25% Power and Salsa's Trump Card
After being rescued, Fa, Arya, Kayla, Yuyuer, Zhamisi, Lin Ya, and Celestia looked at Salsa in astonishment. They never expected that she had secretly converted the corpses of the mutated winged beings into her own undead legion. In that moment, they realized Salsa's secret actions in the Ice Breath Abyss.
Floating higher in the air, Villanette gazed at the five undead figures carrying everyone, faintly visible in the snow dust. A trace of genuine surprise finally flashed in her ice-blue eyes. She restrained part of the power drawing the celestial phenomena, and the scale of the blizzard began to weaken.
"Heh... interesting." Her voice carried a hint of amusement. "I didn't expect you, little kitty, to have such a 'toy' hidden up your sleeve. To evade the 'Eternal Winter's Sigh'... it seems I underestimated you all."
Her gaze locked onto Salsa's mechanical cat shell, which had developed several obvious cracks from the extreme exertion of soul power to summon and maintain these five powerful undead. The amber electronic eyes had dimmed considerably, clearly under immense strain.
"Since you're still able to move," Villanette's tone turned dangerous and intrigued once more, "then let's try '25%'! Let me see where your limits truly lie!"
"25%?! This crazy hag!" Kayla, who had just caught her breath, nearly jumped off the undead winged being's back upon hearing this. The others felt a deep sense of helplessness and anger. 20% was already a natural disaster—what would 25% look like?
No time to complain! Villanette's power level escalated again! She no longer manipulated large-scale weather, but her attacks became more condensed, lethal, and faster with every gesture! Countless wind blades compressed to the extreme wove into a net like the scythes of death; blinding white beams pierced like spears of judgment; invisible mental shocks surged like tides, wave after wave eroding everyone's will; even more terrifying, she began using spatial compression and folding, making attacks appear from impossible angles!
The five undead winged beings dodged and blocked desperately in the air, but their undead bodies began to sustain constant damage and disintegration under Villanette's 25% power attacks! Grayish skin was torn by wind blades, soul flames pierced by light spears, bones groaning under spatial compression!
"We can't just rely on Salsa's undead! Let's fight!" Kayla roared, her Thunder Fang Ice Prison Giant Claw erupting with blinding electric light. She leaped from the undead winged being's back, charging straight at an incoming wind blade! "Thunder Prison Explosion!"
Boom! Violent thunder clashed with the razor-sharp wind blade. Kayla was hurled back, spitting blood, but she successfully neutralized the attack!
"Light-Dark Spiral · Star-Piercing Arrow!" Arya drew her Storm Bow, infusing it with her concern for Fa and her will to protect. An arrow wrapped in extremely compressed, nearly static spiraling light-dark energy ball whistled sharply toward Villanette! The power of this arrow far exceeded her previous ones!
"Furnace Heart · Realm-Breaking Heavy Hammer!" TISK raised his Lava Hammer high, his internal ice-fire power surging madly into it, the dwarven runes shining brighter than ever! He jumped from the giant ape undead's back, charging forward with unyielding momentum, smashing down on a space below Villanette! Not targeting her directly, but bombarding the area enveloped in spatial compression fields, attempting to shatter the confinement!
"All Things Wither · Ice Skeleton Thorns!" Lin Ya thrust her hands into the void, intertwining emerald glow with pale chill. Countless massive thorns condensed from withered plants and ice, covered in spikes, burst through the ice layers like living creatures, entangling toward Villanette with dense auras of death and cold!
"Illusory Tide · True Mirror Realm!" Yuyuer's crystal ball flashed brilliantly. He no longer created illusions but applied illusory power to reality! Around Villanette, he created several "true mirrors" that distorted light and spatial perception, causing her attack trajectories to unpredictably deflect!
"Deep Flow Poison Bite · Soul-Eroding Rain!" Zhamisi swung her dual blades, mixing inky green venom with deep blue water light, turning it into a small-area poison rain. Each drop carried intense soul-corrosive properties!
Celestia's eyes were icy cold, her figure flickering on the undead winged being's back, dodging attacks while condensing a "Delusion-Breaking Spear" at her fingertips, seeking a momentary gap in Villanette's mental defenses!
