In the next instant, an almost invisible electric light directly charged towards the crowd.
"Begin!"
Separated from the Divine Speed, Su Ming immediately seized the moment, pouncing on one of the Hawk Priests, rolling with her out of the crowd, while Barry circled around the remaining priests at super speed.
Unlike when he carried others before, he used Divine Speed to draw the surrounding air, and a tornado swiftly manifested at the original center of the venue, the strong winds extinguishing the surrounding torches, plunging the entire cave into darkness.
Whenever any of these priests attempted to escape or perform a spell, Barry would get behind her and shove, interrupting her movements.
Meanwhile, Su Ming pinned the Hawk Priest to the ground, not giving it any time to react, striking the face repeatedly. From the last battle with the feline priest, he had gleaned some experience, and now he intended to try another strategy.
Su Ming's memories originated from the Celestial Dynasty, certain things Slade was unaware of, yet he knew them, such as meridian theory and some things commonly mentioned in traditional Chinese medicine.
Even though he was somewhat confused about his own identity now, it did not affect his use of this knowledge. He could recall various health TV programs Su Ming had watched, like those selling magnetic power acupoint massage shoes, acupoint massage pillows, spinal acupoint treatment devices, and some particular old family remedies chopping leeks...
The ordering hotline was of no use now, but when all these fragmented pieces of knowledge were pieced together, they formed a relatively complete simple theory.
The human body has 108 critical acupoints, of which striking 72 normally might not be fatal, but the remaining 36 are lethal acupoints, also known as death points.
The death points are further categorized into soft numbness, fainting, light, and heavy—each category having nine points, and there are Chinese medicine rhymes that describe their effects; now they became the basis of his actions.
'Baihui surely brings one to the ground, Shenting does not revive, if Zhangmen is struck, nine out of ten perish, Sun and Yamen, surely see King Yama, spine fractured, no bone connects, beneath the knees, death begets haste.'
Since the enemy was humanoid creatures, there was no harm in trying it out.
Like lightning, memories flashed through his mind. His fist, encased in Promethium-made hand armor, aimed for the death points, focusing on the Baihui point at the top of the head, Zhangmen point at the back of the head, and the temples at the sides of the head.
If one wanted to achieve fatal results with bare hands in a short period, both power and technique were indispensable.
"All roads shall lead to darkness! All things will welcome back Baba To—"
The Hawk Priest he had taken down still tried to shout slogans, but Su Ming punched its jaw, stifling the latter half of its words, and then continuously attacked its temples on both sides.
"Welcome your sister! Die!"
Su Ming could feel his knuckles digging into the priest's skull, both temples dented inward, and for assurance, he delivered several fierce strikes to the Baihui point at the crown of the head.
The priest's skull was completely shattered, red and white stained his hand, and the mask fell off entirely, revealing a shriveled face that looked mummified.
A monster, its nose too pointed, akin to a bird's beak, its eyes occupying one-third of its entire face. No one would believe it was human, but at least its weaknesses were akin to a human's. Now it bled from all seven apertures, utterly dead.
Su Ming exhaled, suppressing the emerging memories and bloodthirsty desire, and shouted to Barry, "Push over another one."
Barry glanced at the corpse on the ground, shivering at the grotesqueness. Fortunately, it was a monster they were dealing with, which made him feel better.
"All things..."
"All what?! Die!"
The priest Barry tossed over began to chant slogans, but Su Ming leaped, grabbed it mid-air, clasped its neck with his legs, and slammed it against the ground. The stone ground would not harm them, the monsters were immune to such impact, but Su Ming's combat boots, made of Promethium, still crushed its jaw.
The tongue drooped from beneath the mask, Su Ming's eyes lit up, and he promptly tore it out, pulling down a bloody mass, silencing it entirely.
Subsequently, he bent over and delivered several more punches to send it on its way, ensuring it had no chance to chant spells.
