The two voices that echoed from the distance, showed the new human-like bodies of Shaggaroth two main bodies. Despite them being a smaller form compared to the large 50-meter tall flesh mountain, both of them look much more imposing than before. Sweat dripped down Liu Xun's forehead as he looked at the two demonic beings.
"This is bad...I can tell that both of them have ascended. Even though it was an incomplete awakening so they are both just exhausted pseudo-Nascent Soul beings, they are definitely much stronger than before. The only good thing is that they have only a fraction of their true strength after that forced breakthrough. Still, nothing bodes well for us. The lass and I are both exhausted of our qi supplies."
The senior evaluated the situation with a sigh.
"Ideally, I would argue for us to retreat at this point-"
As the senior continued his words, a menacing aura was released from in front of them. It looks like Shaggaroth has no intention of letting them go.
"But as you can see, our hosts aren't keen for us to leave. Plus, if we leave them be, they will just be a bigger menace in the future if they get to consolidate their realm. This is both the most dangerous period as well as our best chance to beat them."
He finished off his words as he sternly looked towards the two pseudo-Nascent Soul beings.
"Beat us? You must be talking about some weird daydream. You do not stand any chance against us with your current weakened forms, or even if you were in pristine condition for that matter!"
The female half sneered as she mocked out.
"Hey hey, how many times have I told you to stop it with those bad habits of yours, mouth. No, Gan Hualian I should say."
The elderly male scolded out as he called the female half by her name.
"Hmph, Li Jikuan I do not need to hear your useless scolding. This lady shall do whatever she likes. Now that we have finally split our bodies at this stage, I no longer have to tolerate any more of your nonsense."
The young lady laughed out as all the mouths around her body followed along and gave light-hearted peals of laughter, resulting in a rather creepy scene.
"Gan...Hualian. It cannot be...Senior Gan's...family?"
Liu Xun slowly pieced out the picture as he looked at the grotesque image of the naked young lady. There were no forms of physical attraction towards her developed feature, just plain disgust at the sight of the deformed mouths which littered across her very bare body. Her black hair flowed down her shoulders as her single eye then looked curiously towards the black-robed youth.
"Oh my you seem to know my child, or should I call him Little Jian like what his mother used to call him. He sure was a little naughty launching that devastating red beam at his dear mother."
She talked in a very endearing voice, though her words were littered with sarcasm.
"Tch, you still play around as much as ever huh. Even back then, you played around with him leading to him escaping from our clutches due to that human sword cultivator. Now, we have paid a dear price for this!"
The elderly man scolded out as he gave a 'Tch' while looking at the ever belligerent female half.
Liu Xun looked towards the two halves that argued amongst themselves. One of them seemed to be in possession of Senior Gan's mother, whilst the other one was someone who knew Senior Gan very well too. It was probably a good thing that Senior Gan was no longer present to see this sight as he would definitely be in anguish knowing what that monster is still doing to those who were close to him. Millie who was by his side, had already transformed back into her fox form as she glared at the two formidable beings.
"Liu Xun, what should we do? Retreat?"
She quietly whispered out as she watched the two with caution. She already knows that she had only a fraction of her initial strength. Even though the two halves in front only had a tiny bit of strength left, it was more than enough to handle her and Liu Xun with much ease since they have transcended the Inverse Core realm. She could only look towards the black-robed youth who seemed to be the main damage dealer. Hopefully, he somehow has some miraculous trick hidden deep inside that he has yet to pull out.
"I...am not sure. My body also feels drained at this point. System, help me check my remaining qi."
[Host...you have only 28 560/560 678 qi remaining. Please use it cautiously.]
"Oh boy, this is going to be very rough."
The senior muttered out with discontent. Liu Xun nodded to the senior's words as his mind started to run through the possible options. Most of the useful items were already exhausted, the only option left was the ridiculous fireball talisman. Still, that is an item he would preferably not use if given the chance since it would just destroy the entire Xin Kingdom for that matter.
System, please use the 200 points to do two premium spins.
He emulated his thoughts out. Liu Xun could no longer word out his intentions since the enemy would notice his system now that they are in an Apotheosis-like state just like Millie. This means that they could see his sign-in messages, though the premium spins are discounted from that notorious public announcement system thankfully.
[Affirmative host, performing 2x premium spins. Deducting 200 points...thank you for your patronage.]
