Chapter 48 Jigsaw Puzzle

Sirian raised his jet revolver.

The booming gunshots echoed through the dimness, and a gust of wind swept through.

Sirian wasn’t sure if the soul marrow bullet hit its target, but he saw a scorching fireball ignite at the end of the dim passage. Within a few seconds, the fireball rapidly expanded, causing a thunderous roar.

Explosions and burning continued in this narrow area, evaporating the moisture, and the temperature skyrocketed.

There was no longer any need to hide his presence, so Sirian strode into enemy territory.

A bloody symbol was carved on the ground, and in the center lay a woman who had been disemboweled. There was no flesh and blood in her horrific wounds, only rampant mycelia. She wasn’t dead either, still breathing regularly, like a living petri dish.

The pain from the ouroboros seal reached its peak; it was screaming and roaring.

A terrifying fury urged the destruction of all things.

In the interrupted ritual array, a robed figure pulled out a twisted dagger.

A cold glint flashed.

Sirian’s precise sword thrust pierced the opponent’s throat, then he twisted his wrist, severing the cervical vertebrae, and kicked him, who had not yet breathed his last, into the rushing underground river.

More figures stood up, shouting obscure words.

Ten people? Or more?

The light was too dim for Sirian to see clearly, but he was certain that there was at least one Transcendent among the enemies. During the recent surprise attack, he had clearly felt the opponent’s Source Energy reaction.

From which Path did the opponent come, and what was his Rank?

Sirian had been a bit reckless, attacking without knowing the opponent’s situation.

But… but… Sirian was furious, he was hateful.

His hatred was so pure that even killing all the enemies before him would only slightly alleviate it, not quell it.

“Come on!”

Sirian roared forward, his palm quickly brushing against the blade, drawing a streak of blood.

Flames ignited!

The fiercely burning Flaming Sword once again illuminated the darkness, striking first at an enemy, brutally cutting into his waist and abdomen, 貫穿 his torso.

Sirian didn’t pause, pulling out the boiling sword and bringing it down again, completely splitting the enemy’s head.

The creaking sound of bones shattering and flesh tearing echoed.

Sirian savored the blunt sensation of the blade sinking into flesh and listened to the sizzling sound of high temperatures scorching meat.

In a trance, Sirian realized that he was actually experiencing a strange pleasure in this bloody slaughter.

Previously, Sirian would have wondered if this was his inherent bloodlust, or some kind of pathological addiction caused by the burning of the ouroboros seal?

But from the day White Cliff Town was destroyed, from the moment he confessed to Tim about how he felt when he killed for the first time, Sirian no longer bothered with such trivial matters.

Sirian admitted he was a murderer.

Sirian liked this version of himself.

When hatred reached its peak… only revelry!

The glow of Source Energy illuminated Sirian’s side; the hidden Transcendent finally couldn’t resist making a move.

“Not hiding anymore!”

Sirian fired in the direction where the Source Energy was rising.

Furious flames erupted out of nowhere, and the powerful impact pushed the standing figures in all directions. Even Sirian himself stumbled backward.

The flames extinguished in an instant, and Sirian steadied himself.

By this time, most of the enemies had fallen. As ordinary people, their bodies were extensively burned by the fierce fire, and the residual chaotic power was suppressed to its limit by the power of the soul marrow flames.

The only one still standing before Sirian was their sole Transcendent.

He was a tall man, his body filled with powerful muscles. Even after being hit head-on by a soul marrow bullet, it only left a small burn mark on his chest.

Based on the intensity of the Source Energy reaction, Sirian judged that the opponent was at Rank One, just like himself, but a different Path allowed him to possess such powerful defense.

The man took a deep breath and charged at Sirian like a bull.

Sirian skillfully dodged, and the boiling sword swung in a wide arc, slashing towards the man’s nape.

After a metallic clang, the boiling sword, which should have severed the man’s head, was actually repelled by his skin. A faint iron-colored afterglow floated from the repelled nape.

“So that’s it, you’re an Iron Guard.”

Sirian retracted his sword and retreated, putting distance between himself and the man.

The man came from the Throne Path, he was a Rank One Iron Guard, capable of using Source Energy to temporarily solidify his body, giving him extremely powerful defense and an all-around boost to his physical abilities.

Sirian had learned about the Iron Guard’s detailed abilities from Dailin, who also came from the Throne Path and was at Rank Two.

Sirian raised his jet revolver and fired the last soul marrow bullet.

After the dazzling, spreading fireball, the man’s figure emerged from it, his entire body glowing with that iron-colored shimmer, and he swung a heavy punch.

Clanging sounds reverberated.

Sirian raised his sword to block the blow, but he was still knocked back by the immense force, crashing heavily against the wall.

“Phew, this isn’t the strength a Rank One should have.”

A metallic taste filled Sirian’s throat, and his arm was numb from the impact.

Looking back at the man, there was only a shallow white mark on his fist, and slowly, blood began to seep out.

Sirian let out a hoarse laugh, “Do you know a woman named Tania? She lost one eye and one hand, she should be easy to recognize.”

The man clenched his fists, and in silence, the Source Energy throughout his body surged.

“Oh? It seems you know her.”

Sirian continued to ask, “But I guess, even if I cut off your head, you probably wouldn’t tell me her whereabouts… That’s fine.”

