Chapter 19 Full Firepower

The light shields mantling these grotesque aberrations were not physical shields in the traditional sense.

Striking them incurred a tremendous repulsive force.

Lin Lei's strength had already been suppressed, and against these luminous shields, the might of his attacks was naturally even less effective.

However, the luminous shields had their limits. If Lin Lei's strength was sufficiently great—exceeding the load-bearing threshold of the shield—he could forcefully shatter this type of defensive barrier.

In fact, Lin Lei was still capable of easily dealing with and even slaying the third-tier red-crystal aberrations, but achieving an instant kill was beyond him. Hindered by the crimson luminous shields, Lin Lei usually needed two to three extra strikes to dispatch a single third-tier red-crystal aberration.

Though it seemed like a mere two or three additional blows, the impact on Lin Lei was profound.

The surrounding aberrations were gathering in ever-increasing numbers.

By the time he finished off one third-tier aberration, his own body would have suffered numerous direct hits from the others.

Under the influence of the four-armed aberrations' special "aura," which tilted the scales of battle, the defensive capabilities granted by his [Demonization] no longer allowed him to completely ignore the onslaught of these third-tier aberrations.

Before long, numerous gashes were carved into his reddened skin, with blood continuously oozing from his wounds.

At this moment, more than a dozen third-tier aberrations were still alive. Huddled together, buffeted by buffs, and each equipped with their own shields, their simultaneous assault was nothing short of overwhelming!

Not to mention the sporadic second-tier red-crystal aberrations that would suddenly dart forward to act as human shields.

Under these circumstances, Lin Lei found himself hard-pressed and somewhat vexed.

"A bit of challenge is a good thing!"

Lin Lei licked his flushed lips, his eyes growing increasingly radiant.

If there were no pressure and he merely engaged in unilateral slaughter, he would instead find it mundane.

"Let you all witness my true strength!"

In this situation, he activated both [Blood Boiling] and [Body Activation]!

From within his somewhat enervated body, a continuous surge of boundless power welled up once more!

The suppression inflicted upon Lin Lei by the fourth-tier red-crystal aberrations was astonishingly severe, yet Lin Lei himself possessed amplification abilities. Although employing them entailed other costs, Lin Lei could no longer afford to hesitate at a time like this.

His appearance remained unchanged, but his momentum underwent a radical transformation.

The bone sword in his hand descended like a phantom!

Crack!

A third-tier aberration, along with its luminous shield, was cleaved right down the middle.

"The repulsive force of the luminous shield has a limit. My strength has already surpassed that limit, and these repulsive forces are no longer enough to affect me!"

There is a saying: absolute power shatters all techniques.

Under the dual amplification, Lin Lei's strength increased by at least fifty to sixty percent. Given his already terrifying base power, facing these creatures with such enhancements gave a sense of irresistible momentum!

As the blade fell, aberrations were turned into corpses one after another in the blink of an eye.

Whether second-tier or third-tier, all were instantly slain.

The surrounding swarm of closing aberrations gradually transformed into corpses.

As for the nine fourth-tier red-crystal aberrations, they all lingered at the very rear of the horde, never showing their faces from beginning to end.

As the slaughter continued, Lin Lei abruptly felt the sense of powerlessness within him slowly dissipate, while the power of the red luminous shields on the remaining aberrations gradually weakened.

His own strength was rebounding, making the monsters even easier to kill!

Lin Lei turned his head back.

He saw that amidst the sparse remnants of the monster horde, those nine four-armed aberrations were all turning around and heading toward the red crystal tower outside the labyrinth.

As those fourth-tier red-crystal aberrations fled, the coverage area of their "aura" naturally began to wane.

"Hmph, do you think you can escape!"

A fierce glint flashed in Lin Lei's eyes. Wielding his blade, he quickly dispatched the final few aberrations right before him, and then, ignoring the red-crystal aberrations still surging from the surroundings, his body violently sprang forward.

Propelled like a coiled spring, Lin Lei shot through the air, pursuing the nine fleeing fourth-tier aberrations!

These creatures likewise bore shields of blood-red light upon their bodies, and these were even more vivid and dazzling!

Their entire forms radiated a hazy crimson glow.

Whoosh!

Operating at full capacity, Lin Lei's explosive speed was extraordinary, and in the blink of an eye, he caught up to the hindmost fourth-tier red-crystal aberration.

Seeing Lin Lei close in, the fourth-tier aberration swung its four arms, lifting its red-crystal weapons to slash downward at him.

"Useless!"

Lin Lei intertwined his hands, merging his dual bone swords into one. Gripping the hilt tightly, he brought the blade down in a heavy downward arc.

Boom-crash!

Bolstered by full amplification, Lin Lei's strength reached an extreme pinnacle, forcibly shattering all the red-crystal weapons raised in defense with a single blow!

Screech!

The blade slashed toward the crimson luminous shield. A terrifying wave of repulsion met the strike, causing the bone sword in his hand to stall within the barrier.

Ripples coursed across the red luminous shield, making it look precarious, yet it ultimately held firm without fracturing.

"The light shield on this creature itself is clearly much stronger than those on the other aberrations..."

Stepping back slightly, Lin Lei delivered another downward slash.

This time, the light shield merely hesitated for a split second before shattering completely!

The reason Lin Lei's previous strike had failed to forcefully break this layer of light shield was that a greater portion of his power had been intercepted by the weapons wielded by its four arms.

Now stripped of those, it naturally lacked its former terrifying defensive capacity.

With both hands gripping his blade, the might of Lin Lei's full-strength blow was utterly terrifying!

Deprived of the shield's protection, Lin Lei's follow-up bone sword strike descended and directly cleaved the four-armed aberration in two!

"Although these creatures possess bizarre and formidable abilities, their physical durability is not overly exaggerated. Without the protection of the light shield, they aren't much harder to kill than the third-tier aberrations..."

Lin Lei licked his lips and pressed on toward the second fourth-tier red-crystal aberration.

He proceeded to eliminate four fourth-tier red-crystal aberrations in succession. Seeing that the remaining red-crystal monsters were already close enough to the crystal tower, with vast numbers of aberrations swarming the vicinity, Lin Lei finally halted his pursuit!

Turning back, he mopped up the remaining sporadic second- and third-tier red-crystal aberrations.

"Whew!" Lin Lei finally deactivated his various augmentations, wiped the sweat from his brow, and licked his lips as he surveyed the sea of red-crystal corpses covering the ground.

"As long as I lure the monsters in waves, I can wipe those creatures out sooner or later. However, I only have a little over a dozen hours left to stay in this forbidden zone. I wonder if I can finish them all..."

Lin Lei had consumed a significant amount of stamina and source energy.

Numerous wounds marred his body.

However, fortified by his bone sword physique, these injuries were entirely isolated to the exterior, completely failing to impair Lin Lei's combat prowess.

With his regenerative abilities, it would not take long for him to recover fully.

Of course, replenishing his expended stamina and source energy would prove somewhat more difficult.

Still...

Gazing at the carpet of aberration corpses, he licked his lips once more. With these creatures available, he naturally had no need to worry about failing to restore his condition.

He had already tested it previously: "plundering" red-crystal aberrations could also assist in restoring his wounds and physical state!