Chapter 165: Ruin and the End

He merely whipped his giant axe open and casually swung it, covering a radius of nearly two meters. Furthermore, his advantage in raw strength made it utterly impossible for Sophie to counter him head-on.

Therefore, Venigo did not hesitate to activate Character Building.

With time being limited, he constructed a relatively easy-to-form "versatile class"—a wizard from the Legends of Hyper-Space Heroes.

He raised his hand and gestured toward Demis.

Poison, lightning strike, or rock spike—which one do you prefer?

With a sharp crack, a bolt of lightning plunged from the sky. Naturally, facing a metal tin can like Demis, Venigo didn't even have to think before deploying a lightning strike.

"Magic attack boosted, a wizard's specialty," Venigo chuckled softly. "Sophie, ignore me, just focus on hacking him." No sooner had he finished speaking than the airflow beneath his feet erupted, propelling him into a slide that carried him far out of the range of Demis's giant axe.

"Ruin!" Demis shouted.

The red-clad regal woman over there instantly cast aside the little wolf-girl and charged toward Venigo with her bizarre weapon.

"That weapon appears to be crafted from the root of a dragon-blood tree," Venigo muttered to himself as he looked at the faintly glowing red weapon in the woman's hand.

The dragon-blood tree is a giant tree that grows from a sapling nourished by dragon blood, taking hundreds or even thousands of years to mature, making it an extremely rare sight.

"The Hellfire Brotherhood?" Venigo chuckled lightly. He raised a finger, and a rock spike abruptly materialized right in Ruin's path as she charged toward him.

Ruin was known within the Hellfire Brotherhood as the Blood-Robe Lady. She had an extreme fondness for blood-red; her outer garments and long dress were entirely crimson, and the weapon in her hand was also fashioned from dragon-blood tree wood, making her movements truly resemble a pool of blood—yet this lady was not lacking in appearance, boasting snow-white skin, regular facial features, and an extraordinary temperament, which only lent an exotic charm to her blood-red attire.

Only those who underestimated her would mostly end up dead.

"Oh?" Venigo remarked in surprise as he watched that strange spear made of dragon-blood tree wood perform a single sweep, causing the protruding rock spike to vanish into nothingness.

Not only that, but Ruin's speed was astonishingly fast. It wasn't just the speed at which she wielded her weapon; even her running speed was breathtaking.

Judging by this, if the little wolf-girl were to fight her one-on-one, she would likely not be her match.

The good news, however, was that Venigo's side currently had four people.

Buzz!

As the sound of air being torn apart rang out, a triangular crossbow bolt nailed itself toward the Blood-Robe Lady's right shoulder. She seemed to have anticipated Suna hiding in the shadows to launch a sneak attack; as the crossbow bolt struck, the Blood-Robe Lady had already sidestepped and swung her spear, evading the bolt while simultaneously thrusting toward Venigo.

She missed.

The moment Venigo saw her speed, he knew she was a formidable opponent, coupled with his Danger Perception, he had evaded even earlier than Ruin's attack had initiated.

In their initial exchange, neither side gained an advantage.

The little wolf-girl let out a sharp screech and lunged fiercely from mid-air straight at Ruin. Without even lifting her head, Ruin flicked her spear, sending it tracing a blood-colored rainbow bridge across the horizon. The little wolf-girl reacted with extreme agility, executing a rapid directional change to dodge it, though this meant the claws she lashed out with were also easily evaded by Ruin.

Venigo did not seize the opportunity to attack. Instead, he turned his attention to Demis and, with heartfelt sincerity, dropped a lightning strike.

As the lightning struck, Demis's body paused for a fraction of a second, allowing Sophie to take a swift step back and dodge the giant axe swung by Demis.

"Splendid, split the duties fifty-fifty," Venigo snapped his fingers and smiled.

A mass of deep green mist silently and seamlessly enveloped the spot where Demis stood the very moment Venigo snapped his fingers. The cloud of mist was slightly skewed to one side, its edge barely brushing against Demis's body while cleverly avoiding the positions of Venigo and Sophie.

Poison Mist.

Naturally, Demis's expression behind his helmet remained hidden, but he was clearly seized by a trace of panic.

The magical poison of the Poison Mist was not lethal; its onset was relatively slow, failing to achieve the exaggerated effect of killing upon contact with the bloodstream. Instead, it slowly manifested over the course of several minutes, inducing a state of "severe discomfort" in the human body.

However, Demis was unaware of this. He only knew that he had been poisoned.

Sophie immediately raised her greatsword and brought it down in a ferocious chop. Demis managed to awkwardly swing his giant axe to bat away Sophie's sword, but before he could launch a counter-attack, Venigo's lightning strike descended from the skies, slamming viciously into his head.

Venigo possessed a sharp eye. He could tell that once Demis's giant axe started swinging, he could leverage its momentum to sustain a continuous series of relentless attacks.

Yet, once that momentum was interrupted... getting the giant axe spinning again required considerable physical stamina and a brief window of time.

That brief window of time was more than enough for Sophie to launch a fierce assault.

The enemy's armor was exceptionally thick, meaning that for Sophie, ordinary attacks were entirely pointless; only those moves with tremendous destructive power could come in handy, though under normal circumstances, she rarely found an opportunity to initiate them. Against Demis, however, Sophie had no choice but to use them.

