Chapter 216: Plan to Defeat the Enemy
Even with the courage to strike at demons, the awe for the unknown realm he harbored made himself an "prey" in the authority of the other, or rather, a Believer.
Because he feared his attacks would be ineffective, the attacks were certain to fail...
This was a trap Bai E himself hardly noticed.
So... should he hypnotize himself?
The Lord of Fear gave Bai E no time to think.
Any impulsive emotions required a continuous onslaught of facts; once humans had time to think calmly, their so-called "wisdom," "morality"... would allow them to gradually slip from control.
With feet like bird's claws, he stepped down from the throne of bones, the exposed blood-red muscle without skin emitted a strong scent of blood.
Bai E cautiously retreated.
Not knowing what the adversary wanted to do, not knowing his mode of attack...
Every unknown brought panic, and worse still, Bai E, despite being mentally alert to these points, was unable to control his descent into the confusion of the unknown.
Fear is faith...
Even he... had become nourishment for the other's growth.
"Boom!"
The Lord of Fear erupted suddenly with a plain attack, and a punch felt like being run over by a truck.
Bai E's body instantly flew backward, and on landing, he knelt and slid back several meters on the ground.
By the time Bai E finally stopped, his hands were planted on the ground, blood running from the corners of his mouth, his mouth filled with a sweet, metallic taste.
Pain!
Excruciating pain!
Every inch of his flesh felt as if it were being pricked by needles, Bai E's fingertips dug hard into the ground, almost driven mad by the humanly unbearable pain.
The Lord of Fear's strength seemed to carry an assault targeted precisely at the flesh, turning the fear he collected into a tangible poison, infusing all of it evenly into Bai E's body with that punch.
Spiritual Energy's power tainted reality, and even "self-restraint" couldn't suppress such pain, as it was more than just a pure hormonal emotion.
"It's no use... all your resistance is in vain, only by entering the Lord's embrace can you find complete peace," the voice of the earlier scout still advised from a distance.
Bai E bent over, his head down, biting down hard on his teeth, feeling the gradually adapting pain.
Hearing another's voice, a gritty breath came from the shadows, "Enter His embrace... like you, jittery and unable to stop?"
No! Absolutely not!
The pain caused his muscles to spasm unconsciously, almost uncontrollably.
Although he was slowly getting used to it, the pain was fading too slowly.
The body... the body...
Extreme Pain Relief!
A skill obtained from the Blood God!
[Extreme Pain Relief: You have learned the ability to numb your senses. From now on, at the cost of temporarily losing "tactile sense," you can completely ignore all the pain you feel, and maintain optimal combat condition until your body suffers widespread damage. Maximum duration: 1 hour, exceeding the limit may result in permanent loss of function in parts of the body.
Cooldown time: 24 hours after closing the skill effect.]
Every warrior lucky enough to survive countless battlefields must learn this ability to disregard pain and continue fighting.
Only then can they fight with abandon, exhausting their last drop of blood!
"Cough~ cough~"
With the pain entirely blocked out and unable to feel his outer skin as if anesthetized, Bai E struggled to his feet, his will no longer affected by pain, and his thinking back to normal.
Such speed...
Such strength...
The demon, grown powerful from absorbing countless fears, was this formidably strong!
Indeed... the Blood God had only acquired a portion of the power bestowed by demons and displayed such terrifying battle might, and if it weren't for the sharp decline in his strength after his night vision goggles were knocked off, the outcome of their battle might have been in question.
Now facing the demon itself, it should be even harder to defeat.
But demons in the real world too must speak with their strength.
In this world, even with an irrational element like Spiritual Energy, swords, guns, and firearms are still the absolute rulers!
Battle is the only melody of the world!
With a fierce spit of bloody, sweet-tinged, viscous saliva, Bai E moved his arms.
If he could overcome the mountain that was the Blood God, then he could also overcome this demon who wielded fear.
Let's see!
Let's see if the skills I possess today can earn me a chance against you!
Hands forming palms, crossed in front of his chest.
The power of the Lord of Fear was several notches above that of the Blood God, but that figure, similar to humans, had some commonalities with humans in terms of combat skills.
Refined techniques were Bai E's confidence against his opponent.
After defeating the Blood God, his Combat Specialization Layer leveled up out of nowhere.
Level 5 Combat Specialization! Plus all the attribute enhancements that came with the rise in combat specialization layers.
