Boom!
The staff, wreathed in ten thousand bolts of lightning and further imbued with that law-defying golden radiance, crashed down violently!
Its target: the blank mask of the Spirit of Pride!
Crack—!
The crisp sound of shattering was sharp and ear-piercing.
That mask, symbolizing "flawless perfection" and lofty arrogance, cracked open with a hideous wound!
The Spirit of Pride's mountain-like, colossal body lost its balance under the massive impact.
It collapsed backward with a thunderous crash!
The hard jade floor was smashed, forming a deep, spiderweb-like network of cracks.
Dust and smoke billowed into the sky.
But the energy fluctuations emanating from the black mist clearly indicated that this strike was not yet fatal.
"Then let's try something even more ruthless."
Lin Qingyue's voice trembled with irrepressible excitement.
She held the staff with one hand, leveled horizontally in front of her, while her other fair-skinned fingers gently stroked the shaft engraved with ancient runes.
She did not release the magnificent [Sunlight Spear].
At this moment, her entire mind was immersed in that wisp of [Geo Spear Intent] which she had tempered a thousand times and had already become incomparably transparent.
In her hand, the staff was no longer a mere spellcasting medium.
It was a spear.
A supreme spear that had once pierced a god and guarded the mortal world!
Lin Qingyue's entire aura underwent a sudden, drastic transformation.
All traces of languor vanished.
In its place was the spirit of a War God who had been baptized in blood and fire, whose every thrust could decide the fate of the world!
A heavy, solemn aura, like the very backbone of the earth suppressing all creation, silently radiated from her.
The [Adeptus Breathing Method] within her body operated at its absolute limit.
That wisp of heavy yet sharp [Geo Spear Intent] was compressing, and compressing again, at a terrifying speed!
Mem, floating above her head, seemed to feel this power, her small pink tail tensing straight with nervousness.
The sacred golden halo was flickering violently as the final seconds of the countdown ticked away.
Time remaining: 5 seconds.
The [Spirit of Pride] sensed a fatal threat capable of utterly erasing it!
It let out a shrill, piercing shriek, completely ignoring Su Wan and Xia Lian's harassing attacks, and condensed all its remaining power into a massive, pitch-black venomous stinger, thrusting it frantically toward Lin Qingyue!
It would stop that strike that made its very soul tremble, no matter the cost!
Facing this world-shattering thrust, Lin Qingyue did not even lift her eyelids.
"Xiyue!"
"I'm here!"
Lin Xiyue roared, her figure shooting forward like a cannonball, instantly blocking the path in front of her sister.
Holy Light erupted from within her body, condensing into an incredibly heavy wall of light before her shield!
[Shield of Divinity]!
BOOM!
The pitch-black venomous stinger and the Holy Light Barrier collided with a deafening crash!
The jade floor beneath Lin Xiyue's feet shattered inch by inch, and she was pushed back several meters by the colossal force, a trickle of blood seeping from the corner of her mouth.
But she still blocked her sister's front resolutely!
Time remaining: 3 seconds.
Su Wan and Xia Lian, acting as one, simultaneously split to the left and right, clearing an absolutely unobstructed attack path for Lin Qingyue.
Now's the time!
Lin Qingyue moved.
Her movements were not fast, but even a bit slow.
She took a single step.
The entire courtyard ground shook heavily with it.
She gripped the staff with both hands, her body sinking slightly, assuming an incredibly standard thrusting stance.
All her strength, all her will, all her killing intent, along with the "True Damage" law granted by Mem, converged upon the single point of cold light at the staff's tip!
"With a mortal's body..."
"Judge the so-called God!"
"This thrust is named [Rainbow Piercer]!"
Time remaining: 1 second.
Voom!
A golden streak of light, condensed to the absolute limit, shot out from the staff's tip.
That was not Holy Light.
That was the purest, most tyrannical physical penetration, fusing [Geo Spear Intent] with the "True Damage" law!
