Chapter 133: The Complete One—Laxia!

The circular tower loomed behind the Pale Knight, pointing straight up at the colossal vortex in the sky above. Endless ergo energy surged and rushed, making it seem as though she held sway over all creation in the world.

Merely standing in place and guarding the entrance of the circular tower, Laxasia radiated an intense sense of oppression.

Li Nanke’s sense of danger did not diminish by even half, warning him that the Pale Knight before him was immensely powerful.

A woman's gentle voice emerged from beneath the pale, spiked helmet, yet her tone was chillingly cold.

"Black Rabbit, kill the King of Puppets, and then hand over the core of Puppet P. Your commission will be considered complete."

The Pale Knight held a syringe filled with a golden-yellow liquid. That was the special panacea developed from gold coin fruit, and the only cure for the strange rabbit petrification disease.

Hearing Laxasia's words, a red glare flashed in Romeo's eyes, and it abruptly turned its head to look at Li Nanke.

It had already suspected that Li Nanke's approach to Carlo had ulterior motives, and Laxasia’s words undoubtedly confirmed those suspicions.

So this whole thing was a commission, and Li Nanke had brought it and Carlo to the alchemical island simply to complete a transaction.

Romeo gripped its sickle tightly, its gaze filled with murderous intent, and laughed out loud in extreme anger.

"Good, so this was your goal all along. Carlo, you see his true face now, don't you?"

Li Nanke ignored Romeo, keeping his eyes locked onto Laxasia as the bloody warhammer materialized in his hand.

"What if I refuse?"

"Foolish." The Pale Knight sneered, casually discarding the special panacea, and unhooked the greatsword and large shield from her back. "Then I'll do it myself..."

As her voice trailed off, she raised the greatsword high.

The spine of the greatsword was hollowed out, featuring sharp metal electrodes arranged section by section like a human spinal column.

The instant Laxasia raised the greatsword, the electrodes flipped and deformed, connecting to the sharp edges on both sides.

Ergo energy surged and erupted, forming a turbulent and violent current.

Blinding electric light filled the greatsword, transforming the weapon into a blade of lightning!

The air was filled with a volatile sensation that caused a tingling prickle across the skin. Even the tips of their hair floated upward uncontrollably, as if static electricity filled the surroundings, or as if a thunderstorm were about to break and world-destroying lightning was about to strike the earth.

Li Nanke’s pupils constricted as he clearly sensed the enemy's terrifying strength.

He slammed his foot onto the ground and lunged forward, his warhammer already engulfed in raging flames as he charged the enemy for a fierce strike.

However, Romeo was faster than him. With a flash of its figure, it gripped its sickle and attacked Laxasia.

Practical actions were far more persuasive than empty words. Li Nanke had already shown it with his actions who the true companion was and who the enemy was.

If anyone dared to covet Pinocchio's drive heart, the King of Puppets would undoubtedly treat them as a mortal enemy to be killed!

The blade of the sickle tore through the air, and a sharp, sonic boom cracked out.

Before the edge even struck the enemy, the explosive, razor-sharp Qi sliced deep gouges into the ground!

Even without piloting the war machine, Romeo possessed exceptionally formidable strength.

Earlier, Li Nanke at his full output had been unable to take down Romeo, needing Pinocchio's stealthy ambush to catch the King of Puppets off guard and severely injure him.

Now, Li Nanke's Lord of Pain trait had risen to level eight, skyrocketing his physical strength and greatly enhancing his personal power, yet he still wouldn't dare claim he could easily defeat Romeo.

Faced with the full-strength strike of the King of Puppets, the Pale Knight sneered and raised her golden greatshield vertically.

"Clang!"

Amidst flying sparks, a teeth-setting, scalp-tingling sound of blade meeting shield echoed across the battlefield.

It sounded like sharp fingernails scraping a chalkboard, or a razor-sharp blade cutting into a metal bell. The sickle left a deep gouge on the golden shield, yet failed to inflict any substantive damage on Laxasia.

The very moment the blade and shield collided, the Pale Knight slashed downward with her sword.

The blade swept horizontally, crackling with electric light, and the wildly violent lightning was capable of shattering anything that stood in its path!

Romeo was extremely fast. Although the enemy's attack was fierce and swift, it believed it could easily dodge it.

With a light tap of its toes, the sword blade swept right past it. Just as Romeo was about to launch a counterattack, a blinding flash of lightning burst out, leaving a sea of stark white before its eyes where it could see almost nothing.

That was the lightning erupting and surging from the greatsword. It could dodge sword slashes, but how could its speed possibly outrun lightning?

The moment the violent electric current struck Romeo, the King of Puppets instantly went rigid, its limbs locking up and unable to move.

When its vision briefly blinded and quickly recovered, the tip of the greatsword had already torn through the air, trailing unmatched electrical light, and was thrusting fiercely straight toward the center of its brows!

"I can't dodge it!"

To a mechanical puppet made of metal, electricity was equivalent to an absolute counter, a weak-point critical hit.

The reason Romeo had once lost a match to Li Nanke was precisely because it suffered Pinocchio's surprise electrical attack, which caused its whole body to stiffen and hard-controlled it for a split second.