“My brother, Mick, loves playing jigsaw puzzles. He often asks us to draw some complex patterns, cut them into pieces, and then he reassembles them.”

“Once he was stuck on a puzzle for a week and still had no clue.”

Sirian straightened up, reminiscing, “We were going to help him, but he refused.”

“Mick told me that the joy of a puzzle isn’t in completing the pattern in an instant, but in gradually exploring and making it whole. If someone just gave him the answer to the riddle, it would be boring, just repetitive labor.”

The man charged forward in rage, and Sirian once again raised his sword.

“At the time, I didn’t understand him. If he had the answer, he could finish it in half an hour, so why go through such trouble?”

Sirian laughed loudly amidst the clash of Source Energy.

“Now, I understand a bit.”

Sirian’s cheeks flushed.

“If I had found the enemy’s trace and cut off her head at the very beginning, it would have been too empty, with no sense of accomplishment.

So, I will go through obstacles and hardships, kill one annoying guy after another, and when I come to her with a bloody sword, that will be the beginning of another ecstasy.”

Sirian’s words were so sinister that the man’s punching movements even slowed down slightly because of it.

He even began to doubt which of the two of them was truly a Chaos Follower.

“You… lunatic.”

The man finally spoke, and the power of Chaos surged.

The surrounding mycelia danced and twisted, climbing onto Sirian’s body, eroding the surface of his skin, leaving a bloody mess.

Sirian detonated the Source Energy within his body, and the soul marrow smoldered.

In an instant, Sirian’s body temperature rose sharply, wisps of white steam emanated from his skin, and his bleeding wounds all spewed out pure white flames.

The man’s iron fist descended heavily, striking Sirian’s abdomen and breaking several bones.

Sirian gasped, enduring the pain, and the boiling sword grazed the man’s left eye, blood streaming down.

The man was completely enraged by Sirian, he roared, and a gray-black spore mist poured from his mouth. Wherever it went, mycelia grew wildly, like thousands of tendrils.

Transcendent Chaos Followers, in addition to their own Path power, also possessed power obtained from Chaos.

The mycelia wrapped around the surrounding corpses, and within a few seconds, they had drained the blood from them, spitting out withered husks.

Once Sirian was captured, he would be like the husks in less than half a minute.

The power of Chaos surged, and the Blessing of Vengeance arrived in a frenzy.

The soul marrow in Sirian’s body rapidly regenerated, and the consumed Source Energy rapidly recovered. His body no longer felt pain or fatigue, only the joy of slaying Chaos.

Blessing: Wrathful Devourer.

A crimson tide swept in, and Sirian cleaved a path of fire.

Reload, fire!

The jet revolver fired three times in quick succession, emptying its cylinder without reservation.

Three soul marrow bullets hit the man consecutively. In the narrow space, the repeatedly expanding flames burned away the overgrown mycelia, and most of the pervasive spore mist was also incinerated.

The man coughed twice in pain, all the spores in his body having been expelled.

Suddenly, countless floating ashes in the air twisted strangely, and a strong current of air was moving.

The Flaming Sword arrived through the air.

The tip of the sword did not stab the man’s eye, nor his throat. It shattered the man’s teeth and penetrated his mouth, but could not fully pierce through.

The man’s hands gripped the boiling sword tightly, preventing it from advancing even an inch.

The boiling sword failed to pierce the man’s head, but it still cut his oral cavity, and blood continuously overflowed from the corners of his mouth.

The defense formed by Source Energy could only rely on the skin’s surface. Areas not covered by skin became the man’s vital points.

“I can tell you…”

The man’s voice was hoarse, trying to buy time and find an opportunity to counterattack.

“I don’t believe a Chaos Follower who can be easily killed by me would know any great secret.”

Sirian shook his head, reminding him, “Besides, even if you know something, I don’t want to hear it. I’ll find out myself.”

“After all, our puzzle game has just begun.”

The man froze, a sense of powerlessness and fear filling his heart.

Only at this moment did he realize that Sirian’s hatred had surpassed simple revenge; he yearned to torment and ultimately destroy his enemies through a complex and lengthy process.

He didn’t care about the immense effort and time he would have to expend, and even enjoyed the pain and struggle in the process.

My goodness… The jet revolver rapidly rose and was inserted into the man’s throat along the sword.

He pulled the trigger three times.

The last three soul marrow bullets densely penetrated the man’s mouth, exploding his head into a bloody mist, and the spreading flames rushed in all directions, burning away the remaining spore mist.

The headless body slowly knelt down, and the surrounding mycelia also stopped their frantic dance, curling up together and clinging to the walls.

The power of the Blessing gradually receded, and Sirian felt a sense of satisfaction. The soul marrow within him, refined by the enemy’s blood, had increased by a certain percentage.

“Phew…”

Sirian let out a long breath, and just as he was about to continue investigating the area, a faint sound of footsteps came from further ahead, followed by a rapidly rising Source Energy reaction.

Rank One, Rank Two… its intensity steadily reached Rank Three before barely stopping.

A heavy gunshot rang out.

Under the Source Energy-enhanced shot, the bullet, like a lightning bolt, hit Sirian’s left shoulder, completely piercing through his flesh and embedding itself in the wall on one side.

Sirian’s mind went blank, and blood gushed from the gaping wound in his left shoulder.

The footsteps grew closer.

Sirian clutched his wound, turned, and plunged into the rushing underground river, flowing downstream.