Second Rewind

In an instant, Xia Shou felt a mysterious force wrench certain emotions out of him. Those emotions asked him where they should go next.

Xia Shou knew that was his killing intent.

Targets marked for death-Blood Demon and Tamer!

The moment he made his decision, Xia Shou saw the numbers on the gauge in his left eye change at dizzying speed.

Deep within his soul, the power of [Death Road], which had already dimmed, became available again thanks to Peak Perfection's refresh effect.

Then, in the order he had decided on long ago, Xia Shou played every last trump card!

[Death Road] activated!

Xia Shou once again gained a single chance to rewind upon death.

This death rewind lasted only one minute. If he failed to kill the Blood Demon and the Tamer within that minute, he would have to pay Peak Perfection's price of self-destruction, forcibly dying and rewinding.

But even one minute was enough for him.

Next, without hesitation, Xia Shou crushed all the remnants he had collected so far.

He had already used Physique Enhancement before activating Peak Perfection. What he used now were the three remnants he had obtained in the classroom!

[Battle Continuation]-a skill that allowed him to keep fighting tenaciously even when gravely wounded!

[Imperfect Vacuum]-a skill that ignored a portion of air resistance, allowing his speed to exceed conventional limits!

[Physical Body Fixation]-a skill that used a "healthy body" as a template to fix his organs in their proper positions.

Of course, there was also the fourth remnant he had obtained in the ruins: [Spirit Strike]!

"Everlasting Wound, activate!" Xia Shou activated the skill that prevented his opponent's wounds from healing.

This might be the most crucial skill for defeating the Blood Demon.

As the final skill entered cooldown, Xia Shou reached his fullest state of combat readiness.

At this moment, he did not have to pay any skill's negative price. He could enjoy their benefits alone. He only prayed that during this minute of Peak Perfection, his sinking depth would not exceed 1,300 meters.

Xia Shou stamped both feet against the ground. His powerful physique gave him extraordinary explosive strength, and with air resistance offering no hindrance whatsoever, his speed surpassed the limits humans could reach under normal physical laws!

His figure vanished from the spot in an instant, leaving only a human-shaped outline traced in dust where he had stood.

In a flash, he was already before the Blood Demon!

As the distance closed, the difference in their sizes became even more apparent. Standing before the Blood Demon, Xia Shou felt as though he were looking up at a small mountain.

"Lord Xia Shou, I can deprive it of its sight now," Alice said from behind him.

"Good!"

Xia Shou swung his fist into the Blood Demon's abdomen with all his strength. The sensation transmitted through his fist was that of striking pure liquid!

Its body was far more fragile than he had imagined. He could even say it had no defensive strength at all! Defense did not seem to be the Blood Demon's forte!

And the small indentation his punch left did not recover. That meant Everlasting Wound had worked!

No, more precisely, Everlasting Wound enhanced by Peak Perfection had worked!

"How can he possibly hurt the Blood Demon?!" the Tamer exclaimed in shock.

Thanks to the traits that came with his Grudge Spirit, the Tamer had an animal-like intuition for the strength of supernatural beings and anomalies.

He knew exactly what Xia Shou's instantaneous burst of speed and the indentation left on the Blood Demon meant.

It meant this man's anomalous power matched the Blood Demon's-or even surpassed it!

And it was not merely his anomalous power that surpassed the Blood Demon's. What he had struck was not just its projection in physical reality, but its more fundamental existence.

Moreover... not only had he wounded it, he had also suppressed the Blood Demon's extraordinary regenerative ability!

"Rrrooo..."

The Black Panther on the ground let out a dying whimper. The Tamer abruptly came back to his senses, and the light that had just appeared in his eyes dimmed at once.

"Little Black, wait. You can't go yet. This guy might actually win. We have to give him one last hand!"

At that moment, the Tamer felt as though he had returned to that damp, rainy alley all those years ago.

If Little Black had not formed a contract with him that day, he would long since have become food for stray dogs.

Afterward, he had used his own flesh as a vessel to house his companion, relying on that power to live a normal life in this world.

And now, he knew they had both reached the end of their lives.

Although he had been ordered to come inside and devour this combatant he had never met, that had only been to improve their chances of conquering the Blood Demon House.

Now, the tactic with the greatest chance of success had clearly changed. Naturally, the original plan was entirely void!

"Let's go!"

The Tamer stroked the Black Panther's body. Churning flames traveled up his arm and slipped beneath his cloak. As the black cloak turned to ash like burning feathers, his horrifying body, covered in suture marks, was fully exposed to the air.