Rex's armor firepower was fully unleashed—ion cannons, micro-missiles, drone interference beams—weaving a dense fire net. Though unable to harm Villanette's body, it continuously drained and disrupted her protective energy and casting precision.
Fa endured the discomfort, her star eyes' dim light locking onto Villanette, constantly attempting to use "Time Stagnation" to affect her most critical attack weaknesses, even if only delaying by a second!
The team's entire strength, all their potential, was pushed to the extreme under this life-or-death 25% pressure! All sorts of ultimate moves were unleashed desperately, just to seize a sliver of survival!
Villanette stood like a reef in the storm, calmly neutralizing one desperate attack after another. Wind blades were deflected by her protective airflow, light-dark arrows dissolved by invisible force fields, the heavy hammer struck empty space, ice skeleton thorns shredded by wind blades upon approach, poison rain evaporated, illusory mirror realms seen through with a glance, Rex's fire net like an itch. Celestia's "Delusion-Breaking Spear" thrust out, but it sank like a stone in the ocean, merely causing her brows to furrow imperceptibly.
"Not enough." Villanette seemed somewhat disappointed, her fingertips lighting up with even more dangerous glow, preparing to end this "game."
"Salsa!! Now!!" Fa roared with all her soul's strength! She knew the team's limits were reached; only Salsa's final trump card offered a faint glimmer of hope!
The Growing Shadow Demon Dragon
Salsa's mechanical cat shell emitted an overloaded sharp buzz! From the cracks in the shell, deep blue soul light erupted like magma! She abandoned fine control over the other five undead winged beings (already battered and broken), channeling all her soul power, all the death essence absorbed from the Chilly Ice Palace, all her rage toward Doomsday Rebirth and her obsession to protect her companions, into the existence deepest linked to her soul!
"Awaken! Shadows slumbering at the source of the Styx! In the name of the dominator, tear apart the storm before you! 'Shadow Demon Dragon'—Descend!"
Roarrrr——!!!!!
A soul-shaking, abyssal roar thundered through the entire Eternal Storm area! This bellow contained endless majesty, ancient death, and pure destructive will, even temporarily overpowering the storm's howls!
The shadows beneath Salsa's feet expanded and boiled madly! Dense, substantial darkness surged out, rapidly condensing and shaping! First appeared a pair of sky-covering, enormous dragon wings made of pure shadow energy! The wing membranes flowed with purple-black runes, edges sharp as blades! Then followed a massive body covered in ferocious bone spikes and dark scales, sturdy limbs shattering the void, a long dragon neck burning with purple-black soul flames, and... a majestic and tyrannical dragon head!
The dragon head was ferocious, covered in thick shadow bone armor, amber vertical pupils burning with cold soul fire, massive jaws lined with razor teeth, exhaling chill breath laced with sulfur and death! It wasn't fully corporeal, its body shifting between shadow and reality, emanating soul-freezing cold and light-devouring darkness! This was Salsa's ultimate creation, nurtured deep in her soul after inheriting from the Chilly Ice Palace—the Shadow Demon Dragon! Though still in juvenile form, its emitted hierarchical pressure was enough to make the five undead winged beings tremble, instilling primal fear in everyone present (except Villanette)!
As soon as the Shadow Demon Dragon appeared, its massive wings flapped fiercely!
Boom!
A breath mixed with extreme cold frost and corrosive shadow energy sprayed toward Villanette like a destructive torrent! Wherever it passed, space seemed frozen and eroded!
The moment the Shadow Demon Dragon formed, its pure pressure from a high undead dragon clan stilled the entire Eternal Storm. Even Villanette's ice-blue eyes burst with unprecedented, almost fanatical excitement!
"Shadow Demon Dragon?! No... it's a juvenile body! But... this aura!!" She exclaimed in disbelief, her voice trembling slightly as if beholding the most incredible treasure. "Ha! I never thought I'd see the 'Undead Dragon' bloodline here! Though not strong enough yet... it's fantastic! This reminds me of the days fighting that dead skeleton! How nostalgic! That old undead Kassadel, his bone dragon mount 'Eternal Silence of Night' was just as invigorating!"
