Chapter 127: The End of the Story
In front of Zouteland Street.
Just a moment before Leonard was about to be devoured by Madam M, she suddenly stopped. On that hideous body, Madam M's face was shifting downward, replaced by Lu Ze's face, which took control.
Was Lu Ze waking up?
The three of them couldn't help but think so.
Under their gaze, Lu Ze slowly opened his eyes; those beautiful azure eyes were filled with endless madness and pain.
The world was screaming.
Everything was in Distortion, changing, completely transcending Lu Ze's cognition and form.
He saw the color of the sky changing at any moment, as if covered by a multi-colored, constantly glowing film of oil; the buildings on the street were stretching and growing taller, then leaning toward him, pressing down heavily on him until he couldn't breathe; his familiar teammates had all become fanged and hideous, looking at him with eyes full of hatred, huddling together and whispering, mocking him, always ready to murder him...
They want to kill me!
This world is going to destroy me!
Mad thoughts constantly surged and exploded in his mind. Mixed among them were the chaotic and painful shouts of seven or eight people; everyone's spirit was being torn apart, mixed together, and then stuffed back into his mind.
Sometimes they were screaming, venting physical pain; sometimes they were whispering, praising the greatness of the deity; sometimes they were arguing with each other...
...fighting over who was right and who was wrong: Lu Ze's consciousness was about to be overwhelmed!
And beneath these voices was the terrifying influence of the potion itself; that craving for flesh tortured Lu Ze, driving him to devour all life with flesh and blood.
Lu Ze couldn't think; almost following instinct, he launched an attack against the threat before him.
"Bang!"
With a loud bang, the thick blood vessels wrapped around Leonard's arm suddenly exploded!
"Vessel Thief," destroyed!
The authority of "Filthy Words" was returned to its original owner at this moment.
Through the splashing fragments of blood vessels, Leonard saw Lu Ze's eyes full of madness opposite him with alarm.
"Die!"
A grand and terrifying word, in an ancient language, escaped the other's mouth, gathering an unspeakable mental shock and invisible power, slamming into Leonard at extremely close range.
"Crack!"
Leonard's body was sent flying, like a cannonball, slamming hard against the wall of the security company, followed by the crisp sound of bone fractures. Physical damage and mental shock arrived simultaneously, causing blood to overflow from his nose and mouth; his expression grew haggard, and he fell to the ground pale, slipping into unconsciousness.
The black tentacles gushing out of Saint Selena's Urn, strengthened by Dunn's blood, arrived just in time to entangle Lu Ze's body.
As the cold and greasy tentacles entangled him, he shuddered and slightly regained his senses.
What did I just do... I actually attacked Leonard...
Kill them... Praise the great Lord... I'm so hungry... His thoughts were made Chaos by the jumbled consciousness; even thinking became incredibly slow.
"Whoosh—"
Until the sound of illusory ocean tides rang in his mind.
After the sound of the tides rang out, the originally messy human voices were quickly suppressed, like rats caught in sunlight, rapidly hiding in dark corners. Lu Ze managed to clear his head and look around, finding himself on the street in front of the Blackthorn Security Company, the surrounding environment already severely damaged.
On the street not far away, the blood-colored cross had not yet dried; carriages were overturned, buildings were destroyed, scorched, smashed, and corroded.
Ah, right, I was just pinned down by that group and forcibly fed a potion.
Lu Ze quickly recalled what had happened before he lost consciousness. The disguised attacker, Madam M's parasitism, drinking the potion, the illusory sea... The three familiar colleagues present: one had fainted and fallen, one was holding a dangerous urn, and the last had his hand in his pocket. The two conscious people looked at him, their faces full of vigilance.
Lu Ze couldn't help but look at his own body.
On his hideous flesh-and-blood body, strange faces were everywhere.
Damn!
He couldn't help but curse in his heart; that damn Madam M had actually turned his body into this.
"Captain."
Lu Ze looked at Dunn instinctively and said.
"Lu Ze, do you have a way to control the mutation of your body?"
Dunn's face had turned pale due to blood loss, and his hand holding the urn was tense.
"I..."
Lu Ze was just about to say he'd try when his abdomen suddenly swelled; those faces that had been suppressed to his abdomen squeezed together, bursting out of his body with a large amount of flesh, quickly forming a skinless upper body of flesh and blood!
In this instant, his body had two upper torsos at the same time, like a conjoined freak!
"Roar—"
Madam M and the other faces gathered on this new half-body, letting out an angry roar toward Dunn, who was releasing tentacles. In an instant, Lu Ze didn't have time to react; he suddenly had a strange feeling—deep within the flesh of his body, a painful soul was wailing, as if an invisible whip were lashing it, making it move like driven lambs...
