Chapter Seventy-Nine: The Terrifying Truth! (Second Update)

The scene before his eyes made Ling Mo’s gaze nearly burst with fury. He reached out in vain, trying to pull Catherine from the volcanic lake, but it was impossible. Helplessly, he could only watch as Catherine was entirely consumed by the raging flames, every inch of her body overtaken from within and without, until in the blink of an eye, not a trace remained.

What was this feeling that filled his heart at this moment? Regret? That word felt too heavy—it hadn’t yet reached the level of regret. Remorse? Pity? Those seemed too light, as if some emotion remained unexpressed. But whatever it was, after so many years without much contact with other living beings, Ling Mo, for the first time in ages, felt a burst of explosive rage!

A terrifying aura erupted from him, towering and immovable like a mountain. The nearly tangible pressure swept across the entire space, the air itself unable to bear the weight, shimmering with barely perceptible ripples. The Abyssal Medir appeared from who knows where, floating not far in front of Ling Mo, alongside another male elemental spirit shrouded entirely in black mist. They blocked the volcanic lake behind them, regarding Ling Mo with intense vigilance and tension. From the center of their chests, an orange-red light began to glow from within, clearly ready to fight to the death at the slightest provocation.

Seeing that they still meant to block his way, Ling Mo wasted no words. He lowered his head slightly, his body twisting downward, his right fist drawn close beneath him, every muscle taut like a fully drawn bowstring. After a single heartbeat, when his power reached its peak, he stepped forward, spun, leapt, and unleashed a driving punch!

A blinding flame enveloped his right fist, more dazzling than the sun itself. Though the movement was a leaping punch, it felt as if his fist was dragging his entire body forward, like an unstoppable missile hurtling toward its target with devastating force. This was one of the few martial arts ultimate moves taught by the system:

Celestial Mirage!

Facing this strike that seemed to pierce the very heavens, Medir was seized by fear: if she took this blow, who could say how much memory she’d lose upon resurrection? She dared not try to block it head-on. She wanted to flee, to tear open a rift and teleport away, but to her despair, she found the space around her was completely locked by Ling Mo’s fist—no spell of spatial movement could be cast!

This time, Medir was truly helpless. She desperately raised a thin ‘mirror’ as a feeble comfort, but knew all too well it would be useless. This time, there was no escaping death.

Was she to die again? Though she could always reconstitute her body after each death, the sensation was always hateful, especially not knowing which memory might be lost. With every resurrection, she became a little less herself, until sometimes she wondered, even if she retained old memories, was this unfamiliar self truly a rebirth?

While these aimless thoughts drifted through her mind, Ling Mo’s fist arrived silently. The thin energy barrier offered not a moment’s resistance: just the touch of the flames shattered it completely. As Medir resigned herself to fate and began to recall her life, a figure wreathed in thick black smoke suddenly spread its arms before her!

Cress, the Black Mist!

A humanoid creature, he appeared as a gaunt human male, his skin the same ashy hue as Nelbe the Annihilator’s, wearing a similar hooded cloak, emerald eyes glowing from beneath the cowl. Though he was sacrificing himself heroically, Cress’s face showed no emotion, as if this was nothing out of the ordinary.

But his defense was nowhere near that of the stone giant before. Ling Mo’s fist struck his chest, punching through with ease. With a pause, Cress’s body erupted into a cloud of black mist, leaving the helpless Medir exposed behind him. Yet, astonishingly, even after his body was shattered, Cress refused to give in. As a mass of black smoke, he tightly wrapped around Ling Mo, forcibly restraining his movement, dulling the flames on his fist, and at the cost of almost all of his strength, finally managed to halt Ling Mo’s punch just before it reached Medir.

Completely unprepared for this outcome, Medir was overwhelmed by the unexpected sacrifice. Though she was deeply moved, her battle-hardened instincts did not allow emotion to cloud her judgment. She immediately began chanting a spell as soon as Cress intervened. The moment his black mist was scattered, she finished her incantation. Stretching out her arms, hands joined, she conjured a vertical, spinning circular gate before her, from which she unleashed a single-target, seventh-level spell that had taken five full seconds to prepare:

Darkfire Storm!

A triple-element composite magic, combining darkness, fire, and wind, the power of Darkfire Storm was beyond question. As a single-target annihilation spell, it might not have the overwhelming spectacle of the Orbital Ion Cannon, but the energy it contained was even more terrifying. In an instant, a cloud of energy radiating three colors struck Ling Mo at point-blank range, engulfing his entire body.

Medir’s attack left Ling Mo no room for evasion, nor any chance to retreat. After enveloping him, the energy cloud contracted, then exploded with a violent force! Not only was Ling Mo torn apart within, but Medir herself was blasted away by the shockwave, hurled dozens of meters through the air before crashing heavily to the ground.

She scrambled up as quickly as she could, spreading all her mental energy to search for Ling Mo’s presence. Though she had seen his body shattered, she simply could not believe that such a formidable foe could be killed so easily! This wasn’t her first encounter with Ling Mo; not only would a seventh-level spell be insufficient, even her master—the eighth-level beast Antuen—might not be able to slay him so swiftly! He must have used some unknown means to escape the blast.

Her psychic scan found a response—she’d located him! Medir tensed, ready to fight on, but then relaxed with a bitter smile: it was useless. He was already behind her, that terrifying fist hurtling toward her skull.

Nelbe, Eve, Cress, and herself—all four elemental spirits, giving their all, risking death—still couldn’t stop him? This fearsome man, he was even more powerful and unfathomable than the last time he came!

As these thoughts ran through her mind, Medir quietly awaited death. But suddenly, the space around her seemed to slow, every movement subjected to some subtle drag, the flow of time shifting to an unnatural, dreamlike pace. An ancient voice filled the air, seeming to come from everywhere at once:

“Old friend, stop. Spare my child.”

At this moment, Ling Mo’s fist was already nearly touching Medir’s head. The force of his punch had sliced straight through her flowing white hair, turning her long locks into a short bob in an instant. Hearing the voice, Ling Mo forced himself to stop. He seized Medir by the throat, lifting her high in the air, and ground out through clenched teeth:

“Antuen! Don’t play games with me. You burned my disciple alive and now you ask me to spare your child? Watch closely, and see how I torment Medir—how I erase every last shred of her memory, until even resurrection means nothing!”

Before Antuen could reply, unprecedented chaos broke out in the livestream! This time, it wasn’t just the viewers and fans— even the SkyNet administrators monitoring the broadcast were thrown into utter disorder. At the very center of the stream, a golden dialogue box bearing the seal of the SkyNet Administration’s Security Division appeared. In the largest, boldest font, it displayed their shock, panic, and utter disbelief:

“How could this be?!!!! How is this possible?!!! Was Antuen the one who triggered the Orbital Ion Cannon?!!!!!!”

(P.S.: Yesterday I was notified that after I go to work today, I’ll be heading down to the grassroots with my team, so I definitely won’t be able to get to a computer during the day. Only two chapters at midnight for now. Also, this plot twist—bet you didn’t see it coming, did you? Any sharp-eyed readers may have noticed this arc wasn’t an afterthought; the groundwork was laid dozens of chapters ago. I’ve read all the reviews and comments these past days, and not a single person guessed the plot. Heh, don’t get me wrong, I’m not singling anyone out. I’m just saying…)