Chapter 168 Cruelty
Chapter 168 Cruelty
When the energy of Soul Pearl penetrated the platform, an eerie, black crown flew out from underneath it. It was a symbol of Wain's Beyond. Each person had a different Beyond, but it was inexplicable and unrepeatable for some.
Wain's heart had stopped beating by then, but his Soul Altar was still intact. This meant that his main core was still functioning, and like Luar, he had a chance to recover.
Purple Pilgrim waited for the energy of Soul Pearl to escape Wain's body. He thought it would happen very soon because the energy had to find a new vessel, and a dead body was not suitable for that. Purple Pilgrim was unaware of anything due to his inexperience, this was the first time he tried to get energy from the pearl in this way.
The black crown inside the dark castle disappeared, and the next moment the energy of Soul Pearl emerged from Wain's body.
Purple Pilgrim smiled. He thought Soul Pearl's energy had finally decided to leave its previous vessel.
"Hmm?" Purple Pilgrim muttered.
After a few seconds, he realized that something was wrong. Usually, the energy of Soul Pearl would have turned into a single stream and rushed to one side to create a new area of Purgatory. However, this time the energy was slowly floating around Wain's body as if it didn't want to leave.
Purple Pilgrim frowned but decided to move closer to Wain anyway, for the mechanism to begin collecting energy.
Tremble.
Suddenly a vortex of dark energy appeared around Wain, which grew to an abnormal size in a second. Purple Pilgrim didn't expect something like this to happen, so he didn't have time to take defensive measures.
He was thrown aside a few dozen meters back and buried deep beneath one of the dunes.
Wain's heart started beating again at the exact moment, and his eyes slowly opened.
"What the fuck!" Purple Pilgrim shouted.
Every time he thought he had already won, his opponent found something to answer with. Moreover, this time the situation was special. Purple Pilgrim didn't believe that the First Chronicle creature could survive the destruction of Soul Pearl.
The vortex was so powerful that it lifted tons of snow and sand into the air. When the whirlwind became so big that it reached the sky, it gradually began to calm down. At that moment, Purple Pilgrim got out from under the sand and rushed towards Wain.
He knew something bad had happened. The situation spun out of control again, and their fight continued. Purple Pilgrim hid the mechanism to absorb the energy of Soul Pearl, and the tattoo on his chest flared up.
The next moment, Purple Pilgrim's hair glowed brightly, and he sped up. When he reached the place where the vortex originated, he saw Wain's new appearance.
"Damn... How did I not guess he hadn't already used his Beyond..." Purple Pilgrim muttered.
From his point of view, what was happening made sense. After all, he had also used his Beyond at the last moment to survive.
'No... There's something wrong here. He couldn't even move before this, and he lay motionless for about a minute. That's too much, I used my Beyond momentarily. What's more, his appearance is too threatening...' thought Purple Pilgrim.
When Wain's Beyond awoke, his appearance underwent some changes. On his head was a black, eerie crown with a single peak. At the peak was an eye with a vertical red pupil. Wain's hands were covered in dark energy as if they were gloves.
After using Beyond, some silhouette appeared over a person. In the case of Luar, it was a golden lion or a fire elemental like Ria. Then, after a few seconds, those silhouettes would disappear. Above Wain also hovered a shape in the form of a creepy toothy mouth. It clenched its jaws a few times and then disappeared.
"It's an incredible feeling... I feel a phenomenal power and lust for destruction... as well as a terrible hunger..." Wain muttered.
It was the first time he had used Beyond, and the feeling seemed magical to him. Wain didn't know how to describe what he felt then. However, after a while, he found the right words.
"It's me..." Wain said quietly.
"It's your Beyond?" Purple Pilgrim asked cautiously.
Wain only nodded weakly. Even though he had activated Beyond, he was still seriously wounded. Drops of blood slowly fell on the snow and sand, staining them red.
Purple Pilgrim understood this, so he prepared to attack. All he had to do was give Wain a few more powerful attacks on his weak points. This would end their battle.
Whoooosh.
Wain was the first to act, but he wasn't going to attack yet. He stared at the energy of Soul Pearl floating around him. Wain hadn't absorbed it yet, the penetration of this energy into his body and Soul Altar was the catalyst that had awakened his Beyond.
Even though this was the first time Wain had used Beyond, he knew what he was approximately capable of, and the first thing he was going to do was absorb the energy of Soul Pearl.
Wain opened his mouth wide and took a deep breath. The next moment the energy began to suck in as if there was a black hole in Wain's mouth.
Then a message appeared in front of Wain.
[You have absorbed energy from Soul Pearl. Energy+20]
Wain was surprised, increasing Energy was difficult, but now he had increased that stat by 20 points in one second. It was something incredible.
'What...?! How did he absorb energy and stay intact???'
Purple Pilgrim was shocked. He didn't understand what was happening. He knew for a fact that only special and rare mechanisms could use the energy of Soul Pearl. However, now Wain had no problem absorbing all the energy floating near him.
In addition to boosting one of his stats, Wain also fully replenished his power reserve. It didn't cure him, but now he could fight again. If he was careful, he could battle for a few minutes even though he was wounded.
