Looking at Ji Lin on the ground, Leo Ash, who had just been preparing for a major battle, couldn't believe she had fallen just like that.
Although Ji Lin's summoned black horse lacked 'armor' because the Anti-Entropy Titan had been dealt with by Leo Ash in advance, resulting in lower defense...
Although in the original story, Ji Lin's actual combat power was at a level that an injured A-rank Himeko and three B-rank rookies could defeat...
Although this time, she didn't have the blackened Xuanyuan Sword in her hands...
But I only threw one punch!
Even if the Sea Tiger Destructive Punch is strong, even if I had a Divine Key and suppressed you in terms of equipment, I only hit you once!
You're down after one hit, aren't you just taking a dive???
But complaining was one thing; Leo Ash wasn't about to give up the opportunity before him just because he was complaining.
Seeing the heavily injured Ji Lin on the ground, Leo Ash dashed to her side and ruthlessly slammed a fist into her delicate neck.
Under his merciless iron fist, Ji Lin's neck was easily snapped.
Looking at the woman before him, her eyes now vacant, Leo Ash felt a complete lack of reality.
The battle he had expected to be incredibly fierce had ended just like that...
Even though the life force was slowly draining from Ji Lin's body, Leo Ash still felt something was off.
And just as he was about to do something else, something from Ji Lin's body suddenly floated towards him.
Before Leo Ash could dodge, the Stigmata on his right hand began to emit a sharp pain.
"This is..."
Looking at the Stigmata on the back of his hand, which was throbbing with pain, Leo Ash suddenly felt the power within it grow much stronger.
Is this... Ji Lin's Stigmata?
She possessed such terrifying power, yet her performance in this battle was so poor.
[Brave young man, thank you for freeing me from my endless prison.]
Huh?
Looking around, Leo Ash found, as expected, no one else was present.
[No need to look around. I am merely using the residual power in the Stigmata to speak with you alone.]
[Perhaps you have already guessed my name. I... am the warrior you just fought, Ji Lin.]
[In the battle five thousand years ago, I was actually killed.]
[But as a Stigmata wielder, my soul was maintained in an immortal state by the power of the Stigmata after my death.]
Oh, no problem so far.
[But during this time, I gradually fell from grace.]
[I began to hate the humans I once protected, and these thoughts became more and more extreme, more and more dangerous.]
[Even though I knew in my heart that thinking this way was wrong, I am still human after all...]
[In endless loneliness, I discovered that although my power surpassed that of mortals, my emotions were not so different from theirs.]
No, no, being self-disciplined for five thousand years is already very impressive. If it were me, I would have probably fallen in seven days and started causing trouble with Chiyou.
[You... are quite humble.]
[In any case, upon realizing my way of thinking was getting closer to the Honkai, I took the initiative to seal my own power.]
[A part of this power was used to suppress Chiyou's heart, and the other part was used to suppress the darkness within me.]
I see, so I was fighting a cripple.
It makes sense now.
In the original story, Ji Lin granted her power to Kiana and the others, but here, she used that power to suppress the combat effectiveness of her dark self.
No wonder she was so weak. That explains it.
[But now, because you have defeated my dark side, my power has been loosened.]
[Before my power completely dissipates, I can only attach it to you, gifting this power to you.]
[Before I disappear, I want you to promise me—do not use this power for evil.]
Hard to say.
Facing the fading Ji Lin, Leo Ash looked at the still-moving Chiyou below and said to her in his mind.
I won't do bad things when it's not necessary, but... for the sake of survival, who knows what I'll become in the future.
You think you're no different from a mortal, but most mortals, including me, cannot guarantee that their thoughts won't change over time.
A female officer who once donated her income to an orphanage could become a demon who uses orphans for human experiments.
An inventor who assisted a holy maiden in punishing evil could become a fiend who nurtures the Honkai.
What's more, I am not as great as they were in their past.
[Yes, you are right. But—at least you did not deceive me. That is enough for me to feel that there is nothing wrong with your character.]
[Good luck, junior of Shenzhou. The future of Shenzhou and the world...]
[I'm counting on you.]
After saying this, Ji Lin's consciousness completely faded from Leo Ash's Stigmata.
For a heroic soul who had suppressed Chiyou and herself for so long, perhaps she had long anticipated such an end.
But now, Leo Ash had no time for sentimentality.
Not a single moment was spent mourning Ji Lin's death, immediately arriving on the battlefield was—
Oh wait, Chiyou was already on the damn battlefield.
And now, because the power Ji Lin used to suppress it had completely merged into Leo Ash's Stigmata, Chiyou, which had been merely suppressed and controlled by Ji Lin, now fully displayed its power as an ancient beast.
Legend has it that Chiyou would devour its surroundings as it walked to strengthen itself.
And now, Leo Ash finally understood what this devouring meant.
It wasn't that it was chewing things up with its mouth.
Right now, Chiyou was simply charging forward like an untethered wild dog, continuously absorbing all kinds of energy from its surroundings.
Even Leo Ash, standing on its head, could feel his Honkai Energy and mana rapidly draining away.
If it weren't for the Divine Dragon's Ancient Water he drank before the fight, the minimal energy he consumed during the battle, and the power boost Ji Lin gave him, at his previous peak condition, he would have been drained dry in no time standing here.
I can't get too close to this thing. The fully unleashed Chiyou is clearly not an enemy I can handle.
