Malar’s Avatar
Howls and roars echoed in the area. Many high-ranked werecreatures had gathered around a central altar in the Blackblood Tribe’s lands, chanting hymns of praise to Malar. Group after group of high-ranked captives were slaughtered before the altar, their fresh blood dripping into the pool of blood at the center.
Prior experience told these priests that a large-scale blood sacrifice would soothe the God of the Hunt. He would even bestow great divine grace on them.
Now, however, Malar’s fury did not cease. He only grew more violent with every blood sacrifice, like a distant cloud of volcanic ash brewing to its peak.
A terrifying roar rang out, and an avatar rose abruptly from the altar. A powerful suppressive pressure originated from its soul, which made the priests prostrate themselves on the ground. They prayed for Malar’s fury to swiftly be quelled.
It was a great pity that the God of the Hunt did not listen to the prayers of his worshippers. More roars reverberated through the altar, and the blood pool rippled violently as if in a storm. It immediately engulfed the trembling captives and priests.
“It’s our Lord! Our Lord’s avatar is about to descend…” The other priests who had fortunately been spared from the wave fell to their knees in succession. They began to chant prayers to their god.
A foot stepped out of the central altar at this moment, clad in golden fur. The atmosphere seemed to freeze in that moment, and the air was charged with a stifling and oppressive feeling.
The golden figure slowly walked out into the full view of the worshippers. It was an enormous and powerful monster that stood over ten metres tall, looking like a cross of man and ape. Its body was covered in swathes of scales and hair, and fierce claws grew from its hands.
Its body glowed with a faint golden aura, making the enormous ape creature look like the darling of the entire world. It seemed to be an existence at the core of the world!
This was an avatar of the Lesser God of the Hunt, the protector of hunters and werecreatures. It was an avatar of Malar the Blackblood Beast, completing its descent into the prime material plane.
It possessed divine grace as boundless as the sea, divine might as stifling as a prison cell. All the werecreatures’ minds froze, and their bodies acted mechanical in their loud chants of Malar’s name.
Malar’s avatar did not pay the worshippers the slightest attention. After all, they were all like ants to him. With a divine domain in hunting, he easily obtained news of his prey from the undulations in the atmosphere.
*Whoosh!* Malar’s figure disappeared in a flash, chasing after those hateful and lowborn thieves who had disturbed the legendary blood sacrifice.
He had already decided to tear out the souls of these blasphemers, and have them wail in terror for a thousand years within his divine realm.
……
‘It’s coming! Even from such a great distance I can feel its might. As expected of a true god,’ Leylin was inwardly apprehensive about Malar’s power, but this was only an avatar after all.
‘However, Malar’s true body is equal to a rank 7 Magus, I can still take this on. I wonder what power he could show if we fought within his divine realm,’ Leylin’s eyes were filled with expectation.
“I discovered Malar’s avatar. It’s heading our way right now… The epic isolation matrix is working well, it won’t be a problem no matter how much energy it has to contain!” Lillian’s voice floated over to him. He could sense the anxiety in her voice, they were about to battle a god after all.
Only legendary mortals could accomplish such a magnificent feat as slaying a god!
Right at that moment, the A.I. Chip flashed a prompt in a blood-red window, mapping out several exit routes. [Beep! Powerful energy undulations are approaching this location at high speed, danger level is extremely high. Suggestion: Leave the vicinity immediately!]
‘He’s fast!’ Leylin’s eyes narrowed as he caught a glimpse of the monstrous golden figure. ‘No! When did it get here?’ Fortunately, he had heeded the A.I. Chip’s prompt and dodged into safety. In the end, he had only escaped the beast’s claws by a hair’s breadth.
While he’d dodged, the layers of Mage Armour on Leylin’s body immediately collapsed. It was clear that the beast’s claws had also launched a wind attack, and even Mage Armour II could not withstand the beast’s power!
‘Terrifying! Is this the power of a god’s avatar? At the very least, it has the strength of a peak Breaking Dawn…’ After Leylin regained his senses, he found out that he had already retreated by several hundred metres. Patrick himself stood a distance away from him, miserable with his face incomparably white. The paladin had lost an arm, and fresh blood poured out of the injury.
