He is the leader of the Tantric sect in Chagdu.

Chapter 95 My Court Arrives Here

The sword light was intense.

Amidst the torrent of fire, Ronan's figure stepped out from the crimson, followed by a slash that cleaved through the night.

"Stop—!"

As the arc of light fell, the flames spread like a surging tide. In a curtain of fire, a strange longsword, wrapped in flames and segmented like deer antlers, revealed a ferocious corner, piercing through the countless layers of the void before it.

The flames resembled splashed thick ink.

A straightforward thrust, firelight like thorns wrapped around the tip, cutting through the darkness, shattering the ripples that blocked its way, followed by a sudden, abrupt change of direction and slash!

The fire burned away several layers of mist, like woven gauze, and the mottled colors were torn apart by the fire's power. Under the camouflage, a face that had been hiding in the shadows was finally revealed, arrogant and laughing lightly. After a brief revelation, the "mottled disguise" was smoothed over by the silent stillness.

As long as night remains, he is omnipresent like a shadow.

Ailian.

Despite having become a vessel for forbidden things, its condition seemed even better than before—the bleeding wounds had all solidified, and its face, where the rotting sores had been completely covered by intact skin, and the ever-smiling corners of its mouth gave off an eerie feeling.

-interesting----

His eyes flickered slightly, revealing no further emotion. He moved his lips, but no sound came out. Ronan could still imagine the words he was about to say.

He gripped his longsword once more, its blunt tip pointing forward, drawing a line of fire across the ground that stood in stark contrast to the darkness. Ellen, too, stopped, her azure eyes, now illuminated, held an unknown emotion in them, as if deep in thought, calmly gazing at Ronan, now reborn.

But the other party did not notice this abnormality.

"A snake that is not a snake —"

Ronan chewed on the word—taking a deep breath: as a terrifying being ranked so high on the Forbidden List, with the highest containment level "ALEPH," he had never heard of any information about them.

Even the think tank's "extremely dangerous warning" only provides a "code name" filtered through cognitive filters, without even the most basic information such as "precautions" or "containment procedures".

In this situation, either the think tank has determined that Ronan's chances of survival are zero, and he is facing a disaster that even a "miracle" cannot withstand.

There is another possibility.

—The Influence of Taboos—

"Meme contamination".

Ronan glanced to the side out of the corner of his eye and saw the arm that was now tightly gripping the longsword. Just seconds ago, the numbness had subsided and the twisted flesh had almost slipped out of his control. Even now, the deep veins still writhed erratically like long worms.

—The "influence" that spreads through mediums such as "name", "memory", and "cognition" is not in the form of "fluid" or "field", but rather a "mechanism waiting to be triggered". This is "meme pollution". When someone mentions their "name", the trap is triggered - and the terrifying thing pierces through the dome and silently descends from the corner away from the glow.

Even mentioning their existence is a "taboo".

With the sword held horizontally in front of his chest, the silent standoff continued. Even though he had just acquired new power, Ronan remained cautious—especially since the forbidden vessel in front of him was so strange.

and----

He stared intently at Ai Yi, though he couldn't see anything in those blue eyes, yet a chill crept into his chest, growing wildly and piercingly.

His superior demeanor was as if he were the master of a game.

Even as the flames surged, the hand holding "Eternal Flame" remained pale and cold, and the sweat that flowed out evaporated into white mist.

—He did not take the opportunity to launch an attack.

Ronan thought to himself.

—This is the strangest thing.

As far as the taboo is concerned, even a budding apprentice who has awakened "divine power" cannot contend with it in terms of strength: he knows this very well.

The temporary peace at this moment is perhaps because the "fire" it ignited is something it detests.

But if we can hold out for four minutes until reinforcements arrive, we can get it—

—Thump.

The sound of a heart beating.

"Salvation—"

—"

The words were uttered without thought, but after a moment of distraction, an unprecedented sense of crisis arose within the vessel.

"Tsk—"

The clicking sound bypassed the fire without a trace, and without warning, a chilling sensation rang in his ears. The red liquid boiled like a wolf, raging like fire, and surged up with the instinctive power of the flames, then poured out in one direction in an instant.

—Here!

Ronan spun toward the direction from which the flames extended their menacing tentacles, and with his longsword gripped tightly at the end, tore a perfect semi-circle along the edge from which the sound emanated.

