Burn to Ash? I'll Let You Burn!
The vast ice fields of Su'e'ai, cleared away by Luo Li as if by a natural disaster, returned to death at an alarming speed.
The vampire lairs that once occupied abandoned cities, mines, and military bases are now reduced to mummified corpses gradually buried by wind and snow.
Luo Li's aura was deeper and more dangerous than when he first Su'e'ai.
The power flowing within him, due to the infusion of a massive amount of vampire essence, had reached a critical point of saturation.
[Bloodlust Backlash] Like a warning bell constantly ringing deep in his mind, the desire for blood and slaughter almost materialized into a whisper, tempting him to turn his gaze to those vibrant human lives that were watching him from afar.
But he held on tightly.
The three figures in his mind, gradually blurring yet still his only obsession, acted as the final anchor, firmly holding onto his reason, which was about to be engulfed by bloodshed.
"Not enough..."
He stood on an ice cliff stained red with blood and then frozen in an instant, gazing towards the far north.
There, the sky was an unnatural dark red, as if subterranean fire was burning beneath the permafrost, and the air was filled with the smell of sulfur and Wrath.
"Scorching Purgatory".
The lair of Samael Sin of Wrath.
Luo Li could clearly sense that the energy level of the slumbering being there was far more violent and aggressive than that of Mammon, whom he had instantly killed.
"Perfect..."
He licked his slightly chapped lips, his eyes a mixture of crimson and silver, like the sky before a storm.
"Use your anger as a stepping stone for me."
He took a step forward, his figure merging into the void.
The speed of [Space-Trace Instant Shadow] is extremely fast.
In the blink of an eye, he traversed hundreds of kilometers and appeared on the edge of the "Scorching Purgatory".
The landscape here has been completely altered.
The permafrost thawed, revealing the charred rocks beneath. Dark red magma flowed through huge cracks, and the air was filled with scorching heat and a pungent smell of sulfur.
It formed an extremely eerie contrast with the endless ice fields around it.
At the heart of that inferno, a colossal lava crater, composed of solidified lava and countless twisted metals, beats slowly like a heart, radiating a suffocating pressure.
Luo Li's appearance was like ice water thrown into boiling oil.
"Roar--!!!"
A Wrath, seemingly capable of shattering the soul, resounded from the depths of the lair.
The entire ground of the Scorching Purgatory trembled violently, and the lava lake boiled and churned.
Immediately afterwards, a massive figure crashed through the rocky top of the nest and soared into the sky.
That was a giant who was over ten meters tall.
It was not made of flesh and blood, but rather like flowing, ever-burning dark red lava! Fiery hellfire coiled around its body, scorching and distorting the air around it.
It had no clear facial features, only two holes like volcanoes constantly spewing sparks and thick smoke, fixed on Luo Li.
"The Sin of Wrath," Samael!
"Insects... disturbing... slumber... die!!"
Samael's voice boomed like a thunderclap, filled with the purest and most direct Wrath.
Without uttering any unnecessary words, it raised its giant fist made of lava and, with a destructive will that Burn to Ash everything, smashed it down on Luo Li's head.
Before the fist even arrived, the terrifying heat and shockwave had already melted and lifted the ground beneath Luo Li's feet.
This punch was enough to instantly vaporize a small hill.
However, Luo Li stood still, without moving.
He simply raised his left hand.
[Time Retardation] did not affect the entire space, but rather it acted precisely on the giant lava fist and its accompanying energy impact!
Buzz--!
Samael's devastating fist suddenly slowed down less than ten meters from Luo Li's head, as if it had sunk into an invisible swamp, its speed decreasing by dozens of times!
Like a slow-motion replay, it slowly presses down.
"Um?"
The flames spewing from Samael's two volcano-like eyes suddenly froze, clearly not expecting his attack to be neutralized in such a bizarre way.
Its anger burned even brighter because of its setback!
It roared, and even more ferocious dark red flames spread out from its center, instantly engulfing an area of several kilometers in radius.
Within the domain, the temperature soared, the air was sucked out, the earth turned into lava, and even the rules began to tilt towards "Burn to Ash"!
This is its power! It is its absolute domain that can turn everything to ashes!
"In my domain... turn to ashes, you insects!"
Samael roared, his lava body seemingly receiving infinite power within the domain, becoming even larger and hotter.
Countless giant fists and spears formed from hellfire rained down on Luo Li from all directions.
Faced with an attack powerful enough to burn down a city and destroy a country, Luo Li finally made a move.
He wasn't dodging; rather... he also opened up his own domain.
Centered on him, a strange, silvery-white region, seemingly composed of countless clock markings and spatial latitude and longitude lines, violently collided with Samael's "Burn to Ash Domain".
Sizzle sizzle--!
Two completely different forces of law collided and annihilated each other in the void.
Dark red flames intertwined with silvery-white Spacetime turbulence, emitting a teeth-grinding tearing sound.
Samael's flames attempt to Burn to Ash time and space.
Meanwhile, Luo Li's Spacetime is distorted, delayed, and even partially retracing the burning of the flames!
"How is this possible?! Your domain...!"
Samael let out an incredulous roar.
