Chapter 52: Forging Iron with Blood

Mel's pupils contracted to the size of a needlepoint.

Spinal cord-like tentacles extended from the neck of each translucent figure, these grayish-white ropes wrapped around the obsidian altar, fixing the figures in an eternal kneeling posture.

The moment her eyes met with one of the shadows, a flood of unfamiliar memories suddenly rushed into her mind—Scholars in long robes drove chisels into their own occipital bones, filling the sulci of their brains with slips of paper covered in forbidden knowledge; Priests sealed the seven orifices of the subjects with molten wax, letting the scalding wax tears cast molds of words inside their cranial cavities; On a stormy midnight, fanatical-looking scholars suddenly began to pray in twelve languages simultaneously.

Their skulls blossomed like flower buds amidst the chanting…

Just as Mel's body froze from the sudden influx of memory images, neither she nor Vilnia noticed that someone was rapidly approaching them from behind.

Heavy footsteps echoed from far to near in the narrow and cramped corridor, beating against Mel and Vilnia's hearts like a drum.

The crushed bone fragments made a teeth-grinding "crunch" under the soles of the shoes, as if Death itself was approaching with slow and steady steps.

That sound brought a brief moment of clarity to Vilnia's and Mel's minds—although this was not the newcomer's intention.

Under the external stimulation, the memory images in Mel's mind instantly dissipated.

The young woman abruptly turned her head towards the direction of the footsteps, only to see a man with an ashen face looking over, his hands clenched into fists.

It was Jason.

“Vilnia, run!”

Mel shouted at Vilnia, and at the same time, Jason had already launched a fierce attack towards their position.

He stomped on the ground, and his whole body shot out like a cannonball, lunging to kill Vilnia.

Seeing this, Mel bit her tongue sharply, and the sweet, metallic taste of blood spread in her mouth, dispelling the noisy gibberish in her ears.

She grabbed Vilnia's wrist and initiated Void Walk to the side.

Their figures suddenly distorted, blurring like an ink wash painting, and disappeared from the spot.

Jason's attack missed, his fist smashing into the wall with a dull thud.

His face was grim as he turned to look several meters away—where Mel and Vilnia's figures had reappeared.

Vilnia staggered and almost fell, Mel quickly supported her and asked with concern about her condition.

“Are you alright, Vilnia?”

“I'm fine...”

Vilnia shook her head, her face pale and her breathing rapid, clearly not yet recovered from the shock of what had just happened at the altar.

Just as she was about to speak, Jason on the altar had already moved again, charging towards the two to kill them.

Seeing this, Vilnia also bit her tongue hard and then activated her Quintessence.

The surrounding darkness immediately began to boil, converging towards the center under the young woman's control, and then rose up from the ground.

“Voom—！”

Jason's fist slammed heavily onto the shadow barrier that had suddenly appeared before him, the barrier absorbed all the impact, emitting a dull buzzing sound.

Just as he was about to withdraw his hand, the barrier suddenly extended numerous tentacles that wrapped tightly around his arm, not allowing him to pull back in the slightest.

“Tsk.”

Jason clicked his tongue, and just as he was about to exert force, a figure suddenly shot out from behind the barrier.

The dark red blade of The New Moon appeared exceptionally dazzling in the dim basement.

In the young woman's gem-like amber eyes, a touch of scarlet quietly spread with the rising of the new moon.

“Shnk!”

The blade cut through Jason's arm as easily as cutting tofu, but at the same moment, Jason had already broken free from the shadow's restraints.

Therefore, this cut did not cause him much damage.

Jason glanced down at the wound on his arm, then looked at (The New Moon) in Mel's hand, which was sipping his blood, and killing intent emerged in his dark gray pupils.

“A debauchee driven by desire, how dare you harm me with that weapon tainted with an impure aura....”

His voice was deep and cold, as if it came from the depths of a demon's hell.

As his voice fell, a terrifying sense of pressure instantly filled the entire space.

Vilnia felt her legs go weak and her pupils trembled.

“Mel.... he's of the Silver stage”

“Bang—！”

Jason suddenly attacked, his entire body rushing towards the two like a cannonball.

His speed was astonishingly fast, Vilnia didn't even have time to react before she saw a gust of wind roaring towards her.

At the critical moment, it was Mel who once again grabbed her arm and initiated Void Walk to dodge.

