The Creators: From Night City

Page 429

But at this moment, these platforms, treehouses, and corridors have also been eroded by 'scarlet decay'. Coral-like fungi have grown all over the buildings, and dense moss has crawled all over the walls, infecting all the creatures inside.

But the source of the 'scarlet decay' was even deeper, so Jiang Bing continued to look down, focusing his gaze on the tree roots.

A magnificent city came into his view.

Flags, houses, drainage ditches, squares, gardens, and even many human soldiers sitting or lying down were scattered along the city walls and at key passes.

There is indeed human civilization here.

But the city was not deep enough. Following the intuition brought by the flames, Jiang Bing's eyes ignited with golden fire as he cast his gaze deeper into the city, into the roots of the trees, through the gate guarded by a group of tall, thin knights, through the magnificent church, across the wide drainage ditch, and through the thick rock and soil, until he reached a cavity formed by the intertwined tree roots.

That's where the root of all 'scarlet corruption' lies.

Having identified his target, Jiang Bing no longer hesitated.

Instead of climbing down the tree trunk, he chose to leap off the trunk and crash into the roots like a meteor.

The shortest distance between two points is a straight line!

Jiang Bingcai was too lazy to deal with those soldiers who seemed extremely xenophobic. Skipping the complicated procedures and going straight to the heart of the enemy was the best solution.

The sea of ​​clouds surged past him. Several soldiers, still in a daze, saw Jiang Bing, the flying man, but it took them several breaths to realize that something had passed by. They quickly got up and looked down, but Jiang Bing was nowhere to be seen.

This giant tree was probably tens of thousands of meters tall. With the support and obstruction of the air, Jiang Bing maintained a certain balance point in his descent and free-falled for more than two minutes before reaching the bottom of the giant tree.

The deeper one goes, the stronger the power of 'scarlet decay' becomes, and the more humid, decaying, and filthy the surrounding environment becomes.

On a platform thoroughly corrupted by the forces of decay, a tall, thin knight clad in opulent gold and red armor reclines in a pavilion, quietly awaiting the complete decay of his body and the end of his life.

She has fulfilled her mission and has no regrets.

But the next second, a figure flashed through her blurred vision, startling her awake from the slumber brought on by corruption.

Just as she was wondering if she was hallucinating, a tremendous roar coming from where her lord rested told her that it was not all an illusion.

Something really did smash through the sacred tree barrier from above and attack her lord.

Sickly decaying and on the verge of death, the knight had no choice but to suppress her collapsing body with unwavering willpower. She picked up her scythe and sword and struggled to her feet, limping toward the roots of the sacred tree.

It wriggled and crawled, as if countless tiny insects were multiplying and thriving inside its body, feeding on flesh and blood, gnawing at bones, and even its consciousness.

Compared to physical pain, the blurring and forgetting brought about by the corruption of consciousness terrified Malenia more.

However, the excessive release of the power of 'Crimson Corruption' brought her already damaged body to the brink of collapse. And without the golden needles specially made for her by her brother Michaela to suppress it, the power of Crimson Corruption became increasingly active within her.

She could only put herself into a deep sleep, letting the 'scarlet corruption' within her fall into a deep sleep as well, into her brother's domain, thereby slowing down the rate of corruption.

But this did not diminish the pain she experienced; on the contrary, the sleep prolonged the already painful process of decay.

Even as she endured endless decay and erosion, she still did not want to 'die', otherwise the new being born from her decaying corpse would no longer know her brother.

'Brother, where did you go...'

The disabled girl, leaning against a tree, murmured in her sleep.

The deafening roar and tremors jolted her awake from her dream. The frail girl vanished instantly, transforming back into the powerful Valkyrie who dominated the entire border region.

"...I had a very long dream-"

The body lost its golden luster, and the blood became stagnant and putrid…

Even the murmurs carried an unsettling, putrid, and sticky quality.

"Interesting, the source of corruption is actually a person." Jiang Bing's exclamation rang out from the huge pit.

Marlenia slowly stood up; her height of over two meters made her appear extremely imposing.

As she picked up the prosthetic limbs discarded on the ground, she sized up the uninvited guest who had trespassed into the pit.

“This is a very strange person,” Marlenia thought to herself.

There was no trace of the Golden Law surging within him, nor any hint of other laws. He was dressed unlike any resident of any region of the borderlands, and he showed no fear of himself.

