Chapter 375 Embers Rekindled

A piercing wail, impossible for any living creature to produce and formed purely of high-frequency vibrational energy, echoed above the Church.

Cleric Moin's entire body was encased in pink crystals. Aside from his general silhouette, almost nothing about him resembled a human anymore.

Yet judging by his agonized wails and the blood spurting from the wound on his neck, he clearly retained a basic sense of pain. His body hadn't crystallized completely.

Keenly observant and always mindful of timing in battle, Xia Nan was not about to miss this opening while his opponent was paralyzed by severe injury.

Not to mention, he had already realized how highly effective the force field energy of [Gravity Etching] was against the crystal man. Judging by his previous strike, just one more hit would completely sever the cleric's neck.

Amidst a wolf-like howl, he surged forward with his sword raised, ready to bring the blade crashing down.

But right at that moment.

Buzz—

A sharp, jarring frequency—one that had rung out many times during this battle and instinctively filled Xia Nan with a sense of dread—burst forth right in front of him.

With the gemstone at the center of Moin's chest acting as a core, a brilliant light flashed, and a translucent pink energy shield rapidly expanded outward!

Boom—

The incredibly sharp blade struck it, but the tactile feedback was even more sickening than hacking into cotton. In an instant, his full physical force was absorbed by the ripples of energy cascading across the shield's surface, stripping the attack of all its power.

Even his body, mid-swing, was thrown backward by the expanding shield, as if slammed by an oncoming wall of light.

Xia Nan was forced back several steps.

By the time he finally escaped the light shield's range and regained his footing, the distance between him and Moin was even greater than before.

"This move again—"

Since his full current power was unable to break through this translucent pink shield, it had clearly transcended the realm of simple stats and acted more like a mechanic.

As long as Moin cast it, Xia Nan had to retreat, making it nearly impossible to truly get close.

Fortunately, his Perception was sharp. The moment energy surged in the air, he had instantly canceled the [Gravity Etching] he was about to unleash, preserving this precious, final use of the skill.

Furthermore, this technique didn't seem to be something Moin could use casually. The toll it took on him was only slightly less than the terrifyingly powerful beam from earlier.

After casting it, the light gleaming from the Pink Gemstone on his chest had grown significantly dimmer, looking as if it were on the verge of extinguishing entirely.

This brought Xia Nan a slight measure of relief.

Still holding onto one last strike of [Gravity Etching], he had quietly seized the initiative in this battle. All he needed to do was use the nimble mobility of [Fang Hunt] to test the waters, ideally forcing his opponent to exhaust whatever energy remained in his body.

That way, without the defense of the light shield, the straight sword condensed with force field energy could—

Rumble—

The sudden, violent trembling of the Church interrupted Xia Nan's train of thought.

What came from Moin's mouth wasn't just a wail of agony. As those piercing, high-frequency screeches rippled outward, they seemed to resonate with the entire Church itself.

This was Moin's home ground.

Through countless days and nights of devout prayer, he had grown even more familiar with this Church than the hometown he had left behind so many years ago.

And ever since that day, when the "miracle" descended.

The Church had become the source of all his hope and drive.

Now, genuinely feeling the pain from the back of his neck and realizing just how close he was to death, that all his previous efforts were about to go up in flames...

Moin held nothing back.

Sizzle.

It was the faint sound of pure white Holy Flame burning across the surface of the statue.

The Goddess statue, which had stood silently upon the altar since the battle began, now trembled gently in resonance with the Church.

Pale gray stone dust began to shake loose.

A strange pink glow rippled up from beneath the stone vines carved across its chest, like a profound shadow drifting beneath pitch-black seawater.

The statue's trembling grew more and more violent.

It wasn't just dust anymore.

Crack.

A tiny fissure appeared on the surface of the palm cradling a rosebud.

Revealing a glimpse of pure, translucent pink beneath.

Like some shoddily made cement sculpture, the cracks rapidly expanded alongside the resonance, branching and connecting like tree roots, until they finally turned into fragments of gray-white skin peeling away.

It didn't shed completely.

The benevolent and great Goddess—her frozen eyes, flickering with pristine Holy Flame, remained compassionate and merciful, bestowing her most forgiving blessings upon all creation.

Yet, from the eyes down, her lips, jaw, shoulders, chest, and abdomen had all been replaced by clear gemstones glinting with a bewitching pink light.

The otherworldly monstrosity parasitizing beneath the stone skin and divine nature finally revealed its true form at this critical moment of life and death.

Boom—

The pink energy surging through the air suddenly erupted into a violent tidal wave.

