, who was guarding the Volcano and responsible for frontline command, also saw it. While admiring his superior's prowess, he couldn't help but sigh. Trouble; the battle plan was exposed. It would definitely invite a fierce attack from the Royal Capital's army. He had to be prepared.
The Crusaders would become the first wave of armed forces to intercept, ensuring that the army raised by the ancient Erdtree held the advantage.
The outer region of the Haligtree.
The army led by Loretta, who were climbing and attacking, couldn't help but freeze, left only to witness:
The meteorite, bolstered by the Lands Between's strongest gravity magic, boomingly hit the deep layer of the Haligtree. It solidly chiseled open a massive gap, splattering earth and stone, collapsing buildings, and shaking the earth and mountains.
Some of them even fell straight down.
Ranni, who was blocking in front, also stopped casting magic. Instead, she turned generously to pay attention to the center of the battlefield. Interception was meaningless now; the result was about to be decided.
Boom!
The meteorite, wrapped in gravity, swept away all the scarlet power around the Goddess of Rot, driving it away without leaving a trace.
Naturally, the main body was also smashed to the brink of death.
Her body was currently buried in a pile of rubble. In that nick of time just now, she had still cut apart the majority of the meteorite chunks. But not fast enough, and she lacked strength; the gravity attribute attached to it was no fake, possessing even greater power.
Frieren also caught her breath slightly. After all, this was stronger than the ultimate move released by the King of Promise back then; she had to be especially careful now.
Suddenly, the Goddess of Rot abruptly stood up.
The Flowing Swordsmanship bloomed with brilliance. Agile lines sped toward the silver-haired girl—it was the Weapon Skill: Waterfowl Dance.
Almost simultaneously, Frieren made a jumping motion, dodging sideways.
But she immediately discovered something was wrong. This move had a larger attack range; likely, even when the opponent retracted the sword, residual sword qi would still sweep through. She wouldn't dodge anymore; she would absolutely not surrender the initiative.
Ash of War: Endure!
A flash of white light allowed Frieren to tough out the damage. This point made even the Goddess of Rot slightly stunned. Clearly, the sword qi brought up fresh blood and tore through flesh and blood, yet Frieren raised the Blasphemous Blade as if she didn't care in the slightest.
"I will trade health with you; don't even think about taking back the rhythm." Before her voice faded, Taker's Flames swept forth.
The vitality of both sides slid down a notch rapidly, but Frieren, whose base physical stats were superior, moved even faster. She struck out with her sword again.
Weapon Skill: Moonlight Greatsword struck the Goddess of Rot, causing her to stumble and fall to the ground.
Seizing this opportunity, she took out the Ringed Knight Straight Sword, the First Flame lingering around it, and delivered a critical hit execution.
In that instant, Miquella, who had been sitting paralyzed in the chair, activated a Light Incantation. Little did he know that Frieren was long prepared; while blocking with Ash of War: Thops's Barrier in one hand, her straight sword pierced through the Goddess of Rot.
Burned to nothingness.
A miserable scream from the Outer God of Scarlet Rot came from the air, weeping endlessly, its aura becoming weaker and weaker.
The silver-haired girl ignored the doomed God and Malenia. The Prince of Death's Staff pointed from afar, and Ancient Death Rancor immediately surrounded Miquella, who was already on the verge of death.
The fate of the Haligtree Twins came to an end today.
Two originally powerful auras fell continuously under Frieren's power, and the crowd outside seemed to sense it.
____
New Story: Stardew Valley: What Do You Mean They All Became My Servants
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