If it weren't for the intense golden light emanating from the other person's eyes, she would have thought they were a faded being banished from a distant past.

Chapter 874 Carrying the Crimson Corruptor Malenia

Marlenia's golden prosthetic hand gripped an incredibly long prosthetic knife. This unique weapon had almost no handle for a normal person to hold, so the golden prosthetic hand was essentially gripping the blade directly at the end.

"So, my dear stranger... what brings you here?"

The Valkyrie held her sword horizontally in front of her, while her original left hand held upside down a golden helmet shaped like a flying eagle.

Jiang Bing's gaze lingered on the girl's body, and the restrained, massive amount of crimson decay made him frown slightly.

But the other party clearly misunderstood something.

"Ha, yet another fool who seeks the forbidden. Heed my advice and retreat. This power will only bring suffering."

Jiang Bing remained unmoved, as he was analyzing this peculiar being who, in a human body, bore the weight of the world's rules.

"I understand"

His silence clearly led the other party to misunderstand something.

The opponent held the long, slender prosthetic knife horizontally, pointing it at Jiang Bing, and a surge of fighting spirit burst forth.

"In that case, let the blade speak for me."

The Flying Eagle helmet was placed on his head by the opponent, obscuring his sharp eyes.

In the next instant, Marlenia's body suddenly closed in on Jiang Bing and swung her sword horizontally.

The slender prosthetic blade appears light and agile, yet it possesses an unstoppable and immense power. Even though the Valkyrie wields the blade prosthetically, her attacks still feel as natural and seamless as if they were delivered from her own body.

The air was torn apart, and Jiang Bing managed to dodge the slash by turning to the side at the last second. However, a wisp of air dissipated from the slash still managed to cut a sharp crack in the solid wooden ground covered with wildflowers.

This demonstrates the opponent's exquisite control over force; all the force is concentrated in the offensive, with very little leakage.

If the opponent hadn't been using a prosthetic arm, this slash mark on the ground probably wouldn't even exist.

Side slash, horizontal swing, backhand slash, upward slash, left and right front and backhand slashes, spinning slashes—before the first strike could land, the opponent's attacks immediately followed in a continuous stream. The long, narrow blade, driven by the opponent's equally slender prosthetic arm, instantly blossomed into a huge flower of sharpness, enveloping Jiang Bing within it.

The overwhelming shadows of blades sealed off all space, leaving Jiang Bing trapped with no way to avoid them and only able to parry their attacks.

This was also the first clash between the two since the start of the war.

The seemingly soft fingernails struck the back of the prosthetic knife with precision, the immense force deflecting the dangerous blade and causing a slight pause in the opponent's relentless, waterfall-like attack.

Beneath the eagle-faced helmet, the Valkyrie couldn't help but widen her eyes at Jiang Bing's outrageous actions; she had never imagined that anyone's skills could be so exquisite.

But her offensive did not stop there; instead, it became even more continuous and explosive.

Marlenia was trained by the Flowing Water Swordsman who sealed away corruption, so her swordsmanship naturally incorporated some of the characteristics of the Flowing Water Sword School.

It is continuous and pervasive.

The deflected sword blade propelled Marlenia's seemingly heavy yet exceptionally light body, allowing her to leap into the air and unleash an even more dazzling offensive.

But Jiang Bing retreated even faster; his stats were far superior to his opponent's, allowing him to extricate himself just as quickly.

But how could the Valkyrie, renowned throughout the borderlands, be so weak?

The air seemed to solidify under her feet. The Valkyrie stretched her graceful figure in the air, her whole being miraculously drawing strength from the void like a storm eagle spreading its wings, transforming into a streak of light, and soaring straight forward.

This is the Water Bird Sword Technique that she innovated and perfected after inheriting her teacher's Flowing Water Sword Technique.

Their attacks flowed like a continuous, layered stream, while their movements were as light and ethereal as a flying bird.

The seemingly untouched thrust carried immense power, the long, narrow prosthetic blade propelling Jiang Bing backward dozens of meters, leaving a deep chasm in its wake.

"tick"

Amid Marlenia's heavy breathing, a drop of golden blood dripped from the sharp blade onto the ground.

"Hmm~?"

The deadly blade was firmly gripped in one hand, making it impossible to get any closer.

The combination of exceptional skill and the immense power of a demigod allowed the blade to successfully sever Jiang Bing's skin.

"Not a bad move."

