* Chapter 79: Little Heizi, Level Up! Aspia Cult

Details:

Name: Senior Aspia Cultist

Race: Mutant Human

Level: 30-35

Skills: Wraith Curse Level 2, Partial Transformation Level 1, Beast Frenzy Level 2, Rapid Regeneration Level 1, Sacrifice Max

When I turned to face them, the seven figures had already shed their robes. What revealed was a body full of gruesome stitches, a sight that could curdle blood.

"The radiance of Aspia shall cover the earth, and the gift of death shall be broadcast to the world!" one of them croaked. "Offer up your flesh and blood!"

The coarse voice echoed ominously through the cavern. I didn't respond, but suddenly, a chill raced down my spine.

"Yikes!"

Without warning, a cultist materialized behind me, as if teleported. His hand, shaped like a wolf's claw, aimed directly at my heart.

"You will be part of something great!" he growled.

A cold sensation crept across my back, and an immense force took me by surprise. Or rather, I didn't even consider defending myself, and I was flung forward.

"Damn! Damn it!"

The cultist looked at his claw, expecting to see blood, but there was none. His triumphant expression faded to confusion. The script, it seemed, had changed.

He barely had time to register this anomaly when a horrifying wave of magic power erupted beside him, eliciting a scream from another cultist.

"How dare you attack the president! Face the wrath of Satan!" he roared.

This cultist's body contorted, transforming into a werewolf in seconds and charging straight at me.

As the werewolf blocked my vision, the thrill of battle instantly turned cold. Without hesitation, I activated a skill I'd acquired not long ago - "Double Conservation".

Next thing I knew, my agility, which had been over a hundred, dropped to zero.

The pent-up power felt like a volcano brewing within my muscles. As the werewolf, with his bloodied maw, lunged towards me, I couldn't help but smirk.

The shadow beneath me surged, and in an instant, the black claws of a Licker shot out.

"Splash!"

The sharp claws tore through the werewolf's body, stopping his charge. His snarling face was now inches away from mine, and I took this opportunity to deliver a well-timed punch.

"Take this, Thunderstrike!"

The sound of a cracking skull echoed, and something sticky coated my hand. The werewolf's body flew backwards, suspended in midair. At the same time, a notification flashed across my screen.

"You've defeated an Aspia cultist (Level 28). You've earned 288 Experience Points and the elite grade material 'Contaminated Special Steel.'"

Looking at the cultist's body as it collided with a pile of crates, I scoffed. "I'm an engineer, not some squishy wizard!"

After shaking the red and white remnants from my hand, my "Double Conservation" status quickly reset.

Yet, just for that fleeting moment, another notification lit up Zheng Mu's interface.

"You've defeated a senior Aspia cultist (Level 35), earning 1621 Experience Points and a rare 'Aspia Gem Shard.'"

Miss Milaj, once adorned in a ballroom gown and the picture of elegance, was nowhere to be seen. In her place stood a feral woman, pale as the driven snow with a black tail trailing behind her, and devil wings sprouting from her back.

"Trash like this daring to fight against us?" Milaj, now transformed into a demon, let out a scornful huff as her 'Dark Rage' ability reduced a cultist to dust.

Seeing her power in action, Zheng Mu broke into a cold sweat.

"Clear the rest of them! We're running out of time!" he barked.

Indeed, the situation was absurd. One moment, Zheng Mu marveled at Milaj's strength; the next, he gaped at her power reserves on her stat panel. Under the bold words, "Combat Android Milaj (52 seconds remaining in Demon form)", was a startling figure.

He groaned internally, "Isn't it a bit late to be playing tough, sis?"

Caught off guard by Zheng Mu's command, Demon Milaj blushed before hastily dashing towards the central platform. As she vaulted into the air, dark purple magic swirled around her fingers, morphing into a whirlwind.

With a resounding crash, she slammed into the foes below.

"Super Sadistic Rage!"

