Lord of Prayer - Chapter 148 116: Intense (Part 2)
The Old Witch simply spread her arms, laughing as she let Zhou Chen continue his futile attacks and struggles.
The Curse Power within her shell seeped out, gradually solidifying her body. Each of Zhou Chen’s strikes felt like hitting solid rock, sending violent tremors up his wrist. Several notches appeared on the sharp, serrated blade, which then began to rust.
“Begone.”
Soon, as if she had tired of the game, a Curse True Mantra escaped the Old Witch’s lips. Zhou Chen’s vision went black, and blood poured from his seven orifices. Clouds of crimson mist erupted from his body, leaving him as tattered as a rag doll. He was sent flying by an invisible force, crashing into the Cursed Black Sea.
Viscous. Icy. It felt like plummeting into the deepest ocean.
Zhou Chen slammed heavily onto the ground. When he opened his eyes, he saw only darkness. He felt the pull of countless hands on his body as hideous, despairing faces emerged, crying out in agony:
“Save us… It’s so dark here… Please, save us…”
“It’s so cold, I’m so cold… Save us…”
These Undead were men and women, old and young. Countless miserable cries rose and fell as they pleaded for release and salvation in the endless darkness.
The Anti-Curse Necklace around Zhou Chen’s neck began to crack. Such an immense Curse had exceeded the limits of this Alchemy Tool.
Gritting his teeth, he struggled up from the ground, gasping for breath. His ears were ringing, his vision swam, and his mouth filled with the sweet taste of blood. A searing pain coursed through his body. A large chunk of flesh was missing from his left forearm, exposing the stark white bone beneath.
A wave of intense dizziness washed over him. Zhou Chen staggered and fell to the ground again, his strength to get back up gone.
CRACK! The Alchemy Necklace shattered. A viscous, black calamity instantly enveloped his entire body, bringing an icy chill that made it hard to breathe. His consciousness began to fade.
At that moment, the Old Witch’s shrill, piercing laughter echoed in his ears once more: “Give up the struggle! For this is all fated, an arrangement of destiny!”
‘Should I give up? Give up this struggle and resistance?’
‘Should I just accept this far-from-beautiful fate and stop fighting?’
No!
Never!
In that instant, amidst the endless darkness, a pale flame ignited with Zhou Chen’s desperate roar. It blazed to life on his body, and waves of incandescent white fire furiously lashed out in all directions.
He had once been trapped in darkness, and the hopeless feeling of powerlessly awaiting death was still unforgettable. Perhaps that was why he had awakened his Flame Ability—so that even in the deepest night, he could bring forth light and set the darkness ablaze!
His Essence boiled, surging forth. The fiery waves billowed out, and the Cursed Undead trying to assimilate him shrieked in pain. Their hands recoiled, rapidly retreating from the scorching flames.
Flesh squirmed as his wounds began to heal under the effect of his will. Gritting his teeth, Zhou Chen climbed to his feet, his figure melting into a pool of shadow and vanishing on the spot.
The Old Witch walked toward the nearly unconscious Erin and reached out, preparing to inhabit her body. But in the next second, a pair of fists burning with incandescent white fire smashed solidly into her old face.
Explosive musical notes thundered out like a clap of thunder. The stirring melody seemed to be reaching its crescendo, so powerful and shocking it made the heart pound.
Flames exploded. The Old Witch was sent flying, right toward the altar.
Zhou Chen followed as a shadow, his eyes bloodshot and reflecting the harsh glare of iron and fire. Fragments of steel appeared in his hand, coalescing and finally forming an incandescent white Long Saber. With a roar, he swung, cutting off the Old Witch’s ugly, stunned head.
“He’s still alive.”
The Old Witch’s head rolled on the ground before flying up and reattaching to her body. Her Cursed Staff slammed down, its terrifying power and speed shattering both the Long Saber and Zhou Chen’s shoulder.
Zhou Chen shifted his footing slightly. Left hook!
A solemn piano chord exploded. The air burst with a roiling heatwave. The force of the blow tore the flesh from his hand, revealing shattered bone, but the Old Witch was sent flying again. Her face was already twisted out of shape, her eyes filled with disbelief.
‘This is an unrecoverable wound!’