If what the [Dream Weaving Corridor] on Xia Nan's finger had easily absorbed earlier were mere ripples in a gentle stream, then this was a tempest churning up massive gales and towering waves deep in the ocean.

The gruesome wound on the back of the cleric's neck swiftly stopped bleeding. The pink crystal clusters, previously shattered by the crushing force field energy, sprouted and condensed once more, shielding his vulnerable flesh behind them.

In the center of his chest, the Pastel Gemstone that had been dim and lifeless just a moment ago greedily drained the pink energy from the air as if recharging, growing brighter at a visible rate.

The agony in his wails had faded away at some unknown point. Moin stood his ground, the pupils of his glowing eyes completely obscured, while the crystal-studded surface of his body pulsed with pink light in rhythm with his breathing.

As for Xia Nan on the other side.

The mechanical notification chimes from the [Dream Weaving Corridor] rang out constantly in his mind.

"Ding!"

"Detected charging substance, initiating auto-replenishment—"

"[Remaining Energy] +0.05%"

"[Remaining Energy] +0.04%"

"[Remaining Energy] +0.06%"

Stemming from the source of the corruption, the pink energy surging in the air had undergone a qualitative change in both its concentration and overall scale compared to before.

Reflected in the energy being absorbed by the [Dream Weaving Corridor], this manifested as the decimal point shifting two places forward.

It was no longer the near-nonexistent trickle from before, a fraction of a millionth that required adding three more zeros after the decimal.

Measured by the second, the [Dream Weaving Corridor] was frantically absorbing the pastel energy from the air at a truly exaggerated pace.

A single second was equal to all the charging he had accumulated since arriving in Sheep Horn Town;

A hundred seconds would be enough to double its total charging progress.

Since it was tied to his combat technique proficiency, Xia Nan naturally hoped the [Dream Weaving Corridor] would charge as much as possible, even if he hadn't found the encryption keys yet.

But right now, he didn't have the luxury to pay attention to that.

Accompanying the boundless, wave-like energy released by the Goddess statue was a deeper, equally transformed charming effect.

The [Dream Weaving Corridor] might be able to help Xia Nan entirely offset the mental influence he suffered, but on a physical level, the suddenly dense pink energy in the air churned the magic particles, adding pressure to his body.

In truth, this pressure wasn't particularly heavy.

With Xia Nan's current physical attributes, he could fully adapt and regain free movement in just a few breaths.

Yet it was exactly this momentary stiffness, a pause of just a few breaths, that created an opportunity for Moin—whose body had already recovered and whose strength had climbed to an even higher level.

The fierce gale whipped up by high-speed movement scraped against Xia Nan's cheeks, bringing bursts of stinging pain. The crystal-encased body left behind only an afterimage in his vision.

Xia Nan only felt a flash of pink light before his eyes. In the very next second, a fist composed of pink crystal granules was already crashing down toward his face.

His intent flickered, and a faint glow surfaced on the silver ring upon his right index finger.

[Deathline] — "Deflection Field"!

An ochre-red shield formed of chaotic force field energy instantly enveloped Xia Nan's body, violently colliding with the descending fist.

As a defensive 2nd-circle spell, there was no doubt that Moin's punch—fueled by pure Strength without any other special damage—was not enough to break its defense.

The force field shield shook violently. Though it eventually shattered and scattered into motes of light, it completely absorbed the damage of the blow.

But to Moin in his current state, this was nothing more than the most ordinary of punches.

Almost in the very next instant after realizing his attack had been blocked, his empty left hand clenched tightly into a fist as well.

The Pastel Gemstone flickered fiercely. Pink energy was violently channeled over his knuckles, causing his Strength to skyrocket yet again.

He thrust it forward, slamming it ruthlessly against Xia Nan's chest armor.

"Rockhammer" Barn's craftsmanship was clear for all to see. Every piece of equipment on Xia Nan's body produced by his blacksmith shop was a high-quality masterpiece among those of the same tier.

And the [Purgatory Pulse] armor he was currently wearing was an even greater testament to the blacksmith's pride. Forged specifically to soothe the dwarf's shaken ego over the young man's excessively high armor-breaking rate, Barn hadn't even made a profit on it. In fact, he had taken a loss, personally adding in several special materials to create this confidence-restoring masterwork.

Its defensive capabilities surpassed every other set of armor Xia Nan had ever worn.

If the attack landing upon it now had been a longsword swinging with equivalent force, or perhaps an arrow, instead of Moin's pink-glowing fist...