With a flick of the blood on his hands, he took a deep breath to quell the bloodthirsty urge. Even though relying on The Flash to kill was not feasible, those things could hardly be considered human. How was it different from aliens or hell creatures?
No wonder Barry, despite his formidable Divine Speed, could only serve as support in the Justice League, with Diana and Superman as the main damage dealers. In ordinary skirmishes, refraining from killing was fine, but on the brink of life and death in battle, not killing the enemy significantly increased the challenge.
That's how Superman became useless; in almost every major event, he couldn't make any meaningful contribution and was the first to be taken down by enemies.
If Barry were replaced by Reverse Flash or other speedster villains, Su Ming wouldn't even have to lift a hand. Just triggering a Speed Force Storm would annihilate all these priests.
There was no choice, this was the cost of working with The Flash, having convinced him to operate in the Justice League model was already commendable; at least Barry didn't stop him from killing those who needed killing.
On Earth -11, choices were limited, so they'd have to make do for now.
"Toss another one over!"
....................
While Su Ming and Barry dealt with the priests, Briss moved out of the combat area, skirting behind the black pit facing the priests, searching the rudimentary altar above for Bat Gold.
There were some peculiar books there, possibly containing records of magic spells or similar content, along with miscellaneous items, all being animal remains or organs.
There was no Bat Gold; the place resembled the stone age, without any sight of metal. But as she observed, she noticed something amiss above her.
It was an owl specimen, appearing lifelike, its feathers and claws as if still alive. It was hung by a rope from its back, secured to the cave ceiling, simulating a flight motion.
Briss squinted, discovering that the rope was made of coconut fiber rather than hemp.
But if it were an ordinary specimen, even after being dried and fixed in position, the weight of the largest owl specimen wouldn't exceed three kilograms, given that it's a bird with light bones.
Would dragging something weighing three kilograms necessitate the use of coconut fiber? Before the advent of the iron era, even at docks for lifting goods, coconut fiber was employed, being made from the bark of palm trees. It was used by slaves for hauling several thousand tons of stone blocks during the construction of pyramids.
With a touch of her wrist, a Bat Dart appeared in her hand, and she threw it towards the rope, severing it with the sharp Bat wings.
The owl didn't take flight but rather plummeted like a stone with a 'thud', shattering upon impact, revealing a piece of ore.
It had not been smelted, retaining its natural ore form, angular with a crystalline structure, yet just as Su Ming described it, copper-colored, emitting a faint red light.
This was Bat Gold, in the Hawk Priests' stronghold, only a fist-sized chunk existed. In legends, it was also referred to as Set's Bone, a traditional high-end casting material harboring potent magic power, a treasure passed down generations in the Bat Tribe, eventually stolen by the Bird Tribe.
Unlike other metals, Bat Gold neither grants self-healing abilities nor can it be forged into sturdy weapons or armor, but it serves as a magic medium, amplifying spells for priests and mages, facilitating communication with the Dark Multiverse, peering at lurking monstrosities in the Endless Darkness.
"Found it." She lifted the hefty ore, the metal small in size but weighty, about 40 kilograms despite being fist-sized.
"Toss it to me." Su Ming signaled for her to quickly throw it over.
The ore traced a red line through the air, caught steadily by Su Ming.
With this in hand, the situation improved drastically; fewer punches were necessary. Each time Barry pushed one over, Su Ming only needed to smash the ore onto a temple or head top to resolve it, the sharp metal crystal coated in red and white viscous fluid.
Like a gorilla crushing nuts with a rock, albeit over-exerting force.
The enormous power of a modified person ensured devastating damage, this angular ore much more effective than anticipated.
The priests still attempted to cast magic or resist, but their weapons and claws couldn't damage Su Ming's armor, nor could magic shields or similar defenses withstand the 'metal' assault.
The number of trapped Hawk Priests dwindled; the bodies on Su Ming's side nearly forming a small mound. Briss merely turned away, exploring other pathways of the tunnel, without uttering a word.