“Clang—!”
The Stone Sword and the stone claws collided head-on once more without any flourish. The ear-piercing sound of metal striking stone tore through the air, like the final roar of two wild beasts locked in a death match.
The immense recoil violently shook both figures. Deep ravines were plowed into the dirt beneath their feet as they slid back several steps before barely stabilizing themselves.
A Mi gasped heavily, every breath pulling at the pain throughout his body. His chest rose and fell violently, like a worn-out bellows.
His sword-wielding right arm trembled uncontrollably. The web between his thumb and forefinger had completely ruptured; it was no longer merely oozing blood, but rather flowing with crimson mixed with dim Spiritual Light, staining the rough stone sword hilt a mess.
He had several more ghastly gashes, deep enough to expose bone, added to his body. The light of his Spirit Body flickered more unstably than before, like a candle in the wind.
However, in stark, terrifying contrast to his battered appearance, which was nearing its limit, was the fighting intent in his eyes—which had not been extinguished, but instead burned even more fiercely, almost ready to erupt!
An Aura far more ferocious and violent than before, as if some restraint had been lifted, was steaming up from every corner of his body!
【Injury reaching critical point...】
【Unyielding Blood（ passive）, triggered!】
【All attributes temporarily increased to the next level!】
This was exactly what he had been waiting for!
Boom—!
A torrent, scorching enough to ignite the soul, erupted once more, surging like a breached river flooding a dry riverbed!
The intense pain and fatigue that had nearly crushed him were forcibly suppressed and dispelled by this savage Strength! Replaced by an explosive sense of power so immense it threatened to split the shell of this Spirit Body!
Muscle fibers tightened amidst groans, and bones emitted faint sounds of being overburdened, but his Speed, Strength, and reaction time stepped into an entirely new Domain at this moment!
What surprised A Mi even more, causing a thrill of excitement, was that under the sustained high load of 【Imitation Analysis】, he discovered he wasn't just passively familiarizing himself with and predicting the Gargoyle's attack patterns.
His body seemed to develop a form of muscle memory, beginning, during the fierce exchanges, to unconsciously imitate the Gargoyle's heavy and explosive methods of generating Strength, derived from its very Rock nature, as well as those highly efficient and deadly attack angles honed through countless trials!
Every imitative sword swing or block unexpectedly managed to faintly draw upon the weak energy in the surrounding air, unleashing a force slightly stronger than his base Strength and a trickier Speed!
This small, yet tangible, amplification was like trickling streams, gradually filling the gap in attributes between him and the Gargoyle, a gap that seemed insurmountable!
With the ebb and flow, the tide of the battle actually began to shift in a bizarre manner!
A Mi was no longer passively enduring attacks and searching for counterattack openings; instead, he began to proactively launch fierce counterattacks like a raging storm!
The Stone Sword in his hand, when swung, faintly carried a dull, heart-palpitating whistling sound similar to that made by the Gargoyle's claws tearing through the air!
The sword momentum became simpler and more ruthless, every strike aimed directly at the Gargoyle's Energy Nodes and the weak points in its rock joints.
This forced the Gargoyle, which had previously held the absolute upper hand, to put away some of its contempt, becoming more focused, even showing a trace of solemnity as it blocked and evaded!
“Wh-what’s going on?! What kind of monster is this guy?! Why is he getting stronger the more he fights?!”
The sneer and arrogance on Master Ma’s face had long been replaced by suspicion and a trace of undisguised fear, his voice even changing pitch.
He watched helplessly as the Contracted Spirit on the field, which should have been easily crushed and riddled with wounds, not only failed to fall but instead fought more bravely, like an Asura crawling out of blood and fire. A chill began to creep up his spine, and he subconsciously took half a step back.
Even the Fox Clan Child, who had always timidly controlled the Gargoyle, now had a pale face, revealing genuine terror.
Through the soul Contract, he could clearly feel the pressure and mental agitation emanating from the Gargoyle—it was no longer effortless, but gradually increasing—the opponent was adapting, learning, and even counterattacking at a speed that defied common sense, chilling the bone!
This capacity for growth made him tremble to his very soul.
“No… this can’t go on! I’ll lose… I’ll really lose!”
The Fox Clan Child’s voice was laced with a sob. He looked at A Mi, whose momentum seemed to be climbing crazily without limit on the field, and a fear originating from the unknown, immense terror, completely seized his young heart.
He did not want to be involved in such a dangerous fight, nor could he bear the potential consequences of failure—whether it was Master Ma’s revenge afterward or the possibility of losing the Gargoyle’s trust!
Under Master Ma’s fierce gaze, which seemed ready to spew fire, the Fox Clan Child abruptly closed his eyes. When he opened them again, a desperate resolution flashed in his eyes.
He rapidly formed an ancient and strange hand seal with both hands, his faint Mana being frantically drawn out. The eyes suddenly lit up with a sinister, agile, dazzling red light identical to that in the Gargoyle’s eye sockets!
“We can’t let this continue, Gargoyle!” he shrieked, his voice distorted by fear and resolve.
“Magic Tool—Activate! 【Sin-Punishing Demon Eye】!”
Following his trembling yet exceptionally clear chant, the Gargoyle on the field underwent a drastic transformation!
