Chapter 645 - A Buffet Isn't Too Bad

The Holy Fist's body turned into ashes and drifted away with the wind. He had accomplished his mission, and could at last end his eternal fight.

Cassius's tall, burly figure stood before the origin of calamity while his black coat snapping in the wind. He had just watched a Holy Fist burn out and fall, turning to ash. He silently felt the resolve still left in the wind. Only after a long while did Cassius turn and leave.

He walked toward the corpse of the Ultimate Dark Form, Golden Might. He believed that the Holy Fist had not regretted a thing as he vanished. Dragging Golden Might into hell with him had perfectly fulfilled his life's mission

Now it was time for his Golem Covert Martial Arts to feast. This time, he absorbed Golden Might's life vibration energy faster than ever. Cassius's physique was at the level of an Ultimate Dark Form, and the life magnetic field of his full Golem form was dozens of times stronger than before.

As a Golem, he needed no probing bites to find a gap in a corpse of that level anymore. He simply gulped it down whole, devouring it like a delicacy. Thus, Golden Might's remains dimmed patch by patch before the naked eye, turning into the colour of slag.

Once it was plundered to dry bones, Cassius's aura was vigorous and brimming. The Golem's gluttonous stomach was briefly sated.

Crack.

Golden Might's huge corpse crumbled into gravel and dust. It looked like a mountain range shattered by an earthquake. Amid the thick dust cloud, Cassius withdrew his arm and slowly clenched his fist.

A faint golden glow seeped from every pore. It was a sign that his cells were bursting with energy. He glanced to the upper‑right of his vision.

[Golem Covert Martial Arts: Mental Unification 29.3 % (Final Stage)]

Cassius felt a wild, brutal feeling in his heart. A restless thrill washed through him like a hot current.

"To stop killing with killing, to feed war with war. I'll turn every Ultimate Dark Form into fuel for my rise! The weak are meat, while the strong are king! That bloody food chain is the World of Calamity's number one rule. It seems I'm even better suited to that law than the Ultimate Dark Forms born here. Survival of the fittest..."

"Grow stronger, kill, and repeat until I'm the top of the food chain...

Hehe...

" He chuckled softly and, without hesitation, used all the life vibration energy to advance his Golem Covert Martial Arts.

Rumble...

The roar of a flash flood filled his ears as a colossal amount of energy surged through every corner of his body. Since it had been released too fast and fierce, the power was scalding like magma. Had a weaker combat artist attempted it, he'd have self‑immolated on the spot and vaporised into a heap of ash.

At times, overdosing could turn tonic into poison. Fortunately, Cassius's Golem body was a bottomless abyss. Every cell seemed to drink in the energy, diverting the blazing heat. The torrent that raged like a great river narrowed and finally vanished without trace. During the process, his aura grew denser and stronger.

Sssi...

Amid the wrecked land and corpses, white hot steam streamed from Cassius's clothes like drifting threads. As his bright eyes snapped open, the white streams of mist broke, and a terrifying, mighty aura drew inward.

[Golem Covert Martial Arts: Mental Unification 29.3 % (Final Stage)] → 36.5%

A 7.2 % rise was neither much nor little. It was just as Cassius expected. On paper, Golden Might gave the least progress, even less than Seranar King. However, the scaling difficulty showed that Golden Might was stronger than Seranar King and weaker than Star Horn God. Had both been at full strength, Golden Might would rank beside Star Horn God.

However, it had dueled a Holy Fist for countless years and lost a huge portion of its energy. Frankly, producing the Golden Totem Tree at the end to pin Cassius even briefly proved its caliber. Every Ultimate Dark Form carried a potent trump card, and that was Golden Might's.

Had Star Horn God launched its Fivefold Starburst, Cassius would not only have failed but likely been badly hurt, since he had lacked an Ultimate Dark Form physique.

Fight with caution and taunt strategically. Cassius had to keep that mindset clear.

He raised his hands, watching the cracks knit shut.

"The Thorn Sonic Death Armament is truly handy..."

In truth, if any other Holy Fist of equal strength replaced Cassius, Golden Might would not have died. Though suppressed and battered, with an origin of calamity behind it, it could always regenerate. It could even stall long enough for other Ultimate Dark Forms to sense and aid.

However, it had met Cassius wielding the Thorn Sonic Death Armament. The weapon's destruction suppressed immortality even more than perfected Southern Dipper Force. Just one punch had pierced Golden Might straight through like tearing through paper.

"It's my butcher's blade made to slay Ultimate Dark Forms!"

Remnants of the gauntlet‑shaped weapon still clung to Cassius's fingers. He slowly made a fist, already pondering his next prey.

Just then, the nearby origin of calamity stirred strangely. The fountain that had spread thick calamity mud began bubbling violently. More mud spurted out, spraying in every direction like scattered flowers. The dense calamity turned the air turbid and black.

Cassius strode straight for the fountain's mouth.

"The Holy Fist's energy faded, so the fountain lost its leash?"

A holy white glow radiated from him, as waterbird feathers trailed in his wake. The mighty Qi split the oncoming mud, forcing it apart. After a few dozen seconds, Cassius stood at the edge, gazing into the black‑hole pit.

