Forge a path to success.

Chapter 241 Exorcising the Curse

On the other side of the Burning Wall, north of the Nightmare City, dilapidated black stone buildings were destroyed by lightning, and a knight's figure flashed by in the lightning. Ji Huaisu leaped out with her sword, slashing at the shadow of the thunder giant.

Her slash left a proportionally magnified wound on the giant's body, nearly severing Zhou Lei's arm. But then, Zhou Lei's wound blurred, reverting to its pre-injury state. He swung his silver hammer down, and Ji Huaisu raised his shield to block it, but for a moment, he couldn't withstand the envoy's immense strength and had no choice but to withdraw and dodge to the rear.

Zhou Lei raised his silver hammer high, drawing strands of lightning towards his weapon. He charged, then swung, unleashing hundreds of bolts of lightning in a ring that swept rapidly across the battlefield. The buildings that could still stand were already destroyed; he intended to use this wide-range attack to force out the hidden knights.

High in the sky, Ji Huaisu secretly created a floating, frozen platform. She used the thick clouds to conceal herself and pondered how to deal with this person.

The Thunder Curse is a typical calamity-type creature. Its attack pattern is very simple: it bombards everything with the power of thunder. It lacks accuracy but has a wide range, a high attack frequency, and extremely high output.

If that were all, this guy would be relatively easy to deal with; all you need to do is find an opportunity to kill him in one blow. But…

Ji Huaisu conjured a luminous blast from afar, piercing through Zhou Lei's head. The fear-bringer was practically defenseless; such a simple attack shattered his skull. Then, a blur appeared on his empty neck, and a brand new head was "regenerated." Zhou Lei, sensing the attack, hurled lightning at Ji Huaisu, who had preemptively retreated from the floating platform, landing with a somersault.

It's the same old story. Attacks are instantly nullified upon taking effect, and the resurrected Curse Lightning becomes even stronger. The healing process is too fast; it's not elemental reshaping, but some deeper mechanism, similar to Vakrona's extreme speed. This person cannot die, cannot fall; each injury only makes him stronger. In just a few rounds of battle, Curse Lightning's strength has already doubled.

(This is a bit troublesome; even the older generation has never seen anything like this before...)
Ji Huaisu searched for the knowledge bestowed upon him by his predecessors, but to no avail. Perhaps Vande would have some insight upon seeing this thing, but it had gone with Akong. He couldn't figure it out for the time being, so what should he do...?

"You, with such courage, why fear to fight!" roared Zhou Lei. "Come and fight me now!"

Okay, it's decided.

Since we can't break the mechanism, we'll keep attacking him until he can't revive!

Purple light swirled within the thick clouds as a thousand bolts of lightning struck simultaneously. Ji Huaisu, clad in steel armor, evaded the attacks with lightning speed. She moved freely through the sea of ​​lightning, like a rampaging shark. In a mere instant, she arrived at the foot of the cursed lightning, her armor instantly transforming into a powerful, fiery armor.

The Shadow Blade and the Light Shield merged into a scorching fiery sword. Ji Huaisu raised the sword and roared, the sword's light surging to a height of ten thousand feet. Wielding the weapon of a giant god with her mere human body, the flames burned away the thick clouds, slashing directly towards Zhou Lei's head. Zhou Lei wielded a silver hammer in his left hand and a thunder spear in his right, their weapons clashing against the knight. The two fought with the purest power, the exploding elements carving a chasm in the air!

"You want to compete with me in terms of strength? If you can beat me, then keep going!!" Ji Huaisu roared.

"Not enough! Still not enough!!" Zhou Lei shouted, "Your bravery is not enough to defeat evil. I will surely unleash my lightning punishment and trigger a new trial!"

A bolt of lightning shot from behind him straight into the sky, forming a purple chain. The lightning chain flew up, triggering a hurricane, and all the thick clouds in the sky gathered here, enveloping the lightning chain and forming a giant hammer of dark clouds. The cursed lightning swung the chain, smashing the cloud hammer down, and the thunder within the thick clouds roared like thunder.

"Thunderous Punishment Gathers - Resentful Thunderclouds!"

The hammer of dense clouds arrived with a deafening roar. Ji Huaisu was focused on grappling with the cursed thunder and couldn't spare a hand to counter the attack. Suddenly, points of light appeared around her, the elements of light, shadow, and dust merging to form stardust-like fragments. Meteor dust erupted from the earth, detonating in the clouds. The stardust burst through the dense clouds, and the explosion snapped the chains on the cursed thunder's back. Caught off guard, the cursed thunder's defenses faltered, and a slash from the fiery sword broke through its defenses. Ji Huaisu seized the opportunity to gather her strength; her fiery sword sublimated, transforming into a blazing light.

