Chapter 553 - Did You Hear It? The Waterbird

His blood boiled and his Will exploded upward until he reached his peak in the blink of an eye. The Qi field around him warped the air around him into a half-dome. The dense falling ash was swept aside; his domineering Will allowed no speck to intrude.

A rich, unyielding Qi filled every inch of the space around him. Crimson Qi wrapped Cassius's body like a river.

"A successor of the Southern Dipper?!"

High atop the vast canopy, a flicker of surprise appeared in the eyes of the giant face of gold flame. Joy soon followed, tinged with anticipation. A Southern Dipper heir nearing Holy Fist could restrain the undead nature of dark creatures and possibly kill them. Pale Origin's scheme would collapse!

The fragile balance would shatter, and the Inextinguishable Flame would seize the upper hand. Bit by bit, it would burn Pale Origin completely to ash. The struggle of tens of millennia was about to turn around today!

Flaming Sun Holy Fist was, of course, delighted as he looked to the future. There were only three Holy Fists in the Southern Dipper line, the three main pillars holding the underworld's front against endless calamity. Now, when he encountered another heir who neared the realm of Holy Fist, how could that not stir expectation?

If he succeeded, he would be the fourth Holy Fist of the Southern Dipper line. Given time to grow, he would become yet another stalwart pillar for the underworld. That would tip the scales in mankind's favor.

Boom, boom, boom...

The Inextinguishable Flame pulsed, as though sensing Flaming Sun's fleeting mood. Its gold-crimson glow flared ever brighter.

"Southern Dipper?!" Pale Origin felt that overbearing aura of the Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist too. It remembered it painfully well and could never mistake it.

In ages even earlier than its clash with Flaming Sun in the World of Calamity, it had once arrogantly attacked Blood Vulture Dominator Fist before that monster faced the Totem King. He had been chased for ages by a dreadful blood falcon. His massive trunk, as tall as mountains, had been riddled with beak-holes; half its huge crown had been clawed away, and the bole nearly severed.

It still had the scars of a deep fist-print around his heart. It had missed its core by a hair, else Pale Origin would have perished. Pale Origin had then fled in utter disgrace. Only the aid of several Ultimate Dark Forms had stalled Blood Falcon long enough for it to gasp a breath. Afterward it had been forced to nurse those wounds for a very long time.

Perfected Death's Fang Force was too lethal, too enduring, and greatly suppressed a dark creature's undead trait. Pale Origin had suffered for eons, burning vast amounts of vitality to purge every trace of that perfected force. Thus, it was acutely sensitive to the Red Falcon Fist’s aura. It recognized Cassius almost in the same instant Flaming Sun did. At close range, that hated aura was unmistakable.

"This is bad! Southern Dipper Force is too lethal..." Pale Origin realized at once. It had to strike, no matter the cost!

Killing Cassius now, however costly, would cost less than letting him wreak havoc. This decision had been forced by the dreadful deadliness of Southern Dipper's Force.

"Kill him first!" Pale Origin decided near instantly.

Ka-ka-ka-ka!

Without warning, a thick root armored in pale steely scales curled and compressed to the limit. The next second, it sprang free.

Boom!!!

One of Pale Origin's five thickest roots, heavy as a hill, scythed across the field! A terrifying aura locked the area where Cassius stood. A cavity nearly a kilometre long and a hundred metres wide formed in front of him.

Yet, Pale Origin's strike hadn't landed.

Crackle, crackle...

A mesh of thunder ripples instantly coated the root. At a glance, it seemed like a colossal staff of lightning hurtling down!

A roar rang out from the sunken pit. Cassius strode forward, head high and eyes blazing.

"You can't kill me!!!"

His three hearts hammered, the resonance nearly boiling his blood.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Every cell screamed and clamored.

Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!

His human heart thumped rapidly, his Golem heart rang out like a drum struck by mauls, and his Heart of the Dominator Fist blazed like a fusion engine, hurling out scorching light.

"Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist! Ultimate secret art, Blood Vulture's Beak!!!"

He raised both arms, spreading them skyward. With his left hand low and right hand high, he resembled a humanoid beetle. Twin crimson waterfalls soared into the sky as a perilous vortex formed above his shoulders. It looked like scales, yet like flame, like wings unfurling to the sky.

Cassius's eyes burned red as he planted his feet. Surging red vapor fell from his forehead like gauzy curtains. Fifty-one acupoints lit up like brilliant scarlet stars.

Pop.

The Ultimate Dark Form's dreadful pressure forced another acupoint to break through. Fifty-two acupoints resonated as a lofty raptor screech split metal and stone and a domineering Will howled.

Rumble!

𝙛𝓻𝒆𝓮𝒘𝙚𝙗𝒏𝙤𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝒐𝙢

An immense raptor head several times the size of a car burst from the red mist around him. Its beak, shining like metal, opened dreadfully and slowly. Savage crimson eyes seemed to bleed tears.

Whoosh!

The beak rocketed skyward, its massive head ramming into the lightning staff above. A terrifying explosion erupted between them. Ring upon ring of mushroom clouds swept across for kilometres.

It was a clash of two apex predators!

Bang!

