Chapter 128: A coward

After the first hit both the demon and Ishiki jumped back to maintain some distance.

Though the demon was faster and it attacked as soon as his legs hit the ground. Actually they didn’t even touch the ground.

He used the wind to propel himself forward… Ishiki landed on his legs a moment late and saw the demon on his face just in time.

The demon swung a straight punch as it entered the range, the punch held power that it could pulverize stone in an instant but Ishiki ducked under it, his spine bent at an impossible angle… it was thanks to his abnormally high agility and endurance at the moment.

The demon’s fist went over Ishiki’s head, without wasting any movement he picked up a piece of sharp glass from the ground, then he used his legs as compressed springs and drove it towards the creature’s exposed chest.

Ishiki suddenly felt a strong wind and just then the demon twisted, impossibly fast, and the mirror piece carved a line across its flank instead of penetrating deep.

The wretch had finally called back his transparent wings and horn made up of compressed air, but still couldn’t dodge the attack completely.

Golden and green strange blood poured out of the wound, the creature gritted its teeth and

He retaliated with a straight kick aimed at Ishiki’s chest.

Throwing the glass away Ishiki braced for the kick and caught the demon’s leg at the last moment.

He actually caught it—one hand wrapping around the ankle, fingers digging into dark flesh with enough force to make the Demon’s eyes widen in surprise.

Then Ishiki pulled, using the creature’s own momentum against it, and slammed the demon face-first into the ground with enough force to crack the bedrock.

He didn’t give it time to recover.

He was on the creature in an instant, holding a bent thick metal… descending toward its exposed back—

—the Demon’s wings exploded outward.

Compressed air detonated like a bomb, throwing Ishiki backward. He hit the ground rolling, came up on his feet, and immediately had to dodge as the demon materialized beside him with a punch that left afterimages in the air.

From that point the battle turned into a brutal and primal fight among two beasts. Someone looking from afar wouldn’t even be able to tell that a human was actually fighting a demon on such equal footing.

Ishiki abandoned technique in favor of pure aggression. He slashed, stabbed with the objects he found in the rubble when the opportunity presented itself.

The Shinobi’s instincts guided his body, turning him into something more dangerous than he’d ever been… this was his first time using such power in a battle and to his surprise he was still calm.

But the clock tickled in front of him.

[Soul Chain : 13 seconds]

He didn’t had much time so he took risk and fought too close to the demon… he had to do something decisive within the remaining time.

The demon matched him blow for blow, its beautiful face was now twisted into a rictus of effort and something that might have been excitement.

They traded wounds like currency.

Ishiki opened a deep gash across the demon’s chest. The demon shattered three of his fingers with a crushing grip in exchange.

Ishiki drove his knee into the creature’s stomach hard enough to make it gasp. The demon’s claws raked across his back, leaving bloody furrows that would have been fatal to an average player.

None of them noticed those wounds.

They were both bleeding and battered now, the demon’s eyes burned with bright yellow rage fixing themselves on the blue eyes of the teenager that looked like twin burning stars in the darkness.

Then the Demon made a mistake.

It grabbed Ishiki by the throat and lifted him into the air, arm extended, holding him at eye level like a trophy.

“You fight well,” the Demon panted. “But it ends here, little coward. You shouldn’t have acted brave…”

Ishiki didn’t struggle against his grip instead… his hand moved, not to the hand holding him, but to the demon’s face.

He lunged forward with every ounce of strength he had left and sank his fingers into the creature’s right eye.

The Demon screamed.

A sound of pure, agonized fury that made the remaining buildings tremble. I response the demon’s other hand moved to stop Ishiki’s hand which were ripping his eye out…

Having nothing to stop the demon’s hand… Ishiki opened his mouth and bit it.

The demon instantly threw him away… but his right eye was already plucked out by Ishiki.

Ishiki went flying not too far away and instantly stood back up. He took in a ragged breath and gritted his teeth.

’Goddamn it… I feel like dying.’

Across of him the demon staggered backwards one hand pressed on its ruined eye… its beautiful face was ruined now, half of it was a mask of golden and foul green blood.

A subtle smile appeared on his face, but he wasn’t done yet. He charged once again.

The demon saw the incoming adversary and flapped its wings, but for some reason his body felt heavier.

He tried moving his hand but it felt as if his muscles were slowly tightening and getting stiffer.

He dodged Ishiki’s attack by stepping to the side… but it was useless. The boy was nowhere to be found, until suddenly sharp pain pierced his left shoulder and in the next moment without him even noticing it stopped working.

His left arm dangled to his side uselessly as if all the veins and muscles around his shoulder had been cut.

The demon suddenly felt his body becoming too hard to control and he fell to his knees… his remaining arm pressed against the stump of its shoulder. Its ruined face was barely recognizable, one eye gone, the other glaring with diminished but still burning hatred.

Ishiki’s form suddenly appeared above the demon, he was about to slash off the demon’s head with [Aether Blade] but the [Soul Chain]’s effect ran out at the worst moment.

’Holy shit…’

The blue steam erupting from his body vanished and he felt as if every single muscle fiber in his body was being torn apart.

[Aether Blade] fell from his hands mid attack.

He didn’t feel when, claws punched through cloth, skin and muscle on his left, sinking deep into his torso. The Demon ripped sideways, opening a gash that went from his ribs to his stomach.

Blood poured out. So much blood, but Ishiki was on no state to see that… he was feeling the backlash from the use of [Soul Chain].

He staggered backwards, while being both mortally wounded and dealing with immense internal pain, but he was still somehow standing.

Soon, his legs gave out.

He dropped to his knees, one hand pressed against the gaping wound in his side. Blood ran between his fingers. The world swam at the edges as darkness creeped in.

The demon on the other hand felt as if his body was forcefully being glued to together. He was unable to move even a single muscle in his body as if they were made up of rocks.

“What did you do to me… you pathetic rat.” The demon barked through intensely grounding teeth.

Ishiki looked down at the blood pooling around his knees and then at the bladeless tachi some distance away on the ground.

He pushed his body up, every single movement sent pain so vivid that it felt like he was being burned alive, but he moved anyways.

He picked up the [Aether Blade] and staggered to the demon who was pinned to the ground under its own weight.

Ishiki spat and raised the bladeless tachi. “I might not be strong,” Ishiki said, voice barely above a whisper but carrying across the silent battlefield. “Might not be brave.”

“But I know what I am—” he continued, lifting the tachi despite arms that trembled with exhaustion, “—a coward, a liar, and maybe a little insane.”

The demon’s eyes widened in disbelief as the fear of death seized his heart.

Ishiki stood over the kneeling creature. The Silver Moon hung above them, cold and indifferent, painting the scene in shades of bone and shadow.

“But that is exactly why you can never triumph over me.”

The invisible blade descended in one swift motion.

The invisible edge passed straight through its tough, rock like skin and severed his spine, artery and windpipe.

The creature’s head didn’t fall from the neck… it was simply cut clean, the expression on his face was frozen on his face as his yellow eyes lost their glint.

Ishiki dismissed the [Hard Nub] and the ring broke into motes of light from inside the demon’s eye socket where he had placed it.

[You have Slain a Tainted Demon]

[You have received 4,000 Data Fragments]

[You have Received a Vestige]

[The Personal Quest is complete]

[You have received 25,000 NC]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep