The Annihilator: Killer Of Gods

After closing his status window, Karsha retrieved the Book of Annihilation once more and quickly skimmed to the page where the tasks began. The book didn't show all the Overlords, only one at a time, so for Karsha to get the next information about the Overlords, he had to kill them in the order listed in the book.

The first on the list was ScaleCrusher, an Overlord known for its incredibly hard skin, scales, and everything covering it. It had the strongest defense among the Overlords, and Karsha would be facing it first. He was pleased because this was the same decision he would have made, with or without the Book of Annihilation.

After his near-death experience with that snake, he had planned to get stronger and kill that Overlord first before going after the rest. Killing ScaleCrusher would help him conquer some of his inner demons.

'I really hope I get something good after killing this monster,' Karsha thought inwardly, drawing blood from his thumb and placing it on the circle inside the book. The page was labeled "ScaleCrusher, Titan Snake."

[ Task 1: Kill the ScaleCrusher ]

[ Accept this task by placing your blood in the circle below ]

Karsha didn't even bother with how weird the book was. He had already seen a lot more in the short time he had been on the island. He even had a system inside his soul guiding him at every turn, so what's there to admire or complain about a book demanding his blood?

[ Task accepted ]

[ You have accepted the task to kill the ScaleCrusher, Titan of Snake, the defender of the Lost Prince Cohort. ]

[ The ScaleCrusher is one of the strongest members of the Lost Prince Cohort. During their reign, it acted as the defender, using its colossal body to shield against any attack. No matter the attack's strength, not even a dent was left on its scale-like armor. Many tried and failed, so in the end, I had to intervene and capture it myself.

Your task is to kill the unkillable snake and extract the Destiny Key hidden within its soul. Your reward will be greater than you can imagine. ]

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[Name: ScaleCrusher]

[Rank: Tier 7 Terror Mutant]

[Title: Titan Serpent, Unbreakable Defender, Armor Skin]

[Strength: 14,000]

[Defense: 16,900]

[Stamina: 13,000]

[Health: 21,000]

[Attack Power: 12,800 ~ 19,600]

Skills: [Impenetrable Scale], [Tail Smash], [Razor Tail], [Poison Stone Dart]

[Impenetrable Scale]: The ScaleCrusher can harden its skin, transforming it into an impenetrable scale that deflects all attacks.

[Tail Smash]: The ScaleCrusher's tail is a formidable weapon. When slammed into a target, it can pulverize bones into paste and powder.

[Razor Tail]: The ScaleCrusher can transform its tail into a razor-sharp spear capable of penetrating any defense.

[Poison Stone Dart]: The ScaleCrusher can shoot poison darts made of stone at incredible speeds, delivering lethal toxins to its targets. Explore stories at empire

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Weaknesses: [Spinal Weakness], [Jointed Scale]

[Spinal Weakness]: Scalecrusher's spine is its weak point. A powerful strike to the spine near its head can sever its nervous system, rendering it paralyzed.

[Jointed Scales]: The joints between Scalecrusher's armored scales are less protected. Targeting these joints can allow a sword to penetrate deep into its flesh.

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Reward: [Symbiotic Skin Armor]

[Bonus Reward: Kill it within a day and receive a hidden reward]

'Ahh, this snake is way stronger than me, and here I thought I had closed the gap between us,' Karsha sighed. Compared to the ScaleCrusher, his stats were just pitiful. As a Grandmaster, he still hadn't fully accustomed himself to his strength, so the system was holding onto his Exp for now.

Once that was sorted out, he would be able to move to the next level and gain more strength. Thankfully, he had the perfect opportunity to level up. With opponents much stronger than him, Karsha would have to go all out.

This situation would allow him to level up quickly, as catching up to his strength would be easier. However, unless he managed to break through the Grandmaster stage and become a Semi-Saint, the gap between him and the Overlords would always remain significant, no matter how fast he leveled up his Grandmaster stage.

Moreover, the Trials for the Annihilator persona required him to complete all three trials while still at the Grandmaster stage. This meant Karsha would have to hold back his progress until those trials were done.

In short, he wouldn't be breaking through anytime soon. But that was okay, as he could still add to his stats whenever possible. With thousands of stat points at his disposal, he wouldn't need to break through to increase his strength.

Although breaking through would give him a significant boost, Karsha could still manage with his current strength. He just needed to avoid angering powerful people once he returned to the human world.

