Chapter 364: Bathed in Blood and Fire, 'Quick Battle, Quick Resolution'

“……”

Wang Yu’s perception, extended through the power of his Chariot, captured the scene of the bullet being incinerated by the nameless fire with absolute clarity. After trading a heavy blow with Blackburn, he began to monitor the blood flowing through his veins without a moment’s hesitation. The evolution of his enemy’s ability was an unforeseen variable, yet one that was sometimes unavoidable.

“Ha! Exhilarating! It has been so long since I felt such a pure, mutual slaughter. Wang Yu, is it? It is not over yet. Let us see who dies here today. If I win, I shall step into the realm of legends!”

Blackburn roared with a wild, ecstatic laughter. The inner potential that had blossomed in this life-or-death moment was the harbinger of his ascension; his latent power was surging toward a higher plane, coalescing into the abilities of a legendary stage. In other words, Blackburn was now, in every sense, a man with one foot in the legend.

“Sizzle!”

Wang Yu’s body, encased in blood-armor, began to burn without a spark, just as the bullet that had struck Blackburn had. An astonishing, irrational heat manifested from thin air. Charring, cracking, and burning—the blood-armor on Wang Yu’s surface disintegrated layer by layer under the blistering temperature.

“Bang!”

Blackburn pressed the attack like a madman. After taking Wang Yu’s punch head-on with the aura barrier shimmering across his skin, he spun without a moment’s delay, slamming an elbow into Wang Yu’s chest. The blood-forged breastplate, already brittle from the nameless fire, shattered into a gaping crater, exposing the flesh beneath.

“Swoosh!”

The nameless fire was pervasive. The moment the armor burst and exposed Wang Yu’s chest, the flames leaped upward, igniting his skin and muscle. A strange, charred scent drifted into the air, spreading through the surroundings before being scattered by the shockwaves of their combat.

“Splat!”

With ruthless precision, Wang Yu kicked Blackburn in the abdomen, striking the aura barrier shimmering there. He sent Blackburn reeling back several meters, then reached back with his own hand to rip away the burning patch of flesh from his chest, exposing the gleaming bone beneath, and flung the gore aside.

Blood welled up from the wound, plugging the gap in his armor and sealing the protective shell once more. Blackburn, meanwhile, continued to charge forward with a manic laugh, grappling with Wang Yu as flames erupted wherever their powers collided.

“……”

Facing the laughing Blackburn, Wang Yu remained silent, locked in a high-intensity death match. His body was constantly being scorched by the sudden, intense heat, and he was forced to tear away his own flesh time and again to prevent the flames from burrowing deeper into his core.

Fists and feet collided, the force of their aura-enhanced strikes warping the environment. Deflections, blocks, direct hits, and savage onslaughts—the deafening sound of flesh striking flesh echoed through the underground cavern, a sound so heavy it no longer resembled a struggle between living beings, but rather the clashing of solid metal.

Ice crystals were tossed into the air by the impact, turning into a misty fog that was instantly melted and vaporized into steam by the sudden heat radiating from Wang Yu’s body.

The ground fractured under the weight of their power, and the surrounding walls and ceiling began to collapse. Ice rocks shattered, snowdrifts melted; the battle between two Great Knights, a collision of extreme power, radiated an aura of blood and fire that was truly terrifying.

As Blackburn’s inner potential evolved, he no longer required a catalyst to ignite his flames; he could now summon intense heat and crimson fire directly through the extension of his power. Wang Yu’s Chariot power could no longer effectively suppress him, and he had to divide his focus to contend with the lethal flames Blackburn ignited upon his body.

Consequently, in their close-quarters war of attrition, Wang Yu became the definitively weaker party. If the flames ignited on his body were left unchecked, they would inevitably melt through his armor and incinerate his organs in a heartbeat.

To deal with them, he had to tear away his own flesh, inflicting trauma upon himself while creating openings for Blackburn—whose aura-wrapped fists and kicks followed like a shadow, shattering armor, tearing muscle, and rattling internal organs.

The counterattacks Wang Yu managed were either blocked by aura barriers or simply dodged. At this moment, the true power of the Corpse-Plated Knight secret technique was revealed: with such a technique, Blackburn could completely abandon defense and commit entirely to a ferocious assault.

