Trump Cards

While they were still debating, the green dog let out another piercing, grating shriek.

Its body vanished from where it stood and shot toward Wells, who had lost his Gene Armament.

A chill surged up from deep within Wells. There was no time to think — he dissolved into a streak of light and disappeared.

At the same moment, he pulled out a backup Gene Armament and equipped it.

It was a spare. Gene Armaments getting damaged in battle wasn't especially rare, and a Battle Emperor who had cultivated for tens of thousands of years would naturally have accumulated a fair number of trump cards — keeping multiple sets of Gene Armaments was perfectly normal.

With the new Gene Armament in place, his power surged once more, and the spectral image of a great lion behind him let out a commanding roar directed at the green dog.

The green dog stuttered for just an instant. Adams didn't let the opening go to waste — purple light flashed through his eyes, and strand after strand of Tianrao Purple Vine materialized in the void, coiling around the creature to bind it.

But before the green dog had even moved, the vines were eaten away by the green mist surrounding it, dissolving quickly into green slime that dripped to the ground.

Adams's expression darkened. "The green mist around it is too corrosive. Binding it is nearly impossible."

Rather than using summoning-type Combat Techniques as she had before, Ge Hong channeled power through her Staff. The crimson gemstone atop it blazed with dazzling light, and a golden fireball appeared, radiant as the sun itself. The temperature spiked instantly. She swept her Staff forward, and the solar fireball streaked like a comet toward the green dog.

But the green dog was too fast — it vanished before the fireball could connect. The golden sphere slammed into the ground and detonated with a thunderous boom. The earth shook, searing golden flames cascaded outward, the soil melting into magma, and a region spanning hundreds of kilometers was transformed into a hellish sea of fire.

The others glanced at the inferno, their expressions grim.

Adams sent a mental transmission: "This won't work. We can't keep fighting on Great Qi Star's surface. If we continue like this, forget the other empires — the Lion Empire alone will be left in ruins."

The other three had no objections. Bie Yuan's aged face twitched, and he let out a slow sigh. "Since we can't leave, we'll have to fight while pushing toward space... I only hope the other empires' Battle Emperors get here quickly."

"Don't worry. Aside from the message I've already sent, a commotion this size — every powerful warrior on Great Qi Star must have sensed it. Anyone who isn't a fool will come at once."

Ge Hong said calmly.

The other three nodded. Wells took the lead, shooting upward toward the stars, and the others followed close behind.

The green dog raised its head and watched the four retreating skyward. Its green eyes shifted, and a cunning, cold gleam surfaced within them.

Rather than giving chase, it turned into a streak of light and shot off in the opposite direction.

The color drained from all four Battle Emperors' faces. They could clearly sense a dense concentration of auras in that direction — the direction of a city.

"That creature! It's trying to use the civilians as leverage?!"

Wells's expression was thunderous.

"This Aberration Feral Beast is despicable. It's this powerful and it still stoops to tactics like this."

Adams was no less furious.

But since their goal was to hold the creature down as long as possible, they had no choice but to give chase.

Just as the four were closing in, the green dog vanished in the distance. Behind Bie Yuan, space twisted — and a vicious claw lunged out, punching clean through his white protective barrier and white robes, impaling his body.

His eyes went wide. He coughed up a mouthful of blood that stained his white beard crimson, his face draining of color. Then his body dissolved into a flash of white light just as the green dog's claw erupted with a burst of corrosive mist, and he was gone.

He reappeared almost instantly behind Wells, a gaping wound through his chest, his aura weakened. He hurriedly pulled out a golden vial and drank it, then laboriously raised his Staff and enveloped himself in white light.

Within moments, tendrils of green smoke rose from the wound — then flesh writhed and knitted itself back together with startling speed.

The attack had gravely injured Bie Yuan, but failed to kill him.

Even so, ice shot through the other three.

Wells let out a low growl. Gold light blazed across his body, and he became a blur of afterimages, his greatsword cleaving at a section of space.

