Chapter 84: A Blade for Another World

The ground shuddered.

Lin Yan was already upon the Wendigo.

It shrieked and brought its remaining claw down at his head.

CLANG—!

His blade swept up to meet it. More than a hundred kilograms of steel carved a gleaming arc through the air, shearing clean through the iron-hard talons.

The claws spun away. Before the creature could scream, Lin Yan drove into its chest.

The impact boomed through the clearing. Several tons of flesh left the ground and flew backward.

His blade followed with a thunderous sweep.

A dark arc flashed from left to right, its edge cold as frost.

SHHK!

The great head struck the ground and rolled. Black blood burst from the neck, and the headless body crashed into the mud.

Lin Yan stepped after it.

He drove the blade through its chest and heart, pulled it free, and took off the remaining arm. Two more cuts severed the legs. The last passed through its waist.

The pieces finally lay still.

Silence fell over the clearing.

Lin Yan briefly relaxed his grip, then clenched it. A sharp vibration sang through the steel, shaking the blood from its surface in a crimson mist.

The last drop fell from the tip. The blade hung at his side, gleaming like clear water.

[Wendigo eliminated.]

[Trait Plunder triggered.]

[Trait obtained: Gluttony — Pseudo-Purple.]

[Effect: Feeding on flesh rich in vitality converts part of its life essence into nourishment, rapidly restoring stamina and healing physical injuries. Consuming more potent life forms can permanently strengthen the body.]

[The more powerful the life form consumed, the greater the nourishment gained.]

[Side effect: While equipped, this Trait causes unrelenting hunger. The user can never feel truly full. Hunger grows progressively stronger over time; feeding only temporarily reduces its intensity.]

[Once the hunger exceeds the user’s ability to endure it, appetite will overwhelm reason. Only the instinct to feed will remain.]

Lin Yan slid the blade into its black scabbard, stopping just short of the guard. His thumb held it there, an inch of bright steel showing in the shadows.

Behind the SUV, the others began to stir.

They could barely breathe.

That thing had been about to eat them alive. Their bullets had scarcely marked it. Yet this man in black armor had cut it down in a single exchange, then reduced it to scattered limbs and meat.

Relief left them shaking. One bent double, gasping. Another’s knees gave out, dropping him into the mud. The woman covered her face, and a sob broke through her fingers.

"I thought... I thought we were going to die here..."

Luke still had both arms locked around his unconscious companion. Tears ran through the blood and mud on his face. He stared up at Lin Yan’s armored back, his throat working, struggling to speak.

Lin Yan glanced at the wounded man.

"Stop that bleeding."

His voice was low and level. It steadied them.

"Help’s on the way."

Luke snapped into action. He pulled a tourniquet from his harness and went to work.

[Calamity carrier eliminated.]

[Residual causal link between worlds detected.]

[Source-world coordinates locked.]

[Unique Title detected: Hero.]

Lin Yan’s eyes narrowed slightly.

The words hovered above the Wendigo’s shattered skull, carrying a weight unlike anything Lin Yan had ever felt from the System.

[War sets an evil star aflame; from a world in ruin, horrors rise.]

[Calamity origin:]

[The source world’s wars were engineered by a higher-dimensional will. Its people are being kept as breeding stock.]

[An entire world has been turned into a slaughterhouse for the trials of low-tier entrants. An Eldritch Progenitor was brought there to feed on the despair of billions. Their anguish fuels the breeding of monsters; their world is the pit in which those horrors are raised.]

[Its people cry out in vain. Justice lies buried with the dead. Now the calamity has spilled into this world. The will of this world has taken notice and decreed that its source be slain.]

The words deepened to a grim, chilling red.

[Special Counteroffensive Mission: End the Scourge, Free the World.]

[Objective: Trace the causal link back to the trial world. Slay the Eldritch Progenitor and destroy the anchor through which the higher-dimensional power exerts its control.]

[Mechanism: The Progenitor’s death will trigger a causal backlash within the source world. All ties to the higher-dimensional power will be forcibly severed, freeing the world from its control.]

[Completion condition: Permanently eliminate the Eldritch Progenitor.]

[Rewards:]

[1. Contribution Points: 1,000,000 points.]

[2. System Points: 1,000,000.]

[3. One random exclusive Gold-quality Trait.]

[4. One A+ adaptive weapon.]

Below, a blood-red countdown began ticking away.

[Breach closure in: 59 seconds... 58 seconds...]

[If the summons goes unanswered, the causal link will collapse. Earth will face the continuing spillover alone, and the people of the source world will remain condemned to their living hell.]

[Will you take up the blade and answer this summons?]

[Yes / No]

Behind his faceplate, Lin Yan studied the crimson offer.

A million points in each currency. An exclusive Gold Trait, and an A+ weapon, five whole grades above the blade in his hand.

...Interesting.

He already had Fleshseed equipped. With that Gold Trait, putting him down for good would take some doing. Besides, even the Wendigo at his feet had yielded a Pseudo-Purple. What would the stronger monsters over there give him? Gold, at the very least?

He was damned hard to kill, and the rewards were more than worth the risk.

As the countdown passed forty seconds, he reached out and tapped the crimson prompt .

[Yes.]

People speak of heroes as noble souls, ready to lay down their lives for a righteous cause.

Yet most heroes, truth be told, are fools. They have no grand doctrine of righteousness, no eloquent theory of compassion. In their own reckoning, they are merely chasing a reward, taking a risk, fighting for their own small share. Only when disaster comes and the world begins to fall does the difference reveal itself: others retreat, while they tighten their grip on a weapon and, still making excuses to themselves, take half a step forward.

He thought he was merely making a deal.

He had yet to learn what that bargain would mean to a world that had endured an age of darkness.

[Summons accepted.]

[Establishing reverse transit along the causal link...]

[Equipment verification: Black Dragon Scale Armor — permitted. Nodachi — permitted.]

[Communications terminal — must be left behind.]

Lin Yan took out his black phone.

Luke caught it awkwardly. He looked from the phone to the armored man, his voice still trembling.

"Give that to Claire."

Luke caught it awkwardly. He looked from the phone to the armored man.

"Where... where are you going?"

Lin Yan’s thumb shifted against the guard. The last inch of steel slid home with a click.

"To settle up with whoever’s behind this."

[Transit commencing.]

The mud beneath his feet stretched and tore apart. Trees, wreckage, and blood smeared into fractured colors. Somewhere behind him, engines were approaching. Luke called out.

The void swallowed both.

In a heartbeat, the world turned inside out.

Draw steel and cut a passage through the void;

Go armed to knock upon the gates of hell.

Through fate’s dark snares and all the horrors bound there,

Break the cage—and let a world live free.