Now, Laxasia's lightning greatsword was even more powerful, truly the nemesis of all puppets!

By the time it regained its senses, the sword tip was merely inches away from its brow, leaving it utterly impossible to dodge.

"Am I going to die?"

Just as that thought flashed through Romeo's mind, a warhammer wreathed in raging flames descended from above.

"Boom!"

That terrifyingly ferocious force caused the Pale Knight, holding the massive shield, to be knocked back step after step despite blocking the blow. With every step backward, the ground cracked and shattered, leaving behind a trail of deep footprints.

Naturally, the greatsword also failed to achieve its goal, being pulled away as Laxasia was driven back.

"What are you still dazing for? Gank her!"

The super-giant puppet known as the 'War Machine' finally arrived as well. Its metal fists smashed down in rapid succession, coordinating with Li Nanke's tempestuous, storm-like hammer strikes to unleash devastating combat power.

The Pale Knight's violent lightning struck the War Machine, only managing to cause the massive puppet to stiffen slightly. In a one-on-one fight, that split second of stiffness could decide life or death.

However, whenever the War Machine was controlled, Li Nanke would charge to the front, shielding it to buy Pinocchio a moment to recover his breath. Then, the two of them would coordinate their attacks, driving Laxasia back step by step, leaving her momentarily without the ability to counterattack.

Through countless past battles fought side by side, Li Nanke and Pinocchio had long since achieved flawless coordination.

At this moment, Pinocchio piloted the powerful War Machine, while Li Nanke's strength had also soared rapidly through farming monsters.

In a two-on-one scenario, even though Laxasia had become the sole complete specimen among countless test subjects and her personal combat prowess was peerless in the world, she could no longer gain the upper hand against the two of them.

Romeo snapped out of its daze. Faced with Li Nanke's unchivalrous suggestion of a gank, it showed not the slightest hesitation, immediately raising its sharp sickle to join the fray.

The addition of the King of Puppets instantly turned a battle that was already in their favor into a one-sided rout.

Li Nanke fought valiantly at the vanguard, taking the brunt of the lightning greatsword's strikes head-on.

The surging electric light made his hair stand on end, and his body was covered in scorch marks, yet his physical body was far more resilient than the metal-cast War Machine when it came to enduring and resisting electrical shocks.

After blocking out the pain, the electricity that could briefly paralyze the War Machine failed to cause him even a fraction of a pause.

That not-so-tall figure stood at the very front like an iron wall. It was simply unimaginable what kind of creature could possess such terrifying physical endurance.

"As expected of a lifeform from beyond the heavens..."

Even though it already knew Li Nanke was not human, witnessing his fierce and valiant display still moved Romeo to exclamation.

Clearly, just yesterday, the opponent's strength was still inferior to its own, yet today he had suddenly become immensely powerful, his strength even far surpassing its own by a wide margin.

Aside from an alien, who else could achieve such an unreasonable leap in strength?

Even Carlo, who possessed a bizarre drive heart and possessed extremely high growth potential, couldn't keep up with Li Nanke in this regard.

Romeo couldn't help but suspect that yesterday's slaughter of so many special puppets wasn't meant to help Carlo grow at all, but rather that Li Nanke himself grew stronger after killing puppets, perhaps even gaining more benefits than Carlo.

Suddenly, the War Machine threw a punch, sending the Pale Knight stumbling sideways, and her crack-filled large shield tilted askew.

Pinocchio was no longer the novice he used to be; his combat experience had grown exceptionally skilled under Li Nanke's guidance.

Seizing the opportunity, the puppet boy manipulated the War Machine and decisively extended the mechanical tentacles hidden on its back.

Like a giant python emerging from its cave, the two mechanical tentacles instantly wrapped around the large shield, fiercely pulling and anchoring the Pale Knight.

Had it been a one-on-one fight, Laxasia could have exerted herself to slash through the mechanical tentacles with her sword, but Li Nanke's entanglement and obstruction left her with zero opportunity to spare a hand.

If Laxasia refused to let go of the shield, she would undoubtedly die!

Sure enough, the Pale Knight abandoned the shield without a moment's hesitation and moved to grip her sword with both hands, only for Li Nanke to seize the opening and smash down with all his might, knocking the lightning greatsword askew as well.

"Good chance!"

Red light flashed in Romeo's eyes. With a light tap of its toes, its figure vanished and reappeared directly in front of the enemy.

Taking advantage of the enemy's completely open guard and fatal flaw, its sickle swept out in a slash!

At the same time, blinding electric light burst forth violently, turning the field a stark white where nothing could be seen clearly.

"Hit!"

When vision finally cleared, Laxasia had already been sent flying, crashing into a pile of rubble right in front of the circular tower's entrance.

Her spiked armor bore a harrowing, deep gash across the chest, and her entire suit of armor was overrun with cracks, practically falling apart.

Laxasia propped herself up with the greatsword, removed her spike-filled helmet, and spoke in a resolute tone tinged with a hint of gentleness—though she was not addressing any of her enemies.

"Simon... your sword. Laxasia vows to protect this tower!"