Cassius's eyes gleamed with scarlet light as he hurled a fist. The beak continued to rampage, duelling Pale Origin's thunder root. Their techniques collided repeatedly, forming sonic blasts. In a blink, they traded over thirty blows. Power flooded wildly like a breached dam.

"Blood Vulture's Beak, Demonic Fang Spiral!"

This was a variant of the ultimate secret art! Cassius was no bland pugilist; he had his own insights. Feng Liusi's Blood Vulture's Beak was mighty, but Cassius believed its piercing power could rise higher.

So he devised this variant!

Ka-ka-ka-ka.

Jets of Death's Fang Force gathered over the beak like tiers of deadly fangs. In an instant, it looked like a living weapon. It looked like a drill shaped as a bird's head.

Vvmmm!!!!

The beak spun at blinding speed, raising a colossal whirlwind behind it.

Clang! Clang-clang-clang-clang!

The Southern Dipper Red Falcon's ultimate secret art rammed into the lightning root once more.

But this time, it exploded!

A ragged black figure was flung back, skipping across the ground like a stone on water. He skidded hundreds of metres before stopping, carving a long trench in the earth.

Bang.

Cassius slapped the ground to halt his momentum and sprang to his feet. He had gone from frantic motion to stillness in a blink. He glanced at his torn fists, and flashed a feral grin. Blood seeped between his teeth, trickling over his lips.

As for the other side...

The lightning staff fashioned from one of Pale Origin's five massive roots was now a great deal shorter! A third of it had been sheared away by raw force!

The jagged cross-section bore scars of a drill gone berserk. On the ground, amid heaps of rock, a crater nearly a kilometre deep had been formed. There, the weaponized Blood Vulture's Beak lay quietly, its eyes glowing crimson.

The exchange had left both parties wounded, yet their moods were worlds apart.

Pale Origin seethed with fury and shock. It had already rated Cassius as close to Holy Fist before unleashing its full power. So that last strike had been its utmost effort, even accounting for Flaming Sun possibly self-destructing.

Yet instead of crushing victory, it had only acquired a near draw, and a mutually damaging draw at that. One of its five thickest roots had lost a third of its length, weakening it even further. It could already envision its bleak fate.

The gulf between hope and outcome drove Pale Origin to unparalleled rage. Roots coiled everywhere surged like a stormy sea. The other four great roots extended, snapping with ripples of every kind. That dreadful aura made the sky itself shudder.

The ground cracked inch by inch.

Boom!!!

The Inextinguishable Flame blazed anew, spreading like thick liquid. Flaming Sun Holy Fist strained with all his might to suppress Pale Origin's strength. However, he had become a being of fire to snare Pale Origin and could only limit, not block, its strikes.

Thus, he could not shield Cassius fully and merely blunt the roots' power.

"Retreat! Pale Origin means to perish and drag us with it!" Flaming Sun's warning rang in Cassius's ear.

The scene before him matched those words. The ground was crumbling into chasms and abysses. Thick roots were climbing up these crevices like an unending swarm. They gathered, intertwined, and swelled like pale bone frames. It was as if giant serpents and dragons were mating.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!

Four towering roots ignited, their surfaces shining with brilliance. They bore magma-red flame, icy scales, spiralling tornado force, and a shell of pure white metal.

The Ultimate Dark Form's terrifying might erupted!

A ring of black fluid expanded across the battlefield. This was an Ultimate Dark Form, even halved and bound by a mighty Holy Fist and White Bird Holy Fist's scheme.

Its all-out eruption remained unthinkably dreadful. It felt like heaven and earth pressing down! Flesh had no other destiny but to be crushed!

"Fall back! You can't stop this strike!" Flaming Sun warned earnestly.

However, Cassius was like a wooden puppet, staring blankly as though he had heard nothing.

"Southern Dipper heir, fall back! This is no time for bravado!" Flaming Sun's fiery face showed rare anxiety.

On the ashen ground, Cassius slowly lifted his head, watching the four pillar-roots spiral upward. His gaze was empty as he looked into the darkness.

His lips moved softly. "Did you hear it? The Waterbird's call..."

Scree!

A faint waterbird cry drifted from the chaotic darkness. At first, it was so faint it seemed imagined. Then it grew louder and stronger. At last, it filled his ears and flooded his brain, pushing every other sound away until only its call remained!

Scree!!! Swoosh...

A lean figure glided in like a graceful waterbird, arms gently caressing the air. It was like the air was carrying him rather than him cleaving through it. A white bird seemed to unhurriedly drift toward them.

And then...

BOOM!!!!!!!

A claw the size of a mountain emerged from the void, blotting out the light. It was vast, fearsome, and sublime.

It was utterly unstoppable as it reached for Pale Origin's four roots!

Bang! Crack! Bang! Crack!

Explosions! Fractures! More explosions! More fractures!

Two thick roots were blasted apart on the spot. Strangely, the airborne fragments vanished a heartbeat later, as if devoured by an unseen maw. Like snowflakes in summer, they vaporised before touching the earth.

Swish-swish-swish! Swish-swish-swish!

Clusters of silver-steel quill-spines rained down like swords of holy judgment, trailing tails of fire.

Boom-boom-boom-boom-boom-boom...

Violent explosions erupted around Pale Origin. Its towering trunk shook as though it would collapse the next instant.

"Holy Fist... White Bird!"