Sigh, I'm just a B-rank knight. I don't have the same kind of power as Theresa, Siegfried, or Bianka.
But, before I go down, there's one more thing I have to do.
Before leaving Chiyou's body, Leo Ash condensed Honkai Energy at his fingertips, forming a short blade, and began to cut himself with it.
Ji Lin was a master, after all. For Leo Ash to defeat her without a scratch...
—If word of this got out, either no one would believe it, or Otto would definitely start investigating his background again.
Even though Ji Lin had intentionally suppressed her power, the fact was still too outrageous.
So, to avoid some trouble, Leo Ash could only resort to this method to create injuries on himself.
To prevent Otto from getting bored and examining his wounds, he even simulated the short blade to be like the edge of the Xuanyuan Sword.
After making many cuts on himself, Leo Ash slammed a fist into his own chest.
Under this blow, feeling a sharp pain, Leo Ash took several steps back and began to gasp for fresh air.
Good, the injuries are created.
These wounds look serious, but they don't actually affect my combat effectiveness.
So now...
Taking another deep breath, Leo Ash jumped forward and wove a mana barrier in mid-air.
But this time, after being fully unleashed, Chiyou was not going to watch Leo Ash leave as obediently as it had when controlled by Ji Lin.
Detecting the presence of a human, Chiyou suddenly accelerated and let out a terrifying roar at Leo Ash.
"Whoa, so scary, so scary."
Stomping hard on the barrier, Leo Ash watched as it dissolved instantly beneath his feet and immediately created another one.
Because Chiyou had begun to absorb the surrounding energy, even the barrier he created with mana was rapidly decaying due to Chiyou absorbing the surrounding Honkai Energy.
"Sigh, what's the rush."
Glancing back at Chiyou, Leo Ash made a face at it.
"It's not like I'm carrying any cough drops, and even if you catch me, it's not like I'll let you have your way with me."
Chiyou clearly didn't understand the nonsensical trash talk Leo Ash was spouting.
Although it far surpassed the fellow Judgment-class Demon Dragon Benares in terms of power, in terms of biological intelligence, Chiyou clearly did not exhibit the same near-human intelligence as Benares.
Leo Ash wasn't saying these things for Chiyou to hear, but for himself.
He was terrified of death. Although he had chosen this dangerous course of action to find a path to survival, it didn't mean he had completely overcome his inner fear.
Now, facing this era's strongest Honkai Beast, he could only use this method to distract himself and ensure that he wouldn't be overwhelmed by fear before he could escape from its sight.
Ah, although it's a bit of a mood killer to complain at this time, I really want to ask...
—Why did things turn out this way.
And now, Chiyou's seal was broken by someone before we arrived, so we can't even enter its body to find out where its true heart is.
Even if the Hyperion comes in later and can bombard Chiyou with its main cannon, if we don't pierce its heart before the Hyperion runs out of energy, we're all going to die.
The difficulty of the Jiuyou map wasn't supposed to be this high, but now...
—World Serpent, you've really outdone yourselves!
"Leo Ash, move!"
Just as Leo Ash failed to create distance between himself and Chiyou, he suddenly heard a familiar voice.
Without a hint of hesitation, Leo Ash dodged away from the direction of the voice and continued forward from another angle.
In the next instant, a small figure descended from the sky, smashing the huge weapon in her hand onto Chiyou's head.
"▇▇▇▇▇▇▇▇!!!"
Taking the full force of the blow, Chiyou let out a pained roar for the first time on the battlefield.
And under the stimulation of the intense pain, Theresa, who had just made a grand entrance, was thrown off before she could even steady herself.
Unfortunately, the direction she was thrown...
—was exactly where Leo Ash was.
"Ah, that's enough."
Seeing the approaching Theresa, Leo Ash sighed helplessly, braced himself, and caught her with both hands.
Then, unable to stabilize themselves, the two of them began to fall.
"Ptooey, ptooey, that bastard..."
In the cloud of dust, Theresa, who had finally managed to stand up, looked at Chiyou above and said resentfully.
"I hit it with Judah, and it only felt pain?"
"Matriarch."
"If you could, could you please take your weapon off me? I feel... I'm having a little trouble breathing."
"Eh???"
Only then realizing that Leo Ash was 'pinned' under Judah, Theresa, in a panic, gently lifted Judah and saw Leo Ash lying on the ground.
At this moment, Leo Ash, having fallen from the sky, was not yet on the brink of death, but an expression of pain was clearly visible on his face.
And according to Theresa's estimation, the place where Judah had landed was Leo Ash's chest, and Leo Ash's chest...
—Isn't this a clear case of severe blunt force trauma?????
Oh no, this is bad.
She had come to save Leo Ash, but now he was injured by her...
Realizing this, Theresa's eyes were instantly filled with guilt.
As a veteran warrior, Theresa had unconsciously adjusted her posture when she was knocked away.
And although she had placed the Oath of Judah on Leo Ash, it wasn't as if she had smashed it down with her monstrous strength.
In Theresa's eyes, she had injured Leo Ash with Judah.
But the reality was—this injury was mostly self-inflicted by Leo Ash to feign weakness.
Seeing the expression on Theresa's face, Leo Ash felt helpless.
Sigh, it's not easy to explain now, but the problem is...
—Matriarch, I really didn't mean to deceive you this time. How did you start wildly imagining things and feeling guilty?
...