Chapter 42: 42 | KILL!!!
Golden flames roared around the assassin like a blazing cloak.
Dexter tightened his grip on the Macro Splicing Saber.
This assassin was even more dangerous than the first.
His mana was still only half full after using Spatial Cleave.
Scorching Fury had already been active for nearly a minute and he had activated Flame Burst Constantly.
The techniques put tremendous strain on his muscles. Every second it remained active, his body endured more stress.
He couldn’t afford a drawn-out battle. Not against a Level 5 Superhuman or with half his mana gone.
The assassin grinned.
"So you’re the one Lord Voss wants dead."
"I expected someone stronger."
The name meant nothing to Dexter. Lord Voss. He filed it away for later. If he survived.
Before Dexter could reply —
"Boom!"
The assassin vanished. One moment he was standing there, wrapped in golden flames. The next moment, he was gone.
Golden flames exploded beneath his feet as he appeared behind Dexter almost instantly.
His flaming sword descended toward Dexter’s back as he slashed at his neck.
Dexter reacted purely on instinct activating Flame Burst to raise his agility as he spun around and raised his saber.
Clang!
The collision sent sparks flying in every direction. Dexter’s entire arm went numb from the impact as he was blasted backward.
He flew through the air for several meters before crashing into an abandoned sedan parked across the highway.
"Bang!"
Dexter’s back slammed against the car’s hood. The metal crumpled beneath his weight. The windshield shattered. The entire vehicle slid backward several meters before smashing into the guardrail with a screech of metal.
Its alarm immediately began blaring. A loud, piercing wail that added to the chaos of the battlefield.
Dexter barely had time to steady himself. He pushed himself off the crumpled hood and raised his saber.
The assassin was already in front of him.
His speed was frightening. He had crossed the distance in the time it took Dexter to blink.
The flaming blade thrust toward Dexter’s abdomen like a venomous snake.
Dexter eyes suddenly turned vicious and instead of dodging he stepped forward into the blade.
"Shhhk!"
The assassin’s eyes widened behind his mask as he hadn’t expected for Dexter to step towards his own death.
The blade pierced straight into Dexter’s side.
The flaming sword slid underneath his ribs with a sickening ease. The heat cauterized the wound instantly, preventing excessive bleeding but sending blinding pain through every nerve in his body.
Shhk!
Pain shot through Dexter’s body as his vision blurred and his knees buckled.
The assassin grinned viciously. The blade was buried in Dexter’s side. One pull and the intestines would follow.
"You’ve lost."
But the smile on Dexter’s face only widened.
"...Got you."
Before the assassin could react —
Dexter’s left hand shot forward, gripping the assassin’s sword arm with terrifying force.
The assassin ws stunned and he immediately shot backwards but he Dezt r followed as he held his hand like his life depended on it.
The assassin struggled and frienws to pull free.
But Dexter’s grip was absolute. He didn’t give him a single change to.
Then...
Dexter’s chest began glowing.
Molten crimson light spread from his heart to his throat.
Veins of blazing gold crawled across his neck as they pulsed with energy.
The temperature around him rose explosively.
The assassin’s expression finally changed and for the first time since the battle began, fear appeared in his eyes.
"W-What are you —"
Dexter opened his mouth.
"ROOOOOOOOOOAAAR!"
"Flame Demon’s Wrath."
A torrent of demonic fire erupted from his mouth.
BOOOOOOM!!
The crimson-gold inferno engulfed the assassin completely as it wrapped around the assassin’s body like a living thing, seeking every gap in his defense.
The flames were crimson at their core and gold at their edges. They burned with a heat that melted the asphalt into liquid. The air itself ignited. Oxygen became fuel.
The man roared in pain as he desperately unleashed his own Golden Flame talent. His body blazed with golden fire. A blazing golden barrier formed around him, a sphere of protective flame that he poured every ounce of his mana into maintaining.
The two flames clashed violently. Crimson-gold against pure gold. Demon fire against human talent.
For several seconds...
The golden flames resisted and the barrier held. The assassin’s C-Rank talent was strong enough to temporarily withstand the demonic fire’s assault.
But only temporarily.
The demonic fire devoured everything in its path. It ate through the golden barrier like acid through paper. It consumed the golden flames and grew stronger from them. It fed on the assassin’s own energy and turned it against him.
The assassin’s inhuman screams echoed across the highway. The sound was inhuman. It was the scream of a man being burned alive from the inside out.
"AAAAAAAHHHHH!!"
His flesh burned away almost instantly. The golden barrier collapsed. The flames reached deep into his skull and feasted.
His face fell off and liquidfy against the demonic flames. His muscles dripped to the ground and his bones blackened and within seconds...
Nothing of his face remained except a charred skeleton skull replacing his head.
His body was actually intact and within seconds, he fell to the ground and collapsed.
Silence.
Dexter staggered backward as he felt dizzy.
His breathing had become ragged and each breath burned his lungs as he tasted ash in his mouth.
The Flame Demon’s Wrath had consumed an enormous amount of mana. It was one of his most powerful techniques, but its cost was devastating. He could feel his core nearly empty.
Combined with the wound in his abdomen...
His body was reaching its limit.
He looked down at the sword still embedded in his side.
Grimacing, he gripped the hilt. His fingers wrapped around the hilt and he dqueezed tight.
"...Tch."
With one swift motion —
Shhk!
He pulled the blade free. The metal slid out with a wet sound. Blood followed immediately. It poured from the wound in a steady stream, running down his side and dripping onto the ground.
But almost immediately...
The regenerative power of his Origin Bloodline and the Slaughter Demon Body technique activated as his cells started to regenerate and heal rapidly.
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