The materialized spiritual artifact invigorated the physical body as well. The crimson liquid in the chest cavity amplified the power several times over compared to before. Combined with the superb power exertion skills of the court staff, this strike was as heavy as a forging hammer falling, and a dazzling flame covered a five-meter radius around the body.

The flames spreading from "Eternal Flame" are the limbs that Ronan has developed at this moment. When he felt the fire scraping against the object, he instantly became excited.

"Hit!"

Sure enough, when a flame ignited from the solidified darkness, like a firefly dancing and rising in a black swamp, Ronan instantly locked onto that direction—

As we all know, sprinkling fluorescent powder might be a good option for dealing with enemies that blend into the darkness, but setting them on fire is an even better solution.

Moreover, this is an ever-burning flame.

Finally, the enemy's location was locked. The longsword was raised high in the slender arm in contrast, and the heavy steps trampled the earth, causing blood to rise and dry rocks to crack wherever they went.

Red mist swirled beneath his feet. In just two steps, Ronan covered the short distance, and then took another step forward.

The figure engulfed in flames was right in front of me.

A heavy slash without sparing any effort—!

"throat-

'

Air rushed in through the gaps in his mouth, his cheeks bulged out due to the wind resistance of the high-speed battle, and his expression was extremely ferocious, almost insane.

A scorching heatwave, accompanied by a force powerful enough to turn even the hardest stone to dust, descended. With an expressionless face, Eileen's body slightly shifted to the side.

In his burning pupils, Ronan almost instantly sensed his opponent's intention to dodge and "transformed" the attack into an answer using the principles of fire.

Completely defying kinematics, with almost no deceleration or change of direction, in just half a second, his entire body emitted an overload-like wail and tearing sound, but Ronan ignored it all, letting countless wounds instantly burst open between his skin, forcefully reversing the momentum of his attack—

The downward slash transformed into a horizontal slash!

He forged his flesh and blood into a "machine," a machine that, though rigid, never malfunctioned. Steam spewed from his bursting wounds, and his reddened muscles and iron-hard bones, like gears and levers, coordinated this body to exert force in a structure that defied the physiological limits of the human body.

The longsword descended from the shoulder, tearing the figure apart as easily as slicing through a block of butter.

Ronan's face showed excitement for a moment, which was then instantly covered by vigilance.

-wrong!

The joy didn't last even half a second. He took a deep breath and observed the scene—unlike the "severe injury" he had imagined, when the sword tore through the figure, there was no smell of burning or charring, nor any significant feeling of cutting through flesh.

A portion of the organs starting from the shoulder twisted and deformed the instant the blow struck, followed by a "perfect dodge" with precision down to the millimeter—this attack did indeed achieve its goal, but it was not the goal Ronan wanted to see.

Because the ball of fire he had previously projected onto Ai, along with the broken and fallen arm, was now blocked on the ground as he watched it continue to burn, Ronan's expression grew increasingly grave.

—The attack trait of perpetual flame means that once hit, the flames will entwine around it and never go out until the target is completely burned to ashes.

He extinguished the fire by sacrificing an arm.

"hateful----"

Clenching his fists tightly, the advantage he had just gained vanished in an instant. Darkness once again transformed into an impenetrable mist, within which mottled shadows roamed. Ronan took a deep breath, gaining a new understanding of this forbidden power:

—He was even an expert in combat strategy.

They're really troublesome.

Ronan slowly moved back to Mia's side, once again drawing a curtain of fire at the edge for illumination. He glanced at the time; even though the battle had been intense, only two minutes had passed in the compressed high-speed combat.

There is still half the time left.

—Moreover, the depletion of divine reserves is also a major problem. Even if the budding stage is completed, Ronan's power still cannot control the eternal flame for a long time. If the secret overload occurs before the support arrives, then everything will be over.

Without much thought, Ronan changed his approach: if he couldn't inflict serious damage on the target, he would "delay" it. Since the taboo against "fire" was against it, he would just stay there and wear it down until reinforcements arrived.

Ronan allocated the main portion of his secret essence to maintaining the fire curtain, carefully moved Mia to the brightest spot, and stood guard around her with his longsword raised, not missing a single trace.

