The scent of blood hung heavy and sweet in the air. Fang Senyan and Aragorn had exchanged blows for less than ten seconds, yet the blood flowing from both men was already soaking the ground beneath their feet, making a squelching sound as they stepped upon it, much like treading on rain-soaked earth.

Sauron sensed the familiar, rich flavor emanating from the bloodline of Isildur’s heir. The black mist surged madly, and his dark divine power flooded across at a reckless cost; thousands of Orcs in Mordor collapsed, their bodies suddenly desiccated like mummies, their life force entirely drawn out to fuel the transmission.

Correspondingly, in the Hall of the Dark Fountain, the spread of darkness deepened, and the restorative effect of the Dark Wind rapidly intensified. Put simply, the Dark Gold Leech could now buy Fang Senyan an additional two or three crucial seconds.

With a sharp clink, the twin swords met, spitting out a tragic white light. This was the first time the swords had actively clashed head-on. The reason for this was that Aragorn had changed his fighting style; faced with Fang Senyan’s ferocious horizontal slash, he could only pull his weapon back to guard his chest.

Yes, faced with Fang Senyan’s brutal, injury-for-injury tactic, Aragorn had retreated.

A sinister grin stretched across Fang Senyan’s lips. Indeed, no one would have expected someone to trade injuries with an NPC boasting health points in the tens or even hundreds of thousands, but on this particular day, under these specific environmental conditions, Fang Senyan had more than enough capital.

After equipping the Bloody Major General’s Armor, his base health already exceeded eight thousand. Crucially, they were inside the Hall of the Dark Fountain! This added another 200 points, bringing him to an astonishing twenty-four thousand base health! Furthermore, Fang Senyan was at peak condition, holding both the Elixir of Honor and Divine Heal in reserve.

Theoretically, his total health pool was twenty-four thousand (base) + twenty-four thousand (Elixir of Honor) + eighteen thousand (Divine Heal), totaling a staggering sixty-six thousand health! And this did not even account for his ultimate trump card, the Sigh of the Reaper!

More importantly, Fang Senyan’s inherent defense was already formidable, supplemented by the Hedgehog title, which was precisely why Legolas was powerless against him. Moreover, the Hall of the Dark Fountain granted a 30% boost to both attack and defense, reduced all incoming ranged damage by 40%, activated the Dark Wind recovery effect, and with the Unparalleled state now active, incoming damage was further reduced by 20%.

When these astounding figures compounded, pitted against a half-crippled Aragorn, what reason did Fang Senyan have not to trade injury for injury? To pay blood for blood? Time, at this moment, was everything! Killing Aragorn sooner meant a greater chance of victory!

The clash of the swords sent a powerful recoil through Fang Senyan, shaking him back a step. Aragorn’s strength was not to be underestimated, especially when he adopted a defensive posture. However, at this moment, Fang Senyan’s demonic sword, Apophis, melted once more, writhing and coalescing into a silver-white gauntlet.

Then, Fang Senyan’s right fist began to visibly contract, slowly, like the drawn-back curve of a bowstring being pulled to its limit! Aragorn perceived this motion and felt the tempest of the enemy’s emotions—pain, ecstasy, joy, happiness—rapidly accumulating, condensing, and sublimating!

Immediately following, the punch arrived with a suffocating sensation, striking like lightning! It seemed to disturb the eternal darkness of the entire space, churning it into a violent surge. Even the mighty Aragorn felt utterly unable to evade, left with no choice but to parry!

Fang Senyan’s fist slammed against Aragorn’s scabbard. First to activate was the Power of the Sky. A piercing elven cry echoed through the air, an illusion of an elf manifesting before being shattered into points of light, scattering the protective elven energy shielding Aragorn. The punch itself was unbelievably forceful and crushing!

The impact drove Aragorn’s scabbard violently back against his chest. Several ribs shattered instantly, and he staggered several paces, seeing stars, blood gushing from his mouth and dripping heavily down the front of his tunic.

At that moment, Aragorn saw Fang Senyan’s eyes—they seemed to burn, fixed onto his very soul like flames. The gaze held a single, stark meaning: If you do not die, I will!

In that instant, Aragorn’s will solidified. He ceased to care about anyone or anything else—the past, the future—clutching fiercely only the present! It was as if he had finally grasped the hilt of Andúril. He suddenly understood: if he didn't seize this moment, there might be no future at all!

