Chapter 594: I’ve Got You
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 594: I’ve Got You
The cold wind howled, tugging at the hem of Muen’s clothes.
The stench-laden air filled his lungs, but before his instincts could trigger a gag reflex, it was overwhelmed by an even thicker scent of blood.
The wide streets and alleys were strewn with the mangled limbs of magical beasts. This jumble of flesh and gore—which Muen hadn't even bothered to incinerate with his black flames—was splattered across the ground and walls. It looked less like a slaughterhouse and more like a living hell.
Viscous blood flowed along the gutters and emptied into the Old Rhine. As the water rippled, swarms of fish surged forward, fighting over the fresh meat teeming with potent vitality. Then... amidst uncontrollable mutations, the fish sprouted hideous claws and fangs, struggling and dying in a frenzy of cannibalism.
Even the victors did not last long, perishing soon after from the horrific, uncontrollable urges ravaging their bodies.
"As expected, she’s just as difficult to deal with as last time."
Muen paused atop a perimeter wall to catch his breath, wiping blood—he wasn't sure whose—from his forehead.
The surroundings fell into a temporary, heavy silence. He tapped the hilt of his blade, his expression grim as he stared at the little girl hovering in the air nearby.
No... at this moment, she could hardly be called a little girl. She was more of a... monster.
Every stitch on her body had burst open. Her original, petite limbs were stretched to their absolute limit, resembling pathetic scraps of refuse hanging from a spiderweb.
Hideous, monstrous tentacles erupted from the ruptured seams, writhing and expanding violently. Limbs of varying colors and shapes were cobbled together, as if every species of sea anemone in the world had contributed a single tentacle to create a grotesque tableau that would strike terror into the heart of even the most deranged surrealist painter.
Massive dragon wings unfurled, and a gale surged upward, defying all common sense as it hoisted that gargantuan, bloated mass composed of countless beast parts.
Innumerable blood-red threads dangled from the creature’s body, burrowing with eerie vitality into every shadow of the alleyway. They acted like a predator’s web, reclaiming scraps of flesh while lying in wait with bated breath.
From within the fissured flesh, six bone spears were thrust forward by writhing limbs. Enwreathed in fire and lightning, they locked onto Muen.
Through it all... only the girl’s pale face remained jarringly out of place. Her lusterless eyes focused on nothing in particular, and her long, drawn-out wailing echoed like a haunting song.
But that face was visible to Muen for only a fleeting second before it was obscured by shifting monstrous appendages.
Having learned her lesson from their last encounter, she refused to give Muen even a moment of eye contact. This denied him the chance to ignite the black flames directly upon her soul from a distance.
"Actually, I should say she’s even more terrifying than before... at least in terms of appearance."
Muen stopped tapping. His hands suddenly tightened around his hilts.
"But even so, this time... I won't let you escape again!"
Clang—!
In an instant, something sharp pierced the air.
The girl broke the brief peace, pushing the battle into its second round.
The bone spears, which had been poised to strike, were launched with the force of python-thick muscles. Accompanied by the roar of wind and thunder, they hurtled toward Muen!
Muen took a deep breath and let out a low shout. He didn't dodge; instead, he met the incoming spears head-on—and slashed!
The alchemy cores on his back were already burning hot. The two cores resonated, working in tandem to slow the flow of time around Muen’s body.
Thus, this single strike was, in reality, many.
The blade-light fell like cascading moonlight.
There was no moon tonight; therefore, his blade-light would be the moon in the sky.
The bone spears were instantly cleaved apart. Muen took a step forward, pressing his advantage with a continuous horizontal sweep of light.
But at that moment, Muen’s intuition flickered. The death warning rang out in his mind. He glanced sideways, sensing a brewing aura of lethality.
Several beast heads emerged from the surging mass of flesh, their maws agape as staggering amounts of mana condensed within them.
Here it comes again...
Muen’s gaze darkened.
Just as he had realized during their previous fight, the girl had lost all reason, yet the instincts granted by her bloodline remained powerful and acute. After experiencing the horror of Muen’s black flames, she was doing everything in her power to avoid close-quarters combat.
This was why Muen had struggled slightly in the first round. Despite her bloated size, the dragon wings that commanded the winds allowed her to move through the air with incredible speed, constantly maintaining distance from Muen’s assaults.
Floating and flying scrolls were difficult to control and actually hindered Muen’s flexibility. This natural disadvantage of fighting from the ground against an aerial foe meant Muen couldn't sustain a prolonged engagement.
Every offensive window lasted only as long as a single breath.
Once that breath was spent, he had to retreat again.
Until he reached the Fifth-Tier Martial Artist realm and could fly at will, facing such an enemy would always be an exercise in frustration.
So...
What now?
Within the dilated time, Muen’s mind raced.
His eyes fell upon the incoming torrents of mana... Should he dodge for now?
