Chapter 38: The Warrior Who Is Never Late and the Miracle

To rewind time just a little, Wang Yu was sprinting through the rainy night, observing his own condition while making adjustments.

The triple-ring restorative spell fused into his chest was working wonders, providing a steady, inexhaustible stream of magical power for healing.

The various tears in his blood vessels—those small but persistent wounds that bled away his life—were being repaired by the spell, slowly but surely.

Ruptured veins began to knit together, shattered bones began to fuse, and Wang Yu’s state was recovering during his run, not quickly, but with absolute stability.

"Should I learn some sorcery for wound repair?" Wang Yu wondered to himself.

However, repairing wounds was inherently an act of "order," and the consumption of Void energy for such a task was astronomical.

Unless it was Avia’s arcane energy, which could reduce the cost to a manageable level, Wang Yu decided it wasn't worth the trouble.

Although the triple-ring healing spell was steadily mending his broken body and the two vials of medicine had provided decent relief, the flesh and blood he had lost could not be replenished in an instant.

A leaking bucket has a limited capacity no matter how much water you pour into it, and Wang Yu’s body was no different.

He clenched his fist; he was at about sixty-five percent capacity. Acceptable. The mansion ahead had appeared in his sight, but it looked deeply unsettling.

To the naked eye, the luxurious estate looked much as it had before.

Except for the gaping holes in many places and the sense that something inside was tearing it apart, there was little change.

Avia should still be inside, and that thing destroying the building must be what she was facing.

"Why doesn't she come out?" The question had barely surfaced in Wang Yu's mind before he answered it himself: through the eyes of his Inner Sight, the entire house was wrapped in a film of Void power.

Every exit—the hall doors, the windows, even the cracks and holes in the walls—was sealed and imprisoned by a membrane woven from Void energy.

Moreover, though the film appeared thin, its color was a deep, shifting violet, reminiscent of the starry sky.

This suggested that despite its appearance, the Void energy contained within the barrier was likely terrifying.

His physical sight was blocked by the mansion's walls, and his Inner Sight was isolated by this strange membrane; Wang Yu had no idea what was happening inside.

He raised his longsword and struck the invisible barrier with all his might. There was no sound, not even a rebound; the blade was simply halted by the unseen force, unable to advance an inch.

He pushed harder, muscles bulging, his entire strength pressed into the hilt. Veins stood out, and even his newly mended vessels ruptured again from the excessive strain.

His arms turned crimson, and the longsword, under the immense pressure, began to bend its sturdy frame.

It was useless. The barrier forged of Void power showed no sign of breaking, nor did it offer any reaction, mocking Wang Yu’s impotence.

Frowning, Wang Yu sensed the difficulty; the sheer volume of Void energy seemed overwhelming.

Sorcery? Chaos Reconstruction activated. The power of the Void collided with the Void barrier, sparking invisible ripples, yet it remained futile.

As expected, Chaos Reconstruction had no effect on Void energy, which was already chaotic enough by nature.

He stepped forward and pressed his hand against the invisible barrier, sending ripples of energy through his palm.

This special ability, neither material nor Void, snaked up the barrier, and through the feedback, Wang Yu gradually perceived the full picture.

High above the mansion, a Void rift was pouring out energy like a waterfall. Within that void, one could faintly discern a figure of immense, infinite scale, sitting atop the stars of the Void, looking down upon everything below.

Those with weak wills would go mad on sight, their bodies mutating into indescribable horrors, but for Wang Yu, it had no effect.

Had Wang Yu seen the statue in Decathlon’s possession and combined it with the internal records of Night’s Edge he had studied, he would have known this was the true form of the evil god Decathlon worshipped: the Undying Lord.

He was a Void deity renowned for endless regenerative abilities and an immortal body.

Yet, Wang Yu didn't even focus on the awe-inspiring figure, which held no meaning for him, because the ripples were feeding him specific information.

The method of utilizing Void energy was to distort reality by manifesting concepts, such as altering the concept of "temperature."

And this barrier before him—after probing it with his ripples, Wang Yu sensed the concept contained within: "Immortality."

The Undying Lord had imbued this barrier with that concept, and by channeling nearly infinite Void energy, this barrier was born.

It could not be maintained forever; once the Void rift was severed from the material world, it would lose its energy source and collapse instantly. So, was this why Decathlon wanted this estate?

Wang Yu swung his sword and dropped it to the ground. Although the barrier would naturally crumble once its time was up, thanks to the endless Void energy pouring from the rift, it was, in a sense, indestructible.

