Chapter 471 - Southern Dipper Illusory Moon Fist (1)

The battle in the gray stone plaza at the north gate of the cathedral was the most brutal, with the dark creatures suffering the most.

The other three entrances had Cataclysmic Spirit level dark creatures holding the line but there was no such top-tier expert at the north gate.

A gray stone statue cloaked in a mantle stood silently in the center of the stone plaza. It stood some seven or eight meters tall, its garment folds carved with lifelike detail. Its hands were drooping; its head was lowered slightly; and it had a crucifix around its neck.

This was the "Silent One" of the church, said to be one of the legendary holy spirits. It symbolized the sacred, the pure, and untainted.

Yet large amounts of dark-red blood had sullied its purity. Viscous blood flowed through the statue's cloak folds, sizzling with corrosive force. There were even pieces of rotting flesh and intestines draped over the statue's shoulder. The large patch of gory guts was nauseating to behold.

In front of the statue stood a young man wearing glasses. He held his hands crossed before him with his head bowed, looking like a devout believer. His aura was cold, yet tinged with a certain elegance. His face was youthful and handsome, but with a hint of weariness. His neatly combed black hair was brushed back, revealing a smooth, broad forehead and a spider-like compound eye.

That man was none other than Sigal's master, Odo! Odo was originally nearing old age. However, he now appeared young and full of vitality. It was all thanks to Cassius. Furthermore, it was not a result of life vibration energy.

In the World of Calamity, the Howling Canyon, a place teeming with undead formed after combat artists die, lay on a pale expanse of land. Cassius fought these undead ceaselessly, repeatedly crushing them.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

He gleaned knowledge of various strange Covert Martial Arts passed down through the ages from firsthand battles and the lingering memories of Qi.

Phantom Sound Fist, Black Moon Eye King Technique, Dark Gale Covert Martial Arts, and so on...

Each technique possesses its own traits and special effects, granting practitioners all sorts of uncanny states.

Once, upon returning from the World of Calamity to the real world, Cassius was struck by inspiration. He used the Southern Dipper Fist as the foundation and combined it with Phantom Sound Fist and Black Moon Eye King Technique.

From this he created a rudimentary fist technique, or a prototype set of combat moves.

For now, he called it Illusory Moon Fist. At its core lay a special force Cassius learned from the undead—the Fractured Moon Force.

As the name suggested, its hallmark was fracturing or shattering things. It could break an enemy's body apart on the spot with a single blow. If one looked closely, they would see that "shattering" was essentially the fundamental of "decomposition."

Fractured Moon Force was essentially a simplified version of Death's Fang Force's decomposition attribute. Hence, it could be considered a half-completed form of Southern Dipper Fist.

Cassius also wove in illusions from Phantom Sound Fist and the dynamic vision enhancement from Black Moon Eye King Art. Since Black Moon Eye King Art trained one's eyes and stimulated blood flow in the face, it also restored a youthful appearance. That was why Odo instantly looked at most around twenty-seven or twenty-eight.

In reality, this prototype Covert Martial Arts style was an experiment by Cassius. Odo and his disciple were the most loyal among the subordinates of the Treatment Ward, having contributed greatly in managing the Ward for Cassius. Therefore, he gave Odo the chance to quickly master a prototype Covert Martial Arts technique.

Evidently, Odo had succeeded with Cassius's help. He had acquired new strength beyond the mutation ability brought on by dark creature transformation. In this operation, Cassius not only wanted to evaluate the capabilities of the Treatment Ward's new doctors, but also to observe the Illusory Moon Fist prototype in combat.

Unfortunately, Odo had been assigned to the north gate, where no similarly ranked expert was there to match him. Hence, he had few chances to showcase his skills.

In truth, Cassius hoped to see his newly created Illusory Moon Fist succeed. That would give him the confidence to try separating the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist and the Southern Dipper Sonic Snake Fist. Specifically, he wanted to split the two attributes of Death's Fang Force and the two attributes of Reverberating Force.

Altogether, there would be four potent forces: decomposition, spiral, explosion, and shock. He would then use each force to create a lethal Covert Martial Arts. Such Covert Martial Arts would be, at minimum, a high-level second-rate one.