From a rational standpoint, that was the safest bet.
But...
"If this continues, it’ll just turn into another endless war of attrition."
Black flames flickered, encircling Muen. While they blocked any potential sneak attacks, they had also cost the girl a significant portion of her monstrous limbs.
However, while the black flames allowed Muen to sustain his alchemy cores for longer and helped heal his injuries, the drain on his spiritual power was still catastrophic.
With every flicker of the black flames, Muen felt as though another needle was being driven deep into his soul.
At this rate, his spiritual power would be sucked dry long before his body gave out.
"I can't keep this up. In that case, there’s only one option..."
Muen looked up, staring at the torrents of mana and the horrific monster they originated from.
His lips suddenly curled into a savage, crazed grin.
"I like to think of myself as a flexible assassin who prefers skirting the periphery, but based on my experience... sometimes, you just have to go ham!"
He raised his hand.
Moon Arc Scatter.
Slash!
The torrents of mana fell, only to be instantly shattered by the blade-light. However, the stray magical currents that grazed Muen still left deep gashes across his body.
Blood sprayed, but it was swallowed by his own black flames in the blink of an eye. The flames flickered, mending his wounds.
Muen seemed entirely oblivious to the pain. Having cleaved through the mana, he continued his charge!
Massive beast limbs slammed down. These scaled claws could easily level a three-story building; before them, Muen looked utterly insignificant.
Yet, he simply raised his hand and struck.
Black flames clung to the pure white blades.
Like flowers of sin from hell, swaying within a holy divine kingdom.
The razor-sharp edges, capable of cutting through anything, easily tore through the monster’s scales. The black flames immediately surged into the clean cuts, devouring flesh in great gulps. The agonizing pain of the burning fire caused the girl’s wailing to be punctuated by shrill cries of torment.
Muen leaped through the gap created by the black flames, his dual blades crossing like crescent fangs.
One monstrous limb after another was shredded, burned, and consumed. Of course, given the sheer number of appendages, some bone spears and tentacles managed to bypass his blades and flames, striking Muen’s body.
Bones snapped? He forced them back into place. Flesh was pierced? He devoured the enemy’s flesh to fill the holes.
The stinging pain in his mind had turned Muen’s eyes bloodshot, but the madness in his grin—nurtured by the influence of various Evil Gods—was enough to make even a creature of such immense desire feel a tremor of fear.
Finally, amidst a cry of profound pain, Muen sensed the monstrous limbs retreating. He looked up sharply and saw the massive dragon wings that blotted out the sky unfurl.
She was trying to flee!
Everything happened in the span of a heartbeat. Muen’s fighting spirit surged; the breath he had gathered hadn't even dissipated yet. The girl’s instinctive reaction was incredibly fast.
However...
"I told you, I won't let you escape this time!"
Muen momentarily sheathed one blade and spread his fingers, aiming at the girl.
Fighting spirit erupted.
In an instant, the staggering power he had been accumulating surged forth like a flood bursting through a dam.
Martial Artist, Fourth-Tier.
Muen had possessed the qualifications to take this step even before tonight.
But he had deliberately held back until now.
All so that in this very moment, he could seize even greater power.
And that power was for one purpose...
Dong—
A grand, majestic bell toll echoed through the void, though Muen was the only one who could hear it.
Now that his realm had reached the Fourth-Tier, fully activating the two alchemy cores in his body and causing the third to show signs of awakening, his connection to that Artificial Authority: Eternal Clock had finally drawn closer.
Thus, the bell tolled, and here—it invoked the Law!
An invisible domain rapidly expanded with Muen at its center.
The domain was small, currently only large enough to cover Muen and the monster before him.
For him at his current level, the primary function of this domain was actually to protect him, preventing the terrifying consumption of the technique from turning him into a desiccated corpse instantly.
Dong—
The bell tolled again.
Everything within the domain came to a complete standstill.
Time Stasis.
Two seconds.
Even with the power of the Fourth-Tier, he could only freeze that monster for a mere two seconds.
But...
"That’s enough."
Muen already had both blades firmly in his grip.
Slash!
"It’s more than enough!"
Slash!
Slash!
Slash!
Slash!
Slash!
Muen swung his blades with frantic desperation, the black flames leaping and devouring incessantly. In those brief two seconds, he couldn't even say how many times he had swung his swords or how many times he had unleashed the black flames.
Finally, the moment the domain collapsed, the girl’s form emerged from the midst of countless pieces of flying, charred flesh.
Because most of the monstrous limbs had been severed, her petite body, held together by threads, had been forcibly stitched back into its original shape. But before she could even instinctively react to the situation... a blood-drenched figure appeared before her.
Muen lunged forward, seizing the girl’s slender neck and pinning her to the ground. He stared down at her like a perverted madman, a predatory grin splitting his face.
"I... I’ve got you!"