The terrifying mushroom cloud erupted astonishingly upon impact, and the unstoppable shockwave swept through the fragile interior space, stripping away countless layers of flesh and blood, reducing them to ash and exposing the corroded metal skeleton beneath. In that instant, the barrier surrounding Fang Senyan vanished.
As the smoke cleared, the Cardinal remained pristine and sacred, as if no worldly influence could ever disturb his piety. In stark contrast, Fang Senyan was covered in wounds, his entire body a dull, ashen gray, appearing as if death could claim him at any moment—only the ghastly red light radiating from his skin remained strikingly visible!
However, for the Cardinal, there was only one discordant element: a sudden, fresh scratch across his chest.
It was an indescribable gash, the sight of which felt not just like an injury to the eyes, but an injury to the very soul!
No matter how powerful the Cardinal was, he could only delay the onset of Annihilation; he could never negate its terrifying and agonizing lethality! Anyone struck by Annihilation was destined to pay a gruesome price!
Just as the Cardinal was preparing to press his advantage, seven writhing, earthworm-like Sinner's Brands became clearly visible on Fang Senyan’s body. They looked disturbingly vivid, like living snakes, threatening to rupture at any moment—an explosion that would mean true, utter obliteration!
The terrifying power unleashed when the Seven Deadly Sins were fully manifested could not be withstood even by lower-tier Legendary figures. Of course, branding a Legendary character with the Seven Sins was no easy feat, as their conviction was so resolute that, with the Cardinal's current ability, imposing and externalizing all seven sins through inquisition was extremely difficult.
Take Captain Jack Sparrow as an example: the Cardinal might easily succeed in leveraging one or two of the Sins against him, such as probing his Sin of Gluttony; but something like the Sin of Pride would be incredibly hard to manifest and interrogate. The Seven Sins only unleash their peak power when all seven are gathered!
Yet now, the Cardinal could only stare at the seven Sinner's Brands burning into Fang Senyan! Just stare!
All the power within him seemed to be rapidly draining away following that single scar on his chest! His long, pale fingers trembled violently, attempting to grasp the Holy Codex in his hand and trace the necessary movements, but his uncontrollable digits refused to sketch the correct sigils!
Fang Senyan swept his blade in a flash; five fingers flew off, followed immediately by a deft turn that brought him behind the Cardinal. With an elbow strike, the reversed grip of the Demon Sword Apophis plunged stealthily into the Cardinal's heart from behind.
The Cardinal tried to use his right hand, which glowed with a faint green light, to stem the flow of life, but regretfully, the cruel tip of Apophis pierced clean through his palm. Around the sword, an eerie, captivating halo of light pulsed, utterly eye-catching. It seemed only when drawing blood and stealing life did the seemingly ordinary Apophis reveal its indescribable, sinister beauty!
Having struck the killing blow, Fang Senyan felt a wave of weakness wash over him as the notification confirming the Cardinal’s defeat popped up. But in his senses, the other two formidable enemies were already retreating! In fact, they fled faster than they had arrived, with more desperate resolve than when they entered!
“What kind of joke is this…”
“Don’t the bastards think I’m some country bumpkin who’s never seen anything? I recognize the Demon Sword Apophis and the Blood-Soaked General’s Mutant Armor. Having both those pieces of equipment on one person is a complete bug! It’s as outrageous as Optimus Prime wielding Megatron’s gun!”
“That guy actually managed to survive the high-energy shot from Megatron’s gun, then tanked the Pharaoh’s Scarab Swarm to kill him, and finally, stood firm against the Cardinal’s Seven Sins to land the killing blow. No one short of an absolute MT could possess that much health! And judging by how effortlessly he seemed to do it… well, he might be bluffing, but it’s more likely he’s just waiting for the right moment, gambling his life on someone else’s mistake. Is that not a foolish gamble?”
“The space is destroyed; it doesn't mean we have no way out. Every space is happy to acquire powerful Contractors. Just show your strength, and defecting to this attacking Noah Space C-0 is fine. Why risk death in a pointless fight?”
“……”
These were the genuine thoughts of the two who fled. Truthfully, what they said held merit. While many ants can indeed kill an elephant, before the elephant falls, countless ants are ground to dust. Contractors each have their self-interest; they are certainly not prepared to face death fearlessly like ants.
Fang Senyan rested briefly and learned through the team channel that the others were converging on the reef area. He, however, felt no rush to rejoin the main group. The reef was near the training rooms, while he was nearly approaching the Trade Plaza; the distance between them was significant. Moreover, Noah Space E-0 was utilizing expensive and elaborate illusionary formations everywhere, making rendezvous a time-consuming ordeal.
