The three people in front of him didn't respond, a solemn look on all of their faces. Cold sweat dripped off Wang Zhong's forehead. He could feel that the small wooden cottage was not completely unresponsive to their attack. He felt more oppressed now than when he faced the two Heavenly Soul Stage dwarf leaders earlier. Nothing around them looked threatening at the moment, but he couldn't help but feel a sense of dread.
Creak…
The wooden door of the cottage was opened from the inside. The door opened to reveal an overwhelmingly powerful aura coming from within. Everyone's pupils contracted involuntarily, as a dash of bright red came into sight.
A beautiful woman appeared, and she was absolutely stunning. Among all the women Wang Zhong had seen before — such as sexy Teacher Lan Daier, elusive Mo Xingchen, and elegant Carolyn — they couldn't hold a candle to this woman here. She was truly a mature woman, every inch of her fair skin exuded temptation and appeal beyond words. She wore a jeweled crown on her head and was dressed in a red Victorian dress that noble ladies wore in the medieval ages.
"You low-class creatures from low-class worlds, how dare you disturb my peace?" There was a proud smile on her face as she glanced at the group standing outside the cottage. "Your foolish actions will lead you to your death!"
Before anyone could react, Simba — who stood the furthest away — had already started shouting exaggeratedly, "Oh god, the Queen and the dwarfs are in cahoots!"
"You deserve a slap." The lady did not even spare a glance at Simba or move at all, but her whisper seemed to have an irresistible tinge of magic to it.
Pa!
Simba seemed to be in a trance as he raised his hand in a disoriented manner. The next second, Simba shuddered and stopped what he was about to do. F*ck, this old witch wanted to control the almighty Simba? This scared the living daylights out of Simba as he sprinted away while pulling Ham Sausage along. What kind of old witch was this? They were so far apart and she could still do this to him? Not fair!
Bang!
A golden glow surrounded Aiolos from head to toe, just like fiery golden flames, as he released a terrifying burst of Soul Power. The air current generated from the burst of power caused Wang Zhong — who was standing seven or eight meters behind Aiolos — to lose his balance and retreat a few steps, almost falling backward. Both Aiolos's sudden explosion of power and the Queen's powerful aura made Wang Zhong go stiff. This was not an illusion or subconscious effect but purely oppression due to the difference in their levels of power. This could not be controlled by his mind, and this realization made his expression graver.
When Wang Zhong saw the light and dark dwarfs who were supposedly at the Heavenly Soul Stage, he didn't feel that they were that strong, which resulted in him belittling Heavenly Soul experts subconsciously.
In actual fact, the power of the two Heavenly Soul Stage dwarfs had been restricted by Aiolos and Mu Zi, who did not let them affect Wang Zhong. They did not allow the dwarfs any chance to perform their Heavenly Soul Stage tactics. Mu Zi had already defeated the dwarfs before, and Aiolos fought them two times previously too; therefore, they knew the dwarfs' antics like the back of their hands and were able to have complete control over them. Or else, notwithstanding their attacks, if the dwarfs made use of their higher rank and oppressed Wang Zhong with their aura, Wang Zhong's battle would not have been so relaxed.
"Get out of the way!" Aiolos yelled, still enveloped in the golden glow.
When he approached this wooden cottage the previous two times, he felt an innate fear toward it. He originally thought that spiritual lifeforms, such as a Dimensional Wanderer King, were inside; hence, he thought of asking Wang Zhong for help, but now, it seemed like this woman wearing a crown was pretty different from what he had expected.
Deceptive Soul Power was not this enemy's strength. Perhaps Wang Zhong and Mu Zi couldn't tell exactly how strong this woman was, but Aiolos could. She was able to dominate Simba with just her voice due to the difference in their levels of power. Although Simba had difficulty resisting it, she probably had not reached the stage where she could command the power of the natural laws with her voice, or else Simba would not have even had the chance to struggle.
Wang Zhong and Mu Zi didn't try to push their limits and retreated quickly. The oppressive feeling that the Queen gave off was terrifying, but Aiolos looked far more horrifying now. This was the first time Wang Zhong and Mu Zi saw Aiolos so serious. The Soul Power he released was extraordinarily powerful; it was hard to even calculate it using Grasso units. It was the most power they had ever felt, and they couldn't estimate how strong it was at all. They only felt that all the power from the heavens and earth was gathered on him now.