Added to that are abilities like "Overlimit Drive," "Instant Kill Hundred Heads," and defensive ones like "Regeneration Blood," "Resist Death," and "Absolute Defense."
Bai E had never felt as strong as he did now, his real and substantial abilities were the necessary prerequisites to face this world with courage.
Watching the human warrior who had managed to stand up again right in front of him, the Lord of Fear's thick, purple-red lips slightly flattened, "You can still get up?"
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...
On the vehicle halted in the wilderness, soldiers were waking up one by one, and as they gradually freed themselves from those nightmarish delusions, the chilly and debilitating sensation in their limbs was also slowly fading away.
They were gradually regaining some of their mobility.
"Wonder how he's doing?"
"There must be a demon inside... those lowlifes summoned a demon!"
"Can you move yet? Maybe we should send one vehicle back to the barracks to report the situation here, and get those professional executors from the Arbitration Place..."
"But brother B27 is still inside... We have no idea how he's faring."
"Should we go back in and check?"
As time gently soothed the scars, the soldiers who had awoken from the murky, nightmarish scenes that they could not clearly recall were almost ready to forget the suffocating terror they had felt before... just like anyone who wakes up from a nightmare in the middle of the night, time heals all.
They felt they could move again...
The fastest-acting soldier even reached out to slide open the vehicle's side door, when suddenly a spinning, topsy-turvy sensation surged up, and boundless darkness once again enshrouded his world...
"Bang!"
"Bang!"
The sound of a fist striking flesh was the first to echo in the soldier's mind.
As if growing accustomed to the darkness, the soldier's incorporeal eyes began to "see" clearly what was happening in the dark—a sphere covered in arms like a spiky ball was mercilessly slaughtering the brave soldier over and over again.
The demon moved with such speed that it seemed to teleport, easily appearing behind B27 every time he was knocked down.
The soldier who had vowed to free them entirely from their terrifying plight was now in such a dire state it seemed as if he would die at any moment, his body so battered it was nearly impossible to find an inch of unmarred skin, his lip corner smeared with bruised blood mixed with mud...
It was evident he was trying hard to resist every attack from the "demon," but the combat stance he adopted was always obliterated by an irrational force.
"Kneel down!"
"Quick, kneel down!"
In the dark dungeon, the oppressive mass of heads came together in a single voice, chanting a deep tone that was foolish and terrifying.
For some reason, the soldier inside the vehicle felt as though he had turned into one of them.
'Kneel down...'
He firmly suppressed the urge to cry out as such.
He looked with hope at the solitary point of light in this darkness.
To flee? Or to fight back?
He didn't know.
He didn't know what he wanted to see...
He just wanted to see a glimmer of hope.
To see a ray of hope that humans could counterattack the demon.
"Bang!"
The flash of the pistol in the darkness was brief as the beaten soldier unexpectedly counterattacked in midair.
The flame from the primer surged and propelled the bullet out of the chamber, the spinning bullet tearing through the air, leaving a searing trail in its path!
"Snap~"
The bullet hit the demon's crimson chest, sinking millimeters deep in an imperceptible fashion, then the forceless bullet fell to the ground...
Still no effect.
However, looking down at the shot on his chest, the demon's eyes showed a flicker of panic...
How could this be?
How could this be?
Could it be that despite being beaten down like this, he still believed he could defeat him?!
The very thought of this terrifying possibility triggered the Lord of Fear into instant action, his silhouette flickered, and in an instant, he appeared before Bai E as he landed.
"Boom!"
Two arms, even sturdier than those of a Blood God, crashed down powerfully, the demon no longer attempting to subdue this human warrior who was so difficult to break mentally.
"Snap!"
The punches, were they blocked?
"Haven't you noticed?"
Bai E crouched into a high stance, bracing the demon's fists that came smashing down, slowly raising his bowed head, his eyes ablaze with golden flames.
Rage surged!
[Rage Surge: Your rage is endless, the flames of anger drive your body, from now on, the "anger" emotion you feel will boost your "reflections," up to a maximum of +3 in combat performance.]
The Lord of Fear possessed no great technique, merely relying on the countless sacrifices of fearful emotions to attain unimaginable speed and strength.
Bai E, who had been attacked countless times, had long grasped his attack patterns and frequency.
If he were willing, he could certainly give as good as he got with the full force of his current power.
But, he had to make sure his plan was absolutely successful!
The pitiful-looking Bai E smiled lightly, the corners of his mouth slowly widening into an increasingly manic grin.
"From just now, I haven't attacked you once..."
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