Chapter 389: 367 dies here
"Cough, cough..."
With a couple of coughs, blood trickled from the corner of Shalltear’s mouth, staining her chin and neck red.
At this moment, Shalltear had fully become a blood-soaked Martial God. Not only was her waist almost severed, she was bleeding profusely, blood was flowing from the corner of her mouth, and her entire body was drenched in blood.
Her attire, which was a crimson full-body armor, paired with her current state, gave off a truly miserable and dispirited feel.
Of course, the miserable appearance was just superficial; the real tragedy was in Shalltear’s life force.
Her life force had plummeted to a critical low, nearly reaching zero.
The negative life force within her was also nearly dissipated. Once gone, as an undead, she would meet her immediate demise.
Therefore, Reiger’s declaration was not provocation or arrogance, but an actual fact of the situation.
This state of affairs informed Shalltear that her current predicament had truly become dire.
"Tch..."
Shalltear clicked her tongue in extreme anger and unwillingness.
The fact that she could actually lose to a mere human was something Shalltear found utterly unacceptable, so much so that her violent and sadistic impulses were nearly breaking free of her control.
This True Ancestor vampire was by no means a pushover, but rather a cruel and heartless monster. Otherwise, back in the forests to the north of E-Rantel, she would not have torn the limbs off thieves, beheaded them, and denied them whole corpses, creating a true mountain of corpses and sea of blood.
The reason she had managed to keep her composure from start to finish this time was merely because her previous failure had been too deeply etched in her memory, not because she had changed her ways.
Consequently, Reiger’s declaration, his dominance, his unilateral suppression, all had the power to ignite the dark side of Shalltear’s heart.
This was different from the time she had to strategically withdraw in the Slaine Theocracy.
When she was defeated in the Slaine Theocracy’s human city by the Black Scripture, it wasn’t that Shalltear couldn’t overcome them; it was that the retreat itself was part of a plan orchestrated by Nazarick.
Because of this, Shalltear had neither equipped her gear nor used many of her special abilities and high-tier magic spells at that time, so it couldn’t truly be called going all out.
But this time was different.
This time, aside from a few ultimate moves, Shalltear had used all her wits, yet being beaten to such a state by Reiger was something she found hard to accept.
However...
(The mission to gather intelligence should be considered basically complete now, right?)
Shalltear silently thought to herself.
Through this battle, Shalltear had witnessed Reiger’s strength and learned several of his specials.
Given these circumstances, Shalltear believed that she had essentially completed her mission.
(How is Demiurge doing? Isn’t he ready yet?)
Feeling the last remnants of her life force and negative energy, Shalltear was somewhat anxious.
(If this doesn’t wrap up quickly, I’ll really have to start fighting desperately, Demiurge!)
Shalltear’s internal cries, of course, were unheard by Reiger.
He simply saw Shalltear with an uncertain expression, hovering opposite him, utterly devoid of the intent to use her ultimate moves, and his smile instantly faded.
He wanted Shalltear to fight with everything she had.
Because that would be most advantageous for him.
The stronger the enemy, the more experience points he would gain from defeating them.
If Shalltear continued to hold back her ultimate moves and not fight with full force, even if Reiger defeated her, the reward would be much less.
How could one achieve great things without taking risks?
If he could win effortlessly, then no matter what, he wouldn’t likely gain much experience.
There aren’t that many powerful beings in this world, and now that he faced one, Reiger truly wanted to maximize his gains, or else he wouldn’t have engaged with Shalltear in such a prolonged fight.
Unfortunately, the adversary was still making calculations and was reluctant to reveal her ultimate moves.
This made Reiger’s patience reach its limit.
He detested these deceitful and conniving tactics the most.
What he truly desired were all-out battles of life and death, fights where victory and defeat hung in an instant, that sent adrenaline surging and excitement beyond control.
Shalltear could give him all of that.
But, for the sake of some unknown scheme of that guy Bone Maledict, and to create a final victory for him, she was willing to accumulate scars all over, yet reluctant to unleash her ultimate moves.
Truth be told, such a calculated battle had already begun to make Reiger uncomfortable.
If that was the case...
"Boom!"
Fierce lightning erupted from Reiger’s body, with blinding bolts shooting skyward, illuminating the sky that was entering night.
In the midst of the thunder and lightning, streaks of electricity, as if conscious, converged onto Reiger’s blade that had found its way into the sheath at who knows when.
"...!?"
Startled by the exaggerated atmospheric phenomenon, Shalltear stared at Reiger wrapped in countless bolts, looking like a true god of thunder, and was filled with a fatal sense of danger that enraged and alarmed her.
Not just Shalltear, but Absolute Deathantilene heran fouche watching from the shadows felt the same.