Her words exploded like thunder in everyone's minds! Kassadel? Bone dragon mount? Could it be another inheritor's name?! And from Villanette's tone, she seemed acquainted, perhaps even... with a grudge?!
But Villanette quickly realized her slip, the fanaticism in her eyes fading, returning to her icy detachment, though a trace of excitement lingered at her lips. "Tsk, I said too much." She waved casually, as if dispelling nonexistent dust. "Forget what you just heard. Now..." Her gaze refocused on the newly descended Shadow Demon Dragon growling threateningly at her, and the battered people below, her "amusement" turning into pure, destructive battle intent.
"Warm-up over. Let me see what surprises this little guy, plus you all, can give me?" She shouted sternly, finally taking seriously the incoming dragon breath. Her inky black six wings erupted in brilliant glow, her right hand pushing forward!
"Light Barrier · Holy Judgment!"
A massive light shield formed of pure holy light, its surface flowing with countless sacred runes, instantly materialized!
Boom rumble rumble——!!!!!
The Shadow Demon Dragon's death chill breath slammed into the holy light barrier! Two extremely opposing yet equally terrifying energies madly annihilated and exploded! Blinding black-white light engulfed everything! Violent energy turbulence tore the airborne undead winged beings to shreds, hurling Kayla, TISK, and others away! The entire platform trembled violently again, ice layers collapsing in large areas!
When the light subsided slightly, the Shadow Demon Dragon was repelled dozens of meters by the explosion's shockwave, its wing soul flames dimmed, roaring in fury. The holy light barrier before Villanette was cracked and slowly dissipated. She floated in the air, her aura still powerful, but her eyes more solemn and... excited.
"Not bad, not bad! Little kitty, you gave me a big surprise! Then, for this final entertainment..." Villanette's gaze swept over the struggling people below and the snarling Shadow Demon Dragon, her lips curling into a wild smile:
"I'll use '30%' power to put an end to this trial!"
"30%?! You crazy hag! You don't keep your word!" This time, even the usually calm Rex couldn't help cursing in his electronic voice. The others' hearts sank to the bottom, despair spreading again. 25% had already forced out their trump cards; 30%... was unimaginable!
"No—this crazy hag!!" Arya cried out in despair.
"This crazy hag really wants to kill us!!" Kayla's eyes bulged in rage.
"It's over... this crazy hag." Yuyuer's crystal ball light completely dimmed.
"30%?! This crazy hag was just playing before..." TISK roared, but his voice was instantly drowned out.
Upon hearing this, Villanette not only didn't get angry but laughed: "It's been a while since someone called me that, because those people are all dead." Her smile carried a hint of madness, yet also a strange satisfaction.
The Despair of 30% Power
She spread her arms, the star trails on her six wings connecting into a vast star map! The remaining ice clouds in the Eternal Storm area were drawn again, but this time not as an avalanche—instead, extremely compressed and refined! Endless chill ice magic fused madly with her own wind essence and light truth!
The entire space's temperature plummeted to absolute zero! Air froze into white powder! Countless tiny yet extremely sharp "Eternal Silence Ice Crystals" emerged around her, each containing terrifying power to freeze souls and tear space! Light distorted around her, forming a bizarre domain of absolute darkness and absolute light!
"Eternal Storm · Finale Prelude." She declared softly, like playing a symphony of destruction. Those countless "Eternal Silence Ice Crystals" came to life, turning into a silent, all-destroying ice crystal storm torrent, mercilessly pouring down on the exhausted, scarred people below and the roaring Shadow Demon Dragon!
No space to dodge! No possibility to block!
The Shadow Demon Dragon roared and spat chill breath, attempting to freeze the ice crystal torrent, but its breath was rapidly assimilated and frozen upon touching those "Eternal Silence Ice Crystals" infused with inheritor power! The ice crystal torrent was unstoppable!
Kayla's Thunder Prison Explosion, Arya's Light-Dark Spiral, TISK's heavy hammer, Lin Ya's thorns, Yuyuer's illusions, Zhamisi's poison rain, Celestia's Delusion-Breaking Spear, Rex's full firepower... in the face of this absolute zero ice crystal storm, they were like mantises blocking a chariot, instantly engulfed, frozen, and shattered!
