Chapter 284 - Cherub's Wing
Han Wu gripped the Soul Seeker, eyeing its three flimsy-looking metal plates with skepticism. Yet the weapon's data swiftly corrected his first impression.
[Soul Seeker: Inverts physical damage to magical damage and vice versa. It can also clone itself based on the energy infused into it.]
Watching locusts battle angels in the sky, Han Wu decided to test his new weapon. He drew energy from his Dark Pocket and infused it into the Soul Seeker, which began spinning wildly and humming with a faint whirring sound.
Han Wu caught the flickering blur of the shuriken as it spun, its blade trailing thousands of afterimages through the air. He aimed beyond the angels, targeting the Holy Harpies clustered in the rear. Fewer units from the Darkness faction were fighting there, minimizing the risk of hitting allies.
The moment the Soul Seeker left his hand, it split into thousands of identical copies that eviscerated every Holy Harpy they touched. Each copy bounced off its target, injuring numerous foes. Soon, the myriad Soul Seekers cut down several thousand Holy Harpies.
However, that wasn't the end. The Soul Seeker had one last surprise. After exhausting its energy, it exploded, launching three metallic feathers in different directions. A single shuriken's three blades were mediocre, but 1,000 exploding simultaneously created 3,000 metal blades across the battlefield. It was a devastating blow.
The final explosion killed more than 1,000 Holy Harpies effortlessly. Their souls emerged from their fallen bodies. Han Wu immediately channeled significant energy to extend Souleater Gaze's range and absorb those souls. The powerful suction prevented any escape.
As the torrent of souls flowed into him, Han Wu's Defiant Sword evolved again, unlocking a new form: Soul Shaver. He raised the weapon and found it had transformed into twin blades shaped like feathers—light, razor-sharp, and enchanted with the light attribute. Each strike dealt both physical and magical damage, and the blades retained the Defiant Sword's ability to convert one into the other seamlessly.
Their near-weightlessness, combined with Han Wu's current physical strength, allowed him to unleash hundreds of slashes in a single second. The Soul Shaver was a weapon designed for overwhelming a single target.
To test its power, Han Wu turned his attention to his swarm of locusts in the sky. Most of the airborne Locustmen suddenly received a pair of Soul Shavers. Han Wu then ordered them to dive into the angelic ranks.
The angels wielded both devastating ranged and melee attacks. In close combat, they favored greatswords forged from holy light. When the Locustmen rushed at them with twin blades, the angels met the charge head-on, eager to prove their superiority in battle.
They quickly realized their mistake.
The Locustmen didn't fight with skill or technique. They swung their blades with reckless abandon, without rhythm, precision, or form. Yet their sheer brute force made them terrifying. Despite lacking finesse, their strikes landed with overwhelming power.
Each angel had the strength of a High Lord, but even they couldn't withstand more than three of those savage blows. The Locustmen's Soul Shavers were simply too powerful. Each strike inflicted double damage and carried an attribute that guaranteed critical hits.
Overwhelmed, the angels were forced to fall back and resume their long-range tactics. The Locustmen didn't pursue with honor. Seeing their enemies retreat, they had no interest in fairness or pride. They activated Self-Detonate, taking countless angels down with them.
The Cherub felt a deep stab of grief. Too many had perished. He had no idea how he would explain this to his god. Still, it was far too late to turn back. They had no choice now. If they stopped, then every sacrifice up to this point would have meant nothing.
The Cherub turned to look at William. To him, every angel was a precious life, while the Holy Harpies were little more than disposable fodder. They quickly negotiated terms. In the end, he paid a steep price to convince William to send the Holy Harpies into a head-on assault against the swarm.
The skies erupted with chaos. Explosions from the locusts mingled with volleys of feathered arrows loosed by the Harpies. The harpies were nearly wiped out, but they succeeded in thinning the swarm.
The angels seized the opening and launched an assault on the base to occupy it. Unfortunately, they had not anticipated what waited for them inside.
A massive host of vampires stood ready.
The two races had been bitter enemies since ancient times. The vampires had suffered a crushing defeat long ago and had waited ever since for a chance to strike back. Their retaliation was nothing short of brutal.
The angels tried to resist, but Han Wu unleashed his Darkness Divine Skill: Eternal Night. Shadows swallowed the entire base. The angels, unable to see, were trapped in a nightmare, like lambs to the slaughter.
On the other hand, the vampires could see clearly. “Attack! Kill those bird bitches!”
Aslai had never felt so invigorated in battle. His bloodlust peaked as every cell pulsed with vitality. He killed regular angels with each blow and even stomped a Demigod Archangel before using his Divine Skill to drain his blood and turn him into a dry husk.
Even the mighty Cherub almost fell to his strikes. Aslai managed to tear off one of the Cherub's wings before the latter escaped. With that single clash, the vampires had turned the tide of battle in their favor.
Watching the Cherub retreat, William understood the fight was lost. He ordered the Holy Harpies to withdraw at once, then instructed the remaining fodder troops to cover their escape.
Aslai knew it would be reckless to pursue. He stayed behind and ordered the vampires to slaughter the fodder instead. Their blood could help the vampires recover from their wounds, and their corpses could be offered at the altar in the base to summon more Dark Beings for future use as expendable troops.
The angels had left behind a trove of treasures in their haste to flee or in death. Aslai had no intention of handing any of it over to the Darkness faction's higher-ups. He gathered everything himself and gave it all to Han Wu.
The angels were wealthy, and their possessions held tremendous value. Along with the eight pieces of God equipment Aslai had gathered from the battlefield, he also gave Han Wu the torn wing from the Cherub's back. Though only one, the wing was still the limb of a God. That alone made it priceless.
Han Wu accepted the offerings with gratitude, treating them as compensation for the immense sacrifice of his locust army. He had already lost 300 billion locusts in this battle.
With the angels routed, victory on this battlefront now firmly belonged to the Darkness faction. As long as Aslai made the right decisions, and the Light faction didn't send another high-level combatant, the Darkness faction would maintain control of the region.
Still, this battlefield was only a small corner of the larger war between the God King of Light and the God King of Darkness. Aslai's victory here barely tipped the scales in that greater war.
Han Wu had earned this victory almost entirely on his own, yet the main base had offered nothing more than praise and military merit. No Major God had come to thank him in person. Still, he didn't care. He hadn't come for accolades. He was there to refine his Divine Skills. Helping the base win was just a bonus.
His next journey would demand every ounce of his willpower. He was preparing to accept the Hell Invitation and step into the Hell Civilization, where he would ascend into a God!