Chapter 23: The Dread of Demonic Power

They all thought Ren Jie was a little rookie with no means of self-preservation, but whether it was his bare-handed catch of the bullet earlier or that stunning blade strike just now, he had truly blinded them.

He had actually managed to wound Li Zhan? This was the same person who had been holding the team captain, Ye Yue, at bay!

With a loud “boom,” the black coffin was punctured and shattered by countless blood spikes, causing the barrier master’s face to turn deathly pale. At this moment, Ye Yue’s black hair danced wildly.

“Divinity: Blood Moon Suspended in the Sky!”

Behind her, a full moon outlined entirely in blood emerged. Beneath the blood moon, a long river of blood appeared, and the blood-red patterns on her body shone with an unparalleled, sacred brilliance. At the same time, three of her fingernails crumbled into dust without a sound...

This was the price paid by a God-Favored One! To sacrifice parts of one’s own body to activate divinity.

Ren Jie’s eyes widened. So Ye Yue was a God-Favored One? And why was there a health bar hanging over her head, for heaven’s sake!

Veins bulged on Ye Yue’s forehead. “Your opponent is me! Blood God Spear!”

With a grab of her bare hand, a giant blood spear materialized and was hurled violently toward Li Zhan. Three air rings rippled outward, the sonic boom deafening; the Blood God Spear pierced Li Zhan’s abdomen, slamming him straight into the barrier. The entire square-inch barrier shuddered from the impact, causing the barrier master to cough up blood.

Li Zhan spat out a mouthful of blood, his demonic mist dissipating, his eyes staring crazily at Ye Yue. “As expected of a God-Favored One, that attack finally had some kick to it! I thought I could finish you off without resorting to demonization, but it seems that’s not happening! Any attack that doesn’t kill me only makes me stronger!”

Ye Yue said coldly, “Shut your dog mouth!”

Two more Blood God Spears thrust forward. Li Zhan grinned hideously, demonic mist roiling around him. “Demonization: Thousand-Blade Demon!”

A metallic clang echoed as Li Zhan’s body underwent a frenzied transformation. His skin turned the color of cold metal; sharp blades sprouted from his hands, feet, elbows, knees, and shoulders. A row of blades protruded from his spine, and a giant blade even sprang from the top of his head.

“Blade Ghost!”

Ren Jie felt his vision blur. A chilling sharpness bloomed, the three blood spears were instantly shattered, and the ground was carved with countless gashes. Li Zhan’s abdominal wound gradually healed, and he charged at Ye Yue like a madman.

“You bitch, I’m going to chop you to pieces today!”

The two collided, exchanging frantic blows with movements so fast Ren Jie couldn’t even track them. Wounds continuously appeared on Ye Yue’s body; in the blink of an eye, the nails on all ten of her fingers had vanished, and now the skin on her arms was beginning to disappear...

Li Zhan laughed maniacally, “How much longer can your divinity last? How much blood do you have left? You will die by my blade. Only your life can appease the rage in my chest! Hahahaha!”

He then jammed two giant blades directly into his own ribs, attacking wildly even as he vomited blood, acting like a mad demon. Watching this, Ren Jie’s mouth twitched.

Does this guy’s price involve “stabbing himself in the ribs”? Is he literally doing it?

Clearly, the demonic original sin affecting Li Zhan was the Sin of Wrath. Yun Xiao had been continuously trying to heal Ye Yue, but she was still being suppressed.

On the other side, Chen Hua’s shrill laughter rang out: “Little brother, you will definitely be mine. You can’t escape!”

Revealing her true form, she was a plain-looking girl with freckles. At this moment, she used a dagger to slice into her own cheeks, forcibly peeling off her own facial skin bit by bit and dropping it on the ground. Shivering in pain, she grinned with her blood-drenched face: “Demonization: Painted Skin Demon!”

Hundreds of human skins gathered and surged into Chen Hua’s body. Her physical form seemed to vanish, turning into a limp, shapeless sack. The faces upon it shifted constantly, but none were Chen Hua’s own.

“Penalty of Skinning!”

Countless bladed tentacles sprouted and began crazily slicing through the area. Wu Yunqing couldn’t withstand such an attack; as soon as a blade touched him, large patches of his skin were peeled away. Yun Xiao was focused on healing support, and combat was not her strength; just protecting herself was already exhausting all her efforts. She couldn’t count on Ye Huai for help either—don’t forget, there was still a barrier master lurking.