Venigo would create that opportunity for her.

Venigo was quite familiar with Sophie's swordsmanship. As a veteran gaming fanatic, Venigo paid closer attention to how much time his companions needed than anyone else.

As for Sophie, she shared a seemingly natural synergy with Venigo. She raised her sword to gather momentum, Venigo's lightning struck down, Demis stiffened slightly, and Sophie's greatsword crashed forward—everything felt as though it had been thoroughly rehearsed.

Like a battering ram, the greatsword slammed heavily against Demis's chest. Although Sophie's greatsword was not sharp, its structural integrity was immensely high. A full-powered thrust at this moment was capable of denting even a solid block of steel.

Demis let out a cry of pain. Although his armor suffered only minor damage, the sheer impact of the force still caused him a jolt of agony. Moreover, Venigo's magical Poison Mist seemed to amplify his sense of pain, leaving him unable to accurately assess his own condition.

Lightning Strike!

Venigo's falling lightning provoked a roar of frustration from Demis. The giant axe he had intended to swing at Sophie abruptly swiveled toward Venigo. However, regardless of Demis's running speed, it could never match Venigo, who was running with the aid of the sky.

"Ruin!" He could only shout out to his companion.

Ruin acknowledged the call, swept her spear to force the little wolf-girl back from close combat, vaulted over the crossbow bolt fired by Suna, and sprinted straight toward Venigo.

Why did Ruin refrain from using metal weapons, instead opting for dragon-blood tree wood, which was exceptionally rare yet inferior in durability to steel weapons of the same tier? Venigo cast another glance at Ruin, his pace unslacking as he utilized the airflow of the sky to leap high into the air, landing behind Sophie.

Ruin offered a rare, faint smile. An opponent airborne was perhaps the ultimate target for her.

The blood-robed beauty gathered a fraction of momentum, instantly hurtling like an arrow toward the spot where Venigo was descending. If the wooden spear in her hand pierced through him, it would leave Venigo severely wounded and grounded.

Suddenly, an ugly mass of blackness burst forth right in front of her, blocking her path forward.

At the sudden sight of such a black entity stretching out into a giant worm, ordinary women would likely have shrieked in terror. Ruin possessed immense strength and an iron will, yet the sudden appearance of this bizarre worm still caused her footing to soften momentarily.

Descent: Demon Worm. The backup skill Venigo had chosen remained the descending arts of the Summoner.

Mid-air, he had abruptly unleashed this hideous worm, causing Ruin to hesitate in her astonishment and lose her prime window of attack.

The Demon Worm opened its mouthparts and spat out an "arrow" formed from congealed mucus. Thick-skinned and possessing immense vitality, the mucus it spat could rapidly solidify in mid-air into arrow shafts as hard as raw iron. Although its range was short, its force was considerable.

Ruin paused for just a fraction of a second before regaining her composure. Her dragon-blood tree spear danced furiously, resembling a cloud of fire that swept the Demon Worm's projected arrows and the creature itself into the fray.

"Oh?" Venigo felt a flicker of puzzlement. He noticed that the dragon-blood tree could not be honed to a sharp edge, meaning it should have had little effect on the tough, resilient hide of the Demon Worm. Yet Ruin seemed not to have exerted much force, and the Demon Worm acted as though it had sustained a fatal wound, collapsing to the ground and unable to rise after a single strike.

"Mind? Soul? Ah, soul-based attacks," Venigo surmised. "That's why she uses a wooden spear—because it isn't a weapon, but a staff."

Wielding soul divine arts through a warrior's methods—furthermore, Ruin's soul divine arts differed somewhat from the common varieties. At the very least, Venigo had never witnessed a technique where weapon strikes carried supplementary soul damage.

"Those fellows in the Hellfire Brotherhood really are monsters," Venigo suddenly blurted out tauntingly.

Ruin appeared to grow angry. A flush of blood-red color bloomed across her otherwise pale face, and the bizarre staff in her hand pointed straight at Venigo.

Venigo spread his hands and struck a comical expression. Amidst his theatrical performance, a Ripper simultaneously lunged out from behind him.

The Ripper, another summoned monster of the descending arts, was a crawling beast that shredded enemies with sharp talons and drained flesh and blood from their wounds to nourish itself.

It roared and charged at Ruin. At the same time, Venigo extended a hand toward Ruin and cast Lightning Strike!

A faint flash of light flickered around Ruin's exterior. Venigo guessed that must be the soul divine art Blessing of the Holy Spirit, which enhanced offensive capabilities. In an instant, Ruin unleashed her formidable attack speed, thrusting three consecutive times at the Ripper.

One strike to the head, one to the chest, and one to trip the legs. The Ripper shrieked as its vital points were pierced by Ruin, tumbling to the ground. Yet this creature possessed tenacious vitality and a ferocious disposition; the more injured it was, the higher its fighting spirit soared. Struggling against the earth, it dragged itself forward two paces and snapped its jaws viciously at Ruin's feet.

Ruin let out a soft huff, executing a small backward hop to evade the Ripper's bite, and countered with a fierce finishing blow to its head.

At that exact moment, the little wolf-girl's fierce onslaught followed closely behind. Without a sound, she thrust a claw straight toward Ruin's back.

That was truly the style of the little wolf-girl.