Monsters Die When Killed-Chapter 47 - 25: Poking and Stabbing
At that moment, a deep brown mist surged up from the distant underground passage, accompanied by a piercing rustling sound.
Both the flowing sewage and the stone passage were enveloped in a light mist that had begun to spread at some unknown time. The mist carried a sickly-sweet, bloody scent—part floral, part gore. Along with it came a dampness that felt as if it would seep into your very bones and take root inside your body.
Turning to face the direction the mist was surging from, Su Zhou calmly tightened his grip on the spear’s shaft. A translucent blade materialized at the tip of the two-and-a-half-meter-long hardwood shaft. The Exorcism Array pulsed with a dangerous Spiritual Light, illuminating the darkness.
He could hear it.
The skittering of countless insects—the sound of venomous bugs frantically scurrying for cover.
He could see it.
The black moss clinging to the passage walls began to spew a pale brown powder, obscuring the beam of his small flashlight and plunging the already dark sewer into a zone of impenetrable blackness.
A massive creature was scuttling rapidly toward him along the concrete path. A shadow shifted, and two reddish-brown orbs of light glowed from within the dark mist.
Then, the mist roiled, and a giant black centipede as thick as a grown man lunged from the darkness, bringing with it a foul gust of wind as it sought to devour him!
"Hah!"
With an angry shout, Su Zhou, who was already prepared, tightened his grip, twisted the shaft, and took a step forward!
Su Zhou showed no fear in the face of the giant insect’s mandibles, which were stronger than any sword. ’He knew his own strength. Ten days ago, he might have had to dodge, but now he could handle it!’ This thrust was aimed squarely at the mouthparts between the creature’s giant mandibles, intending to use that as a breakthrough point and punch straight through its head.
But in the next instant, his expression changed. Instead of thrusting, he pulled the shaft back and jabbed it forcefully behind him!
And at that very moment, a black, armored tail shot out from the water behind Su Zhou, striking at his back!
The giant insect was surprisingly cunning, having submerged its tail to launch a pincer attack from the rear. At the same time, its head lunged forward, massive mandibles snapping shut from above!
Two sharp, venomous stingers at the tip of its tail glinted with a deep purple light. A direct hit would surely be fatal!
THUD!
But Su Zhou’s reaction was incredibly fast. The butt of the Chou Wood shaft he swung backward slammed squarely into the centipede’s tail. The immense impact—hundreds of kilograms of force—knocked the giant insect off balance, sending it tumbling into the waterway between the concrete paths. The recoil, however, also sent Su Zhou stumbling forward. He narrowly dodged the snapping mandibles, rolling messily across the ground for ten-odd meters before regaining his balance.
"Cough, cough!"
The turbulence from their brief clash temporarily dispersed the mist. Leaning on his spear, half-kneeling on the ground, Su Zhou coughed and looked up. The Monster thrashing in the water was enormous: a giant black centipede nearly ten meters long. Including its legs, it was half a meter wide and thirty to forty centimeters high!
Its entire body was covered in pulsing, tree-root-like veins of cyan wood. Slippery black moss grew around these wooden veins, forming a dark, bark-like carapace upon which faint Runes flickered and flowed.
The giant insect’s reddish-brown compound eyes faded in and out of the mist, while the tips of its branch-like legs were as sharp as blades. These appendages clawed at the concrete floor of the sewer, gouging out inch-deep scratches.
"Damn, is this a bug or some kind of flood dragon?!"
Su Zhou’s expression flickered at the sight. He could tell at a glance that this long creature weighed at least two or three tons, yet moved with such agility. ’Worthy of being an extraordinary Evil Demon.’ But he quickly broke into a sardonic smile. "Then again, it’s not that much bigger than I imagined."
"Since I’m already here, there’s no way a man of Zhengguo is leaving empty-handed."
Without a moment’s hesitation, Su Zhou was back on his feet. His leg muscles bulged—far more developed and powerful than any ordinary athlete’s—gathering power, then erupting in a Burst of speed. One by one, the inscriptions on the Long Spear flared, and the translucent Spirit Blade carved an arc of light in the darkness, like a shooting star.
The giant insect also rose, shaking its head. Su Zhou’s previous blow had been powerful, unleashing nearly a ton of impact force, but for a three-ton behemoth like this, it was barely a nuisance.
