Volume Five: Return from the Other Shore - Man vs. Man

Clang!!!!

The clanging of the blade almost pierced eardrums, and a straight gust of wind cleaved the last remaining section of the church wall in two! The massive mass crashed down on Yu Jie with a deafening roar, but in the next instant, it was engulfed by the darkness gushing from his body. The ten-thousand-ton boulder was instantly assimilated by him, compressed into a small stone arrow, and shot towards Nid!

"This is a bit monotonous, Brother Yu Jie!"

Nid did not attempt to dodge, knowing that the stone arrow would explode the moment he did, and the fragments, enhanced by the darkness, would be enough to riddle his personal guard with holes. Instead, Nid ran his hand over the Greatsword, and intricate geometric patterns immediately appeared on the blade. With a flash of light, the compressed mass of ten thousand tons was shattered!

"You've gotten better, huh? But you're still a greenhorn!"

At the same time, Yu Jie lunged forward, and the assimilated Sword of Judgment whistled as it pierced toward Nid's chest. Nid immediately raised his sword to block, but the Sword of Judgment dispersed on its own the instant it was about to make contact with him, splitting into many tiny strands that twisted past the Greatsword and then recombine into one!

Did he succeed? Yu Jie wondered. The dark blade of the Sword of Judgment was already inches from his chest. Even if Nid could react in time, he wouldn't be able to dodge or defend!

But Nid didn't even try to dodge or defend himself.

He simultaneously charged towards Yu Jie, the Sword of Judgment piercing directly into his chest, blood spurting out, but Nid didn't even flinch! He tightened his grip on the hilt, his upper body muscles taut, and slashed down with the sword! Driven by the momentum, the sword that had pierced his body slashed horizontally, tearing his clothes and leaving a shocking, long, narrow wound!

Yu Jie was caught off guard by this sudden counterattack and immediately retreated to create distance—but Nid's slash, which could be transmitted through the air, caught up and left deep marks on his arm! Taking advantage of the opportunity, Nid deflected the Sword of Judgment and swung his Greatsword to launch a fierce pursuit. Countless translucent slashes of wind howled and tore through the air. The speed of his sword swings was too fast for the naked eye to catch, leaving only afterimages!

Even with such an offensive, Yu Jie's defense remained impenetrable! The Sword of Judgment clashed with Zhan Feng from all sorts of tricky angles, parrying each move and holding its own! Seizing an opening, a large amount of darkness gathered at the tip of the blade, and the moment it slashed down, it resembled a jet-black waterfall! The darkness collided head-on with Zhan Feng, and the ground instantly shattered into powder, and the two men were separated.

Yu Jie raised his eyebrows, examining the wound that the Sword of Judgment just carved into Nid's chest.

"Hmm... I see. This wound looks terrifying, but it actually perfectly avoided all the vital areas. There was only a little blood splattering at the beginning; in reality, not much blood was lost."

"Don't make it sound so easy, it actually hurts quite a bit."

"To create an opportunity for myself by paying a small price that won't be fatal or significantly impact the battle, and then launch a surprise attack to severely injure the enemy...? That's quite an ancient tactic. I was really careless."

You're being modest.

"What's that saying again... a man has to be tough on himself? You're such a masochist, Nid!"

"You're overthinking it. And I'd like to ask you... why is your arm still movable? I'm certain I struck a vital muscle; it shouldn't be able to move under my skin, and you didn't force it to move using Dark Infiltration."

"Hmm, who knows? Maybe it's because of his masculine charm?"

"Is your masculinity just those bloody barbed wires?"

"..."

Nid looked coldly at Yu Jie's arm. The torn muscle had been forcibly sewn back together with barbed wire, like a worm embedded in the flesh, which was quite terrifying.

"I've been curious about this from the beginning. What's with all those barbed wires on your body? The wounds they repaired could have killed you ten times over. How come you can still move? In my memory, barbed wire isn't some kind of miracle cure."

"Do you believe in the folk remedies from my hometown?"

That's why I hate people who make jokes at inappropriate times!

Nid swung his sword forcefully, unleashing another gust of wind that flew towards Yu Jie, its target being his neck!

"I might not be able to explain it clearly... so keep your eyes peeled and watch carefully--"

With a snap, an irregularly shaped sphere flew out.

It was Yu Jie's head.

He didn't dodge or defend against the attack.

But he did not die.

The severed neck and skull sections, along with the broken trachea and esophagus, revealed barbed wires stained with blood and rust that extended simultaneously from both sections—no, the sheer number and speed of these barbed wires could only be described as "spraying"! The two strands of barbed wire intertwined in mid-air, and with a squeak, the severed head was pulled back onto the neck, the broken section stitched up like a wound.

"What... is this?" Nid was completely stunned.

"Who knows what it is? Believe it or not—for some reason, it seems someone has made my body indestructible. Even if I'm shattered into pieces, I can recover just like before. Isn't that amazing?"

"You call that recovery?" Nid frowned, as if he had seen something utterly disgusting. "Being forcibly pieced back together and stitched back together by that horrifying thing, you call that recovery? It's just using the most vile and forceful methods to get your body moving!"

"But the immortality it brings is undeniable. It doesn't matter. Even if I end up in this broken and miserable state, I will not let myself be defeated by you!"

"Then I'll kill you until you're dead!"

The Greatsword and the black blade clashed again, the explosive airflow sending up all the surrounding debris. Before they even landed, the two had already exchanged no less than a hundred blows! The black and white sword lights were tightly intertwined, seemingly evenly matched, but in fact, Yu Jie had a slight advantage! Just then, Nid suddenly abandoned his defense, turned sideways and thrust his sword to meet the black sword light, leaving a long, narrow gash on his side, while the Greatsword aimed straight for Yu Jie's chest!