A sharp claw reached out, aiming for Bie Yuan's head — still weakened from recovery. Greatsword and claw met with a resounding clash.

The impact sent Wells hurtling backward, blood spilling from his mouth, but he'd barely managed to deflect the blow.

The green dog's body materialized. Bie Yuan seized the moment and vanished again, narrowly escaping yet another death blow.

Simultaneously, Adams condensed a volley of purple-gold spears before him, and together with Ge Hong's golden fireballs, launched them at the green dog.

The green dog let out a grating screech, vanished, and charged at Bie Yuan again.

Wells was in no condition to block another strike. The green dog's claw swept through Bie Yuan's body, tearing him apart.

But the shredded form shed no blood — it simply dissolved into white light and vanished.

The green dog sniffed at the air, then disappeared again. It reappeared several hundred meters away and slashed its claw into empty space.

**Clang!!**

A metallic crash rang out. Space rippled, and Bie Yuan came tumbling out, slamming hard into the ground with a thunderous impact.

In his hand, an iron-gray Talisman shattered. Even with its protection, a wound still split open across his body, and he coughed blood.

Still coughing, he pulled out another Talisman, activated it, and vanished.

The instant he disappeared, a claw plunged into where he'd been standing, driving into the ground as though it were soft tofu.

Bie Yuan reappeared in the air. His face was deathly pale, a trace of despair flickering in his eyes, and he roared through mental transmission:

"My life-saving trump cards are almost gone — think of something fast! Without my buffs and healing, do you honestly think the rest of you will survive?!"

Adams, Ge Hong, and Wells all understood perfectly well.

Adams grimaced — the look of a man paying a price he'd rather not. He drew out a black stone and fired a beam of black light at the green dog.

Black threads instantly coiled around the creature, binding it.

"Attack now!!"

The moment the green dog was bound, the other three knew exactly what to do.

Ge Hong rapidly condensed three golden fireballs in succession. Golden sword-light blazed along Wells's greatsword. Bie Yuan drew a small golden battle axe and poured Spirit Power into it — the axe vanished, reappearing directly before the green dog.

In the same instant, all three attacks converged on it.

**Boom! Boom! Boom!!**

A series of explosions rocked the sky. The shockwaves were catastrophic — even though the battle raged in the air, the resulting storms and tremors on the ground felt like the end of the world. Regions over a hundred thousand kilometers away shook faintly, and the residents of nearby cities stared at the distant flashes with terror-stricken faces.

But to the horror of all four Battle Emperors, a green light shield had materialized around the green dog. Every attack crashed against it — and only fine hairline cracks appeared. The shield didn't even shatter.

*Hisss...*

A sizzling sound rose as wisps of acrid smoke curled from the black threads binding the creature. Before long, they were eaten through by corrosion, and the green dog broke free. When the four Battle Emperors met those cunning, frigid eyes, their scalps went numb.

"Scatter!"

A sudden dread seized Bie Yuan. He saw no movement from the green dog — then, without warning, his face went white. Agonizing pain tore through every inch of his body, and he coughed up mouthfuls of blood. Then, to the horror of the other three, Bie Yuan's body began to dissolve — eaten away by unseen corrosion — until he crumpled into a pool of green slime.

The green dog opened its maw and inhaled. The slime was drawn in, and Adams and the others felt it immediately — the creature's aura had grown noticeably stronger.

That surge sent a chill through all three of them. Wells's voice came out rough: "This thing... it can devour others to grow stronger? And this still isn't its limit?"

The other two looked no better, their eyes locked on the creature.

The green dog's power had now reached, or was near, Battle Saint level. If this still wasn't its ceiling, where was the ceiling?

*Surely it couldn't reach War God level... could it?*

If it truly reached War God level, it wouldn't just be Great Qi Star — the entire White Cloud Star Domain would face catastrophe.

That thought left all three of them dry-mouthed.

But the White Cloud Star Domain was the least of their immediate concerns. They couldn't kill this creature — they could barely wound it.

All three of them were likely to die here.