It sensed that its own Burn to Ash Domain was being suppressed and eroded by the opponent's strange domain.
The fire attacks aimed at Luo Li were either slowed down infinitely, deflected by Space Folding, or simply reversed in time, transforming back into the most basic energy after entering the silver-white domain.
Is this all there is to your anger?
Luo Li's voice, cold and clear, pierced through the sounds of the collision of the domains and entered Samael's "ears".
He slowly raised the Enma in his hand.
[Path Imprint] -- Extreme Overload!
Buzz--!!!
On the blade of the Enma, the dazzling silver light shone brighter than ever before, even subtly overshadowing the dark red blood light of the blade itself!
A terrifying wave, so powerful it made Samael's heart tremble, seemed capable of severing cause and effect and Finality Spacetime, spread out!
"Then... let's end it here."
Luo Li's figure disappeared.
[Space-Trace Instant Shadow]!
This time, he was so fast that he didn't even leave an afterimage!
Samael only felt a blur before his eyes, Luo Li was already right in front of its lava body, inches away!
"Die!"
Samael Wrath. Its lava claws, imbued with all its fury and power, lashed out at Luo Li, attempting to crush this tiny insect that dared to challenge it and even suppress its territory!
However--
Luo Li's knife is faster than its claws!
[Spacetime Slash - Enma] -- Ultimate Technique Instant Return to the Void!
One cut!
Just one cut!
There was no grand display, only an extremely restrained, dark line that seemed to devour even the light, extending from the tip of Enma's blade and silently sweeping past Samael's massive lava body.
Time seemed to stand still at this moment.
Samael's massive claws froze in mid-air, his fiery eye sockets solidified, and even the hellfire burning around him stopped flickering as if frozen.
Its near-indestructible lava body, sustained by the power of Wrath, began to fade rapidly from the spot marked by the thin gray lines, its heat quickly cooled, and its violent energy dissipated like a deflated balloon.
One second later.
Crack... Boom!
Samael's massive body, like a rock that had been dried up for millions of years, shattered inch by inch, eventually turning into countless dull, cold, ordinary pebbles and lava fragments, mixed with the lifeless hellfire, collapsing like a landslide and falling into the lava lake below, splashing up a tiny ripple.
All that remained was a pulsating, dark red flame, radiating endless Wrath and destructive power.
Instant kill!
Another instant sell-out, no doubt about it!
From the moment Luo Li appeared in the Scorching Purgatory to the moment Samael turned into cold fragments, the entire process took less than a minute.
Luo Li slowly descended from the sky, standing on a charred rock, slightly panting.
The continuous use of the [Spacetime Domain] at its limit and the overloaded [Path Imprint] also took a toll on him.
But the light in his eyes burned even brighter.
He reached out his hand, and the Wrath source of energy seemed to be drawn in, flying into his palm, where it was then devoured and absorbed by Enma without any mercy.
Boom--!
A power even more violent and scorching than when he absorbed Mammon surged into Luo Li's limbs and bones in an instant!
[Bloodlust Backlash] erupted like an oil depot thrown onto Mars!
"Ugh--!"
Luo Li let out a suppressed growl, his eyes instantly filled with crimson.
In his mind, the defenses of reason were crumbling under the onslaught of raging rage and the desire to kill.
He abruptly raised his head, his gaze like a tangible, blood-red sword, sweeping across the Su'e'ai army and superhumans still monitoring him in the distance.
An impulse to destroy everything was violently assaulting his will.
Kill! Kill them all! Use their blood and cries to quell this all- Burn to Ash Wrath!
Just as he was about to lose control—
[Ding! Detected that the host has successfully killed ' Sin of Wrath ' Samael!]
[' Purification Era ' quest progress updated!]
[Warning! Host's mental threshold is nearing the critical point! [Bloodlust Backlash] level increased!]
[It is recommended to immediately find a safe place for deep meditation to suppress the backlash! Otherwise, there is a risk of complete loss of control!]
The system notification sound was like a bucket of ice water poured over Luo Li, bringing back a sliver of clarity to her consciousness, which had been almost completely submerged in blood.
He clenched his teeth so tightly that blood seeped from his gums, using all his strength to forcefully suppress the destructive desires deep within his heart.
We can't... lose control here...
He still needs to... find Castorice and his daughter...
This obsession, like the final shackle, bound the ferocious beast that was about to break free of its cage.
He glanced intently at the Su'e'ai troops in the distance, who were agitated by Samael's death and the terrifying murderous aura he had just exuded, and then paid them no further attention.
With the activation of [Space-Trace Instant Shadow], his figure vanished instantly from the Scorching Purgatory, heading deeper into the even more desolate polar ice cap.
He needed time to process this power and regain control of his body, which was on the verge of bursting from all the negative emotions and violent energy.
On the frozen plains of Su'e'ai, only a Scorching Purgatory of utter desolation remains, along with a legend about a Blood-Colored Death God who slayed the "Sin of Wrath" alone and then vanished.
The surviving Su'e'ai soldiers stared in silence at the infernal ruins that had been reduced to cold wasteland.
They knew that an era might truly be about to change.
The person who brought about the change is now alone deep within the icy plains, battling the demons within.