"Return my daughter, and I shall spare your life."
The Ant Goddess declared in a commanding tone that echoed ancientness, power, and authority.
"And what if I do not?"
Konrad asked with a smirk.
"Then, I can only snatch her back and harvest your lives along the way."
The Ant Goddess replied and stretched out her hands. Instantaneously, the chthonian energies lingering within the Blood Mountain Range's atmosphere, and those lilies Konrad had yet to harvest were suppressed as a field of boundless life essence draped the eighteen peaks.
Magnificent flowers bloomed across the mountain range, and hundreds of towering trees rippling with vast life essence rose from all sides. But as Life reached its apex, Konrad raised his right hand!
Instantaneously, the death lilies that still remained and threatened to collapse under this surge of life essence rose from the ground, shot into the sky, and unleashed their death essence, which stretched throughout the atmosphere to gather within Konrad's forehead.
At the same time, vast, chthonian energies rose and suppressed the life essence field. The blooming flowers withered, the trees atrophied and collapsed, and the emerald green force stretching within the atmosphere didn't dare go beyond a ten meters radius from the Ant Goddess!
Beneath her emerald mist cloak, her eyes widened in disbelief! But even that cloak wouldn't endure, for suppressed by the rising black and icy blue chthonian energy, it dispersed, revealing her form for all to see!
A 1.7 meters tall woman with black hairs held in wavy chignon style stood. Dressed in a short-sleeve black velvet gown that held her luscious curves to perfection, and devoid of the typical malice that rippled within the other zenith ants' eyes, she appeared like a ravishing beauty able to only emerge from a fairy tale.
With luminous skin glowing in life force, compelling eyes shining with unmatched vitality, and sky-high cultivation, Konrad was forced to admit, that as a dual cultivator, this woman kindled his appeal.
However, his eyes saw beyond the façade. This holy exterior concealed a heart as dark as night!
Moreover, an unquenchable thirst for power hid within this woman's upturned eyes!
"Oh? What a surprise. What need is there for a beauty of your caliber to stay concealed beneath a cloak? Or is it that you feared kindling my interest? I assure you, that's in your best interest."
Konrad chortled while letting go of Else's waist to step into the air. Pitch black mist coated his skin and swirled around him like tendrils of darkness while icy-blue light glittered within his eyes.
And as he stopped fifteen meters away from her, the Ant Goddess was forced to admit that her best estimations still looked down on the foe. For more than one-hundred-thousand years, she'd been draining the World Tree of its vitality and essence, using it to magnify her innate life essence and enhance her cultivation while pursuing the true meaning of life.
After one 120,000 years, her mastery of Life Laws had reached the peak. Yet, based on law control alone, that youth was clearly above her!
"You must be wondering why, despite your Law Wielding level, your Life Laws can't contend with my Death Laws. There are two reasons.
On the one hand, I wield the full Chthonian Cycle; on the other hand…"
"You achieved Law Embodiment."
The Ant Goddess cut. According to common knowledge, Law mastery was divided into five stages:
Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, Wielding, and Embodiment. In theory, one could master an infinite number of laws and achieve Wielding in all of them. However, only in one law could one become an Embodiment.
Law Embodiments were exceedingly powerful individuals. Even a Base Law Embodiment could defeat early-stage Minor Gods depending on Law control alone.
However, becoming the Embodiment of a Law, even a Base Law, was no mean feat. As far as the Ant Goddess knew, within the Higher Realms, only the Primogens and a scant few top-level Gods reached Embodiment-level. But among them, the best were Higher Law Embodiments. A Primal Law Embodiment was completely unheard of.
Worse, even with her eyesight, she couldn't tell the other party's cultivation! If she didn't know better, she would have believed that man mortal!
"Indeed."
Konrad confirmed while leering at the Ant Goddess' bountiful cleavage.
"Your colony owes me many debts, and I think it's high time you start paying back. Since I'm in a good mood, I can accept your body."
The words caused the Ant Goddess to fly into a rage! And without further ado, she vanished to reappear behind Konrad. Although in terms of laws she couldn't compare to him, she didn't believe that cultivation wise, he would be her match!
Her right hand swept the air to chop Konrad's neck like a knife!
*BAM*
Without looking back, Konrad put his left arm in the knife-hand strike's trajectory and effortlessly blocked it.
"Eager, just how I like them."
He teased while dark chthonian energies erupted from his form and forced the Ant Goddess to recoil. By the time she regained her balance, Konrad was nailing her neck with an elbow strike.
*GUH*
All breath left her chest, and she flew backward from the monstrous impact that carried the weight of billions of tons with her lips forced into an "O" shape!
Worse, the massive chthonian energies within that blow infiltrated and wreaked havoc within her body. And were it not for her own potent life essence, that one move would have resulted in her death!
Although this body was nothing more than an avatar with less than thirty percent of her true strength, the Ant Goddess was horrified!
But as she fell, emerald light erupted from her form, mending the elbow shape wound within her neck and preventing her from going further.
Gravity now shone within the Ant Goddess' eyes. Meanwhile, Ilkaalt despaired!
"Is that all you got? What a bore."
Konrad stated, in a tone that mixed seriousness and derision.
"No, we're just getting started.
Dao Law: Everburning Life Flame!"
The Ant Goddess exclaimed, causing her life essence to morph into bright emerald flames that coated her form while soaring toward the sky!
And while the Ant Goddess' strength increased at an astonishing rate, Else, Astarte and Ilkaalt were startled to see their life essence activated and channeled by without their permission!
"Interesting."
Konrad whispered and stretched out his right hand.
"Dao Armament: Omnislayer."
Chthonian energies erupted alongside Konrad's Supreme Dao to morph into an icy-blue war hammer around which black mist coiled.
If Dao Laws were proof of Law mastery, then Dao Armaments were a step above, unique to Embodiments and merging both their Grand Dao and all the principles of the Law they embodied.
Summoning her Nihility Flail, the Ant Goddess turned into an emerald flame meteor and barreled into Konrad with her flail swinging at his neck. However, before she could reach him, Konrad swept his war hammer upward, forcing her to lower the flail back onto it!
*BAAANG*
The two weapons collided and released monstrous waves of energies that would have harvested the lives of the ladies below were it not for Konrad and the Ant Goddess suppressing their scope.
*BANG* *BANG* *BANG*
In a flash, the two exchanged dozens of moves with neither being able to take the upper-hand.
However, at the ninety-fifth, Konrad knocked off nihility flail, threw the Ant Goddess off-balance, and dropped his hammer on her head!
With godly reflexes and body control, she managed to shift her body enough for the blow to descend on her left shoulder instead!
*CRACK*
The bone snapped, but shouldering the pain and holding her ground, the Ant Goddess planned to use the opportunity to tear through Konrad's heart!
However, as soon as Omnislayer touched her, she was startled to see she could make no further move!
*BOOM*
And before she could make another move, she exploded into dust particles!
Omnislayer only had one ability:
Beneath the True God Rank, kill anything!