A person cannot fall twice in the same place.
At least, that was what Aphrodite used to believe.
But now, staring at Alice floating beside him, Aphrodite only felt his face burning hot—this slap in the face came fast and hard.
He had anticipated that this monster would chase after him and even mentally prepared himself, subconsciously choosing the more advantageous route during the recent escape.
But he never expected Alice to fall so quickly!
She lay down more perfectly and peacefully than last time!
It seemed that relying on this “bodyguard” was utterly pointless.
That bastard Elia was really unreliable too; if given the chance, he’d make sure to get his revenge.
Make her understand what the wrath of the demon race truly meant.
Provided—he could survive this time.
“How come not a single one I work with is reliable!” Aphrodite cursed under his breath, yet didn’t dare to pause for even a moment.
Invisible forces supported Alice as Aphrodite darted swiftly through the ruined forest.
Thanks to the Saintly Spell energy replenished earlier in the tunnel, his partially restored vision, and the “valuable experience” of running for his life last time, this escape… surprisingly felt somewhat “natural.”
Hah, even running away could earn experience points—there was really no one like him!
However, this “natural” feeling was soon shattered by a painfully realistic and awkward problem—his damned skirt hem, torn so badly it rivaled a miniskirt!
A gust of wind blew unimpeded from below, making the outside of his thigh scream.
With every large stride or jump, the pitiful fabric flared up like rebellious curtains, desperately trying to roll upward and expose his fair skin.
He had to run frantically while fumbling to pull down the “unruly curtains” to avoid a wardrobe malfunction.
“Damn it! This lousy rag!” Aphrodite muttered quietly, “I should have torn Alice’s instead! She’s unconscious and can’t fight back anyway!”
As soon as this thought crossed his mind, he glanced at the floating Alice beside him and silently added, “…Forget it. If she wakes up, she’d probably want to kill me.”
“Clang!” A slick tentacle brushed past the skirt he had just pressed down.
“Focus! Focus!” Aphrodite chanted to himself, awkwardly sidestepping the attack, nearly tripping over a protruding tree root!
Though this time he was no longer as clumsy as before, the damned “miniskirt experience” seriously hindered his fluidity.
He could only use fallen trees and curling mounds of earth as cover, constantly changing direction.
The monster’s slimy tentacle attacks missed repeatedly, slamming into the ground and splattering mud and corrosive slime—thankfully, the monster’s poor aim spared his “new skirt” from more holes.
Still, running like this wasn’t a long-term solution.
His stamina would run out, his strength would wane, while the monster, nourished by the dense Corruption energy from the Core Sphere, seemed inexhaustible, its attacks growing fiercer.
“I have to fight back!” Aphrodite’s eyes sharpened as he pressed down his skirt.
His mind involuntarily recalled the attempt to channel Saintly Spell energy back in the tunnel.
Though he couldn’t precisely control it or cast any full Saintly Spells, he could at least gather the energy simply and shoot it out like throwing a stone!
With that thought, Aphrodite immediately took action.
After narrowly dodging a sweeping tentacle and saving his skirt from another rise, he suddenly spun around.
His left hand maintained the force lifting Alice, while his right palm faced upward, rapidly condensing a dim platinum-colored orb of light!
“Go!” he ordered lowly, swinging his arm with force.
The large movement made the skirt flare up again, but he quickly pressed it down.
Whoosh—
The light orb traced a not-so-fast arc and struck a pursuing tentacle precisely!
“Sizzle—!”
Like cold water poured on a red-hot iron, a harsh corrosive sound rose with white smoke.
The struck tentacle instantly blackened, convulsing violently before retracting, and the monster emitted a scream mixed with pain and rage!
Effective!
Though the damage was limited and nowhere near enough to seriously wound the thick-skinned monster, it at least disrupted it, caused pain, and slowed it down!
“Again!” Aphrodite continued circling the Core Sphere, repeatedly condensing and firing Saintly Spell light orbs.
No longer pursuing power, he focused on frequency and accuracy, aiming at the tips of attacking tentacles or the writhing grotesque mouths on its body.
For a moment, the constant “sizzle” of corrosion and furious monster howls created a chaotic scene.
Aphrodite moved quickly, clutching his skirt while shooting, actually buying quite some time and keeping the monster at bay.
Seizing this precious breather, his mind raced.
This couldn’t go on forever; Saintly Spell energy depleted fast.
