Chapter 144: The Two-Pronged Assault (Part 1)

Io’s Cosmo transformed into a giant bee the size of a basketball, hurtling straight toward Mu with a sharp stinger extending from its tail.

"Mr. Mu, watch out for the sneak attack!" Yin Shiqi shouted in warning.

"No need to worry!"

Mu turned his head, offering him a calm and composed smile before thrusting his fist toward the oncoming giant bee.

"Stardust Revolution!"

He had never let down his guard for even a second.

In an instant, countless meteors materialized from the power of his Cosmo, plunging from the sky and enveloping both the giant bee ahead and the Mariner Io not far away.

"Oh no!"

Seeing his opponent’s counterattack come so swiftly, Io felt a sudden surge of dread, desperately attempting to escape the meteor-shrouded zone.

Alas, it was already too late.

As the meteors plummeted, they spun at the speed of light, instantly forming a torrential vortex of stone. Like an inverted funnel, wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, it trapped Io and his giant bee inextricably within its grasp.

Yet, the meteor vortex was far from a simple cage.

Spinning and descending at light speed, the meteors acted like razor-sharp blades. Even stars caught within them would be sliced to pieces, let alone a human being.

Io’s giant bee was torn to shreds by the meteor storm in a fraction of a second, while the Scale armor encasing his body suffered a relentless barrage of impacts, fracturing with countless microscopic cracks.

"Argh—"

Following a single, agonizing scream, Io was blasted backward, sent flying through the air by the fury of the meteor tempest.

Mu knew this single blow still wouldn't be enough to kill the Mariner, but he did not pursue him further. Instead, he hurried toward the other side, where Renekton and Bian were.

Protected by Scales comparable in defense to Gold Cloths, completely slaying a Mariner was no easy feat.

Moreover, there was more than one Mariner present here.

Should they realize Scylla Io was facing mortal peril, Sea Horse Bian would undoubtedly intervene.

Since he could not kill him now, wasting energy on futile pursuits was pointless.

His current objective was to reclaim the ore basket snatched away by Renekton, and then safely escape the Realm of the Sea with Yin Shiqi and the other boy.

Meanwhile, seeing Mu abandon Io and charge straight at him, Bian instantly shifted his target, throwing a punch forward.

"God's Breath!"

His fist summoned a terrifying hurricane, sweeping violently toward the incoming adversary.

However, Mu had no desire to waste time locking horns with him. He burst forth at the speed of light, flashing to the side to dodge the ferocious gale before unleashing his telekinesis, which materialized into a giant hand that grabbed the crocodile on the ground and dragged it toward him.

Poor Renekton—no matter how formidable an adversary he might seem to Yin Shiqi, when facing a Gold Saint of the Seventh Sense, he was no different from any common foot soldier found on the street.

If one insisted on finding a difference, it was that Renekton, as the divine emissary of Sobek, possessed extraordinary tenacity.

Especially since his previous incarnation had been a crocodile, granting him inherent vitality, which only grew manifold after becoming a divine messenger, surpassing that of ordinary human emissaries.

Thus, after enduring a thorough thrashing from Bian, aside from shattering a portion of his superficial scale armor, he had sustained almost no serious injuries.

"You wish!"

Seeing that Mu’s target was Renekton, Bian immediately pulled back his punch, lunged forward, and grabbed the crocodile by the tail.

Although he held no fondness for this crocodile that had broken into the Marine realm, their primary enemy at the moment was Aries Mu.

Whatever Mu intended to do, they would stop him.

Caught in a tug-of-war between the two powerhouses, Renekton suffered immensely, his tail pulled straight as a taut rope.

"It hurts so much! My tail is going to snap!" he cried out repeatedly, yet he still refused to let go of the ore basket in his grasp.

He hesitated, wondering whether he should summon the great Lord Sobek to resolve his current predicament.

Yet he also remembered Lord Sobek's strict command: unless it was an absolute emergency, the Lord was not to be summoned down.

After all, transmitting power all the way from beyond the heavens was utterly exhausting.

Fortunately, his body had been tempered and reinforced by Lord Sobek, becoming exceptionally resilient; the pulling force exerted by the two combatants was still within his tolerance limits.

Otherwise, he likely would have been ripped entirely in half by the pair.

On the other side, Scylla Io, who had been struck down by Mu, finally caught his breath. Slowly picking himself up from the ground, he locked his gaze onto the two parties locked in a tug-of-war over the crocodile.

Though the two seemed deadlocked, evenly matched on the surface, a closer observation revealed that Bian’s body was inching forward bit by bit, leaving two short, shallow gouges in the ground behind him.

Mu’s telekinesis slightly outweighed Bian’s physical strength.

Instantly gathering his Cosmo into his right hand, Io once again raised his fist and struck out at Mu.

"Vampire Bat!"

In a flash, countless vampiric bats materialized, a suffocating, pitch-black swarm that silently swooped down toward their target.

"Mr. Mu, watch out, that guy is pulling another sneak attack!" Inside the crystal wall, Yin Shiqi shouted anxiously once more.

Though these two Mariners fell short of Mu's might, their genuine Seventh Sense was undeniable. Should anything go wrong on Mu's end, he would have no means to counter them himself.

"You really are an irritating pest!" Irritated by the voice, Io split off a few bats and sent them hurtling toward the boy.

Thud, thud, thud!

Without exception, the bats were blocked harmlessly outside the crystal wall, unable to penetrate it at all.

Yet Io hadn't genuinely expected those few bats to pierce the barrier; he simply wished to vent his annoyance.

His primary objective remained the sneak attack on Mu on the other side.

However, without needing Yin Shiqi's warning, Mu had not completely lowered his guard against Io.

Especially at the exact moment Io launched his attack, Mu opened his right hand toward the path of the incoming bats.

Flap, flap, flap!

Countless vampire bats beat their wings as they charged forward, only to suddenly freeze as if caught by an invisible force. Suspended mid-air, they could neither advance nor retreat, fluttering their wings in vain.

"That is..."

Io widened his eyes, focusing his Sixth Sense to inspect the scene closely. Only then did he realize that Mu had woven a transparent net of telekinesis right in front of him, gluing every single one of his bats firmly to it.

"Since sneak attacks are useless, then... I'll just kill you and that crocodile together!" Io roared, gathering his Cosmo into his palm and throwing another punch.

At that very instant, Bian—who had been locked in a stalemate with Mu—simultaneously released his grip with tacit coordination, slamming a crushing fist down onto Renekton's back.

"Fangs of the Pale Wolf!"

"Rotating Gale Hurricane!"

The two Mariners unleashed their ultimate techniques in unison, launching a coordinated, twin assault intended to obliterate Mu and Renekton together.

Io’s Cosmo surged from his fist, transforming into a savage wolf that nimbly skirted around the crystal web to lunge directly at Mu from behind.

Meanwhile, Bian’s fists were wreathed in gales and churning water, sweeping Renekton along as they surged toward Mu in a devastating torrent.

Having already tasted this combo once and knowing how grueling it was to withstand their combined assault, Mu chose to let go and evade this time, refusing to take the blow head-on.

Regrettably, faced with their pincer maneuver, he could not completely escape.

Bian’s ferocious hurricane grazed his back, throwing off his footing; that split-second disruption was all it took to rob him of the chance to dodge Io’s grey wolf.

Roar!

The wolf sank its jaws into his right shoulder, instantly leaving several deep puncture marks in the shoulder guard of his Cloth.

As for Renekton the crocodile, he was struck by both Mariners simultaneously, blasted high into the sky until he vanished into the vaulted dome above.