Chapter 102: Deity Invocation

The ghostly head tore away Adam's defense, and the arrow pierced directly through his head. Adam was left reeling for a second from the impact, and by the time he opened his eyes again, all he could see was the fletching of the arrow protruding out of his nose.

However, even so, he still didn't die. Mummy was the epitome of the perfect tank, and one could criticize it for having a pitiful offensive repertoire, but it definitely couldn't be denounced as weak.

It was only a level three anomaly, yet it possessed the defensive prowess of a level five anomaly, and this wasn't just reflected in how hard and resilient its skin was. In his current form, Adam's head and heart were no longer vital regions, so having an arrow directly pierce through his head wasn't even a fatal blow.

"Interesting!"

Oni no Miko was quite intrigued to see this, and she fired off another arrow without any hesitation.

The second arrow struck Adam in the heart, the third struck his abdomen, and the fourth right between his legs...

Having been bound by the hundreds of Oni no Hanzou clones, Adam was a sitting duck and could only watch as one arrow after another pierced through his body.

Even with his incredible life force in his fused form with Mummy, Adam was feeling feebler and feebler in the face of these repeated blows. His vision began to blur, and there were more and more arrows being shot into his body.

He felt like he was on the verge of completely losing consciousness.

There was simply far too massive a disparity in power, and there was no way that he could turn the tables against two opponents far more powerful than himself.

This might be it...

In the instant right before Adam's psychic body was about to dissipate, a burst of golden light suddenly flashed across the sky. The golden radiance severed all of the chains attached to the grappling hooks that were holding Adam in place, thereby freeing him from his bindings.

Having just been saved from certain death, Adam wasted no time, plunging his carving knife straight into the ground to unleash his Vampiric Halo. The ring of light instantly swept over the entire battlefield, and all of the apparitions that came into contact with the light shriveled up in the blink of an eye. Countless Oni no Hanzou clones were also destroyed in an instant, and with that influx of psychic energy, Adam was able to quickly recover most of his life force.

After that, he looked up to examine the source of the golden light, and he saw a sleazy old man in a taoist robe standing in mid-air. Upon focusing his gaze on the man, Adam discovered that it was none other than Sadou.

"Taoist Bean Army?"

After catching sight of Sadou, Oni no Hanzou immediately retreated to distance himself from Sadou and return to Oni no Miko's side.

A grim look appeared on Miko's mask, and it was clear that the two of them were extremely wary of Sadou.

"Are you going to stick your nose into this?"

Oni no Miko lowered her bow as she looked up at Sadou.

"We're all here for money, aren't we?" Sadou shrugged as he adjusted his taoist robe. "They offered me too much money for me to refuse."

Shi Feng was ecstatic to see Sadou's arrival, and he declared in a triumphant voice, "The southern congress isn't the only one capable of calling up powerful allies! If we didn't have some tricks up our sleeve, the two congresses would've already been combined into one decades ago!"

Adam was rather taken aback to see Sadou, but upon deeper thought, he realized that there really wasn't much to be surprised about.

It was clear that Sadou had close ties with the northern congress. Otherwise, he wouldn't have agreed to take on Adam as a student at Cowboy's request. Money was certainly a factor in that decision, but interpersonal relationships were also an important decisive factor.

For example, there was no way that the northern congress would turn to the Oni Organization for help as neither side would've been willing to entrust their secrets with the other.

"So be it. I've always wanted to see what the so-called number invocator of Sandrise City is capable of." There was a clear competitive edge to Oni no Miko's voice as she spoke.

From the battle that had just taken place, Adam was able to deduce that she was also an invocator.

Her invocation of the Hyakki Yagyou, her fusion with the shikigami, and her long-range attacking abilities were all very typical of invocators. It seemed that she had never faced Sadou in battle before, and while she was definitely apprehensive, she also seemed to be somewhat excited about the opportunity to test her skills against him.

She waved a hand through the air as she spoke, and the army of ghostly apparitions in the area immediately switched targets, converging from all directions to attack Sadou.

Sadou wasted no time with words as he pulled what appeared to be a handful of green beans out of his taoist robe. The beans were tossed into the air, transforming into an army of heavenly soldiers and generals clad in golden armor.

So he really can give rise to an entire army just by spreading beans! No wonder his nickname is Taoist Bean Army.

Adam couldn't help but look up with admiration at the incredible abilities that these top-tier adapters possessed.

A fierce battle ensued in the sky as the golden-armored warriors clashed with the ghostly apparitions, and it seemed that the heavenly warriors held the upper hand. Not only were they more organized and orderly in their strategies and formations, they were individually more powerful than their opponents as well, and it didn't take long before the golden light in the sky completely dominated the black smoke.

Oni no Miko's competitive fire was stoked even further upon seeing this, and she immediately invoked her shikigami before fusing as one with it, then leaped up into the sky, charging directly toward Sadou while using the heads of the Hyakki Yagyou as a staircase.

"I was just about to get to you!" Sadou declared. "I offer my body to the gods!"

This was Sadou's signature ability, and his body trembled violently for a moment, following which it began to glow with scintillating radiance. Once the light faded, it was revealed that he had transformed into a divine general wielding a dual-edge halberd with a third vertical eye on his glabella.

"All hail the arrival of Erlang!"

After completing his transformation, Sadou swung his halberd down with ferocious power.

The shikigami raised its katana to oppose the attack, but it proved to be no match, and after just a single clash, it was sent tumbling down from above, smashing a massive crater into the ground.

Immediately thereafter, Erlang's vertical eye sprang wide open before releasing a beam of golden light. The light struck the shikigami's body like a laser beam, instantly burning a large hole into its body.

"Hanzou, help me!"

Oni no Miko's voice rang out from the shikigami's mouth, and Oni no Hanzou had already sprung into action before her cry for help.

After witnessing the might of Erlang, Oni no Hanzou didn't dare to adopt his Aka Oni form. Instead, he unleashed his shadow clone technique, and soon, the entire street was once again filled with his clones. All of these clones were holding swords that were enveloped in explosive tags, which were hurled up at the divine warriors in the sky.

Rumble!

Hundreds of explosive tags exploded beside Sadou in unison like several hundred grenades being set off at once, and the entire sky was inundated under a thick blanket of black smoke.

"You think your clones will stump me? Two can play at that game!" Sadou's voice rang out from within the dense smoke. "Great Sage, I offer my body to you!"

A thunderous roar rang out as golden light pierced through the thick smoke, revealing a golden monkey.

The golden monkey was wearing a suit of golden chainmail armor with an intricate phoenix feather cap on its head and a pair of cloud-walking boots on its feet. As soon as it appeared, it plucked off a pinch of fur from its own body before tossing it up into the sky.

The pinch of fur instantly transformed into countless golden monkeys that were wielding metal staves, and they rushed into battle against the Oni no Hanzou clones.

The clones were no match for these fearsome monkey warriors, and all of them were quickly eradicated. Even his true body had been forced to revert back to its original form from the beating that it was receiving at the hands of the golden monkeys.

Right as Sadou was about to put an end to the battle, the sound of applause suddenly rang out.

The scene was extremely loud and chaotic, given the commotion ringing out from the battle between the golden-armored divine warriors and the army of ghostly apparitions, but the entire area inexplicably fell silent as soon the applause commenced.

A man in a kimono approached the battlefield from afar while applauding, and he praised, "As expected of Taoist Bean Army, the title of the number one invocator is certainly not wasted on you! Can you do me a favor and let us leave?"

1. Erlang is a deity in Chinese folklore.

2. The Great Sage is a title that was granted to Sun Wukong, a Chinese deity that is also known as the Monkey King.