Golden beams of light shot out of Aiolos's eyes. He showed his valiant side when he took on enemies.
Dooom!
The surface of the earth cracked as his terrifying power smashed the ground into lumps of dirt resembling crushed bean curds. This sent debris flying in all directions. The next second, Aiolos disappeared from Wang Zhong's sight.
Wang Zhong couldn't grasp Aiolos's movements at all; he couldn't even catch a glimpse of his shadow! Beside him, Mu Zi could barely keep up with his actions, his eyes darting back and forth.
Thum!!
The deafening boom sounded like a thunderbolt out of the blue, and the whole hillside shook.
Aiolos's fist, or rather his entire body, was blocked by an invisible shield in front of the Queen. The golden fist made a huge dent in the transparent shield, almost hitting the tip of the Queen's nose, missing by just a bit.
There was a hint of greed in the proud smile that the Queen wore as she licked her sexy lips. She looked at Aiolos with interest. To her, he was just a tiny grasshopper with useless antics. "A little guy who's still at entry-level, huh. Well, you'll make a somewhat delicious snack."
Pop!
The transparent shield was extremely elastic and unexpectedly rebounded after a short pause, effortlessly sending Aiolos flying.
There were no emotions on Aiolos's face, and the expression in his eyes didn't change at all either. In battle mode, Aiolos's eyes changed to a sparkling gold color. Doing a spin in mid-air, he neutralized the rebound force. While spinning, he was ready to attack for the second time.
It was as if an immeasurable amount of power was being channeled into him, as that golden figure became the only thing that mattered in the world this instant.
Golden Lion Roar!
Roar!
His golden eyes were glowing like a small sun; even Wang Zhong and the others, who were standing behind Aiolos, were affected to the extent that they couldn't open their eyes. A terrifying sound wave rushed toward the shield, banging onto it and causing numerous ripples to appear on the shield as it vibrated violently.
Without any pause, a series of crazy attacks followed that sound wave.
The power that Aiolos accumulated earlier from his spinning move was fully released in that instant.
Thud thud thud thud thud thud!!!
Thousands of punches rained on the shield, a crazy and overwhelming attack that didn't allow the enemy to rest at all. Every punch turned into a golden streak of energy, pounding on that transparent shield. With thunderous roars, these violent collisions caused intense tremors in this world.
Once you reached the Heavenly Soul Stage, your understanding of power would undergo a fundamental change. Every punch carried a colossal amount of destructive power. The transparent shield was already shaky and unstable after the sound-wave attack, its defensive power greatly reduced. In the next instant, a few thousand dents appeared on the shield, causing it to look distorted. The dents were so densely packed that it looked like a beehive. However, the shield was still not broken yet.
Aiolos started the spinning attack in mid-air again. The violent explosion of power just now didn't seem to have exhausted his energy; he didn't need to take a break before summoning endless power from the heavens again. This was going to be a vicious attack.
However, although he was quick, the shield recovered at a faster speed. The Queen didn't move at all, yet the shield that seemed vulnerable a moment ago returned to its original state again, and the dents reverted to a smooth surface. The golden streaks of energy separated from the shield and gathered together.
The Queen smiled. "Mirror, mirror on the wall, who is the fairest of them all?"
Mirror Rebound!
An attack the size of the entire shield converged into a beam of white light, speeding toward Aiolos.
Aiolos's pupils contracted suddenly as he responded to the best of his ability. He turned his attack position into a defensive stance, crossing his arms to protect his chest.
Bang!
All the colors in the world, including Aiolos's golden glow, were overshadowed by this attack. This terrifying large-scale attack was like a massive beam of light shining onto the entire universe; the full impact of this attack could not be seen.
Aiolos was lifted into the air. Although he did try to defend against the attack, he was still lifted a few hundred meters into the air. The Queen's eyes followed him. Honestly, that 'rat' wasn't weak. If not for her mirror shield, the enemy's fierce melee-combat fighting style would certainly have given her a headache. Her teasing and calm composure were part of her elegant style; it didn't mean that she would underestimate her opponent.
She would kill the toughest guy and absorb his soul; this way she would definitely be able to upgrade to the next rank!