"Using the same old tricks is so stupid, and it's completely useless!"

The Greatsword pierced Yu Jie's heart without resistance, and a large gushing of blood spurted out. Yu Jie showed no reaction other than a twitch of his face in pain! His iron-like hands, disregarding the sharpness of the blade, gripped the Greatsword embedded in his chest, and with a sudden pull, even lifted Nid up—

"Got you!"

--Then, throw it out!

Nid's Greatsword was still embedded in Yu Jie's chest, but he himself was lifted into the air, completely disarmed! Yu Jie laughed loudly, picked up a thick metal pipe that had fallen to the ground, and after amplifying it with darkness, hurled it at Nid like a javelin!

But just as the pipe slipped from his grasp, Nid, who was now adrift in mid-air with nowhere to hold on, glanced sideways at Yu Jie and beckoned with his finger.

Four other bladed weapons that had been waiting for a long time—a machete, a longsword, a goose-feather saber, and a knight's broadsword—flew out simultaneously from the ruins where they were hiding, heading straight for Yu Jie's back! However, Yu Jie was also prepared. He stomped his foot hard on the ground, and a dark protective wall made of assimilated solids rose up. With a series of clanging sounds, all four weapons were embedded in the protective wall, unable to go any further!

With a snap of his fingers, Yu Jie caused the protective wall to immediately disintegrate and reform, forming a giant cocoon that completely enveloped the attacking swords and blades. He also pulled the sword from his chest and stuffed it into the black cocoon to imprison it.

"You're thinking too simply, Nid! I knew something was wrong the moment I saw you weren't carrying any other weapons, so I've been on guard the whole time. Well, look what happened, I've completely disarmed you!"

Approaching at lightning speed and striking swiftly, just as Nid was adjusting his stance to land after his plan failed— Yu Jie grabbed his ankle, bringing him to a comical stop headfirst.

"You lost, Nid ~"

"Probably—if I hadn't prepared this beforehand."

"--!?"

Something appeared on Nid's head.

Hanging upside down, he somehow produced an ancient, silver-white crown and placed it on his head.

"Depend on!!!"

Yu Jie reacted instantly and retreated hastily, but a huge silver-white blade suddenly appeared from the void and slashed across his waist, cutting him in two! Before his upper and lower body could be reattached, several newly appeared mechanical giant soldiers plunged all the blades extending from their wrists into his body, pinning him to the ground!

"Phew, the battle is truly over, Brother Yu Jie— "

"--Dream on, Night Knight!"

All solids assimilated by the spreading darkness enveloped Yu Jie, and a half-body statue covered in pinkish-purple light patterns appeared behind him! It was a humanoid figure wearing old-fashioned knight armor, and although it was a half-body statue, it was larger than the mechanical giant soldier. Its mere existence released an extremely terrifying pressure!

"████████!!!"

The Night Knight let out a murky roar, and a jet-black Greatsword appeared in its hand. With a single strike, all the silver-white behemoths surrounding Yu Jie were cleaved in two! Intricate parts scattered in all directions, turning to dust before they even hit the ground! The jet-black Greatsword's strike tore through space, easily leaving bottomless ravines in the earth, while Nid could only use his giant weapon as cover to temporarily avoid the onslaught!

"Ha... ha... if I'm not mistaken... that's the Crown of the Saint Emperor? And these white guys are... the legendary Saint Emperor's 'first army'? Heh... is that all they've got?"

Yu Jie roared, and the Night Knight responded to his will, swinging his sword. A jet-black gust of wind that tore through space rushed towards Nid! If this attack were to hit head-on, even that monster would be knocked to the ground! But this domineering attack was blocked! Thousands of mechanical giants simultaneously emerged from the void, arranged closely together, forming an indestructible silver-white shield that perished together with the jet-black gust of wind!

"Of course, that's not all I'm capable of, Brother Yu Jie."

Nid sat atop one of the giant soldiers' shoulders, adjusting the Crown of the Saint Emperor on his head, slightly out of breath, while looking down at Yu Jie, who was bound by barbed wire.

"The Craft God created an unexpectedly large number of things back then. I don't believe you have no limits now, so... I will also use all my forces and go all out."

"Haha... Interesting!"

A series of silver lights flashed, and giant soldiers appeared one after another, filling every inch of the shattered earth. At a glance, it looked like a neat, silvery-white ocean.

A rough estimate suggests that the total number of these bloodless and heartless weapons of war is no less than ten thousand.

The opponent was only one person, a Dark Knight capable of fighting against ten thousand men single-handedly.

"My loyal army--"

"Night Knight, answer my call—"

Nid swung down with one hand,

Yu Jie launched the charge.

"For victory, all troops, attack!!!"

"Conquer everything! Defeat everything! Bury everything!"

The Dark Knight faced the towering, silvery-white waves alone.

Despite the difference in numbers making him seem exceptionally small, his sheer presence alone was enough to rival the entire mechanical legion.

"As expected, women just can't understand men's romance..."

Looking down at all this from above, she sighed.

In short, men can be quite capricious at times, and these two are even more extreme.

"Is it time for me to step in? If I use the backdoor she left behind, there should be... no, there definitely is a way."

Having made up her mind, she tidied her beautiful light brown long hair, and the illusory image of her body vanished in a flash.

Only a slightly melancholy sentence remained, drifting away in the wind.

"Let this be... one last time I do a good deed before I face my fate."