The wheel then appeared before Liu Xun once again as it hovered above in the air.
Spin, quick.
The wheel then started to revolve as the tense situation was still happening in the background.
"Hmm, why have you both gotten so quiet all of a sudden? Come on, struggle a bit more for this lady! Let me see you writhe in despair. The agony, the pain, the hopelessness. Ahhhh it is so tasty, I feel like I could climax!"
The female half wrapped her arms around her body as she twisted her body in pleasure.
This scene would have probably been erotic if it were a normal human being, but her current deviant appearance just sent chills and waves of disgust towards the two cultivators who were looking cautiously at her.
"Tsk, stop acting like a pervert, and let's just finish them off already. We have to quickly go and recover our lost strength afterward."
The male half rebutted her as he leaped forward.
"Hmph, what a quick shot. You sure cannot please a lady."
The female half responded as she followed after him towards Millie and Liu Xun.
"Here they come!"
Millie shouted out as she dashed forward to intercept them. She had already known that Liu Xun himself was preoccupied with something and thus decided that they were probably staking it all in this fight. Besides, she herself knows her limits. Even if she is rather weakened at the moment, she also has her own life-saving spells worse comes to worst.
Liu Xun looked forward as he gazed at the two approaching halves as well as the silver-haired Millie who decided to move forth. He was still slightly troubled as the odds were rather stacked against them at this point.
"Why hesitate? A cultivator must be willing to take risks, and it isn't the end right yet. No...it is far from that, if the worst comes then leave it to this senior here, I will do something about it!"
The senior stated in a confident tone.
"Are you sure?"
Liu Xun asked doubtfully as even he knows the current state he is in and it is highly unlikely that the senior would be able to turn things around.
"Tch, I never imagined the day that a qi gathering brat would dare to question my words. Yes, I am confident to at least have decent odds on turning things around."
The senior replied back as he rebutted the doubting youth.
"All right if you say so."
Liu Xun muttered as he quickly followed behind Millie's back.
=======
Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack. Clack.
The wheel spun as the two pair started their fight anew.
[Warning host, the enemy is way beyond your cultivation level.]
[You are affected by the Curse of the Eyes (Movement speed -20%).]
[You are affected by the Curse of the Mouths (Attack power -20%).]
[Eye beam thrust incoming from the front (Overwhelming).]
[Devouring blade kick incoming from the 9' o'clock (Overwhelming).]
The new Shaggaroth has a few new abilities attached to the two bodies. It is a pity that Liu Xun could no longer afford to use any more appraisals as he lack the qi to do so. Moreover, it would require a larger consumption rate considering Shaggaroth had advanced in realms. The intuitive combat system was very useful for both him and the senior as it made it much easier to preemptively dodge the incoming moves.
Despite the number of foes being reduced as there are no longer any floating eyeballs and tentacle arms, the pressure did not reduce but actually increase. With these small mobile bodies, both the main eye and mouth attacked relentlessly with supersonic speed as they fight happened in a flurry of blows which only high-level cultivators can follow. In a span of a second, Liu Xun had to dodge 8 blows coming from the two as they fought against him along with Millie. It is basically an instant death should any of those attacks land on him based on their 'Overwhelming' status. The aura had also weakened his speed and attacks, thus the battle just got insurmountable harder.
"Hmph, you slippery bastard. Wait till I catch you and tear you apart!"
The main mouth grunted in annoyance as she swung her foot again and again towards the youth. While her legs were swiftly dealing blows, her palms which had two mouths on each of them opened and launched several black spherical masses which mostly targetted Millie. There were a few sneaky blasts that were targetted at Liu Xun which he dodged with relative ease.
[Eye beam thrust incoming from the back (Overwhelming).]
Another system message popped up in front of him as the youth took note of the next attack coming in from his blind spot. The senior, however, still managed to dodge with ease whilst dealing a riposting blow towards the main eye who had thought his surprise attack landed.
"Argh, you brat. Are you sure I am the one with eyes on the back of my head or are you the real monster here?"
The main eye complained as the green spear thrusted deep into his chest. If it were a human cultivator, this would be a fatal blow. But Shaggaroth was far from human even while in such forms, such vulnerable organs like a heart probably do not exist in the usual location for him.
Meanwhile, the main mouth had already switched her target as she swept her legs towards Millie. The silver fox jumped back as she dodged the attack while swinging the sword in her mouth directly to meet the approaching leg.
