[Chapter 286: Fear Unextinguished, How Could I Die?]
As soon as he finished speaking, Daniel raised the Five Thunder Doctrine Seal high in his hand and chanted an incantation:
By Heaven's authority and Earth's power, let thunder descend and lightning arise. By Divine Might, I command: Awaken!
Boom--!
Deep underground, in the hidden space, a series of deafening thunderclaps suddenly exploded out of thin air. Daniel had borrowed the power of this world. With every swing of his sword, he unleashed more than mere sword energy. Thunder and lightning surged through each strike, carrying the overwhelming majesty of Heaven's authority.
Those lunging pustule-covered giant dogs, rotting human heads -- they were burned to ashes by thunder and fire in mid-air before they could even see Daniel's figure clearly.
Stepping over the ashes that littered the ground, Daniel approached the Clown on the wooden horse step by step.
"Can't kill them all?" Daniel casually swung his heavy sword, splitting a charging rotten bear-man in half. "Then I'll keep killing until you beg for mercy."
The smile vanished from Pennywise's face. It watched the golden light and lightning flowing around Daniel, a flash of ruthlessness crossing its eyes.
"The fear of these children isn't enough? Then is the fear of the entire town of Derry enough?"
It let out a shrill scream. The walls of the karst cave began to tremble violently.
Scene after scene of illusions flashed across the walls: A wife suffering from domestic violence, a bullied youth, a factory destroyed by fire, extreme anxiety over aging and illness...
At this moment, Pennywise detonated all the negative emotions accumulated in Derry Town over a century.
Roar--!
In the pipes, in the cracks of the rocks, on the ceiling, even in the air -- countless monsters fell down like rain. Spiders with human faces, nurses dragging their intestines, charred corpses covered in fire, butchers holding chainsaws... thousands upon thousands, too many to count. Daniel was plunged into a true ocean of monsters.
He continuously swung his sword and cast spells.
"Five Thunder Doctrine, Fire Thunder, burn!"
"Split, and go!"
Large swaths of monsters were cut down, as golden and red light intertwined within the karst cave. But just as Pennywise said, as soon as these monsters appeared and were killed, two or three more would fill the gap behind them.
They weren't strong and couldn't break through Daniel's protective magic, let alone harm Daniel at the Fourth Tier of Body Enhancement. But there were too many of them -- so many that they seemed to fill this narrow space with flesh and blood.
Daniel kicked and shattered a monster's head, his brow furrowing tightly.
Although he was now a Dominion Incarnate of Higher Ascendant Order with abundant magical power, there was ultimately a limit. Even if he could borrow the power of heaven and earth, it was impossible to borrow it infinitely.
If he got caught in this endless war of attrition, the consequences would be unimaginable once his strength was exhausted.
"Hehehe... Are you afraid? I smell it... that scent of unease..." Pennywise was still sitting on the wooden horse. It even took out a box of popcorn in the darkness and chewed loudly, as if watching a free movie.
Daniel shattered another wave of monsters. He stopped and stared coldly at the gloating clown.
Ordinary spells indeed couldn't kill this kind of evil spirit rooted in the collective subconscious.
As long as people still believed in fear, as long as Derry Town still existed, these monsters could never be fully wiped out.
'Then I will directly destroy your true form.'
"Divine Thunder Body, activate!" Daniel shouted low and fierce.
The bones all over his body emitted a series of dense popping sounds like exploding beans. His original body instantly grew taller, muscles bulging wildly like inflating balloons. A glazed texture flowed across the surface of his skin.
Rip--!
That sophisticated suit was instantly torn to rags, revealing marble-carved lats and pectoral muscles packed with explosive power.
Daniel's height broke through seven feet, his primal power manifesting in this dark karst cave.
"Ah--!" Monica looked at the man beside her, who had suddenly transformed into a giant radiating wild, oppressive presence. She let out half a scream of terror before forcing it back down.
Daniel reached out with a large hand and tucked the limp Monica under his arm like a little chick.
Thunderous light erupted around him, forming a hemispherical shield three feet in diameter.
"Get lost!" Daniel spoke in a deep voice, the sound waves making the surrounding iron pipes hum and vibrate.
He took large strides and crashed directly into the tide-like wave of monsters ahead.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
This was pure violent crushing.
Daniel didn't need to swing his sword; he simply relied on his powerful physical body to ram through. Any monster blocking his way, whether pustule-covered giant dog or charred corpse wielding a lethal weapon, the moment they touched his shoulder, they emitted a muffled thud and disintegrated into black smoke like shattered porcelain.
He was like a bulldozer, forcibly plowing a path of blood through underground mud and flesh.
Soon, Daniel forced his way through and arrived directly in front of Pennywise. The smile on Pennywise's face hadn't even faded, and the box of popcorn was still in its hand.
It looked at the seven-feet-tall muscular giant in front of it, radiating the aura of absolute thunder and fire... for the first time, a look of blankness appeared in its yellow eyes.
"You... your body..." it whispered.
"Die for me!" Daniel didn't listen to its nonsense at all.
He clenched the five fingers of his right hand tightly. This punch didn't use any fancy seal spells; it was a pure peak strike of the Fourth Tier of Thunder Body Enhancement. Thunderous light converged on his fist into a blinding point.
Boom--!
With a loud explosion, the entire underground karst cave shook violently.
Daniel's fist slammed heavily onto the clown's pale face.
Without any resistance, Pennywise's head burst like a watermelon, followed by its torso, limbs, and the old wooden horse beneath it.
In the face of absolute violence, no illusions or curses were of any use.
The dense swarm of monsters that had filled the entire space suddenly froze in their tracks -- and then all dissipated into black smoke.
"Is it over?" Monica lifted her head from under Daniel's arm, looking at the smashed white cloth scraps and wood debris on the ground. Her tone carried a hint of uncertainty, like someone who had just survived a disaster.
Daniel didn't relax his brow. Instead, he slowly straightened his back, his gaze sweeping toward the darkness in the deepest part of the karst cave.
"Hehehe... Hehehe hahahaha!"
A sharp, ear-piercing laugh filled with crazed mockery suddenly rang out from every corner of the cave simultaneously. The white cloth and wood debris that had turned to fragments vanished eerily into the air.
By the drainage ditch on the other side, Pennywise reappeared completely intact. It was still wearing that dirty lace outfit, and at some point, a bright red balloon had appeared in its hand again.
It tilted its head and gave Daniel an exaggerated shrug, then split its wide mouth open and let out a long laugh that shook the ceiling.
"Violence... I love violence! But you still don't understand..." It stuck out its long red tongue and licked around the corners of its split mouth, eyes full of triumph.
"Fear unextinguished, how could I die?"
The white mist inside the karst cave began to churn even more violently. Those childhood nightmares that had just dissipated squeezed out from the shadows one by one again.
Giant spider legs stepped on the water's surface, and bone-chilling cat meows echoed on the ceiling.
*****
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