My consciousness… is awake at last.
So the one our Phantom Beast race foretold — the one who bears the Holy Mark and holds the power of a Phantom God — has finally appeared.
We of the Phantom Beast race have waited too long for this day… far too long…
Only… why is there such a strong dark power here… and its nature so close to the Demon God Lixiao’s own… is it that race of sinful demons again…
On his left hand is the Holy Mark out of the old stories, and only the Holy Mark can wake the Holy Mark Beast.
But… as he is now, he is too weak, and the enemy too strong.
Then…
The white light that had blazed up so suddenly shook Ye Tianxie badly, but it gave him no discomfort at all. His Eye of the Evil Dragon could see through absolute darkness, and through absolute light as well. Looking out through the brightness, he saw the Dark Nether Ghost King driven backward by it, and he saw the slowly turning four-pointed radiant array on his own hand.
“Ding… Your presence is now joined to the ‘Holy Mark,’ and has woken it from its sleep. Your own power of the Holy Mark has begun to wake as well, because of the ‘Holy Mark.’ You have successfully changed class to ‘Phantom Beast Herald.’ Health +100, Magic +2000, Stamina +10, Spirit +200. The class skill ‘Heart of Kindred Minds’ is unlocked.”
The prompt in his ear set Ye Tianxie’s nerves ringing… Caught completely off guard, in a desperately dangerous moment, he had just been changed into some strange class he had never heard of. The whole process had run itself, without ever asking him.
His body rejected every ordinary class of its own accord — even the Soul of Guardianship, the powerful hidden class War God Zhan Wugui had given him. And now it had taken in, just like that, a class he knew nothing at all about…
Phantom Beast Herald!
That one leap in his magic value told him how absurd this class’s added properties were. But it carried only one skill…
The two words the prompt had used were unmistakably “Holy Mark.” And it seemed to mean two of them — one his own, and one joined to his.
What… what exactly was happening?
He had no chance at all to look at whatever class he had just been given. Right then the light, fierce as it already was, turned fiercer still. His left hand where it rested on the ball seemed to be seized by a force he could not resist, and he could not pull it free. And at the same time a power strong enough to shrink his pupils began to pour wildly into his body…
“The Holy Mark… our hope. Take its power, become that Phantom Beast god of the ancient days, and strike this sinful enemy down!!”
An aged voice spoke at Ye Tianxie’s ear, and on his left hand the power began pouring in tens of times faster.
“Guoguo, what is going on!” That power flooding in did not feel good. What his body was taking felt as if it might burst him open at any moment, and his face twisted with the pain of it.
“…Wuu, wuu, Master, what’s wrong with you, don’t scare Guoguo, I’m so frightened.” Guoguo drifted back and forth above Ye Tianxie’s head in a panic, with no idea at all what was happening.
“The Holy Mark… you… you have actually woken the power of the Holy Mark!”
Out of the fierce light came the Dark Nether Ghost King’s voice, shocked and furious, and with it a strong sense of danger closing in. The demon had adjusted to the light and was about to launch a killing attack.
Chhh…
In that one moment the light, blinding as it had been, seemed to find an outlet, and began to drain away at what was almost a mad speed, faster and more abruptly than it had come. And the flood of power that had all but burst his body finally stopped.
“Ding… You have obtained the Phantom God skill: Holy Sword War God — Calonandis!”
“Ding… You have been granted the power of the ‘Holy Mark Beast.’ For the next three minutes you may use Phantom God Transformation without limit. After three minutes, whether you use Phantom God Transformation or not, all power from the Holy Mark Beast will disperse.”
Phantom God Transformation · Holy Sword War God — Calonandis: Drawing on the power of the Holy Mark as its source, transform into Calonandis, the ancient battle god of the Phantom Beast race. You will hold all of the power he held at his height.
Ye Tianxie: “!!”
“Phantom God Transformation!”
Not a moment’s hesitation… and with the Dark Nether Ghost King’s threat in front of him he had no choice to make anyway. With that matchless power filling him from end to end, he triggered the Phantom God skill that had appeared on him out of nowhere…
The ground began to shake. As the energy in Ye Tianxie broke loose like something run wild, the space around his body shuddered with terrible violence, as if it might tear open at any moment. And in that trembling space a holy white glow settled over him. Within the glow every piece of his equipment was pulled back in an instant, and his body grew taller, and larger, and larger still…
Another space — the first hall Ye Tianxie had stopped in after entering the Phantom Beast Ruins. Of the four old statues standing quiet there, the one at the south point suddenly lit with a clear white light, as if it had come back to life out of a silence that had lasted uncounted years.
“Aaaaaah… M-M-M-Master, y-y-you—”
Guoguo’s hands and feet flailed with no idea what to do, her small body swinging around him in alarm, and there was no telling from that outsized shrieking whether she was terrified or thrilled.
His body grew fast, from his ordinary build up to a height of nearly five meters… But when the white light drained away, Ye Tianxie was still Ye Tianxie, and was also no longer Ye Tianxie.
