Era of Magic and Martial Arts

Chapter 674: Chapter 618: Die from a Single Drop of Blood? What the Hell?! (Part 2)

Mask’s figure flickered, swaying left and right, dodging swiftly, the shadow beneath his feet winding quickly.

"Trying to escape?!!"

The tall elder spat out a line of blood from between his teeth, his entire body’s blood and energy boiling violently like lava.

Under the activation of the secret technique, all his bones emitted a creaking, teeth-gritting lament, beads of blood seeping from the surface of his skin, his speed increased by half a notch.

Suddenly, he collapsed his waist and retracted his body, looking like a wicked ghost huddled, or like a goblin leaping across a ravine, every inch of muscle compressed to the extreme.

"Swoosh!"

He swayed and darted, accurately stepping between Mask’s real body and the winding, twisting shadow beneath his feet.

He thrust both arms forward, one punch aimed at Mask, the other towards the winding spot of the shadow behind, preemptively sealing off Mask’s moving points.

Indeed, Mask couldn’t switch positions, his right fist missed, the violent power causing rippling waves in the air.

The other punch changed moves rapidly, delivering three punches: the first tearing through the airflow straight to the temple, the second like a venomous snake’s tongue towards the throat, the third with a thunderous roar directly striking the heart.

The cold punch wind lifted the broken hair atop Mask’s head, making it lash backwards.

Mask continued blocking, seemingly finally annoyed, a cold sneer emanated from under the pale mask:

"Lose a drop of blood, and I’ll die? Come, let me see you try!!!"

Mask suddenly withdrew all defense, his right fist thrusting directly towards the tall elder’s heart.

The moment two afterimages crossed, the punch grazed the opponent’s arm.

"Puff!"

Almost simultaneously, a dull crash accompanied by the crisp sound of cracked ribs exploded in the narrow space.

The tall elder jabbed Mask’s chest, the black nail shone brightly, sinister poisonous energy surging in crazily.

Mask landed his punch, twisted and turned, his five finger knuckles flickering and contracting, brutally tearing off blood and flesh with skin and bone.

"Ah——"

The tall elder’s face suddenly twisted, letting out a heart-wrenching scream, his whole body flying backward like a broken bag.

"Bang!"

The tall elder’s back slammed heavily onto the metal tube wall more than ten meters away, in a thunderous crash, his entire chest cavity was numbly shaken.

Agonizing pain swept through his entire body like a tide, golden stars bursting in front of his eyes, his internal organs seemingly twisted into a lump.

A mouthful of thick, sauce-like blood with a strong iron rust taste could no longer be repressed, erupting wildly from his mouth with a "wah".

Staggering, he propped himself up, his left chest bearing a blood crater, skin and flesh shattered, fractured ribs protruding gloomily.

The aged heart in the broken chest cavity convulsed violently, each beat bringing out gushing blood froth, clearly visible between the exposed bone stubs.

The injury was severe, yet not fatal.

"Since I’m not the one dying, then it is... heh heh heh!"

His blood-stained face twisted and spasmed from the agony, yet he managed to pull out a terrifying grin, his bloodshot eyes locked onto the still, unmoving figure opposite.

Mask still stood in place, his figure tall and straight, appearing far less miserably injured than the tall elder.

Only a piece of clothing on his chest was torn, revealing a deep, bone-visible narrow bloody slit inside.

The wound’s edges peeled back, showing an unnaturally ashen color.

And right at the center of that sinister slit, embedded was a shiny black nail cap, cold air continuously seeping from the depths of the wound.

Visible to the naked eye, thick, ink-like venom was rapidly spreading outward from that nail, crazily expanding across the surroundings.

Wherever it passed, the skin and flesh on Mask’s chest rapidly lost color, turning black, swollen, exuding a nauseating decaying stench.

Even the blood seeping from the wound congealed into thick black paste mid-air, with tendrils of green smoke rising where it dripped and corroded the ground.