Was waiting the only option? Wang Yu would not wait. Perhaps arriving at the last second to save the day was heroic, but Wang Yu hated cutting it close.

Because missing the moment meant losing everything. That was why he had been racing against time in his previous battles, striving for a quick resolution.

The old knight’s tragedy was enough; missing the chance? Wang Yu would never let that happen. Since he understood the concept, he would make his own attempt.

A phantom hammer began to condense in Wang Yu’s hand—a steel handle wrapped in leather, a heavy, massive steel head. It resembled the breaching hammer held by the operator "Sledge" from Rainbow Six.

Wang Yu had always known his path as a sorcerer was different. His talent was abysmal, his Void affinity barely worth mentioning.

His capacity for Void energy was pathetic, but he possessed an advantage no one else had—or to put it bluntly, a bug or a cheat.

He suffered no injury from exhausting his Void energy or mental power. He never denied that his strength relied heavily on this "cheat."

How to utilize this special ability was something he had always studied. He could, on the premise of exhausting all his energy, push a concept to its absolute limit under countless restrictions.

And now, the concept he was distorting was "destruction"—pure, absolute destruction that discarded all other concepts.

Its duration was so short it barely existed, and its range was so small that if he missed, he was finished. But it was enough.

His target would not move, and the destruction he required was only for a single moment. In that instant, he was unstoppable!

He raised the breaching hammer, condensed from Void energy, high above his head.

If one were to compare the quantity of Void energy, the barrier was a billion, and Wang Yu’s was one. Now, he would use that ultimate "one" to break the seemingly unshakable "billion."

The hammer, draining every drop of Wang Yu’s energy, slammed into the barrier. Sorcery: Breaker of Walls!

"Boom!" The collision of Void energy shattered the surrounding walls directly; the windowsill and the masonry exploded inward.

The hammer flew out of his hand and dissipated in the air as it lost its supply of Void energy.

In this moment of collision, Wang Yu was the winner!

A small hole appeared, piercing both the barrier and the wall, but the gap in the barrier was already beginning to mend from the constant supply of Void energy.

Without hesitation, Wang Yu rolled, dragging his drained body through the breach and into the mansion.

He immediately adjusted his state and scanned the surroundings, and then two gazes met.

"Avia."

"Wang Yu?"

They spoke in unison, their rapport perfect. Avia froze for a second, seeing Wang Yu suddenly burst in, then blurted out his name.

Glancing at the girl’s tattered clothes, the numerous small but frequent bloodstains, and her panting state, Wang Yu immediately crouched down, turning his back to her. "Get on, I’ll carry you!"

"Okay!" Without hesitation or pretense, Avia climbed onto Wang Yu’s back and held on tight.

"The monster Decathlon turned into is chasing me, run that way!" She pointed the direction, and Wang Yu immediately began to sprint with the girl on his back.

"Am I late?" Wang Yu asked.

"No." A sense of relief, born from the depths of her heart, emerged the moment Wang Yu appeared. Carried by him, she could finally attempt to complete the spell she hadn't yet tested.

He didn't know what had happened, but trusting Avia was the right thing to do. Wang Yu sprinted through the corridors, the girl’s weight almost negligible to him.

The ripples were suppressed in this mansion just as they had been in Decathlon’s room; his Inner Sight was once again limited to less than three meters.

But he could still hear the sound of the floorboards constantly shattering at the other end of the corridor.

Something was chasing them madly from behind—something massive. Since even Avia’s destructive power couldn't handle it, Wang Yu knew better than to think he could.

Wang Yu frowned, sensing that the void energy within this barrier was actively repelling him.

It seemed as if that malevolent deity had branded these energies with its own mark; for someone like Wang Yu, whose affinity for the void was pitifully weak, there was no hope of replenishing his reserves here.

His hollow mental space felt strangely unfamiliar, a void he was not yet accustomed to.

Yet, Wang Yu’s foundation had always been his own physical form, never overly reliant on the powers of a wizard. After a few seconds of adjustment, he regained his composure.

He sprinted through the corridor, carrying Avia on his back; he moved far faster than she ever could. The entity behind them seemed unable to close the distance for the moment, and Wang Yu immediately began to exchange information with Avia to grasp their dire situation.

Avia spoke with rapid-fire urgency, recounting everything she had encountered.

"I see. That projection of the evil god has completely usurped Decathlon. The power of such deities is always so easily attained, yet the price is one no mortal can truly bear..."

Wang Yu understood instantly. The lore of the Nightblades had long ago warned him why one should never worship gods whose power came without struggle.

"I am attempting to manifest the void into a physical form, but it requires a vessel. The dagger you crafted from that unique material is the perfect conduit. Only the void can harm a god, so I must succeed."