CLANG. BANG. DING. DANG.
Numerous clashes occurred between the two as they fought toe to toe. At this point, the fight is in constant rotation as each person fights their own foe while switching occasionally between surprise attacks.
[Congratulations Host Li Xun! You have drawn Rare Grade- TaoXuan Restraint Talisman!]
The wheel seemed to have stopped spinning and landed on one of the rare prizes which was the most common drop he could have gotten. Liu Xun would have been disappointed if this were a usual lax moment, yet he was engrossed in the fight and could not afford to distract himself by the ongoing gacha spins.
Hmm, a restraining talisman for Organ Refinement or at most weak Core Inversion cultivators. It would be able to restrain either of them for a couple of seconds if necessary. Not a bad item for a draw, though not very useful.
The seniors thought were transmitted to Liu Xun as he continued to wave his spear parry unavoidable attacks, while quickly dodging all the other glancing blows.
Senior, why the sudden use of thought transmission?
Silly boy, would a hidden trump card be still a trump card if you say it out loud?
[Eye beam thrust x2 incoming from the front (Overwhelming).]
[Mouth Cannon Blast incoming from 5 o'clock (Overwhelming).]
More system messages came in as the two had their conversation. Liu Xun's body arced backwards as he briefly dodged the front two thrusts by a hair's breadth. Thrusting the spear towards the ground, Liu Xun's body vaulted into the air as a black ominous ball of energy almost scathed him. As he was about to land, two blue balls of flame flew by him as they struck onto the male half who he was fighting. The blue flames were hot as they brushed past his cheeks, yet they barely cause even a scar on the body of the main eye as it frowned in frustration.
"You just keep dodging every single strike. It is understandable since one hit and you are probably dead, but that in itself is a feat beyond comprehension. I would love to study your body in great detail, once I put you to rest."
The elderly male muttered out as he looked intensely at Liu Xun with all the eyes on his body.
"Eww, main eye. You sound like a complete creep at this point. You have no right to call me a pervert."
The female half shouted towards him with disgust. To be honest, even Liu Xun felt chills around his body.
"No thanks, you sick bastard."
It seems that the senior had already responded on his behalf as main eye just shrugged his shoulders before launching another thrust towards him.
[Eye beam thrust incoming from the front (Overwhelming).]
[Eye beam thrust incoming from the left (Overwhelming).]
[Eye beam thrust incoming from the right (Overwhelming).]
[Eye beam thrust incoming from the back (Overwhelming).]
!!
The sudden system alerts surprised both Liu Xun and the senior. They had not expected simultaneous messages from every direction to appear since the main eye had always been doing thrust after thrust. This was probably one of his secret moves.
=======
The elderly man charged forth with his palm smashing forward.
SMASH.
He could see himself landing his palm onto the figure, yet there was no resistance at all. All of his further attacks landed on this figure as he watched it slowly fade from his eye. An after image! He then turned around and saw the black-robed youth's figure thrusting his spear forward once again whilst slamming down an ax on his other hand.
PUCHI!
A stab wound and slash wound appeared onto his body as the main eye retreated a few steps. Looking at the injuries on his body, he sighed out.
"...You really are a monster. You even escape my Four Gates Trigram Palms perfectly, now I am even more intrigued."
Following that, he flicked his arms up as he parried the two blue flying swords in the air that launched from his blind spots.
"Seriously, even after breaking through I can't even catch a break here..."
He said as he started to throw more thrusts towards the approaching youth. This had let the youth retreat towards the silver fox as the four of them have grouped together into pairs once again. The battle has been reset, though the conditions on both sides are much worse than before. Blood could be seen leaking from three participants, except for Liu Xun. Still, he and Millie were at the obvious disadvantage here.
"Hey mouth, let's stop playing around already. Time for us to finish this."
"Alright, since you say so."
The young female gave a light chuckle as she got down low, before diving towards the black-robed youth.
======
[Host, you remaining qi is 5600/560 678. As it has reached a critical threshold of 1%, the system's automatic warning system has rang out.]
The system's voice rang out into Liu Xun's mind.
"Argh, this is rather frustrating. But we will not be able to hold on much longer, I guess it is time for us to escape."
The senior muttered out in frustration. Despite the two halves of Shaggaroth being on their weakest, there was no longer any room to capitalize on this advantage.
