CHAPTER 469: CHAPTER 363: RUTHLESS DESTRUCTION, THE FIRST DROP OF BLOOD

If the Goddess was depressed and furious at being launched into the sky by a supernatural version of the "Thousand Year Kill," then the depression in Blue Hair’s heart was certainly no less than hers. However, many days of inhumane training had formed a conditioned reflex in him. He didn’t dare to flare up at Byron or Andrew at all. Now that he had a target to vent on, he naturally seized the opportunity to thoroughly indulge himself.

Transforming from his werewolf form into his human shape, he surged forward, quickly outpacing those who had started ahead of him. He bellowed, "Cross Rampage Armor!"

Seawater from all around soared into the sky, rapidly coalescing around Blue Hair’s body. It covered his entire body with a layer of gleaming, flowing water armor, and his hands transformed into a pair of massive crab pincers. He had transformed into a domineering "giant crab" ready to run rampant.

The Sea Monster Legion under his command was originally the personal guard of his brother, Ocean Throne, but he had only been granted second-grade authority over it. After his Fourth Order core ability, "Heart of the Beast King," recovered, the corresponding contracts reactivated, and a large part of his strength instantly returned. He also regained some of the arrogance of his time as Vice-King of the Barbary Pirates.

A ring of pure white bubbles burst behind him, giving him a mid-air speed boost, launching him like a cannonball toward the Goddess with a BANG.

Only then did the Goddess notice Blue Hair, the werewolf who had been cowering in the corner. Upon seeing his highly distinctive appearance, her pupils suddenly shrank. She exclaimed in shock, "Are you the Fifth Order Legendary Pirate King, Ocean Throne, Barbarossa? What are you doing here?!"

Blue Hair’s title effect, "Aura of the Strong," triggered!

This Goddess, who seemed to have met the Pirate King Barbarossa Hailding, obviously didn’t know that the Halding brothers were actually twins. Under the effect of the title ability, the auras of the two brothers were identical. Unsurprisingly, she mistook Halding for Hailding.

At this moment, if Blue Hair hadn’t engaged in battle but instead postured arrogantly and said to the Divine Children, "Show me some respect, and we’ll call it even for today. I’ll pay your elders a visit another day to demand an explanation on behalf of our Silver Continent people." It’s possible that, in their bewilderment, the siblings might indeed have abandoned their father’s legacy out of fear and turned tail to flee. Alas, there were no "ifs" in this scenario.

The Goddess wielded her axe with both hands, employing the "Short Viper Style" to rigorously defend her centerline, cautiously guarding against the full-force strike of this "Pirate King."

BOOM—!

As Blue Hair raised his pincers, they suddenly snapped shut. Amidst a deafening noise, a blinding flash of light illuminated the sky above the Golden Deer. The ship’s sails fluttered violently in the surge of airflow, threatening to rip apart at any moment. The artillerymen on deck, still firing on the town, were sent staggering.

Although the strike knocked the Goddess airborne, her feet leaving the yardarm, she was completely unharmed. Even her axe-wielding stance remained unbroken. When had I become so formidable? she initially wondered. To withstand an attack from the Pirate King unscathed?

Realization dawned in an instant, and her face contorted with uncontrollable rage. "Impostor! You’re not the Pirate King at all!"

Using the impact to rebound, she kicked off the top of the mainmast. The fir mast bent like a giant bow before launching her fiercely back. Raising the long-handled battle axe above her head, her body erupted with "Tidal Radiance" as she executed a powerful "Roof Guard" style downward chop at Halding.

In theory, even if Blue Hair’s bluff was exposed, it shouldn’t have mattered much. One was the daughter of a Fifth Order Mythical Creature, the other the brother of a Fifth Order Pirate King; both possessed Fourth Order strength. They were seemingly well-matched opponents...

BOOM!

Clearly, not all Fourth Order individuals were equal.

A single strike, filled with fierce rage and her full power, shattered the defense of Blue Hair’s pincers. Seizing the opening, the Goddess followed up with a whip-like kick.

Blue Hair was struck squarely in the face. His nasal bone caved in, and his cervical vertebrae emitted a strained CRACK! He flew backward even faster than he had advanced, crashing through the deck of the Golden Deer and tumbling into the hold below.

"ARGH—!"

Had Byron, Violet, and the others not already rushed to his aid, another axe blow from the Goddess might have finished off this disgrace to the Fourth Order on the spot.

BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!...

The gunshots, only slightly less intense than cannon fire, thundered as Byron’s "Thorny Rose" and Violet’s "Black and White Keys" fired simultaneously. A blooming barrage of gunfire completely sealed off the Goddess’s attack routes. She was forced to retract her battle axe and stand on the yardarm, enveloped in "Tidal Radiance," her movements a dance of brilliant silver light. She deflected every bullet, sending them CLINKING AND CLANKING across the deck.

But the large group of Third Order pirate officers following them were even more numerous than the bullets. Eight Fingers, also wielding a Bayfolk long-handled Battle Axe, seemed to inflate in size, his blood practically boiling. A savage radiance swirled on his axe blade as he launched a powerful wheeling slash from low to high, aimed directly at her lower body.

"Damn it!"

The Goddess’s complexion turned ashen. Why are the friends and subordinates of a "Saint" all so lacking in Martial Virtue? she wondered. Aren’t they afraid of tarnishing his reputation?