Chen Hua, her eyes filled with malice, launched a fierce assault on Yun Xiao. “Why! Why are you born with such stunning looks, pursued by countless men? Is appearance, is beauty everything? I hate it! I’m going to peel off your skin and make you my collection. So what if you’re naturally beautiful? You’ll only be a wedding dress for me, Chen Hua. Hehehehe!”

Yun Xiao was on the verge of tears. Being skinned was just too terrifying!

“N-no! Nobody pursues me, really, nobody! I’m still single! I’m not pretty at all, I...”

Chen Hua: !!!

“Humble-bragging! You must be humble-bragging! I’m going to strip your skin right now!”

Seeing that Yun Xiao was about to break, Ren Jie suddenly spoke up:

( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) “Honestly, this unique thing you’ve got going on... you’re actually pretty ugly. And not only are you ugly, you’re shameless—you’ve even thrown your face on the ground. Turning into this faceless, shameless monster, you can’t blame anyone else, right?”

Chen Hua: ??? “Who are you calling shameless?”

Ren Jie didn’t speak, just pointed at the face skin lying on the ground in the distance and shrugged.

Fury burned in Chen Hua’s eyes: “Aaaah! I’m going to cut out your tongue and make you shut up forever!”

As she spoke, she turned and lunged toward Ren Jie. Ren Jie turned pale; he had successfully drawn the aggro to save Yun Xiao, but now who was going to protect him?

Li Zhan, locked in battle with Ye Yue, saw this and charged toward Ren Jie just as crazily. “He is mine! Don’t you dare touch him!”

At this moment, Li Zhan was too deeply influenced by the Sin of Wrath; he was on the verge of falling into complete demonization, with almost no sanity left. In an instant, Chen Hua and Li Zhan reached Ren Jie. One swung her bladed tentacles wildly, while the other slashed down with his massive steel blades.

Ren Jie’s pupils contracted as a sense of mortal crisis surged in his heart. Am I really going to die twice in two days?

Just then, Ye Yue saw this, her eyes turning blood-red. “Blood Flash!”

Her complexion turned deathly pale, but she transformed into a streak of blood-red lightning, rushing in diagonally. She grabbed Ren Jie, turned her back to the attacks, and shielded him in her arms.

“Blood God Armor!”

A massive amount of blood poured from Ye Yue’s wounds, solidifying into blood armor that looked like a ruby! However, this blood armor was wrapped around Ren Jie, not Ye Yue. Ren Jie felt a warmth envelop his entire body—it was the temperature of blood, the warmth from Ye Yue’s own body.

“I will break the barrier. Reinforcements will arrive soon! Stay alive...”

Ren Jie froze, staring blankly at the pale, bedraggled Ye Yue. Stay alive? Ten years ago, someone had said those same words to him... that was Tao Ran. To this day, Tao Ran’s blood-covered face was still deeply etched into Ren Jie’s memory, as if it were overlapping with Ye Yue’s.

Why... why, even though it’s our first time meeting, are you willing to risk your life to save me? Tao Ran did it... and now you too...

My life was a gift to begin with, bought with Tao Ran’s life. Now, are you going to throw away another life for me?

The guilt in his heart was already overwhelming enough. Ren Jie didn’t want history to repeat itself...

At this moment, the guilt that had been piling up, the exhaustion from working day and night, the resentment of being crushed to death, the anger of being dragged into this mess—everything erupted all at once!

Ren Jie’s emotions fluctuated violently. In the Mirror Lake space, the Demon Tree seemed to sense Ren Jie’s will. It instantly drained all the emotional mist, the entire giant tree glowing with black light, stirring up monstrous waves upon the Mirror Lake.

At this moment, the flames burning on Ren Jie’s body suddenly turned pitch black, and his eyes became as dark as a starless night. A majestic, demonic aura erupted from Ren Jie as the center, sweeping across the entire field!

Perhaps Ye Yue and Yun Xiao didn’t feel much, but at that moment, Chen Hua and Li Zhan, the two Demon-Contractors, were like victims of a binding spell; their attacks stalled, and their bodies instantly stiffened.

This was the suppression from a superior, a fear stemming from the soul, causing them to lose almost all control over their bodies. They looked at Ren Jie with terror.

Ren Jie looked down at the two of them, his eyes cold and chilling, his face as frosty as ice.

“Vermin, how dare you look directly at me? Your heads... are held too high! Kneel!”

As the demonic aura intensified, the two felt a crushing pressure slam into them, as if they were carrying a giant mountain on their shoulders. With two “thuds,” the two who had been arrogant with demonic flames were forced to their knees, their heads even bowing toward the ground involuntarily. No matter how much they resisted, they could not overcome their instinctual, soul-deep dread.

At this moment, the battlefield... was silent as death.