"Liu boy, little lass. You are both fine with that right? We cannot remain here to be food for those two!"
The senior asked for affirmation as he noticed the nod on his own head as well as the silver-haired girl.
"Alright then, Divine Pulse Te-"
"Cursed Binding Stare."
The elderly man cut into the senior's words. The initial yellow spell formation that was below the two was broken suddenly as all the eyes on the elderly man glowed with ominous colors.
"You won't be teleporting anywhere."
He sneered out as he watched his partner rush up towards the weakest link.
Not expecting the sudden spell cancellation, Liu Xun was still rooted into his casting the spell. He could not avoid the attack from the main mouth!
"Liu Xun, watch out!"
Millie shouted as she dove in front of the black-robed youth. The kick that flew forth pelted against her silver-white fur as it launched her away several paces.
CRASH!
"Millie!"
He shouted out as he looked towards her for a brief moment before another kick came launching forward towards his face.
[Devouring blade kick incoming from the 9' o'clock (Overwhelming).]
[Devouring blade kick incoming from the 9' o'clock (Overwhelming).]
[Devouring blade kick incoming from the 9' o'clock (Overwhelming).]
.
.
Numerous warning messages were issued as a flurry of kicks came forth. The black-robed youth then used the movement art Etheral steps to avoid all of it as the main mouth hit nothing but thin air.
"Tch, I almost got them both."
She complained as she looked unhappily towards the black-robed youth who appeared in the distance beside the silver fox.
======
Looking at the bruised-up silver fox by his side, his heart felt rather sour. Millie had tanked that blow for him, resulting in her receiving grievous damage. The fox was groaning in pain with deep pants as blood was coughed up her mouth.
"Millie..."
"Li-Liu Xun, r-run away. I cannot e-escape at this point with these injuries."
She quietly mouthed out with bated breath as her body remained firmly rooted to the ground despite her struggles to get up.
"But-!"
"It is okay...it is at least good to know that I would no longer be left behind any longer. I do not have to wait anymore...like this."
She said as trace tears slid down her violet eyes.
"But, don't you want to meet her again! That girl."
"I da-dare not go and seek her out because I...I was afraid that if I find her she is no longer of this world. L-Luoqi...Millie will be seeing you very soon."
"Still..."
"No, just run without me...it is already too late."
She said in a resigned tone.
"Hey boy, we should leave now."
The senior then muttered out in a low voice, his voice seems to have a hint of reluctance and helplessness.
"But-!"
"We can't waste any more time, look even those two are just watching right now. If we want to run, this may be our last chance in attempting so."
He said out as he looked forward, seeing the two personas of Shaggaroth just observing them with keen interest.
=====
"Hey, so why are you not attacking right now?"
The main eye looked towards the main mouth who for some reason retreated back to his side.
"Well, you know I enjoy my cutscenes. Anyway, isn't it rather anticlimatic if we just finish them off here? I need to exercise before meals or else I would get fat!"
The main mouth complained as she pinched her completely fatless belly while retorting.
"Seriously, you would never stop playing with your food, huh."
The main eye sighed as he continued to observe the situation. If he could attack, he would have. But using the spell cancellation had caused him to be severely weakened to the point where he was almost out of qi. To create a teleport spell requires great qi, but to cancel one requires an even greater amount.
"Whatever, I am useless now. It is all up to you, mouth!"
"Sure sure, just give me a bit more time to watch. Then we can begin feasting!"
====
"Boy!"
The senior scolded out angrily towards the stubborn youth. Liu Xun looked towards the injured Millie as his mind began to run through the possible options. Weapons? Nothing useful. Abilities? No more qi. Secret items? Nothing really usable besides that fireball talisman. Is there really no other choice but to run here?
Sweat trickled down his forehead as he thought long and hard. But there was no real solution present, even if the TaoXuan Restraining Talisman was used, it could only restrain one of the two and it would only be for seconds.
Clenching his fists till blood seeped out, he slowly began to give up. Was there no longer any way? Did he come here just to fail to save both Senior Gan and Millie while running away like a coward?
At this point, the system had a sudden interjection while he was stuck in his dilemma.
[Congratulations Host Li Xun! You have drawn Super Rare Grade- Advanced Cursed Puppet Doll!]
The ending is so close I can taste it!