She blocked his attack with her axe, then delivered a counter-strike that impacted Eight Fingers like a blow against solid bronze, fiercely knocking him off the yardarm.

The Gourmet Alfred, transformed into a Griffon after devouring a specialty hotpot, attacked from one side. Simultaneously, Bruh, the Oath Knight, now in the form of a Dragon Lizard Warrior, attacked from the other, launching a pincer assault. Instead of attacking directly, the Griffon’s massive, ship-wheel-sized iron claw seized the blade of the long-handled battle axe. Alfred hung from it, desperately pulling, preventing the Goddess from executing her exquisite Bayfolk Axeman Technique.

On the other side, the Guardian Knight shouted his oath: "Our Lord is supreme! Before I die, no one shall offend him! Honor is paramount! An eye for an eye, blood for blood!"

By that time, Byron had effectively donned half an Earl’s coronet, one foot already among the Great Nobles, thus justifying the address "My Lord," so shouting the oath again didn’t feel abrupt.

Bruh’s aura surged, and the "Sun Holy Sword" in her hand, empowered by the fire dragon lizard, seemed to transform into a veritable rising sun. Bruh launched a vicious cutting attack from the Goddess’s left.

In desperation, the Goddess tried to repeat her old trick: using her Abyssal Child ability of Water Elementalization to become immune to physical weapons. But unexpectedly, a SIZZLE! erupted, as if a red-hot iron seared her flesh. Her left arm was abruptly severed in mid-air. It instantly evaporated in the fierce flames emanating from the "Sun Holy Sword."

"AAAAH—!"

The Goddess finally let out her first piercing scream of the battle. It wasn’t just the searing pain; I can clearly feel that part of my limb is lost forever!

Bubbles frothed from the wound as a new arm grew back, but her overall height shrank slightly as a result.

With a roar, monstrous strength erupted from her. She swept up both Alfred the Griffon and her battle axe in a furious whirlwind, smashing them toward Bruh. Bruh, however, easily dodged by scattering into a myriad of black and red bats.

The Goddess’s attack missed, and the lost balance made her waver. At the same time, she was shocked to find the yardarm beneath her feet had suddenly appeared to split into two. As she hesitated over where to step, the multitude of bats converged on her again. A moment’s distraction in the intense battle caused her to step onto an illusion, and she stumbled, falling from the yardarm.

Gus of the Phantom Blade, a master of manipulating senses, had been waiting for this moment. He whispered in her ear, "The weapon in my hand is the Sacred Relic, The First Bullet. The first time it’s activated each day, its flight speed is forcibly increased to Mach three, and it guarantees a headshot. Like many weapons that must draw blood upon unsheathing, it’s incredibly vicious and won’t rest until it has blown a head apart."

He was obviously bluffing; The First Bullet was already in Violet’s possession. Simultaneously, he conjured an illusion of a huge, black mortar, its barrel stuffed with steel balls, aimed point-blank at her face.

The Goddess, with no escape, could only brace herself with "Tidal Radiance" and attempt to withstand the blow.

BOOM—!

A fiery explosion erupted. The next moment, she was flung far beyond the Golden Deer. Her head exploded into a mist of water, and her body skipped across the sea’s surface... SLAP! SLAP! SLAP!

Without her head, her body temporarily lost all control. Before she could arrest her momentum, a figure leaped from the Golden Deer in pursuit. He raced across the ocean surface like a wild stallion, a ten-meter-high plume of water jetting up in his wake. The sheer force of his passage through the water stunned and killed the fish beneath.

Byron gripped the butt of the "Sure-Hit Spear, Gungnir," its tip trailing behind him. He ran almost parallel to the sea surface, catching up to the Goddess in just five strides.

HUMMM!

The spearhead, now infused with the souls of three Third Order Beast Spirit Warriors, glowed intensely. More than half of the Crystal Spearhead lit up, flickering with unparalleled thunder and lightning. CRACKLE! POP! The light completely illuminated this stretch of sea.

Byron, the Prince of Night Demons, possessed physical capabilities far beyond human. He took a sharp breath; his eyes turned blood-red, and his body began to emit Blood Mist. His waist flexed, and all his superhuman muscles, bones, and fascia twisted into a single, unified engine of power. The air CRACKED with the sound. Clutching the spear’s butt in one hand, as if wielding a highly elastic long whip, he lashed the mythical spear forward with tremendous force. The force of the blow was so immense that as soon as his right hand lifted, the straight spear shaft bent into an arc under the terrifying acceleration. The rapidly swinging spear shaft struck the airborne sea spray, instantly vaporizing it into a cloud of white mist.

At that moment, lightning flashed, thunder roared, and dark clouds churned overhead. Even the atmosphere seemed to be torn asunder by the spear’s tip. The sea spray around Byron was caught in the fierce wind, transforming into projectiles that shot like bullets toward the Goddess.

The now-diminished Goddess had only just regenerated one eye. Her expression changed wildly as she subconsciously raised her battle axe from a half-kneeling posture.

BOOM—!!!

A thunderous explosion struck the sea surface, engulfing everything in white light.

How could a "Goddess made of water" withstand the impact of Byron’s inhumanly powerful spear strike?

Amidst the cataclysmic roar, a shockwave composed of pure white steam, fresh blood, and bone fragments surged like an angry dragon for over a hundred meters. It also splattered what remained of the Goddess’s mangled upper body across the ocean, creating... a fan-shaped spray of crimson!