"What, what is that?"
Watching Reiger causing the astonishing electrical phenomenon, Absolute Deathantilene heran fouche could not believe her eyes, felt tingles on her scalp, shivering uncontrollably with a strong urge to flee, nearly unraveling the strength she had built up from the few high-tier Martial God techniques she had just used.
There Reiger stood, bathed in the stunning lightning, looking toward Shalltear with an expressionless face.
"Since you do not intend to play your hand, then perish here."
With those words, Reiger lowered his body, his hand slowly resting on the blade at his waist.
"Huff... Inhale..."
At that moment, his breathing itself seemed to turn into thunder, causing lightning to course through the air with every exhale and inhale.
Witnessing this scene, Shalltear intuitively realized something.
The next strike would undoubtedly be earth-shattering.
If she didn’t take measures, she would certainly die.
She would die!
"[High-tier Teleportation]!"
Without hesitation, Shalltear invoked advanced teleportation magic, preparing to escape Reiger’s attack range.
Yet, what made Shalltear even more shocked and angry was the failure of her magic.
Because an invisible wave of Magic Power had spread around her, making the entire space feel as if it had solidified, rendering her unable to teleport.
"Is this... [Dimension Lock]...!?"
[Dimension Lock], an eighth-tier Magic, was capable of rendering instant teleportation magic within a certain range ineffective, disabling the use of teleportation abilities.
Reiger seemed to have predicted that Shalltear would use teleportation to flee, and had preemptively cast [Dimension Lock], sealing the space around them.
"Thunder Breathing, First Form..."
Reiger’s murmuring slowly rose, reaching the ears of an enraged and panicked Shalltear.
Feeling his aura becoming stronger and the sense of impending doom growing in her heart, Shalltear finally couldn’t hold back any longer.
"[Unclean Impact Shield]!"
The True Ancestor of the vampires finally used one of her trump cards, an attack-and-defense-as-one shockwave shield.
In an instant, a shockwave like a tempest swirled up, forming a dazzling invisible shield that burst forth from Shalltear’s hands.
To this, Reiger appeared completely unfazed.
"Too late."
With these words, Reiger transformed into divine lightning.
"Boom!"
In the thunderous roar that split the heavens, a lightning bolt more dazzling, blinding, and splendid than any before surged from the horizon towards Shalltear.
It seemed to traverse through space, scrambling the magic waves of the Dimension Lock.
It seemed to break through time itself, crossing the entire sky in an instant, moving so fast it was like a true beam of light.
Shalltear’s [Unclean Impact Shield] attempted to block it, to stop it, only to find it completely unable to keep up, getting left behind in a blink, simply bypassed.
And when the lightning reached Shalltear’s face, her expression still held anger and surprise, without the speed of sight or senses, let alone consciousness, to keep up with the lightning.
And then...
"Lightning Flash... Godspeed!"
A savage cut, like lightning descending from heaven, flashed by in an instant.
Reiger’s figure appeared behind Shalltear, still in her raised-hand stance, as the flickering lightning around him gradually died out.
"————"
Time itself seemed to freeze in that second.
"Click..."
Only then did Reiger slowly sheathe his sword, signaling the end of the battle.
Shalltear did not turn to look at Reiger.
Her entire body stiffened there, her pupils trembling violently, the emotion now written across her face no longer anger but disbelief.
"Puchi!"
Blood belatedly sprayed from Shalltear’s body.
A cut appeared at the top of the beautiful True Ancestor vampire’s head, the wound extending all the way down her body, coming to rest just below Shalltear’s waist before stopping.
Her body then split evenly in two, falling to each side in opposite directions.
One strike... two halves!
"Won, won?"
Below, Absolute Deathantilene, who had clearly witnessed the scene, finally came to her senses after the earth-shattering lightning bolt, eyes wide, her words imbued with disbelief.
She stared at the youth who had turned his back to Shalltear, slowly putting his sword back into its sheath, his calm, cold, and emotionless face making her spirit tremble.
That person had won.
With a power so suffocating that even she felt it, he secured an indisputable victory.
What need was there for her to make a move?
This simply wasn’t necessary at all, was it?
Absolute Deathantilene found herself unable to describe her feelings at that moment, knowing only that she might never forget the figure standing above in the sky, shrouded in lightning.
In her heart, that figure was no different from the deity she worshipped.
While Absolute Deathantilene was trembling with emotion and Reiger began to stand, sword in hand, suddenly, someone appeared behind him.
"[Demon Forms·Sharp Claw]!"
In a low whisper, a demon with unfurled membranous wings lunged at Reiger with an arm transformed into a deadly claw.
It was ferocious, and it was swift.