"—The Soul-Purifying Divine Fire!"

The holy sword fell, carrying the immense power that had once incinerated the demon's fragmented spirit. The lightning giant was instantly engulfed by the intense light, and the burning wall left by the ashes dissolved in this single blow. The silver hammer melted, the lightning vanished, and the Fearbringer, Cursed Lightning, was completely obliterated by this attack.

The thunder ceased, the thick clouds dispersed, and Ji Huaisu supported herself with her sword. The Purifying Soul Divine Fire had been too depleted; she had almost been drained of her strength by this single sword strike. Fortunately, the Despair Wilderness was not lacking in magic, and she still had the strength to fight on.

Ji Huaisu shouldered the greatsword and wiped the sweat from his brow: "See? When it comes to physical exertion, I'm still stronger!"

She heard thunder.

Like the ominous rumble of thunder that precedes a storm.

In the empty void, a deep, intense purple flashed. Lightning slashed down amidst thunder, and the colossal messenger of fear reappeared. He had returned to his original height, but his aura was several times stronger than when he was gigantic. Lightning rolled in his eyes, and thunder danced wildly with his movements.

Ji Huaisu's lips twitched: "No, you, you... what are you...?"

"You are strong-willed, courageous, and fearless," the Thunderous Curse whispered. "Yet you rely on your immense power, unleashing your fury, using brute force to unravel unsolved mysteries. You are a warrior capable of taking on a thousand men, not a savior of the world!"

"I cannot accept this, I cannot fall. Therefore, I will fight to the very last moment, until the hero appears and the curse is dispelled!!!"

He ran, his massive body transforming into lightning. Ji Huaisu abruptly raised her light shield, but the attack arrived before she could react. The lightning pierced her armor, leaving a charred, bloody hole in her upper arm. It was a speed even she couldn't react to—the speed of lightning!

The Steel Armor Army's speed was insufficient to contend with him; at this moment, the Cursed Thunder was practically on par with the extreme speed of the Warm Hawk. Ji Huaisu switched to her icy green armor, using the ice to reinforce her defenses. As the Cursed Thunder pounced again, the Holy Trinity Array was activated prematurely, forcibly dispelling his elemental transformation.

But Ji Huaisu immediately leaped out to evade the attack, and a lightning spear pierced the air, striking her precisely where she had just stood. Another bolt of lightning fell from the sky, wildly lashing out with its power. Behind him were dozens of identical humanoid figures, with the same faces, the same strength… and the same speed!

Thunder Punishment: Solitary Binding, Sin-Binding Demon Horde. A rainbow magic developed by Cursed Thunder that maximizes the all-encompassing nature of the Calamity Seed.

More than seventy spell-wielding hammers attacked, each possessing the same strength as their original forms. Ji Huaisu simply abandoned defense; no matter how strong her seal was, it couldn't withstand an attack of this scale. She didn't attack either, but simply stood within the Holy Trinity Formation. This formation could buy her some time, and she seized this fleeting moment to force herself to think.

Think about it, what exactly is the principle behind it? A head-on confrontation is definitely not going to work. In terms of sheer strength, this messenger is probably the strongest enemy so far. But the feeling he gives off... his status... doesn't surpass that of the original Vakro. Even that former ethereal angel couldn't use such a splitting magic, because excessive self-replication would cause the definition of self to fall into chaos, causing existence to collapse from within.

So how did Zhou Lei manage to do that? Why could he continue fighting despite multiple copies existing? His ego...

Ji Huaisu thought of the other party's strange way of speaking and his unusually persistent yet incomprehensible way of thinking.

—Has his ego collapsed?

What is the "thread" that sustains this existence?
As the perceived time ticked away, the brilliance of the sealing formation was about to fade. At that moment, Ji Huaisu stepped out of the formation, grabbing at the lightning with her bare hands, channeling her innate instincts into the elements.

The essence of the path to supreme power lies in emotion. If the Cursed Thunder, whose very self has crumbled, is to function, it can only rely on emotion.

She focused intently, dissecting the elements. Light gave them form, shadow gave them color, and fire brought them heat. Continuing to dissect, approaching the inner layers, she saw wind, which she couldn't yet analyze. The combination of these four attributes constituted thunder, and the thread holding the elements together was…!
She felt pride—the pride of being able to protect everyone, the pride of being chosen. Then came the joy of growth, the satisfaction of learning. Zhou Lei's emotional arc was astonishingly pure, almost entirely devoid of impurities. He seemed to have never understood negative emotions like jealousy or annoyance, finding only satisfaction in his own actions.