Fa desperately deployed Time Stagnation, trying to slow the ice crystal torrent's speed, but the range was too small, the time too short! Her star eyes throbbed in pain, blood trickling from the corners!
"No—!" Arya desperately lunged toward Fa, wanting to hold her.
The next moment, destructive white engulfed everyone's vision.
Cold. Deathly silence. Endless darkness.
Boom...
The ice crystal torrent swept through, completely leveling the entire mountain ridge platform, piling up a towering iceberg shimmering with deadly chill light. Fa, Arya, Kayla, TISK, Salsa (along with her mechanical cat shell), Yuyuer, Zhamisi, Lin Ya, Rex, Celestia, and that juvenile Shadow Demon Dragon... all their auras, along with traces of resistance, were thoroughly buried beneath this newborn iceberg.
The platform fell into dead silence, only the howling cold wind remaining. Villanette floated in the air, the glow on her six wings slowly retracting. She quietly gazed at the iceberg that buried ten lives, her ice-blue eyes showing no victor's joy, only a deep tranquility, as if she had just brushed away a speck of dust.
Time passed second by second.
Ten seconds... twenty seconds... one minute...
No life reactions emerged from beneath the iceberg. It was terrifyingly silent.
Villanette slightly furrowed her brows.
"...Hm?" She let out a faint doubt. According to her calculations, under 30% "Eternal Storm · Finale Prelude," those little ones should be severely injured and near death, but with their displayed resilience and the Shadow Demon Dragon sharing part of the pressure, their auras shouldn't... disappear so thoroughly.
Did she... overdo it? Really killed them all at once?
This thought caused a rare ripple in her ancient, still heart. Not out of pity, but... losing "observation subjects" and "information sources" like this seemed a bit regrettable? And that juvenile Shadow Demon Dragon... and the star-eyed one who preliminarily fused five attributes...
She hesitated no longer, her left wing gently flapping.
Whoosh—!
A gentle yet irresistible whirlwind formed out of thin air, precisely enveloping the newborn iceberg. The wind force was masterfully controlled, like the finest peeling technique, layer by layer blowing away and carrying off the thick surface ice and snow without harming what might be buried below.
Ice and snow flew, the iceberg shrinking at a visible rate.
Soon, the figures of the buried people and Shadow Demon Dragon emerged. They maintained their final frozen postures, like lifelike ice sculptures. Each was covered in thick snow, faces purple-blue, auras weak to almost imperceptible, life like a candle in the wind. The Shadow Demon Dragon was even frozen into a massive ice sculpture, its soul flames completely extinguished.
Villanette's eyes sharpened. Indeed, the injuries were heavier than she anticipated! Especially Fa the star-eyed one and Salsa who summoned the dragon—their soul fluctuations were faint to near extinction. A moment later, and they might truly be beyond saving.
"Troublesome." She murmured, but her actions were swift. Her right wing elegantly unfurled, this time the wing edges flowing not with wind runes, but pure, warm, infinitely vital platinum glow!
"Life Praise · Light of Revival."
She held her hands as if cradling a miniature sun, gentle and vast platinum glow sprinkling from her palms like warm spring rain, evenly enveloping the ten "ice sculptures" below. The light penetrated the hard ice, tenderly caressing every frozen body and soul.
A miracle occurred.
The snow covering everyone rapidly melted under the platinum glow, not turning to water but directly sublimating into pure magic particles. Their purple-blue faces quickly regained rosiness, weak breaths becoming steady and strong as if injected with a stimulant. Deep frostbites visible to the bone, wounds torn by ice crystals, overtaxed meridians, even soul damage—all healed, repaired, and nourished at a visible speed under this light containing the supreme healing power of "Light Truth"!
Arya's long lashes trembled, slowly opening her eyes, first looking at Fa beside her, finding her breathing steady, her taut heartstrings finally relaxing. Kayla shook her head, feeling her internal thunder-frost power weak yet unusually docile. TISK touched his intact beard (the previously scorched parts regrown), his face full of disbelief. Yuyuer, Zhamisi, Lin Ya, Rex, and Celestia awakened one after another, feeling their injuries heal and powers flow gently, looking at Villanette in the air with incredibly complex expressions.
