Chapter 488 - Bai Zemin's Death?
Bai Zemin could feel his bones slowly cracking before exploding. Overwhelming pain flooded him in such a way that all he could do was scream but even that was not enough as countless hands suddenly came out of the gray road and caught his feet to prevent him from fleeing.
Burning flames set his body on fire and as if he had suddenly been thrown into the lowest level of hell Bai Zemin felt his skin and flesh being slowly charred as if the culprit of this wanted to see him suffer.
Flash!
Suddenly, the Spiritual Earring in Bai Zemin's left ear let out a bright white light that enveloped his body and soul bringing with it a cool breeze that as if carrying an angelic spell all evils were swept away without a trace.
Spiritual attack!
Alarm bells went off inside Bai Zemin's head as he realized that he had just been the target of an attack aimed directly at his soul. He broke out in cold sweat and thanked the heavens and hell for having a treasure like the Spiritual Earring capable of protecting him from three attacks targeting exclusively at his soul.
Encountering soul evolvers that specialized in spiritual attacks was extremely rare for Bai Zemin so even now he did not know how to deal with them other than to finish them off as fast as possible.
These kinds of attacks capable of making the user fall into an illusion without being able to distinguish fantasy from reality were simply too terrifying!
Just as Bai Zemin was rejoicing, his pupils trembled and before his brain even realized what was happening his body moved by itself to the right.
Unfortunately or not, Bai Zemin only had time to take a mere step to the right and tilt his body slightly.
Swoosh!
The sound of wind from the back reached Bai Zemin and before he could do anything else he felt his left shoulder being pierced by an extremely sharp yet cold object.
Bai Zemin barely had time to look down and notice a claw-like hand of a strange creature piercing his flesh when an even greater surge of pain caused him to be unable to stop himself from crying out loud.
"First Order?" The hoarse voice of whatever was behind him rang out and moments later Bai Zemin felt his left arm being cleanly severed by the claw that had injured him just now.
As Bai Zemin's screams echoed inside the grayish corridor, red blood splattered on the gray road that was getting smaller and smaller.
This was undoubtedly the first time Bai Zemin found himself in such a precarious situation; even more than when he faced his first First Order enemy, even more than when he fought the Second Order Archaic Bear, and even more than when his chest was pierced by Glineira's spear in the Oblon World.
He really could die the next instant!
"FUCK OFF!!!"
Amidst the pain, anger caused his blood to bubble and adrenaline to surge. Unfortunately, it seemed to be that his own pain was not one of the triggers to activate Blood Berserker's Wrath skill that could help him get out of this predicament.
However, furious, Bai Zemin tightened his right hand's grip on the hilt of his weapon and without a care for anything else in the world but his own survival he swung the huge sword with all his Strength backward.
Lightning crackled furiously around the greatsword and the atmosphere inside the space corridor shuddered as if a giant air bullet threatened to form due to the pressure such a large and heavy weapon had on such a tiny space when it was swung with such strength.
BOOM!!!
Bai Zemin's eyes widened as he caught his first glimpse of the enemy he faced.
This was a creature similar to that of ghosts in science fiction and fantasy movies except that it didn't look so creepy; in fact, if not for the fact that its body was partially translucent, it would be no different from a normal human male.
However, even though this was the first time Bai Zemin had come face to face with what appeared to be a ghost, the reason behind his surprise was that his attack had been parried by the claw-like hand of the creature before him!
Even Glineira who had been before she died a powerful Third Order warrior did not dare to take Bai Zemin's Crimson Thunder Dragon's Last Words attack head on but this ghost actually took it with relative ease!
"Fuck off?" Jack muttered as if he was surprised by something. He looked at the First Order existence as if he was looking at some kind of strange creature and said in surprise, "Human, it's been at least 2000 years since anyone has said such words to me."
Then, ignoring the slight tingle that the crackling lightning made every time it whipped his left hand, Jack used his free hand and struck fiercely forward.
Boom!!!
Bai Zemin felt his abdomen being pierced from side to side and he could do nothing against the blood that escaped from his mouth along with a grunt of pain.
The current Bai Zemin was in his weakest state since the apocalypse began. His current condition was as bad as when he was injured to such a degree that he couldn't even walk after suffering serious burns after successfully defeating the First Order Blazing Beetle some time ago.
His total Mana had dropped to critically low levels, his Health stat could not keep up with the wounds on his body despite doing everything possible to heal it, his Strength stat was not high enough to damage the being before him, his high Agility could not be exploited in this limited space, and his Stamina had little or nothing to do here given the circumstances.