"Boom!"
Crimson flames immediately ignited before his eyes, his body became incredibly light, his feet stepped on air but soon felt solid again, the flames dissipated, and he had already appeared in front of Klein.
The half-body Monster's fingers were as sharp as knives, stabbing straight toward Klein's chest.
Lu Ze shuddered and finally reacted; he followed up by reaching out to block, pushing the half-body Monster, making that hand Graze past Klein's arm.
"Puff!"
Klein's sleeve and arm were torn open, blood gushing out, but at least the worst-case scenario of death was avoided.
Was that "Graze" just now?
Lu Ze thought instinctively.
His body was quickly carried along, moving rapidly again. Because Dunn was in the area with the densest black tentacles, the half-body Monster couldn't get close and could only dodge the tentacles while constantly throwing blazing fireballs at Dunn.
Thus, Lu Ze felt the strangeness once more; in another part of his body, a soul was being driven, being whipped, offering up its abilities.
This is definitely the true face of "Graze"!
He had figured out a huge secret, but at the same time, he also gained an understanding of his current situation.
From the current state, Madam M's advancement had gone out of control.
She had gone to great lengths to seize Lu Ze's body. But relying solely on the "invasion" of that Holy Scripture was still difficult to achieve. That was why she used the ritual of advancing to Shepherd to counter it, using the souls sacrificed by others to attack Lu Ze's mental world, intending to take his place when he lost his resistance.
If successful, Madam M would not only gain that ocean but also advance to Sequence 5 on the spot, becoming a powerhouse of the mid-level Sequences...
Of course, she clearly failed.
She not only failed to gain control over those tides but also failed to advance successfully.
Madam M's failure brought great trouble to Lu Ze; there was a completely out-of-control potion in his body, and a Monster composed of several jumbled bodies had merged into it. Although Lu Ze temporarily possessed a clear consciousness thanks to the illusory tides, once the duration of those tides ran out, he would once again fall into the madness from earlier!
So, by using the cheat, by using those tides in his brain, could he control the potion?
The answer was no.
The tides could only help him resist mental shocks, such as the pollution of an evil god, or as before, drive away the consciousness fragments of others.
But Lu Ze's problem at this moment was physical; he had consumed the potion, and there was still a large amount of others' flesh mixed in his body; it was already not easy to gain clarity at this moment.
The situation was too chaotic; the cheat couldn't help either!
As time passed, the sound of the tides in his brain was gradually fading; Lu Ze knew that he didn't have much time left to stay clear... What was this?
Was this his end?
Tangled up with the flesh and blood of a bunch of cultists, falling into madness and losing control, turning into a distorted and disgusting Monster, wreaking havoc until being killed?
I refuse!
I will fight to the death!
Even in a certain-death ending, I will seek that slim chance of survival!
"Bang!"
Lu Ze raised his fist and smashed it into the Monster's head on his other side. Surprisingly, a strange sensation of pain was immediately transmitted; for a moment, he even felt like he had just hit his own head.
The half-body Monster attacking Dunn paused and instinctively turned its head.
"Roar!"
It seemed extremely annoyed and roared at Lu Ze.
"What are you shouting for? This is my body! Get out!"
Lu Ze cursed.
"Whoosh!"
On his palm, crimson flames immediately flared up.
"Graze"!
The Monster had already demonstrated it twice, and Lu Ze followed suit. He tried to feel inside his body and immediately discovered several souls "penned" within him. Their souls were entangled with Beyonder characteristics, like ignorant lambs, offering no resistance and completely subject to his manipulation.
Let me use your abilities!
Lu Ze shifted his thoughts, transmitting his consciousness to one of the souls; the grazed soul then resonated with it, manifesting the ability of the characteristic—it was precisely the fire in his hand at this moment, a Beyonder ability from a Pyromaniac.
"Taste this!"
He shouted, throwing a blazing fireball at the enemy just inches away.
"Boom!"
There was no possibility of the fire missing; it all slammed into the Monster's head and immediately began to burn!
"Roar—"
"Aah!"
The pain of the burning was transmitted to both the Monster and Lu Ze simultaneously; they cried out in pain together.
"Whoosh!"
Lu Ze only cried out once before flames flared up in his palm again. This level of burning was already commonplace for him; compared to this, it was more important to keep controlling the Monster.
"Captain!"
Enduring the intense pain constantly transmitted by his nerves, Lu Ze shouted loudly, "I'll help control it, let's destroy it together!"
