novelraw Chapter 260: Nobility is the Epitaph of the Noble
Chapter 260: Nobility is the Epitaph of the Noble
Hearing the voice echoing in his ears, Lu Ce paused momentarily. He couldn't discern whether the voice originated from his own mind, the external environment, or was simply a game notification.
However, the hesitation lasted only an instant before he resumed his actions. Lu Ce continued without pause, disregarding the voice's intent entirely. If the speaker truly wished to communicate, they would make themselves clear.
Examining the vascular growths on his hands that now emitted a green phosphorescence, Lu Ce forcefully tore them away. The violent ripping tore chunks of flesh with them, sending blood spraying through the air. The sensation differed little from tearing off his own flesh.
Yet Lu Ce felt no pain, and since self-harm didn't accumulate Pain Points, the action held no significance for him. Methodically, he shredded every mutated vessel connected to his body, casting the remnants to the ground. The discarded tubes quickly lost elasticity, becoming brittle and gray before disintegrating into dust at the slightest touch.
Without stopping, Lu Ce drove his feet into the wall, anchoring himself vertically as he began tearing the vascular growths from the stone surface. He didn't understand their purpose, but Xie Antong had warned these same conduits were appearing on the prison's exterior walls.
Destroy them all!
The first time he peeled the tubes from the walls, they reacted with unnatural vitality - writhing toward him, fusing with his flesh, draining his life force. Such injuries meant nothing to Lu Ce; he ignored their parasitic attachment, continuing his destructive work.
After several repetitions, his legs suddenly buckled, nearly causing him to fall. Only then did he realize how severely compromised his condition had become - these flesh-bonded conduits were literally sucking away his vitality.
Without hesitation, he gulped down a high-grade potion. Facing what was essentially confirmed as a divine-level entity demanded utmost caution.
"What are you fighting against?""What are you resisting?"
"Your very existence is part of life's tapestry."
"Child, do you not see? Even that potion in your hand springs from [Life]. You choose self-destruction."
The voice accelerated its cadence, adopting a hypnotic quality that tempted toward corruption. Lu Ce's internal organs churned as if burning. Mid-leap between walls, his footing faltered suddenly, sending him crashing down.
Kneeling on the ground, he vomited violently, expelling thick crimson fluid that might have contained organ fragments. His entire body trembled violently from utter exhaustion.
As he collapsed, hordes of goblins swarmed over him, their weapons descending like butchers' cleavers. Lu Ce's vision darkened - no, more accurately, turned green - as his body convulsed under countless fresh wounds.
[Chosen of Agony, Pain Points +1!]
......
Previously unobtainable Pain Points now erupted in rapid succession, the notifications coming in waves.
Even elephants fall to enough ants. Only Lu Ce's extreme physical enhancements allowed him to survive this onslaught. Drawing on his formidable constitution, he rose despite his injuries, activating Hell's Roar at maximum output. A miniature sun blossomed in the tunnel.
Dozens of goblins vaporized instantly. Lu Ce launched upward, triggering explosive disintegration of hundreds more, their remains scattering like shrapnel.
Gasping for breath, Lu Ce had never felt such profound weakness. These extreme injuries manifested in ways completely invisible to normal perception. One moment he'd felt invincible; now he teetered on death's brink.
The sensation reminded him of his initial encounter with the Prison Guard, when his strength had been instantly drained. Quickly consuming another high-grade potion, the expression behind his pink mask grew increasingly ferocious and focused.
Though the tunnel's enemies appeared weak individually, the cumulative danger here was anything but trivial. Worse, his inability to perceive his own deterioration made the threat exponentially more insidious.
"Interesting..."
The goblin horde seemed endless, the floor now molten lava, yet more creatures pressed forward. This time, Lu Ce tore another batch of wall conduits free, allowing them to fuse with his body.
Instead of immediately removing them, he produced the Hourglass of Life, dripping his blood onto it to assess his vitality. The sand within cascaded downward at terrifying speed - at this rate, he might not survive thirty minutes!
When he next ripped the vascular growths away, the sand level plummeted dramatically, sending a chill through him. He'd been standing on death's doorstep without realizing it.
No pain. No physical feedback. His immense strength had masked the severity. Silently, unknowingly, he'd been dancing along mortality's edge.
Nothing divine-related ever comes easy.
Using the hourglass as a life counter, Lu Ce turned toward another section of wall. There hung a man with limbs folded grotesquely behind him, his chest grotesquely distended. Countless tubes connected his body to the wall's vascular network.
The distant voice echoed through the tunnel once more:
"Oh? How did that trinket come into your possession?"
"That's my serving hourglass... Amusing that you've repurposed it."
Lu Ce's arm hesitated briefly before he decisively grasped the tubes embedded in the wall-bound man's body. With one brutal yank, he tore them free.
"AAAAAHHHHHH!"
The wall's occupant - long tortured beyond human recognition - had seemed cadaverous. Now his agonized scream shook the entire tunnel system, a cry of soul-rending torment.
Eyes bulged from their sockets, veined with green filaments, as if his very spirit were being extracted. This, then, was the true price of tube removal - suffering of this magnitude.
The extreme reaction gave even Lu Ce pause.
"Oh? Why would you do this?"
"You reject life's gifts for yourself - but why torment these noble ones?"