Chapter 742: The Second Sacrifice

"Human, spare me!"

Number Two begged for mercy for the second time.

Even while begging, the expression on Number Two's face remained utterly terrifying.

Anomalies had no understanding of the saying "if you're going to beg, at least sound like you mean it."

After Chen Ye severed Number Two's right arm once more with his Demon Claw, five-colored blood splattered across the sand yet again.

Number Two felt agony beyond bearing.

This pain had transcended the physical realm entirely, striking directly into its very soul.

The searing torment caused Number Two's entire body to begin trembling.

The fear swelling in Number Two's heart grew even stronger.

And the feedback energy Chen Ye harvested from Number Two surged in response.

Time was growing ever more desperate.

By now, the sky was brightening, and the power belonging to the blood moon was steadily waning.

Chen Ye could feel the blood moon's blessing within him dissipating.

But fortunately, Number Two's terror of him was also intensifying.

With one side weakening and the other strengthening, the two forces happened to hold each other in balance for the moment.

Number Two's body was covered in red roses.

These roses clung to Number Two's arms, its legs, its waist, and even its head.

These crimson blossoms were feeding Number Two an agony beyond imagination.

Number Two could clearly sense that these roses weren't merely corroding its flesh—they had sunk their roots deep into its very soul.

This suffering made Number Two's whole body quiver gently.

After Chen Ye ripped away Number Two's right arm, the Demon Claw moved swift as the wind.

When Number Two tried to flee,

the Demon Claw promptly obliterated Number Two's left arm as well.

No matter how Number Two ran, Chen Ye clung to it like a persistent shadow, trailing right behind it.

Number Two couldn't escape—Chen Ye's current speed had already far exceeded the very limits of its own.

The destruction of its left arm brought Number Two another wave of soul-rending pain.

This torment made Number Two's body tremble faintly.

It even caused the flowers in the garden on its back to curl inward slightly.

The impression of Chen Ye had been branded deep into Number Two's soul.

Number Two couldn't understand—couldn't comprehend why this human, who had been so weak before, was now terrifying to such an extent.

"Human, let me leave. I... swear, I will never appear again!"

Number Two repeated its plea.

Its tone was icy and grim, its expression still horrifying!

But this time, as Number Two spoke, fear had begun to infect its voice.

Chen Ye didn't believe Number Two for a single second.

Words spoken by an Anomaly were simply beyond the realm of trustworthiness.

If he actually let it go, his only fate would be "death."

And then everyone would die!

Before the left and right arms could even begin to regenerate, Chen Ye locked his aim on the little garden behind Number Two's back.

The Demon Claw radiated a blood-red aura, so thick and dense now that it looked like fresh, crimson gore.

Those delicate, cool blossoms clustered across Number Two's back, trembling softly with every movement it made—absolutely beautiful.

Even the finest gardener in the world couldn't have cultivated such a lovely little garden.

Chen Ye thrust out the Demon Claw without a moment's hesitation.

He was going to destroy that garden.

"Ahhhh~~~"

That little garden, so beautiful it seemed unworthy of the human world, exploded into a storm of drifting petals in the morning light.

Petals of every color rained down like a dreamlike spectacle.

Number Two's entire back arched like a drawn bow in agony, its face twisted and spasming, the two crimson flowers in its eye sockets blooming and contracting in turn.

As if condemning Chen Ye's heartlessness and ruthlessness.

Not a single intact flower remained in the ravaged little garden—every single blossom had been shredded by the razor-sharp talons of Chen Ye's Demon Claw.

Five sharp claw tips pierced out from Number Two's chest.

Then five crimson fingers.

And finally, the Demon Claw itself.

Once more, Chen Ye drove the Demon Claw straight through Number Two's body.

"Human..."

Number Two howled in misery, its scream carrying across the entire beach.

Chen Ye's face was cold as ice.

He felt not the slightest pleasure in torturing Number Two to death.

Because he could already feel the power within him rapidly fading away.