“Willpower”—a concept ethereal yet vital in combat—often dictates the outcome of a struggle. Simply put, it is the capacity to think, make decisions, and utilize one’s power with precision during the heat of battle.

Blocking, countering, and decision-making all consume willpower. Balancing defense with opportunistic offense requires even more mental focus, and inevitably, one’s willpower will eventually run thin.

For a knight, however, a secret technique is an instinct fused with the body. Like inner potential, it operates at the whim of the user, consuming almost no willpower. This was the reason Blackburn held such a massive advantage.

He did not need to think about defense; his instinctual secret technique handled every blow. All he had to do was kill his enemy before his aura ran dry. Single-minded and violently aggressive, it was a technique perfectly suited to his nature.

Wang Yu’s body broke and repaired itself repeatedly, but his regenerative capacity was not infinite. Even a machine that is constantly patched will eventually stall. He could not sustain this war of attrition against Blackburn.

“Splat.”

“Bang!”

The moment Wang Yu tore the burning flesh from his shoulder, Blackburn pressed in, chopping a palm toward his neck. Wang Yu could only defend with one hand in a rush; he barely blocked the blow before being kicked in the abdomen, flying back into the solid ice wall amidst the sound of tearing muscle.

Blackburn, naturally, did not hold back. He charged with a wild laugh, throwing a full-force punch at the head of his opponent, who was momentarily hindered by the ice. The shattered meteorite blades flying at his side attacked, but were blocked by the aura barrier automatically defending his skin, slowing him only slightly.

That was enough, though…

The purpose of the meteorite blades striking his body had been to converge. Once united, they transformed into the Grimoire of the Weaver, inscribed with the “pre-input” Wang Yu had prepared during the gaps he bought with his own worsening injuries: a third-tier meta-magic spatial spell, Blink.

“Bang!”

The spell triggered. Blackburn’s fist smashed into the ice, causing cracks to explode outward, but Wang Yu’s body had already vanished in the shimmering distortion of space, appearing far away. He finally understood, once again, the benefits of being a mage.

“Heh-ha! Don’t think you can escape!”

Blackburn kicked off the ice, charging toward Wang Yu without a hint of surprise. His goal remained unchanged: regardless of Wang Yu’s tricks, he would simply kill him with everything he had.

“Hoo…”

Wang Yu took a deep breath. The blood he had been sensing within his body began to circulate faster, and the spatial “blood pool” that only he could perceive began to churn and boil.

Blackburn’s inner potential had completed its evolution, shaking off the suppression of the Chariot, and he had taken a half-step toward legend. Wang Yu was unlucky, yet fortunate. A knight’s breakthrough is common in life-or-death struggles, but it is also the most precarious.

A knight’s strength stems from the physical body, and a breakthrough in power level does not instantly transform physical strength; that requires subsequent consolidation, not the moment of the breakthrough itself. At this moment, Blackburn’s power level had leaped, but his physical fortitude had not undergone a qualitative change!

“Let’s end this quickly…”

Watching Blackburn charge, Wang Yu muttered words that were impossible to decipher. He stopped suppressing the flames on his body, raised both hands, and swung them violently downward.

The next moment, the blood pool opened its gates. It was as if a rift to a sea of blood had been torn in the air, and a massive torrent of blood cascaded down like a waterfall, swirling toward Blackburn. Through Wang Yu’s repeated reinforcements, the blood pool had expanded significantly, capable of holding at least ten times the volume it had at the beginning.

A crimson tide swept toward Blackburn, but before it even made contact, the liquid was already burning fiercely. It was not ignited by Blackburn’s inner potential, but by Wang Yu himself, using the fire of his sorcery.

“Boom!”

Wang Yu detonated a portion of the high-energy blood, scattering the surrounding fluid in a massive explosion. The raging flames released a violent, absolute light that obscured all vision, hiding everything within a sea of fire.

Blackburn instinctively released his inner potential, but he found that the flames filling the cavern could not be influenced. The call of his fire-commanding potential was rejected by the flames, suppressed by a higher order of power.

“The feeling of being scorched by fire… it has been so long. Your power is truly marvelous. Come! Kill me! Or let me kill you! Let us see who burns out first!”

Blackburn roared as he charged through the inferno. His body was being seared by the heat, his aura barrier gradually incinerated by the all-encompassing assault, and his flesh began to feel the agony of the burn.

