Ruthless

Fists and flesh collided, and a gentle yet mysterious power surged instantly into the fragile body.

The next moment, fine cracks began to appear at the point of contact. There were no physical objects involved, yet the cracks crawled across the entire field of vision out of thin air.

Through the fissures, one could see an image filled with endless red mist appearing behind the shattered void, radiating endless horror and pressure outward.

"I said, get! Out!"

Bang.

The void seemed to shatter. Violent power erupted instantly from the point of contact, and the shockwave spread in all directions, sweeping through the entire cave in the blink of an eye. This was followed by an angry roar as a green ball of light dancing with tentacles popped out of Miss Valente's body. It was torn to pieces on the spot by the powerful force and swept into the endless red mist behind the broken void.

At the same time, a small statue popped out of Lynch's pocket automatically, exuding crimson moonlight as if it had absorbed something.

Success!

At this moment, Lynch felt an urge to weep with joy.

Upon seeing the floating statue, Lynch understood that the avatar of the evil god had been completely defeated, and he had finally snatched the lost authority from the shattered avatar.

This meant that the journey to immortality was no longer an impractical, illusory thing; he had finally taken the first step from the starting line.

However, he could not afford to be joyful right now. Instinctively, he grabbed Miss Valente and shielded her beneath him. Just as he finished this action, a powerful shockwave suddenly erupted in the cave.

The force of the impact repeatedly battered the rock walls. Countless soil and gravel fell with a clatter, filling the cave like rain and covering Lynch's entire body. When everything ended and the shockwave had completely dissipated, Lynch raised his head, his body covered in dirt as if he had just been dug out of the ground.

Opening his eyes, the omnipresent green light had vanished. The surroundings had plunged into darkness, with only the statue floating in mid-air still emitting a faint red light. Lynch grabbed the statue and put it into his pocket while activating two torches of light, nervously shining them toward Miss Valente.

Don't die. Please, don't die. Having lived two lifetimes, I don't want the first person I kill with my own hands to be one of my own. Hold on, Diana.

Miss Valente was lying on the ground, motionless. Lynch crawled beside her and looked over by the light. She was deathly pale, breathing as thin as gossamer, with blood seeping from her facial features. Her chest was still rising and falling, though the frequency was becoming faster and faster.

Phew, although her condition was clearly poor, she was at least still breathing. She was alive.

Lynch's heart was filled with joy, and he gripped Miss Valente's hand tightly. What made him even more joyful was a tremor in the noblewoman's eyelids as she struggled to open them.

"Diana, wake up."

Lynch's voice trembled with excitement. She was an emergency sister of the Lord of Suffering, skilled in healing abilities. As long as she could wake up, she could heal herself, and her life might be saved.

Miss Valente's eyes flickered rapidly a few times and finally opened slowly. Just as a smile was about to appear on Lynch's tense face, he saw her lips part slightly, and a few mouthfuls of black blood spilled out, mixed with chunks of torn flesh.

Lynch's heart sank to the bottom. He knew this meant internal organ rupture, and it could basically be confirmed that she was beyond saving. However, this was a world of the extraordinary; there was still hope as long as she could wake up and use her healing ability.

"Don't fall asleep. If you don't want to die, heal yourself quickly. Save your life first."

Lynch held Miss Valente's hand, not daring to use force. He could only crawl beside her and gently pat her cheek, trying to wake the confused noblewoman. It seemed his efforts worked; her beautiful eyes finally opened, and her weak gaze looked blankly at Lynch, stunned and vacant.

"Healing, quickly."

Lynch raised his voice, urging her repeatedly by Miss Valente's ear. He had realized that the noblewoman was likely in the midst of a final burst of lucidity. There was only this one chance; if she could not be healed in time, she would likely lose her life completely within a minute or two.

As if her consciousness had finally cleared, a glimmer of hope for survival appeared in Miss Valente's eyes. Her lips moved, and then her wrist lifted a few centimeters.

Lynch clutched his own clothes tightly, nervous cold sweat streaming down. However, at that moment, with a soft pat, her wrist fell limply, landing on Lynch's thigh.

The noblewoman's breathing became increasingly rapid. She began to gasp for air, her eyes dimming rapidly, and her eyelids gradually closed.

After struggling on the edge of life and death for a few minutes, Diana de Valente finally lost her last chance and was heading toward an irreversible death.

Bitterness and pain gnawed at Lynch's heart. He experienced the cruelty and reality of the mysterious world for the first time.

At this moment, he deeply realized that in the mysterious world, every demand came with a price. There was no easy success and no gain without sacrifice.

I cannot just watch you die. Very well, I will pay the price now and pull you back from the hands of death.

Lynch's expression suddenly became savage, his eyes revealing a fierce and violent glint. Gritting his teeth, he tore open his shirt, gripped his serrated cane, and with a loud shout, stabbed it into his own stomach. The force was immense, piercing straight through his body.

A wave of icy coldness hit his lower abdomen, followed by intense pain that swept through his entire consciousness. Lynch's face turned deathly pale, his vision blackened, and he let out an uncontrollable scream.

It hurts. It really hurts. From skin to muscle to internal organs, every part of his body was sending signals of excruciating pain.

His expression was twisted in pain, and large beads of cold sweat covered his forehead.

Yet, a strange smile hung on his face, and even amidst his screams of agony, there was a faint, mocking laughter, as if he had been driven mad by the pain.

Because a blood ball the size of a ping pong ball had already appeared in the palm of the hand holding the cane.

There were no other living creatures here; he could only use himself. The experiment had succeeded; blood extraction could truly use himself as the material.

Painful yet joyful, Lynch screamed while laughing. Enduring the intense pain, he moved his limbs and smashed the blood ball against Miss Valente's body. The moment the blood ball burst, a thick crimson glow flowed over the noblewoman's entire body in an instant, then vanished into her.

The bellows-like gasping stopped quickly. Although her complexion remained pale, her lips gained a bit of color, and her eyelids began to tremble again. However, Lynch could not spare the effort to check the results. Screaming, he pulled the smooth cane out of his abdominal cavity, then, with a ruthless heart, stabbed it into another spot.

I said I would do everything possible to pull you back from the line of death, and I keep my word.

I am going all out today. Either I save you, or we go together.

Don't you dare die. Come back to me.

Lynch howled as he smashed a second blood ball onto Miss Valente's body. His body was swaying unconsciously from excessive blood loss, his senses becoming increasingly numb under the stimulation of the intense pain, and even his vision was pitch black, with the world spinning around him.

Yet, he let out a weak roar and, regardless of the consequences, pulled out the cane stained with intestinal tissue, aimed at his abdomen once more, and used his force...

Pat. In his blackened vision, a hand gripped the cane, and another hand pressed against the wound in his abdomen.

【Authority, Compassion, Ability, Rapid Healing.】