Chapter 318 The End

[Ember Echoes].

One of the last remaining seeds of fire from a dead world, it was stored in the form of a Flame Crystal within the [Ember Training Cane] of the Zaret Ash Ember Church.

Following the town's fragmented remains through an otherworldly fusion, it had arrived in a small valley named "Ash Valley" in the Abyssal Veil Province of the Servia Kingdom on the Aifala Continent, transforming into what Xia Nan understood as a secret realm.

It was exactly what the combat technique's name implied:

"Ember": the residual warmth left after a flame burns out, a life and power on the verge of extinguishing but not yet entirely dead;

"Echoes": the reverberation that lingers in a space after a sound stops, where past power and will continue to act in the final moments.

Even after mastering the pathways of its energy flow, one had to experience their life's flame reigniting at the very brink of extinguishing to break the bottleneck and take the final step to reach the Novice stage.

The strength of its actual effects also reflected its extremely harsh Novice requirements and its divine status as a "seed of the world's fire."

When the user's vitality fell below 33%, entering a state of severe injury and near death—[Ember Echoes] met its activation condition (30-day cooldown).

Upon activation, the user's vitality would instantly restore to 66% the moment [Ember Echoes] initiated, then continue to regenerate at a rate of 0.333% per second. This entire process lasted for one minute.

During these sixty seconds, the user would also enter the "Ember" state.

The status effects were as follows:

1. A 33% overall increase to the five core attributes (Strength, Agility, Constitution, Perception, and Charisma);

2. Stamina Overload—increased maximum stamina, accelerated stamina recovery, and reduced stamina consumption rate;

3. Tenacity Enhancement—actions were harder to interrupt when attacked, granting physical resistance against blunt, piercing, and slashing damage;

4. A massive boost to fire resistance (from non-divine sources);

5. +25% special damage (Ember).

It seemed incredibly complex and difficult to understand.

But in practice, a single term was enough to summarize it:

—"Stage 2."

...

...

The Goblin Lair.

Somewhat surprisingly, the first to notice something amiss was not Saloyan, who rightfully possessed much stronger Perception.

Rather, it was the two Spined Devils tearing at each other to fight over the prey on the ground.

The beast-like, hideous bodies they had gradually evolved through countless years of slaughter in Purgatory granted them slightly stronger physiques than other monsters of their level. Yet, this evolution had also caused a significant drop in their intelligence, making them even dimmer than the weak Imp grunts nearby.

But precisely because of this, a feral instinct distinct from intelligent creatures allowed them to be the first to sense the aura of extreme danger erupting from an unknown source, like a detonating volcano.

Their shrieking came to an abrupt halt.

Like birds deep in a dark forest startled from sleep by an inexplicable sound, the two Spined Devils flapped their wings. Abandoning their hard-won prey that still clung to a sliver of life, they fled toward the cavern walls as if running for their lives.

"Hmm?"

Saloyan frowned slightly, the pale blue sparks of [Lightning Lure] still lingering on his fingertips.

He had never seen his summoned Spined Devils behave like this.

Vigilance immediately flared within him.

His lips moved, chanting a spell in preparation as he pushed his mental power to its absolute limit to carefully sense the changes in his surroundings.

Then, he keenly detected it: an unnatural, parched heat within the lair, entirely distinct from the dark fires of Purgatory.

Amidst the stench of blood, sulfur, and rot, a trace of ashen, deathly stillness had silently crept in.

"Something isn't right!"

Saloyan's alarm spiked.

And just as he noticed the anomaly and prepared to take defensive measures...

Hum—

The transformation abruptly intensified.

The ground trembled, as if some entity deep beneath the earth had been awakened by the commotion, emitting a muffled yet high-frequency hum.

Dust, dirt, and even droplets of blood defied gravity, silently rising to hover in midair, twinkling with faint, crimson starlight.

"Thump... thump... thump..."

A muffled sound like the beating of a war drum—a heartbeat—gradually accelerated, exploding through the scorching air.

Saloyan whipped his head around, his gaze locking onto the source of the sound.

Just a short distance away on the ground lay the black-haired young man—the one who had clearly just died, his heart having stopped completely.

Now, as if returning from the dead, he propped his body up with his arms, rested on one knee, and slowly rose to his feet.

Having just endured a bitter battle, the Plate-Chain Composite Armor on his upper body was entirely shattered. Its remains lay quietly in a corner, and his undershirt was torn in multiple places, exposing the bloody, mutilated wounds beneath. His greaves and Arm Shield remained intact, but like his clothes, they were caked with dirt and mud. His black hair was plastered to his cheeks with sweat and blood, making him look rather wretched.