The majority of the most powerful treasures he had with him had already been used by Bai Zemin in the different battles he had to face in the Oblon World and finally the equipment he had forged with so much effort and care were practically in pieces after so many deadly battles; even the Rank 2 full body armor that Bai Zemin was proud of had become a pile of junk at this point.
Bai Zemin knew perfectly well in his heart that if the him in his peak condition had practically no hope of defeating the enemy he was facing at this moment then the current him who had practically used up all his main trump cards was no different from a dead man.
The only question was whether he would die fast or slow..... After all, Bai Zemin could not run back to Earth and take this Fourth Order monster with him; the entire planet might succumb to such a being.
To be honest, what Bai Zemin was most worried about was not the fact that Earth could be destroyed or his race annihilated or even enslaved.... His real terror was that beyond that gate no more than 200 meters away there were people important to him.
After all, the current Bai Zemin was different from the Bai Zemin of two months ago.
When the apocalypse broke out with the arrival of the Soul Record and turned the lives of all mankind into a living hell, Bai Zemin was a young man who was only fighting for his own sake and for the sake of finding his family. However, the present him had managed to make friends after growing as a person and cracking the stone shell that enclosed his heart thanks to the help of some truly amazing people.
Bai Zemin's fierce look changed to one of pity, shame, and above all regret.
In the end, he had not been able to do anything he had hoped to accomplish nor would he be able to keep his word.
There was his family, who, if alive, he could never help.
There was Lilith, who regardless of who she was and regardless of what her goal was, had helped him more than anyone else, had guided him, had lent him her attention when he needed someone with whom to unburden himself.
There was Shangguan Bing Xue, someone whom Bai Zemin almost came to hate at the beginning of the apocalypse and whom he disdained for a long time but who proved to be different from what everyone believed. Not only did she prove to be a woman with emotions and not a block of ice but she also proved to be someone trustworthy and with the strongest principles Bai Zemin had ever seen in his life.
There was Wu Yijun, who had somehow fallen in love with him and was even willing to go against her own principles, against everything her family had planted in her since she was a child, and even willing to oppose her loved ones for his sake.
Finally, there were all his subordinates. People who for better or worse had decided to follow him and deposit every grain of faith in him.
Hundreds of thousands of thoughts flashed through Bai Zemin's mind in a single second and he couldn't help but wonder if this was what people meant when they said that one's life would flash before their eyes just before death.
"Heh... Hehe..." Bai Zemin chuckled as the look of sadness on his face changed to a mocking one as he looked the ghost before him straight in the eyes.
"... I think I understand now why Thannath wants you alive." Jack muttered as he looked at the human before him and said quietly, "For some reason, I find you really annoying in my eyes."
Boom!
Jack released his grip on the greatsword and slammed hard into Bai Zemin's chest, piercing it with ease.
Although Jack was not a melee-focused existence and his main weapon was spiritual attacks, a Fourth Order existence was, at the end of the day, a Fourth Order existence.
Bai Zemin felt his life energy drastically plummet until even the pain was no longer painful.
He did not bother to activate Blood Manipulation to stop the internal hemorrhages nor to try to seal his wounds temporarily as his Mana was simply too low at the moment. What was the point of sealing his wounds if after all he had no way to shake off the terrifying enemy he faced? Instead of spending his little more than 50+ Mana points on something so insignificant, he would rather do something a bit more interesting.
"You know, Mr. Ghost..." Bai Zemin continued to laugh despite the blood pouring out of his mouth like a torrent. He released his weapon and using his one arm wrapped around Jack's neck before pulling hard towards him so that his chin rested on his enemy's shoulder.
Bai Zemin whispered, "I remembered that in the movies of my world, ghosts are usually afraid of fire and bright light.... I wonder if you are that kind of ghost too."
Bang!
Before Jack could say anything, both his and Bai Zemin's bodies were surrounded by a blaze of blue fire that burst out of nowhere.
"Ugh!" Jack's expression changed slightly as his face contorted into a grimace of pain.
"Hahahahahaha! So you are that kind of ghost after all!" Bai Zemin laughed jovially as blood continued flowing from his open wounds.
Jack tried to break free but suddenly realized that something was wrong. He couldn't get his arms out of the enemy's body! The blood inside was clinging to his arms so tightly that Jack wouldn't be able to free himself unless he shook his arms with all his might; but the problem was that if he did that, considering how small the space here was and considering that his enemy was clinging to him so tightly, Jack himself would fall into the spatial void and be torn apart by the chaotic energy!
Bai Zemin laughed out loud as he sensed Jack's panic and felt even better as he saw the grayish smoke rising from the ghost's body.
"Since I'm going to die here, then you're coming with me Mr. Ghost!"
Slowly, the Cosmos Gate began to close and the gray road began to shrink more and more.
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