At that moment, Leo’s figure reappeared, followed closely by five tentacles that emerged from the ground, transforming into a giant black hand, which swept up towards Leo with the sound of thunderous winds.
The Nine Abyss Suppresses Evil Peak emerged in front of Leo and smashed directly towards the black giant hand.
The black giant hand shattered and dissipated under the ferocious strike of the Nine Abyss Suppresses Evil Peak.
Seeing the Nine Abyss Suppresses Evil Peak, greed flashed again in Rafferty’s eyes. “Interesting, another spiritual weapon. You truly have many treasures on you, but soon they will all be mine.”
Rafferty’s magical power surged within him, then he took out a Talisman and threw it into the sky, shouting simultaneously, “Come out, dark magic bat!”
The Talisman caught fire in the air, the flames black. After the flames vanished, a gigantic bat appeared in the sky.
The bat was as big as a large buffalo, its whole body pitch black, especially its head which was frighteningly large, and its mouth, when opened, revealed sharp fangs as sharp as knives.
The bat let out a strange cry, waved its meaty wings, and with claws like hooks, it pounced directly towards Leo.
Unfrightened, Leo retracted the Nine Abyss Suppresses Evil Peak, gathered spiritual energy into a substance, and a large knife appeared in his hand.
Using a move from the Mysterious Heaven Body Technique, with both hands gripping the knife, he leaped, aiming to chop at the giant bat’s head as it dived towards him.
Just when the knife was about to hit the giant bat’s head, the huge figure of the bat suddenly vanished in the air, as if it had turned invisible.
Leo’s move was not in vain. The Mysterious Heaven Body Technique was very profound, featuring offense in defense and defense in offense. Besides, his divine consciousness was always locked onto the black giant bat.
The sudden disappearance of the giant bat did not throw Leo off. Transforming from the Heroic Form to the Dismal Form, Leo, in a bizarre posture, swung the large knife in his hand in a backhanded strike.
As for the black giant bat, after disappearing from in front of Leo, it reappeared behind him, its sharp claws, like giant hooks, aiming directly for Leo’s shoulders.
If the bat’s claws had found their mark, Leo’s scapulae would have been completely pierced through.
However, the final outcome was that one of the black giant bat’s claws was chopped off by Leo’s large knife, and with a painful scream, the black giant bat vanished.
Although Leo managed to injure the black giant bat by predicting its moves, he still couldn’t afford to relax at all, for the demonic energy fluctuations from the black giant bat clearly indicated that it was not a creature conjured from a Talisman, but rather a malevolent being raised by Rafferty.
That is to say, the black giant bat was psychically connected to Rafferty, directly controlled by his thoughts, making its combat ability anything but ordinary.
Deeply aware of the strategy of capturing the ringleader first to defeat the followers, upon seeing the black giant bat hidden away, Leo, wielding his large knife, adopted the Ferocious Form and charged directly towards Rafferty, who was standing to one side.
Just as the large knife was about to strike Rafferty, Leo suddenly felt a bone-chilling cold hit his back, a cold smile crossed his lips – he had been waiting for this moment. Transforming from the Ferocious Form to the Dismal Form, he turned around and struck with his knife.
Another ear-piercing shriek sounded, and a streak of black blood floated in the air. The massive body of the black giant bat fell to the ground, stirring up a cloud of dust.
Sweat beads appeared on Rafferty’s forehead, and his complexion turned pale.
Indeed, the black giant bat was a malevolent creature he had raised, and being mentally connected, injuries to the giant bat were somewhat reflected on him.
The claws of the giant bat that Leo’s large knife had chopped off hung only by skin and flesh, continuously oozing black blood.
Rafferty and Leo created some distance between them. Rafferty formed a strange hand seal with both hands, simultaneously reciting strange incantation syllables.
As Rafferty recited the incantation, terrifying demonic light shot from the giant bat’s eyes, and then it let out a heaven-shaking monstrous howl. Opening its giant mouth, it bit and tore off its left and right claws, flesh included, and then swallowed them.
This scene made Leo feel somewhat nauseous. Just as he was preparing to gather his Spiritual Power to kill the black giant bat in one fell swoop, the bat’s body emitted a black mist.
Within the mist, the giant bat’s body transformed, and in the span of a few breaths, the giant bat turned into a giant black rat.
Miraculously, the giant bat that originally had no claws turned into a rat with all four limbs intact, its four sharp claws abnormally large, and its mouth corners housed fang-like sharp teeth.
The black rat let out a couple of “squeak squeak” cries, scrapped the ground with its front paws, and charged towards Leo.
Leo gripped the knife with both hands, raised it high, and the Spiritual Power-infused large knife grew in size again. Just as the giant rat charged close, he brought the knife down with all his strength.
The force of the knife was like thunder, and for a moment, it seemed as though the space around the knife was distorted.
Leo intended to split this monster in two!
However, the giant rat did not dodge. Like a giant black light, it was struck by Leo’s large knife just three meters in front of him.
The large knife did not manage to split the giant rat in two but instead deeply embedded itself into the back of the giant rat.
The giant rat howled in pain, and although its charge was halted, two fangs as sharp as black steel broke off from its lower jaw and shot towards Leo’s chest on both sides.
A distance of three meters, equivalent to the blink of an eye, left Leo no time to dodge.
In this split-second, he could only exert his Spiritual Power outward to protect his body, trying to block the terrifying fangs.
With a shrill sound, as if a sharp blade was scraping against glass, annoying and harsh to the ears, the sharp fangs actually penetrated the protective barrier formed by the Spiritual Power and pierced into Leo’s chest on both sides.
A strong impact force caused Leo to fly backward, and his large knife slipped from his hand.
Landing hard on the ground after flying back seven or eight meters, Leo propped himself up, feeling intense pain in his chest, felt heat in his throat, and a trickle of fresh blood spilled from the corner of his mouth.
It was incredibly deceitful. Leo had calculated every possibility, but he had not anticipated the true attack would come from the rat’s two fangs.
Rafferty sent a hand seal towards the large knife embedded in the rat’s back, causing the Spiritual Power-forged large knife to instantly disappear.
Then, Rafferty took out a Talisman and directed it towards the giant rat. The Talisman transformed into a black light and filled the wound on the giant rat’s back, quickly healing its flesh and bones.
The massive black rat slowly shrank, then with a sharp “squeak”, it flew towards Rafferty’s left hand.
Rafferty lovingly stroked the rat’s head, then took out a small black wooden box from his body and placed the rat inside.
Having done all this, Rafferty advanced towards Leo with the posture of a victor, a cruel smile appearing on his face.
Leo, enduring the pain, pulled out the fangs embedded in his chest.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough to protect his chest with all his Spiritual Power; otherwise, the two fangs would have certainly pierced through his body.
The fang on the right side of his chest was embedded a bit deeper, while the one on the left was shallower and did not reach his heart.
Leo’s forehead was covered in cold sweat. Sitting cross-legged on the ground, he used his Spiritual Power to heal his wounds, and the blood continuously seeping from his chest soon stopped.
Rafferty walked up to Leo, looking at his painful expression, a look of enjoyment appeared on his face.