Gun of Ashes

The Secret Blood stirred and surged within him, and even after breaking the critical point, it didn’t stop. Instead, it continued to race towards the end of darkness. To counter the weight from Roger, Lorenzo involuntarily harnessed it all, with the Secret Blood aiding him in his ”Ascension,” adapting to the struggle against Roger.

Lorenzo didn’t notice these changes, but Roger already had. In the battle with him, to survive, to kill Roger, Lorenzo was continuously growing stronger. Yet, simultaneously, he was sliding into darkness, walking the same path.

”Come on!”

Roger shouted, throwing the long spike once more.

The speeding steel effortlessly pierced through everything, with blazing flames coiling on its mottled surface like a swirling tornado, transforming into a scorching Flame Spear.

In a flash, the fiery tail followed the spike, turning everything in its path to shattered, gray-white remnants.

The speed was too fast, so fast that Lorenzo had no way to dodge. His heart pounded violently as a shrill warning from the depths of his soul alerted him; if hit by such an attack, Lorenzo’s bodily defenses would collapse in an instant, leaving him on the brink of death, and his [Gap] would lose its last defense, opening up to Roger.

Fear, chill, boil.

Something had opened a barrier, leaving Lorenzo standing at the edge of the Abyss.

His body trembled slightly, and then, the Armor began to transform. The ends of Lorenzo’s hands sharpened, resembling the claws of a beast.

The evil anomaly was treacherous, with the same darkness wafting around his body.

Then Lorenzo saw it, the trajectory of the Flame Spear. It would strike him, pierce through and incinerate his corpse, but as long as... as long as he just adjusted slightly, just awkwardly lifted his arm, just lightly disturbed its trajectory...

Lorenzo threw the spike in his hand toward the Flame Spear as he slightly turned his body.

The calm shattered.

The spike struck the Flame Spear and was instantly shattered into molten iron, but even such a meager attack caused a tiny deviation in the Flame Spear’s path. It then grazed Lorenzo’s side, striking the ruins behind him and igniting a towering blaze.

Lorenzo gazed at the sea of flames behind him; he had evaded most of the damage. The Flame Spear, as it scraped past his chest, shattered his Armor and scorched his flesh, but compared to the ”outcome” Lorenzo had seen, this was undoubtedly much better.

The sound of wind arose suddenly.

Roger came with the spike, but this time, unlike before, he couldn’t easily hit Lorenzo. Lorenzo dodged the sword strike without effort, and with a booming noise, the spike plunged into the ground.

Sharp lights crisscrossed; Lorenzo, as if predicting all of Roger’s actions, avoided his various blocks, delivering the sharp spike into Roger’s chest, piercing his heart.

Lorenzo looked at Roger with an expressionless face, applying slight pressure with his wrist, completely shredding his heart.

”I... saw it.”

Lorenzo whispered, as various chaotic futures flashed before his eyes; the time was short, but enough for him to make the perfect decision.

Authority · Shangdafeng.

The spike seemed to come alive, with solid metal proliferating on it, expanding the blade, transforming it into a Great Sword made of wrought iron, which completely tore apart Roger’s chest from the inside.

The Great Sword swung, tossing Roger high forward. Dense Armor encased Lorenzo layer upon layer, as if a craftsman was hammering it, with heavy, protruding spikes growing out like the stiff fur of a beast.

He gasped, inhaling the cold and the heat.

The Armor was so heavy that Lorenzo could no longer bear its pressure, crouching like a wolf on the ground, dragging the Great Sword, with blazing white flames burning on his body.

[Secret Blood Awakening 61%]

The Secret Blood broke through the Double Critical, marching high towards the end of Ascension, as the hunched and monstrous figure clawed and danced in the firelight.