On the other side.
Beneath the collapsed theater.
The pile of rubble shifted, making a faint scratching sound.
A charred hand reached out from the debris.
Its fingers dug into the cracks between the stones, straining to provide support.
Another arm stretched out, equally charred and mangled.
Bill crawled slowly out from the ruins.
His appearance no longer bore any trace of his original Vampire cool and handsome nature.
Large patches of his skin were charred black, split open by numerous bloody gashes, with some wounds deep enough to show bone.
His hair was burnt away, revealing a festering scalp; in several places, even his white skull was visible.
His left shoulder had collapsed, with bone piercing through the flesh, dark red blood clinging to the stark white splinters.
Below his right knee, only a stump remained, the end a mess of mangled flesh.
The entire person looked like a blood-soaked figure that had just crawled out of purgatory.
He lay prone on the rubble, panting heavily.
Every breath brought heart-wrenching pain, his chest feeling as if it were being repeatedly scorched by fire.
The pain came from his flesh.
It came from his bones.
It came from every inch of his blood vessels.
It even...
Came from the depths of his soul.
Deep shock welled up in Bill's eyes.
That mage.
That High-tier High Rank mage.
Using only a Novice Electric Spark.
Had triggered an explosion comparable to Legendary magic?
How was it possible?
It was impossible!
He gritted his teeth, suppressing the fear in his heart.
But it didn't matter.
He could resurrect.
As long as he was given time, this broken body would heal again.
His flesh would regrow, and his bones would reconnect.
He would be as good as new.
And then...
He would find that mage.
And drain his blood, drop by drop.
He would make him regret everything he did today.
Bill lay on the rubble, waiting.
Waiting for his body to begin healing.
However.
One second.
Two seconds.
Three seconds.
He looked down at his severed leg.
No granulation was wriggling at the wound.
No black blood was flowing back.
Only dark red blood continued to seep out slowly, gathering into small puddles among the stones.
The healing speed...
Was shockingly slow.
Bill's pupils contracted slightly.
How could this be...
Just then.
The sky suddenly darkened.
Bill jerked his head up.
A narrow, long flying vessel hovered above him, its hull casting a massive shadow.
The moonlight was blocked, plunging the surroundings into gloom.
A figure flipped down from the flying vessel.
Thud.
Lin Gui landed three meters in front of him.
His heels crushed the surrounding rubble, sending debris flying.
Bill stared at him.
Frenzied killing intent welled up in his eyes, along with...
A trace of fear he hadn't even noticed himself.
"You're here."
He gave a raspy laugh.
"Good."
"Saves me the trouble of finding..."
Lin Gui did not look at him.
He looked down at his left hand.
There, a glass bead lay quietly, its surface reflecting the dim moonlight.
"Thank you."
He said softly.
"Thanks to you all, I was able to find him."
The glass bead wobbled slightly.
The soul light flickered, as if saying "you're welcome."
Lin Gui put away the bead and lightly rubbed his fingertips.
He raised his right hand.
A staff slowly emerged from the void.
The demi-artifact, Staff of the Windwhisperer.
The staff was slender and emitted a faint cyan glow, its surface covered in intricate runes.
The cyan crystal at the tip seemed to have wind flowing within it, occasionally letting out a faint whistling sound.
Lin Gui gripped the staff and pointed it at Bill.
Bill looked at him and sneered.
"What, want to kill me?"
He struggled to prop up his body, blood pouring from his severed limbs.
"I am immortal."
"Wait until my injuries recover..."
"I will settle the score with you."
Lin Gui looked at him indifferently.
"Sorry, I'm in a hurry."
He paused for a moment.
"I need to kill you before she catches up."
"I don't want her to know about this ability of mine."
Bill was stunned for a moment.
Then, he laughed even more maniacally, his laughter echoing through the ruins.
"Kill me?"
He spread his charred hands.
"I am immortal!"
"I am the avatar of the Blood God!"
"No one can kill..."
Lin Gui began to chant.
The incantation was short.
The syllables were rapid.
In less than two seconds...