This was how secret realms in the Fifth Dimension evolved. The souls of intruders were a form of nourishment for the resident lifeforms in the secret realm and allowed them to advance to the next rank. To humans, the Dimensional lifeforms in the secret realm were their prey. However, to these lifeforms, humans were their prey too. Both humans and Dimensional lifeforms were intelligent creatures with the ability to think; it was just that they existed in different forms and obeyed different sets of rules. Nevertheless, in essence, a living creature would aspire to be a 'Supreme Being' — in other words, to achieve omnipotence.
This was a world where you were both predator and prey.
She waved her left hand, and the shield in front of her disappeared. A strange green beam of light headed for Aiolos, who had lost his balance in mid-air.
However, in the next second, a flash of blue chased after the green light, trying to stop it. Mu Zi's face was scrunched up as the blue coffin opened and swallowed the green light. After that, the lid of the coffin closed, and a faint explosion could be heard inside. The coffin jerked slightly, and green light could be seen through the slits of the coffin.
"Life and Death Coffin?" The Queen's expression changed slightly, and her eyes glowed with greed. "How could a lowly creature like you be worthy of this Divine Weapon?!"
She raised her arm again, and another beam of green light shot out from her hand. This time, it was clear that the green light was shaped like a green apple. However, Wang Zhong's first impression of this glowing thing was that it was like a… nuclear bomb.
It was impossible to imagine the consequences if it exploded. Mu Zi's face was a bit stiff, but he gritted his teeth and activated his soul tool. The remaining green light from the first attack could still be seen along the edges of the coffin, but the green light from the second attack had already rushed into the coffin.
The lid of the coffin closed, and a muffled sound came from it. It seemed to be connected to Mu Zi's soul as Mu Zi blacked out in mid-air and fell to the ground. The coffin that originally had a blue glow had taken on a new poisonous green glow entirely.
"Give it to me!" Everyone saw the Queen's blurred silhouette, and she appeared in front of Mu Zi as if she had teleported instantly, reaching for his coffin.
Bang!
A golden glow could be seen as a powerful force intervened. With Mu Zi's interception, Aiolos had recovered from the attack long ago. His violent Soul Power surged forth as if it was going to set the whole horizon in flames. It was almost like a God of War had arrived!
The Queen responded extremely quickly as her ghostly shield manifested again without needing her to summon it. The shield blocked Aiolos's attack the moment it appeared.
Although the strength of his attacks increased, the same thing still happened. That peculiar shield rendered the attacks useless. Regardless of how violent the attack was, no damage was dealt to the shield. Instead, Aiolos was deflected off the shield, which seemed to be within his expectations. Although there seemed to be a considerable impact, Aiolos was able to use some of this force so that his body followed a trajectory; this allowed him to reach Mu Zi and drag him away from the center of the fight.
Although Wang Zhong was quite far away, he could clearly tell that this Queen was of a higher level than Aiolos, as she commanded some kind of barrier or the power of the natural laws. Aiolos's attack was rebounded perfectly again, which meant that any attack against the Queen would be useless no matter how powerful it was. On the other hand, the Queen's poisonous apples weren't attacks they could stomach easily.
"An apple for you!" The Queen was annoyed. She almost had her hands on the Life and Death Coffin, yet she was stopped. If they managed to get away, it would be a great loss for her.
This time, her attack consisted of a blood-red apple. However, before the red apple could touch Aiolos, a black pillar of flames was already heading in its direction. The red apple sensed the black flames and could only halt its attack.
It was Ham Sausage. Simba couldn't stop it as it was a warrior beast, and fear was not in its nature. In addition, it could sense that its owner was in danger; thus, it was in a savage mode much scarier than when they were in the forest of tree demons. Its body was also visibly larger as Ham Sausage swallowed the apple without hesitation.
The next moment, Ham Sausage's enormous body started to expand and shrink non-stop as its death aura fluctuated dramatically. It let out a loud muffled grunt before its body deflated like a balloon, and its ears drooped. It laid on the ground drowsily and couldn't move anymore.
The Queen was clearly fixated on Mu Zi's coffin as she moved toward him, but the golden glow was already back to stop her.
Aiolos knew that he had been too optimistic about the situation. He originally thought that the opponent just had a better control of her power, but it turned out that she was able to control the power of the natural laws, rendering his attacks utterly useless. However, she couldn't control this power very well, or else, he wouldn't have even had the chance to attack her. Her control of the power of the natural laws was still at an elementary level, which could be countered if they possessed enough power.
A power that was strong enough!