Chapter 736: Judgment of the Fallen God

The Fallen God…

While the Judgment Sword pierced Lu Xin’s heart, it had no effect on him.

Yet his own body was dragged down by Lu Xin, forcing them into a face-to-face clash of gazes.

The Sword Bearer seemed extraordinarily enraged, unleashing a terrifying tremor with his entire spiritual power.

This tremor set the surrounding air resonating, merging a cacophony of chaotic sounds—the frantic cries of distant executors, splintering stone and sand, and the howling wind—into one heavy, disordered roar:

“The Fallen God must also face judgment.”

“…”

Bang!

With his words, the Judgment Sword suddenly blazed with a dark red light, resembling a red-hot branding iron.

Lu Xin’s heart area instantly exuded the scent of scorched flesh.

The spiritual power coiled around the Judgment Sword wafted like a terrifying heat.

It followed his wounds, searing his body.

It was as if flames intended to ignite him into cinders—Lu Xin’s entire body, starting from where the Judgment Sword had pierced him, suddenly sprouted vast patches of rust that rapidly spread across him.

This was the spiritual power of the Judgment Sword.

In an almost berserk manner, it instantly devoured Lu Xin’s body and soul.

Worse yet, not only was Lu Xin’s body affected—massive patches of rust rapidly spread over his father and sister, coating his sister’s body with its finely grained marks and even enveloping his father’s shadow. With a thick, decaying aura, it swiftly smothered all pulsating, vibrant forces.

Only Mom was spared; though her body bore a trace of rust, she brushed it away with a mere gesture.

Even the skinless dog and other parasitic items remained uncorroded, but were so frightened that they trembled in a clustered panic.

…

…

“Is this the power of the Sword Bearer?”

Lu Xin exhaled deeply, the stinging scent of burning rust filling his mouth and nostrils.

Facing the Sword Bearer—even if only a projection—he felt utterly overwhelmed.

It wasn’t a matter of levels, but a stark disparity in spiritual power.

The gap between his and the Sword Bearer’s projected spiritual force was like that between a red-hot rusted sword and a mortal body.

He appeared almost entirely outmatched.

As the rust spread, Lu Xin felt as though everything within him was ablaze.

The searing pain was palpable—felt not only in his senses, but in his emotions, desires, instincts, and memories. He felt on the verge of exploding; his once steady inner core now buckled under an immense external force, tearing apart his fixed thoughts and beliefs to be reassembled by his foe’s will.

It was a force that struck directly at his mental core.

His own power was indeed insufficient, as his spiritual magnitude was merely ten thousand.

Meanwhile, even as a mere projection, the Sword Bearer’s spiritual magnitude exceeded mortal imagination.

“Ha ha…”

In the midst of unbearable agony, Lu Xin suddenly burst into laughter.

He laughed heartily; his face was etched with pain, yet his eyes gleamed with exhilaration.

“You have no right to judge…”

He fixed his gaze on the Sword Bearer’s gray eyes, every word deliberate.

As his words left his mouth, the force on the Judgment Sword corroded his nearly entirely rust-covered body, causing it to crack open into several gaping wounds. Then, one by one, monstrous forms of ‘Malice Lu Xin’ emerged from his body, climbing swiftly along the Sword in grotesque shapes.

Lu Xin’s spiritual magnitude registered only ten thousand.

Professor Bai had previously speculated that ten thousand was the maximum magnitude a human form could endure.

Anything beyond ten thousand in spiritual magnitude inevitably resulted in a transformation.

And these endless iterations of ‘Malice Lu Xin’ were each in forms that were far from human.

In short.

Each one exceeded ten thousand.

…

…

“Shri-la-la…”

As they raced along the Judgment Sword towards the Sword Bearer, rust surged over them, seemingly intent on contaminating them as it had Lu Xin. Yet these ‘Lu Xin’ forms laughed eerily as the rust spread, their bodies trembling as if shaking off dust and dislodging the corrosive material.

In the next instant, all the ‘Malice Lu Xin’ sprang into mid-air.

Some displayed countless blood vessels spilled over their forms, while others extended bizarre, twisting tentacles.

Some even opened their mouths wide to bite into the rusted Judgment Sword.

“Creak,” “Creak,” “Creak.”

A grating sound filled the air as shattered rust flew about, forming a dark red, eerie mist.

The enormous Judgment Sword was being gnawed and torn apart by these malignant forces.

Its mottled edge steadily dissolved as the massive sword disintegrated.