"No! I am perfect! I am the chosen Order of God! I am..."
The [Spirit of Pride] roared in terror, countless black mist arms frantically trying to block that point of golden light.
But before "True Damage," all defenses were mere illusions.
Pfft!
The golden light met no resistance.
It pierced through layers upon layers of black hands, pierced through the Conceptual Armor it so proudly relied upon.
Finally, like a red-hot steel needle sinking into butter, it precisely stabbed into the core of the wound blasted open by Xia Lian's arrow!
Pshh!
A piercing sound, so faint it was almost inaudible, rang out.
The [Spirit of Pride]'s massive body suddenly stiffened.
The golden light pierced through its chest, exited from its back, and left a bottomless black hole on the distant wall.
It "lowered its head" in disbelief, staring at the expanding hole in its own chest.
Golden cracks, with that hole at their center, rapidly spread across its entire body like a spiderweb.
"Impossible... I am perfect... I am Heavenly Majesty..."
It was still struggling with its last remaining strength, trying to use words to uphold the dignity that had already collapsed.
"Perfect?"
Lin Qingyue had already landed, one foot stepping heavily upon its cracked mask.
The tip of her staff pressed against its core.
She looked down at this once-insufferable monster, the corners of her mouth curving into a cold and arrogant arc, the smile of a victor.
"True perfection is acknowledging one's own flaws, then dragging oneself forward even while covered in scars."
"And a creature like you, hiding in a shell, relying on belittling others to maintain a laughable sense of superiority..."
"At best, you're nothing more than a talking pile of trash."
"Mem."
Lin Qingyue's voice was casual and light.
"Send it on its way."
"Mem (Beat up the bad guy)!!!"
The little creature in midair gave a feisty cry and tossed out a tiny pink orb of light.
The orb descended slowly, like a feather, landing softly upon the Spirit of Pride's shattered Core.
It became the last straw to break the camel's back.
A number filled with ultimate mockery slowly floated above the Spirit of Pride's head.
"-1"
"Un... utter... nonsense..."
These were its final words left in this world.
To the very end, it could not understand why the "Law of Perfection" it so firmly believed in had been crushed into dust by a bunch of mortals in such a crude, utterly illogical manner.
Crash—!
With the crisp sound of shattering glass, the colossal black mist monster collapsed violently.
It left no corpse, instead transforming into black dust dancing in the sky before finally dissipating completely into the air.
[Ding! Your party has defeated the Spirit of Pride (Elite)!]
[Ding! Your party has successfully cleared "Azure Dragon's Courtyard: Front Yard"!]
[Ding! Your level has increased! Current Level: Lv.35!]
[Ding! This was a slaughter that transcended the rules! You forced a selfproclaimed perfect divine creature to experience the humiliation and despair of being rubbed into the ground. Elation Value +5000!]
As the black mist dissipated, the oppressive and heavy atmosphere of the entire courtyard vanished instantly.
Lin Qingyue withdrew her staff, feeling the bones in her entire body groaning with pleasure from the extreme burst of power she had just unleashed.
Su Wan and Xia Lian also released their combat stances, their faces filled with relief at having survived the ordeal as they looked at the empty center of the courtyard.
"That was awesome!"
Lin Xiyue plopped down on the ground without any regard for her image, casually tossing her heavy shield aside with a loud "clang."
She panted heavily, sweat trickling down her cheeks, but her eyes shone with startling brightness.
"Sis! That feeling just now was too much! You didn't see that thing's health bar, it just vanished in a "whoosh," faster than water draining!"
She caught her breath and turned to look at Lin Qingyue, her tone full of excitement and a hint of mild complaint.
"Next time we face such an unreasonable monster, Sis, can you call out our family's gold-medal support a bit earlier?"
Everyone's gaze converged simultaneously on the little pink creature floating in midair, who was yawning with some fatigue.
Mem wiggled her large, fluffy ears and gave everyone a pure and innocent smile.
"Mem~"