Chapter 432: Extreme Cold Out of Control, Unexpected Assistance

"Damn it..."

With a low, guttural curse, Xilun clutched the mass of blood and viscera he had just torn from the soldier’s abdomen as if it were a solid object, dragging it swiftly across the serrated blade of his weapon. Guided by an unseen force, the gore adhered to the steel, coating the saw-toothed edge in a crimson, savage aura.

Inner-Dive: Wild Hunt, an ability born solely for the slaughter of living things, extended its reach through the destruction of flesh. Xilun was currently channeling this power to manipulate and rend the internal organs of his biological foes; it was this very force that allowed him to produce such horrific results with a mere reach of his hand.

Binding the flesh torn from his "prey" to his weapon to amplify its destructive potential was another facet of this ability. With every strike, every wound opened, the serrated blade would violently drag the victim's blood and bone out into the open.

"Hah!"

He lunged forward with a roar, bringing the folded serrated blade down upon the head of a soldier who, despite having his entrails half-removed, still refused to fall. The crimson blade sliced through the neck with blinding speed, the teeth grinding against the cervical vertebrae before severing head from torso in a single stroke.

"Awoo!"

As he finished off the soldier—who had been driven into a frenzied state by the psychic shockwave emanating from the ruins—the remaining soldiers, caught in the same madness, shrieked and lunged at Xilun without hesitation.

"These bastards, how do they even distinguish between me, Johnson, and themselves?"

His focus remained on the three charging soldiers, though his peripheral vision and a sliver of his thoughts drifted toward Johnson. The giant was also being swarmed, though Johnson, currently deep in a layer of "Constant Frenzy," appeared even more feral than the maddened soldiers themselves.

"Aaaah!"

A massive palm slammed directly into the face of a leaping soldier. Johnson roared, his eyes wide, and grabbing the head of his attacker, he smashed it violently into another soldier closing in from the side.

"Bang!"

The soldier’s helmet buckled and warped under the sheer force. The massive impact rippled through both bodies; while the force didn't shatter the helmets, it snapped both soldiers' necks without a moment's hesitation.

"Ugh, ugh, ugh!"

With a grotesque howl, Johnson released the soldier with the crushed skull and reached for his own neck. Another soldier had leaped onto his back during the struggle and was now frantically gnawing at Johnson’s throat with his teeth.

The soldiers in this state seemed to have had their physical self-preservation mechanisms unlatched; their raw strength, fueled by an utter lack of fear or pain, was vastly amplified.

Even as their teeth shattered and blood sprayed, they continued to bite. Under this suicidal assault, Johnson’s tough hide began to suffer deep, ragged lacerations.

"Shing!"

Xilun hurled his folded serrated blade into the distance. The mechanism released and locked into place, unfolding the blade into a long-handled polearm. A crimson light flickered as he swung it, carving a gruesome semicircle through the air.

"Splat, crunch!"

The three charging soldiers were caught by the sudden increase in reach and range. The first was cleaved at the waist, blood and viscera erupting from the wound to be instantly drawn toward the blade, fueling the momentum of the strike against the next enemy.

The blade, having sliced through the first, embedded itself into the second soldier’s armor, biting deep into flesh and plate. Though the force was no longer enough to bisect him, the blade violently drained the victim's blood and organs through the wound, converting them into an eerie, crimson glow under the influence of the Inner-Dive.

With a stuttering motion, the third enemy reached Xilun, snarling as he lunged for his throat. These soldiers were fast—faster, in fact, than they had been as formal knights—but Xilun and Johnson were simply experts in this specific brand of violence.

Xilun yanked the long-handled blade back toward himself, the teeth shredding the second soldier’s flesh to extract even more gore. The blood and viscera, both from the blade and the fresh spray, coalesced into light and surged into Xilun’s own body.

His eyes turned blood-red as a surge of borrowed power erupted from deep within his muscles. His free hand drew a sharp dagger from his waist, plunging it into the third enemy with explosive speed and force.

"Pfft!"

The dagger pierced the eye socket and drove into the brain. Xilun triggered his Inner-Dive, liquefying the organ into pulp before withdrawing the blade, absorbing the essence as his own strength.

Without pausing, he released the dagger, letting it fall into the snow along with the corpse. He gripped the polearm with both hands and, reversing his previous motion, shoved it forward with all his might.

The serrated edge tore through bone and meat, completing the severance of the second soldier’s torso.

"Aah!"

Nearby, Johnson had both hands clamped onto the soldier clinging to his back. His brutal strength drove his fingers deep into the attacker's shoulders, blood spraying everywhere. A moment later, with a surge of raw power, Johnson ripped the soldier clean in two.

Johnson did not stop. He stomped into the snow, his body propelled forward by the recoil of his own momentum.

