Sanctuary Paradise

Chapter 916 Battle in the Soul Realm
"Haha...hahaha, that's right...that's right..."

"As long as I eat you... I'll definitely... I'll definitely get that flame again!"

A mad and twisted murmur echoed from beneath the gray-white mist wall. On the altar, where tiny tributaries of profound power converged, a handsome man whose appearance was completely unlike that of the 'Lord of Cinder' was convulsing and laughing wildly.

"Come, Ash, since you too have followed His guidance to come here..."

"—Then let's see who devours whom!!!"

Finally, it suddenly raised its head, revealing a twisted and ferocious laugh on its severely woody face. Like a wild beast, it stomped heavily on all fours and slashed at Xin Lailai with a claw.

clang! ! !
The next instant, dazzling sparks exploded with a piercing collision as the golden iron shield collided with the crushing black giant claw, causing Xin Lailai to grunt and involuntarily take a small step back.

Before she could even adjust, the staff in the opponent's left hand, which had transformed into a large black scythe, slashed down at her waist. Seeing this, Xin Lailai decisively interrupted her blocking action. Taking advantage of the brief moment when the opponent's right claw was precisely blocked and shaken off, she rolled to the side under the intense pressure from her internal organs, accompanied by the cracking of her bones.

boom--! !

The massive black scythe crashed down, leaving a deep slash several centimeters deep on the stone pillar, which was already covered in signs of erosion. However, Elizid, who had dodged the attack, showed no anger whatsoever. Instead, he turned around and swept his arms, conjuring up a series of black spears as he laughed even more maniacally.

"Hahaha...hahahaha! That's right! That's right!"

"Run! Hide! Struggle desperately before you're swallowed up!!"

As the maniacal laughter subsided, the giant claw that should have been too short to reach Xin Lailai suddenly transformed into a right arm wielding a spear. With lightning speed, it attacked Xin Lailai, who had just adjusted her posture after rolling, causing Xin Lailai's pupils to shrink slightly and forcing her to raise her shield to block.

clang--! !

A dull thud resounded as Xin Lailai, barely keeping up with the speed of the pursuer, was slammed to the ground and slid several meters away. After unleashing this attack, Elizid's offensive did not slow down at all. Instead, he suddenly transformed his right arm, which had transformed into a spear, into a long sword, while his left arm, which had returned to the shape of a staff, slammed down. He manipulated the jet-black spears formed from the deep prayers to fly out, and like a mad dog, he grabbed the long sword in his right hand and laughed wildly as he slashed at Xin Lailai.

Upon seeing this, Xin Lailai's pupils contracted slightly. Realizing that she could not simply withstand the opponent's attack head-on, she decisively switched the small round shield in her equipment slot to the Crystal Elder's Holy Bell, gripped the fine iron longsword in both hands, and actively charged towards the opponent amidst the spell chips and demonic energy that pierced through the air.

King's Sword - Madness.

Ding ding ding ding ding——!!

In an instant, a series of ferocious slashes and collisions, so dense they seemed completely out of character for people from the Ash World, rang out. Longswords, imbued with protective energy, collided repeatedly with variant weapons attacking from all sorts of tricky angles, as if playing some intense and ever-changing symphony.

Meanwhile, the magical chips imbued with demonic power continuously intercepted the dark spears that were attacking Xin Lailai, exploding in mid-air into puffs of dark 'fireworks' that added to the excitement of their clash.

"Hahaha...hahahaha...hahahaha!"

She landed with a maniacal laugh like a mad dog. From afar, Xin Lailai looked like a small boat swaying on the sea, struggling to hold on amidst the raging storm, unable to find any chance to fight back or catch her breath.

"Haha...that was awesome...that was awesome!!!"

After unleashing nearly seventy consecutive strikes, Elizid finally seemed exhausted. With a somewhat surprised expression, he delivered a powerful slash, took a deep breath, and then grinned with excitement.
"This is the kind of battle I crave! This is the kind of prey I crave!"

With a heavy, dull thud, the Mad King, engulfed in madness and frenzy, grinned and stomped heavily towards Xin Lailai. He licked the crimson blood splattered on his face, and black magic circles spread out again from the staff in his left hand. He then swung the long sword on his right arm and slashed at Xin Lailai.

Seeing this, Xin Lailai's eyes flickered, and she swung her sword again. At first glance, it seemed she was about to repeat the cycle of being suppressed earlier, but in the next instant—

"Um?!!"

In an instant, the spot where the longsword should have been suddenly transformed into a shield radiating golden light, colliding heavily with the longsword that Elizid was slashing down from, causing Elizid to freeze abruptly.

Precise parry!

boom--! !