The two appeared at Jason's side, and the moment Mel's figure appeared, she was already in an attack stance, slashing towards Jason's side waist.

“Clang!”

Sparks flew, Jason reached out and caught Mel's blade, and in the dim candlelight, Mel saw that a layer of silver iron had appeared on his arm at some point!

Alchemy—forging iron with blood!

The blade and iron collided, and Mel immediately felt a numbing pain in the web of her thumb.

“Far from enough.”

Jason sneered, and before his words had faded, his other hand had already shot out, aiming straight for Mel's throat.

Seeing this, Vilnia immediately took action, the surrounding shadows boiled again, and chains as thick as fists shot up from the ground, wrapping around Jason's arm.

In this space, there was no shortage of shadows!

Jason's movement paused for a moment, then a hint of disdain flashed in his eyes.

“Hmph!”

With a cold snort, the Quintessence in the man's body suddenly erupted, and he easily snapped the chains wrapped around his arm.

“Come die!”

Iron condensed into a bayonet on his fist, rushing towards the two with a destructive momentum to kill them.

Mel released her weapon, grabbed Vilnia, and once again escaped into the void.

With a deafening roar, Jason's fist smashed into the stone wall, leaving a huge crater.

Amidst the flying debris, Mel and Vilnia's figures appeared in the distance.

“This power.... is a bit too exaggerated, isn't it....”

Mel's expression was grave as she watched Jason walk slowly towards them, muttering something.

The next moment, his figure disappeared again, then appeared above the two of them, his fists covered in sharp metal spikes, crashing down with the force of a thunderbolt!

That wasn't Void Walk.

But pure speed!

“Boom!”

The surrounding darkness once again gathered into a shield at their location, having controlled a large amount of shadow multiple times in succession, Vilnia's Quintessence was already overdrawn at this point.

“Cough—！”

The young woman coughed up a mouthful of blood, seeing this, Mel hurriedly grabbed her and performed Void Walk again.

Their figures appeared behind the altar, and when they reappeared, Mel's face was also clearly much paler.

Even for a short-distance move, carrying an extra person for a Void Walk would not result in a low consumption of Quintessence.

“Hold on, Vilnia.”

Mel said, quickly taking out a bottle of Quintessence supplement from her bosom, the transparent liquid sloshed in the glass bottle, refracting the surrounding candlelight.

She bit open the glass seal at the top, then downed the entire bottle of Quintessence supplement in one go.

In an instant, a warm current swept through her body, and Mel felt the Quintessence within her begin to surge wildly.

At the same time, Jason's attack came again.

Dozens of metal spikes extended from his arm, winding towards the two hiding behind the altar like steel vines.

Vilnia struggled to her feet and summoned several shadow chains to try and block them.

However, those spikes easily tore apart the shadow restraints and continued to approach her.

Just in the nick of time, Mel's figure suddenly appeared in front of her.

The blade of The New Moon drew a graceful arc in the air, precisely striking the base of those metal spikes.

“Clang!”

Sparks flew, and the harsh sound of metal colliding echoed in the stone chamber.

However, Jason didn't move an inch, instead revealing a mocking smile.

“An ant is an ant, after all.”

He abruptly retracted his arm, while his other fist, wrapped in terrifying power, was already hurtling towards Mel's face.

The young woman had no time to dodge and could only block with the flat of her blade.

“Bang!”

The immense impact forced Mel to retreat repeatedly, the web of her thumb split open, and blood dripped down the hilt.

Mel gritted her teeth and suddenly turned to give Vilnia a look.

The latter immediately understood, suppressing the sweet, metallic taste in her throat, and overdrafted her Quintessence once again.

Countless shadows surged from all directions, forming a huge sphere around Jason.

Although it couldn't trap him for long, it was enough.

“Go!”

Mel grabbed Vilnia's wrist, the Quintessence in her body surging wildly.

The space around the two twisted and deformed, collapsing layer by layer like a shattered mirror.

Just as Jason was about to break free from his restraints, the two figures had completely disappeared from the spot.

Leaving only a ripple of the void.

Jason stood on the spot, his gaze dark as he looked at the place where the two had disappeared.

He slowly raised his right hand and wiped away a small wound on the back of it.

The stone chamber returned to silence, only the candlelight on the altar still flickered, marking the end of the fierce battle.

Next chapter will be updated first on this website. Come back and continue reading tomorrow, everyone!

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.