Chapter 1582
Chapter 1582: Section 1583 Temptation
Shalu was shirtless, only wearing a pair of trousers, so the changes to his upper body were distinctly visible. His skin was almost completely covered with barbs, densely packed and casting a gloomy cold light.
Not only that, Shalu's palms had grown larger and coarser, and each finger had sprouted a black bone blade about thirty centimeters long from the tips.
His ears also swelled and transformed into butterfly wings with a mix of black, yellow, and white.
In just a moment, he transformed from a normal young man into a humanoid alien.
Shalu's transformation not only left his opponent Sir Sabel in shock, but Lyon, who witnessed the scene, also had his eyes bulging wide.
Lyon could not help but look around and then glance up at the sky.
He was sure he was in the Wilderness of Dreams, this was the Colosseum of stone columns; besides the weather suddenly clearing up, there were no other changes. But how could this transformation occur? He briefly thought he was inside the Infinite Battle Tower, watching a match involving new star players!
Because in Originheart City, Lyon barely witnessed any extraordinary powers.
Shalu's transformation really startled him.
Lyon couldn't help but whisper to Angel, “What… what's happening to him? Why did he suddenly mutate?”
“It's not a mutation, just a resonance with the Demonic Fiend within him,” Angel replied.
“What is a Demonic Fiend?” Lyon quickly asked.
The so-called Demonic Fiend is actually a creature of malevolent power, Angel merely used this term for convenience.
“You can think of it as the unique power system of the Wilderness of Dreams, which combines with the dangerous Demonic Fiend to exhibit strength beyond that of mortals,” Angel paused for a moment, his gaze shifting towards Shalu in the arena and slightly shook his head: “His control is too weak, such a lethal weapon should not be in the hands of someone like him.”
By “someone like him,” he meant someone who could not control themselves.
It wasn't that Angel looked down on Shalu. According to Angel's estimation, Shalu could gradually unleash the power of the Demonic Fiend, say, initially just transforming his hands into bone bladed claws, which would greatly enhance his combat ability.
But Shalu completely lacked self-control, and as soon as the power of the Demonic Fiend was unleashed, he directly entered the Zero Bound.
–Zero Bound refers to the threshold where the Demonic Fiend comprehensively dominates the person, also seen as the crossover point of human nature and demonic nature. Just a step further, and human nature would collapse utterly.
Shalu was in such a state now; the Demonic Fiend within him, suppressed by Angel, was already eagerly preparing to awaken.
Angel could even feel the jubilant mood of the Demonic Fiend.
Shalu's actions not only failed to complete the experimental records properly, but he also pushed himself to the brink of losing control, which naturally displeased Angel.
To control a Demonic Fiend is to control a mighty lethal weapon. In Angel's view, Shalu, unable to control himself, was unfit.
On the platform, however, Shalu was still self-congratulating, feeling the unprecedentedly strong power within his body, like he had broken free from shackles. Nothing could constrain him any longer, and his emotions started to inflate rapidly. Now, when Shalu looked at Sir Sabel, he did so with a confident demeanor. Even the others like Frode at the edge of the arena seemed easily surmountable to him now, except for… Angel.
The one who calmly told him that he was to be used for experiments.
“You just need more power, and you can defeat even him, becoming the strongest and conquering everyone here!” Suddenly, a message transmitted into Shalu's mind.
Shalu was momentarily stunned. Who was speaking?
“This is your own heart, telling you that you want to become stronger. The power to become stronger lies within you.”
Another message entered Shalu's mind. Shalu was suddenly confused, was this his own thought, or someone else's?
“Of course, it's your own thought, don't you want to become stronger? Don't you want to kill the person using you for experiments? Isn't this what you think?”
The little person in Shalu's heart vaguely nodded: Yes, this is indeed what he wanted to do.
But, he clearly wasn't thinking about this now?
Doubt arose in Shalu's heart, could it be the Demonic Fiend within him speaking?
Shalu recalled not long ago, the person using him for experiments told him: “Remember, you can utilize the power of the Demonic Fiend to defeat your opponents, the Demonic Fiend is a sword, and you are the wielder.”
“But you must never let yourself become the sword in the hands of the Demonic Fiend.”
Could it be that it was the Demonic Fiend speaking, trying to control me? Shalu had some doubts, perhaps the Demonic Fiend has a Spirit Intelligence?
