96: Chapter 96 Taboos at Sea
"Damned thing!"
Seeing the dragon boat shaking violently, a middle-aged man with a bear-like physique wearing tattered robes from the Shaven Empire's team let out a thunderous roar.
His name was Noerkov.
He was an s-rank third tier Taboo Kin of the Shaven Empire.
Half of his body was human, while the other half was covered in blue ice crystals, emitting a bone-chilling cold.
"You dare show off such low-level tricks before this esteemed one?!"
Noerkov had a violent and impulsive personality; he couldn't stand these kinds of sneaky things.
He took a sudden step forward, his right foot stomping heavily onto the dragon boat's deck.
"Freeze... for me!!"
Boom!!!
A terrifying Extreme Cold Rule erupted instantly, centered around him.
Crack! Crack! Crack!
The previously boiling seawater solidified instantly.
The pale arms that were death-gripping the bottom of the ship turned into crystal-clear ice sculptures in the blink of an eye.
The chill did not stop.
It spread rapidly across the sea surface, rushing directly onto that eerie Faceless Island.
The lights on the island were extinguished instantly.
The Faceless People, who were singing and dancing, were frozen into ice blocks in various poses before they could even react.
It was as if the entire world had been paused at this moment.
"Hmph, pathetic."
Noerkov withdrew his foot, his face full of disdain.
However.
Just as he was feeling triumphant.
Zhou Kai, standing to the side, suddenly turned pale.
The prophecy pen in his hand was trembling violently, as if sensing some extremely terrifying existence.
"Idiot! Stop it right now!!"
Zhou Kai roared, trying to stop Noerkov.
But it was already too late.
"Gurgle..."
A dull sound, like the swallowing of a deep-sea behemoth, suddenly came from beneath the ice.
Immediately after.
Rumble!!!
The entire sea area began to vibrate violently.
That thick layer of ice shattered inch by inch like fragile glass.
A nauseating stench of rot, mixed with a denser pink mist, gushed out from the cracks.
"Wha... what's going on?"
Noerkov's eyes widened, somewhat at a loss.
"Look! That island!"
Someone pointed forward in terror.
They saw that the previously frozen Faceless Island was actually starting to... rise!
The seawater surged wildly, kicking up waves a hundred meters high.
And within those giant waves.
A shadow so massive it was beyond imagination slowly surfaced.
That wasn't an island at all!
It was a... giant, rotting, pus-and-blood-dripping... octopus head!!
"Waaah!!!"
The monster let out an earth-shattering shriek.
Then, countless thick tentacles emerged from the seawater, each covered in dense suckers and sharp teeth, dancing wildly in the air.
Inside the Rebirth Temple.
Lin Chuan, through Zhou Kai's perspective, also saw the monster's true face.
At the same time, segments of information prompts instantly popped up on his consciousness panel:
[Detected S-Rank Eighth-Tier Taboo true body!]
[Name: Rotting Fiend!]
[Serial Number: 216!]
[Rules: Corrosion, Pollution, Mental Control!]
[Note: It is an overlord of the deep sea. After being eroded by the pink mist, it mutated, becoming even more violent and bloodthirsty!]
While Lin Chuan was observing the Rotting Fiend's information.
Atop the dragon boat.
Facing this sudden and terrifying behemoth, everyone's faces turned incredibly pale.
Even the usually arrogant White Rose had a solemn expression now.
S-Rank Eighth-Tier Taboo!
This had already exceeded her capacity to handle.
If not handled carefully, total annihilation of the army was possible!
"Everyone! Prepare to act!"
White Rose shouted, and the black whip in her hand lashed out suddenly.
"Crack!"
The whip turned into a bolt of black lightning, viciously striking an incoming tentacle.
But the tentacle only trembled slightly, without even a scratch on its skin.
Instead, a massive counter-force jolted White Rose's hand until it went numb.
Just then.
The monster seemed to be provoked.
Its pair of turbid, giant eyeballs stared intently at the dragon boat.
"Buzz!!!"
An invisible mental shockwave instantly swept across the scene.
"Ah!!"
Many weaker Ghost Controllers screamed, clutching their heads and rolling on the deck in agony.
Bleeding from their facial orifices, their sanity collapsed instantly.
Even Zhou Kai felt a sharp pain in his mind, as if countless steel needles were stabbing him.
"Not good! It's a mental attack type rule!"
Zhou Kai endured the intense pain and shouted a warning.
He wanted to mobilize the Rule Power within his body to counterattack, but the mental impact was so strong that he couldn't concentrate at all.
Seeing that the countless tentacles were about to entwine the dragon boat and drag it into the deep sea.
Zhou Kai and White Rose looked at each other, both seeing the determination in each other's eyes.
"Give it our all!"
Both of them stepped forward at the same time.
Behind Zhou Kai, the phantom of a pitch-black stone tablet emerged, emitting an aura that suppressed everything.
White Rose's entire body glowed with intense black light as countless thorns grew from her body, transforming into a suit of hideous armor.
The two suspended themselves in mid-air, preparing for a life-and-death struggle.
However, at this very moment,
Dang!!!
A melodious, dull, yet divinely beguiling bell toll suddenly rang out between heaven and earth.
The bell toll seemed to come from heaven, yet also from Hell.
It penetrated the storm, the waves, and even the layers upon layers of pink mist.
It echoed directly in the depths of everyone's Soul.
Everyone's movements froze.
Including the rampaging Rotting Fiend.
Its massive body jolted, and a hint of confusion actually appeared in its originally tyrannical eyes.
Immediately after.
An unprecedented emotion surged into its heart.
It was... repentance.
"I am guilty..."
"I have killed too many..."
"I should not exist..."
Countless thoughts of self-denial bred wildly in its mind.
Its flailing tentacles slowly lowered, and its massive body began to tremble.
Like a child who had made a mistake, it was waiting for an adult's punishment.
And on the deck of the dragon boat.
The doors of the consistently silent Black Church slowly opened.
Endless darkness poured out from the doors, transforming into phantoms wearing black robes and holding crosses.
They surrounded the church, softly chanting that ancient and eerie hymn.
"Sin... is the movement of salvation."
"Punishment... is the beginning of grace."
"Repent..."
As the chanting grew louder.
The rotting flesh on the Rotting Fiend actually began to fall off on its own.
It was actually... self-destructing!
"This... what kind of power is this?"
Zhou Kai watched this scene, his eyes full of shock.
A mere bell toll could cause an S-Rank Eighth-Tier Taboo to move toward self-disintegration?!
"As expected of a medium for an SSS-Rank Taboo."
From a distance, Lin Chuan couldn't help but praise.
This Rule Power that directly manipulates the mind and triggers a sense of guilt is indeed terrifying.
However, Lin Chuan also noticed that as the bell toll continued.
Fine cracks began to appear on the walls of the Black Church.
Obviously, using rules of this level was also a huge burden for the Black Church, which was merely a medium.
But in any case.
The crisis was temporarily averted.
Watching the giant beast rapidly collapsing, everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
However.
Before they could be happy for long.
Another mutation occurred!
"Hee hee hee..."
A strange laugh suddenly came from within the collapsing giant beast.
Immediately after.
A pink light pierced through the black rule shroud like a sharp sword.
The Rotting Fiend, which was originally self-destructing, suddenly stopped trembling.
In its turbid eyes, the confusion vanished.
Replacing it was.
...an even more crazed and distorted... pink light!
"Repent?"
"No..."
A high-pitched and enchanting female voice that didn't belong to it slowly emerged from its mouth.
Boom!!!
Along with the giant beast's ravings, an even more terrifying rule aura erupted instantly!