Chapter417 – A Buddha

Damage to the soul manifested directly in the body. That was why Axel called it true damage. And it was the perfect counter to Isos’s so-called impenetrable defense.

“How… how is this possible…” For the first time that day—

Isos felt fear.

He stared at his arm, nearly cut off at the elbow. Pale purple flames licked along the exposed bone, refusing to extinguish.

Isos’s combat style was eerily similar to Terrence’s. Both relied on a form of blood sacrifice—trading their own health for explosive gains in power.

The difference? Isos’s defense was monstrous.

Where Terrence would collapse after overextending, Isos could withstand far more self-inflicted damage. The more punishment he absorbed, the higher his defensive stacks climbed. At full build, the damage he could unleash was enough to instantly kill an ordinary Level Six Awakener.

Once Axel grasped the general framework of Isos’s abilities, a plan formed. Since Isos’s defense scaled upward with accumulated damage, then the solution was simple—

First, grind down his health. Force him to stack. Force him to overcommit. And when his margin for error shrank to nothing—

Activate the Eye of Truth. End it with a fatal true strike.

“One more hit…” Axel licked his lips, a dark thrill rising in his chest.

Isos, unaware of the trap tightening around him, no longer dared to continue sacrificing health recklessly. He immediately activated Vajra Running, his speed surging violently as he evaded Axel’s blade.

At the same time, he twisted mid-stride. A series of compressed air detonations exploded around him—burst-mobility techniques layered one over another. He also sensed Lilith’s incoming Space Killing Blade and narrowly avoided that as well. Then—

Something like a mountain smashed into his back. His vision went white.

“Crack!” An accessory at his waist shattered.

“A life-saving item…” Axel observed coldly.

Isos had been sent crashing into the ground by the tail of the Swordscale Steel Lizard. He staggered upright.

The massive lizard was terrifying. Its body was steel-hard, and like most reptiles, it possessed rapid regenerative ability. The tail Isos had shattered earlier had regrown—shorter, thinner, its scales less dense, but functional.

And it was furious. But after Isos had blown off its tail, it made a decision. Kill the annoying human first.

“Cough… cough…” Isos spat out thick clots of blood.

He had been in Vajra Running form—pure speed, no defensive stacking. Taking a direct hit from a Level Six mutated beast in that state would have killed him outright if not for the shattered life-saving artifact that had provided emergency shielding and healing.

Even so, the impact had pushed his body to the brink. “Insects… you ants…” His breathing grew ragged. “If it weren’t for this damn place…”

“How could trash like you ever hurt me?” A manic grin split his bloodied face. “If that’s how it is… then let’s all die together!”

The moment those words left his mouth—

Axel felt it. A primal chill ran down his spine. The fine hairs on his arms stood on end.

It wasn’t fear of death. It was the instinctive tremor of a weaker lifeform sensing something vastly superior.

“What the hell is this…?” A faint golden radiance began to seep from Isos’s body.

Behind him, a phantom rose. A Buddha.

His shoulders and arms became shrouded in pale-gold spectral armor. He adopted an ancient stance—something between boxing and forgotten martial arts. As the posture settled—

The Buddha phantom solidified. Expanded. Grew.

Its form stretched skyward, vast and boundless, as though it were propping up heaven and earth. It towered above the canyon like a descending god.

.....

Northern Spiritual Town.

Zephyr jolted awake. His eyes snapped open as an inexplicable unease dragged him from sleep. When his vision focused, an old man stood beside his bed.

“Ancestor.” Zephyr immediately rose and bowed.

Zoltan—once a legendary figure who had broken through to Level Seven at the dawn of the Cataclysm. In the great war against the mutated beasts, his foundation had been damaged beyond repair. His cultivation stagnated. His life was sustained by sheer will.

He lingered on the brink of death. Guarding Silverwyn. One of Krythos’s final trump cards. He would not appear unless calamity loomed.

“Come,” Zoltan said, voice rasping like torn bellows. “To the city wall.”

In the next breath, the two vanished—and reappeared atop the northern ramparts.

Two other elderly patriarchs stood there, white-haired and decaying, their auras thin but vast. Beside them stood a middle-aged man with a steady, abyss-deep presence—a newly advanced Level Seven military expert.

All of them were staring north. Toward the mountains beyond the mutated beast horde.

Zephyr followed their gaze. In the distance—

A golden light pierced the snowstorm. It gathered. Condensed. Shaped itself into something vaguely humanoid.

“What… is that?” Zephyr’s voice dropped.

Was it a supreme human powerhouse? Or a mutated beast king?

“Alas…”

“Something terrible has happened…”

“It may be worse than that one…”

The elders sighed together. Zephyr’s unease deepened.

......

Elsewhere.

Within a dense forest, a pool of blood rippled unnaturally. A chilling laugh echoed from within it.

“Hahaha… it’s appeared?”

“The more chaotic the better… the more chaotic the better!”

“Hahahahaha!”

......

Farther north. Several human powerhouses turned, horror flashing across their faces.

“General Jerome, this—”

“Do not be distracted,” Jerome said calmly. “Finish that one first.”

Morris glanced back once more, gloom flickering in his eyes. Only Jerome continued forward through the blizzard, step by deliberate step.

The snow fell heavier. And within the howling wind, something new was born. Shock. And fury.

“What the hell is this…?” Axel stared at the man wrapped in blinding gold.

As the light intensified, Isos’s aura swelled at an insane rate. It wasn’t just powerful—it was overwhelming. Distant. Sacred. The kind of pressure that crushed you from the inside out and made you want to kneel without even understanding why.

The Swordscale Steel Lizard, feral and vicious moments ago, instantly dropped flat to the ground. Its massive body trembled, scales rattling as it submitted in pure instinctual terror.

“Boom—!” Not far away, the Mountain Ape collapsed to its knees as well, smashing the earth and sending up a wave of dust.

“This… I…” Lilith clenched her teeth so hard that blood seeped from the corner of her mouth. Even she felt her legs weakening. Her Overlord Blood boiled in resistance, but it wasn’t enough. From the depths of her mind rose a terrifying impulse—

Submit.

Surrender.

Bow.

Only Axel remained mostly upright.

The first surge of fear hit him hard—but then, from deep within his core, the Origin Tree erupted with unprecedented power. A steady, ancient force spread through his body, anchoring his will like roots piercing the earth.

The Heavenly Spirit Tree trembled with excitement, releasing waves of cool clarity that sharpened his consciousness. And that single drop of water—

It pulsed. It radiated its own will. It wasn’t dead. It wasn’t inert. It was suppressed—barely—by the Origin Tree. Three separate currents of energy surged through Axel, stabilizing him as he faced Isos head-on.

“Haha… you really are… really are interesting…” Isos’s voice quivered—not with fear, but with manic excitement. “Maybe… maybe I don’t have to die after all…”

In a single second, the details of his face shifted. Completely different.

Not a disguise—his very features had changed. At the same time, he raised a palm.

Behind him, the increasingly solid Buddha-Vajra phantom mirrored the motion, its colossal golden hand descending as if to seize Axel and crush him into nothing.

Axel didn’t flinch. He wasn’t suppressed—but the power difference was undeniable. What Isos was wielding now was far beyond Axel’s current level. And yet—

Axel’s eyes narrowed. Fine cracks. Tiny fissures were spreading across Isos’s skin.

“This power… his body can’t handle it.”

The Eye of Truth snapped open. What Axel saw was staggering—an immense, intricate energy network flooding Isos’s body. Vast. Complicated. Ancient. And violently unstable.

The golden energy clashed against Isos’s flesh. Against his Force. Against everything that made him human.