He poured out an ocean of Holy Fist energy, wrestling the fountain's calamity energy. After a while, he realised the outburst wasn't tied to the Holy Fist's demise. It was cyclical.

He sat cross‑legged at the edge, sensing the flow. At a certain moment, his eyes snapped open. Cassius had realised something.

"Does it escalate? The fountain erupts on schedule, with calm phases and brief bursts. Furthermore, after each burst, the baseline rises. If this continues..."

"The calamity tide..."

More than a century ago, an unprecedented calamity tide caused ruin and chaos. Ultimate Dark Forms rampaged, inter‑world passages opened, and Lightless Night descended on the surface world.

A grave look filled Cassius's eyes.

"The fountain's energy is accelerating. Did the last tide erode the surface world so badly that everything is plunging faster toward the abyss? Barely a century has passed and another tide is coming?"

He grasped the harsh reality at once.

𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

"Xiadu will seize the chance when the tide comes. It has already opened one gate and released a third of its body. When the time comes, Xiadu will unseal more gates and return in full! White Bird Holy Fist has burned away, Blood Vulture Dominator Fist looks grim, and Sonic Snake Ultimate Fist’s whereabouts are unknown. Many Holy Fists over the past century have likely suffered terribly like the one just now. I can only depend on myself."

Cassius rose and left the fountain, flying toward other dark mountains. He meant to find another origin of calamity to test his theory. He continued to fly under the dim skies till he lost track of time.

As before, he tracked various signs to seek an origin of calamity.

His efforts paid off at the border of the Pitch Black Mountains and the Silent Rain Zone, where he found dark creatures wielding totem energy gathering. If not the Totem King Kassares, then surely another Ultimate Dark Form of totem energy.

Cassius streaked between mountains like a fighter jet diving at the fountain.

Swoosh!

A white meteor tore through the black skies. From high above, he saw dense black cocoons and hordes of powerful beasts. However, he saw neither an unfamiliar Ultimate Dark Form nor the gargoyle‑like Totem King.

Cassius gazed at the sea of mud that had formed. Then, something dawned on him and he threw a punch without hesitation. A force that could destroy a mountain roared out, hurling millions of tons of mud away. The scene beneath leapt into view.

It was a huge pit, the clear outline of a human fist! One could imagine how many peaks that strike had flattened, how it smashed the earth's crust, how it was embedded with the Will of a Dominator Fist. Cassius felt the shared original Southern Dipper Red Falcon Fist Qi upon the fistprint.

Yes, this was where Blood Vulture Dominator Fist faced the Totem King. With both gone, what had been the outcome? Had Totem King Kassares lost? Or was it Blood Vulture...?

Cassius descended to the pit's base. There, an unbelievably huge pair of steel wings lay badly fractured and near collapse. They were one of the Totem King's core totems. The dragon wings on his back had been beaten to this state. Clearly, it was a fierce fight of life and death.

"Marks of a mortal duel... Even if neither died, both must be gravely wounded. If I can find Blood Vulture Dominator Fist still alive, my life vibration energy may sustain him! Of course, if I find Totem King Kassares, the result will be the opposite. A gravely wounded Totem King... If I go all out, maybe I'll have a chance..."

Lights flickered in Cassius's eyes as his thoughts raced.

"Finding either of them won't be easy. They'd never stay here in their state. They'd seek an extremely hidden spot and mask their trail. Counting on luck is hard..."

He shook his head, shelving the notion. If he was lucky, he would meet either Blood Vulture Dominator Fist or Totem King. Of course, he preferred meeting Blood Vulture Dominator Fist. The gift of energy beneath Florence had profited Cassius greatly and helped him grow rapidly.

Blood Vulture Dominator Fist was half his master.

After a moment of silence, Cassius left the abyss. When he withdrew his energy, fresh mud poured in to refill the lake. He lingered a bit, then departed swiftly. Both calamity fountains matched his earlier deduction. It seemed the next calamity tide was truly near and he had a bad premonition.

The upcoming tide might be the last. The restless agitation in the air would keep building in the World of Calamity. When the threshold was reached, it would erupt.

A cold, bloodthirsty gleam flashed in Cassius's eyes.

"I need to keep hunting and finish my goal. After returning to the surface world, I'll use a legendary antique to time‑travel. The lingering attachment energy the Golem Sect gathered should be enough."

He had an idea to maximise his time‑travel ability.

Swoosh.

The black figure skimmed the lake and vanished.

In the World of Calamity, beasts roared and dark creatures raged under the red moon. Beast tides surged, slaughtering one another as if insane. Yet on one vast empty plain where the blood moon shone high, not a single dark creature was in sight. Even the passing beast tides swerved far away, not daring to linger.

From afar, one could see a colossal beast sprawling with its huge head drooping. It was lifeless, with its body scored by canyon‑wide gashes. Blood flowed, pooling into a scarlet lake.

Zooming in, a tiny figure sat cross‑legged atop the beast's skull. Light glowed from his hands.

A slight curve lifted his lips, showing his eagerness before a meal.

"Now and then, a buffet isn't bad at all..."