Chapter 363

Chapter 149 Red and Black

“Cough cough!”

Dust was everywhere. I lay amidst shattered stones in the living room of a civilian house, choking and coughing as I pushed away a thick wooden beam pressing against my abdomen. I clutched my chest and quickly crawled up.

Old man…

I shook my head, stumbling slightly on my feet.

Thin sunlight poured through a hole in the roof, shining on my face.

So tired…

The fatigue on my body was clearly noticeable.

Wreaths of dead smoke swirling around me intertwined with crimson sparks, gradually becoming thin and less fluid. There was an “out of control” sense of helplessness… It seemed they were in a subtle “adjustment period.”

It’s like two people who don’t get along suddenly becoming neighbors and trying to “get along”—that’s probably what it feels like. This process made the two forces extremely unstable, making me feel uncomfortable when using them, unable to fully unleash their power. Over time, my body grew increasingly weary.

I really want to sleep…

Boom—

Suddenly, a white light flashed ahead. The wall of the civilian house was blasted open by tremendous force. As bricks flew, the figure of Cardinal Nero rushed into the house, enveloped in faint golden light, dashing straight towards me in an instant.

“Mad dog…”

Thud!

A dense cloud of dead smoke exploded from beneath my feet, instantly filling the entire room with blackness. At the same moment, I took a step forward, throwing a heavy punch at his face illuminated by the golden light.

Thud!

Cardinal Nero did not dodge but endured my attack with his forehead. Flames burst from my fist but seemed to misfire, only emitting weak sparks and a slight muffled sound before dissipating.

What…

I was momentarily stunned, lifting my head.

Sparks of starlight faded, revealing Cardinal Nero’s ugly face under the interplay of golden light and dead smoke.

He was heavily injured.

Both hands had been severed at the wrists, and the once-gleaming gold armor on his body was now covered with cracks and intersecting sword marks, almost losing its original shape. Blood seeped from the cracks, staining his chest and arms. The golden light enveloping him flickered, and wisps of dead smoke mingled within it, slowly seeping into the gaps in his armor. With a grating “sizzle,” white smoke began to rise from his body as the flesh was eroded.

Blackened like a virus began to spread across his intact right cheek, skin withering visibly.

That was a deathly appearance.

Yet, his towering figure stood firm, exuding an imposing aura that remained unchanged. His sinister face sent chills down my spine, eyes bloodshot, mouth slightly open without lips, emitting hoarse and eerie sounds that were not human.

“Mon…ster…Die…”

Buzz—

The resonance of a miracle trembled lightly amidst the dense smoke.

In the next moment, blinding white light erupted from above.

“Ah—!!!”

Nero let out a beast-like roar, spattering saliva mixed with blood onto my face. Instantly, the dead smoke around me was shattered by the white light. I felt a chill, quickly stepping back several paces, creating distance between us. My right hand burst with blue light, releasing rolling white mist like steam, enveloping my entire right side.

Snap, snap…

A short ice scythe condensed in my palm, and I swung my arm forward.

Crack, crack, crack, crack—

Immediately, ice spears tilted out from the space near my feet, sweeping up frost and ice shards, lightning-fast stabbing at Cardinal Nero, but he bent low, dodging them swiftly, piercing through the gaps between the ice spears and closing the distance again.

The light ball above was still gathering, my heart pounding rapidly in my chest.

Damn old man…

I raised my left hand, aiming forward.

Crack—

Ice mist gushed from my palm, spreading out in a fan shape, obscuring everything in front of me.

Not enough.

“Yaah—!”

Crack, crack, crack—

Rushing sounds…

Terrifying impacts continued to erupt from my palm, half of the civilian house collapsing in the raging frost. Green rock splinters flew amidst the cold mist, dispersing the lingering dead smoke. The air suddenly turned icy, and Cardinal Nero’s figure, along with the light ball, was buried in frost, leaving only a vast expanse of snow-white.

“Huff—, huff—”

I panted heavily, taking several steps back, widening my eyes, watching intently for any movement in the fog.

