Chapter 537

"Wait."

"Seiichi, we’re going this way."

The six of them came to a stop.

Up until now, they had all been traveling together, heading in the same direction.

But now, Shiori suddenly halted.

Seiichi glanced at Kanzaki Rei and the others, then shrugged helplessly with a smile.

"Looks like I’ll be heading this way instead."

"See you around, everyone."

Kanzaki Rei nodded.

"Yeah. See you."

No—if possible, never seeing each other again would honestly be fine too...

That was what Seiichi was really thinking.

Swish—

The two of them walked toward an invisible wall. The moment they collided with it, they vanished.

"We’re almost there too," Minato Huang said.

After walking for a few more minutes, a withered black tree suddenly appeared before them.

And beneath the tree—

Several shriveled "people" hung suspended.

Swish—

Kanzaki Rei’s perception spread out instantly.

Among everyone present, his senses reacted the fastest—not only faster, but earlier.

He possessed the Destiny that allowed him to perceive enemies before anyone else.

At the same time, the Prophet class caused him to constantly predict the future.

This "first" was earlier than sight itself.

Kanzaki Rei saw not only the desiccated bodies hanging beneath the tree, tightly bound by thin cords—

He also saw...

A woman with loose hair, standing naked.

But she had no skin.

Her entire body was a bloody mass of exposed flesh.

That person...

It was Elthemis.

One of Elthemis’ avatars.

The instant the group appeared, Elthemis’ gaze turned toward them as well.

Her blood-soaked face and scarlet pupils radiated overwhelming pressure with nothing more than a glance.

Boom!

The moment their eyes met, flesh and skin erupted in all directions.

Bloody hides stitched themselves together instantly, outlining the walls of the area.

Every escape route was sealed shut.

The speed was terrifyingly fast.

The other two hadn’t even had time to react—the flesh walls had already formed the instant the group appeared.

"So..."

"We’ve arrived after all."

"Yogg, is this the answer you prepared for me?"

Elthemis walked slowly toward Kanzaki Rei’s group.

Every step she took left behind a crimson footprint in the void.

On either side of Kanzaki Rei—

Shumi and Elara immediately entered combat stances.

Every hair on Shumi’s body stood on end.

"Tch... feels like we’ve run into some seriously nasty filth, nya."

Elara raised a massive blade with both hands, positioning it beside herself as she pointed it at Elthemis.

"Just ’hard to deal with’?"

"I feel like even my skin doesn’t belong to me anymore."

"Yogg."

"Which one did you choose for me?"

"Which person possesses the perfect skin vessel?"

Elthemis muttered to herself absentmindedly.

She paid no attention whatsoever to the hostility from Elara and Shumi.

She simply continued walking forward lightly, step by step.

And then—

Swish—

Elthemis’ figure instantly appeared behind Kanzaki Rei, directly beside Elara and Shumi.

"Is it you two?"

Pat. Pat.

Elthemis placed a hand on each of their shoulders.

And in that instant—

Poof!

Both Elara and Shumi vanished.

Twelve blue daggers had already been stabbed into the surrounding void.

The daggers erupted with light!

「8th-Tier Hunting Trap: Godbinding Threads」

Brilliant glowing strands interwove into a web of light, instantly piercing through Elthemis’ body!

"An 8th-tier..."

"A Hunter?"

In a single instant, Shumi had already retreated an enormous distance away.

The weapon in her hands had switched into a hunting bow, already drawing and charging from afar.

At the same time, Elara’s slash arrived.

「Weapon Path — Second Form: Infinite Armament Dissolution」

Clang!

An enormous number of weapons instantly materialized throughout space.

Countless different weapon types gleamed across the sky, each accompanied by a phantom image of Elara.

Every phantom proudly raised its weapon simultaneously!

In the next instant—

Thousands of bone-deep wounds appeared across Elthemis’ body!

Splurt!

Immediately afterward, Elthemis was chopped into shredded meat!

The fragments continued splitting apart, minced finer and finer.

Boom!

Until they exploded into dust!

The entire space flashed continuously with heavy radiant light every single second.

Every flash—

Was one of Elara’s slashes.

An 8th-tier Warrior unleashing devastating strikes through countless different weapons!

And yet—

From within the pulverized dust came a delighted voice.

"Not bad~"

Elara gripped her long blade tightly.

Beneath her feet spread a circular domain.

Any existence entering this 「Domain of True Intent」 would immediately be perceived by Elara.

No matter what direction an attack came from, she could instantly defend and counterattack.

Within this range—

Ambushes were impossible.

The pressure hadn’t disappeared.

The enemy hadn’t died so easily!

Stay alert for her movements.

Her presence vanished?

Vanished... where?

Swish!

And then—

Elara’s abdomen split open.

Two arms burst out from inside her body!

"Ah~ such a delicious, fresh skin vessel."

Elara stared in disbelief at her stomach.

Arms protruded from inside her body, and now a head was emerging as well.

It was unmistakably the same head from that skinless creature earlier.

"Though... it doesn’t seem to be you."

"Yogg, the skin you told me about wasn’t this one."

"Then... is it that one instead?"

Die!

Whoosh!

Her long blade descended!

Splurt!

The strike instantly severed the upper half of Elthemis’ body that had emerged from Elara’s abdomen.

However—

Elara’s vision spun violently.

Elara froze in confusion.

Then she saw—

Her own lower body.

She saw her own torso, cleanly severed above the chest.

Meanwhile, the Elthemis who should have been cut apart remained completely unharmed, supporting herself with both hands while looking at Elara with a mocking smile.

She had slashed her.

But...

The strike had landed on herself instead?

She had severed her own body.

"How tragic."

"You understand absolutely nothing about the gap between yourself and a god."

"When I was an 8th-tier like you back then, I wasn’t nearly this ignorant."

"Nor this weak."

"You really are pathetic..."

Elara’s severed upper body still clutched her blade.

Blood poured endlessly from the split in her torso.

As an 8th-tier Warrior—

She naturally wouldn’t die so easily from being cut in half.

Her vitality far surpassed that of ordinary people.

Even if her regeneration wasn’t as monstrous as Kanzaki Rei’s, an injury like this still wouldn’t kill her.

Given enough recovery time, even if she were reduced to nothing but a head, she could still regenerate completely on her own.

And with the assistance of a healing mage, the process would become even faster.

But—

This was battle.

Elthemis glanced at Elara one final time.

Her expression became bored, as though she had already lost interest.

"I’ve long since grown tired of killing weaklings like you."

"You can play with yourself now."

Elthemis crawled out from Elara’s abdomen completely.

And then—

Elara’s lower body moved on its own.

One leg lifted high into the air like a battle axe before crashing down toward Elara’s upper half!

「Weapon Path — First Form: My Body Is All Weapons」

Damn it—

Her own body was trying to kill her?