Chapter 436: Chapter 166: Slaying the Void
Chen Chuan’s footsteps were distinct in the empty underground tunnel, each steady, rhythmic step echoing back at him.
However, as he drew closer to Meng Huang, his Second Self began to show strong signs of dematerializing, an effect that intensified the nearer he got.
Aunt Yu followed close behind, her hands now fitted with sharp-clawed Artificial Armor. After just a few steps, she seemed to sense something as well. She raised her wrist; the edge of her bracelet was gradually turning black. Then, she touched her earring and felt it growing faintly hot.
She made an assessment. ’Five minutes, tops...’ she thought.
She glanced at the Jade Bracelet on Chen Chuan’s wrist and the Hanging Ornament at his waist. ’This gear must be from the Processing Bureau,’ she mused. ’It’s a little better than mine, but not by much. It won’t hold out for more than seven minutes.’
She gave him a grave warning, "Executioner Chen, beware the ’contamination.’"
Chen Chuan glanced at his bracelet and gave a slight nod.
The files from the Processing Bureau had mentioned this. The longer one was in contact with these entities from the other side, the more likely one was to be affected. Besides psychic erosion, one’s Mutated Organization could also undergo uncontrollable changes—what Aunt Yu had called "contamination."
The Jade Ring and Hanging Ornament were meant to keep the Mutated Organization stable for a time. If these items lost their effectiveness, one had to rely on their own Essence Blood for suppression. As for the psychic pressure, that could only be resisted by consuming one’s Resident God.
That was why only Third Limit Fighters could handle these entities. An ordinary Fighter probably couldn’t even get close.
He tapped his Realm Token, trying to contact the outside. But down here, even the specially configured signal booster struggled. The message was crawling out, and it looked like it would take at least several minutes to fully transmit.
But he couldn’t afford to wait. He didn’t know what Meng Huang’s purpose was here, but it was almost certainly related to the entity’s own existence and power. He absolutely could not let it succeed.
He stared at the massive form writhing on the door. After a few more steps, he lowered his center of gravity and sprang forward. He raised his Long Blade and, upon rapidly closing the distance, brought it down in a vicious slash!
A body that large should have been impossible to miss. Yet, as his blade passed through, the section he’d struck dissipated like a puff of smoke. The blade felt weightless, as if it had failed to cause any damage at all.
He landed lightly on his feet. Just then, a shadow swept over the ground as a limb, previously clinging to the ceiling, slammed down at him.
He dodged it with a sideways leap, but the limb pursued him. He meant to slice it apart with his blade, but he encountered the same phenomenon as before—it was like cutting through intangible smoke.
Even so, he had no desire to be struck by it and continued to fall back. Once he was outside a certain range, the limb retracted.
Chen Chuan glanced up. ’The real reason I can’t touch it is probably because Meng Huang was previously restrained by the Secret Ceremony and couldn’t use his full power. Now that he’s free, he can undergo these transformations, just like how he phased through the floor.’
According to the Processing Bureau’s files, these entities from the other side varied greatly. For most that arrived in this world, a Fighter with a powerful enough Mutated Organization could attack and make physical contact with them.
Only a few special cases required a spiritual connection to make contact. Their power wasn’t necessarily greater than the physical type, but they were the most troublesome and difficult to handle.
’It looks like this one is of that type.’
’If that’s the case, then...’
He closed his eyes, the spot between his brows pulsing faintly. At that moment, a reddish mark appeared there.
By shutting out his ordinary senses and perceiving with his mind alone, he felt an indescribable behemoth materialize before him. Its body seemed to fill the entire chamber, an extension of the shadows on the floor and walls. It wasn’t far away; it was sliding and slithering right beside him.
Its dispersed parts manifested as countless tentacles drifting through the air, densely packed around him. A few of them swayed just past his cheeks.
Each time these things drew near or brushed against him, the Jade Ring’s luster dimmed a little more.
His eyes still closed, he slowly raised his blade with both hands. Then, with a sudden burst of strength, he executed a wide, spinning slash. This time, it felt as if his blade was slicing through countless tough objects.
In a nearly three-meter radius around him, all the tentacles were severed. They fell like scythed grass and dissolved into wisps of smoke.
At the same time, he sensed something and glanced down at the Snow Monarch Blade in his hand.
In the instant the blade had connected, it seemed to have siphoned something from the entity, which the blade then absorbed.
He could feel the presence dwelling within the Snow Monarch Blade grow particularly excited, transmitting an urgent craving to him.
He paid it no mind for now. All that mattered was that it helped him destroy this creature. He swung his blade again, severing another large swath of encroaching tentacles. With steady steps, he advanced, hacking a path through the appendages toward Meng Huang’s location.
