Night Journey

Chapter 96 The Sword of Annihilation
Cillian aimed at the hard cocoon, pulled the trigger, and the Soul Essence Bullet struck the cocoon, igniting a massive fire.

In the firelight, a blurry shadow appeared. Ha Wen stepped forward with all his might, and the resulting gust of wind easily extinguished the flames.

"Friend, you don't look well."

Harvin remained silent in the face of Cillian's taunts.

After this series of explosions and impacts, his armor was covered with cracks and gaps, as if it would completely collapse at any moment.

"hiss……"

With a low, eerie sound, the armor split open again, spitting out a pool of undigested flesh and scattered bones.

At the same time, Havin drew ample nourishment from this flesh and blood, and a large number of mycelia grew again, restraining the armor that was on the verge of breaking and reforging it.

"I'm feeling better now."

Havin responded coldly and raised his halberd once more.

Ciri fell silent, his gaze fixed on the mass of rotten flesh and bones, his grip on the Boiling Sword tightening, his knuckles creaking.

The sound was almost squeezed out from between his teeth.

"You...ate Tania?"

Havin turned around and mocked Cillian, deliberately drawing out the last syllable.

"What? You haven't actually fallen in love with her, have you?"

Harvin was met with two Soul Essence Bullets, which he calmly cleaved in two with his halberd. After a burst of flames, Cillian burst through the flames.

"You bastard! What have you done?!"

Ciri roared, the Boiling Sword slicing open his palm, smearing the blade with blood, and then transferring a massive amount of heat through his palm to the blade, causing it to burn into a blazing fire sword.

Swords and halberds clashed, locked in a standoff, the impact creating gusts of wind and ripples.

Harvin gripped his halberd tightly with both hands, parrying the pressure of the Boiling Sword, and whispered.

"It's a pity, you should have tried it, it tastes very good."

Cillian calmed down and said gently, "It's okay, I'll use all the love I have for her on you."

Harvin shook off Cillian, ending the stalemate.

Cillian leaped into the air, swung his grappling hook, which pierced Havin's shoulder armor, and then quickly closed in again, bringing down his fire sword.

After a resounding clang, Cirion, positioned high above, suppressed Haven, but his halberd remained in front of the Boiling Sword, unable to truly strike.

"Give up, you can't kill me."

Harvin said, "My halberd and armor are a unified Origin Contract Armor. As long as I am nourished by flesh and chaos, I will never break."

As an anointed being, Harvin's power is considered unparalleled among those of the same or even higher ranks.

His soul had long been sacrificed to evil, and his body had become one with the armor. By constantly feeding, he could return to his peak condition at any time, not to mention the chaotic power enveloping beneath the armor.

"Ha ha!"

Cillian laughed dismissively, these words reminding him of his conversation with Rolf.

……

"This is the full power of the Boiling Sword, conducting heat with almost zero loss, and becoming sharper and tougher the higher the temperature..."

Rolf stroked the blade affectionately, asking without looking up, "Don't you think that, as a creation born from the self-transformation of the Heavenly Craft Iron Father, the power of the Boiling Sword seems a bit... too mediocre at first glance?"

"There is a bit of that. I thought it possessed some greater power."

Cillian said half-jokingly, "For example, raising the Boiling Sword high will summon sunlight in the darkness to suppress chaos."

"That's normal. When I first learned about it, I also thought, 'That's all?'"

Rolf changed the subject and said, "But have you ever thought, Sirian, that as your rank increases, the more powerful you become, the sharper the Boiling Sword will become?"

Not to mention, with these properties combined, the Boiling Sword can melt and sever almost anything it touches.

Cillian said belatedly.

"This is a... sword of annihilation."

……

As the swords and halberds clashed and held their ground, the mycelium attacked Ciri, only to be burned away by the intense heat emanating from his body.

During the standoff, Harvin sneered, "Haven't you realized yet? Conventional forces can't kill me!"

"Oh, what a coincidence!"

Ciri gripped the Boiling Sword tightly with both hands, putting almost all of his strength into it.

"Coincidentally, I'm someone who likes to break the rules."

Before he could finish speaking, the halberd he was using to parry the attack began to twist and turn strangely.

The spot where it touched the boiling sword was already red-hot, and as the boiling sword advanced, the halberd melted and collapsed further, and was even cleaved in two by the sword!
Havin's consciousness went blank.

Igniting the fire sword is a specialty of the torchbearers, but as the temperature rises and the battle intensifies, conventional blades cannot withstand the heat for long, and even the Source Pact Armor will be affected to some extent.

To Haven's surprise, the fire sword in Cillian's hand showed no signs of melting; in fact, it became even harder and sharper.

These signs reminded Ha Wen of a certain legend...

The Boiling Sword pierced through Harvin's chest, and dense arcs of fire erupted before his eyes, slicing his armor into countless holes.

"damn it!"

Harvin discarded the broken halberd, grabbed Cillian's Boiling Sword with both hands, and they were locked in a stalemate once again.

A chilling wind swept in from behind Cillian.

A short dagger imbued with the power of chaos pierced through the heat wave surrounding Cirion and swung down toward his throat.

As if sensing the threat in advance, Cillian shifted his position, but still couldn't avoid the dagger.

The sharp metal pierced Cillian's shoulder; if it had moved even a fraction more, it would have pierced his throat.

Cillian glanced at the assassin out of the corner of his eye, and his voice surprisingly became relieved.

