NOVEL WEB Chapter 707: Perils and Terrifying Weakness!
Once the Power of Star-Bone is depleted, facing a monster in this state, Sterl suspected that even the invincible golden code power wouldn't last long against it.
For a moment, Sterl found himself filled with regret, regretting that he had used all his soul power to strengthen himself instead of saving a portion as a backup.
However, using his powerful perception, he assessed the monster's burn rate. At the current speed, even if the monster kept burning for twenty minutes or more, it might not burn out entirely.
In that case, even if he had kept some soul power for himself, he doubted he could outlast the monster in terms of energy consumption.
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The battle was ongoing. Sterl used Dimension Perception to constantly look for the monster's weaknesses, while the monster, in turn, used its precognition to try to break Sterl's defense.
At this moment, neither side could overcome the other.
"No, there must be a way!"
Sterl threw all distracting thoughts from his mind. Right now, resolving this damned monster was the only thing that mattered. Any other thoughts were unnecessary.
He quickly began to think, searching for any sliver of hope. To conserve his Power of Star-Bone, he stopped attacking and focused solely on using his body to endure the black monster's relentless assaults.
Fortunately, the defense of his body, comparable to Stellar Crystal, didn't disappoint him. The monster's power, enough to destroy an entire layer of hell, struck his body, but most of it was absorbed by the complex Divine Marks covering his body. Some of the force was even reflected back, injuring the monster itself.
As for the remaining force, it was completely disregarded by his terrifying vitality.
"With this, my consumption drops significantly. Star-Bone Body can at least sustain for about thirty seconds," Sterl thought, breathing a slight sigh of relief.
He immediately began brainstorming solutions.
Seeing Sterl in this state, the monster intensified its attacks. It looked as if black rays were relentlessly pounding against his body.
But Sterl's vitality and regeneration, after being enhanced tenfold, were almost terrifying. If he had a health bar, the monster's attacks, after being absorbed by his defenses, didn't even manage to scratch the surface.
In other words, the damage from the monster wasn't even faster than his own recovery speed.
The problem, however, was that Power of Star-Bone was limited. If this continued, eventually he wouldn't be able to keep up.
"It's impossible! No matter how powerful those behind the scenes are, they can't plan everything to a hundred percent accuracy. There's always a chance!"
Sterl focused all his energy on activating his Dimension Perception ability, a skill that allowed him to foresee potential dangers and opportunities. Now, he was using it to find that last sliver of hope!
Within moments, Sterl's eyes flickered with a sharp gleam.
Through the power of Dimension Perception, he had successfully located that glimmer of life—though it still held considerable risk.
The opportunity lay in gathering all the Power of Star-Bone to unleash his most powerful strike, instantly obliterating the monster, breaking through the space, and using the [Tanscendence] system's authority to return to the Alpha 8 world.
The mysterious forces behind this attack had indeed accounted for his Star-Bone Body ability, catching him off guard. However, no matter how they tried to plan, they could never have predicted that his strength would increase again so quickly, in such a short time!
To them, it must have seemed like he was still at the same power level as when he initially activated Star-Bone Body. But in reality, his overall strength had grown by at least fifty percent!
And that... was the key to breaking free from this targeted assault.
But the risk was clear. If he failed to break through, with the Power of Star-Bone exhausted, he would be at the mercy of the enemy, trampled and slaughtered without resistance.
But Sterl didn't hesitate for long.
True strength was never born from indecision. Since this was the only way forward, any hesitation would only create more danger for himself.
So...
Sterl took a deep breath, his eyes turning fierce as he faced the massive black monster in front of him.
"Bring it on! With all my power! I'll smash through everything!!"
His thoughts surged, and he began wildly compressing and condensing all the Power of Star-Bone within him. Not only that, but his soul energy and vitality also surged, flowing into his body to fuel the Fission process.
That's right, this was the way to form Annihilation Realm King's Fist, and what Sterl needed to do now was to use Star-Bone Body to fuel it, unleashing his true, strongest power, giving everything to crush it all!
In an instant, his internal organs were overwhelmed by the frenzy of power, and the overwhelming aura he emitted enveloped the entire space, making the very air around him tremble.
The black monster before him paused. Though it was just an energy body, it seemed to react with a sense of surprise.
