Chapter 147
Puff--!
The magically imbued Muramana instantly severed the hand holding the sword.
The instant the Darkin Blade separated from his body, Rhaast, who was already prepared, immediately wielded the Darkin Scythe and launched it, simultaneously activating blood magic.
In less than a breath, Aatrox's body was seized by Rhaast.
"All warfare is based on deception, Aatrox..."
Unrestrained laughter rang out.
Rhaast, rise again!
Chapter Twenty-Nine: This Rhaast is just lame.
Aatrox has once again fallen to mortals.
Once again... even with almost the same trick.
Perception of the outside world gradually shifted from the five senses to a pure magical sense, and the darkness and cold that had lingered for countless centuries returned...
Aatrox wanted to roar in fury, but having lost his physical body, he could no longer do so. He returned to the Darkin Blade, leaving behind only an eternally immortal soul.
Although he never believed he had ever truly gained freedom—that body pieced together from mortal flesh was merely a larger cage—he still loathed the feeling of being trapped.
Even if I'm going to be trapped in a cage, I'd rather be trapped in a big cage!
He wants to kill everyone and destroy the world completely!
He will destroy this damned cage along with the world!
But... he can no longer do it.
Having lost his physical body once more, he could only watch helplessly as Rhaast flaunted his body... and that damned, cunning mortal...
They all deserve to die...!
He was angry, he was in pain, but even more so, he felt endless hatred.
Gradually, he calmed down.
He recalled everything that had happened—that mortal was even more cunning than Atreus ...he was more ruthless than Atreus.
Being ruthless to oneself.
Those ordinary gunpowders... those smokes... his smokescreen, a clumsy facade concealing a deeper conspiracy... he was clever...
His decision to separate from Rhaast and launch a sneak attack... he was ruthless enough to himself...
Before escaping Rhaast was severely injured...
After they separated, the hurt was transferred to him...
This mortal...
Damn mortals...!
Aatrox's spirit roared, but no one could hear it anymore.
He remembered how he felt before he became Ascended —or rather, how he felt then.
We are all mortals, and we all experience the same extreme pain...
Endure, then ascend the Divine Ascent...
"Well done, you did a great job!"
"During the battle, you disengage from his body, then let me use a severed arm to rebuild a disguise, and finally you sneak up and cut off his hand... How did you come up with this method?"
"Since we can't defeat Aatrox head-on, then we'll seize Aatrox's body!"
"This is insane! This is amazing!!"
Rhaast, having seized Aatrox's body, laughed loudly, brandishing his scythe. His smug and arrogant demeanor made him seem to fit the world's stereotypical image of the "Darkin."
But that's understandable.
For him, defeating Aatrox meant that he was now the strongest Darkin.
How could he not be excited, given his constant desire to prove himself?
"This body... hmm... Aatrox's body, not bad, but nowhere near as good as yours... I acknowledge you, mortal! You are the most powerful mortal I have ever seen!"
Overjoyed by the victory, Rhaast spared no praise.
Then a weak voice came. "Stop blowing... come help me..."
"Huh?" Rhaast turned his head and saw Chen Ce lying on his back on the ground, clutching his chest, looking like he was about to die.
The wound on his chest was still there—the wound he sustained during the first sneak attack on Aatrox while the smoke was still billowing.
After severing Aatrox's hand, they immediately separated their bodies, leaving a horrific wound on Chen Ce.
This wound might be nothing to Darkin with blood magic, but for a mortal... it's absolutely fatal.
It's a miracle that they're even clinging to life.
"Oh, I'm sorry." Rhaast put away his scythe and stepped forward in Aatrox's body.
He crouched down, stared at the wound, and immediately smiled, "Deep enough to see the bone... Your internal organs are exposed to the air, and you're still alive."
"Stop... making sarcastic remarks..." Chen Ce, who had just ended his Meditation to save his life, frowned deeply, even breathing was extremely difficult - his chest cavity was almost completely opened, and his broken ribs and increasingly weak heartbeat were clearly visible.
Blood stained the pristine snow beneath him, and the speed of the hemorrhage was astonishing—he was still not completely dead.
"It was just a joke, don't be nervous." Rhaast laughed and stretched out a hand. "A mere fatal wound, I can revive you with a little blood magic."
"I hope... so..." Chen Ce's trachea began to bleed, and the feeling of suffocation made him dizzy.
Fortunately, he knew that Rhaast wasn't exaggerating.
What is fatal to humans is no different from a piece of dead skin falling off the sole of Darkin's foot.
"Honestly, your battle strategy surprised me—it was perfect." Rhaast was still chatting casually, completely ignoring this "minor matter."
As he spoke, he placed his hand on the other man's chest, then detached a large chunk of flesh from his own body—well, to be precise, Aatrox's body.
"First, we used mortal weapons as a smokescreen to make Aatrox think we were naive... That's called feigning weakness, right? Then we deliberately launched a sneak attack and got countered—both to take a piece of his flesh and to make him think our 'scheme' had failed again..."