"Oh my god, Tania, you're not dead, that's wonderful."

Tania remained silent. She had given up trying to understand Cillian, this lunatic, and just wanted to kill him as soon as possible to end tonight's farce.

"You're a madman!"

Havin cursed as he deflected Cillian's boiling sword, his armor cracking open and transforming into a gaping black maw that bit into half of Havin's body.

Cillian was caught in a pincer attack and was in dire straits, but he showed no panic and instead burst into laughter.

The laughter, distorted by the six-eyed winged helmet, carried a deep, resonant echo.

"Is that all, everyone?" Cillian shook his head in disappointment.

The stinging pain from the Ouroboros Seal never subsided, so from the beginning, Cillian understood that Harvin hadn't actually devoured Tania; it was just a feint.

I thought Tania's hiding place would bring me some surprises, but in the end it was just a cliché assassination.

"I haven't had enough fun yet..."

As Ciri spoke, his soul essence ignited completely, causing the temperature on his body surface to rise sharply and erupt with surging heat waves, turning his entire body into a blazing sun.

"Why... why?"

Havin stared at Cillian in disbelief.

Despite having been engaged in intense combat for so long, why is Ciri still burning with passion, his soul regenerating, and even his stamina still abundant?

He has always been at his peak, never weakening, as if he will never fall...

Cillian will certainly not fall.

He is being blessed and protected.

Blessings and hatred.

Beyond the battlefield of the three, countless wicked offspring and chaotic believers perished in the burning flames and surging torrents.

Their deaths continually pleased the Ouroboros Mark, like a frenzied blood sacrifice, offering up a being named Cirien Sofrova.

Thus, Cirion's blood flowed endlessly, his soul burned endlessly, and his sword continued to slash.

"what!"

Tania let out a mournful cry and drew her dagger.

The tip of the dagger was red-hot from the intense heat within Cirien's body, and flames shot up, burning Tania's palm.

The armor that had bitten half of Ciri's body melted away, turning into molten iron that dripped down.

"what why'?"

Ciri swung his boiling sword, forcing the two back.

Harvin fell heavily backward. Even though he could recover by consuming flesh and blood, his mind was already exhausted.

Tania gritted her teeth and stabbed herself in the chest with a dagger. The blood did not fall to the ground, but strangely remained suspended in the air.

This scene was not unfamiliar to Cillian.

Forbidden Technique: Threshold Liberation.

Given Tania's current rank, she could hardly afford the consequences of using forbidden techniques, but in order to kill Cillian, she couldn't think about that anymore.

A massive gray fog erupted from Tania's chest, like a black tornado, and swept towards Cirien. Numerous spores floated within it, easily overwhelming the raging flames and devouring all the light.

Tania murmured, “Drown in madness.”

Now, she has finally played her trump card, releasing the spores that were parasitizing her body.

This is a being called a Frenzied Spore, which can amplify the other person's angry emotional impulses, causing them to fall into disordered madness, and ultimately self-harm until death.

Enhanced by the forbidden technique, they were all poured onto Cillian. Tania anticipated that Cillian would soon use the Boiling Sword to disembowel himself.

Chaotic hallucinations flashed before Cillian's eyes, and slender tentacles stirred up emotions deep within him...

Things didn't go according to Tania's plan.

Cillian paused for a moment, then turned and walked toward Havin, who had not yet gotten up.

He swung his Boiling Sword, severing Havin's legs and arms. Finally, Cillian mounted Havin and, like a wild beast, began to tear at his tattered armor.

"no no……"

At first, Havin tried to resist a few times, but the Boiling Sword pierced through his head, pinning him to the spot.

Immediately afterwards, with his hands coated in intense heat, Cillian began to dismantle Haven with his bare hands, tearing off his skirt armor, ripping off his armpit shields, denting his neck armor, and melting and shattering the entire faceplate.

"help me……"

In the end, Cillian completely dismantled Haven and burned away the bacteria inside the armor.

Cillian sensed the Ouroboros Seal and confirmed that Harvin was still alive.

"Not dead yet?"

Cillian was extremely distressed by the pile of broken metal, rotting flesh, and skeletons beneath him; it was the first time he had encountered such a formidable enemy.

"Oh, I got it."

Ciri slit his wrist, pouring his blood onto the filth and setting it ablaze.

After the flames scorched him for a while, the Ouroboros Seal conveyed a satisfied joy, and then he turned and passed through the terrifying gray fog to stand before Tania.

Tania stood there, stunned, her heart completely broken by despair and helplessness.

After a long period of bewilderment, she said the same thing as Ha Wen.

"why?"

"What 'why'? You're the same one, one after another. At least explain your questions clearly."

As he spoke, Cillian swung his sword and severed Tania's ankle.

She fell into a pool of blood, the gray mist on her chest dissipating to reveal a horrific wound.

Instead of worrying about her own safety, Tania asked the question that had been troubling her and driving her to despair.

"Why aren't you affected? You should be driven to a frenzy of self-harm by rage..."

Cillian thought for a moment and replied, "Perhaps... I'm not angry?"

"No anger?"

"correct."

Cillian crouched down and affectionately rubbed Tania's face.

"I've finally seen you, Tania. I'm overjoyed, how could I be angry?"

He removed his six-eyed winged helmet, revealing his face.

“Look, Tania.”

Cillian watched Tania's face shift from shock to despair, and cheered.

"I was smiling the whole time!"

(End of this chapter)