Beads of sweat gathered on Avia’s brow. She was terrified. Even for a genius like her, this spell was purely theoretical—something never considered in practice—and she had no certainty of success, yet she had no choice.

"Can we not simply hold out until the void rift closes?" Wang Yu asked. He had already informed her of the rift; perhaps if they survived until it sealed, they could escape.

"It is impossible. The concentration of void energy here is still rising. To that monster Decathlon has become, this environment is shifting toward the nature of the void itself. It will only grow more powerful, more at home. This is a countdown to our deaths."

"Therefore, we cannot pin our hopes on time. To utterly destroy this thing is our only path." Her tone was grave, yet unwavering. She had already prepared to fight to the death, and now that Wang Yu was here, she would not let him down.

As if to validate her words, the thunderous tremors in the corridor behind them suddenly ceased. Wang Yu felt no relief; when the abnormal occurs, danger is never far behind.

The next instant, the wall beside them exploded inward. A massive hand, encased in bulging, grotesque muscle, tore through the masonry, sweeping through a hail of stone and splintered wood as it lunged for Wang Yu.

Wang Yu remained hyper-focused. With a sharp sidestep, he shielded the girl on his back with his left arm while swinging the longsword he had snatched upon entering the mansion with his right. He carved a wide arc, batting away the flying debris and narrowly evading the grasping claw.

A gust of wind swirled around his feet, providing a surge of ethereal momentum—the girl’s buff spell had arrived the very moment he moved.

He offered a silent nod of appreciation and, without hesitation, bolted forward.

Avia, still struggling to manifest the void, explained as he ran.

"The concentration of void energy has crossed a critical threshold. It has locked onto us, and now it can even warp reality by manipulating the void energy in the air to reconstruct its own flesh!"

Before she could finish, Wang Yu rounded a corner and dashed toward the stairwell, only to see ripples like water appearing in the air.

Several vortices tore open, and from them emerged tentacles of raw muscle, sweeping toward him.

Wang Yu leaped into the air, dodging the first strike, then brought his sword down in a vicious hack, biting into the second tentacle.

"What?!" The resilience of the muscle far exceeded his expectations. His strength already waning, the blade became hopelessly wedged in the dense, pulsating flesh. Forced to abandon the weapon, he left it embedded in the partially severed limb.

The third tentacle struck immediately. Without his sword, Wang Yu was defenseless.

His eyes narrowed. In the air, stripped of his wizardry, he had no way to shift his momentum. Gritting his teeth, he balled his right hand into a fist and swung—he knew the cost would be broken bones.

"Wang Yu, duck!" the girl cried out. He obeyed without hesitation, pulling his punch and dropping his head. A fireball whistled over him, slamming into the oncoming tentacle.

The explosion tore a massive chunk from the limb, sparing him, though the high concentration of void energy in the air caused the wound to begin repairing itself almost instantly.

The shockwave of the close-range blast sent Wang Yu tumbling down the stairs. He quickly scooped up Avia, who was soot-stained and disheveled from the fire, and resumed his desperate flight.

Wang Yu knew the danger was escalating. If such attacks continued, he doubted he could hold out much longer.

"Wang Yu, the model is complete!" the girl’s voice rang out. Without looking back, Wang Yu saw through his inner eye a complex array of runes forming in her hands, so intricate they were nearly indecipherable.

It was a terrifying spell composed of hundreds of stacked runes. Its purpose transcended the symbols themselves; once triggered, it would unleash the chaotic, maddening essence of the void.

"Manifesting the void requires a massive influx of energy. The concentration here is sufficient, but this energy is not my own—if I absorb too much, I will surely lose control. But it is enough to complete the spell. When that time comes, you must be the one to wield the blade!"

Her voice carried a hint of a smile, four parts resolve, and five parts regret.

She pressed the dagger into his hand. The implication was clear: Avia intended to sacrifice herself to release the spell. She was already content; had Wang Yu not broken through the barrier to find her, she would not have even had the chance to take the monster down with her.

Now, though her life would be the price of this spell, there was still... a lingering regret.

Watching the back of the head of the man who was sprinting with her on his back, Avia reached out and brushed his hair. She was so reluctant to let go, but there was no other way.

"Energy that isn't yours? I might have a way." Wang Yu spoke suddenly. Part of his consciousness had sunk into his mental space, staring at the lone, dilapidated door standing above the boundless lake.

He had never thought to move it before, but if he imagined it without a frame, surely he could shift it. Within his mind, Wang Yu reached out and pushed the edge of the door. It moved.