His senses were fully open. The abnormal airflow amidst the roaring flames and the light thud of footsteps were captured by the knight’s hyper-sensitive senses. He had confirmed Wang Yu’s position; the man was charging toward him as well.

“Come!”

Blackburn shouted, and two figures bathed in fire collided. Wang Yu’s body was ignited by the crimson sorcery fire. If both were to be consumed by flame, why not let it be his own? The fire that burned his life force became, in this moment, a shield.

A visceral, physical collision began.

By now, the aura barriers on the surfaces of both their bodies had been burned away by the sorcery fire. They were locked in a death match, using only the new aura generated within their bodies.

Blackburn’s body was also wreathed in flame—not the sorcery fire, but the nameless fire ignited by his own inner potential. Fire against fire, flame against flame. Each used their own fire to block the other’s, then used their own power and their own flames to incinerate their opponent.

At the same time, it was inevitable that the flames they had ignited themselves would, as time passed, consume them as well. The war of attrition had begun anew, only this time, it was far more “fair.”

Blackburn’s breakthrough did not grant him the advantage he should have had. Between Wang Yu’s insane regenerative ability and Blackburn’s robust, hardened frame, who would prevail in this long, grueling struggle?

Fists and feet crossed, flames rose, and the two brutally beat each other as the surroundings shattered under their impacts, throws, and roars.

The passion burning in Blackburn’s heart grew ever more intense, and the flames he ignited grew hotter with his fervor.

As the sorcery fire entered its next stage of combustion, its color deepened and its temperature climbed, incinerating Wang Yu’s body at an alarming rate.

Would they be consumed by the flames they ignited themselves, killed by the other’s strikes and fire, or reduced to ash in the fire they had lost control of after killing one another? The result of this battle seemed impossible to determine until the very end. But, unfortunately, this destructive struggle had never been fair from the start.

“Bang!”

Their fists collided, and both retreated a step. A flicker of regret appeared in Blackburn’s eyes. Both of their powers were beginning to wane. This battle, which had perfectly satisfied his desires, seemed to be coming to an end. Whether he died or Wang Yu died, the immense pleasure he felt in the fight was about to fade away.

"Truly, it is all happening far too quickly... even if I am to be the victor, the regret is profound indeed..."

Black Burn, who had been roaring and laughing in a frenzy, whispered softly, continuing to savor the struggle of a battle fought with every ounce of strength and every desperate measure to slay his foe. Yet, the moment he collided with Wang Yu once more, sending his visibly weakened opponent reeling, Wang Yu’s figure simply vanished.

"?"

A flicker of confusion stirred, and his body’s instincts urged him to turn, but it was too late—the speed was simply too absolute. Then, an unimaginable force descended upon his neck. Black Burn resisted instinctively, his muscles erupting with the latent potential of a dying beast, but against such overwhelming crushing power, it was utterly meaningless.

"Snap!"

With the crisp sound of something shattering, Black Burn’s head was twisted three hundred and sixty degrees, his neck coiled like a braided rope. His body collapsed listlessly before Wang Yu, and as a vast surge of life force flooded into him, Wang Yu confirmed his death.

"Is this what battle is? It happens too fast, in every sense of the word."

Whispering to himself, he gathered his focus, drawing the burning blood into his blood pool, then replacing it with the unignited blood he had deliberately saved within, preventing himself from being consumed by the flames.

Charred flesh sloughed away as new skin regenerated, the speed of which was truly startling—far faster than Wang Yu should have been capable of. The reason was the same as his instantaneous execution of Black Burn: the artifact suspended in the void above his head, the Chronos Hourglass.

In the brief moment when the flames obscured all, Wang Yu had summoned the Lady of Night, who was watching from the shadows. The Lady of Night summoned Charles, who surrendered the artifact to her, and she in turn passed it to Wang Yu.

To take, to hold, to accelerate—at eight times his normal speed, Wang Yu had circled behind Black Burn, seized his neck, and snapped it. The battle ended with such abruptness, but such is the nature of war.

Wang Yu still held cards he had not played, and had the fight continued, the outcome might not have been certain, but he would not grant Black Burn another chance. As he had said, it was to be a swift and decisive end.

"Hey hey hey, it has been a long time since I made a protagonist stat card. I will find time to make one this week, and by the way, I commissioned art for the Lady of Night and Avia. I will post it once it is finished~ (￣▽￣~)"