The hummingbird's design was extremely exquisite. By the faint glow of the flames, Bologue could observe that the hummingbird's abdomen was a transparent glass structure, filled with crimson blood that emitted ethereal fluctuations to power the hummingbird.

Bologue and the hummingbird faced each other, their gazes seemingly able to penetrate the support of the Domination Object, observing that mysterious overlord.

Since Bologue captured him, Derby's voice had vanished. Bologue felt he hadn't left, and was still observing him, just as he himself was observing Derby.

Below, Zefirin tensed up. She had to be tense, as the Bloodthirsters' self-immolation attacks triggered multiple explosions. Even though Bologue faced the flames head-on, armed with alchemy potions to heal his body, he should have sustained some injuries.

But now, other than his clothes being slightly tattered, Bologue showed no signs of injury. Even though there was some contaminated blood staining him, Zefirin could clearly distinguish that it wasn't Bologue's blood.

"Damn it!"

Zefirin cursed, retreating swiftly.

At the Tier One among the Prayer Believers, Zefirin was considered quite elite. To complement her deceitful secret energy, she mastered ethereal concealment, making her toxins completely lose their etheric reaction when her secret energy was activated.

Palmer and many guards could be easily paralyzed by her, relying on this point, combined with her undying body and alchemy armament, allowing her to even hold her own against a Negative Power User.

But now it was different. This mysterious man, who suddenly appeared, brought Zefirin endless pressure.

Bologue's offensive methods were crystal clear to her, and his etheric strength matched her own, both being Prayer Believers.

Zefirin felt she had gathered enough intelligence about Bologue, yet she couldn't let her guard down.

It's like... facing a mass of darkness.

An unknown, silent darkness, you don't know what's beyond it, maybe an innocent child, or perhaps a monster ready to devour.

Everything is unknown, requiring you to risk yourself to verify what's behind the darkness.

Secret Energy: Soul-Breaking Poison.

Crimson mist dispersed instantly, enveloping like a tide over the surroundings, ground, rainwater, bricks... all substances in contact with the poison began to decay, as if being corroded by a strong acid, rotting and withering.

Zefirin hoisted up the Chain Saw Scythe, and once calm, a conjecture had arisen in her mind, though it seemed far too inconceivable.

She needed to put her thoughts into action and personally verify them.

Bologue watched Zefirin below cautiously; the Flame of the Cauldron spread and burned, intermingle with the crimson mist, like battling tides.

Zefirin preemptively spread her secret energy, the toxic mist engulfing the surroundings, filled with Zefirin's ether. Under the nature of Ethereum Mutual Exclusion, Bologue's Flame of the Cauldron found it difficult to expand and command the surrounding matter.

It seemed Zefirin wasn't as weak as Bologue imagined. As a Prayer Believer, Zefirin was also seasoned in battle, considered an elite among Prayer Believers.

This was nothing unusual; the world was so vast that some talented Condensers would always emerge.

Bologue clenched his fist, crushing the hummingbird in his hand into a heap of metallic residue, the blood within spilling out, with a familiar etheric fluctuation.

As expected, the blood quickly boiled, scorching Bologue's palm, but this time the blood quantity was too little to ignite an explosion.

Thus, Bologue roughly understood the battle situation; these rampaging Bloodthirsters were all someone's Domination Objects, controlled through blood, which could also cause the blood to boil and explode.

The crimson mist and Flame of the Cauldron intertwined, releasing crackling arcs and sparks; yet in their mutual erosion, Bologue's Flame of the Cauldron was evidently weaker.

This lethal toxin could not only bring many negative effects, but its most formidable trait was in its consumption of ether, thereby affecting the Rectangular Soul Critical's integrity.

A nearly perfect assassin, that's Bologue's assessment of Zefirin.

Adept at using ethereal concealment to reduce her ether reaction, silently releasing toxins, Bologue guessed that Zefirin likely played a role in the Bloodthirsters' invasion of the Fortress of the Morning Wind. If she concentrated and condensed her toxins, corroding an attack gap in the Fortress of the Morning Wind's Void Realm defense line wouldn't be impossible.

Only... Bologue still couldn't figure out one thing: could the Fortress of the Morning Wind, standing in the Wind Source Highlands for so long, really be breached so easily?

Pressing his head forcefully, during the prior battle, Bologue had also inhaled some of the toxins, making his mind a bit groggy, so he no longer wanted to think about these matters.

All around echoed the intermittent roars, more and more Bloodthirsty attackers clustered together, under Zephyline's command, launching a surprise attack toward Bologue, while she exerted herself to deploy Aether concealment, making her Ether reactions almost null, then melded into the crimson mist.