Whoooosh.
Purple Pilgrim decided to attack instantly. He was angry that Wain had absorbed Soul Pearl. This was an absolute failure for Purple Pilgrim, as now, even if he won, he wasn't sure he could get Soul Pearl's energy.
Wain also became more serious. However, he was calm and focused. He wasn't anxious and didn't think about the possibility of losing. He was now completely confident in his victory.
Purple Pilgrim turned into a purple flash and was behind Wain. He wanted to do the same thing again, attacking Wain from behind.
However, Wain spun around and punched Purple Pilgrim as hard as possible. The enemy did not have time to react to this attack and was thrown aside a few meters.
Wain wanted to continue his attack, but suddenly he heard a scream. Purple Pilgrim emitted it. Wain was surprised since Purple Pilgrim had never once shown that he was hurt before that. However, when Wain saw his adversary, he knew the reason.
Purple Pilgrim was missing half of his face. It looked as if a wild beast had attacked him and bitten off a large chunk of flesh. Purple Pilgrim didn't die because the wound healed in seconds thanks to his Beyond, but that didn't cancel out the horrible pain.
Wain looked at his right hand and froze in shock. A creepy maw on his palm seemed like it could eat anything. Wain looked at his left palm and saw the same thing there.
He nodded and muttered, "I was able to use my Beyond, but I have yet to learn how to use that power."
Whoooosh.
Purple Pilgrim realized that the situation was critical, so he decided to use his remaining tattoos. They regenerate over time, some only take a few minutes to recharge, while others take days.
The tattoo that glowed was on the heart. The next moment, many violet lines appeared on Purple Pilgrim's body. They greatly enhanced every aspect of him, turning him into a professional assassin.
He transformed into a violet thunder and attacked Wain instantly. His movements were too fast for Wain to dodge or block this attack. However, the eye on the crown suddenly opened, and Wain could reflexively avoid the attack.
Purple Pilgrim was surprised. He didn't understand how the wounded Wain, who was slower than him before, could react to this attack.
Bam.
Wain turned around and, with his palm, struck his enemy in the stomach. Purple Pilgrim flew aside with a laceration on his stomach. The wound was already beginning to recover a second later, but Wain wasn't about to let it do that.
While Purple Pilgrim still had time to recover, Wain furiously attacked him with a fist drop from above. Purple Pilgrim tried to dodge but only partially succeeded. His left shoulder was destroyed, and Wain struck again.
This time, however, Purple Pilgrim was ready to attack. He clenched his teeth in pain but managed to step aside and run some distance away. It only took him a few seconds to recover the laceration on his stomach and left shoulder.
Purple Pilgrim was confident that he would succeed since Wain could not catch up to him. It was true that in this case, Wain was slower, but that didn't mean he didn't have other ways to wound his enemy.
Whooosh.
A large amount of energy appeared before him, which turned into a white bullet. Wain grabbed it and threw it at Purple Pilgrim with all his might.
Usually, the Distant Bullet in flight was like a bright white flash. But now, there was the silhouette of a gray, toothy jaw around the bullet, capable of biting through anything.
The bullet hit its target precisely and destroyed Purple Pilgrim's left leg. He didn't expect Wain to be able to attack him at that distance. His regeneration was impressive, but now Wain had about ten seconds before Purple Pilgrim fully recovered.
Wain used Sign of Lightning and turned into a lightning pigeon. He caught up with his injured opponent in three seconds, and with his arms folded together, he struck from top to bottom.
Above Wain appeared the silhouette of a jaw that clenched sharply, crushing half of Purple Pilgrim's body as it struck. Now only the lower half of his body remained, but the cells began to regenerate rapidly even then.
Wain was surprised, but he immediately attacked his foe several more times. His fists turned Purple Pilgrim's flesh into a bloody mess, and his gray jaws destroyed Purple Pilgrim as well as the meters of sand beneath him. It was as if Wain were devouring Purple Pilgrim's like a wild beast.
After a while, Wain finally prevailed. He had to kill Purple Pilgrim time after time until he could no longer regenerate.
"His ability to regenerate is incredible... But everything in this world has a limit." Wain muttered, staring at the purple soul floating in the air.
Wain smiled rather smugly, he knew what that color meant. Pink souls were Epic Rating, while violet meant Heroic Rating.
He had never had one of these souls before up to this point. Wain was excited to see what he would get after using this soul.
[Soul of Purple Pilgrim (Whole)
Chronicle: First
Rating: Heroic]
Wain crushed the soul and saw several messages.
[You have acquired the Soul Essence of Purple Pilgrim level 25. Strength+10, Agility+15, Vitality+16.]
[You have leveled up to level 22. You get 3 status points to distribute freely]
[You have leveled up to level 23. You get 3 status points to distribute freely]
[You have leveled up to level 24. You get 3 status points to distribute freely]
"Holy Shit..." Wain muttered. He hadn't expected to get so much Soul Essence that he could level up three times in a row. It was something unbelievable.
Then Wain realized how much the Heroic Rating Souls differed from the lower quality ones. There was an insurmountable chasm between them.
Seconds later, another message appeared.
[You ger Heroic Rating Skill Book]