Salsa's mechanical cat shell cracks slowly mended under the platinum glow, the deep blue light in her eyes reigniting. And that massive Shadow Demon Dragon ice sculpture, after a flicker of purple-black ghost light, shattered its ice layer. The dragon shook its head, emitting a low, dissatisfied dragon groan, but its gaze toward Villanette held an instinctive wariness.
Villanette retracted the light, slowly descending onto a relatively intact ice rock. Looking at the battered but finally revived people below, her ice-blue eyes returned to calm.
"The trial is over." Her voice remained clear and cold, yet lacking the previous absolute oppression. "Congratulations, under 30% power... total annihilation." Her tone was flat, as if stating a fact, but the implication was clear—"But I'll count you as... barely passing."
Her gaze swept over Fa, finally lingering on Salsa and the juvenile Shadow Demon Dragon that had retracted its ferocity, coiling like a pet beside her.
"Remember this feeling of being on the brink of death. It will be your most valuable experience when facing all enemies in the future." Villanette finished, her inky black six wings slowly folding.
Villanette's Wing Secret
The people and Celestia struggled to sit up, feeling the injuries forcibly suppressed by Villanette, looking at this unfathomable existence before them. A massive question could no longer be held back: "Lady Villanette... forgive my impertinence. His Majesty Wyrselon also possesses six wings, the highest in our race."
Upon hearing this, Villanette's ice-blue eyes glanced at her, as if looking at a child asking why the sun is round. Her lips curled into a nearly mocking arc.
"Six wings?" She repeated lightly, then let out a meaningful chuckle. "Who told you... I have six wings?"
Under the people's astonished gazes, Villanette elegantly raised her hand, as if brushing off nonexistent dust from her shoulder. As her fingertip traced through the air, a layer of extremely sophisticated illusion covering her back quietly faded like ripples.
Buzz!
A more ancient, vaster pressure, as if from the cosmic primordial chaos, spread without warning!
The sight that appeared before everyone caused all breaths to halt instantly, minds going blank!
Six wings? No!
Behind Villanette unfolded a full twelve massive feathers (six demonic, six angelic wings)! These twelve wings weren't a simple numerical addition; they were longer, more elegant, as if cutting from the deepest night sky and the most brilliant star river simultaneously! Each wing had a profound inky black base, but edges flowed with brighter, more intricate silver star trails than before, within which countless stars seemed to birth, annihilate, and orbit! The moment the twelve wings spread, the entire Eternal Storm ridge's light dimmed, as if all radiance was absorbed and dominated by that profound darkness and flowing star glow! An aura that transcends the realm of "power" and has almost become a "law" makes those who have just regained consciousness feel suffocated and insignificant on a spiritual level once again!
The most ancient, ethereal legend passed down through generations in the Light Feather Dome Wing Clan flashed like lightning into Celestia's mind—"At the dawn of creation, a twelve-winged god descended from the star sea, sowing the seeds of the feather clan, named... the Celestial Weaver of Wings..."
"This... this is impossible..." Celestia murmured in daze, her voice filled with ultimate shock and awe. "The legend... is real?! You are... the Weaver?!"
Villanette didn't answer, merely calmly retracting those twelve wings symbolizing supreme authority and origin—the Star Night Wings. The illusion covered again, returning her to the appearance of "only" six wings. But the truth revealed in that instant was deeply branded into everyone's soul.
Her gaze swept over the people still immersed in massive shock, finally landing on Fa who was barely sitting up, speaking faintly:
"Rest in the house for a day. Tomorrow, get back to where you belong and continue your seemingly insignificant struggle." She paused, her ice-blue eyes deep as an abyss. "The star fragments are already in your hands, the star eyes ignited. The road ahead is for you to forge yourselves."
With that, Villanette's figure vanished into the starlight, leaving in the wind and snow a group of scarred warriors with hearts roiling like tidal waves, and a legend of the twelve-winged deity that overturned all their cognitions.