The blackness didn’t stop at the chest, but seemed to have a consciousness of its own, reversing along the neck’s skin, crawling over the pale neck, seeping into the edge of the pale mask’s jaw!

Though masked, it’s not hard to imagine what ghastly state the face beneath must be in now.

Seeing all this, the tall elder let out a series of broken, strange laughs:

"Mask, how does it feel?"

This black nail of mine, granted personally by the Lord, has the power of ’Rotting Blood Brain Collapse.’ It only needs to seep into you, polluting just a drop of your blood... Hehehe~"

Every time he spoke, a gush of blood flowed from the gaping hole in his chest, but he was unfazed, his eyes glistening with a cruel light,

"Among martial artists below grade seven, not even an immortal can save you. The venom will first rot your flesh, then burrow into your brain!!!"

He grinned, revealing bloodstained teeth:

"How does it feel? Does your heart feel like it’s being gnawed by countless venomous insects? Is your brain beginning to see terrifying illusions?

This is because the venom, while corroding the brain, also erodes your spirit and will."

Mask stood still as a statue, as if petrified into a sculpture.

The black and white hook jade in his pupils slowly stopped rotating, becoming dull and lifeless.

He showed no reaction, seemingly engulfed by the terrifying illusions the tall old man described, mired in a nightmare woven by the venom, losing all perception of the outside world.

The tall old man looked at Mask’s unresponsive state, a mocking smirk, expectedly, flashed in his cloudy old eyes.

He wasn’t surprised the other fell into such a state; he knew all too well the terror of the "black nail" granted by the Lord.

Moreover, being hit as an evil sacrifice host made it even harder to resist.

After all, while evil sacrifice hosts might have some strange and bizarre abilities, due to the constant influence of the evil sacrifice, they mostly become deranged, their spirit and will already shattered.

The tall old man grinned, bloodied lips curling into a sinister smile of assured victory.

"Cough cough..."

He started coughing violently again, with each cough bringing up large amounts of bloody froth, his body shaking more severely.

But he forced himself on, step by step, inching towards Mask.

He slowly steadied himself, raised his hand to touch Mask’s neck, ready to snap Mask’s neck.

The Lord had made it clear that the sheepskin scroll must be brought back intact, as for Mask, a mere head would suffice.

The Song Family had their ways to extract needed secrets from a dead man’s head.

As he extended his hand and applied slight force, he spoke into the empty space eerily:

"Laojiu, I’ve finished over here, have you found that corpse?"

Specializing in dirty work for the Lord, the tall old man rarely used a phone when on a job.

The communication chip implanted in his skull was their means of contact—a special frequency encrypted channel, unable to be traced or intercepted.

The stooped old man’s voice directly sounded in the depths of his mind:

"No, it ran fast, the trail is too faint, I’m still searching..."

The tall old man frowned deeply:

"Forget about that corpse, go fetch the sheepskin scroll first, it’s in the safe in the villa, I’m a bit hurt, you go on ahead.

I’ll take Mask’s head and slowly meet up with you."

"Understood!" the voice in his mind responded briefly, then fell silent.

The tall old man ended the communication, gradually applied pressure with his fingers, but suddenly, a sharp pain erupted in his chest.

He looked down in horror, his grin frozen on his face.

He saw his shattered chest cavity covered in a web of black lines at a speed visible to the naked eye, the overturned flesh "sizzling" and emitting black smoke.

It was like ten thousand ants gnawing at his heart, as if every vein had icy poisonous worms writhing and devouring inside.

More terrifyingly, countless mad murmurs exploded with no warning beside his ears:

Sharp screeching, distorted howling, malevolent curses... these sounds wormed into his ears like living creatures, frantically churning in his brain, shredding sanity into pieces, turning it into a terrifying illusion.

The tall old man’s mind was in chaos: "???"

What the hell?

These symptoms really seem like I’ve been scratched by the black nail~

But... But... How could I possibly scratch myself?!!

Damn it, ahhhhh——