Chapter 263: Chapter 256: Black Tortoise Shield + Royal Hegemony = Invincible

’The resources and capabilities of a King-level Wandering Ship are truly remarkable.’

’To have figured out the Moonlight Ripple Beast’s skills and weaknesses so accurately, just from intel gathered over a few encounters... It’s nearly identical to what my Eye of the World discovered. To manage that level of detail without an Eye of the World is truly impressive.’

They had run through the battle plan against the Moonlight Ripple Beast no fewer than ten times.

This was the highest-level S-rank sea beast he had ever faced in battle. He couldn’t afford to be careless.

...

...

...

A gentle breeze stirred ripples across the moonlit sea.

The Kunwu had departed from the Beidou Star. With an attack buff active, Shi Ming and Rong Bing carried the Dubhe Starlight into the Moonlight Ripple Beast’s territory, posing as lost wanderers to serve as bait.

Evidently, the Moonlight Ripple Beast was not particularly patient.

A mere four or five minutes passed before Shi Ming felt a peculiar rhythm from the depths of the sea!

"It’s coming!"

"Be careful!"

Like a dewdrop falling on still water, the moon’s reflection on the sea began to ripple and sway.

A silver-white object emerged from within the moon’s reflection. The object was abstract and twisted. In an instant, it burst from the water, revealing a bizarre sea beast seven to eight meters tall and about ten meters long. It resembled a qilin from legend, but it was covered in gleaming white, fish-like scales and had a thick, long tail. It floated in the air just above the sea’s surface!

ROAR—

CLANG—

’Villains always die to their own grand entrances!’

Shi Ming’s brow rose. He struck instantly. Using his left arm as a scabbard, he drew his sword, Dahan. A bone-chilling cold rose from the Kunwu blade as an arc as brilliant as moonlight sliced across the water. In a flash, a vast expanse of the sea froze into a silver-white sheet of ice!

’Cutting off the source!’

’Reflections? Gone.’

’Without reflections, how can you use your abilities?’

This was the tactic Shi Ming and Rong Bing had devised before the battle: cut off the source of the Moonlight Ripple Beast’s power, rendering its abilities useless!

"Kill!"

The two shot out of the ship’s cabin like lightning.

The Dahan in Shi Ming’s hand shone like moonlight, while Rong Bing’s Kunwu Heaven-Opening was like the legendary Dayu Divine Axe. The tyrannical power of S-rank Awakened flooded out in all directions.

In that instant, a cold, killing intent filled the air between sea and sky!

Shi Ming didn’t use Descent of the Titan or Ragnarok. Ragnarok was a hidden trump card he hadn’t revealed, and since it wouldn’t help in this fight, there was no need to show it. As for Descent of the Titan, it had states like Radiant Body, which would turn him into pure light, making him unable to use other skills. Since it didn’t grant immunity to Eclipse Moon Image, rolling that state in this fight would do more harm than good.

’If it could be solved with sheer power, there was no need to waste abilities.’

The Silver-White Sea Beast roared at the sky. Its body shot upward, evading their attack with speed that matched their own. Then, with the force of a falling moon, it dove from mid-air. BAM! It smashed into the ice. As the ten-meter-thick sheet shattered, the beast dissolved into the ripples of moonlight, dodging Shi Ming and Rong Bing’s follow-up strikes!

Its strength was also immense.

A mere physical charge was enough to shatter the ice.

ROAR~

Now that it could cast a shadow again, the Moonlight Ripple Beast’s entire body became indistinct and blurry, as if condensed from moonlight. Its body then swelled, expanding layer by layer until it reached a full thirty meters in length. The tyrannical pressure was like the moon itself descending upon the sea, momentarily flooding Shi Ming’s vision with white! Because of the enormous size difference, Shi Ming and Rong Bing looked like two tiny insects harassing a behemoth.

"Careful! It can get even bigger! This is how the *Dawn* was swallowed whole!"

"It’s less agile now, it won’t be able to swallow us. I’ll draw its attention! Battalion Commander, use the opportunity to strike with Kunwu Heaven-Opening and cleave this thing’s head open!"

"Right!"

Shi Ming and Rong Bing split up. Shi Ming circled around to the front of the Moonlight Ripple Beast, taunting the Silver-White Sea Beast head-on. Meanwhile, Rong Bing, wielding Kunwu Heaven-Opening, activated his skill ’Forced Flow State’ and calmly searched for an opening to land a fatal blow.

BOOM!

After dozens of exchanges, neither side had gained a significant advantage.

The Moonlight Ripple Beast had grown impatient with these two ’insects.’ Its aura flared violently once more, and a trace of crimson began to seep from its silver-white body. Its massive tail whipped around with surprising flexibility, striking Shi Ming with tremendous force.

Shi Ming did not dodge.

Black Tortoise Shield!

The Moonlight Ripple Beast cried out in pain, its body twitching involuntarily.

Rong Bing, deep in his Forced Flow State, seized the opportunity. He channeled the Awakened power of the Hegemon Bo into his Heaven-Opening Axe. In an instant, like the great Da Yu cleaving mountains, he unleashed a devastating attack with enough power to shatter the very heavens and break any bonds!

Royal Hegemony!

Shi Ming zipped out of the way. With a slash of his blade, Dahan, he once again froze the deep sea beneath the Moonlight Ripple Beast.

’No reflection. Let’s see you try to escape or revive now.’

BOOM!