"We are here," he said as they arrived at the small waterfall he had turned into his home when he first arrived on the island. The place was simple and cozy, serving as his temporary residence before the Overlord chased him away.

"Alright, let's go on foot from here." Stepping down from the flying boat, Karsha, and his shadow guards started following the map. They had to move deeper into the forest, and Karsha needed to venture further into the area known as Serpent's Spire.

Although the entire forest was called Serpent Spire, the main area where ScaleCrusher resided was particularly dangerous. Getting there would be perilous, but with his shadow guards handling ScaleCrusher's subordinates, Karsha wouldn't have to do much fighting himself.

With his Silence Passive ability, which hid his presence based on his elemental comprehension, Karsha, despite only having a low affinity, was confident he could move through the forest without much hindrance.

As they moved through the forest, they tried to avoid as many snake monsters as possible. Thanks to the map, their movement was not only fast but also quiet. After moving for ten minutes, they stopped and gazed at the mountainous environment about 20 kilometers away.

"That is the Serpent Spire, the real one. From here onwards, we will have to fight our way through," Karsha said with a cold gaze. The shadow guards shared the same look in their eyes.

"Once we move 10 kilometers, I will leave you guys. When you see me start fighting the monster snake, you can withdraw since the other snakes won't interfere in our fight," he instructed. After this, they continued moving.

Karsha didn't take his swords from their sheaths. He wouldn't need them for now. Floating in front of him was his latest weapon, the Vanishing Glaive. It was a high-tier legendary-grade weapon he had synthesized from two glaives.

The metal pole of the glaive was about 1 meter long, and the blade was about 45 centimeters long. It was razor-sharp on its single edge and engraved with dark runic symbols.

"Make sure you retreat when things start to heat up. After this place, we still have nine more to go, so prioritize your safety. You wouldn't want to miss out on the remaining fun," he said. With that, the glaive shot forward at a very high speed.

Soon, messages started sounding in Karsha's head, his vision window flooded with notifications of his kills. He made the system clear the messages as they appeared. Though moving at his normal pace, his senses spread about 1 kilometer all around, allowing him to keep killing as far as his senses could reach.

Ayarr melded into the shadows, unleashing her lethal attacks on the monster snakes. Dhaka followed behind, his sword coated with sword aura.

Alida went into action, shooting arrow after arrow with unerring precision. She never missed; all her arrows found their targets no matter what. Kilian also joined the fray but stayed close to Alida, since her defense was the weakest among the five shadow guards. Having a shieldbearer as a guard allowed her to unleash her attacks without worrying about defense.

Lightning danced around her body and everywhere she stepped turned to ice. Tifa, the mage, began her own carnage. Her lightning bolts shot forward with lethal precision, paralyzing any snake unfortunate enough to be hit. Ice spears followed to deliver the killing blows.

She was lethal and brilliant at every turn. Slowly, they neared the 10-kilometer mark. Karsha, observing how well they handled themselves, silently activated his domain, which covered the remaining distance.

"See you guys soon," he said before using his blink skill to teleport away, causing the domain to vanish. As soon as the domain disappeared, Karsha felt a presence not far from him.

The place where Karsha appeared was filled with towering stones. Some overlapped each other, forming a natural canopy that provided some shelter, while others created rugged, challenging terrains, making navigation difficult. Using his earth element, Karsha sensed how deep these stones extended into the ground.

The stones that were deeply buried had numerous scratches on them as if worn down by time and weather. When Karsha saw the markings, he let out a sigh and continued onward. The higher he climbed, the more dangerous the place became. Some of the stones looked like they were made of metal, their surfaces gleaming like polished steel rather than natural earth rock.

With his earth element, he could feel their nature and knew they were not ordinary stones. However, he didn't dwell on it since he was there for a reason.

"Boom." The mountain quaked. Karsha, who was climbing, held onto a stone for support and gazed toward the peak of the mountain.

'Looks like it's awake and has sensed my presence,' Karsha thought with a heavy heart. 'This is it, the monster that nearly killed me. I will get my revenge today.'

The mountain continued to quake for some time until it stopped. Then a loud roar echoed throughout the forest. In a cold voice, Karsha spoke.

"Hello there, it seems today is your lucky day because I am here to end your unbearable existence..."

"Human..." In a mocking tone, the snake monster spoke. Karsha smiled and then responded, "No, I am the Annihilator, Killer of Terror Mutant Snakes."