The green dog's voice — sharp as a nail dragged across glass — rang out again: "Hehe~ not a bad taste."

Ice filled their hearts as they stared warily at it.

At that moment, space tore open and eight figures of overwhelming aura stepped through — among them Si Qi and Li Xinghai.

They took in the devastation below, then looked at the three Battle Emperors' ashen faces. A tremor went through the newcomers.

All eyes turned to the green dog on one side, and everyone understood at a glance that this opponent would be no easy fight.

The sight of reinforcements briefly lifted the spirits of Wells and the others — but only briefly. Their expressions remained grim.

"You're here."

Wells sent a mental transmission: "This creature is terrifying. It's likely reached Battle Saint level, and it can grow stronger by devouring."

At that, Si Qi and the others flinched, shock flashing across their faces.

"Battle Saint..."

Si Qi transmitted back: "Why are there only three of you? Where are Bie Yuan and Ku Qi?"

Wells's mouth twisted. "...Dead. Ku Qi was probably eaten the moment he encountered it. Bie Yuan just died."

That silenced all eight of the newly arrived Battle Emperors — Li Xinghai and Si Qi included. Their expressions turned grave. All heads turned toward the green dog, which had fixed its gaze on the new arrivals with cunning, unsettling eyes, withholding its attack for now.

Wells continued through the mental link:

"The green mist it releases is intensely corrosive — it'll eat through even Emperor Grade Gene Armaments on contact. It appears to have spatial abilities as well, and its speed is extraordinary. Its defensive capability is formidable — the trump cards we used earlier couldn't even crack its defensive light shield. And its claws may carry a lethal toxin. Bie Yuan died suddenly after sustaining a wound, and my best guess is poison — though I can't be certain. Other possibilities can't be ruled out."

Hearing this, every face in the group went dark. *This thing is practically omnipotent.*

Something occurred to Li Xinghai. A pained, solemn look came over his face as he transmitted: "I have a Spirit Sword Talisman — a Saint Grade Talisman that delivers a Saint-level mental attack. But I need someone to hold it down first, otherwise there's no guarantee it'll land."

Hope flickered across the others' faces.

Just then, Li Xinghai continued: "Don't get excited yet—"

Before he could finish, the green dog — which had been watching the newcomers warily — suddenly let out a shriek. A stabbing pain lanced through everyone's minds. Then the creature vanished, reappearing beside a blue-robed, blue-haired middle-aged man, and spewed a beam of green light at him.

The terrifying beam sent a wave of cold through the man before it pierced clean through his body — but the impaled form dissolved instantly into water vapor. He reappeared a hundred meters away, still wearing the expression of someone who had narrowly escaped death.

Li Xinghai's voice came low and urgent through the mental link: "Don't celebrate just yet! It may well have defenses against mental attacks. Whatever Saint-level offensive trump cards any of you have — bring them all out! We need to guarantee a kill! Behind us is all of Great Qi Star!"

At those words, several of the Battle Emperors exchanged glances, visible reluctance etched across their faces.

Warriors who had reached Battle Emperor rank and accumulated power over tens of thousands of years always had trump cards in reserve — whether escape options or game-reversing strikes, they had plenty of both. That was precisely why Bie Yuan had managed to hold out so long against a Saint-level Aberration Feral Beast. Of course, Aberration Feral Beasts couldn't use Gene Armaments, Talismans, or gene-enhancing potions — they lacked the cultivated trump cards that human warriors accumulated, and that too had played its part.

Even so, a Saint-level Aberration Feral Beast without access to special trump cards was still Saint-level. Without deploying the accumulated reserves of the Battle Emperors, killing it would be nearly impossible.

They all understood this now.

Adams in particular — the Shadow Domain Lock he had used earlier was itself a Saint Grade Talisman. Without it, there would have been no hope of binding the green dog at all.

"Alright! Everyone use them together — don't give it a chance to retaliate!"

"This is for Great Qi Star. No holding back."

The Battle Emperors spoke up one after another.