Aunt Yu rushed forward to help. At first, she too found that her attacks couldn’t connect with Meng Huang’s physical form. But while she lacked Chen Chuan’s unique spiritual senses, she could achieve the same effect by consuming her Divine Constant to heighten her own spirit.
However, this method couldn’t be sustained for long, so she was extremely cautious. She dodged the blurry, swarming appendages whenever possible. If she couldn’t, she batted them aside or severed them with her Artificial Armor. Her offensive efficiency wasn’t high, but she did manage to ease some of the pressure on Chen Chuan from the flank.
One in front of the other, they rapidly closed in on Meng Huang’s main body. The creature seemed to sense the threat. A thick limb, previously retracted, suddenly lashed out sideways.
Aunt Yu leaped forward, forming a circle with her hands and pushing outward. BANG! She firmly blocked it, creating an opening for Chen Chuan to advance.
Chen Chuan didn’t miss the opportunity. In a flash, he charged forward. Another limb struck from above, but it only whipped the air behind him.
In an instant, an arc of blade light crossed more than ten meters of space, viciously slashing into Meng Huang’s massive back!
The blade left a long, deep gash, from which a black mist and innumerable tiny fragments drifted out.
Meng Huang—or rather, the thing he had become—jerked violently.
It seemed that, at first, its sole focus had been on breaking through the great door. Or perhaps it had believed it could withstand significant damage, which was why it had only casually tried to swat them away.
However, Chen Chuan’s attack seemed to have inflicted serious damage. It had finally had enough.
Bulges suddenly erupted across the surface of its body. As they swelled and burst, more limbs shot out. They thrashed about, then whipped down, raining blows on the two of them.
Seeing this, Aunt Yu immediately fell back with agile footwork. As she retreated, she swatted away two limbs lashing at her from the left and right.
The impact sent a numbing jolt up her arm. The force was far greater than before, and a large section of her bracelet instantly turned black. She couldn’t help but feel a surge of alarm.
She stole a glance toward Chen Chuan’s position but saw nothing, her view completely obscured by the thrashing limbs.
Chen Chuan’s gaze was fixed above as the limbs rained down. Just as one was about to connect, he quickly sidestepped to let it pass. He then leaped back and to the side, dodging another that swept at him horizontally. Landing lightly on the balls of his feet, he ducked and lunged forward, zipping through a gap between several of the appendages.
At the same time, his Long Blade flashed in a series of rapid swings, leaving deep gashes on the limbs. Black smoke billowed from the wounds, and the ground was littered with a pile of severed, slender tentacles.
Another limb coiled silently toward him, but a flash of his blade severed it a moment later. Without pausing, he immediately moved from his spot. In the next instant, several limbs slammed down on the place he had just vacated, gouging a deep crater in the floor.
He weaved through the gaps between the crisscrossing limbs, sometimes dodging, sometimes cutting a path with his blade, constantly in motion. But he wasn’t just evading; he was calmly observing.
He noticed that although the limbs had increased in number and were much thicker and more powerful than before, their swing speed had actually decreased.
’According to the files, a symbiotic body like Meng Huang’s might gain incredible power from its otherworldly parasite. But as long as it exists in the Material World, it is subject to certain insurmountable boundaries, part of which are dictated by the physical limits of the host.’
’If the host was originally an ordinary person, then without the aid of any special items, its performance should cap out at the level of a Third Limit Fighter—the absolute limit a mortal can touch.’
’Unless the entity from the other side completely disregards its host body. But if that were the case, once the physical body disintegrates, the entity itself wouldn’t be able to remain here.’
’Of course, even within the Third Limit, the difference in power caused by physical size is enormous. Meng Huang is now six or seven meters tall; the strength he can exert must be immense.’
’But I have my Second Self, which can absorb a certain amount of damage, and I also have an advantage in speed. As long as its attack patterns aren’t beyond my comprehension, I have a chance to cut it down and exorcise it.’
Just then, his Realm Token chimed softly. The message he’d sent had finally finished transmitting. If all went well, people from the Processing Bureau would be arriving soon.
But since Meng Huang had dared to come here today, he had probably made his own preparations. Chen Chuan couldn’t pin all his hopes on reinforcements.
’And as for the current situation...’
He glanced at his bracelet, now more than half black, then at the limbs and tentacles that had nearly filled the entire space. He tightened his grip on his blade. His skin suddenly grew scorching hot, and wisps of white steam began to rise from his body.
’It wasn’t as if he couldn’t solve this on his own.’
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