He had to find a way to completely defeat this monster!
His gaze involuntarily scanned the writhing black Core Sphere.
This thing… emitted such enormous Corruption energy, and… that power originally came from himself!
A bold idea flashed through his mind like lightning.
Since he could previously channel residual Saintly Spell energy in the tunnel to aid healing… then, what about this vast Corruption energy? Could he… borrow it?!
Without hesitation, after pushing back another tentacle with a light orb, Aphrodite attempted to divert some of his focus and guide the Corruption energy seeping like a tide from the Core Sphere.
Hum—
A cold, viscous yet strangely familiar and intimate power responded like a trickling stream, slowly and obediently gathering by his side, wrapping around his fingertips!
He succeeded! It really worked!
Aphrodite’s eyes gleamed with wild joy as he tried mixing the drawn Corruption energy with the residual Saintly Spell power in his body, condensing it again into a light orb and firing it out!
This time, the orb was no longer purely platinum; it was wrapped in a faint, almost invisible black aura!
When the orb struck a tentacle, the effect was drastically different.
Not only did it produce a louder sizzle, leaving a larger scorched area, but the tentacle convulsed as if corroded by some force, pulling back violently.
The monster itself let out an even more agonized roar!
Power increased! And it seemed to carry… corrosive and invasive properties?
This mixed power… had potential!
Though the mixed orb still couldn’t severely wound the monster, Aphrodite’s mind was now crystal clear!
A definite solution instantly took shape!
There was a way!
With this daring thought, Aphrodite stopped merely dodging and began playing a deadly game of “hide and seek” around the massive black Core Sphere with the furious tentacle monster.
He deftly weaved and evaded, occasionally firing light orbs infused with faint Corruption and Saintly Spell power, precisely hitting the monster’s most sensitive grotesque mouths or tentacle bases.
Between every dodge and counterattack, his left hand remained busy.
His fingertips quietly gathered traces of Corruption energy drawn from the Core Sphere, invisibly inscribing extremely small yet intricately structured rune bases on the muddy ground—these were the “containers” of the array, with Corruption as the base.
Then, at the moment each rune base was completed, he carefully infused Saintly Spell energy from his right hand into the center!
Upon contact, the Saintly Spell energy did not immediately repel or nullify the Corruption base.
Instead, it was skillfully wrapped and restrained by the pure Corruption energy.
For a brief moment, a delicate balance was achieved—a miniature trap array was quietly formed, based on Corruption with Saintly Spell as filler!
Once, twice, thrice…
Under the monster’s frantic pursuit, Aphrodite painstakingly laid seven such tiny Mixed Arrays on the ground surrounding the Core Sphere!
Though bending down to carve each caused silent protests from his skirt, everything went smoothly.
Upon completing the last array, Aphrodite came to a sudden halt, no longer running around the sphere.
He instinctively wanted to press down his skirt but stopped halfway—this was no time to care about that!
“Forget it, if I flash someone, so be it! Besides, no one here but that ugly freak is watching!”
Suppressing his embarrassment, Aphrodite dragged the floating Alice, leapt several times, and landed steadily at the center of the seven arrays!
As his skirt fluttered, he closed his eyes selectively—what you don’t see won’t upset you!
Taking a deep breath, Aphrodite locked his gaze on the relentless monster.
“Come on, try the big surprise I’ve prepared for you!”
This time, he didn’t shoot harmless light orbs.
Instead, he wildly gathered the remaining Saintly Spell energy in his body into the palm of his right hand, condensing it into a ball of light brighter and hotter than ever before!
“Fool! Look here!” Aphrodite shouted with full provocation, fiercely smashing the light ball into the largest grotesque mouth on the monster’s torso!
“Have a taste of this!”
“Roar—!!!”
The orb struck precisely into the monstrous mouth, exploding with dazzling light and a violent corrosive sound!
The monster unleashed an unprecedented roar!
It completely lost its mind.
The severed-neck tentacles flailed wildly, and its massive body charged recklessly toward Aphrodite standing in the array’s center with Alice floating beside him!
A huge shadow instantly enveloped Aphrodite and Alice!
Just as the slimy, grotesque-mouthed bulk was about to reach Aphrodite—
He suddenly looked up, and with every ounce of strength shouted the phrase he had long been building up:
“Ready to die for peeking under my skirt, you bastard!”
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