Chapter 276: Chapter 275: Retreating from the Battlefield, Decisive Battle at the Gray Wall

VMMMM!

The sky suddenly darkened!

Within the void, a translucent, spectral warship appeared, perfectly overlapping with the Ghostly Flood Dragon!

A historical projection!

Using the Power of Rules to summon a historical projection, he activated the Quasi-Technique, [Netherworld Boat], achieving a twofold amplification!

The past and the present!

At this moment, they converged!

The Ghostly Flood Dragon’s power seemed to sublimate!

Then, VMMMM!

A scarlet-red light bloomed like a rose.

Tens of thousands of prism-like shields manifested before the ship’s hull! 𝑓𝘳𝘦𝑒𝑤𝑒𝘣𝘯ℴ𝘷𝘦𝓁.𝑐𝑜𝑚

Innumerable shields layered one upon another, protecting the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s hull so tightly that not even the wind could pass through!

A Defensive Array!

His previous attack having failed, Su Ye cautiously chose to defend, preparing for the Eternal Hunter Incarnation’s counterattack!

SHIIING!

A jet-black claw strike tore through the void, seeming to carry a death that could end all things as it smashed violently against the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s Protective Array!

The prismatic shields seemed to want to refract the damage.

However, the power they endured completely exceeded their limits!

BANG! BANG! BANG!

The stacked shields shattered one after another!

In an instant, nearly half of the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s shields were pierced!

"Hmph?!"

Su Ye’s expression darkened.

He focused his full attention, manipulating the prismatic shields to converge on a single point and constantly reshaping them to wear down the Eternal Hunter Incarnation’s claw strike!

BAM.

A few breaths later.

The Eternal Hunt’s claw strike dissipated into the air.

But...

A hole nearly ten feet deep had appeared on the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s port side, revealing the inner cabins!

The Eternal Hunter Incarnation’s single strike had, with unstoppable momentum, pierced through the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s Defensive Array, its exoskeleton armor, and even the sturdy hull itself!

The light in Su Ye’s eyes flickered uncertainly.

’Are you kidding me... I have [Netherworld Boat] active. All of the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s attributes are doubled...’

’If this were the normal Ghostly Flood Dragon...’

’This one attack would have probably pierced it from bow to stern?!’

’This is trouble...’

Su Ye grew anxious.

After manifesting its Earthly Divine Kingdom, the Eternal Hunter Incarnation’s combat power was simply off the charts!

Even with Su Ye activating [Netherworld Boat] to double the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s power, he had still fallen behind in this exchange of offense and defense!

’And the most important thing is this Divine Realm of its... it’s immune to damage...’

’I can only take hits passively. This is a huge disadvantage!’

Su Ye didn’t believe in the existence of any absolute defense.

But for now, at least, until he could figure out a way to break it, this three-foot Divine Realm was, for all intents and purposes, an absolute defense!

’I have to break through this, or there’s no way to fight...’

As the thought flashed through Su Ye’s mind, he decided, ’Let’s try this first...’

SWOOSH.

As he willed it, the shape of the Ghostly Flood Dragon’s hull began to change.

The exoskeleton armor retracted, the hull became streamlined, and thousands of plasma thrusters extended from the ship’s stern!

BOOM!

The Ghostly Flood Dragon’s bow tilted up as its tail flames surged!

In the blink of an eye, it transformed into a black-and-red meteor, ascending upward!

’Logically, most domain-type abilities can’t be moved...’

’Or, they have some kind of restriction on their movement?’

Su Ye theorized.

Suddenly, his brow twitched.

His Divine Sense caught a glimpse of a jet-black figure shooting straight into the clouds, tearing through the air in hot pursuit!

The Eternal Hunter Incarnation!

Surrounding it, the three-foot Divine Realm followed like a shadow!

"Fuck!"

Su Ye cursed under his breath.

"Forget it... Jiaojiao, keep accelerating!"

"Head north!"

"Evacuate the battlefield!"

That’s right.

He had decided to run!

Admittedly.

Su Ye was quite certain that the Earthly Divine Kingdom manifested by the Eternal Hunter Incarnation most likely had a time limit!

But the problem was...

’My [Netherworld Boat] has a time limit, too!’

Su Ye’s expression was grim.

If the duration of [Netherworld Boat] ended,

and the Eternal Hunter Incarnation could still maintain its manifested Divine Kingdom...

wouldn’t he be in a real bind?!

’So... the best option is to retreat!’

Su Ye ran a hand through his hair, his eyes calm.

He would race northward, return to the Yaoguang Islands, and shake off the Eternal Hunter Incarnation!

He didn’t find it humiliating.

’Are you kidding?’

’What realm am I even at? How long have I been cultivating? The Eternal Hunting God is a Tier 5 old monster who has lived for several thousand years!’

Choosing to retreat was perfectly normal!

Besides.

’The price the Eternal Hunting God must have paid for this divine descent is surely substantial!’

’As long as I can escape successfully, it’s a net gain!’

’What’s more, my gains from this trip to the Far South Continent are already more than enough.’

A huge amount of experience points, creation points, my own cultivation breaking through to the Mid-stage Crystal, plundering the Aino City royal treasury that had been accumulated over millennia, and acquiring millions of Spirit Stones...

’I even... obtained a sliver of Eternal Hunting Divinity!’

Contributed by Prince Tewa Kan!

I can use it to deduce the fifth divine seed!

So, choosing to retreat isn’t a loss at all!

His valuable experience from playing *Darkest Dungeon* in his past life had taught Su Ye a clear lesson: when it’s time to run, you run. Never get greedy!

The only slight problem was that after he fled, his subordinates left behind in Aino City might meet an unfortunate end?

Eh?

Su Ye expressed his regret.

’What a shame. I haven’t had my fun with Genvieve yet...’

But...

if they died, they died.

What could be done about it?

To him, these subordinates were nothing more than tools and playthings!

—Things that could be discarded at any time!

The very meaning of their existence was to provide Su Ye with convenience and comfort!

How could he possibly place himself in mortal danger for their sake?

That would be getting his priorities backward!

...

BOOM!

Two meteors chased each other across the sky at an altitude of over ten thousand feet!

The Ghostly Flood Dragon’s size had shrunk drastically, condensing into a thirty-meter-long, shuttle-shaped aircraft!

SWISH! SWISH! SWISH!

Like a supersonic fighter jet from his previous life, it performed 360-degree rolls, dodging the claw strikes blasting at it from behind!

"Damn it!"

"Mortal, is running all you know how to do?"

The Eternal Hunter Incarnation was furious!

Its manifested Divine Kingdom was unrivaled in both offense and defense.

It did, however, have one particular drawback.

—Speed!

In order to maintain the Divine Realm around its body,

its speed couldn’t be too fast, only reaching the average level of a Tier 4 being!

For an ordinary Tier 3, this was already fast enough!

But for the Ghostly Flood Dragon, which was specialized into its speed form, it was far from enough!

WHOOSH!

Hundreds of miles ahead, a gray wall that seemed to connect heaven and earth had appeared!

The Mist Sea Gray Wall!

In the midst of the chase, the two had already neared the Mist Sea region!

The Eternal Hunter Incarnation’s expression was conflicted.

It knew it absolutely could not cross into the Mist Sea!

’But, if I can’t kill him, the losses I’ve incurred from maintaining this divine descent for so long... even slaughtering all of Aino City won’t be enough to recoup even thirty percent...’

’I must sacrifice this outsider. It’s the only way I might break even!’

The sunk cost was too high!

The Eternal Hunter Incarnation was already trapped by it!

Therefore...

the decision it made was—to up the ante!