Chapter 103: Xolotl

"How is this possible?" Camus gasped.

That was his ultimate technique, a freezing breath reaching absolute zero to encase his opponent. By all logic, anyone struck by this move should have every atom in their body cease all movement due to the absolute zero temperature, leaving them to slumber forever as an eternal ice sculpture.

Yet, this god possessing the vessel not only failed to fall into a slumber, but had actually shattered his most powerful ice seal and was on the verge of breaking free.

Bang!

As cracks spread across the entire frozen space, the jaguar-garbed goddess exerted a sudden burst of power. The frozen domain shattered instantly, and the massive shockwave sent both Camus and his companion flying.

To the south, Deathmask’s situation was equally precarious.

The deity possessing the male pyramid guardian was named Xolotl, a subordinate god of the Venus goddess Quetzalcoatl. He wore black leather armor etched with a dog-head emblem on the chest—whether he had forgotten to remove it or it was his original attire remained unknown. One ear was missing from the dog’s head design.

Though his power was inferior to that of Quetzalcoatl or Tezcatlipoca, he still held the rank of a major deity and was not to be compared with common, low-tier gods.

More troublesome was the fact that Deathmask had become overconfident; before killing the guardian, he had trampled the man's body underfoot in mockery. During the moment of divine descent, he had even attempted to crush the guardian's skull with his heel.

However, he had failed.

In doing so, Deathmask had committed the objective act of trampling a god. Such an insult would be unbearable to an ordinary person, let alone a deity. Consequently, Xolotl, upon descending, locked his hatred onto Deathmask, vowing to tear him to pieces.

"Turn to ash in the thunder, you wretched Cancer!" Xolotl concentrated his Cosmo into his fingertip and pointed it at Deathmask from afar. As the god of lightning, he possessed the power to command the storm.

"Spear of Thunder!"

In an instant, the energy of his Cosmo took the form of a spear wreathed in lightning, hurtling toward the recently knocked-back Deathmask.

"Don't count on it!"

Not far away, Orion Rigel saw this and immediately concentrated his Cosmo into his palm, manifesting a ball of ghostly blue flames which he hurled at the lightning spear.

"Ignis Fatuus!"

The pillar of ghostly blue fire intercepted the lightning spear, holding it suspended in mid-air. Unfortunately, Rigel had not grasped the Seventh Sense for long and was at the bottom tier of that realm; holding back a god's attack was a struggle. The pillar of blue fire retreated inch by inch under the pressure of the lightning spear, on the verge of collapse.

However, although Rigel did not fully block Xolotl’s attack, this brief resistance was enough for Deathmask to catch his breath.

"Thanks, that was a huge help, Rigel!" He wiped the blood from the corner of his mouth, grinning at the Orion saint who was struggling against the lightning nearby.

"Stop babbling and help! I can't hold him off alone!" Rigel shouted at Deathmask while pouring his Cosmo into maintaining the flame pillar.

"Don't worry, I'll show this god my true power now!" Sensing the soul energy contained within the lightning spear, Deathmask burned his Cosmo, gathered his strength into his right hand, and charged forward.

"Let go!"

He secretly signaled Rigel with his telekinesis, then threw a punch forward. Though he didn't understand what Deathmask intended, Rigel hesitantly cut off the output of his Cosmo, extinguishing the flame pillar.

In that very instant, deprived of the obstruction of the blue fire, the lightning spear suddenly accelerated, shooting toward the rushing Deathmask.

"Die, you damned Cancer!" Xolotl roared, pouring more Cosmo into the attack. Countless bolts of thunder erupted from his fingertips, coiling around the spear and making its power increasingly terrifying.

"I am not the one who will die—you are, oh great god!" Deathmask laughed, meeting the lightning spear with his fist.

"Praesepe Soul Burial!"

In a flash, the Cosmo energy condensed on his fist exploded, igniting a pale blue flame. The moment it touched the lightning spear, it was like a spark landing on a fuse. The entire spear and the electricity coiling around it ignited, turning into a massive ball of pale blue fire.

"Eh?"

Xolotl was startled, never expecting his own attack to be set ablaze. Deathmask’s Praesepe flames could ignite soul energy, acting as a counter to any soul-related techniques. It was precisely because he had sensed the soul energy within the lightning spear that Deathmask had decisively used this move, treating the spear as fuel.

And violent combustion leads to an explosion.

Xolotl had poured significant power into this attack to kill Deathmask, and the result was self-evident.

The flames detonated.

BOOM!

In an instant, the ignited lightning spear exploded, and the violent shockwave spread indiscriminately in all directions. Both Deathmask and Xolotl were sent flying. Even worse, Deathmask’s Praesepe flames followed the source of the Cosmo energy back to its origin.

The defenseless Xolotl was left scorched and disheveled. While not a fatal issue, being wounded by a mere Gold Saint was a tremendous humiliation for a god. Furthermore, with old grudges unhealed and new hatred added, Xolotl’s loathing for Deathmask rose to an indescribable height.

"Cancer! I will tear your body apart, grind your soul into powder, and erase you from this world forever!" Xolotl roared in fury as he climbed from the ground, his appearance looking ragged. Due to the explosive impact, the Cosmo manifesting his physical form had been heavily depleted, making his image blur considerably.

"Too bad, you won't get the chance!"

In mid-air, Deathmask held a massive ball of pale blue flames in his hands, laughing down at the deity below: "Let me be the one to send you to the Underworld to have a nice chat with Hades!"

Although he had been caught in the blast, it was his own technique, and he understood it better than anyone; he had prepared accordingly. The moment the explosion ended, he gathered his Cosmo, leaped into the air, and launched another round of attacks.

As the originator of the "Spear of Thunder," Xolotl had taken the brunt of the impact. Combined with his lack of understanding of Deathmask’s technique, it was fated that Xolotl would lose the opportunity to counter-attack following the explosion.

"Praesepe Underworld Wave!"

Deathmask laughed as he hurled the pale blue fireball at the god, who was now shrouded in black mist.