Chapter 745 The Clash of Destiny 1
"Shangtian, Shangtian, you fool. Instead of running away to hide in a pile of shit and make that your den, you dare to come here to challenge us?" Draco asked with a playful smile on his face.
"He's already a pile of shit, living in one would make him disappear, and he fears that." Eva added by the side, with folded arms and a nonplussed expression.
"The two of you can spout nonsense all you want, but at the end of today, I will have cracked that fucker's skull open to use it as my future toilet, and once I'm done with you, bitch, your three holes will have been turned into three canyons." Shangtian countered as he manifested his three Martial Spirits.
Boom!
He blasted forth like a cannon, brownish energy coating his fists as he struck down upon Draco and Eva at the same time. The Evil Duo blocked using their bare bodies, which turned out to be a mistake since their arms turned into bloodmist, and they got punched into the distance.
However, Shangtian was not happy with this. Instead, his eyes were bloodshot with hate and fury, his mouth beginning to display some foam as his anger grew.
"You two fuckers… how dare... HOW DARE YOU STILL UNDERESTIMATE ME?!!!!!!" He roared with hatred, leaping forth to continue his assault.
Draco and Eva dug long ditches in the ground before they came to a stop, each of them bloodied and battered beyond measure. However, they soon recovered back to perfection and rose to their feet, patting themselves down nonchalantly.
"What we did is definitely going to infuriate him." Draco pointed out casually.
"Pah, my fury towards him is so high, it's what generates the heat in my body. I just have better control of mine because I've had it longer." Eva remarked while cracking her neck.
They saw the form of Shangtian speeding over for another hit, his eyes completely red.
"Okay, okay, let's not tease him anymore. I'll use the Horned Demon Inheritance to fight him and see how it holds up." Draco said as he entered his Horned Demon True Body, launching himself at Shangtian with just as much force.
The two collided in the center, their fists coated with energy - one brown the other one red - pushing against each other with difficulty. Draco was grinning widely while Shangtian was displaying an expression of pure anger and hate.
"C'mon Shangy boy, let's fight!" Draco cheered with laughter.
"I'll kill you!" Shangtian replied with killing intent.
The two began trading high-speed blows that left after images, making it seem like one punch merged into a hundred. Floating arms punching out appeared all around them, and the shockwaves from their collision were raising up a small windstorm.
"Dieeeee!!!" Shangtian roared as he increased his power crazily.
Draco was being pushed back, his grin fading bit by bit as he was forced to become serious. He sighed internally, whether he liked it or not, but he was forced to admit the Pangu Lineage's Primal God Inheritance provided more raw strength than his Horned Demon Inheritance.
Still, the Horned Demon Inheritance had many other powers to complement it while the Primal God Inheritance was solely focused on a single goal. The increase in strength was its beginning and end, so it was fair that the other held the physical advantage over him.
Shangtian managed to bypass Draco's defenses and struck him straight in the gut, which winded Draco a little. As Shangtian was about to rain blows on the defenseless fellow, he blocked to the side since a punch that cracked the ground came from Eva.
She had entered her Heavenly Goddess True Body, and instead of sitting on her throne and summoning her Angels, she directly jumped down and attacked their common enemy using her raw strength.
"Nnnghh!" Shangtian had to take a few steps back, not because Eva was stronger but because he was caught off guard.
"Don't forget, fuckface, you're not fighting one person. I know Draco likes his attack rushes, so I let him have that one, but now, it's time to beat you to death." Eva directly stated with murderous intent.
"Hear, hear." Draco agreed as he spat out a gob of blood to the side and stood along with Eva, facing the solemn Shangtian.
"Whatever, I'm happy to save time by beating you both at once!" Shangtian roared as he charged forward, intending to deal with them both.
However, Draco smiled and redirected Shangtian's punch away before striking him in the ribs, disorienting the fellow. Eva faded in and added her on strike to the left of his jaw, knocking him back towards Draco.
Like that, the Evil Duo began passing Shangtian between them, hitting him all over. The poor sap was dazed and unable to respond to the painful blows that were slow reaping his life away.
"Fight back, loser! Fight back!" Eva roared as she upped her tempo, Draco laughed playfully as he matched her with ease.
Shangtian heard these words, but was unable to do anything but endure getting knocked around like a mannequin. Eventually, he roared and channeled his Primogenitor Martial Spirit, summoning hundreds of elemental golems of different types.
Draco and Eva leaped back and gave the new army space, gazing at them nonchalantly. Draco even shook his head with disapproval.
"Shangtian, Shangtian, we were fighting using one Inheritance each, now you chicken out and use two? Oh well, I guess it's time for Phase 2 then."
He and Eva manifested their Dark Angel and Light Angel Martial Spirits as they smiled. A pair of black Angel Wings appeared behind Draco, while he was still in his Horned Demon True Body!!
The same went for Eva, who manifested white Angel Wings while in her Heavenly Goddess True Body.
"Man, using Qi for bloodline techniques is so smooth and versatile." Draco couldn't help but praise.