He intended to make these the core combat ability of his Golem sect in the real world. Though these forces were not as powerful as when two forces combined, they would still be particularly effective against the immortality of dark creatures.

"What a pity. Odo's only taking out small fry, so we can't see more of the Illusory Moon Fist's potential in real combat."

Cassius and Evil Mother, among others, watched the four corners of the battlefield from behind the massive metal crucifix on top of the cathedral.

Cassius shifts his gaze to the north, lowering his eyes slightly.

At the north gate's plaza before the statue, Odo slowly raised his head. His body was gradually growing more familiar with the Illusory Moon Fist. After all, since Odo had not trained for long, he needed a short warm-up each time he used it. Thus, he didn't participate in the earlier skirmish between the doctors and the dark creatures.

But now, he could try using it in a real fight.

Crack!

Two gloved hands tore violently through the air!

A dark creature screamed in agony as it ripped in two, entrails and organs spilling everywhere. A man about 2.3 meters tall, built like a massive bear, stood before the corpse. His arms hung loosely at his sides while the muscles on his shoulders twitched like small rodents.

His shaved head gleamed as he cracked his neck with a grin of cruel delight. Turning to glance down at the now-ready Odo, he asked, "Teacher, are you about to make a move?"

"Sigal, bring the Kam brothers. We're going straight in." Wearing gold-rimmed glasses, Odo slowly removed his cloak, for Covert Martial Arts was best performed without clothing interference.

"Got it!" Sigal, who could now fairly be called a giant bear, promptly called two others from the crowd to follow Odo.

They were brothers who looked rather peculiar. The older brother was so short that he almost looked like a dwarf. Furthermore, he had just one leg; when moving, he used both hands and his single foot. A black dagger, stained with blood, hung from his mouth embedded with sharp teeth. There was a sly, vicious look about him.

The younger brother stood at a normal height of 1.75 meters, with a cold, beautiful face and clear, lake-blue eyes. His features were like a misplaced elf in the mortal realm. He was the complete opposite of his older brother.

He carried an iron bow on his back, but no quiver. That's because he wore a ring on his finger that had a hollow iron spike. Whenever he drew the bow, the pressure would prick his skin, causing blood to leak from the hollow opening and form a blood-arrow upon the iron bow.

"Let's go." Odo strode forward with a cold expression.

According to previous intel, there were four Cataclysmic Spirit level powerhouses of the Eclipse Society in the north. Thus, each of the four captains from the Treatment Ward would have an enemy to face.

However, no Cataclysmic Spirit level foe had shown to face Odo. Hence, Odo could only break into the cathedral to force that Cataclysmic Spirit level opponent to emerge.

At the north gate, four figures carved a path upstream amid the chaos, charging straight inside the cathedral.

"Argh! Out of the way!" Sigal roared, seizing two dark creatures from behind by their heads before whirling them like a pinwheel.

Whoosh!

Their bodies went flying, but two severed heads remained in his hands.

On the left, the hideous dwarf rolled across the ground like an agile ball. Though he had just one leg, he slipped through the shadows with shocking speed. The dagger clamped in his mouth was soon drenched in blood. In the shadows, dark creatures continuously fell shrieking. Crimson blood flowed out with each cut like sugarcane cut by a scythe. If one listened closely, one could hear a faint childlike laughter.

On the right, the elf-like young man walked with steady steps like a bona fide sharpshooter. Any dark creature attempting to approach was struck by a line of blood.

In the night, one could see a crimson beam tracing a narrow arc, piercing a monster's skull and leaving a spray of blood. Afterward, it would disappear into the darkness. At first glance, it looked like red threads dancing through the air while the skulls of the dark creatures were like the eyes of a needle. The whole scene was quite bizarre.

In front, Odo was bearing the greatest brunt of the assault. The cathedral appeared to have some sort of large subterranean facility where a ceaseless tide of dark creatures poured out. They were all varied in form, twisted in shape, vicious and strange in power. They posed quite a threat indeed.

Eight folded spider legs spread open behind Odo, not forming lance-like weapons but instead assembling around him like armor. They created a suit of tight-fitting, black, resilient armor.

Leading the charge at the very front, he walked with his hands hanging by his sides, trembling in an odd way until he turned into a vague mass of darkness.