Lord of Prayer - Chapter 357 - 236: Drowning in the Land of Tenderness (Part 2)
Seeing him vanish, the Demon flared one of its dragon wings, abruptly halting its high-speed charge. It executed a fluid turn in mid-air, then powerfully beat its Wings and shot forward again with a roar.
BAM! BAM! BAM! The metal walls, and even the metal spikes on them, were shattered by the Dragon-winged Demon in the most brutish way possible.
It smashed through the last metal wall but still couldn’t find any sign of Zhou Chen. Turning its head, it saw several more walls erupting from the ground.
It charged forward in a fury, shattering the thick metal walls one by one as if they were paper.
Suddenly, four steel chains burning with pale flames burst from the earth, tightly coiling around the Dragon-winged Demon’s limbs. The Spiritual Flame needed only the slightest touch to invade its body and incinerate its mind. It was agonizing, as if it were being roasted over a fire.
The more fiercely the Soul-Burning Flame blazed, the more delirious the Demon became. When it tried to flap its Dragon Wings to kill the human, it suddenly realized it could no longer feel them. Its dark Soul had been burned and was now incomplete!
It hurriedly mobilized the Dark Power within its Soul to extinguish the damn flames, struggling with all its might to break free from the chains.
Seizing this opportunity, Zhou Chen, standing thirty meters away, used the Molten Fire as a medium to activate a Skill from his Hammer of Forging: [Destruction of All Things – Fragile Transformation].
CRACK! CRACK! CRACK! CRACK…
The enchanted Furnace Fire flared up, engulfing the Dragon-winged Demon’s limbs. A few seconds later, its limbs hardened, and large, red-hot cracks appeared, seemingly filled with molten magma.
“Tighten.”
Zhou Chen clenched his fist. The four steel chains contracted to their tightest, and the Dragon-winged Demon’s limbs shattered like broken porcelain, exploding into pieces.
A blood-curdling shriek echoed throughout the entire mine.
An expression of extreme agony twisted the Dragon-winged Demon’s face. Its fly-like compound eyes suddenly glowed with a hypnotic red light.
Immediately after, a sharp, convulsive pain shot through Zhou Chen’s heart, making it stop for nearly three seconds and causing his concentration to waver.
At the same time, the Dragon-winged Demon’s body began to rapidly dissolve. The Dragon Wings on its back, the scales and coarse fur on its body, the fly-like compound eyes on its face… all these biological features regressed and vanished. It reverted to a “human form,” its aura plummeting, though it was now without any facial features.
The Power it had gathered transformed into a black arrow that shot through the air. In the final fraction of a second while Zhou Chen was distracted by his heart stopping, the arrow pierced his chest, spreading like ink before sinking into his body.
Zhou Chen’s face filled with shock. Then, his vision went black, and he collapsed, stiff as a board.
The Fire Spirit Bracelet on his wrist suddenly flared with golden light. The light surged, forming a giant golden cocoon that enveloped him. When the light faded, a massive piece of amber had formed, protecting Zhou Chen within.
Alchemy Tool – Life Amber!
The Demon, having reverted to its initial state, looked on with some confusion. After spending over twenty minutes reconstructing its body and suppressing the Spiritual Flame within, it got up, walked over to the Life Amber, and threw a punch.
It couldn’t even budge it.
After several failed attempts, the Demon dragged the Life Amber to the edge of a mine shaft and threw it in. A few seconds later, the muffled thud of a heavy object hitting the ground echoed from below. It climbed down and found that even after falling from such a height, the amber was completely unharmed.
Frustrated, it had no choice but to give up on the idea of killing Zhou Chen.
The Demon silently studied the slumbering Zhou Chen inside the amber. ’To think such a powerful Superpower User would come to Akita Town. I was almost killed.’
’But now, the problem is solved. No one can escape from that dream of pleasure and desire.’
’However, being so severely wounded has completely disrupted the pace of my plans.’
’In that case…’
’I’ll just have to speed things up.’
*
*
“Get up, get up!”
「In a daze.」
Zhou Chen heard a familiar voice anxiously urging him on, followed by a displeased shove.
His consciousness returned, and he found himself lying in the bedroom of his villa. Bright sunlight was filtering through the curtains.
Zhou Chen turned his head and saw Li Xiye sitting up in bed, bending over to pick up her clothes from the floor and put them on. “We’re so dead, we’re so dead… Today’s the opening ceremony, and we’re about to be late! Hurry up and wake Erin!”
