The Monster had no fixed form; it was a mass of flowing, rotten meat. Agonized human faces constantly surfaced on its exterior, emitting silent shrieks. Countless pale arms extended from the putrid flesh, clawing wildly and exuding a suffocating aura of death.
"Roar!"
Hulk was the first to react. His massive frame kicked up a foul wind as he charged straight at the mass of rotten meat.
Ghost Rider followed close behind, his burning chain slicing through the air like a line of fire, lashing toward the Monster's core.
"Boom!"
Hulk's fist slammed heavily into the Monster, but it sank right in as if the force were being completely absorbed. The mass of rotten meat merely dented inward significantly before quickly squirming back to its original shape.
Simultaneously, dozens of pale arms shot out from the Monster, coiling around Hulk's body like snakes. Some arms tightly constricted his neck and limbs, while the nails of others grew sharp and long, frantically tearing at Hulk's skin and leaving trails of bloody gashes.
"Get off!"
Hulk roared, straining his arms to snap several of the limbs. However, even more arms immediately surged forward, layering over each other as if they could never be fully torn away.
On the other side, Johnny's chain also struck the Monster.
Hellfire blazed fiercely upon the creature, making a'sizzling' sound as countless souls within the fire emitted shrill, wretched screams.
But the Monster seemed indifferent to this damage. It allowed the Hellfire to burn it while a part of its body suddenly liquefied into a black fluid, snaking up the chain toward Johnny.
Johnny's expression shifted, and he immediately retracted his chain, narrowly dodging the black liquid. As the fluid hit the ground, it instantly corroded a large pit that belched black smoke.
"Damn it! This thing isn't afraid of fire!" Johnny cursed.
"Its core is those fused souls! Physical attacks and fire can only wear it down; they can't kill it!"
Father Moreau shouted, raising his twin silver pistols and firing repeatedly at the Monster. Each bullet imbued with Holy Light exploded into a burst of radiance upon impact, making the Monster howl in pain, but the dispersed parts soon regrouped from the surrounding Darkness.
"It's no use! The negative energy here is too concentrated; it's constantly regenerating!" Father Moreau's face turned grim.
At the edge of the battlefield, Lin Huai remained still.
He had activated Spirit Vision and was calmly observing everything before him.
In his vision, this Monster was merely an energy aggregate, forcibly stitched together from over a hundred Wraiths and four core spiritual bodies—the Blood-Robed Priests. Hulk's fists and Johnny's Hellfire were ineffective because they were only attacking the flesh and blood, failing to touch the threads connecting these souls.
And those threads were clearly visible to Lin Huai.
They were countless grayish-black Spirit Thread, stringing the Wraiths together, with four of the thickest Spirit Thread serving as the main trunk to form the Monster's skeleton.
To deal with it, those threads had to be cut at the source.
A cold sneer curled at the corner of Lin Huai's mouth.
Manipulating threads happened to be his area of expertise.
He took a step forward, his fingers spreading slightly.
His own Spirit Thread spread from his fingertips, silently probing toward the massive Monster.
The Monster seemed to sense the threat. Its countless distorted human faces turned toward Lin Huai in unison, emitting a piercing mental shriek.
Lin Huai only gave a soft snort. It was barely an itch; compared to the Hanged Man's 'Suka Blyat' mental damage, this impact was far too weak.
His Spirit Thread had already latched onto the Monster.
He precisely located the weakest threads connecting the Wraiths.
His fingers twitched slightly.
The dozens of pale arms that were frantically besieging Hulk suddenly froze in mid-air.
In the next second, these arms abruptly reversed direction, their sharp nails clawing viciously into the Monster's own body!
Puchi! Puchi!
The Monster's body was torn by its own arms, creating wounds deep enough to see bone, as black blood splashed everywhere.
The Monster let out a roar of agony. It tried to control the mutinous arms but found it simply couldn't.
"Nice work, Lin!" Seeing this, Johnny immediately swung his chain and charged in to coordinate the attack.
Lin Huai ignored him, his concentration highly focused.
More Spirit Thread spread out as he began trying to control the deeper structures. His fingers danced nimbly in the air.
The Monster's body began to lose coordination, and its soul started to stiffen.
It wanted to lunge forward to attack Johnny, but the left half of its body retreated. It wanted to swing its arms, but those arms tied themselves into knots. Its movements were a mess, and it twitched in place.
"Now! Attack its core!" Lin Huai's voice rang out.
Hulk roared, breaking free of his restraints. He brought his fists together and slammed them violently toward the four most hideous, core human faces on the Monster's chest!
Johnny also lashed out with his burning chain, tightly binding the Monster's lower half as Hellfire burned madly to keep it from moving.
Faced with this fatal blow, the Monster's single giant eye suddenly snapped toward Lin Huai, staring fixedly at him. It abandoned all defense, its body instantly liquefying into a black Riptide that lunged straight for Lin Huai!
It realized that this young man who hadn't moved a muscle was the true threat!
Lin Huai stood his ground, unmoving, with only a mocking smile playing on his lips.
Just as the black Riptide was about to touch him...
A figure in a suit suddenly appeared in front of Lin Huai, spreading its arms to block the lethal strike.
It was Pierce's Marionette.
Boom!
The Marionette's body was corroded and melted the instant it touched the black liquid, but it successfully bought Lin Huai enough time.
Hulk's heavy fist arrived.
Dong—!
A dull, heavy thud resounded to the extreme.
The position where the four core spiritual bodies were located on the Monster's chest was smashed inward by Hulk's violent strength, then collapsed entirely, finally shattering completely!
"Ah—!"
Countless Wraiths emitted shrill screams as they dissipated from the collapsing flesh.
The Monster's body rapidly shriveled, and those pale arms and distorted human faces turned into black ash.
Seeing this, Johnny jerked his chain back, sweeping all the dissipating Wraiths into a vortex of Hellfire to be thoroughly purified.
A moment later, silence returned to the factory.
Only a mess remained on the ground, along with the lingering scent of sulfur and charred stench in the air.
The Monster, formed from the fusion of four priests, had been completely reduced to nothingness.
"A loss; Pierce is gone. Come on, let's chase the rest."recover