Aftermath

Ripples flashed through the surrounding space.

Before him, the ghostly woman let out a shriek. It carried a strange force that struck directly at the depths of his soul.

Arthur heard a ringing in his ears. It felt as if something had smashed into his head, and his mind sank into chaos.

Though his thoughts were muddled, his battle instincts—honed through years of training—remained. Sensing danger, he instinctively swung his longsword forward, carving a sharp arc of light through the air in an attempt to drive back his enemy.

The two figures collided in an instant. With a sharp rush of wind, the longsword in Arthur's hand pierced straight through his opponent's body, meeting no resistance at all.

"What?"

A flicker of bewilderment crossed Arthur's face as he watched what had happened.

His sword had gone straight through the other figure, but it hadn't struck anything solid. It was as if he'd thrust it into a cloud of air.

The next moment, a wave of agony washed over him, accompanied by an intense, bone-deep chill.

"Unknown force field detected. Move away immediately!" The Chip's mechanical voice rang out in his mind again.

Arthur moved his feet and crossed several meters in an instant, putting distance between himself and the spot.

Gasping for breath, he stared at the terrifying ghost before him, shaken by what he had just experienced.

That feeling... If I hadn't reacted in time, I really would have died!

The thought flashed through his mind. As he recalled the sensation, his gaze grew more wary.

Moments earlier, the ghost's power had enveloped his entire body. He had felt a wave of cold and pain strike him all at once, then his thoughts had begun to blur. He'd stood there, dazed and helpless, waiting to be slaughtered.

If the Chip's alert hadn't snapped him briefly back to his senses, he would probably have remained that way until the ghost killed him.

Recalling the scene, a cold gleam flashed in his eyes. "Physical attacks are useless... Is it intangible?"

A searing pain came from deep within him. It wasn't in his body so much as in his mind.

Howls rang in his ears, accompanied by the woman's piercing shrieks, making him tremble instinctively.

An ordinary person standing here wouldn't even need the ghost to attack. The sound alone would be enough to kill them or leave them in a vegetative state.

Arthur was far more resistant to it than an ordinary person, but he still found it difficult to bear.

He forced himself to focus and began to move, dodging a claw that swiped at him from the side.

A faint green light spread across his black longsword. He unleashed his Life Energy in an instant and slashed hard to the side.

Aaaah!!!

A terrifying shriek rang in his ears. A slight wound appeared on the ghost, and black wisps began to drift from it like flowing blood.

"It works!"

Enduring the violent ringing in his ears, Arthur quickly dodged to one side.

After being struck, the ghost seemed to go mad, relentlessly pursuing Arthur as he dodged.

They raced around, two blurring figures darting from place to place. In the brief span of time, they covered an unknown distance.

Crash!

A rumble suddenly came from the building behind him. Amid the ghost's howls, it collapsed.

Arthur swung his sword behind him, sending a gust of wind through the air and sweeping aside the part of the building that had been about to fall on him.

The movement inevitably slowed him for an instant. The ghost seized the opportunity and lunged straight at him.

The familiar sensation returned. As the ghost closed in, a chill enveloped his entire body. Arthur felt his mind growing more and more exhausted, his thoughts blurring as he slipped toward the same paralysis as before.

A rumble suddenly erupted.

With a deafening shriek, the terrifying ghost was hurled backward. A huge gash had split open across her chest.

Arthur's aura surged. His Life Seed burst into action, and the Life Energy within him was squeezed dry, driving his body's strength to its limits.

"Ding! Life Seed has activated! Increased strain on host's body!" The Chip's mechanical voice rang out in his mind again.

With his Life Seed activated, the intense discomfort washed over Arthur and was forcibly suppressed. The mental pain and exhaustion he'd felt became a faint, feverish exhilaration.

But in this state, his Life Energy would be consumed rapidly. If he failed to end the fight within a certain amount of time, the consequences for his body would be dire.

With that in mind, Arthur leaned forward and leaped. His immense Life Energy flared in midair, then came crashing down in a heavy strike.

Heavy Slash!!!

A terrifying blade of light appeared beneath Arthur's sword and surged forward with crushing force, raising a sharp gust of wind.

It was a Knight Secret Skill. With his Life Seed activated, its power became even more terrifying—inhuman, in fact.

Aaaah!!! The woman let out a piercing, horrifying shriek, reaching its peak.

A gash had opened in her chest. Compared to the small cuts from before, this one looked as if it had split her entire body apart, exposing the darkness within.