It was complete.
Bill's laughter caught in his throat.
Wind Blade.
A Mid Rank magic spell.
Lin Gui had chosen it not because of its power.
But because it was fast.
During this delivery trip, he had drawn enough Wind Blade spells.
His Mastery Level had already reached LV8.
The chanting time was only two seconds.
High Rank magic?
That required at least ten seconds to start.
And...
The enchantment range of Soul Attachment only extended to Mid Rank.
Even if he applied it to High Rank magic, the damage to the soul would be weakened.
And for the immortal monster before him.
Only attacks on the soul could cause genuine damage.
This weakness...
Had been spoken by Bill himself.
He likely didn't know.
That his every word and action had been heard by the "residents" of Mirror-Shadow City.
And then, passed on to Lin Gui.
Lin Gui raised his staff.
The white light of Soul Attachment coiled around the staff's body, appearing exceptionally striking in the night.
In the next instant.
A faint cyan blade of wind shot out from the tip of the staff!
Screee...!
The wind blade sliced through the air, letting out a sharp whistling sound, and struck Bill.
It cut in from his left shoulder and exited through his right ribs.
It left a wound deep enough to show bone, the flesh turned inside out.
Bill's body jerked violently.
He opened his mouth wide.
But no sound came out.
Because...
It hurt.
An indescribable pain.
It wasn't the pain of the flesh.
It was the pain of his soul being torn apart, as if countless hands were tearing at his consciousness.
Even when his head had been severed or his body reduced to mincemeat, he had never felt this kind of pain.
A second wind blade followed closely behind.
Screee!
His left arm was severed at the elbow.
The severed arm fell to the ground, blood gushing out like a fountain, rolling among the rubble.
There was no healing.
There was no regeneration.
There was only blood, flowing without end.
Bill looked down at the wound of his severed arm.
Fear welled up in his eyes.
"No..."
He muttered.
The third.
The fourth.
The fifth.
Blades of wind, like invisible edges, continuously sliced his body.
His right arm was cut off.
His left leg was cut off.
His abdomen was torn open, his internal organs faintly visible.
His chest was sliced open, revealing the slowly beating heart inside; every beat squeezed out more blood.
Bill's screams echoed through the ruins.
That was not the sound of a human.
It was the desperate howl of a dying beast.
He didn't understand.
It was clearly a body that shouldn't feel pain even if it were cut into pieces.
Why did it hurt this much?
Why did the wounds...
No longer heal?
"Stop... Stop!"
He roared.
"I beg you... stop!"
Lin Gui did not stop.
Madness welled up in Bill's eyes.
He raised his only remaining right hand.
Blood surged and transformed into a blood arrow, shooting out!
Lin Gui turned and dodged, the blood arrow grazing his clothes.
With a light tap of Levitation, he drifted back three meters.
His oak staff emerged from the void and landed beneath his feet.
He sat on the staff, suspended in mid-air.
He pulled away from Bill.
Wind Blade was fired once more.
Just as Bill's second blood spell was taking shape.
It was shattered by the wind blade, the blood mist scattering.
The third.
The fourth.
Every time he attempted to counterattack, Lin Gui's wind blades were always one step ahead in interrupting him.
With the augmentation of the demi-artifact, the chanting time for Wind Blade...
Was reduced to under one second.
Its power had also increased somewhat.
Although it still didn't reach the level of High Rank magic.
Paired with Soul Attachment, the soul damage it caused...
Was enough.
One strike.
After another.
Bill's body gradually shattered under the wind blades.
His screams gradually turned into whimpers.
The whimpers turned into unconscious groans.
Eventually...
Only breathing remained—faint, intermittent breathing.
Lin Gui drifted to his front.
He looked down at this Vampire who had been sliced into fragments.
Bill's head lay rolled to one side.
His lips were still twitching.
His voice was so faint it was almost inaudible.
"Just... what... are you..."
Lin Gui did not answer.
He raised his staff.
The final wind blade.
Screee...
The head was split in two.
Bill the Vampire.
Was dead.
Rate on N.U.
