Chapter 329 - 288: You Hack, I Hack! War of the Cheaters

Although Flayer Du Ma was a powerhouse at the Seven-star Earth Military Rank, his soul had suffered a grievous wound in the Spiritual Domain after his battle with Sedon. His strength had plummeted to the peak of the Five-star Earth Military Rank, and it was still weakening.

At this moment, as it faced Reinhardt’s sky-rocketing Knightly Aura and the abrupt onset of its Destructive Suppression, Du Ma felt as if it had been plunged into the deep sea. An infinite, immense pressure crushed it from all directions!

Even the phantasmal space of the Eternal Battlefield began to distort under the weight of this incredible Mighty Power.

Within the gale formed by the Knightly Aura, the Flame of Blood Fury burned eternally, roaring toward the heavens!

Caught in the heart of it, Du Ma did not retreat a single step. It bellowed, the crimson fire in its eye sockets quaking violently as it slammed its Skinning Knife down, attempting to cut Reinhardt down by force.

"Worm, just die—!"

But the tremendous force transmitted through the blade not only halted its frontal assault, but the Slaughter Chains piercing Reinhardt’s mind also began to rumble violently in the Spiritual Domain before snapping, one after another!

It stared intently at Reinhardt, its heart filled with dread.

’Domain Power?!’

’This is impossible—! He’s just an ant...’

The next second, using the captured Skinning Knife as a fulcrum, Reinhardt’s body, propelled by the Micro-Aikacia Nozzle, launched his right foot upward like a cannon. It slammed viciously into Du Ma’s jaw, which was as solid as cast iron.

BANG—!

The terrifying impact rang out with the sound of colliding metal!

But even from a kick powerful enough to kill a Mixed-blood Dragonman Warrior, Du Ma only reeled, its neck snapping back as it staggered three steps backward.

Its heavy footfalls sounded like hammers striking the earth, chilling the soul!

However, this was only the true beginning of Reinhardt’s counterattack.

Before Du Ma could even regain its footing, Reinhardt appeared before it, hovering in the air like a Blood Sea Demon God.

The sharp, grating sound of metal screeched as the chain retracted at high speed.

As the Black Cutter returned to Reinhardt’s hand, the ridiculously oversized War Axe, wreathed in unparalleled Mighty Power, came crashing down toward Du Ma’s face!

In that instant, facing the Great Annihilation Domain, Du Ma felt a sliver of fear for the first time.

The source of this fear was stronger than the aura of terror bestowed by the Slaughter Death Arena! It was composed purely of Destructive Suppression, originating from Reinhardt and his newly awakened Domain Power!

Even worse, within Reinhardt’s Domain, Du Ma could clearly feel the dual pressure of the Destructive Suppression weighing down on both its Knight Power and its Demon Evil Power. When it tried to draw upon its own strength, the feedback was sluggish, arduous, and fatally slow!

If a Transcendent at or below the Four-star Earth Military Rank relied on Extraordinary Traits and combat experience to fight...

...then mastering Domain Power was more than just a simple boost to one’s stats or gaining a new Special Ability.

Even a nascent Domain Power offered all-encompassing suppression and destructive force against an enemy.

Before an expert who had mastered Domain Power, even someone as strong as a Four-star Earth Military Rank was no more than an ant in a jar, ready to be crushed with a single squeeze!

Flayer Du Ma had had countless opportunities to crush and execute Reinhardt. But its power stemmed from arrogance and cruelty, from a thirst for its enemies’ screams, and this had twisted and corrupted his knightly ideals.

And now, it would pay the price!

Reinhardt’s brutal flying kick against Du Ma was also a clash between the strengths of their Domains.

Clearly, the grievously wounded Du Ma, still staggering backward, had lost the clash of Domains.

The terrifying Black War Axe grew rapidly in the reflection of its eyes until it was a mere three finger-widths from the tip of its nose!

The instant it felt the real threat of defeat and death, Flayer Du Ma roared. Relying on the combat instincts of a thousand-year veteran, it violently twisted its body to evade the War Axe’s direct assault.

The Black War Axe scraped past its cheek and tore through its shoulder armor as if it were rotten wood.

Du Ma’s fury became tangible. Its Domain Trait—the Slaughter Chains—lashed out at Reinhardt as its right hand clamped down on the Black War Axe. It roared, "You’re courting death!"

The Great Annihilation Domain, born from his Destructive Suppression, covered Reinhardt’s body like a seething, bloody mantle, knocking aside the attacking Slaughter Chains.

Reinhardt once again used the axe haft as a fulcrum. The high-temperature energy stream from the Micro-Aikacia Nozzle burst forth with terrifying, sound-barrier-breaking thrust. His body spun at high speed in mid-air, his right leg whipping around like a steel rod to slam straight down on Du Ma’s skull!

At this moment, supported by his Great Annihilation Domain, Reinhardt’s strength broke through to the Five-star Earth Military Rank. With his power at its peak, his combat prowess was now on par with Du Ma’s; at times, he even exhibited a superior, overwhelming suppressive force!

With its Slaughterer Domain unable to breach Reinhardt’s Spiritual Domain, Du Ma could only meet this plain, unadorned kick head-on with its corrupted Demon body!

BOOM—!

Like a meteor striking the earth, Reinhardt’s whip-like kick smashed into Du Ma’s raised left arm. Its massive body sank violently, and a web of cracks spread wildly from beneath its feet. Even the ground itself trembled and roared, unable to bear such tyrannical power, augmented as it was by the Great Annihilation Domain!

Facing Reinhardt’s storm-like suppression with his Body Techniques, Du Ma, now completely enraged and frenzied, was like an out-of-control Dragon Beast. It roared, unwilling to accept defeat, the fury and hatred in its eyes so intense it looked as if it wanted to devour Reinhardt alive!

"You forced me to do this! You forced me! I didn’t want this... I really didn’t want this... You’re the one who forced my hand, Imperial Knight!"

As Du Ma raved like a lunatic, a subtle yet incomparably evil power descended from the far shores of the Eternal Battlefield and poured into its body!

It is not only the Emperor who bestows blessings upon His Angels.

In the Demon Void Realm, the home ground of traitors and Demons, their masters likewise bestowed blessings of Mighty Power upon their blasphemous creations!

Reinhardt’s combat strength had continuously evolved and grown throughout this deathmatch, and now, Du Ma’s weakened power also began to recover, its aura skyrocketing!

In fact, the blasphemous Mighty Power from the Slaughter Death Arena was not satisfied with just blessing Du Ma. It constantly probed at Reinhardt, trying to catch him off guard... or rather, to find a weakness in his mind, exploit the opening, and forcefully transform him into a Fear Knight.

Afterward, having recovered a portion of its strength and returned to the peak of the Five-star Earth Military Rank, Du Ma’s body began to mutate. More hard scales and spikes grew, its muscles and bones developed anew, and its already monstrously large body swelled rapidly like an inflating balloon.

It let out a furious roar. Its body sank slightly, and then its immense Physical Strength erupted with the terrifying force of a launching starship. It utterly pulverized the ground beneath its feet, grabbed Reinhardt’s body like a savage bull, and shot off like a cannonball. Generating a sonic boom as it tore through the air, it flew into the distance like a burning meteor!

「At that very moment.」

Zone One Front Command Post.

Fedor, the Battle Group Leader of the Red Flame Sons, was just about to issue an order to Nun Superior Eleonor when he looked up and saw the ’meteor’ that had suddenly streaked across the sky into his field of vision.

When Ash Guard Thinker Bach sensed the characteristics of this Knightly Aura, his expression changed dramatically!