19: Chapter 19 Cost of Use: Exemption

Su Chen, standing in front, knitted his brows tightly.

It wasn't the bizarre nature of the stitched monster before him that made him frown, but Su Yao behind him.

Even when facing him, an S-Class wanted criminal, the girl had dared to draw her blade and fight to the death.

But at this moment, seeing the lump of flesh covered in tentacles and eyes, Su Yao, clad in armor of Holy Flame, was actually trembling.

The trembling and despair originating from the depths of her Soul could not be hidden at all.

Clearly, she recognized this monster.

This realization caused Su Chen's heart to sink abruptly; the situation was spiraling out of control, giving him an extremely ominous premonition.

The Salvation Society had collected data on high-level Strange Tales from all over the world, but there was no record of such an existence.

Yet, his intuition as an S-Class powerhouse was screaming in alarm.

His full-strength strike just now, when it landed on this thing, felt like slashing into an abyss unbound by the laws of logic.

The opponent hadn't even defended; it had simply relied on its bizarre flesh stitching to forcibly erase the damage.

What was most deadly was that indiscriminate mental pollution.

Even for an S-Class Awakened like him, who had been through countless battles, his brain was uncontrollably throbbing.

Su Chen silently shifted half a step to the side.

With that half-step, he completely shielded Su Yao behind his broad back.

"No matter what unknown Strange Tales you are, if you dare to touch my sister, I will hack off your tentacles for sashimi today, even if I have to throw my life away!"

The black-clad subordinates of the Salvation Society nearby felt as if their brains were about to split open.

One by one, they collapsed to the ground, dry-heaving while frantically scratching at their own skin.

Some even began to giggle strangely.

Su Yun stood where he was, listlessly flicking the few tentacles on his arm.

Looking at the pair of siblings ahead, who were fully prepared for battle, he couldn't help but give a thumbs-up to the Old Su family.

This family was truly united when it mattered most.

Since that was the case, he would test them.

And while he was at it, do a little posturing.

Su Yun deliberately slowed his breathing, allowing the piece of rotting flesh he had just stitched to his chest to rise and fall rhythmically, creating a terrifying atmosphere of "I am powerful, you are merely ants."

"Unexpectedly..."

"In such a remote corner with thin spiritual energy..."

"There are actually ants who can face My Divine Might."

Hundreds of phantom tentacles behind him spread out in mid-air with a 'swish,' like a peacock displaying its feathers.

The dense eyelids on every tentacle opened simultaneously, and thousands of eyeballs looked down at the scene without focus.

The pretentiousness was off the charts.

"You."

Su Yun raised a thick tentacle and pointed it at Su Yao from a distance, his voice unhurried, permeating with the indifference only a superior being could possess.

"Have you seen Me?"

There was only the creaking sound of the exhaust fan turning in the factory.

Su Yao's originally pale complexion suddenly froze upon hearing these words.

The deadly feeling of despair in her mind receded completely, like a tide, with a 'whoosh.'

Something was wrong.

Something was too wrong!

Su Yao stared fixedly at the tentacle monster in mid-air that was still posturing, the cold sweat on her back stopping.

In that year of her past life, half the sky had been covered in purple-black; when that indescribable, terrifying existence descended, it hadn't uttered even a single clear syllable, bringing humanity only endless, insane babble and deformity.

How could an entity at the pinnacle of the Universe's dimensions, composed entirely of chaos and madness, stop to chat with a human? And keep calling itself "Me"?

It possessed intelligence!

It had clear logic!

Although she didn't know what stage of product this was before her, Su Yao was absolutely certain.

At this moment, it absolutely did not possess the world-destroying power of her past life!

Otherwise, it wouldn't need to waste words; it could crush everyone present into dust in a single encounter.

Since it hadn't fully developed yet... then she would kill it now!

Su Yao suddenly raised her head, a flash of extreme ruthlessness in her eyes.

Her originally trembling hands gripped the burning heavy spear tightly once more, the Holy Flame in her Valkyrie state driven to its limit.

