Building My SSS-Rank Universal Empire: From Trash to Cosmic Overlord-Chapter 166: Caught in

He fled, shooting like a blazing arrow across the forest that spread below him, his awareness constantly seeking the green monster that seemed to have vanished.

But just then, he felt her below him, down in the forest.

The forest churned, rolling as if something big was passing through when suddenly, thick vines coated in sticky green liquid reached out, lashing like whips thick ropes that surrounded the tower, binding it, trying to drag it down.

But Vale shredded them with the sword arc that jumped out of his tower. He was about to continue running when he froze midair, his attention on the green monster now flying in front of him.

She was standing on what looked like a flying monster made of flesh and her corrupted liquid. She whined like a spoiled child. "Why do you have to run? I had to go through all this trouble!"

Vale understood that the vines were meant to delay him. ’...What should I do now? This green monster probably has some kind of regeneration power and...!!!’

Unexpectedly, Vale jerked to the side. He whirled downward just as a sticky liquid ball passed through where he had been. The ball turned midair and came at him again, but he fell even further, putting distance between himself and the surprise attack.

Then he sent a fire wave at it, burning the liquid away.

At the same time, he was jerked to a bouncing stop. Vale looked underneath his castle in horror. A giant spiderweb of green liquid was spread beneath him he had been caught in it.

’...This was her plan all along!...’

Vale quickly used Dominion, putting less essence into it, but it did its job, burning away part of the web he was trapped in. He took to the air once again. He sent a pulse of essence through his tower to check himself and breathed a sigh of relief when he found nothing wrong.

With the tower amplifying his power, Vale used his essence senses to sweep the surroundings. Then he changed his essence senses into pressure a bloodlust that rolled through the forest.

It made all the smaller monsters panic as they ran away.

In front of him, the green monster giggled. She blinked her eyes innocently. "Aw, come on! Are you chasing all those monsters away so I won’t use them? Commendable, but you’re not the first to think of using that against me."

Suddenly, her ribs cracked like tree twigs as her chest swelled so rapidly it looked as if it would burst. She looked like a giant blood-sucking insect filled with blood.

Pa!

Her chest burst outward, bones and green blood splattering the air but that wasn’t what made Vale flinch. It was the bodies that rolled out as well.

Humans and monsters’ bodies, covered in thin sacks of light green, all dripping with green liquid.

She smiled, the hole in her chest remaining unclosed. "I’ve taken precautions to bring my corrupted beings with me."

Inside the tower, Vale shivered. This wasn’t an enemy he could beat. With her regeneration and the fact that it might not even be her real body standing in front of him—the only option he could think of was to run away.

But he had to do that in a way that wouldn’t get him hurt. A way that would ensure a clean getaway.

One of the humans, a woman constantly vomiting green liquid, raised her two hands. The air above Vale quickly solidified, then slammed into his tower without warning.

Vale grunted as he was jerked downward, struggling to control himself. Then another impact sent him spiraling toward the ground.

At the same time, the earth below him shifted. Huge hardened masses of dirt rolled like the surface of a river. Trees were crushed as long, thick spikes jutted out of the ground, their gleaming sharp tips facing the tower, ready to impale.

Vale simply vanished before he crashed into the spikes, replaced by a small fireball that dissipated before touching them. It was a simple trick, binding a fireball and then making a pact with it.

Vale didn’t want to wait anymore. Being in the tower alone consumed a lot of essence, and his core was low to begin with. He had thought of what to say and came up with something simple.

He connected with one of the tower’s powers and declared in a rumbling voice, "Only original bodies are allowed here!"

Immediately, a pulse went out around him, covering up to fifty meters, imposing the Commander’s Law.

The green monster jerked in the air as if it had run into an invisible wall. Green liquid fell from it, no longer sticky, but now like water.

All the corrupted beings it previously controlled collapsed as she struggled to maintain her hold on the body she was using. She clenched her teeth, fighting against the law.

His guess was right! Her real body wasn’t here, she was only using a corrupted puppet.

Vale was surprised by how strong the ability was. The more inconspicuous the laws were, the more powerful they became. If he had declared death, the only result might have been a mere slowing down of the green monster’s death.

Besides, Vale’s level also influenced this. For now, he could only hold one law at a time. And the more he used a particular law, the less effective it became. He had to be creative every time.

His essence was draining at an extremely fast rate, too.

Without waiting, he shot to the side and into the air. The green monster had stopped struggling, but it couldn’t use its powers, only stare at Vale. But then she smiled, her green hair flashing as she shouted, "Stop!"

And Vale stopped.

The tower jerked to a halt so fast and sudden that Vale’s vision reeled, and he groaned. He spun in midair as if he were held up by puppet strings. Vale tried to move it, but the tower wouldn’t listen, it was obeying an order that wasn’t from its master. 𝓯𝓻𝓮𝙚𝙬𝓮𝙗𝒏𝙤𝒗𝙚𝙡.𝒄𝒐𝓶

’.....This... something is happening...’ Vale thought as he used his essence senses to check the tower. Sure enough, corruption was seeping through its small cracks!

The green monster was still standing there as she commanded, "Come closer."

And, unsurprisingly, the tower did, moving closer to her.