The six remaining cultists had no chance to defend against the incoming assault. They transformed into bulls, fierce tigers, or humanoid crocodiles with scales in a desperate attempt to fight back.

"We wait for greatness!" their roar echoed, only to be silenced as Milaj's magic washed over them.

As the notifications of defeated cultists and the rewards flooded Zheng Mu's interface, he couldn't help but notice the boss of this realm was still missing. Just as he began to puzzle over this, a chilling scream echoed, punctuated by a fanatic shout.

A cultist engaged in a fight with a T-800 suddenly dropped to his knees. As he chanted, "We will return to greatness," he exploded into a cloud of blood mist, coalescing towards the platform.

In a blink of an eye, the boss of this hidden realm materialized before Zheng Mu's eyes. It was a colossal serpent, ten meters long, its black body seeming to be made of flowing shadow.

The moment it appeared, it lunged at Milaj, still airborne.

Name: Cursed Serpent (Aspia's Tentacle).

[Race: Shadow Entity]

[Level: 37]

[HP: 200,000/200,000]

[MP: 19,000/19,000]

[Strength: 582]

[Agility: 781]

[Intelligence: 989]

[Constitution: 1062]

[Skills: Aspia's Curse (Max), Rapid Regen Lv3, Dark God's Blood (Max), Bliss Illusion Lv2, Death Marsh Lv1, Physical Immunity v2]

Taking in the boss's stats, Zheng Mu gasped.

"200,000 hit points! And crazy-fast regeneration?!"

Almost reflexively, he rallied the surrounding androids and directed them to swarm the boss. Simultaneously, in the sky above, Milaj, with a surge of magic in her hand, smashed it down onto the maw of the cursed snake.

A [Dark Rage] hit landed squarely on the serpent's enormous head.

HP down by 32,000.

The powerful attack caused a significant dip in the boss's health bar, leaving it visibly shaken. Just as Zheng Mu began to smile, the ground underfoot transformed into a massive, pitch-black marsh.

[You have entered the range of "Death Marsh" ability, HP -100 per second, speed reduced by 50%, stealth skills ineffective]

Damn it!

Stunned for a second, Zheng Mu exerted all his power, leaping upward. Activating his Ghost Shadow Step, he hovered mid-air. However, the T-800s and Lickers below, losing 100 HP per second, were faring far worse.

As Zheng Mu scrambled to help his robotic allies, Milaj, her time dwindling, started unleashing her wrath on the serpent.

[Black Magic Wave] - HP down by 17,000.

[Dark Whiplash] - HP down by 26,000.

[Death Sonata] - HP down by 41,000.

Despite the relentless onslaught, Zheng Mu watched as the serpent's health gauge seemed to yo-yo back and forth. Though it was gradually decreasing, it wasn't depleting fast enough.

Recognizing this, Milaj made her move. A surge of magical energy exploded from her body as she activated [Devil's Heart] again. Zheng Mu watched as her remaining transformation time reset.

[Combat Android Milaj (12 minutes, 44 seconds remaining in Demon Form)]

"Try to survive this, you vermin!" she sneered, "[Soul Eater]!"

Her demonic form filled with menacing energy, Milaj unleashed a dark shockwave towards the cursed serpent.

A shrill hissing sound pierced the air as a wave of pure black energy erupted from the boss, sweeping across the battlefield instantly.

[You've acquired the "Aspia's Curse" condition. For one month, you cannot restore your own HP and MP, and all healing and enhancing effects will be nullified]

[You're within range of "Bliss Illusion", and you've acquired the "Chaos" condition]

Caught off guard, Zheng Mu was still trying to comprehend his status updates when a violent energy blast sent him and everything else in the vicinity flying.

It looked like a bomb had gone off.

Picking himself out of the wreckage, Zheng Mu was astounded to find that the once towering platform was gone, replaced by a massive crater, and...

The Boss, a cursed snake shrouded in black mist, was writhing within it...

Its health, originally at 200,000, had dropped to just a little over a thousand. However, as Zheng Mu watched, the boss quickly recovered 5,000 hit points in a mere blink of an eye.