Then [Purgatory Pulse] might actually have blocked it completely.

However—the nature of blunt-force trauma was vastly different from slashing or piercing.

It didn't rely on cutting or penetration, nor did it need to completely destroy the armor itself.

The massive kinetic energy carried by the fist couldn't be deflected and dispersed by the curved surface of the iron plating like a sword strike would. Even with the inner lining acting as a buffer, the vast majority of the energy still transmitted straight through the armor's metal plates into his body.

Bang!

The fist wrapped in dazzling pink light slammed violently against the surface of the dark iron armor, leaving behind a deep, visibly caved-in depression.

On the surface, the damage didn't appear exceptionally severe; it was well within the realm of being repairable.

But to Xia Nan, what he felt was a powerful shockwave blasting through his chest, followed immediately by an explosion of excruciating pain.

Forcing his slightly dazed mind to endure the agonizing pain, he drove his newly recovered body into motion. With absolute calm, he borrowed the impact force of his opponent's punch, kicked off the floorboards, and retreated backward amidst the howl of a wolf.

He didn't stop until he reached a safe distance—

Puh!

He violently spat out a mouthful of bloody water. His body swayed slightly where he stood before finally steadying itself.

Sword in his right hand, he raised his left hand and casually wiped the residual blood from the corner of his mouth.

Xia Nan stared dead at the cleric ahead, paying close attention to his every move.

In his mind, however, he was urgently evaluating his own injuries.

An explosive agony spread across his chest, accompanied by an indescribable sense of suffocation—several of his ribs had likely been snapped.

Breathing had become somewhat difficult. Every inhalation was accompanied by stabbing pain and weakness—a contusion to his chest and lungs, possibly bringing on a pneumothorax.

He could feel an obvious, warm sensation of fluid flowing within his chest cavity—his internal organs were continuously bleeding, causing blood to pool inside his chest.

Xia Nan had many defensive measures: his Arm Shield, the [Deathline] ring, and even his enchanted armor.

But that didn't mean his physical body possessed any great degree of defense on its own.

Even with the boosts from a few Feats he had acquired previously, the [Meteor Blade Hunter] class itself, as well as the combat techniques he had mastered, were all skewed toward offense.

He had high attack and high speed, but his defense was entirely stacked up through his equipment.

Coupled with Moin's Strength and explosive power being further elevated under the blessing of the Goddess statue...

Taking a direct hit like this...

A single punch had left him just one step away from being critically injured.

Yet there wasn't a hint of panic in Xia Nan's heart.

Instead, he felt even calmer.

What he was considering now was which trump card he should reveal first.

[Healing Water]? [Tears of Sighs]?

Or perhaps—

"Young adventurer, you simply cannot understand."

The voice, formed from energy frequencies, drifted over from ahead.

The once-beloved old man, now a monster whose entire body was covered in crystals, continued to babble on, "I dedicated my life to this land, offering all my faith to the Goddess, but She didn't care—"

"She didn't care at all!"

"But now, I've finally grasped something that can truly protect them, truly protect this land! This is a true miracle!"

Xia Nan didn't care either.

He couldn't even be bothered to listen to these ravings; you could find any random apostate and hear dozens of almost identical crazy rants.

Nor did he have the patience to listen to his opponent pour out his grievances in a life-or-death situation like this.

When the battle was completely over, and he was carrying the cleric's head, he might have the interest to figure out what drove the man to this point—if he found a journal, notes, or something similar on the body.

But right now, Xia Nan only wanted him dead.

He didn't waste another word on Moin.

Right in front of his opponent, Xia Nan drew the small, exquisite dagger from his waist that he usually used for carving up loot.

He casually measured it against his own abdomen, and then—

Squelch.

With an incredibly precise angle that bypassed all his vital organs, the sharp short blade instantly plunged deep into his flesh, leaving only the hilt visible against his skin.

Staring straight ahead at Moin, Xia Nan's bloodstained face showed absolutely no emotion as his left hand gripped the hilt and yanked the dagger free from his abdomen.

He let the blood flow freely.

He had already been just one step away from critical injury.

After such a stab, his vitality plummeted past a certain threshold.

Clatter—

The bloody dagger hit the floor.

Ahead of him, Moin's endless, rambling complaints came to an abrupt halt.

Replacing them was a muffled thudding sound in the air that gradually grew clearer, like the beating of a heart drumming against a war drum.

Along with it came a sense of inexplicable desolation, drifting up from the quietly burning hem of Xia Nan's clothes—

Faintly scattering embers and crimson sparks.