Chapter 367: The True One Punch Man Descends
"God said, the wind here has no order!"
Marilyn's entire body was surrounded by raging winds as she charged into the crowd like an unstoppable force. Stuart Crow's expression grew solemn as he urgently waved his ornate scepter and began chanting a holy incantation.
That scepter was a relic left behind by Saint Zachary, a former saint of the Ascetic Church. It greatly amplified the effects of divine spells—but its side effect was the constant torment of the wielder's faith.
Even though Marilyn could not truly contain the power of the Dark Spider Mother, Matalita—her strength having drastically diminished—her divine essence remained unchanged. The mere proximity to a god still caused all the ascetics' bodies to tremble, their thoughts unraveling into chaos.
In just the blink of an eye, several ascetics collapsed to the ground, their bodies transforming into swarms of crawling spiders.
The holy chant took effect almost instantly. The whirlwind around Marilyn became chaotic and burst outward in all directions, its power greatly weakened. But by then, she had already taken to the air, using the wind to glide forward—her target: Wayne Sturwell, not far ahead.
"Yes, yes! That's it! Show no mercy to Wayne Sturwell! Next, she will—" The Little Broken Book's tone grew increasingly feverish.
"Careful!" Stuart Crow had just begun casting a protective shield for Wayne Sturwell when he noticed something odd—Wayne wasn't panicked at all. His expression remained calm, even faintly expectant, as though he were looking forward to what surprise Marilyn might bring him.
Could it be that he still has a trump card?
That thought had only just surfaced when Stuart saw Zhou Ning take a firm stance—one foot forward, one back—then draw his arm back and throw a completely serious punch.
In that instant, everyone seemed to hear the crack of a sonic boom. With a thunderous bang, the punch struck Marilyn head-on as she came hurtling toward Zhou Ning.
She went flying!
Hurtling backward at ten times her original speed, her body disintegrated in midair, crumbling inch by inch into dust.
Stuart Crow's expression froze completely. He stood there, dumbfounded, watching Zhou Ning slowly retract his fist.
Even the dark clouds that had gathered in the sky were swept away by the gale of that punch, revealing scattered stars and a bright, clear moon.
"Holy crap…"
"Did the protagonist just turn on god mode?"
"I'm shocked—completely shocked! When's the next episode dropping? I need to see what Grantham's reaction will be. Will he still doubt the protagonist's strength?"
"+1 to that!"
The players who had been eagerly anticipating a fierce battle were stunned. XB, in particular, froze for several seconds before blurting out, "What the hell!" He quickly spat out his cigarette, grabbed a glass of water, and gulped it down—he'd been so startled that he'd accidentally held his cigarette backward.
In the oppressive darkness, Leoncavallo's Four-Act Opera fell into a sullen silence. The next line—"Next, she will…"—never appeared, as the unfinished text was suddenly struck through.
"Performance failed. Wayne Sturwell still possesses a high-tier ability beyond my comprehension, but…"
Before the next line could finish typing itself out, a bony, withered hand picked up the book from the desk, shut it tight, and despite its struggle, sealed it inside a magic-suppressing box.
Karl Robbins, now so gaunt that his appearance had changed beyond recognition, placed the box into his suitcase. His eyes gleamed with deep contemplation.
The evil god Nyastora was dead. This plan had undoubtedly failed, and he had to leave Bryston immediately. Yet the Curse God Cult had not been truly defeated. Next, in the Kingdom of Sepharic, the Byron Republic, and the maritime realm of Revendis, they would continue their efforts to complete the final phase of the plan.
This failure, apart from Wayne Sturwell's unexpectedly overwhelming power, was also due in part to his own inability to fully control the book Leoncavallo's Four-Act Opera. The book possessed a will of its own, rumored to be the magnum opus of a legendary reader from ages past. Its greatest feat had been the downfall of a saint from the Earth Goddess' church, and even in his hands, it had continually caused trouble.
Still, its power was undeniable.
It was foreseeable that in the long future ahead, the extraordinary would continue to awaken. All transcendents were constantly evolving. Given time, if he could completely master this book, perhaps he could finally break the shackles of the demigod realm—and become a saint himself.
In the small, dark room, Karl Robbins put on his wide-brimmed black hat, slipped into an ordinary white shirt and black suit, picked up his suitcase, and walked out the door.
...…
[Your Super Serious Punch hit Marilyn (Divine Descent state), dealing 5,172,500 damage.]
[You have slain Marilyn (Divine Descent state) (Lv.127). You gained 2,452,000 experience.]
[You achieved the milestone: Force of Ten Thousand Pounds III.]
[Force of Ten Thousand Pounds III: Deal over 5,000,000 damage in a single strike.]
[Congratulations, you have completed the main quest: Save Darkland. Contribution: 92.9%. Calculating experience reward...]
[Calculation complete. You gained 81,792,500 experience.]
[You have obtained authorization to craft the Instance Collection Stone: Darkland Cataclysm.]
[You received the special title: Legend of Darkland. Legend Rank +1.]
[Your reputation in Darkland is permanently set to Worship. You receive maximum discounts in all Darkland shops.]
[You received Random Reward ×3. Claim now?]
After killing Marilyn, Zhou Ning's game interface was instantly flooded with notification messages.
Ignoring the dumbfounded expressions of those around him, Zhou Ning quietly lowered his fist and chose No—it wasn't time to claim his rewards yet.
Though Marilyn had only been a vessel for the Dark Spider Mother Matalita's descent, her strength drastically reduced, he hadn't expected that a being so arrogant and awe-inspiring could be destroyed by a single punch.
Even without counting the unclaimed random rewards, the rest of the gains left Zhou Ning more than satisfied.
Perhaps in the Light Brain's original design, the Darkland Cataclysm storyline was meant to last a while longer. Likely, the evil god Nyastora's planned end was to be suppressed by the combined forces of the two churches, himself, Leondro, and the players. The experience reward he'd just received was probably meant to be distributed among the players.
But against all expectations, he had single-handedly wiped out every boss—Nyastora, Marilyn, and the rest—amassing an overwhelming 92.9% contribution, hence monopolizing over eighty million experience points.
The milestone Force of Ten Thousand Pounds III granted a 7% damage bonus, and the Legend of Darkland title was equally impressive. Overall, it was a tremendous haul.
He'd eaten his fill—now it was time for the others to drink some soup. Those experience points would come back to him one way or another.
Zhou Ning promptly distributed the A-rank reward pool tasks he had posted earlier. The players all received a new notification simultaneously.
"Quest [Save Darkland] completed. Current reward pool: 15.75 million EXP."
"Contribution Rankings: 1st – Wolf-Dog Squad; 2nd – Sugar Mountain Bros (Squad); 3rd – …"
"EXP rewards will be distributed in order: 10%, 9%, 8%, 7%, 6%…"
Seeing their experience bars soar, the players were overjoyed and even more determined to side with Wayne Sturwell.
After some thought, Zhou Ning issued a new quest: [Follow Wayne Sturwell and witness the story's final conclusion.]
Yes—the matter was far from over. There were still those who had yet to pay the price they owed.
He drew in a deep breath and turned his gaze toward the distant Darkland Fortress.