Lord of Prayer - Chapter 392 - 253: World-Burning Evil Fire, and the Familiar Aspiration of the Blue Clouds
Piecing together Jack’s memory fragments, Zhou Chen understood everything: Akita Town’s recurring reboot was, in fact, a wish Jack Reeves had unintentionally made.
All he had to do was abandon his resolve to save Akita Town, let it meet its predetermined doom, and he could renounce his wish, freeing himself from the endless cycle.
But he didn’t.
Even after decades of torment, trapped and suffering within the time loop, he never abandoned that resolve.
Knowing it was a path to certain ruin, he still charged forward, bound by duty, even if it meant being utterly destroyed…
No matter what, Jack wanted to save Akita Town.
Because he was a legendary agent, a guardian of the World and civilization. It was his duty.
Now, this hero, who had fought a solitary battle in a time loop hidden from the world, had passed his “hope” into Zhou Chen’s hands. It was this plea, this vested trust, that made Zhou Chen abandon his original plan and opt for the one he had just devised.
—Take out Satan.
He would make sure Jack Reeves saw the starry sky of Christmas and New Year’s, and the sunlight of “tomorrow”!
And so, Zhou Chen activated the Book of the Dead.
’The Hong City incident was huge. There’s no way the Star Association doesn’t know I have the Book of the Dead. Yet no one’s ever come for it, as if they’ve tacitly let me keep it as a trophy. The King of Music probably vouched for me… right?’
’Since the Star Association isn’t pressing the issue, and I’ve got a big shot covering for me, what’s there to be afraid of?’
’So what if I get a little corrupted in front of the whole world? It’s not like they’ve never seen the Second Stage.’
’There are plenty of Ascenders in this world who can use Abyssal Power. Controlled corruption is just one way to do it, not some terribly dangerous act. The worst that could happen afterward is I get sent in for an examination and have to write a few reports.’
“I didn’t fail…”
Hearing Zhou Chen’s words, Jack muttered to himself, then smiled in relief. He truly hadn’t failed. He had held on long enough for reinforcements to arrive. Akita Town was saved.
“I… succeeded?”
“Yes, you succeeded.
You’ve fulfilled your duty and done everything you could. Now, you can rest.”
Zhou Chen raised his left hand, and pitch-black Abyss Runes materialized from thin air. The evil, twisting symbols morphed into a dark Longbow. He drew the string, nocking a black arrow forged from the condensed sediment of the Abyss, and took aim.
“Leave the rest to me.”
WHOOSH!
The arrow tore through the air.
—Abyssal Curse: Decaying Black Death Arrow.
The pitch-black arrow, forged from death, destruction, and calamity, crossed several hundred meters in an instant, striking Satan with perfect accuracy as the Demon burst from the ground.
The terrifying Power of Decay flooded into the Demon’s body. A gaping hole silently blew open in Satan’s freshly regenerated chest. The black ichor writhed sluggishly, its regenerative speed drastically slowed by the decaying effect.
Satan endured the searing pain as its six pairs of eyes flared with light, launching a Curse at Zhou Chen from afar.
As a Demon born from humanity’s seven Original Sins, its greatest skill was to amplify the desires in people’s hearts. It liberated the dark, feral aspects of the mind that had been long suppressed, instigating all manner of sin so it could draw Power from the resulting chaos.
Satan didn’t know what this person had done, but it was certain that some shred of humanity remained in his mind. And before a being like Satan, humanity was the greatest flaw of all.
The invisible Curse descended.
But once the vicious Curse entered Zhou Chen’s body, it vanished without a trace, like a stone sinking into the ocean.
The Book of the Dead contained countless Abyssal secrets, including dozens of frenzied curses related to the seven Original Sins. Without Zhou Chen having to do a thing, the book itself would devour the Curse and convert it into a sliver of Power.
Zhou Chen chanted a Spell brimming with malevolence. The Abyss Curse materialized in the air, its beginning and end joining to form a circle.
He reached through it and closed his hand. A steely white light grew in his palm, inch by inch, with the clang of forging steel. It finally solidified into a stark, cold longsword that radiated decay and an ashen, deathly aura.
—The Sword of the End.
In a flash of fire, Zhou Chen vanished. In the next, he reappeared before Satan, the death-infused blade swinging in a wide arc.
Satan raised an arm in a panic to block. The Dragon Scales on its limb secreted a strange substance that rapidly solidified into a crystal, boosting its Defense Power.
The deathly energy passed without a sound. Satan’s arm snapped unnaturally, the lower half dangling, connected only by a few strands of black, fleshy ichor.
Another slash severed the limb completely. The moment the arm hit the ground, it rapidly decayed, crumbling into a pile of fine dust in the blink of an eye.
The assault didn’t let up. The blade fell once more, carrying that silent, deathly energy. Satan retreated instinctively as countless maws of gluttony opened all over its body. They greedily devoured the ashen death-energy, converting it into a noticeable boost in Power.
Zhou Chen was unfazed. He advanced, his blade cleaving downward. His attacks produced no whistling wind, no sudden gales, not even the ringing of steel. There was not a single sound—only an oppressive stillness.
Like the utter silence of death’s arrival.
“Get away from me!”
Satan roared in fury, forcibly igniting its Fury Fire, whose source had already been corrupted. But the feeble flames only offered a moment’s resistance before being effortlessly torn asunder by the Sword of the End.
But in that brief opening, all six pairs of Satan’s demonic eyes erupted with light. Bathed in its glow, Zhou Chen’s speed suddenly plummeted, as if he’d been put on 0.5x speed. His body grew stiff and sluggish.