Another full minute passed, and the surroundings were so quiet that Ronan seemed to have forgotten the danger he was in. Sweat poured out and evaporated again and again. The enemy was in the dark while he was in the light. Under the immense pressure of the standoff, even his mind began to wander.

The fire in his eyes flickered briefly for a moment during the long concentration session.

Sudden-

A strange gaze pierced the boundless darkness, a pale blue figure had somehow approached the fire, and then a fair, flawless hand instantly pressed against the back of his neck, covering his eyes.

-not good!

Even the most sophisticated machinery needs time to start up, and turning back was clearly too late. Ronan could only instinctively reach for his longsword behind him again, but a whisper of unknown meaning rang in his ears: "Custom Arcane Art - I Flashbang."

"Buzz"

The irresistible light and buzzing almost instantly overwhelmed all senses. The longsword attacking behind him didn't touch anything, but his sight and hearing were completely obscured by this secret technique with an unknown amount of lumens.

Blackened tear tracks seeped through his closed eyes. Ronan tried his best to open them, but amidst the blinding white light and the constant buzzing of his ears, he could not catch any combat information. He could only use his secret essence as a medium to unleash a wave of fire in all directions.

"Laughing and joking—" Laughter seemed to come from all directions.

The sound is still nearby!

—It’s over————

Ronan's mind went blank.

He guessed the biggest premise wrong.

—The other party is not afraid of "fire" at all.

and----

The next second, a burst of fire exploded from his face. Thanks to the divine protection's resistance to "fire," Ronan did not suffer irreversible damage, but he was still thrown away by the shockwave.

He crashed heavily to the ground, finally being stopped by a crooked, collapsing wall.

-not good----

"Mia!"

Ronan's heart was pounding, and the burning flames within him were almost frantic. In the instant he regained his balance, disregarding his broken bones, he rushed back in the original direction—until a scene came into view.

The antler-wearing girl was in the center of the barrier surrounded by the curtain of fire, and her figure stood there casually, without taking any more cover in the darkness.

-Very good----

Ronan took a deep breath, thankfully he hadn't witnessed the most desperate scene—at least he didn't seem to harbor any hostility towards Mia.

However, they are still in dire straits.

Half a minute left —

He tried to calm himself down and think things through.

Its attack pattern is completely different from that snake's!

-really.

Ronan proved a hypothesis: those who are used as vessels by the taboo will have their own power transformed into tools of the taboo, just like now, as he is fighting against his colleague.

-only----

Looking at Ellen's still eerie expression in the firelight, Ronan gritted his teeth. Although it seemed like an illusion, he still saw a hidden pleasure in that bluish hue—a pleasure that made him feel uneasy, as if he were toying with his prey.

—Can taboos evoke such vivid emotions?

he thought.

For some reason, strange thoughts arose from the crackling flames. Looking at Ellen before him, Ronan felt an inexplicable unease, yet he couldn't quite grasp the truth of it—

The bright red "Extremely Dangerous Warning" still flashed in the think tank, and the "Taboo" still stood before him. Ronan suppressed his inner turmoil and once again raised his longsword—"Again!"

He whispered to himself, but another voice appeared unexpectedly in his trembling eyes.

Ai shook her head, then spread her hands and said, "But I'm a little tired—"

"?"

Ronan was visibly taken aback.

—Are there any taboos regarding communication?

"So you should just lie down obediently for now."

The next instant, accompanied by an overwhelming and irresistible unease, a strange object suddenly appeared in Ronan's recently restored vision—

Like the ashes left after something burned out, cooled, and collapsed—a rain of charred black filled his vision, and everything was silent, as silent as death.

-I----

Ronan stumbled, then his vision went black. He managed to stay upright by supporting himself with his longsword, but he still felt powerless in the rain of ashes.

—What is this?————

"Debuff, huh? Something so easy to understand."

The figure standing in the firelight slowly stepped forward, gradually approaching him.

Looking at Ronan, whose eyes were trembling with fire and almost filled with black embers, Ai smiled and narrowed her eyes. "So this is 'Divine Power.' It's truly an incredible power. I almost thought you were the main character—but sorry, I've arranged this stage for so long, I can't let you steal the spotlight."

"What—"

Ronan's increasingly dulled mind gradually failed to comprehend everything before him, and he felt only intense unease.