Blood magic began to activate, Rhaast's flesh gradually merged with Chen Ce's ruptured chest, slowly stopping the bleeding.
"And he—the great Aatrox —actually believed it, ha ha ha ha... His arrogance is his greatest weakness!"
"He's ridiculous! He always thought he was invincible except for the Queen! But I— Rhaast —have defeated him!"
"Hmm... of course, this is also thanks to your strategy, mortal. You really went all out for victory..."
Rhaast looked into the other's heart, as if he could feel the extreme pain.
"Honestly, if you had been born a few thousand years earlier—or tens of thousands of years earlier? Anyway, before the fall of the Shuriman Empire. If you had been born then, perhaps you could have become a worthy Ascended —yes, I believe in you."
"The pain of being exposed to the Sun Disc is roughly the same as the pain you're experiencing now... I'm surprised you've managed to pull through."
"Born at the wrong time, just an ordinary person! Hahahaha..."
Rhaast seemed unusually talkative.
Even though he's usually quite talkative, and even though he's very excited right now... he seems a bit unusual.
His blood magic continued, but Chen Ce would definitely not recover anytime soon—he wouldn't even be able to exert any strength. Chen Ce was still alive only because of the huge amount of life points provided by the Heartsteel; anyone else would have died long ago.
"For mortals, your vitality is simply unbelievably tenacious..."
Rhaast spoke in a teasing tone, his gaze gradually shifting from the other person's chest to the snow-covered ground beside him.
The faint sunlight cast the shadow of the Darkin Scythe on the snow.
And... the shadow of Chen Ce.
The two shadows were close together.
Yes... now all you need to do is pull the sickle handle slightly...
Yes, yes... for just a moment... this mortal wouldn't even react...
He won't have time to react... the scythe will take his life in the blink of an eye...
Just a gentle pull of the sickle...
That damned Death Realm and those damned tin men in the Death Realm...
Once you do this, you'll be free from all constraints...
It's a pity to destroy this body, but...
Freedom is clearly more important...
Free...
"Your body is far superior to Aatrox's, mortal."
"Cough... cough cough..." Chen Ce's throat was filled with blood, rendering him unable to speak, but he remained conscious.
He met those chilling, demonic eyes. He read something in the other's gaze.
Just then, two clear, sharp shouts rang out simultaneously—the voices of two young girls:
"Let him go!"
"Stay away from Chen Ce!"
Of course, it's the nervous Sejuani and Ashe.
The former had been thrown out by Rhaast, while the latter rushed over immediately upon seeing this scene.
They weren't quite sure why Chen Ce had turned into a "monster" before, nor did they understand when Chen Ce had turned back, and they were even more confused about the changes in the two Darkin.
In their view, Chen Ce transformed back into human form after the explosive barrel exploded, while the monster that had been fighting Chen Ce had already extended its poisonous hand.
"Oh~ your mortal friends have arrived." Rhaast didn't even bother to turn around, continuing to stare at Chen Ce with a mocking smile.
"Your wives? Hah... They seem to think I'm Aatrox. They think I'm going to..."
"Kill you?"
Click... The sickle slowly slid down.
"Chen Ce!" Ashe, who was not far away, noticed the small movement and quickly drew her bow and shot an arrow.
Several ice crystal arrows were shot at, but Rhaast easily blocked them all with a casual swing of his Darkin Scythe —to the Darkin, Ashe, who had not yet grasped the true essence of True Ice, was utterly vulnerable.
If Aatrox hadn't been busy dealing with Rhaast, he wouldn't have been injured by those arrows at all.
"Don't rush, mortals..." Rhaast shifted his position slightly, using Chen Ce as his human shield. "I imagine you don't want to harm the innocent..."
"Damn it..." Ashe and Sejuani panicked.
Chen Ce simply looked at Rhaast calmly.
"Freedom... that word has been far removed from me for a long time..." Rhaast turned his gaze to Chen Ce again.
His blood magic continued unabated, and the other party quickly recovered to the point where he could speak again.
"I must say, you are the most qualified mortal I have ever met... but you are in my way, you know that..."
"Perhaps..." Chen Ce's vocal cords were still somewhat damaged, and his voice trembled as he spoke.
But Rhaast clearly saw that he was not afraid.
It's like...
"Your backup plan is to use your last breath to drag me into the Death Realm, is that it?" Rhaast laughed mockingly.
Chen Ce nodded with difficulty, his eyes eerily calm.
"But have you ever considered... that man Mordekaiser also wants to kill you...?"
"I know..."
"Yes, everyone wants to kill you... I noticed it last time; his eyes were filled with resentment when he looked at you... just like mine..."
"That's right..." Chen Ce nodded again, a mouthful of blood gushing from his throat.
"I guess you used some means to threaten him..." Rhaast continued with a laugh, "But once you're dead—when he's confident he can kill you instantly—you'll no longer be a threat to him..."