Zephyline used the poisonous fog to cloak the surrounding material, thwarting Bologue's command over it. Fortunately, Bologue carried Deceitful Snake Scale Liquid, writhing snakes coiled around his body, forming a heavy Armor.

Bologue clenched his fists, two heavy and narrow swords extended, he crouched, more blades stretched out from the Armor on his back, as Bologue marched forward, the blades scraped against each other, emitting a sharp, piercing shrill.

He resembled a mutated porcupine, or perhaps a scarred monster laden with numerous arrow feathers.

Based on previous battles, Bologue tried to imagine how he appeared in Zephyline's eyes.

A Commander possessing strange regenerative abilities, adept at long-range combat... should be something like that, right?

Under the cold mask, Bologue inadvertently laughed, he enjoyed scenarios like this, crafting a solid image in someone else's mind, then shattering it with a stark contrast.

Bologue guessed correctly, in Zephyline's eyes, he indeed carried such an image, otherwise, she wouldn't resort to close combat in the end to settle the feud.

At this moment, Zephyline's mindset underwent subtle changes, she gazed at Bologue shrouded in Iron Armor, in previous encounters, Bologue indeed protected himself using Armor, yet he had never fashioned such a heavy, aggressive Armor.

Could it be...

Before Zephyline's thought could conclude, driven by Ethereal Amplification, Bologue leapt like a cannonball, the ruins beneath crumbled into pieces.

His speed was astonishing; in the blink of an eye, he was before Zephyline, two stark white longswords raised high, brilliant sword light filled Zephyline's eyes.

No matter what, Zephyline couldn't fathom that Bologue would actively choose close combat, nor could she understand why he appeared full of confidence.

It shouldn't be, should Commanding School Condensers not maintain distance, relying on Domination Object to crush opponents?

The dual swords swung down, interrupting all of Zephyline's thoughts, she instinctively lifted the Chain Saw Scythe to fend off Bologue's attack, the moment they made contact, Zephyline felt a huge force transmitted from the weapon, the next second, she was sent flying.

Shattering numerous stones along the way, she stopped at a high wall, struggling to lift herself, feeling as though her arm was about to break.

The steel monster did not pause; he turned once more toward Zephyline with lethal intent, despite being an Undead, she now felt a profoundly familiar yet alien intensity stirring within her.

Death.

Bloodthirsty attackers lunged from both sides, blocking Bologue's path of attack, Derby still commanded the battlefield from afar, Zephyline's toxins could corrode Ether, finally, when infiltrating the Wind Cellar, they still needed Zephyline's power, she couldn't perish here.

The fearsome, terrifying shadows failed to slow Bologue's pace; sharp blades easily sliced them into shattered chunks of flesh, yet more Bloodthirsty attackers charged, their bodies rapidly swelling, blood boiling before they even contacted Bologue.

A cluster of Bloodthirsty attackers simultaneously exploded, boiling blood ignited fervent flames, gathering into a fiery tornado on the plain.

The dread in Zephyline's heart eased considerably, she struggled to stand up, but soon heard footsteps emerging from the fiery tornado.

The sound was vivid and heavy, as if a giant was marching towards her.

A dark, indistinct shadow emerged within the firelight, then a tall, sinister figure walked out of the flames, blue flames burned within the crevices of the Armor, fragments of shattered Armor from the explosion were shed like a snake shedding its skin, newborn Armor layered and covered.

Zephyline suddenly realized something; perhaps this was Bologue's true strength, the previous encounter might have been merely probing her.

This desperate truth pushed Zephyline into a chilling despair, yet she did not abandon resistance; now was not the time for any disguise, she decisively discarded the Chain Saw Scythe, raised her fists, the brilliance of Ether shimmering on the Hand Armor.

One strike.

Zephyline whispered in her heart, if she could penetrate Bologue's Armor, land a blow on his flesh, she still had a chance to win this battle.

Bologue stepped forward, his strides hastening till he broke into a run, akin to a charging bull, effortlessly crushing, smashing both ruins and corpses, and it was at this moment another Ether reaction arose.

Amidst the downpour casting from the sky, frost was interspersed, the surrounding temperature dropped rapidly, even the burning fiery tornado extinguished, the ground began to freeze, and the rain turned into endless ice shards crashing onto the Armor.

Visibly icy chill spread, the drenched Armor progressively froze, to the extent a thick ice layer enveloped Bologue's feet, continuing to climb along his torso.

On the other side of the battlefield, Zephyline's reinforcements arrived, Haiqi's eyes radiated crimson light, commanding the battlefield's temperature like a winter envoy.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.