That's right; since he couldn't strip away the out-of-control mad flesh, he would simply destroy it all. After that, relying on his powerful physical recovery ability, perhaps he could still have a slim chance of survival; as for the potion, with the cheat, there might be a chance to resolve it!
In such a desperate situation, even a one percent hope should be held firmly in hand!
"Lu Ze!"
Klein shouted; his eyes seemed to be filled with tears. From his perspective, he only felt that Lu Ze had decided to sacrifice himself to save Tingen, and because of this, he couldn't help but be emotional and sorrowful, yet he couldn't say anything to stop Lu Ze.
"Lu Ze... don't move."
Dunn's eyes suddenly became incredibly deep, and he said with a firm gaze.
"Bang! Bang!"
Thick objects surged around him again; as they exploded, a large amount of blood was absorbed by the black tentacles, which immediately became frenzied!
"Swish swish!"
Their speed suddenly increased, carrying extreme cold and deathly stillness as they closed in on Lu Ze at the center.
Roar—The Monster sensed terrible danger and roared, its body enveloped in flowing flames, seemingly preparing to leap.
"Don't move."
Lu Ze's malicious voice came through; he forcibly pulled at the "grazed" soul in his body, seizing control for himself. The flames that were halfway up immediately dissipated, failing abruptly.
"Roar!"
The black tentacles drew closer and closer; the Monster panicked and moved its legs, trying to escape by running.
"!"
A dagger formed of fire instantly pierced through its thigh, pinning its body firmly to the ground; on the other side, Lu Ze had a fierce smile on his face:
"I said, don't run! Get ready to die with me!"
Amidst the Monster's desperate roars and intense struggling, the black tentacles completely bound it, cutting off its roars entirely.
"What are you still waiting for?"
He looked at Klein and said.
Klein looked at the extremely pale, swaying Dunn, then at Lu Ze, who was determined to die; tears mixed with blood...
...soon flowed down.
He reached into his pocket and pulled out that thin gold piece,
the [Flaring Sun] charm!
In his slightly blurred vision, an obscure Ancient Hermes word escaped his mouth:
"Light!"
Lu Ze watched as that charm was thrown toward him.
The street that had turned gloomy because of Saint Selena's ashes suddenly brightened. It was now noon; under the clear sky, the high-hanging Sun was shedding its most intense light upon the earth.
The charm floated in front of Lu Ze, quickly compressing and resonating with the Sun overhead, turning into the most ultimate light.
Klein actually has such a method...
No, I have to protect myself...
Lu Ze closed his eyes and activated Flesh and Blood Magic, transferring all healing abilities to his side.
In the next instant, he felt that another Sun had been born.
"Boom—"
Amidst the dazzling brilliance, Klein and Dunn closed their eyes at the same time.
The earth trembled; the light was so intense that it still stung even after piercing through their eyelids. He heard the Monster's unwilling wail in its final moments; that sound quickly vanished into nothingness.
The impact made Klein uncontrollably step back a few paces; he barely managed to control his body.
When he opened his eyes again, he saw that at the center of the explosion, Lu Ze was still standing; half of his body and arm had disappeared, and his lower limbs were charred like sub-bituminous coal.
The black threads that had been entangling the Monster quickly retracted as if they had suffered great damage; the threads soon crawled into the urn in Dunn's hand, and with a clang, the lid also closed automatically.
The Monster was dead!
Lu Ze was still alive?
Surprise and joy appeared on Klein's face at the same time, because he saw that Lu Ze's mind was exceptionally clear, with no sense of madness.
"Please, hurry and find me some fresh meat..."
Lu Ze felt the weakness in his body and said to the two people present.
The good news was that the Monster had indeed been destroyed; the bad news was that the dissipation of their souls and flesh made the potion extremely unstable, and he was at risk of losing control at any moment.
In the next second, his pupils suddenly constricted.
Because a palm abruptly appeared, piercing through his chest.
"Puff!"
Lu Ze heard the wail of his heart being pierced,
and there was still an enemy...
Lu Ze, who was already at the end of his rope, could no longer recover his body. His strength gradually disappeared, and he slowly fell.
In his gradually fading vision, he saw a man wearing a clergyman's robe step into the fray, engaged with Klein and Dunn. The clergyman's aura was powerful and ruthless; he dealt with the two weakened people at the fastest speed and leaned over to pick up the urn.
As he picked up the urn, his gaze met Lu Ze's.
It was a middle-aged man with dark gold hair and one blind eye. He looked at Lu Ze, his face expressionless.
Bastard, how dare you ambush me, I'll definitely kill you... Lu Ze thought vaguely before losing his final consciousness.