The two points of red light in its empty eye sockets were no longer simple glows, but suddenly expanded and brightened, like two miniature suns burning with infernal flames rising in the darkness!
Its hard, blade-and-sword-proof stone claws slowly lifted with a solemn and bizarre sense of ritual, gently covering its own eyes!
Simultaneously, an energy fluctuation a hundred times more oppressive and violent than before, like a volcano that had slept for a thousand years suddenly awakening, erupted violently from its stone body and swept outward!
Dark red, viscous flames, as if they had substance, enveloped its entire body. The surrounding air was distorted by the intense heat and energy, emitting a sizzling sound, and light itself was bent around it!
Alarms screamed wildly in A Mi’s mind!
Although he could not comprehend the specific effect of this Magic Tool, that aura of pure Destructive Energy, seemingly from a higher plane, felt like an icy scythe of death held against his neck!
Instinct screamed wildly—he absolutely could not let this ritual complete! Otherwise, everything would be over!
“Not a chance!!!”
He let out a roar born from the depths of his soul, squeezing out every last bit of potential under the 【Unyielding Blood】 state. Ignoring the groans from within his body that his Spirit Body was about to collapse, he transformed into a resolute Afterimage and charged forward!
He gripped the Stone Sword tightly with both hands, pouring all his Strength, will, and even his unyielding soul into it, carrying a momentum of reckless advance, as if seeking mutual destruction, tearing through the air as he stabbed with all his might toward the Gargoyle’s Core, which was accumulating Destructive Energy!
However—
The Stone Sword, while still three feet away from the Gargoyle’s dark red, flaming body, seemed to strike an absolute, formless yet indestructible wall of Rules!
“Buzz—!”
An extremely dazzling, cold energy spark, as brilliant as fireworks, burst from the tip of the sword!
An indescribably massive recoil traveled up the sword. A Mi felt as if the bones in both his arms were about to shatter inch by inch; the Stone Sword could not advance even a millimeter further!
【Warning! The target is activating a Magic Tool and is in a state of rule-based invincibility.】
【Please immediately cease the Attack, respond cautiously, or use rule-based Strength of an equivalent tier to counter/cancel.】
The cold, mechanical, emotionless System prompt flashed clearly in his already chaotic consciousness, like the final judgment.
Magic Tool… Invincible state?!
A Mi’s heart sank into the bottomless Abyss in that instant.
He… did not possess a Magic Tool!
His only reliance, the 【Yellow Creation Artifact】, only created weapons of extreme physical hardness. They might be able to cut through steel, but they could never touch, let alone counter, this concept of “invincibility” that involved the world’s underlying Rules!
Just as his momentum faltered unavoidably due to the unavoidable shock from the recoil and his despair over the absolute gap in Strength—
The stone claws covering the Gargoyle’s eyes suddenly moved away!
In those “eyes,” there was no longer burning red light, but two slowly rotating, deep dark-red vortex Runes, as if connected to the Nine Nether Hells!
Within the Runes, countless wailing souls seemed to drift, and an indescribable, terrifying pressure, mixing divine judgment with absolute destruction, descended like a tangible mountain range, enveloping the entire space!
“Rumble—!!!”
It was as if billions of silent thunderclaps exploded simultaneously in the deepest part of the soul!
Consciousness, perception, and even time were twisted and shattered at this moment!
Centered on the Gargoyle, a clearly visible circular Shockwave, its edges flickering with dark-red destructive Runes, spread silently at a speed surpassing thought, like the light of death erupting when a galaxy annihilates!
It instantly swallowed and annihilated all sound and color, sweeping across the entire forest clearing!
“Ugh—!” Master Ma only managed to let out an extremely brief, inhuman shriek.
“Thud! Thud!”
The two lackeys didn't even manage to make a sound before they collapsed straight down, as if stomped by an invisible giant soldier from a mythic age. Blood mixed with internal organ fragments spurted from their mouths and noses, their eyeballs bulging, their lives hanging in the balance.
And A Mi, who bore the brunt of the impact, felt as if his head—no, his entire existence—was violently grasped by an invisible giant hand containing the weight of the entire World!
Then, with an irresistible, terrifying Strength symbolizing Rules and punishment, he was slammed down toward the incomparably hard ground, as if smashing a trivial clay pot!
“Crack…” It sounded like a phantom sound of a neck breaking.
In one ten-thousandth of a second, his consciousness was completely swallowed by boundless darkness and soul-crushing agony.
The illusory prosperity granted by 【Unyielding Blood】 instantly melted away like ice and snow under the sun, and the informational world constructed by 【Imitation Analysis】 abruptly ceased, shattering like a broken mirror…
In the moment before plunging into eternal darkness, the last image captured by his remaining senses was of the 【Sin-Punishing Demon Eye】, rotating with Abyss Runes, hanging high above, coldly looking down upon the ants…
And not far away, the complex expression on the Fox Clan Child’s face—a mixture of extreme terror, a trace of relief from completing his mission, and… a deeper bewilderment.
Magic Tool…
This was… the gap between having a Magic Tool and not having one…
That chasm, which seemed challengeable through willpower, skill, or even desperate struggle, but which actually originated from the essence of the World, was bottomless and absolutely insurmountable…
Endless cold and Nothingness completely drowned the last glimmer of his flickering consciousness.