Villains die from talking too much; that was common sense.

Strike while it's sick!

"Pretending to be a god or ghost, go to hell!"

Su Yao didn't even engage with Su Yun's words; with a flap of her wings, she transformed into a burning golden meteor, her spear carrying the violently destructive Holy Flame as she charged straight at Su Yun's face.

Su Chen, beside her, wasn't idle either.

Although he felt it was a bit reckless for his sister to directly provoke this unknown monster, he didn't hesitate to attack in coordination.

He slammed his hands together in front of his chest.

All the accumulated water in the factory's underground pipes was instantly drained, transforming into four thick, azure water tornadoes.

From the four directions of southeast, northwest, and south, they completely sealed off Su Yun's escape space.

"Strangulate!" Su Chen roared.

Su Yun watched the golden firelight and the water tornadoes from all directions expanding in his vision.

He was completely dumbfounded.

What was this situation?!

Did they not even let a person finish their posturing words!

What kind of hot-tempered people were the Old Su family!

Launching ultimate moves without listening to people speak?

Just as Su Yun was preparing to forcibly mobilize all his tentacles to form a death Formation and take this wave of mixed martial arts from the man and woman head-on.

An accident occurred.

In the center of the Formation, the s-class sequencing weapon [black day], which had been floating quietly, suddenly vibrated violently.

It seemed to sense the domineering demon-purging aura of the high-level Holy Flame, or perhaps it was strongly attracted by the high-dimensional pollution on Su Yun.

"Clang!!"

An extremely crisp blade hum rang through the factory.

This top-tier killing weapon, which the Salvation Society had painstakingly Awakened, actually broke free from the restraints of the blood-colored Formation, transforming into a streak of black lightning, ahead of the Holy Flame spear striking Su Yun.

It crashed straight toward the position on Su Yun's chest that had just been stitched!

"Pfft."

A muffled sound.

The black long blade stabbed into Su Yun's stomach.

Holy crap!

Su Yun cursed internally.

He didn't feel pain, nor did it go through his heart.

The expected piercing through his heart didn't happen.

The hilt of black day melted directly.

The hilt dissolved inside his chest cavity, turning into a pool of purple-black gelatin, mixing with the tentacles inside his body.

Several tumors even sprouted on the blade, splitting open to reveal fine, dense serrated teeth, biting tightly into the surrounding flesh, effectively settling in.

This wasn't an attack; it was clearly a forced attachment.

It was at this moment that Su Yao's Talismanic Incantation, sprayed with her vital blood, smashed over, and the water tornadoes Su Chen had conjured arrived as well.

Su Yun didn't move.

The black blade that had just grown out of his chest hummed, the back of the blade rubbing back and forth in the flesh of his chest, fawning like a dog that had just acknowledged its master.

The next moment.

The space around the blade suddenly dislocated.

Su Yao, who had flown to within half a meter of Su Yun, seemed to crash into something indestructible.

With a 'thud,' she landed on the ground.

Then came the water tornadoes.

They also hit that invisible wall, the water vapor evaporating instantly, without even splashing a drop.

All attacks were isolated outside by this invisible boundary, like a breeze brushing over an abyss, unable to stir up even a ripple.

The factory fell into a deathly silence, with only the creaking sound of the exhaust fan echoing in the emptiness.

The skin beneath Su Chen's mask twitched, his eyes bloodshot.

Su Yao's lips were deathly pale, and she was shaking so much she couldn't stand.

While this pair of siblings was still doubting life, Su Yun was calm, lowering his head to look at his chest.

Two lines of text popped up in his mind.

Su Yun looked down at his chest.

An information prompt popped up in his mind.

[S-Class Forbidden Object: black day]

[Status: Extremely Fanatical]

[Ability Change: Original Absolute Attack trait stripped, alienated into Absolute Defense: Boundary Break. Can forcibly sever real space, creating an insurmountable dimensional fault.]

[Cost of Use: Exemption]