Chapter 368 – Cat Dad's Enemy has Plot Armor
Hiiro's arms and legs gradually grew soft and feeble because of the loss of blood and the hole in his heart. Soon, his blood flow ceased, and he collapsed to the ground.
Shepherd panted as the backlash injury that Hiiro had inflicted upon him earlier finally reminded him how painful it was. He fell on his knees, and blood flowed out from his eyes, ears, nostrils, and mouth. Moreover, his muscle fibers and blood vessels shattered because of the overloading strength – His body wasn't used to the stress, speed, and power output of the deities that possessed him earlier.
Shepherd's domain ability wasn't fully his. He simply acted as a medium for the archangels. In short, when he activated the domains, an archangel possessed his body and fought in his stead while Shepherd's consciousness became an observer and a shot caller.
As Shepherd could no longer fight, he sat there, watching the dying protagonist in front of him. He silently celebrated that he managed to defend the dungeon with his own strength.
'Master, did you see this? We did it!'
[Joshua]: You did it. The archangels merely impart their instinct and muscle memory into your body. You did everything on your own.
'But thanks to their power, we win!'
[Joshua]: Hahaha. Without a sturdy shell, their power can't be transferred to you. You don't have to be humble. Puff your chest and enjoy the credits.
'…'
Shepherd brightly smiled as his chest swelled. He lightly laughed and let out a long sigh.
When Shepherd was about to lie on his back and rest, his instinct forced his legs and arms to push his body up and get away from Hiiro. Although exhausted, Shepherd pointed the tip of Longinus toward the dying protagonist.
CRACK
The air above Hiiro cracked as if the dimension was broken.
CLANK
A large fist of a massive giant punched through the dimension and came for Shepherd from the front!
"!!!"
Shepherd raised his spear and counterattacked with a thrust. However, the fist's skin repelled the strike and hit Shepherd directly!
The angel was knocked back 100 meters and slammed into the metal door that he had been protecting!
The fist stopped coming after Shepherd as the arm pulled back to the other dimension. Its index finger and thumb picked up Hiiro and pulled him inside. Then, the hole in the dimension slowly mended.
Shepherd collapsed to the ground on his stomach. He mustered his last bit of strength to look at the dimensional hole.
As soon as he looked up, he saw the culprit's large eye.
Beyond the dimension was a gigantic entity with long hair and a burly physique. Unfortunately, Shepherd failed to see further as the cracks were sealed.
Shepherd gritted his teeth. He lamented that he let a strong enemy escape before he fell unconscious.
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WHOOSH
WHOOSH
Mao Miaomiao and Meowmeow teleported directly to B3, where Shepherd and Hiiro fought earlier. Meowmeow rushed to Shepherd to heal him while Mao Miaomiao walked toward the area where an intruder from another dimension rescued Hiiro.
He knew this aura. It didn't belong to the sages or deities. Instead, it belonged to a troublesome beggar that hated him.
"Meng Xin?"
Meng Xin was a cultivator that Xiaomao had met in the Pangu Cultist Dungeon. After the encounter, the youth had been missing. Mao Miaomiao didn't know about their encounter. However, he knew Meng Xin well.
Meng Xin was a former protagonist in Mao Miaomiao's generation. Because of Mao Miaomiao's intervention and influence, the growth of Meng Xin was suppressed throughout his life.
"That so-called chosen one, munya?"
Meowmeow also remembered Meng Xin. After all, they went on an adventure together for a while in the past.
"Yeah, that cheeky brat. I guess he jumps ships like Lu Bu and Xie Tian. How annoying."
"Era changes, and so do people, munya. You can't count on your old friends to be your friends forever, munya."
"I know. But damn. I should have cut their karma strings when I had a chance."
"Save that regret for later. Help this boy first, munya. He'll die if we leave him alone."
Mao Miaomiao snorted and walked toward Shepherd. He glanced at the retainer, who looked exactly like Joshua when he was young.
The chaos seraphim knelt and lightly poked Shepherd's forehead.
CLICK-CLICK-CLICK
A loud ticking clock sound echoed in the dungeon. Similar to when Shepherd used Samael's domain, Meowmeow sensed that the time in the dungeon stopped for a moment.
Instantly, Shepherd's shattered muscle fibers, cracked bones, and internal injuries were healed. His HP bar was fully green again. However, Shepherd's level dropped back to 1,000 and his status attributes reverted to normal.
"There. Done."
Meowmeow looked at his former master, "Reversing time for healing?! Your Time and Space Domain gets better again, munya."
"Ha! Who do you think I am?"
"Yes, yes… Sir Samael. Haiz, munya."
"Samael is my counterpart in the other timelines. I'm me. Don't mix us together."