Given the snake's rapid regeneration, even a four-person team in the secret realm would struggle if they were all below level 30. Zheng Mu thought that even a team of four S-rank professionals wouldn't fare any better unless they had special weapons or intel.

Seeing Mirajane gasping for breath but readying for another attack, a daring idea popped into Zheng Mu's mind.

"Talon, mimic that thing!" he commanded.

In response, a dark chasm opened up next to the boss. Talon, like a stream of glossy black liquid, pounced on the snake. Bypassing its physical immunity, Talon penetrated the boss's body.

The health bar of the cursed snake, which had been rising rapidly, came to a halt. Black tendrils, resembling tentacles, sprouted from Talon and enveloped the snake, forming a massive black cocoon.

HP -100.

HP -172.

HP -121.

The health bar, which had paused in growth, now began to decline. A relieved Mirajane, who had been on edge, relaxed.

As the wave of magical energy faded from her body, she apologized, "I'm sorry, boss, I wasn't much help. I almost put you in danger."

Her sincerity made Zheng Mu see her as more than just a mechanical creation. He comforted her with a reassuring smile and said, "Danger? It was just an unexpected challenge, nothing more."

He looked over at the cursed snake, its health steadily dropping, and wondered at his own luck.

This was his second venture into the secret realm. The first time, he had encountered Princess Ruby, who could infinitely revive herself using a thousand-year-old red coffin. Despite having powerful allies like Optimus Prime, he had barely made it.

Now, he was faced with a boss like the cursed snake, which could regain 5,000 HP per second. It was utterly absurd. Especially considering he was currently suffering from a debuff that prevented HP and MP restoration.

If he had to face a team of four other professionals under the same conditions, he couldn't help but grimace at the thought. The Aspia's Curse alone would make any healing potions or Priests they had on their side utterly useless.

Moreover, there was the Death Marsh that had ravaged the battlefield earlier, and the previously ignored Bliss Illusion that could induce chaos.

Zheng Mu furrowed his brow, musing over the situation. He wondered how anyone could successfully navigate such an intense challenge with the formidable combination of 4.8.

Regardless of whether it was the "Millennium Red Coffin" secret realm or the current "Aspia Cult Fortress", they were still just difficult levels according to the Celestial Dao certification.

Above these, there were even harder challenges: Hell level and District Dream level.

How does one cope with this?

"It doesn't add up, something's definitely off," he murmured.

As Zheng Mu lost himself in thought, the massive black cocoon before him finally burst apart with a resounding crash.

Clusters of light, either Purple or Red, exploded forth from within.

[You've defeated the boss cursed snake (Aspia's tentacles) (lv37), and earned 27.4m Experience Points.]

[You've received the Red hero-level material "Blood of the Evil God".]

[You've acquired the Red hero-level equipment "Budu Royal Soul".]

[You've unlocked the unique skill tree "Formless Transformation" for mechanics.]

[You've found a special item "Aspia Cult Log".]

[You've broken the world's curse*1, congratulations on gaining a Celestial point*1.]

[Current Celestial points: 3.]

Zheng Mu narrowed his eyes, choosing to momentarily disregard the scattered equipment and materials, and the celestial points that had shown up thrice.

He immediately called up the data on Black Claw.

[Name: Licker (Black Claw).]

[Type: Mechanical Creation (created by mechanic Zheng Mu).]

[Level: Red Hero Class.]

[Durability: 50k/50k.]

[Attack Power: 1800-4100.]

[Defensive Power: 2652.]

The information caused Zheng Mu's eyes to widen in disbelief. He hadn't expected Black Claw, who had just been upgraded to the Purple Rare level a few days ago, to level up again after devouring the boss's cursed snake.

Black Claw had jumped straight from the Purple Rare class to the Red Hero class.

However, the surprises didn't stop there.

Zheng Mu glanced at the other's skill bar.

[Skill 8: "Evil Energy Matrix"...].