Chapter 138: Cemetery and Acorn(2)

Her greatest support was her "father," a fourth-tier creature.

The male corpse’s eyes burned crimson as a roar filled with killing intent and fury suddenly erupted.

Its mouth tore open wide, and countless flying insects poured out from within. Rosalia showed no emotional reaction at all. With a low sonic boom, the Greatsword of Gluttony smashed down brutally. Mixed divine power surged forward, and the flames ignited by Crimson Ascendancy swept through the air, instantly shredding the swarm of insects.

The moment the swarm was destroyed, Rosalia advanced instead of retreating. The greatsword in her hand descended with a flash of blood-red light, and a violent explosion erupted in midair.

"Boom! Boom!"

In the next instant, the two second-tier corrupted creatures stitched onto the monster’s body were directly pulverized by the greatsword and annihilated on the spot.

"What a disappointment."

Rosalia retreated swiftly to avoid Acorn’s counterattack, then rested the greatsword on her shoulder with a faint smile curling at the corner of her lips. The fourth-tier corrupted creature that Acorn relied on posed absolutely no threat to her.

Combat-oriented Divine Chosen were generally capable of defeating ordinary creatures two tiers above their own level. A first-tier Divine Chosen could defeat a third-tier knight, and a second-tier could challenge a fourth-tier creature. Of course, it didn’t always have to be one-on-one—they could even fight multiple enemies at once, depending on individual strength.

"Kill you! Kill you!"

Driven by pain and fury, Acorn let out a piercing scream.

"Divine Skill: Corrosive Blood Pillar!"

In the next moment, divine power surged violently. A towering pillar of blood erupted from the male corpse’s mouth, accompanied by a nauseating stench of blood as it surged toward Rosalia.

"What a disgusting skill. I’d rather not take it head-on with my face. I’ll block it."

Rosalia frowned slightly. Although she wanted to test the limits of her new divine skill, having filthy blood splashed all over her face was something she simply couldn’t tolerate.

With a single thought, the greatsword released a mass of blood threads, while chains rattled loudly as they extended outward. Together they formed an airtight defensive shield.

The torrent of blood crashed against the shield like a raging flood. Divine powers collided and intertwined, sending ripples of energy spreading endlessly outward. The surrounding cemetery was instantly shattered by the impact.

Yet when the torrent subsided, Rosalia dispersed the damaged chains and blood threads as if nothing had happened.

The only sign of the battle was the black-red flames burning even more fiercely around her body—proof that Crimson Ascendancy had been activated.

The blood threads were originally part of her own body. Using them to weave a defense meant her main body would inevitably be injured. And once she was injured, the divine skill would activate.

"She actually tanked a second-tier divine skill—and so easily." The black crow had already flown to a distant tree and could only observe from afar. If it got any closer, the energy ripples would have torn it apart. Phield inhaled sharply, astonished by how casually Rosalia had withstood the attack. "Rosalia has basically become a pure stat monster now. That defense is ridiculously broken."

"What... I can’t understand this." Acorn trembled violently. Moving her heavy body, she suddenly chose to flee. "Stop! Our kind shouldn’t harm each other!"

Phield’s face darkened. "So now you’re playing the double standard?"

"At this point, my strength and speed are probably about twice what they used to be, but I’m still far from reaching the limit. I wonder if Endless Severance has been strengthened as well."

Rosalia plunged the greatsword into the ground and casually waved her slender, pale hand. The air itself erupted with explosive cracks. The aura radiating from her was now far stronger than Acorn’s, which explained why even a brutal corrupted creature had been frightened into running away.

"Let’s test it on you."

Watching the fleeing enemy disappear into the forest, Rosalia swung her sword cleanly.

"Divine Skill: Endless Severance!"

Gripping the chain attached to the sword’s hilt, she swung it as if uprooting a towering mountain. Three black-red waves of sword energy burst forth, covering the sky as they tore a massive rift into space that lingered for a long time.

Pure destruction.

There were no dazzling visual effects—only annihilation. Wherever the sword energy passed, every obstacle collapsed and vanished, silently disintegrating into particles too small for the naked eye to see.

"Waaah!"

The fleeing Acorn was struck squarely by the attack. Even though she desperately tried to evade it, the sword energy only appeared slow—it arrived in an instant.

"Bzzzz—"

The ground fractured rapidly. Trees in the surrounding forest were swept away in an instant. In the blink of an eye, the spreading cracks were already approaching the area where the black crow was perched.

Phield had no choice but to guide the crow flying away in the opposite direction. Otherwise, his only "drone" would crash.

When Phield finally guided the crow back, all he saw was a massive crater. Half of the cemetery had been obliterated, and he almost couldn’t recognize the place anymore.

"Are you alright?"

Seeing Rosalia standing there motionless, her brilliant eyes wide open with an expression that didn’t look very reassuring, Phield asked worriedly.

"I’m doomed." Rosalia broke out in a cold sweat. "I accidentally killed her. I didn’t expect her to be that fragile. She looked so huge, but she wasn’t even a tank type. And she didn’t even manage to dissolve her divine artifact. I thought... sigh."

"I have reason to suspect you’re bragging." Phield wiped the cold sweat from his forehead. "As long as you’re fine. Judging from that divine skill earlier, she was probably a ranged attacker. But even with a fourth-tier creature acting as her shield, she still got one-shot. That’s surprising."

Although it was a pity they had lost the chance to capture a corrupted Divine Chosen, Phield was still very pleased.

"The bonus from Crimson Ascendancy is terrifying. It’s even stronger than I expected."

"Yes, all thanks to my dear lord." Rosalia lifted the hem of her skirt and spun happily in a small circle. "I suspect the skills granted by a lord are stronger than those obtained in the wild."

"Huh? But don’t Divine Chosen need to form a contract with a lord and advance before gaining new skills?" Phield frowned in confusion.

"There are many possibilities. For example, that corrupted Divine Chosen probably formed a contract with some small corpse. Once she advanced, she gained a skill. But the little corpse had no intelligence and died easily, so she remained a second-tier wild Divine Chosen. Situations like that often happen with corrupted Divine Chosen in the wild."

Normally, Divine Chosen would only bind themselves to people of power and status.

Phield rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

"Since corpses have no intelligence, wild corrupted Divine Chosen probably aren’t very smart either. They might randomly choose skills, or the energy they gain during evolution might simply be poor."

The abilities of Divine Chosen were also closely related to the development of the territory and the lord himself.

"Wait... could it also be related to cognition?" Phield suddenly caught onto a crucial thought. "For example, magic-type Divine Chosen probably already know magic beforehand. Healing-type Divine Chosen might originally be alchemists. And if someone has lived their entire life in a place without snow, it’s unlikely they’d develop ice or snow abilities."

Phield suddenly seemed to grasp something important.

"Then if our territory ever had nuclear weapons... could someone develop a skill that lets them craft a nuclear bomb by hand?"

"Nuclear bomb?" Rosalia placed a finger on her chin, deep in thought. "I don’t want to eat human food."

"...Never mind. When our technology advances in the future, we’ll think about it then."

Thinking too far ahead would only cause unnecessary distractions.

"Let’s go. We should see what divine artifact she dropped."