Personality Collapse!

Fang Ran stood there, completely stunned.

In twenty years of life, this was the first time he had ever witnessed such a scene.

A massive cage of water trapped a flaming figure within it, while several figures around him wielded all kinds of cold gleaming lights as they attacked him!

The glittering golden city lights illuminated this fantastical scene, making Fang Ran wonder whether these were truly the lights he had known.

Every move was merciless, every strike meant to kill.

He could tell that every one of them genuinely intended to kill, truly acting with the goal of taking the other person's life!

Fang Ran remained sprawled on the ground in the posture Si Ai had shoved him into, trembling all over as though his legs had lost all strength.

This was not like last time, when he had watched someone fight a monster safely from beneath his cloak. This was a real, life-and-death battle unfolding right before his eyes!

Fang Ran stared blankly at the battlefield. Within the enormous Cage of Trapped Water, a figure wreathed in Crimson Flame thrashed wildly like a trapped beast!

But Fang Ran could tell.

Si Ai seemed unable to hold on much longer.

That enormous Cage of Trapped Water seemed to heavily suppress, perhaps even counter, Si Ai's flames. Fang Ran saw that he could not even summon his Flame Armguards.

Figure after figure took turns attacking Si Ai. Though he was stronger than any one of them, though his rank was as high as B-Rank, his situation within that unknown water cage was becoming increasingly dangerous.

His wounds kept multiplying, and his blood kept flowing.

There was the mage at the rear who had cast the water cage, the woman beside him who constantly used Illusion Techniques to disrupt his mind, the official young man whose frontal assaults grew fiercer and fiercer, and the suited man who had remained where he stood, closely watching Si Ai's every move.

"Damn it!"

Flames surged as Si Ai pressed a hand over the arm slashed open by the Tang Blade. His flaming right hand directly cauterized the wound and stopped the bleeding!

His sweat evaporated. The hem of his jacket howled in the rising currents of flame as Si Ai locked his gaze on the man maintaining the water cage!

The activation of his Night Gear failed once again. Si Ai glanced at the ring on his right hand. His personal weapons, his Night Gear, were all related to fire. That was his greatest strength, and also his greatest weakness!

Bang!

The official young man with his face concealed beneath a hood charged forward again. The Tang Blade flashed, and Si Ai's pupils contracted. With his physical energy rapidly draining, he narrowly dodged aside—but at that moment, Si Ai's expression changed!!

The suited man who had been standing still suddenly moved!

With a single flicker, he appeared behind Si Ai!

Feeling the intense sense of danger at his back, Si Ai barely twisted aside before a burst of agonizing pain struck him!

A hand pierced straight through the right side of his chest!

"Puh—cough!!"

Si Ai vomited a mouthful of blood!

Boom!

Violent flames erupted, forcibly driving back the two attackers and blocking the others' follow-up attacks!

But Si Ai no longer had the strength to maintain his footing. The impact sent him flying, and he crashed straight down onto the ground!

Right beside Fang Ran.

The smell of charred flesh and blood surged straight into Fang Ran's mind!

"B-Big Brother Ai...?"

Fang Ran looked at him with a trembling voice. The flames around Si Ai had not yet gone out, but his resilient body forced itself upright, like the last unyielding warrior on a battlefield still picking up his spear.

"Damn—no! Big Brother Ai! Y-you... are you okay!!!"

Fang Ran did not know what he was thinking either. He squeezed out a little strength and stumbled over to Si Ai. Ignoring the flames still burning on him, he supported him.

"Damn! That's hot!"

Fang Ran's hand jolted from the burn. He hurriedly patted at the places on Si Ai's body that were still on fire. His mind was completely blank right now; he did not even know why he had suddenly run over.

Si Ai breathed slowly and did not stop him. He simply looked at Fang Ran calmly, then suddenly smiled and asked him:

"Why didn't you run?"

"Huh!?" Fang Ran looked utterly bewildered.

Si Ai laughed again, then looked ahead. Suddenly, he shoved Fang Ran away once more!

Flames ignited around his body as both hands blocked the descending Tang Blade!

Bang!

Sparks scattered through the air!

"You're finished, Si Ai! Stop resisting!"

At that moment, the roguish young man also rushed over. Seeing Si Ai at the end of his rope, he could not help sneering smugly!

Si Ai merely glanced at him without speaking, still looking down on him with contempt.

The roguish young man immediately became furious! That damned, lofty look of contempt! It was one of the reasons he hated Si Ai most!

Then he noticed Fang Ran standing blankly to one side, ignored by everyone else.

"Oh? Why is there an E-Rank piece of trash here?"

He sneered, then raised his right hand, which wore a Knuckle Duster flashing with magical patterns. As though taking revenge for Si Ai's contemptuous gaze, he threw a punch at Fang Ran!