He lifted both hands and looked down at his own body… His consciousness was still entirely his own, but the body, and a power so great he could not bring himself to believe it, were completely foreign to him. His old equipment was all gone. What he wore now was a suit of dark gold armor. The armor was not heavy, and it covered body, arms, legs, and neck perfectly… on his head was a war helm of the same color, and the face beneath the helm was no longer Ye Tianxie’s face, but the face of a man so heroic to look at that anyone whose eyes fell on him would show awe without meaning to.
“This… what is this!?”
The attack the Dark Nether Ghost King had been about to throw stopped dead. He retreated, and kept retreating, watching Ye Tianxie now with shock and doubt in his eyes. That pitch-black body of his stood three meters tall, so much taller than Ye Tianxie that the demon had been looking down on him the whole time — and now it was the other way around entirely. Facing a five-meter “Ye Tianxie,” all he could do was stare up with those green eyes stretched wide…
And what frightened him more than the change in Ye Tianxie’s body was this… he could feel an immensely heavy pressure bearing down on him. Even… fear!
The fear that comes when your own power is crushed down hard.
Ye Tianxie’s hand rose slowly and pointed straight at the sky, and in that instant the world went dark. In another violent shudder of space the earth overhead broke apart, and a great silver light shot down and fell into his hand. He caught it and held it steady.
It was a sword… a sword of enormous size. The blade ran a full five meters long and a meter wide, and though there was nothing savage in its shape, something that large put fear into anyone who looked at it.
He gripped the greatsword and leveled it at the Dark Nether Ghost King, and out of those calm eyes came a light of utter violence.
Calonandis: The “Holy Sword War God.” Among the Phantom Beast race’s four divine spirits, he was the one whose heaven-given calling was battle, and the guardian of the south of the Lost Continent. He was upright, just, brave, strong, and hated evil as if it were a personal enemy. Facing a foe, he never knew what it was to go easy; facing the weak, he never used his power to bully them. He was revered by every inhabitant of the Lost Continent in his day. Ten thousand years ago, in the terrible battle that sealed the Demon God Lixiao, he and his companion, the holy sword Elsidion, gave up their lives together and became the southern array-soul of the Heaven-Parting Array that sealed him.
Properties:
Level: 100.
Class: Holy Sword War God.
Health: 1,200,000,000. Magic: 8,000,000. Physical attack power: 500,000. Magic attack power: 50,000. Defense: 80,000. Accuracy: 15,000. Evasion: 4,000. Attack speed: 100. Movement speed: 120.
Skills: Rending Quake, God-Breaking Slash, God-Defying Slash, Gale and Divine Thunder, and Breakthrough Sword.
Ultimate: Sacred War Soul.
Weapon: Elsidion: A Holy Annihilation-grade item. Requirement for use: soul attachment; exclusive to the Holy Sword War God. A holy sword from the far west of the world of Fate, said to hold sacred power from heaven itself. Ten thousand years ago it was bestowed by Goddess Xiyao on Calonandis, newly returned from the west, and became a companion he valued as much as his own life.
Properties: Attack +9999, Attack +75%, Strength +2000, Constitution +500, Agility -300, Spirit +100, Accuracy +500, Luck +8, Critical rate +50%. On attack, a certain chance to destroy or knock away the opponent’s weapon; the lower the grade of that weapon, the greater the chance of it being destroyed or knocked away. On attack, a certain chance to destroy the opponent’s armor; the lower the grade of that armor, the greater the chance of its destruction. Attacks carry a 100% scenery-destruction effect. Normal attacks are area attacks that cut through every enemy within five meters ahead.
Talent property: The sacred power held within the holy sword judges creatures of sinful darkness with extreme force, adding 30% extra damage on normal attacks.
Skills:
Demon-Severing Kill Barrier: Weaves the holy sword’s sacred power into a sacred barrier covering the target. A creature carrying the sinful dark property is completely locked down and cannot escape, and the violent strike that follows deals destruction to any creature with the sinful dark property, at a base damage of 700% of a normal attack. Costs 1500 magic. Cooldown 20 seconds.
Sword of Heaven: Gathers the holy sword’s sacred power and thrusts out a strike carrying the power of heaven itself. No effect against creatures of the light element; deals 400% damage to ordinary creatures and 1500% damage to creatures carrying the sinful dark property, and carries a 100% chance of a 5–10 second holy seal that makes them unable to use any dark-element magic. Costs 3000 magic. Cooldown 1 minute.
Red Lotus God-Breaking Kill: Burns the holy sword’s sacred power, raising the fire of heaven along the blade, then hurls the sword, and the fire on it scorches every enemy in a straight line 300 meters ahead. Enemies struck take 700% base damage and suffer 30 seconds of burning by heaven’s fire, losing 50,000 health per second — creatures with the sinful dark property lose 100,000 health per second. Costs 7000 magic. Usable three times a day.
Holy Forbidden Skill · Heaven’s Judgment: Heaven sends down divine punishment, and judgment falls upon the mortal world; when Heaven’s Judgment appears, ten thousand demons are put to death. Releases the holy sword’s power, setting off a great sacred explosion that mercilessly judges every target within a 300-meter area around the user, at 2000% base damage, and an overwhelming 4000% against enemies carrying the sinful dark property. Costs 125,000 magic. Usable once every seven days. After use, the holy sword Elsidion cannot be used for the following 24 hours.
(End of Chapter 242)