The protective energy, having absorbed all the attacks, exploded and slammed into Elizid's body like a heavy hammer blow, causing him to spit out a mouthful of black blood mixed with unknown substances. He staggered back several steps, manipulating the dark spears that surrounded him as they flew out, while uncontrollably falling to the ground.

Seeing this, Xin Lailai's eyes flickered, and without any hesitation, she took a step forward, ignoring the dark spear that was rushing straight towards her, and charged directly towards Elizid.

King's Sword - Instant Strike.

The dark sword light and the deep spear crossed in mid-air, and black and red blood splattered from the two people's bodies. The deep spear collided heavily with the magic chip, and was deflected by the magic chip, passing by each other. Meanwhile, the longsword in Xin Lailai's hand was plunged into Elizid's head, causing him to freeze abruptly.

puff--! !

The next instant, the sound of flesh being pierced rang out, causing Elizid's health bar on the Blessing interface to drop sharply. Xin Lailai, who had landed a successful blow, did not hesitate and immediately prepared to draw her longsword and create distance to recover her stamina. However, a powerful dragging force suddenly came from her blade.

The blade... I can't pull it out!!
In an instant, a strong sense of crisis erupted in Xin Lailai's mind, causing her pupils to shrink sharply. Without any hesitation, she decisively released her grip on the sword, rolled backward, and the next second—

"Roar--!!!"

Without warning, a gigantic maw opened wide. Almost at the same time that Xin Lailai rolled away to create distance, the dark liquid on Elizid's body seemed to come alive, instantly transforming into a gaping maw that roared and swallowed the area in front of him, along with the sword blade stuck in his head, in one gulp.

"..."

Meanwhile, Xin Lailai, who was nearly swallowed up, looked at this scene and her expression became noticeably serious.

Execution trap.

It's not about feigning weakness, nor is it about suddenly withdrawing from a weakened state. Rather, it's a simple, deceptive counterattack that can even fool the senses of a master craftsman. It's a weapon that only triggers when one is severely injured while weakened.

Without a doubt, this was a move that killed countless powerful individuals. If they hadn't developed the caution they had from the novice BOSS at the Fire Ritual, who taught them to always be prepared to retreat even during executions, the result of that attack would probably have been far more than just losing their weapons.

Most importantly, given Elizid's behavior, there's no way he would have left such an elaborate trap on himself, which means...

"Didn't take the bait? Heh, you're the first Ashen One to dodge this move."

With a chillingly soft voice, Elizid, whose head should have been pierced, reappeared amidst the ear-piercing sounds of chewing and crushing.

Moreover, his face, which had originally displayed a state of madness, now showed two completely different expressions, giving the impression that someone had spliced ​​two different faces together.

"The Devouring King" Elizid. He possesses both extreme madness and extreme rationality; this is his true nature. His previous appearance of madness was merely a deliberate disguise. The moment Xin Lailai saw his appearance, she immediately confirmed that the description on Rosamira's sleeping ring was entirely intended to mislead later generations.

The other party did indeed submit to Rosamira and did do the immoral things mentioned in the introduction, but the claims about his hatred for Rosamira and being coerced were just a smokescreen to mislead others.

Even the fact that the other party was chosen by Rosamira now seems to be a situation that the other party deliberately created in order to gain power and obtain Rosamira's power in a legitimate way.

Extreme madness, extreme ruthlessness.

Without a doubt, although Elizid in front of them did not meet their standards for the concept of 'king' in any way, there was no doubt that, in terms of forbearance and ruthlessness alone, the person who successfully deceived the entire Ash World was definitely the most cunning and crazy person they had ever seen.

And right now...

"Heh, now I'm even more curious about what it would taste like to swallow you whole. Ashes, state your name."

The words, tinged with a feminine softness, fell to the ground, but Xin Lailai ignored them as if she hadn't heard them. She conjured a crystal longsword in her hand and assumed an offensive stance.

Now that he had confirmed that the other party was an extremely rare and cunning old fox, he would never say another word to him. After all, considering that the other party clearly possessed extremely profound knowledge of prayer and curses, if he dared to reveal his identity... no, I should say if he dared to respond to the other party's words, he would probably be subjected to a large number of dark curses in the next second.

"Hmm, you won't tell me? Fine, once I eat you, I'll know everything."

Faced with Xin Lailai's silence, Elizid simply smiled, while the half of his face representing madness grinned into a terrifying smile, and spoke in a voice that was both insane and cold:

"After all, a king who has lost his sword is nothing more than a lamb to the slaughter."

As soon as he finished speaking, a gaping maw, resembling a venomous parasite, emerged from Elizid's body and spat out the wrecked iron longsword. He then tapped his staff in his left hand, and circles of dark arrays spread out from beneath his feet.