"Agreed, I could never have merged two inheritances so easily without this abundant Qi we have." Eva nodded as she flexed her arms.
"Well, we've given Shangy boy enough time to rest. Let's beat him at his own game." Draco suggested as he manifested a reddish-black portal before him.
"He won't be able to survive what's coming." Eva acknowledged cruelly as she opened a pure white portal.
From Draco's portal, his entire army of Demons rushed out, including the ones he had subdued a few floors ago, led by the 9 Demon Lords. The one at the forefront was Asmodeus, who was excited to finally vent his anger at being whipped by Draco.
From Eva's portal, her entire army of Angels rushed out with chants of righteousness, from all the 9 spheres too.
When the Demons and Angels saw each other, there was initially some friction, which made Draco and Eva frown. However, they were surprised to see their troops freeze when they saw their animated opponents and instinctively suppressed their hatred.
Draco and Eva felt a slight feedback from their bloodline and understood. Lucifer and Amaterasu had fought Pangu hundreds of time, and much in the same manner.
They would summon their Demons and Angels to fight Pangu's golems while they themselves tussled head-on. Even with two against one, they couldn't kill Pangu because of his Undying King Inheritance.
Unlike Draco, Eva, and all bloodline descendants, the 9 original humans had nothing like purity and bloodline energy limit. Their Bloodline Energy was considered infinite because during their lifetime, they had never encountered a situation where they had run out.
So no matter how Lucifer bombarded, hit, or slashed, or how Amaterasu punched, sliced, or blasted, Pangu would heal from it.
This was why the 9 original humans had been able to send out their powerful avatars freely, because they had limitless energy to support them no matter how far they had ventured out.
Draco, Eva - and unfortunately Shangtian - too had the potential of limitless energy. It was just that their puny human bodies could not tolerate that, so they would go boom if they ever pushed themselves to that limit.
Hence, the current situation.
The Demons and the Angels clashed immediately in the center of the field, both sides going all out in their body to destroy each other. Demon Lords led charges into the depths of the Golem army, destroying what they could, while valiant Angels like Camael and Micheal did the same.
The clashing was loud and shook the earth, probably startling many cultivators of the land. Draco and Eva only watched for a bit before apporting beside a recovered Shangtian who was guarding against them.
"Finally caught your breath, best buddy? Ready for round 2?" Draco asked with a winsome smile.
"You'd better put in more effort than in round 1, where we nearly beat you to death." Eva commented with a dark light in her eyes.
Shangtian gazed at the two of them silent and smirked. "You know, you act all tough, Eva. But you're not scary in the least. Not you, nor that crazy bitch inside your head."
"…What?" Eva asked slowly.
"You heard me. You're not much of a threat on your own, it's only with him that you can fight me. Meanwhile, he alone can fight me to a draw at the least. Not to mention that you wear your anger and hate on your sleeve." Shangtian responded calmly.
"It's so easy to see and predict. If I ever met you alone, not even 10,000 of you would be able to defeat me. However, the truly terrifying one here is him." Shangtian revealed as he pointed at Draco.
Draco pointed at himself with a dumbfounded look. "Me?"
"Yes, you. Stop fucking around, Draco, you're the most twisted bastard I have ever met. After the hatred that exists between us three, it's normal for her to hate me so much, but you must hate me just as much if not more."
Shangtian's outstretched finger shuddered slightly as sweat formed on his brow.
"And yet… yet, you are able to laugh, joke around and even give me nicknames during a life and death fight. It's normal if you do this to all enemies, as you won't have much hatred for them, but for your fated foe? Something needs to be seriously wrong up there for you to behave this way?"
Draco and Eva went silent at that. They both understood what Shangtian was trying to say and could not argue, for he was speaking the truth. Eva was far more normal - despite being called crazy - in her actions, whereas Draco was more than abnormal no matter how you looked at it.
From how they conned the real Shangtian to how he interacted with him until he was in his grasp, how many people could achieve something like that?
That Shangtian hadn't understood thing, which was why he had been scared, but Draco and Eva understood as their minds were linked most of the time.
It simply had to do with the nature of each other's disposition, and even one step further, the nature of their existence. You see, Draco represented the Abyss, and the Abyss represented all things evil.
Draco was easily built by the universe to be able to act as the last boss of any title. He was that type of weird Demon Lord who found amusement in torturing the Hero throughout their journey.
He was lax, sociopathic - as seen by his behavior towards Shangtian -, psychopathic - as seen by his crusade against Eva for 8 goddamn years - and overconfident when in a position of power, as he was right now.
Draco displayed typical Evil Final Boss energy at all times, which was why he had been able to attract fellows like the Five Generals to work for him. Do you think if Draco had been a righteous fellow, half of his current core member lineup would even exist?
Eva though, was the opposite. She represented the Heavens, and the Heavens represented all things good. That was why she needed to create Evaterasu, as Riveting Night was closer to abyssal than heavenly.