Beneath the helmet was a face as pale as a corpse; even with its sickly pallor, it could not conceal the delicate beauty of her features.

Her entire suit of armor peeled off piece by piece and fell to the ground, revealing a tall figure wrapped in thick bandages, with the exposed skin on her arms and legs equally pale.

Li Nanke's heart skipped a beat as a terrible premonition arose, and he lunged fiercely toward the enemy.

Simultaneously, the complete specimen Laxasia raised her greatsword high, pointing the blade toward the heavens.

In an instant, the winds and clouds shifted over heaven and earth!

The torrent of ergo atop the circular tower surged, and oppressive, dark clouds rolled in, seemingly pressed down to the top of their heads by an invisible giant hand, as if the entire firmament were collapsing.

Wild lightning churned and flashed amidst the dark clouds, and golden lightning roared in fury.

"Boom!"

Heavenly lightning descended like divine punishment, a golden bolt connecting heaven and earth striking straight down into the greatsword Laxasia held.

Blinding electric light erupted, golden light filled their vision, and a terrifying pressure swept across the entire field!

The moment the greatsword was struck by the thunder, its metal electrodes rotated and deformed, the edges on both sides transforming into sharp spearheads as the greatsword morphed into a spear wreathed in golden lightning.

A massive volume of ergo transformed into a torrent, surging into Laxasia's body along the spear, causing her feet to lift off the ground as she levitated. Faint traces of azure color began to emerge on her pale skin, as though she were stepping closer toward becoming a higher-tier blue lifeform.

Borrowing the endless ergo energy from the tower's bizarre device, she was actually growing even more powerful!

"Damn it! You're transforming right in front of me? Do you even consider me to exist?!"

Li Nanke had suffered from bosses entering a second phase back with Romeo; how could he possibly let Laxasia succeed so easily in transforming now?

Violent golden lightning continuously struck down around Laxasia, forming a solid, iron-wall-like defense that obstructed anyone who wished to interrupt her completion of evolution.

Facing the devastating, raging thunder, he showed not the slightest fear, plunging headfirst into the barrier of golden lightning and charging straight for the enemy!

Li Nanke knew that if Laxasia completed her evolution, she would become immensely powerful, but this second-phase enhanced state could not possibly be maintained for long.

After all, if she could progress even further beyond a complete specimen, she would have started evolving long ago; there was no need to wait until she was utterly losing to forcibly use ergo to strengthen herself.

This state was much like when he used 'Frenzy' on himself—a burst phase that would undoubtedly fail after a short duration.

Moreover, compared to his mental-energy-consuming burst, her forcible evolution would likely exact an even heavier price.

However, if Laxasia was the final boss of this taboo dream, Li Nanke might have let her complete her evolution, temporarily evaded her sharp edge, retreated first, and made a comeback once the enemy lost her enhanced state.

That way, he could take Laxasia down bloodlessly.

Yet, Simon, the leader of the Alchemists' Guild, was currently inside the circular tower performing the god-ascension ritual. Without Pinocchio's drive heart, he would certainly fail the final step, but the longer they delayed entering, the stronger the enemy might become.

Therefore, he was compelled to resolve the enemy as quickly as possible.

The moment he plunged into the lightning barrier, the 'Powered Protective Armor' manifested on Li Nanke, and the 'Ring of the Everlasting Pain Lady' on his finger likewise appeared.

Surging thunder struck his body, and the Ring of the Everlasting Pain Lady generated an invisible protective barrier across his skin, continuously dampening the damage from all ranged attacks at the cost of consuming his accumulated pain value.

Even after being dampened by the ring, the thunder striking the 'Powered Protective Armor' caused the high-tech armor to char, disintegrate, and fracture with countless cracks.

Li Nanke had it even worse.

Even though his perception of pain was temporarily blocked, his limbs still shook uncontrollably, and his flesh smoked with scorched blackness as if it had been electrocuted well-done.

He had charged into the lightning barrier purely on momentum!

Without various protective measures, and had his physical strength not been astonishing, even an iron golem would have been reduced to powder and slag under that thunderous bombardment.

Li Nanke's eyes were bloodshot as he faced Laxasia, who was floating in mid-air absorbing a massive torrent of ergo.

With a furious roar, he suddenly leaped high into the air, and the warhammer in his hand transformed into a giant hammer of flame.

A towering wave of fire swept away everything, the terrifying momentum of the raging flames even drowning out the resounding thunder that filled the sky.

Waterfall of Flames!

Faced with the human who had charged into the lightning barrier regardless of the cost, looking at the formidable human covered in charred marks and smoking with acrid, burnt stench, the evolving Laxasia could do nothing except widen her eyes in shock.

She was mere seconds away from completing her evolution and becoming a far more powerful entity for a short duration.

What a pity...

"Boom!"

Crimson waves of flame erupted, overwhelming the mighty momentum of the thunder that filled the sky.

A female corpse, charred black, plummeted like a meteorite, smashing into a massive crater right in front of the circular tower's entrance.

Li Nanke landed with his warhammer in hand, offering a cold sneer.

"I told you, don't transform in front of me."