‘This ant… he actually hurt me!’
“Since you’ve shown you have a health bar, you’d better be ready for me to finish you off.”
Zhou Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, but his injuries healed rapidly. Wreathed in boiling flames, his fist once again smashed into the Old Witch’s face with a deafening boom.
No weapon, no technique—just the simplest of punches. The result forged from the indignant fury in his heart, plus the full-powered blessing of a contemporary Crowned King, was a heavy blow against the incarnation of Death’s Destiny!
In the grand hall, the King of Music lowered her gaze. A fanatical fire lit up her pupils, making them sparkle. She was already completely immersed in her performance of the magnificent, impassioned music.
‘This is it, this is it…’
The King of Music was lost in a state of ecstasy, unable to hide her excitement. A melody of fate like this was the very inspiration she had always craved!
The piano music swirled and climbed rapidly, surging out of the hall as a tide of light. In a resounding echo, the tempo quickened, the melody grew more stirring, more breathtaking, and the ceaseless torrent of notes soared higher with the fierce rhythm.
It resounded between heaven and earth.
The vast and solemn symphony engulfed the entirety of Jinzhu University.
“Looks like someone’s really getting carried away with their playing…”
Somewhere in the Mirror World, atop a ruined building, a man in a traveler’s hat looked toward the music-shrouded Jinzhu University and gave a helpless laugh.
In the command room, Jiang Che looked at the audio-visual feedback on the monitor. “Is the King of Music making a move?”
Beside her, the King of Mirrors frowned, then shook his head. “She’s composing. She’s composing for someone.”
‘Zhou Chen…’ The possibility instantly occurred to Jiang Che.
·
“AHHH!”
Inside the source of the pollution, the Old Witch stumbled backward, screaming in pain and fear. The next second, another solid punch landed on her face, knocking out all her teeth.
Zhou Chen grabbed her sparse white hair with a flaming hand and slammed his fist down. The Old Witch’s head became severely deformed, her eyeballs nearly squeezed out of their sockets.
She instinctively swept her Magic Wand, snapping several of Zhou Chen’s ribs as a shockwave erupted.
“Cough…” Zhou Chen couldn’t help but stumble back two steps, coughing up blood mixed with fragments of his internal organs. Even without wishing for his wounds to recover, he could feel his bones and organs healing rapidly.
—The King of Music had offered him her most sincere blessing.
As long as the music played, his life would not end. As long as his indignant will to resist fate persisted, the blessing of the magnificent symphony would sustain his fight to the very last moment!
“I’m going to slaughter you!”
The Old Witch’s face convulsed and twisted as she roared at him. The skull at the tip of her Cursed Magic Wand glowed with an eerie, dark-green light. The surrounding Cursed Undead withered and disintegrated rapidly under its rays.
Zhou Chen hurriedly dove into the shadows and moved to the other side, but his arm was still caught by the light. It rotted and withered in an instant, the flesh completely melting away, leaving only bone.
To the accompaniment of the piano, notes wrapped around his arm, and the vanished flesh was rapidly reborn.
Immediately after, the newly re-fleshed Flame Fist mercilessly smashed down on the Old Witch’s skull.
Skull-Splitter!
BANG! Her once-indestructible body cracked open, and a thick, dark Curse gushed out from the fissure.
Whether from fear or madness, the Old Witch’s eyes turned blood-red. The Magic Wand in her hand shifted, transforming into a pitch-black dagger that she thrust toward Zhou Chen.
An intense chill instantly enveloped Zhou Chen, making his scalp tingle and the hairs on his body stand on end. Without a second thought, he shot backward.
That was a dagger imbued with the power of Destined Death.
“You’ve indeed gained the power to resist, but how long will it take you to kill me? And how long can Erin hold on?” The Old Witch’s twisted face was utterly hideous, her eyes filled with venomous hatred.
“A death that is fated will inevitably occur! You can’t change it!”
“You will be buried by the wrath of fate!”
The Old Witch roared with fury. The entire source of pollution began to tremble as all the curses and calamities rioted, pouring out like a raging torrent.
A viscous darkness swept over everything, swallowing it whole.
An unknown, cruel fate rushed toward its final chapter, set to a vast, magnificent, and heroic melody.
