America: The Cremator

Chapter 103 What do you take life for?

Inside the Cedar Church, the high dome is dilapidated and collapsed, and thick fog pours in through the broken stained glass windows, wandering among the rotten wooden benches on the floor.

Behind the altar, on the huge inverted cross, the dark red bloodstains had long since dried and turned black, emitting a nauseating stench.

A few dozen steps away, in front of the altar, the ghost nun was holding Amy by the back of the neck. A twisted, sinister smile was on her face. Her withered fingers repeatedly poked at the girl's broken cervical vertebrae, making a crisp cracking sound.

Su Long stood in front of the church door, his face extremely gloomy, with a fierce aura surging between his brows and eyes.

A dazzling golden light suddenly erupted, condensing on his fist like molten gold. The blazing flames danced, dispelling the dense gray fog around him and illuminating the space shrouded in shadow.

"Is it fun?" Suron's cold voice echoed in the empty church.

The ghost nun tilted her head, as if she understood Su Long's question, and laughed even more arrogantly, her expression becoming increasingly contemptuous, and she tightened her withered claws again.

"What's so fun about it? What's so funny about it?" Su Long retorted.

No one answered; only the creaking and cracking of the pews in the wind filled the church.

Sulong pulled the wine flask from his waist, tilted his head back and poured the last mouthful of wine down his throat, activating the ability of the [Ode to Flesh and Blood] attribute.

In an instant, all the muscles in his body bulged high, his bones made a teeth-grinding grinding sound, and the primordial fire on his fists was also driven by this violent power, suddenly expanding outward, its color changing from golden to an almost white incandescent color.

Su Long took a step, then a second, then a third, his pace quickening until his figure became a blurry afterimage.

When he was ten meters away from the altar, Su Long suddenly exerted force with his legs, and his whole body was lifted into the air, crashing down towards the ghost nun.

The ghost nun sensed the approaching deadly threat, and her smile vanished instantly.

She casually tossed Amy's mangled body aside, and her gaping maw, filled with fangs, suddenly opened wide, distorting the surrounding air and unleashing a deadly sonic shockwave.

Su Long, suspended in mid-air, his eyes wide with fury, unleashed his [King's Aura]!

A tangible mental shockwave struck first, blasting into the ghost nun's head without hindrance. Her movements froze instantly, and the shriek that was about to burst from her throat was forcibly blocked.

The next second, Su Long descended from the sky like a meteorite, his right arm muscles bulging, and the brass knuckles burning with golden flames aimed at the ghost nun's face and slammed down hard.

"What do you take life for?!"

With a roar, the primordial fire first touched the ghost nun's forehead. The extreme heat instantly evaporated the pale skin and fascia on her face, revealing the dark skull beneath.

Then, a pure silver knuckle duster engraved with the Crucifixion symbol struck the bone solidly.

The hard skull shattered inch by inch under the immense force, and the primordial fire, squeezed under extremely high pressure, instantly triggered the explosive combustion effect after the attribute upgrade.

"boom--

—

A blinding flash of light erupted from the point of contact between the brass knuckles and the ghost nun's head.

A golden fireball, half a meter in diameter, exploded with a deafening roar. The violent energy blasted the ghost nun's entire head into dust, turning it into black ash that filled the sky.

A massive shockwave from the explosion swept in.

Su Long was forcefully pushed back in mid-air by this force, his body flying backward several meters. He landed on his feet, rolled backward to dissipate the remaining force, and knelt on one knee to stabilize himself.

He shook his slightly numb right hand, somewhat surprised.

I never expected that boxing could trigger an explosion, and the explosion triggered by melee combat was significantly smaller in range and power than that triggered by firearms.

The primordial fire's explosion wouldn't cause burns, but the physical shockwave from the explosion would still exist. This was probably a self-correction of the rules; otherwise, with the two-meter diameter explosion range just now, this close-range explosion would have been enough to injure his internal organs.

A light blue system notification appeared before Su Long's eyes.

[Effect Triggered: Our side gains [Berserk]]

[Effect Triggered: Enemy gains [Weakness]]

Activating his spiritual vision, Su Long was surprised to find himself surrounded by a white halo that shared the same origin as the knuckle duster.

He looked up again and saw the headless nun's enormous body standing swaying. Black mist surged at her severed neck, trying to reassemble her head, but from his spiritual perspective, she was completely enveloped in a dark, blood-red aura.

After leaving the eerie domain of the church well, the ghost nun lost her terrifying self-healing ability. Now, suppressed by the [Weakness] effect, the black mist writhed for two or three seconds but failed to completely repair her head.

While you are sick, I will kill you!

Su Long tensed his leg muscles again, roared furiously, and slammed his feet against the ground, launching himself forward and creating a ring of wind as he charged toward the ghost nun.

The moment he shouted, Su Long was also a little surprised, as he never yelled randomly when fighting.

Could it be due to the influence of the "Rage" modifier?

Anyway—it felt pretty good to shout out the anger in my chest!

Just as he was about to rush towards the ghost nun, the ghost nun suddenly opened her huge mouth, and a circle of transparent sonic waves erupted in a fan shape instantly, with a speed that had never been seen in the previous battles.

Seeing this, Su Long realized something was wrong. He hadn't expected this guy to be so smart, knowing that a long wind-up would be interrupted, so this time he launched a sound wave instantly.

The distance was too close at the moment, and Su Long had no time to dodge. He could only cross his arms to protect his heart and chest, lower his body, and prepare to be thrown into the air.