Black wisps seeped from the wound, slowly dissolving into the surrounding space.

Despite taking such a blow, the ghost didn't fall. Instead, she grew even more frenzied.

Her rotten face stretched wider, and fangs sprouted from her mouth. Black wisps streamed from her wounds, spreading into the air like ink. She looked even more terrifying than before.

As the ghost descended into a frenzy, Arthur immediately felt the pressure intensify.

He didn't dare touch her. The chill remained, and as her frenzy grew, it became even more vicious. Even his activated Life Seed couldn't fully resist it.

But the Life Seed's activation had greatly increased his strength, spurred on by his Life Energy. Even against the raging ghost before him, he still had a chance to fight.

His sword swept through the air, sending waves of wind outward as Life Energy continued to build. From time to time, he inflicted another small wound on the ghost's intangible form.

During the fight, Arthur inevitably took a few glancing hits from her attacks. The injuries to his mind kept accumulating, always on the verge of erupting.

The two entered a war of attrition. Whoever gave out first would lose the fight and be devoured without a trace.

"Host's body strain has reached the critical limit. Recommend ending burst state immediately!" The Chip's mechanical voice rang out in his mind again.

Arthur no longer had the energy to heed it.

His condition was dire.

The fight had been going on for a long time. Since activating his Life Seed, the Life Energy inside him had been rapidly depleted, and now he was nearly spent.

The activation of his Life Seed temporarily suppressed all his fatigue and pain. But thanks to the Chip's constant monitoring, Arthur knew exactly how bad his physical condition was. It had reached a terrible state.

The ghost before him was in no better shape.

After a prolonged battle, her body had become riddled with wounds and was falling apart. Black wisps spread outward from her injuries.

Her power was strange, but her fighting instincts weren't as sharp as Arthur's. With little difference in speed between them, she often missed as Arthur dodged her attacks.

"Two steps left, then thrust right!" The Chip's alert sounded in his mind.

Arthur didn't hesitate. He leaped to the left, dodging the ghost's pale claw as it reached for him, then swung his sword hard to the right.

Pale green Life Energy spread slowly, leaving a fresh wound on her body.

The moment his strike landed, Arthur moved away, keeping his distance from his opponent.

With the Chip's assistance and his own superb combat instincts, Arthur fought with remarkable precision, making almost no mistakes.

Crash!!!

After an unknown amount of time, a crisp cracking sound rang out. The ghost before him suddenly froze, then let out a deafening shriek.

Despair, sorrow, hatred, and other negative emotions mingled in her voice before it gradually faded away.

It seemed the damage had finally become too much for her to bear. The ghost could no longer hold her shape. Her entire body dissolved into a cloud of black wisps, which scattered into the surrounding space and melted into the night.

Arthur watched quietly, then breathed a sigh of relief and finally ended his Life Seed's burst state.

A wave of dizziness and exhaustion hit him. The suppression of the damage to both his body and mind vanished, and it all erupted at once, pounding through his head until he almost wished he could pass out.

"Chip, assess my physical condition and analyze the results of this Life Seed activation!"

Arthur fought through the pain and exhaustion, forcing himself to stay upright. Then he gritted his teeth and gave the Chip the order.

Two or three seconds passed before the Chip provided its answer.

"Life Energy burst has ended. Host's organs are depleted, and cellular activity is declining! Estimated reduction in host's lifespan: 10 to 15 years."

Arthur's mouth twitched at the answer. "At least ten years off my life. No wonder knights, for all their strength, don't tend to live long. Who could afford to keep bursting like that?"

In fact, if an ordinary Life Burst ended before the body's Life Energy was depleted, it would still cause significant harm—but nowhere near as severe as Arthur's.

The reason he'd suffered such terrible aftereffects was that his injuries were simply too severe.

Life Energy came from the body itself and was closely connected to life.

When the Life Seed burst, Life Energy stimulated the body, improving it in every way for a short time. But if the burst continued after the Life Energy ran out, the body would be forcibly drained, leading to dire consequences and possibly even permanent damage.

"Cough..."

Standing where he was, Arthur couldn't help coughing. He spat a mouthful of blood onto the ground.

He stood quietly for a while, waiting until his body had recovered somewhat. Then he looked ahead and walked toward the spot where the terrifying ghost had collapsed.

The fight was over. It was time to collect the spoils.

Fixed update time~ From now on, new chapters will be posted at six in the morning~