But as a sense of relief welled up inside him, he brought up the think tank interface and saw that the support countdown had reached zero a second ago.

Calm and calm.

Nothing happened.

"How is that possible—"

Ronan murmured, “The support has never disappointed us. Even in the face of a sudden taboo, it will at most delay the support time, rather than fail so irrationally.”

Who knows?

Aiyi crouched down beside him, her severed right arm swaying in the wind from an unknown source, yet she still managed a smile.

He reached out his left hand and picked up a burnt, charred arm from the dark ground.

"This is----"

Looking at the arm, Ronan suddenly began to tremble. He felt a familiar scent, the same unsettling "proliferating and crawling sensation" he had felt when Elaine first appeared.

"Isn't this what you call taboo?"

Ai rolled her eyes at him, then tossed her arm to the ground with a hint of disgust. In the darkness, the obscure power that had become active proliferated and multiplied, constantly trying to wriggle back into motion, but it could never break through the thin, invisible layer of substance sealed above it.

"The most effective way to deal with these disgusting things is to burn them with fire—or kill them with the concept of death, or seal them with power of the same level. But the vitality of non-snake snakes is too tenacious, just as terrifying as their ability to parasitize, replace, multiply, and hide—so even I can only seal them away for now."

Ai squatted on the ground, looking at her arm that was trying to curl up and crawl away.

"I should also thank you. If they hadn't clearly disliked your fire sword, it wouldn't have been so easy for me to drive them all to one spot on my body and then cut them all at once."

Unconsciously, a strange color enveloped its edges, a thin and sacred layer of "gray matter".

Just to be on the safe side —

Ai drew a gun from his waist and aimed it at his arm.

"Bang"

The silver-white bullet was fired from the barrel.

Then the second one.

"Bang"

He originally wanted to fire a third shot, but seeing his arm trembling and twitching, which revealed a sense of "let's make peace" and giving up, Ai Yi put down the gun in the spirit of saving money.

The Origin Bullet, a mysterious item created by infusing the power of the Primordial Codex, melts into a dazzling silver the moment it touches a physical object. The principle of sealing unfolds from this moment, transforming the severed arm into an unbreakable cage.

The arm stopped moving.

"We've got it."

'

'

Watching Ai's series of unpredictable actions, Ronan took a deep breath and whispered, despite his ominous premonition.

"Who exactly are you?"

"I?"

Ai wiped her nose, and instead of answering immediately, turned her head to look up at the sky.

"Almost done."

Some things have already come to an end at this moment, because Ai's colors have completely painted this place with "Thanks to my worm buddies for the cover and for giving me this space!"

He laughed loudly, looking up at the sky.

The stage is set up, and the curtain is lifted.

Ai Yi was arrogant and wild. Above his head, a curtain that was originally invisible but now showed an unparalleled presence was completely sealing off the entire "Karn Street" in an unstoppable manner.

My courtyard stretches out from the depths, rising horizontally.

This place has been transformed into my execution ground.

You must bow your heads and look up at my colors.

Ai turned to Ronan, her smile like that of a demon from the abyss.

"Do you like it, my garden?"

The next instant, a dazzling stream of light struck down from the distant dome, sweeping across the sky above this "gray curtain," accompanied by a series of violently surging ripples. The solidity of the gray matter remained resolute, indicating that it had completely closed off, leaving no gaps through which it could pass.

Ronan looked at his think tank with trembling hands: "Current network message: Unable to retrieve large group database. Please check your network environment."

And the last offline notification before the internet was disconnected.

"Extremely Dangerous Warning! Forbidden activity detected near you. Unit identified as Forbidden List Ω017: 'Sir,' Containment Class 'ALEPH'—Highest Correction Authority activated. The Red Pool disturbance is extremely severe. The 'Descent' protocol cannot specify a landing point at this time. The 'Sealing' protocol is still under repair."

"Due to interference from 'Ω006 Non-Snake Snake's' 'Trait: Creeping Channel' and 'Trait: Stealth', and interference from 'Mr. Ω017's' 'Sexual Aspect: Gray Matter', the estimated arrival time of secondary support is: unpredictable."

"Thank you for your sacrifice, Ronan the Actor, your will lives on—all employees will praise your glory!"

>