Not to mention that the current Eva was overly emotional compared to before - a trait of most Heroes, especially with how she wore her emotions outwardly - as well as direct and to the point - similar to most Heroes, she is direct in her word and actions, not hesitating or second-guessing herself - and finally, very impetuous or impatient - she and most Heroes have no time to wait for schemes or elaborate plans, rather preferring to do things their own way, like when she had blasted that Xiantian Emperor almost to death.
Eva also discovered she was becoming more like this the more she developed her bloodline and corrected it. Because of this, she also found out why she had a habit of collecting little sisters.
It was the Hero's penchant to gather allies or 'friends' who supported him on his journey. As for Draco's need to gather generals and capable subordinates, it was the villain's need to do so as well.
"Don't sweat the small stuff, Shangy boy. Let's continue our battle and end everything here." Draco wrapped up the talk and pointed at Shangtian, lifting the earth around him and upheaving it with telekinesis.
Shangtian roared and jumped up, leaping over landmass after landmass as he sought to escape, but fell right into Draco's trap, where four different pieces of landmass suddenly crashed together the moment he peat on one of them.
Draco then clutched his fist and tightened the landmass into a ball of nearly polished and solid dirt. He continued to enveloped it in his psychic domain as he reduced its size, crushing whatever was within horribly.
Despite this, the ball shivered and shook, until it exploded all over and released a bleeding Shangtian who immediately recovered using his Undying King Martial Spirit.
He roared and threw a punch at Draco which formed a giant fist in the air. However, the punch was countered by Eva who formed a psychic avatar that was the size of a small hill.
It was only formed up to its waist and covered Eva entirely within, being translucent. It looked very similar to Mortem, one of the two Aether Spirits guarding the Aether Palace created using Eva's genes.
(Author's Note: Basically, think of the half body Susanno from Naruto, but Eva's is white.)
The avatar met the punch head-on, and dispersed it with ease, also throwing a slew of them back at Shangtian who was still airborne. Shangtian roared with madness and dug deep into his power to unleash a barrage of hits.
In the middle of the air, hundreds of punches collided with each other, creating a shockwave so strong it blew away the grass on top of the plain and uprooted nearby trees.
Draco's eyes flashed as he flapped his wings and took to the sky, watching the clash while measuring Shangtian's power. It seemed that, just like them, he too had an abnormal stock of Qi.
Fighting a battle of attrition would just delay them here, as they could be fighting for weeks. Especially if Shangtian decided to go on the defensive, it would keep them rooted here for months.
There was a reason why Shangtian was 'lovingly' referred to as Local Cockroach by the external gods watching the show.
"Eva, it's time." Draco said slowly.
Eva channeled more power into her blows and knocked Shangtian aside, sending him crashing into the earth like a meteor. Of course, he got up from this perfectly unharmed.
Draco landed beside Eva, who withdrew her Heavenly Goddess True Body just as Draco withdrew his Horned Demon True Body. Both of them breathed out lightly before exploding with energy, Eva's white and Draco's pitch black.
The energy coated their forms and warped them into their true forms, a Black Dragon and a Light Phoenix.
Draco slammed his right claw into the ground and roared so powerfully that the sounds waves were almost visible. Meanwhile, Eva flourished her bright wings as she screeched to the heavens, causing the clouds to disappear.
Shangtian grinned crazily. "Seems like you two are finally taking this seriously. Then who am I to hold back as well? Integration!"
He manifested all three of his Martial Spirits in the air and merged with them as they rushed into his body. Shangtian exploded with brownish energy that coated him, transforming him into a hill-sized being that was like a golem himself, wielding two axes in each hand that glowed with divine light.
He was rocky, with red rocks that were molten, water boulders that were like waterfalls, windy shards which floated around him and brown rocks which formed most of his body, looking sturdy and impenetrable.
Eva and Draco became serious as their blood boiled. They knew that this was a makeshift version of Local Lord's General Aspect, created by using the Qi Cultivation Method of this world, which was a miracle in and of itself.
The three stood off against each other for a short while, circling one another as they searched for openings and weaknesses in which to strike. Once again, it was Eva who dropped the ball by firing a beam of light from her beak, one so thick it could swallow a whole mountain.
Shangtian bellowed and used one axe to parry the beam, sending it flying elsewhere as he swung wide. Draco also roared as he charged in and struck Shangtian with claws coated in Destruction Energy, but Shangtian defended himself with his other axe.
Eva also charged in with a screech, using her talons to try to rip Shangtian apart. He used his free axe to block her talons as well, leaving the three stuck in a three-way martial struggle.
However, Shangtian was able to muster enough power to knock them both back at the same time, even managing to strike Eva on the belly, sending her flying and crashing into the ground.
Before Shangtian could recover from that, Draco's claw pierced through his rocky body from one end to the other, holding a giant rocky heart in his palm.
Shangtian roared weakly when he saw this, clutching his chest as Draco smashed the heart and began channeling Destruction Energy through his body.
A light of evil flashed in Draco's eyes as he spoke cruelly. "Let's see you heal from this!"