His eyes were filled with mockery and disdain! It was as though he wanted to heap every bit of contempt he had suffered onto Fang Ran!

Facing the gust of wind from the incoming fist, Fang Ran could not stop his entire body from trembling. Amidst his labored breathing, he smelled death.

Bang!

A flaming hand suddenly seized his gauntlet.

"You!!!"

The roguish young man's face immediately drained of color! He frantically poured in physical energy, trying to pull his right hand free, but it had no effect whatsoever! The hand gripped by Si Ai did not budge at all, as if trapped in a gigantic vise!

Flames still lingered on the right side of his face as Si Ai suddenly appeared between them, his expression savage!

"Trash is trash. You people will only ever attack those far weaker than yourselves!"

His voice seemed to emerge from the flames, carrying the savage ferocity of a flame demon!

Upon hearing those words, the woman from Against the Current, the hooded young man, the suited man, and all the others stopped in their tracks. They even assumed defensive stances!

"You want to take me down? Then you'd better be prepared to pay a sufficient price!!!!!!"

A wild, unrestrained madness appeared on Si Ai's face. He seized the man's wrist and slammed him viciously into the ground, pressing down on the back of his head as if intending to smash it into the pavement!

He raised his face and gave everyone a savage grin.

"Remember! You put this water cage around yourselves!"

Then the flames across his body went berserk! In an instant, he turned into a man of fire! The wound piercing his chest could no longer burden him!

A savage, hoarse voice rose from Si Ai's throat, like a crazed roar!

"Infernal Purgatory!!!"

The suited man and everyone else turned pale! All kinds of defenses flashed across their bodies at once!

Then, within the hemispherical water cage, a pillar of molten fire as large as the cage's base erupted with a thunderous blast!

Blazing flames surged upward!

The water cage became a world of fire!

As the two extremes collided, light and heat became eternal in that instant!

Yet one second before that, Fang Ran saw the man turn back and smile at him.

"Anyway, there's nothing I can do this time. I might as well give you, a newcomer, a hand. Remember to find somewhere to hide, and work hard."

That was all he said. The deep explosions and roaring drowned out anything that followed.

After an unknown amount of time, Fang Ran's trembling eyelashes slowly opened. The last wisp of flame protecting him faded away.

He looked at the pedestrian street, which resembled the aftermath of a fiery explosion, his eyes vacant and lost.

But that did not last long, because soon Fang Ran saw it—the only body nearby whose shape was still more or less intact, lying in front of him.

A corpse lying on the ground, its right chest pierced through.

An overwhelming urge to vomit instantly rose within him!

The charred smell in the air, the smell of people consumed by flames, the shock of the sight before him, the panic and fear he had never felt before—all of it formed the unbearable sickness clogging Fang Ran's throat!

"Bleurgh!! Cough, cough!!!"

How many people had ever seen a corpse?

Seen that kind of mangled, incomplete, bloody, indescribable human corpse.

Before today, Fang Ran had never imagined such a horrific scene would unfold before his eyes!

He really wanted to pull himself together, to be like those fearless heroic protagonists in movies, but he felt that he could not do it.

He also wanted to return to his usual self, the self who could not help making sarcastic remarks whenever he got nervous. He wanted to crack a joke right now, but he felt unable to say even a single word.

The person he had known for only a few hours had died in front of him.

A living, breathing person had died in front of him!

If he had not saved him just then, would he have had a chance to escape!?

That thought crashed into Fang Ran's mind, making him clutch his hair as his head felt like it would split apart!

Intense emotions disrupted his senses, and a nauseating, retching sorrow spread through his body.

As if unable to accept it, he stared wide-eyed at Si Ai, who lay before him.

The dead eyes still open, retaining the emotions from moments ago; the bloody, mangled wound through his chest, where bone and internal organs could vaguely be seen.

All of it struck Fang Ran's heart like an immense terror.

Memories from the past few hours flashed through his mind, as though they had happened long ago.

Why could they not compete fairly? Why did they have to kill people? Did they not care about the law?

Fang Ran, who had lived in normal society for twenty years, could only think of such things.

His mouth hung open, but he did not know what sound to make. His hands dug tightly into the ground, as if searching for somewhere to vent his strength.

His thoughts twisted. Fang Ran forcibly calmed himself down, but his emotions turned into chaotic thoughts that babbled madly through his mind!

"Ah... ah... ahhh..."

A hoarse, obscure cry filled with fear, rejection, collapse, terror, and rage.

Was forced from Fang Ran's throat!

Only after he screamed until all the air in his body was gone.

Did Fang Ran slowly raise his head. All the turmoil within him sank into chaotic coldness as he looked at the unchanging night sky of the Night Battle.

His rampaging thoughts condensed into a warped resolve!

Without reviews, this author feels like he cannot write a second chapter.

So!

Please leave reviews! Please recommend it! Please add it to your collection!