The invisible sound waves struck Su Long's arms hard. He felt a slight numbness in his arms, as if he had been hit by a straight punch. The force was heavy, but it only made him take a few steps back and he was not thrown away.

Su Long lowered his arms and couldn't help but sneer.

The [Berserk] state enhanced his physical defense and strength, while the [Weakness] effect reduced the Ghost Nun's attack intensity. In addition, he was out of the Ghost Domain. With these two factors combined, the deadly sonic waves that were originally enough to send him flying more than ten meters away now became no threat at all.

The complete reversal of the offensive and defensive momentum greatly boosted Su Long's confidence. He lightly tapped his toes twice and instantly rushed in front of the ghost nun. He swung his right arm and delivered a powerful swing punch that cut through the air. The brass knuckles burning with white flames accurately hit the half of the ghost nun's newly formed head.

The sound of bones cracking rang out again, and the ghost nun's body tilted sharply to the left.

Without pausing, Su Long stepped forward with his left foot and swung his left arm upward, delivering a textbook-perfect uppercut that slammed into the Nun's abdomen. The pure silver knuckle duster pierced through the tough fascia, and the Primal Fire poured directly into her body.

The ghost nun let out a piercing scream, her massive body contorting in agony into a shrimp-like shape.

Su Long had already retracted his right arm and gathered his strength. Using the momentum of his body's rotation, his right hook, like a cannonball, slammed heavily into the nun's cheek.

No need for any thought or deliberate control of power generation techniques; all dodging, punching, and combos come naturally and with consummate skill!

This body seems to have undergone countless trials and tribulations, with muscle memory replacing the brain's command, bringing the destructive power of boxing to its extreme!

boom! boom! boom!

The heavy thuds echoed throughout the dilapidated church.

Unbeknownst to him, the scene before Su Long's eyes began to blur. The dark inner world faded away, and the surrounding environment transformed into a brightly lit octagonal arena. Dazzling spotlights shone down from above, elongating his shadow.

He looked down and saw that he was wearing bright red boxing gloves. His body looked incredibly muscular, and his gaze slowly met that of the man named Lucas.

The eerie roars were no longer in their ears; instead, they were replaced by the deafening shouts of the audience.

"Lucas! Lucas! Lucas!"

Amidst the deafening cheers, Su Long caught a glimpse of a little girl with pigtails standing outside the barrier below the ring, her hands cupped to her mouth, shouting loudly towards the stage, "Daddy! Go!"

Her smile was incredibly radiant, and her delicate face was filled with adoration and anticipation for her father, just like in the group photo.

"Buzz—"

Another sharp sound wave came from the front.

Su Long instinctively raised his left arm and took the impact with one hand, his body being pushed back a few steps by the reaction force.

The illusion before my eyes shattered instantly like broken glass. The spotlight went out, the cheers faded, and the little girl who had been cheering and jumping for joy on the sidelines returned to her broken body, standing on the cold stone slab with a broken neck.

The harsh reality has struck again.

Su Long stared at the grotesque monster in front of him, which was trying to reassemble its body. He pursed his lips, and the anger in his chest, which had just been soothed by the illusion, reignited with ten times, a hundred times the intensity, shooting straight to the top of his head.

"You deserve to die!"

As Su Long roared, his body didn't pause at all, and his legs had already shot out.

Upon approaching the ghost nun, Su Long unleashed a powerful left hook, the silver knuckle duster wreathed in white flames striking her side.

The platinum flames accumulated on the knuckle duster exploded outwards, and the shockwave rippled outwards from the center of the fist, blasting away bones and rotting flesh within the radius.

A hole the size of a bowl exploded in the ghost nun's waist, and black mist spewed out from the wound.

The shockwave pushed Su Long back half a step. He took a step forward with his left foot, lowered his center of gravity, and twisted his waist to generate power from his shoulder. He then delivered a right hook to the other side of the Ghost Nun's waist and abdomen, followed by a second explosion.

Less than three seconds between the two explosions, the ghost nun let out a painful roar, her massive body staggering backward a few steps. Her upper body was already mangled beyond recognition, and the bones that had barely maintained her form had been severely damaged by the impact of the two fire explosions. Her right arm dangled below the elbow, held together only by a few twisted tendons.

She tried to stand up again, but her missing waist was still slowly forming. She could only swing her other, still intact claw, desperately trying to force Su Long back and buy herself some time.

Su Long stepped forward across the broken wooden planks, not flinching at all from the sharp claws that came at him. Four fingernails tore a deep, bone-revealing gash in his left arm, and blood quickly seeped into the ripped sleeve of his jacket.

Su Long activated [Ode to Flesh and Blood], and the hideous wound healed by more than half in the blink of an eye. At the same time, he rotated his body half a circle, using the momentum to adjust the angle of his punch.

Seeing this, the ghost nun reached out to grab Su Long's neck again, but he dodged it by tilting his head. He then used his waist to exert force and his right fist swung upwards from below, hitting the ghost nun's jaw squarely.

A crisp sound of bones cracking suddenly rang out, only to be completely drowned out by the roar of the explosion. The shockwave rippled outward from the point of contact, the force of which sent the ghost nun's entire upper body, including her neck and above, flying backward seven or eight meters into the air, kicking up a cloud of stone slabs as she landed.

A light blue system notification appeared before Su Long's eyes.

[Effect Triggered: Our side gains [Fearless] and [Armor Penetration]]

[Effect Triggered: Enemy gains [Stun] and [Slow]]