Rong Bing, less than two meters tall, was like a mere pebble compared to the beast that was dozens of meters long. As his great axe struck the Moonlight Ripple Beast’s ten-meter-wide head, there was no earth-shattering boom. Instead, a nearly inaudible CRACK echoed as a black fissure appeared on its skull.

It was like porcelain shattering, like a mountain of jade crumbling to dust.

CRASH! The fissure spread like a web of cracks breaking through a shell, racing across the Moonlight Ripple Beast’s silver-white body!

’As expected of the peerless weapon that allowed Rong Bing to slay a Hegemon Bo back when he was only A-rank! Absolutely terrifying!’

ROAR...

The Moonlight Ripple Beast let out a piercing shriek. Shi Ming seized the opening, immediately following up with a strike from his ’Third Law’—an attack of absolute zero’s ultimate cold.

’Finish it while it’s weak.’

The Moonlight Ripple Beast’s silver-white scales suddenly turned blood-red, like a rising Blood Moon. Then it plummeted from the sky and crashed onto the ice. It twitched a few times and then lay motionless.

’Is it dead?’

’No!’

The Moonlight Ripple Beast’s body, now blood-red instead of silver-white, no longer radiated pure moonlight. Instead, like a common beast, it cast a black Shadow on the ice under the moon’s glow.

’A black Shadow is still a Shadow!’

’No wonder it only appears on moonlit nights. One way or another, it always has a Shadow.’

The ice beneath the Moonlight Ripple Beast’s Shadow exploded. A black beast burst from the sea, roaring at the sky. The moonlight beneath the shattered ice rapidly dimmed as an eerie Lunar Eclipse Power began to descend. Through the cracks, Shi Ming could clearly see the reflection of the moon in the water being devoured, bite by bite, vanishing at an incredible speed.

S-rank skill, Eclipse Moon Image!

Shi Ming felt as if he himself were the moon, being devoured bite by bite by a mythical sky-hound.

Rong Bing also realized that this sea beast was far stronger than the last time they had encountered it.

Three,

Two,

One!

As the lunar eclipse descended, both men activated their skills again.

Black Tortoise Shield!

Royal Hegemony!

The powers of two S-rank sea beasts, both ranked higher than the Moonlight Ripple Beast, descended upon the sea at once. The Black Tortoise manifested, and the Hegemon Bo was reborn—relentless and unstoppable. The 50% ability reflection sent the Eclipse Moon Image back at its caster, causing the Moonlight Ripple Beast’s Physical Strength to instantly drop by half. At the same time, Rong Bing, now with a 300% stat boost, leaped high into the air and brought his Heaven-Opening Axe down on the reborn black Moonlight Ripple Beast.

One for each of them!

They split up!

Under the effects of Absolute Zero, the blood-red Ripple Beast still lying on the ice was frozen solid.

And under the might of Kunwu Heaven-Opening, the black Ripple Beast, already drained of half its Physical Strength from the backlash, had its head cleaved in two.

A monstrous wave of water and shattered ice surged skyward, engulfing the corpses of both beasts. It was then flash-frozen in mid-air by the Extreme Cold Power, snuffing out any remaining life. The black shadow clone vanished. The blood-red beast reverted to its silver-white form, trapped within the ice, thoroughly and utterly dead.

Hahhh—

Rong Bing landed on the deck of the Kunwu. He had activated Kunwu Heaven-Opening and unleashed Royal Hegemony twice in a row, and the toll on his Physical Strength was immense.

Shi Ming landed on a large ice floe, taking a moment to catch his breath.

He blinked, and familiar text materialized before his eyes.

[Epic-level coordination!]

[The 35th-ranked Moonlight Ripple Beast has fallen. But don’t celebrate just yet. The Eye of the World never appears for a celebration! It’s here with a ’friendly’ reminder: a new crisis has already arrived unnoticed. You were so focused on the battle, you failed to realize it at all!]

’A new crisis?’

Shi Ming’s guard went up.

It was natural to be completely focused during a fight with an S-rank sea beast. But now, prompted by the Eye of the World, Shi Ming finally noticed that the communicator he had stowed away had been beeping repeatedly. It was an alert from the Beidou Star, thirty nautical miles away!

[Warning! The Beidou Star has detected an unidentified Wandering Ship approaching.]

"We have hostiles!"

As soon as Shi Ming shouted the warning, a black Wandering Ship emerged from the shadows under the stark moonlight. A regal, Empress-like figure stood at the most prominent spot on its deck. She wore a snow-white cape and a jeweled crown. Behind her stood a dozen female Awakened, poised for battle, all bearing distinct Big Ivan-like features.

A General-class Wandering Ship: Moon Shadow.

Endless serpentine shadows writhed within the turquoise waves, hissing incessantly.

"Rong Bing of Kunwu,"

"And you... Shi Ming?"

When her gaze fell upon Shi Ming, a cold hatred filled the woman’s eyes.

It seemed there was a deep, irreconcilable grudge between her and Shi Ming.

"Although you helped me kill this sea beast, today, you will join it in eternal sleep beneath the moon’s shadow."

???

Shi Ming used Dahan to support himself as he stood up.

’Seriously, lady? You put on some random crown and think you’re a real empress? What back alley did you crawl out of, looking at me like that? Do I know you?’

’Do you really think you’re the fisherman who gets the prize after the snipe and the clam wear each other out?’

’You’ve got a lot of nerve.’