This only made Sterl even more certain. The entities behind the scenes were controlling this energy body and were carefully observing his every move.
At the same time, Sterl was certain that his strike had completely exceeded the enemy's expectations, and it was more than enough to shatter the elaborate trap that had been set for him.
"Hahahaha! You can't stop me, you can't kill me! Hiding in the shadows, you trash, one day I'll drag you out of your dark little hole and crush you underfoot!"
With those words, Sterl could no longer hold back. As he gathered Annihilation Realm King's Fist while in Star-Bone Body state, he could feel a tremendous pressure even on his own vitality, as though a sun had been forcibly shoved into his body.
And now, the power of that sun had arrived!
A blinding light slowly rose from the ground, as if a singularity had exploded, and time itself came to a halt.
The monster before Sterl was at the forefront, letting out an enraged scream before being engulfed by this power, instantly consumed by it.
Even though the monster was an energy body made up of massive amounts of gray energy and countless materials, it couldn't withstand the pure destructive force. In the fraction of a second, its body was completely eroded away.
The remaining energy body quickly melted and vanished, disappearing at a visible rate.
Next, the power spread throughout the small space, and the space barriers enhanced by the gray energy collapsed in an instant. The entire space was torn to pieces and disappeared without a trace.
Sterl's body then reappeared in the Endless Void.
Glancing behind him, he saw a small bubble made of gray energy, similar to a sack, disintegrating and vanishing, releasing an invisible shockwave that radiated outward.
That was the small space that had swallowed him up. Not lingering, he immediately activated the code's power, vanishing in the blink of an eye.
At the very moment Sterl disappeared, a vast will suddenly descended upon the area, sweeping through several times.
Then, a calm voice echoed.
"He escaped after all. But no matter, the barrier has been broken, and everything will eventually be obliterated."
The voice reverberated throughout the area, shaking several nearby small worlds, before the will disappeared, as though it had never existed. The void then returned to stillness.
...
In the Alpha 8 world, in a remote wasteland, a spatial portal silently appeared, ejecting a figure.
"Cough cough... That was rough."However, as he looked at the familiar sky and breathed in the fresh air, Sterl felt an overwhelming sense of relief. It felt as though he had been in Hell for decades, despite only having entered it less than a month ago.
The effects of activating Annihilation Realm King's Fist under Star-Bone Body were indeed terrifying, but in that one instant, it drained all of his energy. The Power of Star-Bone was completely consumed, and as a result, he fell into a state of extreme weakness.
And finally, Sterl understood what the so-called "weakness state" truly entailed.
[Due to the influence of an unknown force, you have entered a state of weakness. All attributes are reduced by 90%, energy is reduced by 99%, recovery ability is reduced by 99%, and your mental state is clouded. There is a 50% chance of failure when activating abilities. (Weakness state will last for 23:59:58)]
Looking at the Tanscendence system's notification, Sterl couldn't help but feel a sense of dread. The weakness from exhausting Power of Star-Bone could not even be described as terrifying—it was downright disastrous!
To put himself in that position, if he had fallen into such a state during battle, it would have been the same as committing suicide.
With 90% of his attributes reduced, while he still had decent combat strength, the 99% reduction in energy and recovery abilities was incredibly alarming. He wouldn't have enough strength to sustain a fight.
Moreover, there was a 50% chance that any ability he tried to use would fail, and his mental cloudiness would lower his reaction speed and thinking ability.
After estimating a bit, he figured his combat power could only be equivalent to a typical weak Divine Power at best.
Additionally, the impact from the destruction of that small space had caused injuries to his body, leaving him with considerable damage.
But at least, he was finally back in the Alpha 8 world.
Compared to the dangers of Hell, this place felt like paradise. Even in his weakened state, he didn't need to worry about powerful enemies coming for him.
Lying on the ground, he took his time recovering, finally getting up and looking at his disheveled appearance, shaking his head in resignation.
"Guess I'll just wait for the weakness state to end…"
Sterl muttered to himself, then lay back down. His journey to Hell had certainly placed a lot of pressure on him, and for now, all he wanted to do was relax and rest.
Sterl rolled twice on the ground and lay flat on the grass, breathing heavily and feeling quite weak.