"mnc, rsucete, lovete cu pietre!"

Boom——! !

The prayer, delivered by multiple mouths growing from the other's body, fell instantly. The massive altar, already riddled with cracks, shattered with a deafening roar. One after another, pitch-black tentacles surged forth from the dark ocean below, overwhelming Xin Lailai, who had lost her greatest foothold.

Seeing this, Xin Lailai's eyes flickered slightly. She drank a bottle of Elemental Blue Bottle, stepped on the spell chip to dodge to the side, and then grabbed one of the tentacles amidst the intense pain and corrosion. Using the force of its attack, she swung her body towards Elizid and slashed at him with her sword while stepping on the spell chip.

Zheng——! !

A piercing clang of the blade cut through the air, colliding with Elizid's right arm, which had transformed into a jet-black scythe. The blade shattered along with the crystalline blade itself. Before the scythe in Elizid's hand could fall, a round shield slammed heavily against the jet-black scythe, blocking the attack.

"Haha...hahaha! That's right, that's exactly it!"

"O Ashes, come forth, rebel! Slaughter!"

"You and I are nothing but walking corpses in human skin; tyranny and devouring are the true nature of those of us who crave the throne!"

Faced with Sin Lai Lai's resistance, Elizid showed no dissatisfaction whatsoever. Instead, he grinned and laughed maniacally as before, as if he were truly enjoying this severely unequal battle.

King's Sword - Madness.

Clang! Clang clang! Clang clang clang clang—!

In an instant, the sudden, rain-like collisions that had briefly subsided earlier rang out again. One after another, crystal swords shattered in mid-air, breaking into countless crystalline fragments. Meanwhile, Xin Lailai's wounds multiplied, and she even began to show signs of defeat.

clang--! !

Finally, with a dull thud, the crystal longsword in Xin Lailai's hand shattered once more, and the last bit of blue potion she was holding in her mouth was completely depleted as her blue bar recharged. This caused Elizid to narrow his eyes and reveal a smile that combined gentleness and tyranny. As if he had already guessed Xin Lailai's next move, he retreated without hesitation from being lifted up by the giant tentacle.

King's Sword - Instant Strike!

The clanging of the blade erupted, and Xin Lailai stared coldly at Elizid, as if realizing that if a victor did not emerge soon, only defeat and death awaited her. She then thrust her sword towards Elizid's head.

Zheng——! !

A resounding clang of metal rang out once more as Xin Lailai's crystal longsword clashed with Elizid's again, and just as this attack was about to fail—

Wow——! !

A dark sword light flashed, and almost the instant the first sword was blocked by Elizid, Xinlai, who was maintaining a thrusting posture, suddenly released her sword hilt and, to Elizid's somewhat astonishment, grasped the long sword that had appeared out of thin air, slashing towards Elizid's neck.

The second sword.

Given their character, how could they possibly leave the Firelink Shrine with only one weapon? Everything that happened just now was merely a deception, a trap deliberately set up to fool Elizid, all so that they could unleash the second sword at the crucial moment!
however--

A smile, like that of someone who had succeeded in a conspiracy, appeared on Elizid's face. As he looked at the sword light that was so close at hand, the corner of his mouth, representing reason and coldness, slightly lifted.

Just as He suspected!

puff--!!
The next instant, a tearing sound of flesh rang out, and Xin Lailai's figure flew backward with a thud, crashing heavily into a stone pillar not far away. Meanwhile, Elizid, who was still in place, smiled, glancing out of the corner of his eye at the gaping maw beside him, which he had devoured along with its entire arm, revealing a twisted, sinister smile:
"Looks like it's over... huh? Cough cough! Cough cough! Ugh—!!!"

Elizid smiled, but before he could finish speaking, his expression suddenly changed, his body staggered, and he vomited a mouthful of dark blood as if he were vomiting, and his life force suddenly weakened.

"Well, you're right."

Xin Lailai, who had been sent flying, stood up as if nothing had happened. She casually conjured a crystalline arm to fill the gap, then calmly looked at Elizid, who, under her guidance, had unsuspectingly swallowed the arm of an alchemist, and said indifferently:
"The confirmation process is now complete."

Elizid is indeed a rare and incredibly cunning old fox. His mind is indeed very meticulous. He even predicted that they might use the backpack to cancel their plans, and he has been using seemingly provocative methods to gradually wear them down.

Unfortunately, for him, who had experienced the illusion of the chess game... the old schemers they had seen were far more numerous than the ashes the other party had eaten.

To put it bluntly, if the other party hadn't revealed themselves, that would have been fine. But since the other party has already revealed that they are a cunning old fox, they can come up with at least a hundred ways to lure them in!

……

(End of this chapter)