This Spiritual Energy is Lethal!
Chapter 281 Flame Witch

Chapter 281: Chapter 281 Flame Witch

Chen Ke drew his gun, the knight gloves thickened his index finger by two sizes, but he was still able to flick the trigger with just the tip of his finger.

Sure, the power of Spiritual Energy was immense, but each era had its own methods of harnessing Spiritual Energy, and pulling a trigger would always be more efficient than hacking away with cold steel.

Wearing knight armor and adopting a CQC stance was awkward, but Chen Ke’s body had already formed a conditioned response, a subconscious protective motion when firing his gun at close range.

Faster than wielding a sword or throwing a Crystal Gun, Chen Ke fired three shots in quick succession, not a single one missing its mark on the slender body of An Helei.

The kinetic energy of the bullets, mixed with the Punishment attribute of the Spiritual Power, shattered An Helei’s ribs and pelvic bones, sending fragments of bone and withered flesh flying, without a drop of blood in sight.

In her prolonged confinement, An Helei’s body had withered to nothing, and it was uncertain whether she was dead or alive.

Perhaps the An Helei in front of Chen Ke was just the last recurrence of some era in the Great Void, or maybe it was just an illusion, set up as the final hurdle for the decipherer of the cycle.

After being shot, An Helei became enraged, darting around the room at a speed that eluded Chen Ke’s eyes, scaling walls, ceilings, and floors non-stop— first like a dog, now like a spider.

Chen Ke strained to press the magazine release button, then reached under his right arm with his left hand, trying to pull out a new magazine to reload.

But the shield was stuck to his body, and the knight gloves were not conducive to easily unbuckling the pouch for the magazines.

At that moment, An Helei flashed out of a dark corner, swinging the manacle in her hand toward Chen Ke’s head.

Chen Ke leaned back to avoid the heavy iron manacle, then slipped to the ground. He rolled swiftly to the side, evading An Helei’s follow-up attack.

Enraged, An Helei pounded the ground while letting out a loud roar. The collision between the iron manacle and the rocky floor echoed with a "clang clang clang" sound.

With a fierce pull, Chen Ke managed to tear the holster right off his body. Once it lost its state of being worn, the holster was rejected by the Holy Relics armor, no longer a part of the substitution, just sagging in Chen Ke’s hand.

He stepped on the strap, yanked at the magazine pouch in his hand, and finally succeeded in pulling out a magazine, while the remaining two fell to the ground.

Chambering a round and aiming were done in one fluid motion, and the room once again echoed with gunshots— seven in total, all hitting An Helei.

In the dim stone chamber, white brightness flickered seven times, the monster fell, the heavy iron manacle touching the floor first, followed by the rest of the body collapsing into a heap, as if all bones had been instantaneously removed.

Seeing her quiet down, Chen Ke stepped forward and kicked her, eliciting no response. He stood there and waited a while, then raised an eyebrow, wondering why her soul had not floated out yet.

He slowly backed away, picked up the Moonlight Greatsword from the ground, and with its gleaming light, retrieved and put back on the helmet that An Helei had managed to grab.

His whole head was once again encased in the iron can, and while his line of sight was somewhat obstructed and it felt stifling, it also brought with it an incomparably assuring sense of security, stabilizing his emotions considerably.

An Helei was not dead yet, in a similar state to the Pope Mazville. It was clear that if An Helei didn’t die, this cycle would not be considered complete.

However, after Mazville’s humanoid form collapsed, he transformed into a member of the Abyss Clan, far surpassing Chen Ke in strength. If An Helei were the same, then what the hell?

After reloading with a new magazine, Chen Ke planted the Moonlight Greatsword into the ground, aimed the Spiritual Ability Pistol at An Helei’s head, and moved in close to finish her off.

Although he didn’t know if it would work, to tell the truth, pulling the trigger felt so good— in ensuring the task of killing someone, a gun was far more trustworthy than a greatsword.

Just then, An Helei’s body suddenly ignited, sparks rising, much like Faralis.

"Hmm...?" Chen Ke felt a chill down his back, and the life countdown in the corner of his eye began to jump frantically.

"+500 hours"

"+500 hours"

"+500 hours"

"+500 hours"

"+500 hours"

"+500 hours"

...

In the next second, An Helei’s body erupted with violent high temperatures, the scorching sensation pouring into Chen Ke’s viscera through his nostrils and throat. Chen Ke’s skin and abdomen were seared by this inexplicable heat, emitting a burnt smell.

The high temperature incinerated the surrounding air, leaving a vacuum where no sound could be heard. Chen Ke tried to move, only to find that his legs had already been charred dry within his armor.

An Helei’s body floated up, becoming like Faralis, a being of flame, bursting with bright, intense heat. The stone chamber was as bright as day; the surrounding grayish-white walls slowly turned black, the black parts quickly covered by white traces of carbonization.

"Sss... ugh..." Chen Ke clutched at his throat, which had been burned through with a hole.

It could be said that underneath the armor, Chen Ke was cooked beyond any further cooking; his muscles and organs were roasted to an orange-yellow color, and all his body hair had long since been burned to ash.

"I’m going to be burned to death..." Chen Ke thought, but his life span was constantly repairing his flesh, and An Helei’s murderous aura was extending his life by 500 hours every second, preventing him from dying.

An Helei seemed to be in an unconscious state at this moment, her temperature still rising relentlessly, and the iron chains and shackles on her body were also glowing red hot.

Chen Ke noticed that the name of the fiery figure in his vision had changed.

Flame Witch - An Helei (Status: Deceased)

Chen Ke bit down on his teeth, enduring great agony, desperately holding his shield in front of him. Most of the triangular diamond-shaped shield had already been melted and fused onto the left arm’s armor.

Not only that, the Spiritual Ability Pistol he was holding in his hand had also begun to melt, and the white Spiritual Bullets had been liquefied by the high temperature into a white fluid. The leak of Punishment attribute Spiritual Energy exploded in the barrel of the gun, pouring over Chen Ke’s hand.

This was An Helei’s death, akin to that of a phoenix; and during this process, she reclaimed her majestic Witch’s demeanor for one last time.

Only, surviving through this process of death was something ordinary people could not achieve — if it weren’t for Chen Ke’s ability to constantly repair his own body every second, if it weren’t for the dying An Helei’s desire to drag him to death with her in hatred, he would not have been able to survive either.

The blue Moonlight Greatsword, unaffected by the fiery high temperatures, still radiated its unique blue glow.

Chen Ke glanced at the Moonlight Greatsword, wanting to use it as a shield, but his body was immobile, and his entire silver armor was slowly turning black. The angel wing adornments on the helmet skewed and melted, leaving just the root-like parts, which now resembled two twisted horns.

"AAAAAAHHHHH!!!!!!!" Chen Ke opened his mouth and roared; the pain was too intense, unlike anything he had experienced in his lifetime, being scorched by high temperatures for such an extended period.

Moreover, he was very certain that An Helei’s true strength was far greater than this, considering that her daughter Faralis’s Flame Burst could instantly turn him to ash. As a bona fide Witch, An Helei could not possibly have only this little power.