Ultragene Warlord

Chapter 422: At Death's Door

"[Rune: Control]!" Zhang Lie raised an arm into the air and sent the gravity and anti-gravity tablets crashing down by the roc's side.

The space around the enraged roc suddenly became distorted, and the roc found himself unable to control his body. Sapped of his momentum, he began to float steadily downwards like a leaf caught in a breeze.

Zhang Lie had long since discovered that these two tablets were a lethal deterrent against an opponent's aerial attack.

The golden roc tried to escape the domain formed by the two tablets with his willpower, but Zhang Lie had no intention of letting him go.

"[Rune: Seal]!" Another runic tablet crashed down onto the golden roc's head, sealing his movements and slowing his thoughts.

The elder and Yu Xuanguang attacked simultaneously during this window of opportunity. As they flapped their wings, they conjured a gigantic hurricane that smashed into the prone roc. The feathers on the golden roc's chest began to fall as blood dripped down the wound. The golden roc cried out in mid-air; the elder and Yu Xuanguang's combined attack had left quite a mess of superficial injuries on the roc's chest, but that was it.

The golden roc's sturdy and resilient feathers had prevented them from dealing him a serious injury. As he flapped his wings, he easily swept the elder and Yu Xuanguang aside.

"As expected of a golden roc about to break through to disaster-grade!"

The combined attack of the elder and Yu Xuanguang would easily have sent one of the three previous golden rocs to their deaths, but this particular specimen clearly possessed ridiculous defense.

The rock giant leapt into the air, sending a fist barrelling toward the roc, who swiped at the rock giant with his claws. The sound of their clash sent waves rippling through the air.

"[Rune: Resonate]!" Zhang Lie sent all four runic tablets down on the golden roc, surrounding him from all four cardinal directions as they resonated and sent pulses of black genetic energy all around them.

The golden roc's actions were forcibly restricted for a few precious moments; Zhang Lie would take full advantage of this opportunity.

"[The Boundless Blade: the River Lethe]!" An underworld river hurtled into existence as Zhang Lie sliced at the wound that the elder and Yu Xuanguang had created, then sent the full force of his attack through that wound.

The golden roc coughed out blood, falling from the sky as the ground beneath him was pelted by his blood. His radiant golden feathers had been dyed a garish red; after taking two of Zhang Lie's blows head-on, it was moments from death.

And yet, when he crashed onto the ground, he found himself facing the glassy eyes of his slaughtered kin. The golden roc stumbled forward with bruised chest and battered wings. The rage cleared from his eyes; tears began to fall instead. He looked at his family and rubbed his head against their cold bodies.

Zhang Lie spoke not a word as he stepped forward with his blade.

Sorrowful though the scene in front of him might be, Zhang Lie didn't spare the roc any compassion. The peak-grade golden roc had eaten an immeasurable number of other lifeforms to get to where he was, and he certainly hadn't spared any compassion for his prey.

Suddenly, the roc began to peck at his own family's bodies, gulping them down.

The rock giant shivered. "He's eating his own kin?!"

Yu Xuanguang murmured, "Is the idea for his family to always remain close to him, even in death...?"

The elder shook his head. "To think it would stoop to such a level."

The other three members of his party reacted with shock and disgust, but Zhang Lie with shock and panic. Without any hesitation, he raised Venombane and sent it crashing down onto the golden roc's body.

Just then, however, the roc's body flared with a frightening golden light, one so intense that Zhang Lie's blade was deterred from its original trajectory. His body was pushed away as the golden roc sent a torrent of feathers slicing toward him, which Zhang Lie had to block with his sword.

The golden roc continued gobbling down his family members faster and faster. As he did so, his feathers grew more and more lustrous, and his wounds began to recover.

As he retreated, Zhang Lie shouted, "Stop him!"

By that time, the elder, Yu Xuanguang, and the rock spirit had all noticed that something was amiss.

The rock giant barrelled through the howling winds with its sturdy body, while the elder and Yu Xuanguang again launched a combined attack against the roc. With a flap of his wings, the roc sent two slashes of wind at the two crag eagles, dissipating their attack and sending them flying into the distance.

In just that short period of time, the golden roc's body had grown massively, and he had easily defended against all attacks sent in his direction.

Thanks to the two crag eagles, however, Zhang Lie had another opportunity to strike at the golden roc.

"[The Boundless Blade: Dragon's Wrath]!" A blood dragon wrapped around his body and swooped into the skies. Golden feathers blocked its ascent, but the blood dragon knocked them all aside with its momentum. It hurtled toward the golden roc and began biting and tearing at its body.

Sensing life-threatening danger, the golden roc darted aside, but the blood dragon continued to pursue him. While he fought the blood dragon off with his claws, Zhang Lie struck at his neck with Venombane.

The golden roc hadn't expected that the blood dragon would be nothing more than a decoy for Zhang Lie himself. He barely had time to do anything more than tilt his head. The sword flashed as it struck the golden roc's eye, blinding him as the golden roc cried out in pain. His feathers glowed with a frightening radiance.

Zhang Lie retreated immediately; just that burst of golden light from the golden roc had charred half the fur of his blood wolfman form.

"Just what happened?" the rock giant wondered aloud.

Zhang Lie's face turned serious. "The golden roc was at the boundary of peak- and disaster-grade."

The rock giant gaped. "He advanced after eating his own family?!"

By that time, the elder had returned to his senses. "Not only that—our attacks also pushed him closer and closer to that boundary. His family's death gave him the will to advance, and our subsequent attacks pushed him so hard that his body's latent potential was activated. He lacked only the energy to continue with his advancement, so..."