"But technically, you two are the same person, munya."
"Not anymore after the Great Reset. He is he. I am ME! I'm no longer bound to this universe! Hahahaha!"
Meowmeow shook his head and glanced at the Chaos Seraphim's right eyebrow. He still remembered the secret of the eyebrow and the relationship between him and Samael.
After chatting and reminiscing about their past, the two entities went back to the B10 floor with the unconscious messiah's clone in tow.
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= Yeet City, Pangu Cathedral =
A portal was opened in the middle of the courtyard. A muscular teenager in ragged clothes carrying a dying protagonist on his shoulder walked out of the red portal. He dropped Hiiro on the ground without caring.
Standing on the grass yard was another clone of Nian. The caracal cat rushed to Hiiro and licked the latter's forehead.
DING
A dark magic circle appeared under Hiiro and glowed in purple light. Nian shoved his paw into his game inventory and pulled out a dozen monster corpses and threw them into the same magic circle. Then, he bit the tip of his tongue and spat his blood essence on Hiiro's head.
RUMBLE
The monster corpses dissipated into black dust, but they gathered around the blood essence of Nian on Hiiro's head. Then, the black blood multiplied and entered Hiiro's body.
BA-DUMP
Hiiro's heart beat again while the multiplying blood gradually restored his lost arm, blood, and Qi. His HP bar also slowly filled the green gauge.
His condition stabilized. Nian wiped the sweat on his face and sighed.
"That was close, nya!"
The burly man in ragged clothes sneered at the cat, "This will be the last time I help you, Nian. Next time, I'll kill you myself."
"Yeah, yeah. I'm so scared, nya. Anyway, thanks for the help. That was a close call, actually."
"Remember the promise. I want Mao Miaomiao's head!"
"Once Solomon's business is over, I'll bring his head to you on a silver platter, nya! Also, do you want his son's head, too?"
"Don't touch his family. I want only his life, not the innocents' lives!"
"You're such a hypocrite, nya."
"Hmm!"
Meng Xin, the beggar-lookalike man, waved his sword and cut through dimensions, opening a portal for himself. Then, he entered the dark void, and the portal automatically closed.
Nian gazed at the place where Meng Xin had left.
"Tsk, tsk, tsk. The Void Domain. Once a protagonist, always a protagonist, nya. Mao Miaomiao, you should have killed him when you had a chance! NYAHAHAHAHA!"
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= B10, Slave Dungeon =
Meowmeow left Shepherd in the local hospital and let Qidia, Titania, Magdalene, and Yuan Hua watch over him. He and Mao Miaomiao walked out of the buildings, not bothering with the women that rushed into Shepherd's room.
Mao Miaomiao sneaked a glance at Yuan Hua. They knew each other in their previous life, but she didn't seem to notice him. He snickered and left her alone.
He also glanced at the door next to Shepherd. The patient's name was clearly written "Party Queen". Like Shepherd's wives, many party girls gathered in there as they were worried about their leader.
While they were walking, Mao Miaomiao rubbed his right eyebrow. It slightly twitched, and he didn't like it.
"Your instinct comes back, munya?"
"Sort of. Winter is coming."
"Sounds troublesome. Do you know the location, munya?"
"Where else but here? I'm sure the next attack will be more severe. There will be casualties."
"How pessimistic, munya. Didn't Devil teach you to be more optimistic?"
"Ha! The only thing she taught me was selfishness and angst. Anyway, that's all the past. I need to start doing something."
Meowmeow stopped walking. He jumped on top of the angel's head and sat there.
"Tell me your plan, munya."
"Since winter is coming, it's time to gather some firewood."
"And the firewood is?"
"Reinforcement. Say, if I remember correctly, Ran Tae is in this world. Do you know where he is?"
Reminded of Jungwoo, Meowmeow's tail wagged. He smiled.
"He has gone home to see your wife, munya. He said something about bringing the people from the Beast Forest here."
"Beast Forest?"
Two women appeared in Mao Miaomiao's mind. One was a refined tigress with a fiend bloodline while the other tall muscular woman inherited the white tiger legacy. The two of them always carried a weird fiend child around, but that small tiger was reincarnated to W-2.
Missing his two tigress wives, Mao Miaomiao had an idea.
"How about I pay the Beast Forest a visit and escort our protagonist ally back?"
"Please do, munya. If they start sending protagonists to attack us, it's time to recruit our guys, too!"
While they chatted, they couldn't stop glancing in a certain direction as the aura of Xiaomao slowly grew larger. They faintly smiled as they already included Xiaomao as one of their trump cards in the next dungeon siege.
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Meanwhile
RUMBLE
A massive portal was opened above Yeet City. A dozen airships descended, carrying immortals and deities on board.