Facing the charging human—a delicious morsel shimmering with Spiritual Light—the giant insect greedily and viciously reared up its body, like a venomous Dragon raising its head.
It lunged from above, its massive mandibles—strong enough to shear steel—scissoring through the air. It seemed intent on cutting down the spear shaft and Su Zhou together, then crushing them into fragments with its weight and segmented legs.
But even a clever Evil Demon that knew how to use its tail for a sneak attack was, in the end, just a bug.
"Rise!"
Facing the giant centipede as it pounced like a small mountain, Su Zhou, who had been poised to thrust, let out a great shout. He arched his spine, dropped his stance, and threw all his weight and strength against the back of the shaft. His superhuman, immense power erupted at one end of the lever, transforming the other end into a heavy fist that smashed violently into the giant insect’s lower jaw!
Just how much power did Su Zhou possess? God only knew, but he could certainly lift several hundred kilograms, over half a ton, without a doubt. Now, that power became the force on one end of a lever, flinging the pouncing insect’s head diagonally upward and slamming it into the sewer ceiling!
CRASH!
The giant black centipede felt as if it had been struck by a ferocious Rising Dragon Fist; the entire front section of its three-ton body was lifted into the air!
It could feel the carapace of its lower jaw nearly shatter against the hardwood shaft. The violent impact, mixed with the destructive power of the Breaking Evil Array on Spiritual Energy, was tearing through the Evil Demon’s simple, yet far from primitive, nerve clusters and Spiritual Energy!
Unprecedented pain and dizziness caused it to let out a subconscious, silent scream. It coiled up, thrashing its body and tail violently to bat away everything around it.
"Tsk!"
’How powerful is a multi-ton insect thrashing about wildly?’ Su Zhou had no desire to find out. He had wanted to press his advantage, to strike again to shatter its jaw and nail the centipede’s head to the concrete ceiling, but now he could only sigh in regret. He raised his spear and leaped back, dodging the sweep of its venomous tail stinger.
The sheer force of the wind and waves from its thrashing tail was almost enough to blow Su Zhou into the water and send him skipping like a stone. ’If I’d gotten greedy for that last strike,’ he thought, ’my spine would have been shattered.’
But this didn’t mean Su Zhou was about to halt his assault. The Red Chou Wood shaft was crafted from seasoned hardwood, perfectly balanced and unyielding, channeling force from end to end without a hint of wobble. Furthermore, the Exorcism Array fortified it, making it as sturdy as iron.
’Thrusting and stabbing are indeed the most powerful attacks for a rigid spear like this,’ he thought, ’but even without a physical spearhead, I’m not out of options.’
"Eat this!"
With a low shout, Su Zhou faced the giant centipede thrashing and churning up huge waves in the water. He shifted his hands, reversing his grip on the Long Spear like a coastal fisherman. He leaped high, his body and the shaft becoming one—a human Fishing Spear.
Then, aiming for the giant insect’s iridescent compound eye, he plunged the spear down with all his might!
BOOM!
A massive tremor shook the ground. The shockwave and echo from shattering concrete slabs were deafening, traveling through the rock at three thousand meters per second.
An ordinary person, even one living nearby, likely wouldn’t have sensed the tremor from nearly ten meters underground. Even for those with supernatural abilities, in this noisy world, it would be difficult to distinguish that faint shudder from the bass of a ground-floor subwoofer.
But on the surface of the Fuhe River, Professor Zhang Fucheng, who had been concentrating on tracking the trail of Spiritual Qi, abruptly shot up from his seat on the police speedboat. He stared in astonishment toward the distant eruption point. A geyser of greenish-brown Wood Qi had burst forth from underground, creating a fountain that was incredibly conspicuous in the Spirit Realm!
"That’s the spot!"
Although the geyser lasted only for an instant, the professor from Zhengyi Academy had seen it clearly. Without a moment’s hesitation, he pointed in that direction and declared with certainty, "The Demon Fiend is right there!"
On the dark river, a motor immediately roared to life. As the command spread, more heavily armed, modern military personnel in inconspicuous black cars sped toward the area where the Spiritual Qi geyser had erupted.
Meanwhile, Su Zhou, having just plunged his spear through the giant centipede’s compound eye, was sent flying by the creature’s furious thrashing. With an irresistible force and a loud SPLAT, he was plastered against the arched ceiling of the sewer.