The blood moon at the horizon had only a sliver left before it vanished completely.

And the blazing, scorching sun had only a sliver left before it would fully break free of the darkness.

All his terrifying strength would be lost in the transition between night and day, leaving him nothing more than an ordinary Sequence 4.

Chen Ye's heart ran cold.

Even if he could maintain his Demon Claw state, dealing with Number Two this easily again would likely be impossible.

What was he supposed to do now?

What could he do?

Could it be that, in the end, he really couldn't escape that single word—"death"?

Sun Xixi had long since woken up, staring at him with wide, beautiful eyes.

Jiang Rou's pretty mouth had been hanging open nonstop, her whole appearance both seductive and stunning.

Chen Hao lay sprawled on the ground, her body already overgrown with flowers, only her eyes still able to move.

She was staring at him with those eyes, unblinking.

Wu Zehui still stood there leaning on his Golden Cudgel, watching him too.

Elder Hou, Hou Junji, was also sitting on the sand, his face streaked with grime. The bird on his shoulder had reappeared, though many of its feathers had fallen out.

The man and the bird both gazed at him as well.

That somewhat chuunibyou Young Nobleman was also watching him.

Standing there, his eyes swirling with incredibly complex emotions—envy, envy, envy...

And Iron Lion...

Only his head remained, lying on the sand, facing directly toward Chen Ye.

The guy's eyes were bulging wide open, just staring...

Everyone was looking at him.

They had placed all their final hope squarely on his shoulders.

As if he were some kind of savior!

Savior...

Chen Ye laughed bitterly inside.

There was no savior here!

Just a fool's futile effort.

So what if he'd risen to Sequence 4?

So what if he could dominate Number Two in a fight—in the end, he still couldn't kill it.

As long as he couldn't kill it, everything was pointless.

Chen Ye sighed inwardly, and for a moment, he couldn't bring himself to meet those expectant eyes.

He'd only ever wanted to hide behind everyone else and survive.

But this time, of all times, he'd charged to the front.

Fate's irony was truly everywhere.

"Let me help you!"

An aged voice rang out.

The moment the words landed, jade tablets came falling from the sky.

These tablets were only about the size of a palm.

But as they descended, each one expanded into a massive slab a meter wide and two meters long.

Nine jade tablets in total, plummeting from the heavens like meteors, carrying boundless might.

"Boom! Boom, boom!..."

Nine booming impacts in all.

The nine jade tablets arranged themselves in a strange, deliberate pattern, encircling both Chen Ye and Number Two in the center.

This was... a Magic Formation!

The moment Chen Ye spotted that half-dead figure, he recognized him at once—it was Cha Wu.

As the nine jade tablets settled into place, Chen Ye could feel the pressure bearing down on him lighten.

It was as if an overwhelming, irresistible force had descended from the void itself, suppressing all evil and corruption.

Even Number Two before him...

Number Two's whole body now seemed to carry an entire mountain on its back, crushing it so low it couldn't lift itself.

Even its arms, which had been on the verge of regenerating, were frozen in place beneath the weight of this suppression.

This was...

An incredibly powerful formation.

"What are you still standing there for? Kill it already—I can't hold this for long!"

"Hurry!!!"

Cha Wu's hands moved like butterflies fluttering between blossoms as he manipulated the formation, barking out an urgent, frosty command.

Chen Ye's entire body dissolved into Green Smoke as he rapidly retreated.

The fear energy on him had almost completely faded by now. He was just an ordinary Sequence 4 at the moment, and staying that close to Number Two was extremely dangerous.

Kill Number Two?

Chen Ye's mouth tasted bitter. Even at his peak moments ago, he hadn't been able to finish it off.

How could he possibly manage it now?

Suddenly, a bolt of lightning flashed through Chen Ye's mind.

Wait—maybe he didn't need to kill Number Two to take it out of the equation.

The Hundred-Ghost Eater at his waist was trembling wildly, like a starving demon that hadn't eaten in a hundred years.