’Erin…?’
Zhou Chen froze for a moment before realizing there was someone else lying on his other side. He turned his head and the first thing he saw was a shock of beautiful, eye-catching golden hair.
He subconsciously nudged Erin. “Time to get up, Erin. We’re going to be late.”
Erin let out a sleepy mumble and reluctantly sat up. Her hair was a mess. She stared blankly for a full half-minute before slowly picking up her clothes from the floor and putting them on.
Now dressed, Li Xiye gave Zhou Chen an annoyed kick. “Hurry up and get dressed. You have to take us to school.”
“Oh, right…”
Zhou Chen slapped his forehead. He felt like he was forgetting something, but it didn’t seem important. The important thing now was taking Erin and Li Xiye to school.
’Right… because of her Curse, Erin never had many friends, and she’s not very worldly. So I decided to have her go to school with Li Xiye. First, we’ll get her education up to a middle-school level. Plus, they can look out for each other.’
After getting dressed and washing up, the three of them went to the living room.
Zhou Chen saw Jiang Che, dressed in a gauzy house dress, sitting at the dining table eating breakfast. Three more steaming hot breakfasts were laid out on the table.
Li Xiye rushed over to eat. She had exerted a lot of energy last night, so she was starving.
Erin ate with the grace of a proper lady, chewing her food slowly and thoroughly, though her pace wasn’t slow.
Zhou Chen pulled out a chair and sat down, scratching his head. He couldn’t help but feel that this cozy scene was… indescribably strange.
’Almost… surreal?’
“Don’t you have work today?” Zhou Chen asked Jiang Che, who was sitting next to him. For some reason, he found her outfit… refreshing?
“Day off.” Jiang Che had her usual expressionless, stoic look. “I took a week of annual leave. We can go to Hawaii for a vacation.”
“Huh? That’s not fair! I want to go too,” Li Xiye was the first to complain.
“I want to go too,” Erin chimed in.
“Kids should be in school,” Jiang Che replied calmly. “Wasn’t summer break long enough for you to have fun?”
“Then I’ll take a leave of absence,” Li Xiye said. “I need to go on an Ascender mission.”
“Denied.” Jiang Che’s terse reply crushed her hopes.
Li Xiye looked at Zhou Chen, hoping to find an ally.
Zhou Chen was about to speak but was silenced by a sidelong glance from Jiang Che. He could only offer a weak smile. “We’ll just be gone for a week, we’ll be back soon… Alright, hurry up and eat. I’ll take you to school.”
“Suddenly, I don’t want to go to school anymore…” Erin said, her cheeks puffed out.
“Me too, me too,” Li Xiye said, slumping in her chair. “I’ve come down with a case of back-to-school syndrome. I need another week of vacation to recover.”
“Enough nonsense. Get your things and go to school,” Jiang Che said, tapping the table with an air of authority.
Watching this scene, Zhou Chen couldn’t help but chuckle.
’This is so nice…’
“What are you laughing at?” Li Xiye kicked his leg under the table, annoyed.
“I was just thinking of something happy.”
After breakfast, Erin and Li Xiye slung on their backpacks. Zhou Chen stepped forward, and with a thought, a pale flame enveloped the three of them.
The flowing flames dissipated, the scene changed, and they appeared at the school gate.
*
*
Golden Bamboo Star Association.
Jiang Che watched the live broadcast of the Sword Forging Competition and let out a soft breath.
’So he ran into it after all…’
’Call it hypnosis or an Illusion invasion, but that Demon’s Ability is to create an extravagant, beautiful dream fueled entirely by one’s inner desires.’
’A beautiful dream woven from one’s own desires… Even someone with immense Willpower would become trapped, unable to escape.’
’The pioneer teams the Forging Association sent in before all fell victim to this.’
’So, Zhou Chen, you have to remember…’
Jiang Che quietly gazed at the screen, at the slumbering Zhou Chen inside the Life Amber.
’—Remember the “insurance” I left for you.’
*
“Insurance? What insurance? Oh, I don’t need insurance.”
At the school gate, having dropped the girls off, Zhou Chen refused the enthusiastic sales pitch of an insurance agent.
Flames ignited, the scene changed, and he was back home again.
Then, he started packing his luggage with Jiang Che, getting ready for their vacation to Hawaii.