Shalu tried to continue the previous conversation, but this time, no feedback came to him, as if the previous communication had just been his subconscious thoughts.
Since he was still in the competition, Shalu set this doubt aside for now, prepared to deal with this annoying old man first.
Sir Sabel really lived up to his reputation as an experienced Knight. Even though he was surprised by Shalu's change at first, this emotion did not affect his combat. It even made Sir Sabel pay more attention, to face this potentially stronger opponent.
After the transformation, Shalu's speed became even faster. On the entire stage, almost no shadow could be captured, as if Sir Sabel was the only one there.
Lyon watched the situation on the stage and couldn't help but wonder, “Can Sir Sabel cope with it?”
Even for himself or other low-level Wizard Apprentices, it would probably be difficult to handle this situation in close combat, right? Unless a wide range of Tricks is used, Shalu might be forced out.
But Sir Sabel doesn't perform Tricks, maybe he would lose?
While Lyon was thinking this, he didn't notice that Sir Sabel's “Circle” had started to compress. Previously, Sir Sabel stood at the center, with the circle's range about twice the distance of a lunging sword thrust, and as time passed, he had been enlarging his circle, that is, expanding his sword strike domain, allowing for longer reach.
But now, Sir Sabel was clearly on the defensive, unsure of what Shalu's transformation might bring. Unable to catch a glimpse of Shalu, Sir Sabel decided to shrink the circle, only choosing to settle the matter when Shalu approached!
After a moment of silence, suddenly two thudding sounds erupted on the stage.
Shalu felt that he had already put great pressure on Sir Sabel, so he finally launched an attack. In his view, the pressure should cause fear, and with his final strike, it would be like a ferocious thunderbolt catching Sir Sabel off guard.
But Shalu was entirely guessing based on his own thinking–if he were pressured, he would indeed feel fear; however, Sir Sabel was different, his combat experience was too rich, after all, even Tullas had been defeated by him.
Such an old warhorse like Sir Sabel wouldn't falter at this time.
When Shalu launched the attack, maybe Sir Sabel didn't catch his movement, but the information from the wind, the direction of the sonic boom, and Shalu's intense heartbeat, all allowed Sir Sabel to accurately deal with Shalu's attack.
The rapier blocked Shalu's bone blade, two thudding sounds consecutively, and Shalu was not only blocked but also revealed his position.
During the previous battle, Sir Sabel had noticed Shalu's lack of experience, so he had been somewhat lenient, not directly going for the kill. But now, after the mutation, Shalu had displayed his incredible speed, and Sir Sabel didn't know if he had any other methods.
Therefore, Sir Sabel went all out. Seizing the opportunity, he struck fiercely.
It looked like a plain and simple thrust, without any fireworks, but Shalu found that he couldn't dodge at all.
The rapier went straight into Shalu's left chest!
However, Shalu's whole body was covered with barbs, so the stab didn't penetrate. Seeing this, Sir Sabel made a snap decision, changing from stabbing to slicing, with the rapier's tip noticeably bending downward in an arc.
It was like a slingshot; a rebound force emanated from the tip of the sword.
Shalu felt a sudden loss of weight under his feet, and found himself flying out in a parabolic path, heading towards the direction outside the arena.
According to the competition rules, if Shalu fell out of the arena, Sir Sabel would be considered the winner.
Shalu was aware of this, so he desperately tried to right his body and unload the force, but it was useless; he was still falling out of the arena.
At this moment, the information that had suddenly silenced before once again entered his mind.
“Clearly you are much stronger than that old man, even have hidden moves not yet deployed, are you really content with this defeat?”
“The reason you are losing is actually that you lack experience, and your skills are not as good as the old man's. But your strength, it far exceeds his!”
“However, you haven't truly lost yet; you haven't fallen outside the arena.”
“Just by releasing some more power, you could fly.”
“Do you really resign yourself to loss?”
“So release it, release it…”
As if it had been accumulating for a long time, this burst of information was more abundant than before, directly pouring into Shalu's mind.
Entangled with massive information, Shalu couldn't even pause to judge whether these were his own thoughts or the whisperings of a Demonic Fiend.
In his mind, only one phrase echoed: Are you truly content with losing?
Shalu softly said, “I… am not content.”
After a moment of silence, the response he received was a sinister laugh from the depths of darkness.