He idolized his teachers. He studied magic. He smiled at his fellow disciples who mocked him. He helped his classmates dress up as ghosts to scare the new junior disciples. He fought demons while carrying weapons. He wasn't clever, but he was strong; he wasn't afraid of demons; he was full of courage.

He stood on the battlefield strewn with corpses, watching the charred bodies fall. These warriors had failed the test, and so they died. This was the task set by the archmage, and it was the right thing to do, for those who could not pass the test could not survive in this cruel world.

He stood in the ruined village, watching the charred corpses fall.

These people also failed the test. They could not survive.

But they wanted to live.

Why can't they survive?

He himself had robbed him of that hope. He himself had killed. But this was the Archmage's mission. The Archmage's principles were correct. The Archmage had given him everything he possessed. How could he disobey the Archmage's orders?

But why are people still dying? Why are we witnessing more and more deaths?

It was my fault.

He was wrong.

It's his fault, it's his fault, it's his fault...

In the long struggle, the foolish youth finally came to understand negative emotions. He understood anger, hatred, resentment, and sorrow, but he could not blame his teachers, nor could he vent his anger on innocent people.

Therefore, he could only continue to accumulate this curse upon himself.

Having committed so many mistakes, we must cultivate heroes to atone for them.

To cultivate a hero capable of saving everyone.

To cultivate a hero capable of killing himself.

The killing cannot be allowed to continue.

Therefore, a hero is about to appear.

A hero, appear soon!

Hero, appear soon!

"—Okay, leave it to me!"

The shouts in reality drowned out the despair in his memories. Ji Huaisu reached directly into the lightning, disregarding the damage, and grabbed the messenger's body. The Holy Trinity Array swirled and amplified due to the heightened emotions, and the invincible elemental form was temporarily dispelled at this moment.

Ji Huaisu sheathed her weapon and struck the messenger with only her frozen gauntlets. Her fist sank deep into the cursed lightning's body, and the transparent water-like color surged with the force of her punch. Wherever it passed, dozens of lightning clones collapsed simultaneously.

She silently threw punches, each one faster than the last, creating hundreds of afterimages with her incredible speed. Her ice armor melted and regenerated continuously during this process, and the dissolved water droplets were smashed into Zhou Lei's body by her punches, drawing out wisps of purified black energy. Zhou Lei wanted to retaliate, but for a moment he had no strength left. He had never felt so weak, as if he had returned to the time when he was an ordinary person.

Power is being constantly stripped away, emotions are being dissolved by conflicting feelings, and I've never learned magic like this before. This method is…

The Discipline Knight's Sealing Technique!

"You are an unforgivable monster, an accomplice of the Nightmare King. You have killed far too many innocent lives; no one can forgive your deeds!"

Light, dust, and water—the three elements fused within Ji Huaisu's gauntlets, transforming into a miniature array that penetrated the messenger's body. Zhou Lei retreated repeatedly, the force of his punches spreading out in a ring behind him, spitting out foul blood from the repeated blows. Ji Huaisu showed no mercy, gathering all his strength, his immense elemental power forming a fist three times the size of his arm, which pierced directly through Zhou Lei's chest!
"However, you have sincerely repented. You are powerless to escape the darkness, but you deeply regret your actions and long for the arrival of the punisher, for you are acutely aware of your sins."

Zhou Lei completely lost his magic, his knees buckled, and he knelt on the ground. Ji Huaisu looked down at the bewildered man, then released her grip above Zhou Lei's head, scattering transparent, glistening water droplets.

Discipline Seal - Ritual of Baptism and Forgiveness. A pure sealing technique without any destructive power, which can only be used with pure positive emotion. Used for the baptism of newborns, the healing of the cursed, and the final confession of sinners before execution.

"To the one who repents, I baptize you with water."

You will pay for your sins with your death.
May curses be banished from your soul.

The baptismal water flowed across Zhou Lei's face, and the silver hammer in his hand fell, shattering into dust on the ground. He clasped his hands together as if in prayer, shedding tears for the one he had once been human before his death.

"The lightning punishment has dissipated, and the curse has been removed."

The Rainbow Wizard smiles while crying.

"You are the light that purifies evil and illuminates the world."

His body disintegrated and vanished without a trace. Ji Huaisu sat on the ground, staring at his palm covered in ice armor.

There are also problems that cannot be solved by force alone... This is a truth that the Calamity Race has long understood.

Perhaps that's why the knights studied sealing techniques in addition to the Holy Judgment.

The second battle of Operation Dawn: Ji Huaisu versus Zhou Lei.

The victor was Ji Huaisu.

(End of this chapter)