An illusory flame ignited, scorching the crimson decay that had been marinated in the prosthetic knife.

The Valkyrie arched backward, pulling back with her prosthetic arm, only to discover that she couldn't budge her opponent at all.

In terms of skill, Jiang Bing was completely defeated.

In terms of numbers, the opponent was completely defeated.

The eyes beneath the eagle-faced helmet suddenly narrowed. This battle-hardened Valkyrie only had time to bend her left arm to protect her chest before a crazed figure had already slipped into her embrace, accompanied by an extremely explosive elbow strike to the heart.

Finley, who was struggling to move forward with her long-handled scythe as a crutch, suddenly felt a violent tremor coming from the sacred tree beneath her. She couldn't help but quicken her pace, but her body, riddled with holes from corruption, seemed to disobey her commands, moving slowly and sluggishly.

Amidst the flying sawdust, Malenia slowly tumbled down the wooden cave wall, her left arm bent unnaturally, and her whole body visibly weak.

Already severely injured, she took a solid elbow strike to the heart of the body from Jiang Bingyi. The fact that she is still alive is already a testament to her special constitution.

The crimson, corrupting power suddenly surged, and cracks, like parched earth, spread across the opponent's body at a visible speed.

The decay of her body allowed the crimson corruption within her to gain the upper hand, and the Valkyrie merely groaned in pain a few times before standing up again, head held high to face her powerful enemy.

She is a Valkyrie, Michaela's Blade, a soaring eagle, a pure warrior.

The twisted left hand was rapidly decaying, yet also rapidly healing; after decay came a burst of life.

But its appearance was no longer human.

See? I hope you heed my warning.

An unknown powerful being

Having already possessed such immense power, why do they still stubbornly crave this filthy power?

The Valkyrie, disgusted, moved her decaying left arm and admonished her again: "This power is something to be avoided at all costs, yet you pursue it madly. It is a foolish thing to do."

Jiang Bing frowned slightly as he looked at the girl who clearly loathed the crimson decay within her body.

“I think we can make a deal. Since you despise this power so much, why not hand it over to me? I think…”

"Your goal is the corrupt law that I bear. Indeed, you already possess the magnanimity to become a king."

The Valkyrie interrupted Jiang Bing's speech and gripped the blade tightly again.

"But now that things have come to this, I can't let you take away the last bit of warmth from this empty shell."

If you want to take more... then defeat me.

Defeat the invincible sword of Michaela!

"Down with me, Malenia!"

As the words fell, the other party immediately abandoned the suppression of the crimson corruption power within his body, determined to briefly reclaim his power even if it meant allowing the corruption to spread.

Soldiers will stop at nothing to achieve victory.

Chapter 875 Dancing with the Goddess (Martial God)

With a light and graceful body, she soared into the sky. The Valkyrie, renowned throughout the borderlands, once again shone with her own brilliance after the shattered war.

Her slender body danced in the air like a bird, while the long, narrow prosthetic blade shone with light, completely enveloping Jiang Bing.

This is the signature move of 'Mikaela's Blade' that made her famous throughout the entire border region: Water Bird Dance!

The deadly blade appears light, yet each strike is infused with the opponent's full power, while the intricate flashes of light are clear evidence of the opponent's constant, high-speed slashing.

This is a perfect combination of strength and beauty, a pinnacle of skill application.

Even if it were the original King of Elden, Gavre, Marlenia was confident that he would not be able to withstand such a strike.

In reality, Jiang Bing's terrible skills were indeed no match for him.

He wasn't prepared to defend himself either.

Since his debut, he has always relied on the brutal, hand-to-hand combat method of the battlefield. In his combat philosophy, simplicity, directness, and brutality constitute the three elements of combat.

Golden drops of blood bloomed, skin strong enough to withstand the relentless bombardment of a tank's main gun armor-piercing rounds was torn open by the opponent's slashes, leaving bloody marks. Enduring the cuts of the blades that felt like a thousand cuts, Jiang Bing, like a reckless fool, smashed through the barrage of blades and, to the opponent's astonishment, grabbed the opponent by the neck.

"boom!"

Wood chips flew everywhere. Marlenia's slash to save the day only left a shallow wound on Jiang Bing's arm before she was slammed into the ground amidst a dizzying spin.

The enormous impact caused her body to stiffen involuntarily for a moment, but in that instant, she was punched hard in the face, and her exquisite golden eagle helmet was knocked away.