Suddenly, a strange breathing sound came from the ice mist.

“Heh…

“Haa…”

The sound seemed to be laughing, yet it also resembled the breath of some vicious beast. The moment the noise came, I felt my scalp tingle, and a shudder of fear ran through me.

In the next instant, a right leg wrapped in shattered greaves and encrusted with frost stepped out from the Frost Mist.

Then came his body.

And that inhuman, terrifying face.

“Her…”

Frost-white mist slowly exhaled from Nero Cardinal’s mouth.

His tongue was frozen stiff, his vocal cords damaged, unable to produce normal sounds. Large chunks of ice flaked off as he moved, revealing his two severed arms, already turning purple from the cold. The blood oozing from them had frozen into icy shards.

Countless tendrils of black smoke swirled around his mangled body, continuously eroding Nero’s last vestiges of life. His entire face was completely withered, his cheeks covered in frost, pitted like an old tree riddled with insect holes. Only one eye remained, severely shriveled, while the other two sockets were pitch-black and deep, having lost all sight. His body trembled violently.

Yet, he still stepped resolutely towards me.

Crash…

One step.

“He will… honor uh…”

Crash…

Two steps.

His broken chestplate began to split, “Bang!” It burst open, revealing countless charred and festering wounds, and dark smoke writhing from them.

Crash…

Three steps.

Cold sweat trickled down my face.

Do something…

But the exhaustion in my body and the indescribable terror in my heart made me stand rooted to the spot, my hand gripping the scythe trembling slightly.

Crash…

Nero Cardinal took his fourth step.

Extreme cold kept his foot firmly planted on the ground, then there was a sharp crack, and his left leg snapped at the ankle. Frozen flesh crumbled away, and Nero staggered momentarily, but quickly regained balance, hopping forward on one foot.

He stood before me.

His frozen, purplish arm gently touched my right shoulder.

My head jerked back sharply.

I suddenly jolted awake from my shock, my scattered consciousness regaining focus.

He should be dead…

“Aaaaah!!!”

As I screamed, I swung the scythe upward with a flash of its blade, “Clang!” It sliced through Nero’s ruptured breastplate, cutting his abdomen, and the blade embedded deeply into his ribs.

At the same time, the other party rammed their forehead into mine.

Bam!

A dull thud.

Followed by the clear sound of skull cracking—”Crack!”

Why…

I released the scythe stuck in his sternum and retreated hurriedly, feeling stars before my eyes and a sudden dizzy spell, almost losing my balance.

Buzz—

In the next moment, countless blazing white orbs flew out from the Frost Mist, accompanied by lightning-like arcs, swirling rapidly around me, encircling me from all directions.

Thump.

Nero Cardinal’s legs buckled, and he knelt before me.

The golden light enveloping his body, now nearly transparent, finally dissipated into starlight. That powerful “invincible” state that had blocked Carlos’ sword and the black smoke… came to an end.

He could no longer resist the spreading frost.

“Her…”

Dark brown blood mixed with revolting black fluid slowly oozed from Nero Cardinal’s nose, mouth, ears… from every part of his body, congealing, his body swaying, about to collapse… yet his trembling arms continued to rise, albeit very slowly.

Why…

Why aren’t you dead yet?!

Buzzzzz—

The orbs began to vibrate.

Whizz—

Suddenly, a fierce wind from above struck Nero Cardinal.

Boom!

The golden armor shattered instantly.

Ice crystals and chunks of flesh scattered, and the wind blade blew Nero’s shoulder to pieces.

No blood flowed.

Crack, crack…

His raised arm finally froze in mid-air, his body turning into a lifelike ice sculpture, rigid before me. Those hollow eye sockets still stared at me intently.

The countless orbs hovering around gradually dispersed in the cold wind, accompanied by a faint hum of the divine.

I took a deep breath, my lips quivering.

“Old…”

That word “old man” never made it out. I stood there, staring at the ice sculpture for a long time, then raised my right fist and smashed the head of the ice sculpture.

That ugly face vanished from my sight completely.