The comments said I was deeply affectionate, I just added points by using an alternate account.

"As I said, what Astaroth fears most is never power itself."

"His essence is to corrupt good and confuse the innocent. He manipulates the emotions of others, and his power is based on the control of emotions."

"What you are doing now is throwing your wild emotions, which are beyond His control, directly into His face."

"This thing is poison to Him."

Chen Guan heard these words, but his consciousness was already beginning to fade.

The cries grew louder, the resentment heavier, and his hands trembled, a tremor born of empathy, not fear.

He saw a woman holding a child jump into the fire.

He saw an old man kneeling on the stage, his spine crushed by someone's foot.

He saw too many memories that didn't belong to him.

"Chen's coffin!"

An Changqing's voice came from afar, tinged with obvious anxiety: "Something's wrong with you, stop!"

For someone like Chen Guan, whose temperament is rather indifferent, any strong emotions seem particularly jarring.

Chen Guan did not answer; he no longer had the energy to answer.

He raised his scythe, poised to unleash a second strike, the black mist on the blade thicker than the first.

His pupils were being consumed by blackness.

Baal's voice changed tone: "Hey kid, are you still there?"

"exist."

Chen Guan's reply came a beat late, his voice was hoarse, and he seemed like a completely different person.

"That's good. Lord Baal doesn't want you to become a walking corpse; that would be no fun."

As a demon devoid of human emotions, Baal could not truly understand Chen Guan.

Why bother when we could have just let Him solve everything?

The sickle fell.

The second black slash tore through the air, aiming straight for Liu Xiao's face.

Liu Xiao's face contorted. He no longer maintained his composure and thrust out his hands forcefully, unleashing a torrent of purple demonic energy that collided head-on with the black slash.

boom.

The two forces exploded in the air, and the shockwave shattered all the remaining maze walls around them.

Liu Xiao staggered back three steps amidst the dust and smoke. He looked down at his palm, where a small wound was bleeding.

he got hurt.

"you……"

Liu Xiao raised his head and looked at the figure holding a sickle in the smoke and dust, sizing up this junior who had not been particularly outstanding in the past.

"That's interesting."

After the smoke cleared, Chen Guan's condition made everyone's hearts leap into their throats.

His left eye had turned completely black, and on his right hand, which was holding the scythe, black lines were spreading upwards along his arm.

Resentment is consuming him.

"The third cut."

His lips moved, and when he uttered those three words, his voice contained a tone that did not belong to him.

The scythe was raised again, and the black mist that had condensed on the blade completely materialized into distorted, superimposed human faces that emitted silent howls.

"Chen Guan, that's enough!"

An Changqing's voice rang out again. He dragged his injured body toward them, his longsword on the ground, each step dripping blood.

Long Ao crawled out of the rubble, his chest armor still covered in rubble. When he saw Chen Guan's condition, his pupils contracted.

"Hey! Stop right there!"

Chen Guan did not respond to anyone's calls.

At this moment, only two sounds remained in his mind: the roars and cries of countless dead souls, and the exceptionally clear voice of Balna.

"After the third strike, your consciousness will be completely overwhelmed. Conservatively speaking, the chance of recovery is no more than 30%."

Barr's tone was unusually devoid of mockery.

"Of course, if you hand your body over to Lord Baal, I can cleanse you of all those messy emotions after you've finished chopping, and ensure your safety."

He still wouldn't give up.

"...You're still going back to that topic."

Chen Guan's answers were intermittent, as if only when he was talking to Baal could the noise around him be less jarring.

"Hehe, Lord Baal is just stating objective facts."

Black lines had climbed up his shoulders and were spreading along his neck toward his face; black lines were also beginning to appear in his right eye.

The sickle was raised in mid-air, and the power it was gathering made the surrounding air tremble.

Liu Xiao stood three steps away. After a brief moment of astonishment, his expression returned to calm, and the corners of his mouth even turned up.

"Go ahead and chop, Chen Guan!"

He opened his arms, his tone inviting.

"With every cut you make, you get one step closer to losing yourself. Why do you think I don't dodge?"

He stuck out his tongue and licked the blood droplets that had splattered on his lips, looking confident of victory.

These words turned An Changqing's face ashen.

Hong Yuan's knuckles cracked as she gripped the axe. She wanted to rush forward to stop Chen Guan, but her legs were pinned down by the divine power, making it impossible for her to move an inch.

Chen Guan stopped moving.

The scythe hovered in the air, the black face on the blade emitting a silent shriek, urging him to bring it down.

The voices of the dead in his mind became deafening, each one crying out for him to swing down, to unleash his hatred and smash the smiling man before him.

"Cut it down."

"Cut it down!"

"Tear him to pieces!"

Chen Guan's lips were pressed into a thin line, and the muscles in his arm holding the knife were taut to the limit as he struggled fiercely against an invisible force.

Baal's voice suddenly became very soft: "Boy, if you can stop in this state, Lord Baal will look at you with new respect."

"However, there's a high chance you can't do it."

A low, hoarse laugh escaped from Chen Guan's throat.

"Are you using reverse psychology?"

"We've been discovered? Wasn't Lord Baal's performance convincing enough?"

The black mist on the scythe surged violently, and the howls of those human faces reached their peak.

Chen Guan raised his left hand.

Instead of gripping the hilt of his knife, he spread his fingers and pressed the black mark in his palm, which emitted a scorching light, against his forehead.

The moment the black mark was activated, all the negative emotions that flooded into his consciousness were blocked by a barrier. The wailing faces crashed into this barrier, let out mournful cries, and then scattered and fled.

The black mist that had condensed on the sickle did not dissipate, but it no longer continued to erode Chen's body.

He successfully locked all the power of his lingering resentment into the blade, preventing it from eroding his own consciousness.

What Chen Guan possessed was not only regret, but also a gift from the half-step Emotional Demon God.

Liu Xiao's smile froze.

"How could you...?"

"You're right, I shouldn't have stabbed you the third time."

Chen Guan spoke, his voice regaining some clarity. He turned around, his scythe no longer pointing at Liu Xiao.

Instead, it pointed to the heart remnant behind him, which, though shattered, still had residual conduits maintaining the operation of the magic array.

Liu Xiao's expression crumbled.

"You dare!"

He shot out, purple demonic energy condensing into a sharp blade in his palm, aiming straight for Chen Guan's back.

At that moment, Long Ao's figure stood between the two.

This time, instead of throwing a punch, he spread his arms and took the blow with his own body.

A purple blade pierced his left shoulder, and blood splattered everywhere.

Long Ao grinned, revealing a mouthful of bloody teeth.

"go."

He only said one word to Chen Guan.