“If I’m not mistaken, the vital areas of Noah Space should be near the Honor District,” Fang Senyan mused, quickly recalling the layout before sprinting towards the Honor District.
Although normally one would use the universal elevator to reach the Honor District in Noah C-0, for Fang Senyan, with his exceptionally acute sense of direction, discerning the path forward was not difficult. On his way, he encountered other Contractors, but few could evade the combination attack of "Rage of the Horns" followed by "Apophis Annihilation!" Not to mention the Teleportation abilities granted by his ring that Fang Senyan also possessed.
Fang Senyan had advanced less than fifty meters before slaying six individuals—truly a case of killing one person every ten steps! But after the sixth victim, those who dared to stand in his way became scarce. After all, if one could exchange a couple of blows and still feel confident, it was one thing, but being killed instantly upon confrontation was utterly demoralizing.
This was, in fact, normal. Fang Senyan was already a terrifying Executor, while most of his opponents were still Colonizers; a Hammerer represented the absolute peak. Furthermore, the main battleground of the space conflict was near the reef where Stone Reef’s team was, and Noah Space E-0 had dispatched most of its main force there as well. These remaining members were merely reserves, easily defeated and disheartened by Fang Senyan’s overwhelming might.
“This is it,” Fang Senyan stopped before a wall of fleshy, reddish material. The sensory threads released by his third eye drifted and probed, even penetrating deep inside the wall! He raised his right hand high; the silver wrench, which dealt extra damage to mechanical lifeforms, materialized again via the G-point. He then slammed it against the wall with tremendous force!
Flesh and blood convulsed violently! The surrounding spatial area began to shudder violently, manifesting externally as Noah Space E-0 emitted a piercing, mournful cry. It generated a new tentacle, at least five or six hundred meters long, which lashed out, intending to pierce into Fang Senyan’s body.
But Noah Space C-0 would never allow that to happen. Already holding the superior position, it retaliated instantly, conjuring two tentacles that tightly bound the enemy's appendage, stopping its advance completely!
Having struck this blow while inside Noah Space E-0, Fang Senyan observed that the flesh and blood in a thirty to forty square meter area had evaporated. On the uneven, metallic ground, he could vaguely see numerous dark-brown pipes of varying thickness. These pipes had the texture of metal but resembled trachea, composed of countless interlocking rings. They all sprouted from a circular hole about two square meters wide, twitching slightly like living organisms.
Without hesitation, Fang Senyan re-materialized the Demon Sword Apophis and began slashing wildly. When the pipes were severed, nothing liquid spilled out, but Fang Senyan detected a faint, fishy scent and a "hissing" sound, as if air were escaping. Nothing seemed particularly noteworthy.
However, Fang Senyan soon discovered with pleasant surprise that with every pipe he severed, he received a notification of increased Merit Points, ranging from… up to five points. When the thickest pipe was cut, it granted him a full twenty Merit Points!
It turned out this location was a node within Noah Space, a convergence point for numerous energy conduits—much like the neck is a vital area for a living body, except Noah Space had many such 'necks.'
But as Fang Senyan continued his destruction, Noah Space E-0 let out an agonizing shriek, a sound that seemed to make the very cosmos tremble. A massive wound on its surface stopped healing, rapidly deteriorated, and then began to tear open. A section of its body, about one-seventh of its total mass, forcibly detached. Immediately, Noah Space C-0 greedily sprouted seven or eight tentacles, which wrapped around the piece, pierced it, and directly dragged it into its own body to be dissolved and digested on the spot!!
Yes, for a Noah Space, the most nourishing sustenance was the body of its own kind! To grow stronger, nothing was more vital than absorbing the essence of its brethren. It needed to support more and stronger Contractors, which inevitably placed a strain on its own energy reserves. This piece of Noah Space E-0 was exactly the timely relief it desperately needed.
Noah Space E-0 was already weaker than C-0, and it was currently at a comprehensive disadvantage in the war. More critically, in the life-or-death struggle between Noah Spaces, the energy lost by the weaker side was absorbed by the stronger side—it was a calculation of rise and fall. If the initial strength ratio was 10:8, by now it might have become 11:7. If it continued to lose, the advantage could swell to an overwhelming 12:6!
And at this moment, Fang Senyan, the direct catalyst for all this, once again grinned menacingly and raised his right hand… (To be continued. Please search Piaotian Literature for faster and better novel updates!) No Pop-up Novel Network www.RT