More ‘Malice Lu Xin’ even crawled along the Judgment Sword, layer upon layer descending onto the Sword Bearer’s body, unleashing brutal assaults as if monstrous creatures feasting upon his flesh.

The Sword Bearer too felt the agony, his body convulsing violently.

He instinctively tried to retreat, but Lu Xin’s heart locked the Judgment Sword in place, preventing any escape.

Meanwhile, the Pale Hand clutched the Sword Bearer’s neck with unyielding force.

That pallid hue began rapidly spreading from the point of contact across his body.

Mutually contaminating, devouring each other’s flesh…

…

…

“Buzzing…”

The Sword Bearer, too, sensed Lu Xin’s sinister intent and the depths of his madness.

The Sword Bearer’s method of contamination was always aggressive, meaning his opponents typically defended. Yet he hadn’t expected Lu Xin, who offered no defense—not even against his own Judgment Sword. Instead, Lu Xin immediately clutched his throat, even if it meant his heart being pierced.

He did not adhere to his usual combat tactics.

He chose instead to bear the contamination and launch an assault on himself.

Fair enough.

Spiritually, Lu Xin was still weaker—even with the addition of countless ‘Malice Lu Xin’—but for some reason, the Sword Bearer instinctively sensed danger and refused to exchange blows further.

Then, a cold glint flashed in his gray eyes as his massive form suddenly collapsed.

“Crash…”

As his body crumpled, the part gripped by Lu Xin’s Pale Hand suddenly snapped back toward Lu Xin.

The immense force forced Lu Xin to stagger back, and the decaying Judgment Sword instantly broke in half—the other half still piercing his body—hurled backward like a piece of meaty toothpick under overwhelming power.

It was flung back for dozens of meters before, with his sister’s help, he barely managed to regain his footing on the ground.

Before him, the collapse of the Sword Bearer’s body triggered a terrifying transformation.

Violent tremors and chaotic mental turbulence intertwined, erupting in an earthquake-like roar.

The collapse of the Sword Bearer’s body also triggered the ground to cave in piece by piece, as if breaching the earth’s crust; the land, like a small hill, crumbled away, turning their surroundings into an unfathomable abyss.

Blinding flames burst up from beneath the earth.

The Sword Bearer’s form reassembled before Lu Xin, his black armor coalescing into a tangible figure standing under the Red Moon. Half of the Judgment Sword, now feebly held, rested in his hand. Under his helmet, his gray eyes shone fiercely, emitting a chilling radiance, though upon closer inspection they appeared as vacant as those of the dead.

“Midnight Tribunal, judge all sins…”

A distant voice echoed from the towering building behind the Sword Bearer, resembling a chorus of countless shouts.

“Crash…”

At that moment, the light in the Sword Bearer’s eyes flared to an extreme brightness, illuminating the dark depths of the night.

Everything within the Sword Bearer’s gaze twisted into a surreal, pale unreality.

Behind him, a massive black building emerged mysteriously, shrouding half the night sky. Even the Red Moon hung low above it, its light half concealed…

Whoosh…

The Judgment Sword in his hand suddenly fell to the ground.

Upon striking the ground, the earth shattered; chunks of soil collapsed downward as dazzling flames seeped upward, with massive, spiderweb-like fissures racing across the surroundings, transforming the land into a giant net in which Lu Xin and the others were ensnared.

Rustle, rustle…

From the cracks came a sudden, whispering murmur.

From those fissures, seemingly leading to flames and magma, countless bizarre creatures crawled out.

Some, dubbed the ‘Handcuffs’ in the shape of hands, had chains with hands sprouting from both ends, scurrying swiftly along the ground.

Others, known as ‘Human Face Iron Balls’, bore enormous faces covered with countless sharp spikes.

There were also ‘Inverted Bed Monsters’, their bodies sprawled on the ground with ribs flaring open and shutting like binding straps.

Then there were the ‘Electric Chair Monsters’, with thick cables sprouting from their heads and intermittently sparking.

Some appeared as ‘Severed Waist People’, with only their upper bodies intact while mechanical limbs replaced their lower halves.

Others, called ‘Eye Diggers’, staggered clumsily, their eye sockets empty save for dark voids.

…

Hee hee hee…

Ha ha ha…

The heavy stench of blood, burning rust, and the sulfuric tang of magma intermingled.

They resembled instruments of torture imbued with a life of their own.

With greedy, bizarre eyes, they crawled toward Lu Xin and the others, full of twisted excitement and anticipation.