Chapter 1422: Soul Burning Embers

“Soul-Burning Embers.”

A large cluster of ghostly flames fell from the crimson sky and enveloped the father and son.

These ghostly flames drifted lightly; their trajectories swayed and wobbled.

Yet, they were incredibly fast.

Almost as soon as they appeared, the father and son from Thousand Beast Villa had no chance to dodge.

Li Daqian was an eight-star powerhouse. Even though he was affected by the energy from the Wall of Agony, his recovery speed was much faster than his son’s.

He struggled to his feet, ignoring the attacks from the Energy Troll behind him. Li Daqian ended his bloodline transformation to move even faster.

He quickly ran to Li Zhizhong, who wasn’t far away, and kicked away the zombie dogs while grabbing his son.

Then, an ancient-looking umbrella flew out of Li Daqian’s space equipment. He opened it, and the umbrella shielded them from the falling ghostly flames.

Thud, thud, thud—the muffled sounds of the ghostly flames hitting the umbrella echoed continuously. Although the flames were light, each collision caused a significant tremor, demonstrating their power.

With every ghostly flame that landed, Li Daqian’s body trembled slightly, indicating that the umbrella’s defense was linked to his own energy.

Li Zhizhong was still feeling the effects of his negative status, but perhaps the touch of his father’s hand gave him strength. He was noticeably calmer than before.

He was still fearful and weak, but he wasn’t stupid. He knew that he and his father were in a dire situation.

But understanding the situation didn’t mean he could do anything about it.

Alamos was slightly out of breath after casting this skill. While the minor skills in the Dazzling Curses system seemed effortless, they still consumed mental energy. The Wall of Agony and Soul-Burning Embers, which was on par with the Floral Curses, had taken a significant toll on him.

He had the upper hand fighting one against two—an eight-star and a seven-star—, but since he wasn’t a full-fledged eight-star, and the two lacked experience dealing with curse masters, Alamos had gained the advantage. Otherwise, the outcome of the battle would have been hard to predict.

But now, Alamos felt at ease.

All his earlier preparations had been leading up to this moment—the true killing move, Soul-Burning Embers.

In truth, Alamos didn’t have much offensive capability. When he fought alone, he relied mostly on his two summoning structures.

But he cleverly utilized his abilities, specifically these drifting ghostly flames.

Soul-Burning Embers was also a negative status ability designed to lower the target’s mental strength and induce hallucinations.

The more flames that hit, the stronger the negative effects would become.

Typically, other curse masters would use this skill first to lower their opponent’s mental strength, then follow up with other curses to increase their success rate.

But Alamos didn’t do that. He had discovered that for those unfamiliar with curse masters, Soul-Burning Embers posed the greatest perceived threat, whether in terms of energy fluctuations or visual impact.

As a result, these people would do everything in their power to prevent the ghostly flames from touching them.

Once they tried to block the flames, the ghostly flames transformed into pure energy impacts upon contact with other objects. Each ghostly flame was packed with energy.

This effectively turned a support skill into an offensive one.

By the time the target realized they couldn’t block the flames anymore, they would have already exhausted their defensive equipment or mental energy, giving Alamos a better chance to finish them off.

Li Daqian had fallen into this trap.

It was too late when he realised.

Alamos began to feel a pang of regret regarding the ancient, extraordinary-looking umbrella.

The ghostly flames, initially falling one by one, now came from all directions, simultaneously crashing into the umbrella. A massive energy shockwave radiated outward from the impact.

The Energy Troll, being an energy-based entity, was most vulnerable to such impacts. It was dispersed without even a chance to cry out. However, the thick-skinned zombie dogs weren’t affected much. After they were sent rolling across the ground, they wobbled back to their feet.

On the ground, Li Daqian and Li Zhizhong clutched their heads and wailed in agony. The younger man’s cries suddenly stopped as he collapsed; his condition was unknown.

The ghostly flames caused mental shocks and continuously drained their mental energy. Li Zhizhong’s mental energy was completely depleted, causing him to lose consciousness.

This wasn’t the same as voluntarily exhausting one’s mental energy, which would, at most, lead to fainting. Having one’s mental energy forcibly drained was far worse—it could cause severe harm to the evolved individual. Even if Li Zhizhong woke up, it was uncertain whether he would regain his sanity.

Alamos laughed heartily, knowing he had won. He hadn’t expected that he could suppress the leader of Thousand Beast Villa relying solely on his own skills. After this, his reputation would undoubtedly soar, and few could rival him.

But the space shifted again just as he was about to deliver the final blow.

This time, the change was significant.

Because Li Daqian and Li Zhizhong didn’t disappear, instead, many more people appeared.

Alamos looked around. Wen Yan, Gyanendra, Guancheng Chun, Palmerk, David, and others were on his side. Ye Zhongming, Li Daqian, Deacon Water, Ruan Xiao, and others were on the opposing side.

Compared to before, Alamos’s side was missing Kim Jongyuan, while Li Daqian’s side was missing Qin Ru.

Both sides had lost a high-level combatant during the space shift, but it seemed like a draw—one death each.

However, neither side looked pleased.

Li Daqian’s side was unhappy because both the Water Deacon and Ruan Xiao had faced formidable challenges. Deacon Water had ended up fighting Wen Yan, while Ruan Xiao battled Palmerk. Both fights had been grueling, and if not for their substantial resources, they might have already been defeated. Deacon Water, in particular, was on the verge of collapse. Ruan Xiao was in slightly better shape because Palmerk had been severely injured earlier, giving him the upper hand.

Li Daqian was relieved by the space shift, as it had saved him from certain defeat. But he was also deeply saddened by his son’s unconsciousness and the inevitable destruction of Thousand Beast Villa after this.

On the other hand, Alamos and his group were displeased when they noticed that Wen Yan and Palmerk were in rough shape. The latter was severely injured and unable to fight.

Guancheng Chun, who appeared unharmed, looked utterly defeated, clearly having suffered some kind of setback.

The only one still in perfect condition was Gyanendra.