Chapter 333: Mountain Shatter Arrow
"Flood Dragon Deluge!"
The Five-Element Demon Trap activated the instant Liam’s chant faded. The Venomous Horned Serpent, caught completely off guard inside the formation, barely had time to react before the water-element phase descended upon it. Torrents of condensed water energy crashed down in three consecutive waves, each impact striking with crushing force.
-5000, -4000, -3000.
Red damage numbers erupted above the serpent’s head as twelve thousand health vanished almost instantly.
Before the creature could even recover, the trap’s secondary damage began grinding away at it.
-1500, -1800, -2000, -1200, -2100.
During the five-second elemental cycle, the formation continuously inflicted nearly two thousand damage every second, an unrelenting pressure that gave the serpent no chance to stabilize.
"Wood Dragon Drill!"
Five seconds later, the elemental energy shifted.
Dense green light flooded the formation as wood energy surged upward from beneath the ground. A massive wooden stake burst forth like a spinning drill, its tip sharpened to a lethal edge. Rotating at terrifying speed, it shot directly into the serpent’s chest.
Boom.
Trapped within the glowing cage, the serpent had nowhere to dodge. The drill bored straight through its defenses, ripping away flesh and scales as it carved out a massive portion of its vitality.
-10000.
Ten thousand damage in a single strike.
-1800.
The passive damage continued without pause, steadily eroding what remained of the beast’s strength.
After the Wood Dragon Drill struck, the elemental cycle advanced naturally. Wood fed fire. The lingering green energy ignited with a violent whoosh, transforming into blazing flames that gathered power for the next phase.
In another five seconds, the trap would unleash Fire Dragon’s Wrath.
During the conversion, the formation did not relent. The steady two-thousand-per-second damage continued ticking away, each second tightening the invisible noose around the Divine Beast.
Hiss... hiss... hisssss...
The serpent had stopped roaring altogether. Gone was the triumphant fury from earlier. Its forked tongue flickered frantically as panicked hisses replaced its previous confidence.
Yet even cornered, a Divine Beast would not surrender easily.
Inside the radiant prison of the Five-Element Demon Trap, the serpent began a desperate counterattack. Poison thunder erupted from its horn, smashing repeatedly against the barrier. It rammed forward with its armored skull, then whipped its massive tail against the glowing walls again and again.
Bang. Bang. Bang.
Each strike thundered across the marsh, sending shockwaves rippling through water and earth alike.
A Divine Beast’s power was terrifying. Every impact shook the formation violently, causing flashes of light to ripple across the barrier. The cage trembled, flickered, and groaned under the assault.
But it did not break.
Every five seconds, following the rhythm of elemental generation, the trap shifted once more and unleashed another devastating attack. Each elemental strike tore away more than ten thousand health, while the constant passive damage gnawed relentlessly at the serpent’s remaining life.
"Holy crap..."
Marcus stared, utterly stunned.
"This Five-Element Demon Trap is insane."
He had watched silently until now, but disbelief finally overwhelmed him. A trap capable of imprisoning a Divine Beast should not exist, yet here it was, methodically dismantling one of the most terrifying creatures in the marsh. Liam Windrunner’s true strength struck Marcus like a physical blow.
His gaze shifted toward Liam.
After activating the trap, Liam moved.
The King of the Mountains displayed speed that defied common sense. One moment he stood near the serpent’s tail, and in the next heartbeat he appeared two hundred meters away, perfectly aligned with the creature’s head as if he had teleported.
The iron bow in his hands erupted with light, revealing its true form. The weapon resembled a black tiger spreading its wings to soar into the heavens, a Mythic artifact known as the Flying Tiger Heaven-Charge Bow. At the same time, Liam drew a golden arrow from his quiver, the Mountain Wolf Fang, and released a thunderous roar.
"Mountain Dragon!"
Metal-element energy gathered around the arrow, dense with demon-breaking power. The projectile transformed into the image of a golden dragon baring its claws as it shot forward with unstoppable momentum.
-7200, -7100, -7000.
Liam’s true strength finally revealed itself.
Each arrow now dealt over seven thousand damage to a Divine Beast, more than triple the weak chip damage he had shown earlier. Against ordinary monsters, such attacks would easily exceed ten thousand damage per shot.
What Marcus did not realize was that Liam himself felt mildly dissatisfied. Watching the numbers appear, Liam shook his head faintly.
If he had been wielding his Divine artifact, the Mountain Dragon Fang, instead of the Mythic-tier Flying Tiger Heaven-Charge Bow, every shot would have surpassed ten thousand damage without effort.
Unfortunately, the Mountain Dragon Fang had been severely damaged during a battle five years earlier. The true reason Liam hunted this serpent was not merely conquest, but necessity. He needed the creature’s Black Dragon Sinew to repair his Divine weapon.
Under the combined assault of the formation and Liam’s arrows, the trapped serpent had already lost nearly a third of its health. Its situation was deteriorating rapidly.
It had to break free.
HISSS!
The serpent threw its head back and released a piercing hiss that cut through the air like a blade. It ignored Liam’s arrows entirely, abandoning defense in favor of one desperate gamble. Every ounce of its power gathered at its tail.
"Black Dragon Tail Swing!"
Dark energy erupted outward. The serpent’s tail expanded as black light engulfed it, forming the phantom image of a massive dragon’s tail layered with scales and armored plates. With terrifying momentum, it smashed upward into the glowing barrier with everything it possessed.
Its ultimate skill had come off cooldown.
This was the same devastating attack that had crushed the Five-Colored Green Oil Toad.
CRACK.
The barrier shuddered violently. A tearing sound filled the air, sharp and grating like metal being ripped apart. The formation trembled as bright fractures spread outward from the point of impact, spiderweb cracks racing across the surface.
The power of Black Dragon Tail Swing was monstrous.
"Poison Thunder Explosive Stab!"
The serpent did not hesitate. As its tail rebounded, it lowered its head and unleashed another ultimate technique. Poison thunder condensed around its horn, compressing into a lethal point before stabbing directly toward the cracked section of the barrier.
It intended to punch through and escape.
"This is bad!"
Marcus felt his heart leap into his throat.
Zzzzt... crack...
The serpent’s horn began forcing its way through the fractured barrier. Light splintered outward as the formation struggled to hold together. Another second, maybe less, and the Divine Beast would break free.
Marcus’s head snapped toward Liam.
"Heh heh."
To his shock, Liam simply stood there, a sly smile resting on his face. There was not the slightest trace of panic in his eyes.