Duan Chen tightened his grip on the saber hilt, speaking with a hint of sorrow, "She isn't your mother at all."
The withered hands suddenly retracted, transforming into two sharp claws.
Situ Ying's face turned instantly pale. She cried out in panic, "Ah, no!"
The claws did not stop. Duan Chen felt an extreme sense of danger.
He quickly turned to dodge, but his left arm was still slashed by the claws.
Blood flowed down, staining his entire sleeve and dripping onto the ground.
He didn't have time to tend to his wound, only adding more blood to the already gore-filled place.
His figure kept moving, his incredible speed creating afterimages in the eyes of others.
Wu Suowei watched him struggle, "We agreed, ten seconds to unleash your ultimate move. Have you decided when?"
"Def...in...itely...not now!"
Duan Chen forcefully pushed away the claws, and the spiritual energy from his saber flew straight towards the opponent.
"Clang!"
With a light clang, the spiritual energy from Duan Chen's saber was directly shattered by the claws.
Duan Chen slashed his saber several times, but each attack was repelled.
"Pfft..."
Duan Chen spat out a mouthful of blood, his eyes flashing with shock.
Those claws could actually block his attacks, yet this was merely a black-robed priest.
"Don't underestimate the enemy. You're lucky he doesn't want to tear you to shreds for what you just did."
Wu Suowei shouted from the side, "This guy is different, he's a rare specimen."
"Rare... specimen my foot!"
Duan Chen struggled to dodge the creature's attacks, "Hurry up and tell me how to fight this thing!"
"Let me think, just hold on a bit longer!"
Wu Suowei then found a step to sit on and closed his eyes.
Duan Chen, seeing this, felt like stabbing his own eyes out.
He knew this god was unreliable, but he never expected him to be *this* unreliable!
Duan Chen looked at the constantly shifting black-robed priest, a sense of helplessness rising in his heart. He tightened his grip on the saber hilt and charged forward again.
This time, he would not hold back. He aimed to win with a single blow!
Duan Chen's saber thrust directly at the black-robed priest.
But those withered hands grabbed Duan Chen's saber.
"Ding ding ding ding ding!"
Duan Chen's saber collided with the withered hands, producing a dense clatter.
Duan Chen's saber trembled uncontrollably beneath the black-robed priest's grip. His face flushed red, his breathing grew rapid, and cold sweat beaded on his forehead.
Finally, Duan Chen twisted the saber held in the priest's hand and pulled downwards, then...
The saber sliced through flesh with a muffled sound.
Duan Chen's eyes focused. Situ Ying had moved to shield them.
He finally breathed a sigh of relief, feeling that this ordeal was nearing its end.
Wu Suowei opened his eyes at this moment, "Ah, let me tell you, your enemy is..."
"Mr. Duan, no matter your..."
Before Situ Ying could finish speaking, Duan Chen's saber fell. Situ Ying's young body was split in two and collapsed softly to the ground.
Instantly, the Void Domain rippled like an underground water tank disturbed by an external force.
The icy stairwell vanished, replaced by the two-story scene first seen in the illusion.
The wound on his arm disappeared, and his clothes were perfectly intact.
Duan Chen put away his weapon, transforming it into its gun form.
Wu Suowei looked at Duan Chen, "When did you realize something was wrong?"
"The moment I realized I couldn't hear Situ Ying and Situ Yingzhi's thoughts, I knew things were in trouble."
Duan Chen looked at the pattern on the ground. Not far away, a heart lay there, just like on the level below, receiving nourishment from the blood above.
"Under the Evil God, besides the apostles that appear now, there are some who rarely show themselves. For example, this one, [Apostle 04 · Jing Hua]."
Wu Suowei watched as Duan Chen directly destroyed the central heart. This time, only a third of the heart remained.
"Jing Hua? Sounds a bit like Nightmare?"
"Her ability is to control the five senses of the mind, but it's very simple to break: if you believe it, it exists; if you don't, it doesn't."
Duan Chen stood up and wiped the blood from his dagger, "That simple and crude?"
"Yes, it's that simple. However, her intelligence is high, so her prey often falls into the trap without realizing it." Wu Suowei kicked the broken heart, "Like you..."
"Yes, yes, yes. The moment I killed Brother Ao, I fell into the trap, right?"
"Clever."
As the two were reviewing the recent battle, a mournful voice echoed from the void.
"You... why did you do this? What good does killing my child do you?"
"Excuse me, Big Sister, isn't your apostle at least a few hundred years old, if not a thousand? Is that thing your son?" Duan Chen's words were still flippant, "Besides, people shouldn't... Oh, right, you're not human, so you apostles shouldn't always be lost in sweet dreams. It's quite good to wake up and see the world."
"Duan Chen! You killed my child, you killed my child!"
Duan Chen helplessly cupped his ear, "Yes, yes, yes, come and take revenge, I'll help you wake up from your dreams. We'll help each other and build a beautiful society."
After this outburst, Situ Ying's voice never reappeared.
"She's leaving just like that?"
"She has ways to deal with you." Wu Suowei pointed to the box-shaped elevator nearby, "The emergency passage is basically cut off, so... do you want to go in?"
"Of course, why else would we come here?" Duan Chen strode forward. The filth on the ground was the same as the level below: blood, dismembered bodies, and broken hearts.
However... where were the hostages?
Duan Chen wondered, as he opened the box-shaped elevator.
With just one glance, Duan Chen stepped back.
The sight before him was truly terrifying.
A hand reached out, its upper body embedded in the elevator. More corpses were piled like sandbags, forming a brick in the elevator's wall.
Hands, heads, thighs, all jumbled together haphazardly, as if the elevator had always been this way.
"Help... save me..."
"Heh heh, here comes a fool..."
"Little brother is so handsome, stick with me."
"It's so crowded, really so crowded."
Pain and helplessness filled the cramped space.
Wu Suowei stepped in first, "Not coming?"
Duan Chen looked at his expressionless face and gritted his teeth before stepping in.
The elevator slowly ascended.