After unleashing the punch, Fang Senyan stood silently in place, eyes closed. His expression, obscured by the spatter of blood, was unclear, but the only sensation was that his momentum had not receded after the blow; instead, it continued to build, rising steadily. Clearly, his subsequent attacks would arrive like successive, surging waves, an overwhelming, continuous assault!

A flash of light, and Fang Senyan charged forward again. This time, however, three meters from Aragorn, he drew the Judgment backward and activated the Heretic ability, unleashing it toward his foe. A milky white divine light instantly enveloped Aragorn’s body, making the exposed blood gleam brilliantly under the holy radiance.

Yet, Fang Senyan suddenly realized he had miscalculated one crucial element: Aragorn’s Legendary equipment was certainly not worn in vain. A faint green light emanated from his body first, followed by the roaring voices of the Kings of Gondor thundering through the Hall of the Dark Fountain.

The charged strike from the Judgment, though accurately hitting Aragorn, failed to inflict significant damage. Even more terrifying, the stun effect from the Heretic ability did not trigger!

A misstep, though not an immediate defeat, caused a rupture in Fang Senyan's meticulously planned chain of attacks. Aragorn roared, his long hair flying, and charged forward. His sacred sword, Andúril, flashed with chilling brilliance in the air, suddenly displaying its true edge as it swept horizontally across Fang Senyan’s body. In that instant, Fang Senyan felt a total loss of control over his body, as if submerged in millennia of ice, utterly frozen.

As blood sprayed, a bizarre event occurred: a dark silhouette strikingly similar to Fang Senyan slanted out from behind his physical body, making it look as though the sword blow had cleaved his shadow from him! This shadow, however, quickly snapped back into Fang Senyan’s form.

For Fang Senyan, the experience was anything but pleasant, as he instantly received system prompts: "Target attempts an instant-death attack on you. Initiating a check... Check failed, instant-death effect nullified!"

Having landed a blow, Aragorn roared repeatedly, his attack speed becoming astonishing. Sharp sword lights crisscrossed Fang Senyan’s body, inflicting gruesome wounds with an almost suffocating ferocity, making even defense extremely difficult. The prompts flashed continuously in Fang Senyan’s mind: "Target attempts an instant-death attack on you. Initiating a check... Check failed, instant-death effect nullified!" "........."

If the check succeeded, the soul representing Fang Senyan would fly out of his body and never return!

"...As expected of the Protagonist! A powerful holy sword with an instant-death attribute, explosive attack speed, coupled with his own protagonist luck—no wonder he can escape doom!" Fang Senyan instantly understood the true reason for Aragorn's dominance!

Instant death is inherently a monstrous attribute, instantly killing the enemy regardless of their condition, thus its appearance rate is, at best, one or two percent. Statistically, a protagonist possessing the highest rank of True Luck can raise this probability to eleven or twelve percent!

Furthermore, Aragorn possessed the ability to freeze his opponent and unleash a flurry of strikes, attacking about thirteen times in five or six seconds. An instant-death trigger under these conditions was almost inevitable; under such circumstances, most opponents would be finished!

"Fortunately, my True Luck canceled out his! A one or two percent instant-death chance—I'm not so unlucky as to be killed by that!" Fang Senyan finally regained control of his body, and thrust his own sword fiercely into the gasping Aragorn’s abdomen! "Ten seconds left until the Hall of the Dark Fountain is breached. It’s time to end you—activate, Extinction!"

The demonic sword Apophis glowed, seemingly slicing countless fine threads through space and time, greedily devouring flesh. At that moment, Aragorn felt as if a massive chunk of his very soul had been carved away, and the resilient warrior let out a long, agonizing cry!

However, the fangs Fang Senyan had held back finally showed. Behind him, the manic illusion of the Sun Stairs reappeared, its branches whipping wildly before tightly ensnaring Aragorn.

"Do you know why everyone outside is constantly tormented by disease while you remain unharmed?" "Do you know why I am confident I can kill you here?" "It’s because I still have one ultimate weapon hidden away! Because two ultimate diseases cannot coexist in one body!"

Amidst Fang Senyan’s roar, although Aragorn managed to slash his sword across Fang Senyan’s face, he neither dodged nor flinched, driving his own blade deep into Aragorn's abdomen. At this critical juncture, the blood flowing from both men underwent a bizarre transformation: it grew viscous, stringing together, and shimmered on its surface with a fragile, cold light resembling crystal.

"Erupt! That incurable disease! That terrifying demon that isn't fatal but can sweep away all human defenses!" "Take effect! AIDS!"