"Bang!"

Johnson’s massive, bald head collided with the final soldier. It was a headbutt against a breastplate, but the sheer, frenzied power behind Johnson’s strike made it devastating.

The soldier’s armor buckled into a massive crater, implying the chest cavity beneath had suffered the same fate. The soldier flew backward, tumbling through the snow several times before his stubborn, pain-blinded vitality forced him to struggle to his feet once more.

"Click!"

A throwing knife, flicked from Xilun’s hand, severed the neck of the soldier who had been distracted by his own dazed state and the dented armor.

"Are you alright? We need to leave; this place is too dangerous. I don't know if the ruins will undergo even more drastic changes. Let me bring your frenzy down."

Xilun hurried to Johnson, who was shaking his head to clear the dizziness. He placed a hand on the giant’s back, activating his Inner-Dive to influence the flow of blood, slowing the heart rate and dampening the intensity of his pulses.

"Hoo..."

As he helped Johnson descend from his "Constant Frenzy," Xilun took deep breaths, trying to mitigate the effects of the "prey flesh" he had absorbed.

It bolstered his strength and speed, but it clouded his mind with a bloodthirsty haze. If he used too much, he would be no different from the beasts he fought.

"Alright, let's go!"

Johnson grunted in response. Xilun’s intervention had cleared his mind, and he hoisted the gasping Xilun onto his back, stepping over the corpses and retreating away from the ruins.

Xilun’s Inner-Dive was somewhat similar to the "Bloody Wrath Knight" secret technique used by Wang Yu when combined with the power of the chariot, but in reality, they were entirely different.

Wang Yu could only manipulate his own blood; any destruction of another’s flesh was merely an indirect result of his blood invading their body. He could never directly influence another "life." But for hunters like Xilun and other knights, such restrictions did not exist.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

As if sensing their departure, the ruins reacted. A violent, thunderous sound erupted from the site, and the ground began to tremble incessantly.

Xilun looked back. Through the blizzard, a massive humanoid silhouette emerged, growing steadily larger in his field of vision. Something had come out, and it was heading straight for them.

"Damn it..."

Xilun cursed. The blizzard made it impossible for them to move quickly. If Johnson entered "Constant Frenzy" again, they might gain some speed, but while Johnson could ignore the side effects of "Shallow Frenzy," "Constant Frenzy" carried a risk that he might simply tear Xilun to pieces.

"Great Lady of the Night, I beseech thee..."

He chanted the prayer to the Lady of the Night, calling upon the power of his deity. The Tree of the Night Sky responded, and darkness poured out like water, enveloping Johnson and Xilun, masking their presence, their images, and even their very existence within the storm.

"The power of a Night Deity? Have the Night Deities of this era become enemies? No matter. I shall dispose of these little vermin quickly."

Through the blizzard, the massive figure broke through the wind, revealing its full form. It stood nearly ten meters tall, a humanoid construct of thick, enchanted ice. Though hollow within, it moved with independent, fluid grace.

A deep, archaic language, foreign to this era, rumbled from its throat. The construct drew a massive blade of ice from its back and plunged it into the frozen earth. Violent ice elements surged into the surrounding blizzard, the wind speed spiked, and the temperature plummeted to an absurd degree.

"Damn it, Johnson. Prepare to fight for our lives."

Xilun, shielding them with the power of the Night, had only hidden their presence, not removed them from the world. The sheer scale of the freezing storm inevitably engulfed them both.

Piercing cold seeped into their bodies through every orifice. Blood, muscle, bone—the heat was being stripped from every organ and tissue. Frost began to coat their skin, and under this horrific, absolute zero, they would soon be dead.

Their only path was to attack the ice-clad giant. They had to gamble that a "Deep Frenzy" Johnson and a beast-like Xilun could destroy this powerful entity before they succumbed—a possibility that was, for all intents and purposes, zero.

"Three, two..."

Feeling his body turn to ice, Xilun counted down for Johnson. When the time came, they would fight to the death. But just as Xilun reached two, a sudden change occurred.

"Boom!"

In the howling sky of the blizzard, a black sun abruptly rose, casting its dark, crimson light in every direction. In an instant, the freezing storm was suppressed, and the frost creeping over Johnson and Xilun’s bodies came to a sudden, jarring halt.

Siron froze for a heartbeat, stunned by the sheer intensity of the aura—a legendary magnitude. Was this an internal manifestation? And in the form of a black, radiant sun? But how could a legend of the former Sewintan appear in this place?

"I owe Fang Stuart a debt of gratitude, and since he has no need of our assistance, we shall repay that favor by lending Alestler a hand instead..."

A man’s voice drifted into his ear, and before he knew it, a knight draped in bestial features had materialized at Siron’s side—the legendary knight, the Perfect Behemoth.