Those were not scars any living person should possess. Only someone who had seen the true face of hell could bear such terrifying marks.

Enduring the searing black flames, the Tamer threw back his head and roared.

His face split down the middle. A translucent beast-shaped outline emerged from his flesh like an insect breaking out of its chrysalis, the spectral beast and his human body fusing and pressing together.

The panther's fading body became solid once more. Its spectral gaps were filled with the tangible flesh of a living person, prolonging the time this dying supernatural power could remain in the world.

This was no howl of pain. Someone suffering could never produce such a powerful roar. In that final surge before death, his fighting spirit returned to its peak.

The host took complete control of the vengeful spirit's power, and this final price brought one final reward.

Meanwhile, Xia Shou ducked beneath the Blood Demon's claw strike. Its long arm skimmed his scalp, and the blood splashing from its body transformed into blades in midair, piercing his body.

A blood blade gouged a large chunk out of his abdomen, leaving his internal organs plainly visible. Yet despite losing the support of ribs, skin, and flesh, his organs did not spill out through the wound.

[Physical Body Fixation] held his ravaged body firmly together, as securely as a puppet joined by invisible threads.

Now, he was a fighting machine that would not fall apart until the very last moment!

Xia Shou silently clenched his teeth and drove out another punch.

His superhuman physique, combined with [Imperfect Vacuum], pushed the speed of his strike beyond the speed of sound!

The tremendous kinetic energy punched a gaping hole through the Blood Demon's abdomen, sending blood spraying overhead

and spreading across the chapel floor, staining the inverted cross red.

The Blood Demon before him let out a savage roar unlike anything human or animal, a sound that threatened to tear his eardrums apart... Those attacks had merely enraged it.

It was only a roar, yet the blood in Xia Shou's veins seemed to answer its call, threatening to boil.

The Blood Demon swung its hand again, sending more blood rain flying as blades. But just before those blades struck Xia Shou, they suddenly veered away, all flying toward one corner.

Xia Shou glanced sideways and saw the Tamer kneeling on one knee, black flames engulfing his body and countless blood blades embedded in him.

The black flames scorched his flesh, yet could not melt those crimson blades.

Without a word being spoken, Xia Shou knew the Tamer had just helped him.

Although the Tamer could not fight the Blood Demon head-on, his power seemed capable of distorting the trajectories of projectiles.

He had to admit, that was an enormous help.

But judging by the Tamer's condition, he probably could not hold on much longer.

That did not matter. Xia Shou himself had only one minute.

The church floor shook violently. Deprived of its sight by Alice, the Blood Demon hammered the floor with its grotesquely long arms.

Its liquid claws were sharper than blades forged from alloy, casually carving crisscrossing furrows into the exquisite reliefs.

The monster flailed its arms wildly, constantly scattering blood from its body and slaughtering everything around it with blades of crystallized blood.

This assault should have massacred every living thing nearby. Thanks to the Tamer's final support, however, all those attacks were neutralized, allowing Xia Shou to focus entirely on the strikes from the Blood Demon's limbs.

By now, thirty-eight seconds had passed since Peak Perfection's activation.

After half a minute of combat, Xia Shou was covered in wounds and had lost more than seventy percent of his blood.

Under normal circumstances, he should already have died. But relying on the power of Battle Continuation, he burned his fighting spirit as fuel, and his body still faithfully fulfilled its duty to fight.

Gradually, Xia Shou began to recognize the patterns in the Blood Demon's attacks. Although it was powerful, it seemed to be a monster without intelligence.

Its frenzied attacks followed instinctive habits. When it swung one arm far backward, what followed was usually a low sweeping strike. When it raised an arm overhead, a vicious slam followed... just like a boss's attack windup.

"!!! Aaaahhhyeee!"

The Blood Demon threw back its head and shrieked. Visible ripples appeared in the red air.

The next second, it lifted its foot and stamped down!

Xia Shou knew he had to dodge, but it was already too late!

A massive tide of blood erupted beneath the Blood Demon's foot, spreading in every direction.

Xia Shou had already seen this move once. What would form next was-Blood Spear Forest.

The crisscrossing forest of crystalline spears pierced his entire body. Even with the support of multiple remnants, Xia Shou lost the ability to move. The Tamer farther away, and Su Weiyu even farther away as she waited for an opening, were also riddled with holes.

Death arrived right on schedule.

Rewind triggered!