Evidently, this paladin was unable to escape Malar’s sneak attack and lost an arm in the process. His prowess was reduced considerably.
*Swish!* “AAHH!” Only now did the angered cries of Patrick travelled through the air, which was in an extreme disorder to the senses.
‘I was able to see him injured before hearing his cries. Does this mean that the speed has already exceeded the speed of sound?’
Leylin sweated nervously. ‘An agility like this, it’s most likely over 40!’
As a wizard, he could understand Malar’s attack. The god had used some method to exceed the speed of sound, and put in a vivid manner if Patrick had been killed Leylin would still only have seen the corpse before the sound of the battle.
‘Only death awaits if you’re reflexes cannot keep up with this…’ Leylin sighed inwardly as he looked at the golden ape the size of a mountain. “This is the avatar of a god? And for a lesser one at that?”
“What happened just now?” Lillian’s enraged voice sounded beside Leylin’s and Patrick’s ear.
“Patrick is injured. We need to move our plans forward, execute them right away. Malar’s strength had greatly exceeded our expectations!” Leylin rubbed his temples. His voice was incomparably calm, and he seemed not the slightest bit frightened.
“No… No problem! Before that evil is vanquished, I will not fall!” Patrick snorted, and milky white light glowed on his injury. His stem cells began to regrow his flesh, and the bleeding soon stopped.
Malar’s avatar merely watched the process mockingly, as if savouring the fear of his prey.
‘Playing mind games and only striking when the enemy suffers a mental breakdown? Fool, this is just a good chance for me!’ Faint blue light flashed in Leylin’s eyes. ‘A.I. Chip, scan target!’
[Beep! Mission established, beginning scan…] The A.I. Chip duly carried out Leylin’s commands. Soon after, a 3-D hologram was projected in front of Leylin’s eyes, with a large amount of data on the side.
[God of the Hunt – Malar (Avatar). Estimated Stats: Strength: 30 – 45, Agility: 40 – 42, Vitality: 30 – 31, Spirit: 24 -27. Feats: 1. Epic Damage Reduction: All physical damage below the legendary rank is negated. 2. Epic Magic Resistance: With divine protection and divine force, an avatar has great magic resistance. All magical damage below the legendary realm is negated. Note: Legendary arcane spells such as Timestop will not work on the target. Divine Strength: Lesser God. Alignment: Chaotic Evil. Domains: Murder, Hunting, Pursuit. Weapons Owned: Beast Claw. This legendary weapon has great attacking power, being fashioned after Malar’s original.]
‘Epic damage reduction and magic resistance. This means that without legendaries, the battle cannot be won with mere numbers…’ Leylin inhaled a deep breath upon seeing the stats of the avatar.
“If we cannot get rid of the domain, our chances of winning today are extremely low…” Leylin questioned himself. If it was a one versus one battle with him and Malar’s avatar, he would definitely perish if he did not summon the floating city.
Even with the added support and some traps prepared, he was not more confident.
‘I need to use the floating city at the end and get rid of Malar…’ A glint of ruthlessness flashed in Leylin’s eyes.
Back then, he had used the appearance of Kukulkan to steal the floating city. While this had alerted the powerful factions that there was a rising powerhouse and even fooled the gods, they did not know his identity. If he were to use it now, he would be admitting his identity.
However, if he was forced to the edge, what other choice did he have?
“Wait for me, I’ll activate the array and support you again immediately!” Lillian too, wanted to seize this rare opportunity. She placed her bets like a gambler.
[Beep! Sealed formation activating! Beginning in….] the A.I. Chip’s voice intoned, but Leylin could not longer pay any heed to it.
Just as Lillian activated the formation, Malar’s senses told him the situation had become dangerous. He immediately charged towards Leylin. Although he was no longer faster than sound, he could still deal Leylin a fatal blow.
“Roar!”
At this moment, Leylin was forced to reveal one of his smallest trump cards. The dazzling wizard robes were shredded into pieces, revealing a legendary dragon armour. A draconic staff found its way into his hands.
Legendary Dragon Breath! Soulburn!