"Crackle."

An incredibly clear sound, like dry firewood snapping in a blaze, erupted from within his body.

Boom—

An invisible shockwave suddenly expanded, kicking up countless specks of dust and gravel.

Like a bursting dam, crimson flames violently erupted from his body. Even from a considerable distance, one could feel the searing heatwave rolling through the air.

Bizarrely, even though the temperature felt high enough to melt steel, these flames—which retracted into his body immediately after the brief eruption—left not a single scorch mark on his flesh or clothes.

Instead, they pushed Xia Nan's body into a state resembling the glowing embers of exhausted firewood.

Crimson firelight crackled and flickered across his skin. Granular sparks and ash trailed his every move like a natural aura. With every breath that heaved his chest, every flex and stretch of his arm muscles, every step he took, and even the fluttering of his clothes, crimson sparks and ash drifted down to melt into the air.

His cold, pale bone greaves were saturated with the firelight, taking on a searing crimson hue.

Reaching out, he grabbed the hilt of the sword that had fallen beside him. Crimson flames spread from his fingertips across the blade at a visible rate, turning the entire two-handed greatsword into a molten weapon that spewed scorching mist.

Across his entire body, only the Snake-Scale Arm Shield retained its dark, cold luster.

His black hair whipped violently in the rushing waves of heat. As if sensing the gaze from ahead, Xia Nan slowly raised his head.

Saloyan's hyper-focused attention made Xia Nan's movement appear suffocatingly slow.

Then, he caught sight of those eyes.

Those harsh, cold eyes resembled a solar eclipse—pitch-black and lightless in the center, yet wreathed in a ring of blazing fire around the edges.

The unique mental power driven by the fel energy of Purgatory, combined with the razor-sharp Perception of a devil baron, caused Saloyan to fall into a fleeting daze.

It was as if he saw a dilapidated yet magnificent palace, and upon its throne sat an unmoving, ashen knight.

Rumble—

An explosive roar and a sweeping tide of boiling air snapped Saloyan's consciousness back to reality.

Yet, the blazing figure wreathed in fire was no longer in his line of sight.

All that remained in its original spot were a few clusters of rapidly fading crimson sparks.

"Awoo!"

A wolf howl burst through the air.

The sudden severing of his connection to his summons left a void in Saloyan's chest.

Whipping his head around, he saw that the four Imps had already been decapitated.

Sparks drifted from its swaying mane as a massive Winter Wolf lightly paced to the side. It shared those same eclipse-like wolf eyes, and its fangs glowed molten red.

Its originally pitch-black coat was now tinged with crimson under the blazing firelight.

The duration of the Ember state was short.

Xia Nan wasn't going to waste any words.

He simply slaughtered.

Facing this devil projection from Purgatory whose true depths he couldn't fathom, it was impossible for him to hold back the slightest bit of strength, nor would he give his opponent any chance to maneuver.

The brief window of time before the enemy figured out the mechanics of his [Ember Echoes] was the perfect opportunity to end the battle.

And so, amidst endless sparks and ash, the fire-lit wolf beast lunged at the prey ahead under the howling of a searing wind.

Intended for mental control, [Charm Person] and the backup [Tasha's Hideous Laughter] were consecutively resisted by [Gaze into the Abyss];

[Freezing Ray], meant to distract him, was deflected onto the Snake-Scale Arm Shield by [Gravity Control] following a brief activation of [Heart-Guided Vision];

The final killing blow—two consecutive casts totaling six beams of [Scorching Ray]—was forcefully endured by Xia Nan, whose fire resistance was massively boosted in the Ember state. At the cost of surface burns on his body, he gained the opportunity to bring the devil into his attack range.

Following that...

—[Fang Hunt] + [Spinning Slash] + [Gravity Etching]

Draped in crimson firelight, the granular sparks and ash blurred into an afterimage behind him.

Under the Ember state, Xia Nan swung the most powerful strike he could muster within his current capabilities, giving it his absolute all.

"Shhhk... Voom-boom!"

The Wolf Fang swung down diagonally.

Wreathed in the fires of Purgatory, the head detached from its rightful place—just like the countless other heads that had spun into the air amid the wolf's howl before—reflecting forcefield energy, flames, and the cold gleam of metal.

Amid the geyser of blood erupting from the neck...

It spun, and fell to the ground.