Chapter 109: The Only Thing I Can Accomplish

The most terrifying thing is not death itself, but the period of waiting for it.

The longer one stays here, the more distinct two sounds become: the slow, rhythmic breathing from one's own nose and the thumping of one's own heart within the chest.

Chen Zi'ang did not know how the others were faring, but he himself was in a state of delicate, heightened tension. As the psychological pressure tightened, his focus sharpened, as if he could hear every sound within the invisible darkness ahead. His fingers repeatedly loosened and tightened around the hilt of his Mandala sword, seeking the perfect grip, while his body slowly shifted into a posture optimized for a sudden, explosive strike. His breathing became shallower yet more sustained, minimizing the friction of air passing through his respiratory tract. He could not dampen his heartbeat, but its steady rhythm helped him anchor his spirit, sinking into a state of intense concentration.

Suddenly, a sound erupted in the distance.

It was like the low whimpering of a beast sensing a threat, mixed with the sticky, rasping sound of thick phlegm rattling in a throat. To be precise, it was both, moving in tandem.

The others were not as focused as Chen Zi'ang, but as the anomaly emerged from the shadows, everyone’s nerves tightened instantly.

There were four figures cloaked in robes. They were tall, roughly 1.8 meters, clad in ink-black robes embroidered with intricate golden patterns. Beneath their hoods lay hollowed-out skull masks, possessing the pale, dull quality unique to bone. Each of the four held a scepter, though their grip was awkward; clearly, the claws of ghouls lacked the dexterity of human hands.

This was an indisputably bad sign, for the scepters of lower-tier races were not merely symbolic—they often contained terrifying, mystical powers.

They did not continue to approach, but stood on either side of the tunnel entrance, emitting whimpers like hounds. This time, however, the group realized these were actually garbled, ritualistic incantations. Though the meaning was unintelligible, their spiritual perception sensed an aura of blasphemous and malicious gloom.

The noise-canceling headsets quickly kicked in, preventing their spiritual sensitivity from spiking and their sanity from wavering.

Yet, the very next second, something black and indescribable surged into the hall from the dark tunnel like a fluid.

Xia Qingyu had previously described Nishikawa Mie’s divinity as a "vortex," a term Chen Zi'ang had not fully understood at the time. Now, seeing the entity with his own eyes, he realized "vortex" was perhaps the only word capable of describing it. It was a mass resembling clouds, yet it possessed both gaseous and liquid properties. Its color appeared black, but it was a blackness starkly different from anything known—a special wavelength of light invisible to the human eye, much like a colorblind person trying to distinguish red from green. It was indeterminate and impossible to define, as if in a state of perpetual, agonizing distortion.

Amidst the churning clouds, dazzling morphological changes occurred. These shifts were impossible to observe closely; focusing on them for even a second caused a dizziness akin to severe eye strain.

Only the loss of heat was undeniable. The moment the black mist entered the hall, the room's temperature plummeted into a bitter chill. The mist lunged at one of the corpses, devouring it as if sucking it dry. The dwarf corpse, coated in preservative oils, was seen rapidly decaying, losing its remaining color and elasticity before it was even fully consumed.

The four ghoul priests, still clutching their scepters and chanting their blasphemous, unclean whispers, stepped into the hall like loyal servants escorting a noble.

They had entered the tactical team's kill zone.

Xia Qingyu gave no order, so everyone remained in their combat stances, none venturing to strike and alert the enemy prematurely. But in that instant, the highly focused Chen Zi'ang caught a subtle movement from one of the ghoul priests. While its left hand gripped its scepter, its black-gloved right hand made an imperceptible gesture to its companion—its thumb pointed directly at Lu Yunfeng's hiding spot.

It had discovered Old Lu! It was preparing for an ambush!

In a flash, the hairs on Chen Zi'ang's body stood on end. "Swollen Tentacles" erupted from beneath the gesturing priest, instantly piercing its flesh.

Its companion, alerted by the gesture, had already begun to tilt its scepter to strike at Lu Yunfeng's position. But the sudden assault on its peer caused it to instinctively pivot, thrusting its scepter toward the tentacles beneath its companion while uttering a strange, evil incantation: "Ha-Xak!"

Green light surged from the gem atop the scepter like a striking cobra, hitting the companion impaled by the Swollen Tentacles. Chen Zi'ang's consciousness received immediate feedback: the powerful, greedy life force of his Swollen Tentacles, which had been erupting within the priest, seemed suddenly stripped of its vitality, rapidly decaying and withering away.

His Swollen Tentacles had shielded Lu Yunfeng from a lethal, malicious blow.

But he had no time to dwell on that. His body vaulted over a stone sarcophagus. His left hand lifted, summoning "Abyssal Tentacles" amidst the three ghoul priests to create further chaos. His right hand thrust the Mandala sword straight out, targeting the black mist as it lunged toward the nearby corpses!

As the sword pierced the mist, Chen Zi'ang felt his entire right arm go completely numb from the intense, biting cold. But the mist seemed to suffer even greater damage; its form contracted violently as it emitted a "high-pitched shriek."

It was not a sound of vibrating air—otherwise, the noise-canceling headsets would have blocked it—but this "sound" bypassed conventional senses, acting directly upon their spiritual perception. It felt as if someone were screaming at high decibels right into their ears, plunging everyone into a state of uncontrollable, semi-dizzy disorientation.

Having lost half its vitality, the mist seized the opportunity to break free from the Mandala sword’s binding. With a few contractions, it gained distance, bypassed the ghoul priests tangled by the Abyssal Tentacles, and fled rapidly toward the dark tunnel from which it came.

Chen Zi'ang's right arm was nearly useless. Resisting the dizziness in his brain, he caught the falling Mandala sword with his left hand and, while using the Abyssal Tentacles to harass the ghoul priests, gave chase to the fleeing mist.

He knew the priests would attempt to intercept him, but he trusted Lingnai, Qingyu, and the rest of his teammates not to stand idly by.

The remaining three ghoul priests were unaffected by the divine shriek. Two of them leveled their scepters at Chen Zi'ang, preparing to chant a lethal, vicious curse; the third extended a claw, swiping savagely at him with enough force to disembowel him.

Yuegong Lingnai’s Shadow Warrior emerged suddenly from beneath that priest, parrying the claw with a blade of shadow. Chen Zi'ang took the opportunity to duck while running, slipping swiftly under the creature's arm.

The other two priests, attempting to chant, found their throats locked as if paralyzed, unable to utter a sound. The green light at the tips of their scepters flickered and died, like lightbulbs running out of power.

Amidst the moment the ghoul priests were fully occupied, Chen Zi'ang finally broke through their encirclement and charged into the pitch-black, deep tunnel.

He could see the surging, flying divine mist ahead, but he felt even more acutely the piercing, bone-gnawing pain spreading from his mostly numb right arm to his shoulder. His consciousness felt as if it were melting and screaming, yet his willpower pushed him forward.

*My right hand may be crippled.*

*But I must kill that divine mist while my left hand can still wield the sword.*

*For only the Mandala sword can kill divinity.*

*And only I can control and use the Mandala sword.*

*I could not save Nishikawa Mie, nor the remote towns threatened by the beasts, but this time...*

*I will sever the Anchor of the Divine Kingdom and save everyone!*